270!

hello world! happy saturday! woah, already saturday..and what a great saturday it was! i definitely enjoyed myself today. i think everyone i was with enjoyed themselves as well. so, as you can see if you read what time i'm writing this...its late. i'll get to why that is later. must talk about the day in order eh! so this morning i woke up not too late then had some breakfast and started BAKING! my host mom made chocolate mousse, then helped me make tiramisu, then i made little strawberry cheesecake things too. note to self: generic cream cheese, not philidelphia brand, is really salty in belgium. sometimes generic is not a good idea! ah! oh well. it was not so bad. i found it pretty tasty actually! here's me putting the finishing touches on my little strawberry cheesecakes tonight..

anyways, it was a nice morning of baking. i love baking, even if i'm not the best at it, it will always be a hobby that i enjoy. sooo after that i got ready for the afternoon/night! couldnt put on nice clothes before i started baking of course..that doesnt make sense, haha. so i brushed the flour off me, took a shower, and threw on a dress and the off we went! tonight was really great. i went with both of my host families and my almost-3rd-family (because im leaving early..) and first we went BOWLING!!! it was awesome, i love bowling..but i think between the two games, my highest score was 77 and the total high score between ALL OF US was only 117. hahaha pretty much professionals, i know. so here we are! a great picture of myself and the kindest Belgians i've ever met!

doesn't it look fun? is it not weird to think that no more than 9 months ago these people were total strangers to me?! i feel like anything but a stranger now. they were my families, they will always sort of be my families, and they will always be my friends. not only was bowling really fun, but then we went to eat CHINESE! i seriously love belgian chinese food. i know that doesnt make sense, but i mean it! in turnhout there's a nice chinese place my first family took me to for my birthday, and theres also the one we went to tonight in oud-turnhout thats also really good. its not like eating noodles from a box from kings wok in brookings or like eating an eggroll from hyvee. its like a cast-iron skillet of food they bring you almost like fajitas at a mexican restaurant. hard to describe, but oh so tasty! the weird part is that my first night in belgium my family went to eat chinese at this place, and here i am..almost the last day, and we're back eating chinese. its all coming full circle i guess! the first time i was completely tired, not hungry, understanding nothing about dutch. and now here i was, excited to eat chinese with some tasty wine, casually speaking dutch with everyone and almost done with my adventure. so here we are...

afterwards we came 'home' to have to dessert of course! little did i know i would be receiving beautiful jewelry, a photo book, apron, scarf, and other awesome things like a LUNCH BOX (i finally have my own! that makes me feel like a true belgian) from the families...i dont deserve presents for leaving..especially a little bit early, ah...seriously the nicest people in the world..heck, i dont even deserve chinese for leaving. and bowling! wow. it was great. sooo just for giggles and gratefulness, here are my awesome (but not quite complete) families one, two, and almost three :)

definition of a great day! might even be my favorite day of all...hmm. well thanks for reading! hope your day was splendid as well!