French is Hard

Ok, so I haven't posted anything in forever and that's not good. I'm really looking forward to posting some new pictures from my trips to Paris and London, and also from my birthday, etc. SOON (:D)... BUT, before I do that I just need to get this out there:

Throughout my time spent here in Belgium I can’t help but notice a growing trend among the people I’ve come into contact with. So many people have this innate need for everything to be labeled; classified as black or white, put in a box and all neatly tied up in a bow. We all have this desire more or less, for things to make sense to us with no loose ends or gray areas. This is because the unknown is scary; even if we aren’t consciously aware of this, the state of not understanding something unnerves us. It sets off almost like a little tick inside our brains that is the catalyst of all this craziness. I think that being curious is a wonderful thing. It poses an opportunity to learn and experience in a unique way, and leads us to answers we didn’t even know we had the questions to. However, sometimes “finding answers”, strict black and white, apples and oranges is really difficult. And sometimes trying to force a thing or idea into a specific category puts a damper on the very thing that makes it what is and makes it special and wonderful. I don’t know if I’m making any sense but I feel like I’ve been seeing people left and right struggling to classify things as “right” or “wrong” and completely missing the point of it because of their incessant search for “the answer” when all they need to do is accept things as they are. Some of the most beautiful things in life are the things that have no scientific explanation and can be interpreted in many ways. I wish people would learn that gray is ok and that you aren’t stupid for not having the answer to everything.

So moving  on... I really do love being an exchange student. I've had the chance to visit the Parliament in Bruxelles and Namur(the Wallonie Parliament), visit the royal palace, go kayaking with all of the exchange students on an epic 10 kilometer voyage down the "La Lesse", eat WAYY too much, explore various cities in Belgium with exchange students and friends from school, go to really cool festivals and Belgian parties, visit museums and cemeteries to learn about the First World War in Belgium, and of course meet so many wonderful people, whether they be from school or fellow exchangers from around the world! 

Along with the planned learning experiences, there are always the fun, and just as equally entertaining unplanned ones! WOO! Like accidentally washing my clothes in only Calgon, which has the sole purpose of keeping calcium from building up in the washer (hence the name) and wondering why my clothes didn’t get cleaned very well… which I later came to the conclusion that the washer was just old haha, nope, still wrong Caroline. Then there's running into the glass door that we have going into the computer/workout room (its literally just one big sheet of glass besides the tiny little metal door clutch thingy that can be hard to see if your not looking for it), and running into these little posts that line most of the sidewalks in Thuin because I wasn't looking where I was busy waving to one of my friends (we don't have these in Florida haha). Then of course there’s always waiting for nonexistent trains, and surviving mountain biking in gym class (which in my defense is a lot more challenging than it sounds) I swear, if one of the trails was taking us biking on the edge of a cliff I wouldn’t be surprised… but of course it’s okay because we are wearing our yellow reflector jackets, and those will save us. lol. Every day there are always things that catch me by surprise, but that's all the fun of being on exchange!