Noel en Belgique (Christmas in Belgium)

Today is the 25th of December and for most of the world that means only one thing. Christmas or other Holiday that is celebrated around this time. This is my first Christmas away from my family, and it really just is not the same without them. Here in Belgium its 10 degrees Celsius and has been poring rain down for the last few days.

Yesterday was Christmas with my host moms side of the family. One of the traditions in the city is to go down to the local church where they have a little Christmas mass with a choir and little dramatic skits. When we got there i found out that most of my host cousins were taking part in it, which was cool to see what they were up to since I had seen them last.

After this we went back to the Aunt's house for dinner and a gift exchange. This year of Christmas i got underwear and a book for Christmas, this would be every 10-year-old's nightmare, but i really needed more cloths and the book is in English and French and is written for young children, so its only a little bit of a challenge for me to read. Over all this Christmas abroad was very different then my normal Christmases back in Canada.

Travel in Belgium

As of yesterday my Christmas break has officially started. However exams were over on Tuesday. This has given me much time to travel around to the places that i do not get a chance to go very often, and the places that are just to big and full of things to see in just one day. In Belgium the method of choice for transportation is trains as they go everywhere, like everywhere. This has made it very easy for me to get around to see the sites here and still get back home in time for dinner, which for me is usually two half frozen hamburgers at the grocery store attached to Guillemins (the big train station in Liege).

 In the interest of saving time instead of telling you every city I have been to and you looking it up then copying and pasting the next one, I have made a little map of all the places that I have visited in my travels so far. Below you will see a mass of red where all the lines connect, that is Liege. My host city. Well not really I actually live 30 minutes south by train from there. Due to these constant train rides around Belgium I have gotten very use to sitting on a train for upwards of 5 hours a day. Today however, was special. Today going from Hony to Ypres and back i spent an estimated 9-10 hours on trains. In that time i saw a large portion of Belgium and had my very first glimpse of an authentic medieval windmill. It was rather cool, especially since there had been a large number of modern electric windmills installed behind it. It is really nice to see the people here benefiting from the ridiculously strong winds that never really seem to go away.  

Le Fête de Saint Nicolas

On the sixth of December was the annual Fête de Saint Nicolas. For all the non-Belgians, this is similar to how Santa brings presents and treats to children. However instead of it being on Christmas eve, it is on the sixth. So essentially they have to two Christmases. This might sound amazing but the days before this they have the university students dress up in long lab coats with cartoon characters drawn on them, go around town asking for money. Here's the kicker. If you do not give them some they throw flour at you, and occasionally there is one or two of them that throw eggs. This has lead the younger high-school students to carry eggs of their own. The moral of this story is don't be in Liege during the first two weeks of December. Back to the story of Saint Nicolas. From what my Belgians have told me its the same a man breaks into your house and leaves treats behind, however every family celebrates it on a different day, and with presents varying from the common small treats to a few receiving their large gift from Santa early. This a lead to one very confused Peter. How ever from what i understand, Saint Nicolas still carries a strong Catholic presence (robes and what not). Also, instead of elves he has helpers that are covered in coal. I'm not exactly sure why. And that children is the story of Saint Nicolas.