Rotary Ceremony in Brussels

                                                                                                                        Thursday, August, 25th 2011

This is the story of how 200+ Rotary members, inbound, rebound and host family's met up in Brussels for the day, and pretty much took over the city! :)

My host mom took me to the train station, where I thought I would be getting on the train for my first time since arriving in Belgium, but turns out we were just meeting other exchange students there. Instead we got in a car and drove into Belgium.  Seeing all the old, and beautiful building was defiantly a highlight of my day!

We (me, and 3 other in-bounders) got dropped off in a park, in front of  Palace Royal where the Royal family used to live. There we met up with the rest of the exchange students. I don't think I've ever seen so many blazers being worn at the same place at a given time before, I'm sure we should have called Guinness World Records. There we got split up into groups depending on our districts; 2170 for me. There we meet other inbound students who live near us from all over the world, including an amazing group of amazing Canadians rockin' the bright red blazers with me!

Then we toured the Royal families house, and walked to the Grand Palace, where we meet up with the two other districts for a HUGE picture of all the Rotary students. Then we went into the Town Hall for a flag ceremony with the Presidents of the Rotary districts. After that we walked to a restaurant that looked tiny from the outside for lunch, but we walked in and walked up 4 sets of stairs into a big dinning room. These Belgian are sneaky! :)For lunch we had Swedish meatballs...explain that one to me? and french fries, not Belgian frites but French fries... explain that too? After lunch we walked back to the park and then made our way to the Parliament Buildings. They were really cool, and reminded me of the one's in Victoria. (oh how I miss home!</3) We went into the house of commons and a lady told us about how the government works...but considering Belgium doesn't have a proper government I don't know if it still works the same way. And not once did the lady mention the fact that Belgium didn't have a proper government. After the lady told us about the government, the President either of Rotary or of the Country, but idk came and gave this way to long speech to us, and looking around about a 25% of the people looked like they were sleeping during it. After that we went into the entrance and got a drink, then we walked back to the park where another host parent came and pick us up and drove us back home.
It was a full day of busy and tiring activities, but a lot of fun! :)

Miss you all back home and love you too! <3

Similarities Vs. Differences... Difference's Win!

I knew that Belgium was going to be different than Canada, but I didn't expect so many differences. This post is all about the differences I have noticed so far and my first of being in the country.

When I was in Canada I never thought twice about flushing the toilet, I just pushed the handle down, and forgot about it, well in Belgium I wish it was that easy. Above the toilet is a large white thing. You have to push down on it to add water to the toilet and I think (or atleast I) push the top of the thing to stop the water. But sometimes you forgot to push the top and it looks like the toilet is going to flood, so I quietly freak out and push the top as fast as I can.
Also door handles, are just something you hold and twist in Canada, well I have never been locked in or out of so many rooms before. I don't know if it is because the handles are old, or what but they turn the opposite direction of the handles in Canada and often take both my handles to turn and open the door.
When I was at both the grocery store and the movie store, I was so surprised when I saw that they sell alcohol at both.
More differences:
-my host family eats dinner late, like at 8pm which was strange for me
-I don't think I'm allowed to wear tank tops out in public without a blazer, cardigan or jacket over, even though it was 21 degress today
-the shower has to handles, one for water pressure,and the other for temperature, and I have yet to washed my hair in water that was not cold, or rinse in water that was not boiling hot...
-my house does not have WiFi, which is bad for me and my facebook addiction, but good for getting rid of my facebook addiction

More First! I tried real Belgian chocolate for the first time yesterday and it was delicious. Note to my parents, that stuff we were buying at Walmart and the Bargain Shop has nothing on the real stuff!

I got my first ever cell phone today! When I was choosing what phone to buy, I was temped to get a blackberry, but I figured that it wont work in Canada so instead I bought one of the cheapest phones there because I only need it for a year. I have no idea how to work the darn thing or how I am supposed to pay for it because it is mostly all in French, but well see how that goes, and I don't know anything about my plan so I don't know if I am able to text and call Canada or not|?

Last night we had some family friends over for dinner, and I became a true Belgian. Yes it is true, I had my first Belgian beer. It was really good! It was cherry flavored and my host sister told me that it is considered a 'girls drink' I think it was kinda like a cooler, but really I have no idea?

After dinner, we went to the video store to rent a movie. Seeing the translations for some of the movies from Canada, I was LOLing hard. Like House Bunny was called, La femme du la masion, which translates into The women of the house. We ended up getting Holes, and I don't know if it was just because I was there or what but we watched it in English with French subtitles!
Yesterday me my host mom Lawerence, and my host sister Louise went to the grocery store. I was more excited when I saw that they had Heniz ketchup, then I was when I met my host family! They also sold strawberry kiwi pop! and the same make up I use in Canada, but at almost double the price.

I don't know if this falls under a first or a difference, but last night there was a thunderstorm and I was ready to scream at the tin roof above my bed!

I'm sure there are a lot more first but I can't think of anymore right now. So until next time, au revoir <3

I made it!

I survived the flight!, customs! and baggage pick up! Well with the help of Jasmyn, Sylvie, and Vivian <3 As I walked out of the secure area and I saw my friends from Belgium who came to Canada on RYE last year, Francois and Louis, and then I saw a little boy standing in front of his parents with a sign that read "Jane Welcome Rotary" it was the cutest think I'd seen in awhile!
My host family is so nice! They are so helpful and very understanding. Their house is beautiful! Expect I know that I am going to hurt myself soon on the stairs...
When I first met them at the airport, I was so overwhelmed, but I survived it! We had tea at the airport, and then drove to their house. It was nothing like I expected, actually a whole lot better! I got a tour of the house and then went to my room and  unpacked, showered and slept for the next 16 hours... And when I woke up I was still tired... I hate jet lag, last night I did not sleep at all so I have been up for 30 hours. My host mom went to the store to buy me sleeping pills for tonight, lets hope they help, or else I might get put in a crazy hospital haha

Are we there yet?

Can’t believe I would ever be writing this post where I am right now. On a 16 hour flight (kay well maybe it’s not actually 16 hours but it feels like I’ve been on this plane my whole life!) from Montreal to Brussels.  This is the story of how I packed my room, and flew away…

Packing! :)
                You never realize how much ‘stuff’ you own until you actually have to do something with it. I started packing last Saturday, a whole week before I left. I figured I would only bring one suitcase of clothes and gifts, that way I would be able to buy a lot of new clothes when I arrived, and I thought to myself “I don’t use any of my ‘stuff’ at home, so why would I want hull it across the world with me?” So I started packing and finally by Tuesday, a whole 4 days after I started packing I decided that I was finished….

Well then I move my suitcase off my bed, so that I could actually sleep in my bed, and that’s when it happened…

I lifted it and almost killed my back! My suitcase felt like it weighed a TON! So after all my hard work and determination of only packing one suitcase, it felt like I had just wasted the past 4 days, I had to find another suitcase, and repack everything.  And for some ‘odd’ reason when I checked in this morning one of my bags was overweight and the other was close to being so too… and the worst part is I don’t even remember what I packed, guess I’ll have a few surprises when I go to get dresses tomorrow J

Flights! 

So my family kinda has a flying curse that was put on us, every time we fly anywhere at least 1 of our planes is either delayed, cancelled, or we miss it. We’ll this trip had no exceptions.  For my flight from Prince Rupert to Vancouver, I had to be at the airport bus at 5:45pm to check it. Well I could make this sound better on my part by lying and saying that I missed the bus because I was driving to the bus, but no that’s not what happened. What really happened was, we arrived at the bus stop at 5:25pm, but and when we arrived like no surprise it was raining, so we sat in our car waiting for the bus to arrive. When it came we went and put my luggage on the truck, then went back to the car to goodbye. Well I guess we took a little too long, because all of the sudden we were watching the bus pull away without us on it.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my family do something so quickly! We all jumped in the car and chased the bus to the ferry dock, and got there just in time, thank fully.  When we got to the airport, I ran into Mr.Killbery a Rotarian from my club who is in charge of RYE, he was there picking up Prince Rupert’s inbound student Mariah. She and I have been talking on Facebook, so luckily for us we got to meet right before I left J

I woke up this morning at the Fairmont hotel in Vancouver airport. “WOW, that was only this morning, it feels like forever ago”. Anyways, only good to report there I think, except that today and last night was one of the hardest days ever! Saying good bye to my family was the saddest thing I have ever had to do! I hated it, but I know it’s so worth it, and I’m going to appreciate them so much more when I come home. Flew from Vancouver to Montreal, and during that flight I came to the realization that Canada is only lakes, and farm land… after the first 10 pictures I took, I realized they all looked the same and decided to stop, until I found something interesting… haven’t taken a picture since 12:30 this afternoon hah :)

We landed in Montreal and only had about 15 minutes before we had to board our next plane, just long enough to grab something to eat, and come to another realization, that I don’t know how I am going to survive in a country that pretty much only speaks French, if I barely made it in Montreal for 15 minutes. Uhh-oh :()

                So now I am on the plane to Brussels. I’m sitting in row 23, Jasmyn and Vivian are sitting together in row 40, and Sylvie is a couple rows behind me. The plane I’m the seats go, 2 seats, 4 seats, 2 seats, so I don’t have a wall to lay against, but I am on the aisle, which allows for easy access to the washroom :)! When I got on the plane I took a sleeping pill, because I am so tired and decided it would be best to sleep as much as possible on the plane, well the sleeping pill didn’t work, and the whole time change thing is messing me up, it’s only  8:55pm back home in Rupert, but it’s 6 am in Belgium, so I don’t know what time it is right now, because I have no idea where we are right now, all I know is that it’s dark out the windows and I’m tired but can’t fall asleep and I’m pretty sure I’m the only person awake on the plane.

I am uploading a couple of blogs right now because I haven't had time to post them,but I had time to write them, more to come!  

Do you have 5 minutes to spare?

Ever start reading something and spend a good amount of time, that you could be doing something more productive? And after you realize that it's a waste of your time, it's already to late to stop reading? Well this is that post. This post is only information on the process of a Rotary Youth Exchange... So if you could be using the five minutes it will take you to read this to do something more productive, stop reading here and get 'err done.


Only 14 more days until I leave for Belgium, and start the 2nd year of my RYE.

              Second year of my exchange? Did I read that properly, you ask yourself. And the answer is Yes, you did. See, doing a RYE is a three year process.
 During the first year I am called an `Outbound student`, and it started in October. When I filled out the first and second applications, had an interview with my Rotary club, went to RYLA South, got accepted to become an exchange student, got my guarantee form, went to Outbound Orientation.
 My second year of RYE starts as soon as I leave for Belgium, and during this second year I`ll be called an `Inbound student`.
 When I return from my exchange next summer I`ll then and forever be called an `Rebound student`, meaning I have already been on my exchange, and experienced the greatness of it, and now it`s my turn to encourage others to apply for RYE, be a mentor to future Outbound students and participate in activities with Inbound students.

Well I'm hoping now that you finished reading this post, you didn't just say to yourself  "Wow, Jane was right, I should have been doing something more productive with the last 5 minutes instead of reading this"