FALL HOLIDAYS

 25/10

Belgium teenagers have different holidays than Spanish teenagers.  In Spain we have longer summer holidays than Belgium teenagers, while they have almost two weeks off around the end of October.

During my first week of holidays here in Belgium, I've been studying for my classes in Spain as well as baking with my host sister.

On Wednesday my host family and I decided to take a road trip to the beach. We went to Bray-Dunes, which is a French village close to the Belgian border. 

We stayed there for 3 days. We slept in a small, but cosy, apartment next to the beach. 

The first day we went on a 15 km walk along the beach. We were all really tired after, so we all went to bed early.

The next day there was a massive storm. We tried to go out but it was impossible: the wind was too strong and outside there was sand everywhere. I've never seen anything like it. Since we couldn't go out, we decided to play board games and watch a movie instead.

Throughout the last day the wind wasn't as strong as the day before, but it was still difficult to be outside. However we went for an hour long walk in the dunes. It was so much fun! After that we got into the car but we didn't go straight home. First, we went to collect my host family's son and then we went to another town to collect a parcel. We spent a total of 6 hours in the car.

When we arrived home I was really happy to get out of the car. We had dinner and I went straight to bed. I was so tired but I enjoyed my days at the beach! 

MY AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITES

 19/10

Here in Belgium teenagers don't really go out with their friends on weekdays. They do sport and other activities instead.

My host family is no exception. They have a really busy schedule, and since I have a lot of free time in the afternoons I decided to join them in some of these activities. 

Both my host sisters play volleyball in the same club and they asked me if I wanted to join one of their teams. I joined the P1 and P3 teams. "P" stands for province, which means that I play in first and third division of the province.

I train 3 days a week and I have matches on the weekend.

Playing in these teams has really helped me improve my French and I've also made really good friends. 

THE GENERAL STRIKE IN BELGIUM

 14/10

Today was a weird day because there was a big strike throughout Belgium. 

It seems to mee that strikes are more common in Belgium than they are in Spain. 

Big strikes like this one often involve public transport. Today we were unlucky because most bus drivers were on strike, so there was an even more irregular bus schedule than usual.

Today the bus I usually take didn't pass my stop, so I had to take an earlier bus. In the end I ended up arriving one hour early to Namur.

Most of the teachers didn't come to class today, so I had many hours of free study time, which I used to read a book.

During the last 15 minutes of every class there were small protests in the playground. A teacher would scream some chants and we had to repeat after her.

There wasn't any buses after school either, so my host mum came by car to pick us up.

MY BIRTHDAY

 05/10

Last Friday was my 15th birthday. I was a bit sad because I thought I was going to celebrate my birthday alone, now I realise how wrong I was.

When I got home, I saw my mother and my aunt in my  host family's living room!

At first I was shocked, then I hugged them and we talked for hours.

After many phone calls with my relatives to wish me happy birthday, we decided we would visit Namur the next day.

Sunday came and we met at the train station. We visited the cathedral, we walked around the city a bit and we ate a delicious brunch.

After all that we went back home and we had dinner with my host family and their grandparents. 

Today was my mum and my aunt's last day here. They came to my host family's house and we all went together to the train station so they could take their train to Brussels Airport. 

I had a great time with them, and this weekend made me realise how much I miss them.