January 3, 2016
The past month or so has been full
of holiday celebrations, good food, and travelling. I finished up November by
celebrating Thanksgiving with my first and second host families. Even though
Thanksgiving isn’t something they usually celebrate in Belgium I still had the
full meal including turkey and pumpkin pie. My host families really loved all
the different specialties but didn’t understand the concept of putting pumpkin
into a pie.
December
was a very busy month of travelling for me. I had the entire month off of
school so I travelled to pretty much a different city every day. I am still so
amazed with the public transportation here. It’s so nice to be able to get on a
train and head to the other side of the country for the day. It’s been really
fun to be in Europe for the holidays. Every city is decorated and has a
Christmas Market. There’s been Christmas music playing everywhere and it’s made
being away from home a little easier. Belgians also celebrate St. Nicolas in
the beginning of December. St. Nicolas is similar to the Easter Bunny, everyone
gets a large amount of chocolate and little gifts. Not all of Europe celebrates
St. Nicolas, only Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Northern France.
Christmas in Belgium was really
nice even though it was hard to be away from home. My host family had a little
tree we all decorated together and we celebrated with all the family. My host
family is Italian so Christmas Eve we made homemade Raviolis to eat on
Christmas Day which were really good. My host family and family in the US had
very similar Christmas Day traditions of opening presents and eating a lot and
it was nice to meet all of my host cousins and extended family. I celebrated
the New Year in Antwerp with all the other exchange students which was really
fun to see everyone and watch the fireworks! Today is the last day of Christmas
vacation so after a month off from school I go back again tomorrow!
After Christmas I changed host
families which has been a weird transition. I just learned where all the dishes
were in my first house and now I have to start all over again which is odd. My
first and second host families are good friends so I will still get to see my
first host family which is really nice! I really liked my first host family so
it was hard to leave but I’m sure my new host family will be just as good!
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