International students say the darndest things. The best part about our new international friends is that we can make complete fools out of ourselves and they don't mind, because they have been in and are in our positions as well. They are living in a culture they are not used to and, though they are a bit more experienced in Antwerp than we are, they are learning new things everyday just like us.
Yesterday, we went to a farmer's market. It was HUGE and there was a plethora of any fruit or vegetable you could possibly want. Not to mention massive amounts of olives. So. Many. Olives. Eline bought us some mini-waffles and they were delicious. Emilee and I inhaled them like we had never been fed before.
After purchasing some fresh fruit, we went over to Eline's mother's house for some coffee. I love the little coffee breaks here. Even though life in this city can be so fast paced and overwhelming, there is always time for a coffee break in order to get away from everything and I have really appreciated that so far. It seems like at home I am too busy to just sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and visit with friends, but it's such an everyday thing here and I am in love with the idea.
Eline's mother's (whose name is escaping me at the moment. Help, Eline? haha) house is gorgeous. She has some beautiful artwork and the architecture of the building is just amazing. House Hunters International would be drooling over this home. She has a puppy Wilma, and it was great to play with her. It kind of made me miss Murphy (who by the way, I skyped with the other day). KIND OF. hehe.
Eline has exams on Monday, so we parted ways and went back to our apartment, but not before her mother so generously loaned us one of her big cooking pots. We were debating on whether it was worth it or not to buy one. We wanted to make soups and freeze portions so we can eat it later on, but we didn't have anything to cook it in. It was so nice of her to just dig one out of her cupboards and let us borrow one of hers! We really appreciate everything Eline and her mother have done for us so far. =)
Last night we went to a movie with Anssi (Finnish), Tanya (Finnish), and Janis (Latvian). We saw Little Fockers, which was terrible by the way, but I very much enjoyed watching Tanya ask for "One to Little Fuckers." (woops, sorry this blog just turned rated R). The best part is, she knows how to say "Fockers," but she explained to me that her accent is so thick that she can get away with swearing. People don't say anything because they blame it on her accent and the fact that English is her second language. "I just like to say it because I can." Oh my Lord do I love this woman.
Speaking of English as a second language, or as Liz and Miranda coined it, ESL, it is hilarious. Some of the phrases they use are so adorable we just have to laugh. Emilee and I definitely have to over-simplify our sentences and make sure we don't use slang in order for them to fully understand what we are trying to say. What is funny is that sometimes when Emilee and I are alone, we still find ourselves speaking in over-simplified sentences or in round about ways when clearly we can understand each other fine either way. The other day Emilee said "I have a lot of hiccups." Ahahahaha. I loved it.
After the movie, we went to a pub. We had a couple drinks and had some great conversations. It was fun to explain fraternity houses to them, because their only image of them are what they see in movies. It was so great to get to know them a little better too. Next Thursday is their last Thursday so we are hoping to make it memorable for them. We will definitely miss them, but hopefully we will make more international friends when classes start.
We start dutch classes next week! Ahhhhh. It should be interesting to say the least. Wish us luck!
Much Love all, <3.
No comments:
Post a Comment