Merry Christmas

A puppet show for children in Liège


The Grandparents


Dinner chez Eric and Marianne, my host Aunt and Uncle


Coraline, Marianne (my host-aunt) and myself, preparing the fuit salad


Christmas Eve table, complete with Racklette



Carolin(From Panama), Nicolas, Me, and Coraline

Jean-Pierre and Corinne(my host parents), Coraline, Carolin, et Moi.



Hello my dear friends and family, Monday, December 29, 2008

Merry Christmas! I’m back in Liège, Belgium with my host family for the holidays. Since September 6th I’ve been studying in Paris, which makes almost 4 months since I left home. I can’t believe the first semester here has almost come to an end. We have one more week of school after Christmas break, and then it’s the beginning of a new semester. New students will arrive to take part in the program, a second orientation for them will take place, and we’ll all choose our new classes for the spring.
Christmas here went by calmly. Christmas Eve we had Racklette, a feast of cheese and meat that you cook yourself on a little machine in the middle of the table. I've come to love the dish, ever since my stay in Belgium in 2005/6. The cheese is placed on little individual metal spatula-like things, which are then inserted into the machine and heated until the cheese is melted and bubbly. The meat is usually cooked on the grill on top of the machine. Once cooked, the meat and cheese are eaten on top of potatoes or bread, with other things like pickles and salad on the side. The dish is usually associated with ski, since it's fun to do but takes a long time to eat. Dinner was followed by a bûche de Noel, an icecream cake in the shape of a log.
My host brother, Nicolas, and his Panamanian wife came over for the evening, and after dinner we all opened presents until late at night. In Belgium, (and possibly in other parts of Europe as well) the presents are opened at night because the early morning stockings are replaced by a holiday that happens earlier in the year, called Saint Nicolas Day (December 6th). Christmas Eve we were 6 all together: my host parents, my host sister Coraline who is one year older than me and on her 3rd year of University, Nicolas (a year younger than me and in his first year of University), and his wife, Carolin. I've attached a couple photos from that night
Christmas day we all went over to my host uncle's house for a big lunch/dinner with the whole family. We ate deer and chestnuts, among other things, and then after dinner my host family and I went to go visit the great grandmother, who lives in an assisted living center. I hadn't, of course, seen her since I was last in Belgium, and she had no idea I was coming to visit. She recognized me right away however, and wanted to know all about what I was up to. She's 96 years old and has the most incredible memory. If her body weren't weak and bent over, I would never have thought she was older than 70!
Now that Christmas is over I'm finally starting to concentrate more on my homework. I really have not gotten very far. I've been spending most of my time reading comic books, walking around town, eating, and doing activities with Carolin, Nicolas' wife (who doesn't have any exams to do in January). I told myself I would finish this giant book on food and globalization while I was here, but so far I'm not even a third of the way through. I'm really going to have to bust my butt when I get back to Paris. My train leaves Tuesday at 7:49 in the morning, and it's not at all too soon, with all the work I have to do. It'll be sad to have to say goodbye to sleeping in, getting cooked for, watching movies, and having a constant supply of chocolate on hand though. That's one amazing thing about Belgium: it's the only country I've visited where the people are as crazy about chocolate as I am or more so. I'll have to bring some back to keep me going while I'm studying back in Paris.
Well, I should get back to work. Today I spent my morning downtown at la Batte, the big Sunday market in Liège. It was a beautiful morning. Since yesterday the clouds have left and the sun has come out, although with it came the cold. There's ice on the streets even at midday, with the sun shining like nothing else. I was pretty chilled by the time I got back to the house, but I think I can say I got my dose of vitamin D today.
Happy New Year and happy holidays to you all!
Love,

Rebecca

A few more pics

classes and other things

So another month has gone by. It's been getting very cold lately, and finally feels like winter. It snowed for the second time today. Thick, wet snowflakes that melt as soon as they touch the ground. It didn't snow for very long, but it was pretty while it lasted.
I should really write more often; it would make my blog posts a lot shorter and a lot easier to write. A lot has happened this month, but where do I start? I'll start with Thanksgiving, since that was the last big event.
Turkey day took place at an American restaurant in Paris, chosen by our program. Instead of starting the feast around 4pm, which would be traditional in the US, the program Europeanized the sacred meal and made the reservations for 7:30. The food, however, was very traditional: salad with corn, unripened tomatoes and a sweet vinaigrette, soggy green beans, dry turkey breast, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie for dessert. It wasn't the meal I had hoped for, but the the party was fun anyway. There was live, cheesy American music performed by a French couple, and lots of wine to go around. Because it was an American holiday, the leaders of our program decided we should speak English instead of French, and so for the first time I got to hear the chief of the program, Monique Middleton, speak English in her thick French accent. There was an after party held by some of the students later, but I didn't think I could take any more wine...
Speaking of wine, mid-november was the festival of the Beaujolais Nouveau, the very first tasting of this year's wine. Light and fruity, this wine was the occaision for many a restaurant to put on large tastings. Our program took us to a tiny restaurant called the "Verre Volé" in the 10th district, that had been temporarily turned into a wine bar. It was jam-packed with people, but was well worth the trip because the wine and the hors-d'oeuvres served with it were amazing!
School's been going well. I really spend most of my time in art studios, and spend very little time doing homework for my academic classes. All academic classes in the Sarah Lawrence program have student-teacher conferences every other week where one can ask questions about the class and do an extra project on the side. In French class, my project has been to read Tintin books, and then write a two-page analysis on each. It's really just an excuse to reread Tintin's adventures and get credit for it, but the professor doesn't seem to care so long as I'm practicing my French.
Multicultural France class has been loads of fun lately. As part of the class each student has been giving a 20 oral presentation on the subject they are studying alongside the class's theme of immigration. My subject was food and globalization, and since I couldn't stand the idea of just standing and talking at the class in my bad French for 20 min., I went out and bought exotic salad ingredients and put together the salad during my presentation. The professor, a fantastic Congolese man and a well-known figure in France, listened patiently as I talked, and then excitedly tossed the salad for me as soon as it was ready. He wasn't shocked, as most Fench teachers would be that I brought food into the classroom, but on the contrary dug-into the salad as soon as he could and proceded to serve the rest of the class. I think he was glad to have something to keep him awake while we talked. At the end of class he suggested we bring wine to the next presentation! And we did...but that's another story.
Christmas break starts on December 20th an goes until January 4th. I can't wait. I'll be spending x-mas with my host family in Liege, Belgium, from when I spent my senior year there in high school. I am very excited to see them and the city after 2 1/2 years. Then, on December 30th I'm heading back to Paris to see the new-year's celebrations and finish my end-of-semester homework.
Sending warm wishes from Paris!
Love,

Rebecca