Something Orange

Well, I suppose it was inevitable. November has arrived.  Sigh.  I am not sure how I feel about this, other than highly pleased that the warm-ish weather is holding out here in Bruges.  It may be rainy, but at least it is not frigid.  Although, perhaps I shouldn't mention this because I will of course wake up tomorrow to a giant frost or something.  So pretend like I never said anything about the weather, okay?  Thanks.

Anyway, yesterday was a really fun day.  I did my first official presentation to my host Rotary club.  It was a lovely afternoon.  Paul came and picked me up and we walked over to the Crown Plaza Hotel on the Burg.  Then it was time for some mingling and small-talk at the bar.  I need to insert another special thanks here to Piet for bringing me some of the homemade apple juice I talked about earlier and some Belgian peanut butter!  It does exist!  So thank you thank you!  (And please tell Anouk congratulations for me :)  After receiving these exciting gifts, I met most of the club informally before my presentation which was very nice, but also a bit counter-productive.  You see, my presentation (as instructed by Rotary International) was about me.  I am supposed to go to these Rotary clubs and tell them who I am, where I am from, what I am studying, why I came to Belgium . . . etc.  The problem is, when you meet the club before hand, all of these questions are usually asked and answered by way of small-talk.  It got to the point where I was telling people (jokingly of course) that I couldn't answer anymore questions because it would ruin my presentation.  I wasn't even safe with the topic of Cardinal's baseball!  It was quite hilarious.  Anyway, the lunch was fun as I was seated at the President's table between Paul and Piet, so even though I understood maybe five words of the meeting, I had an enjoyable lunch-time conversation.

Side note, Rotary really needs to rethink sending people to a country (or a region) where they do not speak the native language.  I was told that my French and English would be adequate to study and give presentations to the clubs, and that is true.  However, I feel terrible that I do not speak Flemish.  And I feel even worse that I do not really have the time to learn with my current academic schedule.  I know my presentations are understood, but I believe that speaking the language of the people you are living amongst is a simple sign of respect.

Okay, side note over.  Back to my interesting afternoon.  I met tons of kind, interesting, and hospitable Rotarians and it was very nice to be introduced to the club.  The flag-exchanging ceremony went well, too.  So I am looking forward to coming back!

After the meeting I attempted to do work without much success.  At five-o-clock I received a lovely Halloween surprise from Kaatje and Paul!  Kaatje brought me this lovely flower arrangement.  She said they couldn't bring me a pumpkin but at least it is something orange.  I totally agree.  So thank you both so much!  I absolutely love the flowers.  They brighten my room and they brightened my day!  They were just what I needed.

After a dinner of a peanut butter and honey sandwich (YAY!)  Rita and I went over to another residence to celebrate our friend Juliana's birthday.  It was a nice relaxing evening with good friends, good music, and lots of pictures.  I opted out of the giant Halloween party (I never could find a costume anyway) which was just as well because I had had a wonderful day.  So I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!  Keep the comments coming, I love hearing from everyone!

Peace, Love, and Waffles