Meet the Parents

I am writing this late on Sunday night (September 5). The last few days have been hectic and without WiFi access, so this is really the first chance that I have had to update. So, I put up two posts, with each covering two days – the 2^nd/3^rd and the 4^th/5^th. I have tried to keep as many details as possible, but since I was rushing around so much, they are not as detailed as I would like. I will try to do better in the future…my blogging skills are definitely a work in progress!

Saturday was the early morning wake-up for everyone (so I was really glad that I wasn’t as tired as everyone else!). I woke up at 7:15 am, got ready and ate breakfast with my roommate T and her friend Valentina, and then had all my bags packed and in the lobby by 9:45 am. Jerry (our director) had us put all of the luggage in two of the hotel rooms, and the rest of us checked out. Then, we went on a walking tour of the Grand-Place, and even though I was just there the day before, it was enjoyable to have Jerry to actually explain what each building was and the history behind it. On the Grand-Place, we discovered that the Manneken Pis was having a costume change that day, so there was a fun parade. The Manneken Pis is a little statue of a boy peeing that is located about two blocks off of the Grand-Place, and the people of Brussels have embraced it almost like a mascot. Apparently, different groups can apply to put a costume on the statue, and this time is was a guild. So we got to watch the costume change and listen to the live band along with everyone that happened to be in the Grand-Place. After that, we had an hour to get lunch, so Valentina, T, Sara and I went back to the Grand-Place and sat down at one of the cafés right in the middle of the action. This was my first successful attempt at ordering my meal in French, and I had the “croque Argenteuil” – a hot sandwich that has egg, cheese, ham and white asparagus on it. It was absolutely delicious, but I could only finish half and so I wrapped the other half for later.

At 12:30 pm, everyone returned to the hotel and a van showed up to pick up all of our luggage and take it to the school.  We students, however, were going to take the metro and learn how to use it with Jerry. The Brussels metro is much nicer and cleaner than any of the American ones that I have been on, and it was very easy to use. I found out that I need to buy a monthly student pass for 28 euro and then I can ride it as much as I want (the system is very similar to the SmartTrip cards in DC). At the Alma stop, we got off and walked right into our building, which was very convenient. American University Brussels Center only actually rents half of the top floor of this building, so we unloaded all of our luggage and went up. There is one classroom and two offices – and that’s all we would see until our campus tour on Monday. We then went through the homestay orientation with Mdme. Benedicte Debray, our housing coordinator. It was intimidating, and by the end of the orientation session, I think every single student was having a slight panic attack. At that point, Mdme. Debray took each of the students in to tell them about their individual family. When it came to me, I found out that I was living with another American University student named Rita. Fortunately, we knew each before Belgium and get along well together. At approximately 6:30 pm, our host parents came to pick us up and take us home. As we walked out to the cars, we quickly realized that while our luggage would fit in their car, Rita and I would not. Therefore, our host mother called her thirty-year-old son, Benoit, to come and help. We drove out from the city a ways, and then into a quaint little area called Oppem. At the house we met their other son (who is recently married and lives out of the house as well), and found out that they also have two adult daughters. The other two people who were at the house were Hughes (who is Benoit’s best mate) and Alex, who is the American University student that Hughes is hosting. Hughes only lives 2 minutes away (walking time) and therefore, Alex is our closest neighbor! Unfortunately, Hughes had a previous engagement, so Alex ended up eating dinner with us – a delicious meal of chicken, potatoes and salad with apple streusel for dessert. After dinner, us students walked around the little village for a few minutes to explore. Since it was very late already, we said goodnight and retired to our rooms. I had a little bit of energy left, so I used it to unpack all of my things so I would feel more at home when I woke up in the morning.

Well, my strategy worked because I was very happy when I woke up the next morning. Rita and I had breakfast with our host parents and then, while they went to mass, we got ready for the day. At one o’clock we had a delicious French lunch that included a platter of meat, cheese and bread, salad, spanakopita, and a goat cheese/onion/asparagus quiche (of which I had two slices), and chocolate pudding. Promptly at 2:15 pm, the host parents, Rita, Alex, and I went to meet some other host parents and their students (9 students in all) and we all drove for about 45 minutes out into the Belgian countryside to visit the Chateau Fort – an old castle that was built in the 12^th century. It was very pretty, and since one of the host mothers is related to the owner, we got to have a private tour…very exciting! Part of the private tour was to go out into the old gardens, which are only used by the owner and his family now, and they were absolutely gorgeous! And even better, all of the host parents surprised us with a pastry picnic in the garden at the end of the tour. Everything was homemade, which meant it tasted wonderful, and we had homemade apple cider to go along with it. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, and it really made all of us students feel welcomed. After we drove back into the city, Hughes had returned and took Alex, Rita and I on a driving tour of Brussels, which was incredibly fun especially since we won’t be driving in cars for most of the time that we are here! Our driving tour lasted about an hour, and then he dropped Rita and I off in time for dinner with our host parents and their daughter and son-in-law. The son-in-law speaks excellent English and works for the Belgian Foreign Affairs department, so I really enjoyed getting to know him. Dinner was beef, potatoes, salad, and cherry pie. My biggest impression so far is that the Belgians certainly eat well! I’m going to have to start walking everywhere to balance out my food intake.

And now that I am all caught up, I can tell you about my home and my host parents. I live with Jacques and Annik Ghysens, a francophone couple in their early seventies that live in the Brussels suburb of Oppem. Obviously, I am not in downtown Brussels like I originally wished, but I am growing to love it here too. I have to admit, I did almost have a heart attack when we first drove out however, because they are essentially at the edge of the countryside, and their village has the laid-back country feel to it. It is very small, and right behind their house is a huge field! Now, I jokingly refer to my home as “the farm,” because this is the closest that I have ever lived to farm fields and sheep (which their neighbors two doors down have). Anyways, my host parents hosted a boy from American University last year, and enjoyed it so much that they chose to host again…hopefully, Rita and I will live up to their expectations! Besides the four of us, the only other inhabitant of the house is Frostes (which I am not spelling correctly) – the two-year-old golden retriever. Although I am not a huge dog fan, I think that she and I will get on very well, because she is very friendly and calm. As part of my lessons in French, I have already learned how to say “paw” and “jump” in French to make the dog do tricks for me! So, I love my host parents, but there is one problem…my host mother, Annik, really doesn’t speak English at all, and Jacques barely speaks it. Apparently, this is one of the reasons that Rita and I are in the same house (despite my request to be solo) – she is officially serving as my translator. At first, I was really annoyed with the housing coordinator, but now I am just using it as inspiration to learn French even faster. The annoyance with the housing coordinator is still there, but hopefully it will fade with time. Consequently, it is a real struggle for me to communicate with them at all, and I am very jealous that Rita can have full conversations with them. So, my goal is by the end of the semester is that I won’t have to be silent at the dinner table!

Other than the enormous language barrier, I am very happy with my new home. My room is very cute, with a very comfortable bed, a desk, closet, set of drawers, bookshelf, a skylight that I can open and even a balcony for me to sit out on! Rita said she didn’t care which bedroom she had (we had a choice between upstairs and down), and everyone knows that I always care. My room is on the second floor so it stays a little bit warmer at night, and the hardwood floors insulate better than the tile that is downstairs. Most of the bedrooms are on the front of the house, but mine is slightly isolated and looks out over the very pretty backyard. Also, the ceiling is gabled, which gives the room a more loft-like appearance. All in all, I am very much in love with my room! I included numerous pictures of the whole house for you all to try and get a sense of the place that I am living in. They have a pool in the backyard, and if it stays fairly warm for the next few days, Rita and I are going to take a swim or two in it! On that note, it is very late and I am exhausted from my day at the castle and trying to relay four days worth of adventures to you. So, bonne nuit, and I plan on updating tomorrow with more pictures after I take my tour of the campus!

P.S. Obviously, I wrote this Sunday night and I’m posting Tuesday…unfortunately, this is because it takes an incredibly long time to upload the pictures on the blog. That’s the main reason that there are so few pictures here. So, I was going to put up two posts the other night but couldn’t remain awake! Also, I cannot get the pictures to go in between text at the moment, so apologies that all of the pictures are at the bottom of the blog this time. I will improve!

Guild Halls at the Grand-Place

Manneken Pis

BELGIAN WAFFLES (sold everywhere at walk-up cafes)

Lunch on the Grand-Place (with Valentina)

My loft room, looking from the door out through to the balcony

Standing at the balcony door looking back

View out my skylight window of the Belgian countryside - the village of "Wezembeek Oppem"

View off my balcony into the backyard with pool, field, and patio right below the balcony

Front of the house as you walk up the driveway

Turning around, down the private driveway (very long!)

Le chien, Frostes!!

Courtyard of Chateau Fort

Rita and I at the gate of Chateau Fort

Beautiful gardens at Chateau Fort

More gardens at Chateau Fort

The AU students that went to Chateau Fort (in the background)