Say Goodbye to January

Another week has begun. My weekend was pretty relaxed, I hardly left the house and spent most of my time sleeping or watching French movies. Nothing special. It was nice to just sit back and relax.
My Monday was alright too, this morning on my way to school in the train I rifled through a Metro newspaper. This is a newspaper for all of Belgium to promote general knowledge, and is published in Dutch in Flanders, and in an abridged French edition here in Wallonia. On an inside page I found my daily horoscope, which said:
"Were you born under the right star? Probably, because Lady Luck will bend herself in four today to satiate all your desires. Ravage this chance because this good luck won't last but twenty four hours."
It flurried and I had a good Dutch test, so yes, I guess I'd say I had a good day.
Say goodbye to January, and hello shortest month of the year: February.

Schoolweeks

The courses have been picking back up. I've had lots of tests this week, and the begin on Monday were four tests. Lots of work is due and time is slipping by with all the schoolwork.
I've been neglecting to read my French Harry Potter book, and all sorts of other things. But life is good, and I've been enjoying myself. A date has been set for my return, which shall be the 3rd of July, whereupon I will say goodbye to Belgium and hello to the homeland.
Yesterday I had a Rotary meeting so I stayed out until late, foiling my ritual 8-hours of sleep minimum per night. Needless to say, Saturday I'll sleep in.
Other than that I've had a normal week, and all is well. My horoscope this morning said that many good things would come my way in the form of opportunities, se we'll see. I don't know if that has any real significance in the real world.
Anyways, I wish you all a very nice weekend, "et que tout aille bien."

Feline Friends

So there is a cat at this new house, and his name is Malou.

He is a feisty kitty, quite like my own white cat at home. But for the most part he lets me pet him (but not for too long) and we get on well. I visit him several times a day in his basket upon the kitchen windowsill, and I gently stroke him. If he's in a good mood, he purrs. 

He is my new best friend. 

Gent

Today I went to Gent, in Flanders. It was very nice, and a typical sort of outing. 

I will guide you through my escapades there with some photos.

I arrived at the station having had my train delayed by 15 minutes, bringing back my arrival to just past eleven o'clock this morning. There I met Aditi, my Indian exchange friend. She and I went exploring around the south part of the city while we waited for Lily, who was soon to come. We saw a pretty park.

This is the train station, where we collected Lily.

We would later find this to be our dining spot for a dürüm (Turkish beef wrap) with Belgian fries. 

We made our way up to the big square, where many nice old churches and cathedrals may be found in very close proximity. This is the nice part of Gent. 

There are also canals, which we crossed and found rather charming.

A nice little corner.

Aditi and Lily by the canal.

A well-known bridge.

Canal bend with a bridge and houses.

Nice canal.

The port area with boats. Reminiscent of Amsterdam.

Nice scenery. 

The shopping street.

We went back to the station and ate. I had a delayed train in coming back, but this happens often in Belgium, unfortunately. (Worse ratings in over ten years, and worse stats in comparison to other EU members.) 

I had a very nice day in this city, and had a very nice time going out and seeing new things. Europe is a wonderful place.

I had make-your-own crêpes with Sylvain and Margot, who is now back from college for a week at home. They were delicious, we had salty crêpes first with ham, little sausages, and cheese. Afterwards we had sweet with Nutella, honey, brown sugar, and powdered sugar. So good.

Sirault

With a new home comes a new schedule. Here, I have a good extra half hour in the morning to sleep in. I get ready for school, eat breakfast, and then Martine drives Sylvain and me to the St. Ghislain train station. We take the 7:47 train into Mons, and arrive just in time for school. It's realy quite lucky, the scheduling of it all.
To come home I take the opposite train from Mons back to St. Ghislain, and either Martine comes to pick us up, or we take the bus to Sirault.

Here are some pictures of my new home in Sirault:

The flood pump for the driveway. Heavy rains yield use.

Pastureland lies adjacent to the house.

The house

A stone wall betrays the house's former outcropping farmhouse.

New Home

So last week was really busy for me. Tuesday was to last day with the Rossis, and they took me out to a superb restaurant (rated number one for the year in all of Belgium). We had sumptuous steak and cheese-potato mash. I also ate bone marrow, which is a delicacy here, go figure.
Wednesday I gathered my things and left for a new home, in Sirault. Here I´m with Sylvain, my host brother and schoolmate, and his mother, Martine. So far all is going famously, we get on just fine, and Martine cooks just as well as Spiri did.
Last weekend I went to Brandau, Germany for a ringing weekend with the CEA. I had some really good ringing and the company of English-speakers was nice. I thotoughly enjoyed myself. I got to ring a few quarters too, which you can track down on Campanophile if you so wish.
Today was the first day back at school, and Mondays are probably my most enjoyable day of school. I have all my good classes on Mondays (with the exception of history). That being said the fun ends and the whip starts cracking again. Tonight for homework I have to translate a Dutch news article and start an anti-cigarette project for religion.
More later,
Noah

Happy New Year

Hello again everyone.
First of all, I'd like to wish you all a very happy start of 2011, and my best wishes.
I'm still luckily on Christmas Break here in Belgium, and I just got back from England today. (This was a change ringing trip, and if you have no interest in my change ringing, then check back later, because this post will mean little to you.) I left on the 28th of December with the de Kok family of Dordrecht. We took the ferry from Rotterdam overnight to Hull and stayed at Helen Rigby's farm in Newhey, Lancashire for five days. I did what I would probably say is the most ringing I've ever done in such a short span if time. I rang at over 40 towers in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and in the Birmingham area around New Year's, and got to do lots of new things. Among these were my first 12 and 14 bell ringing, some new methods, and I had my first ever British open day, during which I "grabbed" 23 towers in about 8 hours. It was a packed stay, but thoroughly enjoyable.
While in England I celebrated the New Year with ringers at Helen's farmhouse with traditional English foods. I tasted for the first time during my stay Yorkshire pudding, fried prawns, boiled chestnuts, English Christmas cake, sticky toffee pudding, green apple cider, venison pâté, bacon sandwiches, HP sauce, porridge, steak pie, and mice pies. It was really interesting, and English food turns out to be a lot better than I had always imagined. I will also note that in North England the ketchup is not only curry ketchup. There were some normal varieties to be had as well.
I am really happy to have gone on holiday, and grateful to the de Koks for letting me tag along on the trip, they were better to me than I could've asked for. It was really great.
This week concludes my stay with the Rossi family, and Wednesday I'll be moving to my new home for the next few months in Sirault. I'm looking forward to seeing a new family, and hope all goes well. That being said, I'll get packing.
Best wishes and happy holidays,
Noah