157!

friday was day 157 in belgium! it marks a week with my new family and actually is (almost) a half way point in my (almost) year long journey here. its actually a couple days off, but either way that time has gone very quickly. yesterday (yeah, yesterday was friday right?) i went to school. i was a few minutes late but it didn't matter because the teacher that took attendance didn't notice. i am such an invisible student, and i'm okay with that. so i spent an incredibly boring day at school and nothing eventful happened. after school i watched desperate housewives on my computer. it was so good. i love that show! also, i hear theres a new season of american idol started..wondering if i should download that one too or not? so i spent last night at a friends house because it was her birthday. we went with a group first to her house then to the reflex, which is the dance club thing i've talked about before. before i mention how late we were there, i'm going to say that for the first time since i've been here i felt extremely confident about my ability to understand the conversations. granted, i didn't know 100 percent of everything but i felt as though i was fluently understanding. my brain wasn't constantly translating, or struggling to keep up. although i didn't really care to follow the conversations, and thats usually when i understand the most. when i'm not trying. when i'm just sitting, thinking to myself. now, when somebody asks me a question and i know i have to respond then i get nervous, translate every word, and end up not understanding as much. i think this is normal. my responses are bad, but i think my listening skills are growing at a super high rate especially since in my family now its a lot more dutch than the first. so after a long long night of dancing and expensive cola's, we got home around 6am. don't worry folks, this is not a common part of my year here. i'm perfectly aware that i am not in belgium just to party, but i do believe that to a certain extend its part of the whole experience. this year is like baking a cake. first, you read the recipe, usually included is a picture of your end result. for me, this was reading all the information about an exchange year and reading/hearing comments from people who have done it. after reading the recipe, you collect your ingredients. this can be going to the store, digging in the cupboard, or asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar. for me, my ingredient collecting was packing, repacking, stocking up on american hygiene products, and asking people for advice as well as buying a good rain jacket. while making a cake, you add ingredients one at a time. if you throw everything in the bowl then in the oven right away, your result will be something like mush with a couple baked eggs on top. (i could have used without describing that, but since i am a food person i felt like being descriptive. now, if i were to publish my comparison in a legitimate article i would leave that part out. just kidding here.) For me, adding my ingredients is what i'm just finishing up with. i feel as though i've found my place in this strange land. learning and adding a little at a time, i've created a mixture i call my exchange year. The last thing you do before your cake goes in the oven is mixing. Usually with a mixer, such as my KitchenAid 90th Anniversary Edition Mixer with a glass bowl. Thank you, Aung Gigi..it was the best graduation present ever. Anyways. Since i didnt bring my mixer to belgium with me, i have to do my own sort of mixing. Mixing: mix, blend, put together, unify. To bring my life here and home together, so to say...to make everything come full circle. Then you put your cake in the oven. Oven = summer. I'm hoping it will heat up around here, so i can get a tan just like a cake. So at the end, you have a cake. maybe not a perfect cake, but a cake nonetheless. A cake is not a cake without frosting, but if you're anything like me then you can spend the rest of your life decorating. To sum things up, I'm Jamie, and i'm a cake. Goodnight world :)