Like I mentioned in the last post, I got to go to Paris and see my high school french teacher, Mme. Greenberg. It was amazing to think how far I've come in terms of starting to study french my freshman year and coming twice to France with here, all the way to majoring in French and living in France for one year. So while she was here, I went with her and her students as they toured the Opera and afterwards we enjoyed a nice dinner with everyone!
Finally, the school year has finished. Back in August, it felt as if I would have years until I finished my study abroad in France but it all passed so quickly within months. I did well in all my classes, thankfully! At this moment, I'm waiting - and studying - for my exams that are coming up towards the end of this month. But I'm also trying to take advantage of the time that I have left here. My basketball season continues until the end of this month, so that is at least making sure I'm doing some exercises and not just sitting around! Our team has done really well and I've taken the opportunity to expand my game even more by playing guard a bit more and starting to shoot a bit more. Manon, her mom, and Dimitri finally were able to make it to a game which means that I finally have some proof that I actually do play..!
Other than that, I haven't done much else because not everyone has finished with their semester so they are all buried away in their rooms studying for final exams. However, I had get the chance to go to Belgium this past weekend with Manon, her brother Thomas, and his girlfriend Capucine. We visited Thomas and Manon's grandparents who live in Wavre. This was the first time I had ever visited Belgium, and we were really lucky to have, well, better weather than France. It's hard to say "good weather" because then I look at the weather back in California and I just chuckle. We arrived Friday night and their grandparents had a nice dinner waiting for us. Manon told me that I would hear a different accent in Belgium but with her grandparents I didn't really hear one. After dinner - and a few glasses of wine - we headed off to bed after the 3 hour car ride there. Saturday morning, we started out the day with a big breakfast and only a couple hours later, an even bigger lunch - with a few more glasses of wine. After lunch, the four of us drove to Bruxelles, the capital of Belgium, and spent the the rest of the afternoon there. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I found that the city really resembled an "American" city. That's to say, there were lots of big roads with lots of new modernized and industrialized buildings. But of course, being in Europe there was still the cathedrals and ancient buildings.
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| Thomas, Capucine, Moi |
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| Mannaken Pis |
Later that night, we went back to their grandparents house and after a short while we all headed off the their aunt and uncle's house. There, we enjoyed a nice appetizer and talked for a while then made our way to the table. We had a really nice dinner - with even a few more glasses of wine - and I absolutely ate too much. We had a typical Belgian dish called Waterzooi, and it was really good. At their house, I finally heard the Belgian accent, but I also learned that they say some things differently. For example, in France, breakfast is petit déjeuner, lunch is déjeuner [day-june-ay], and dinner is diner [dee-nay]. But in Belgium, breakfast is déjeuner, lunch is diner, and dinner is souper. I also learned that they count a little bit different as well. For example, instead of saying soixante-dix [swa-sant-deece] for seventy, they say septante. Nearly around midnight, we said our goodbyes and went back to their grandparents home and went to bed. Sunday morning, we enjoyed yet another big breakfast and played a bit of Rummikub and then Manon's other aunt and cousin came over for a nice big lunch - with..you guessed it..even more wine! Then shortly after, we packed our things are made our way back to Paris and I played DJ for the car ride home. I'm certain that while I was there for 2 days, I ate for one week's worth. But it was worth it!
Next weekend is going to change a bit, by that, I mean for France! Next weekend is the 2nd round - or final if you will - of voting for the next President of France. I went with Dimitri, Camille, and their parents last weekend to vote in the first round. It was interesting because all they do is take 10 pieces of paper with the name of a candidate into a booth and choose the one candidate that they want to vote for and put it into a little envelope and place the rest of the papers in a trash bin, then they pass by the table to drop their vote into the box. Before they put the vote in the box, the present their ID and signed that they have voted and the worker says something like "Grant Bingham, [my address], Voted". Then they do that for each person. The top three candidates this year were Francois Hollande, who is part of the left wing Parti Socialiste [Socialist Party], Nicholas Sarkozy, who is currently the President and part of the right wing UMP [l'Union pour un Mouvement Populaire / Union for a Popular Movement], and Marine Le Pen, who is a right wing extremist part of the Front National [National Front]. After the first round of voting, Hollande finished with 28%, Sarkozy with 26%, and Le Pen with 20%. So the top two go on to the second round and the French will decide between Sarkozy and Hollande. So we will see what happens!
