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Belgium it is
Published on January 29, 2014 12:28 PM
2 minute read
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Remember in this blog where I mentioned that I would spend 2014 in Belgium before going to college? Well, I just want to let you know guys i'm already there since the 26 of January.

To explain things a bit, i'm part of an exchange program of the Rotary Club (my mom side of my family is a member) where I get to live for a year in a country and I get to meet the country, live with three or two families, repeat the last year of school and attend many meetings of the Rotary Club and sometimes reprent the country in a event.

Belgium (much like Canada) has two language sides, one French and the other Dutch, and I got to live in the Dutch side of the country in a town called Turnhout, which is 10km from the frontier between Belgium and The Netherlands. Not only that, but i'm also obligated to learn Dutch, which I just started yesterday. So far, I think I can get the hang of it (it's very similar in some ways to English), but I need to remember some of the basic words i've heard.

I also started today school. It really feels like being a stranger in a strange land, specially because of the Dutch language barrier. The good thing is that some of the teachers talk english and them with some of the local students said they could help me to understand what is happening in the class, so i'm not too worried.

So anyway, that's all for today in this update in the land of waffles.

Comments
0
Posted on January 29, 2014 12:47 PM

Wow that sounds fantastic Alex. I haven't been to Belgium but I did spend 4 weeks in Amsterdam way back in 2000. I'd love to visit there though. It's like a beer lovers Disneyland there. :)

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:51 PM

I haven't tried the beer (I think Rotary doesn't allow alcohol drinking), but yeah, i've heard many times that Belgium has some of the best beer in the world.

Speaking of Amsterdam, i'm going there on march.

Posted on January 29, 2014 1:31 PM

that's awesome man!  I've never been to Europe.  I'd like to go though.  This is a great opportunity, I hope you are enjoying it. 

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:51 PM

Yeah, i'm having a very good time.

Posted on January 29, 2014 1:52 PM

I was in Belgium a few years back for a music festival by the name of Rock Werchter. I cannot express how amazing this festival is. Always an amazing lineup and Belgian people are lovely to drink/smoke with. Lineup this year is looking great already http://www.rockwerchter.be/en/line-up

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:54 PM

Looks really awesome. If I have the time, money and permission, I would like to go there, even if it's just one day. I'm specially interested on Thursday and Saturday.

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:11 PM

Enjoy Belgium, I here nice things.

I wish I went away during university, to defuse all that stress.

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:55 PM

It really is a nice place.

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:20 PM

Have fun and be safe Alex! I wouldn't mind learning Dutch. I plan on going to Amsterdam some day before I die. Although I'd rather not say why... lol. Sealed

Posted on January 29, 2014 2:55 PM

Is it for certain famous green leaf?....

Posted on January 29, 2014 6:40 PM

Yum Waffleland! I wonder if there are arcades in Amsterdam and what that scene would look like. I just heard there are Japanese arcades in Wakiki, Hawaii.

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:30 PM

I would know if there's any arcade on Amsterdam, if it wasn't for the fact that i'm not there, and neither The Netherlands but on Belgium..... oh well, horay for waffle land!

Posted on January 30, 2014 4:33 PM

OMG there's a Waffle Land Minecraft server! Ha!

Posted on January 29, 2014 6:53 PM

I looked up what a Rotary Club is. Interesting.

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:31 PM

You know, for being a mundial organization, sometimes the Rotary isn't that known.

Posted on January 29, 2014 7:01 PM

That's awesome. I so wish I had the opportunity to do something like this.

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:32 PM

Hey, you're still young, maybe an opportunity like this will appear when you least expect it.

Posted on January 29, 2014 9:20 PM

I live in the USA, in the Deep South.  Im not sure they speak english here either. But they sure like to eat!

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:32 PM

I'm also like that here. I understand little but I love the food :P

Posted on January 29, 2014 10:39 PM

That's awesome dude, hope you have a great time. I know you're there for a learning experience but have fun as well. It would be cool if you took pics and stuff and made a blog later on, but you don't have to though, just an idea. I would love to go to Russia and Japan one day. Well remember, stay in school, study hard but don't overwhelm yourself, and have fun.

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:34 PM

Thanks. I still don't have that much photos, but i'm sure I can take some and post them during BaD.

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:53 AM

Your ability to learn so many languages never ceases to impress me. Have fun in Belgium! That's awesome.

Posted on January 30, 2014 2:36 PM

Thanks. Well, with Dutch it would be the third language I learn and the fourth I have, but I guess that you consider that a considarable amount of learnt languages.

Posted on January 30, 2014 6:04 PM

So Spanish (native), English, French and Dutch (learned), right?

Posted on January 30, 2014 7:20 PM

Yeah, something like that, though I would put Dutch as in-progress.

Posted on January 31, 2014 4:23 AM

With me it's English (level of U.S. Graduate Student, according to St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School and Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Dallas, TX, as well as Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX), Spanish (level 6, going on 7 according to duolingo, High School Diploma level according to three Bishop Dunne Catholic School courses), French (level 6, going on 7, according to duolingo) and German (Basics completed in duolingo). 

I think you'd have me beat in French and Spanish pretty handily. 

Posted on January 30, 2014 7:31 PM

and thus it is time for you to venture forth into this new foreign land and explore all that it has to offer! Just dive in and enjoy! just make sure you don't insult someone's grandma when you try to speak the alien tongue.

Posted on January 30, 2014 8:31 PM

Thanks for the words. Don't worry, maybe i'll insult their mother in spanish instead :P