After a bit of discussion on food, while we worked to allow Elizabeth to share her screen, she was able to give a great presentation of her study trip to Belgium this past school year. Elizabeth showed us pictures of her host families and described how different the experiences were with them. The first family was very busy and really didn't have a lot of time to spend with her. The second family had a more accommodating schedule with a host Mom who stayed at home and helped Elizabeth adjust to the language and cultural changes. She learned French, since that is what is predominantly spoken in Brussels and the southern region of Belgium, but Dutch was spoken in the other areas outside of the city. The host Rotary Club of Brussels consisted of all males, with an average age of 60 years old. They meet at a tennis club and the meals are very extravagant. She showed us a 1-2 minute-long video of her first month in Brussels. Everything was happening so fast in the video, that one wonders if that is how she felt as she went through this whirlwind of new and changing scenery. The school that Elizabeth attended is named Notre Dame de Champs. There were a lot of differences that she experienced between high school in the U.S. and the school that she attended. On the first day she was reprimanded in a loud voice by the teacher for drinking water in class! Fortunately, one of her classmates interrupted to explain that she was an American exchange student and wasn't completely fluent in French and did not understand the rules. The teachers were very strict; especially with the younger students. She was also expected to leave the school and find lunch somewhere nearby. This was completely different from what she had experienced before; she was used to eating in the school cafeteria. There were also no school-sanctioned sports like we have here. She was very impressed with the availability of public transportation and found it easy to get around within the city and to other regions and countries. Travel was fairly inexpensive to travel to The Netherlands and France. The city of Brussels seemed to be very safe and gave her no feelings of uneasiness. Elizabeth showed us pictures and told us of the wonderful foods that she ate. She enjoyed the waffles as an afternoon snack and showed the various ways that they are served. She also expounded upon the goodness of the chocolate from Belgium. She also told of how she enjoyed raw oysters and ate a lot of them over the Christmas break. She showed some pictures of the Christmas celebration; with folks dressing up as Saint Nicholas and the Christmas markets. They also make a special cake, in which a small plastic, baby Jesus is baked. When the cake is cut and served, the lucky person who gets the little plastic figurine in their slice is deemed to be the King or Queen of the day. Her host Rotary District gave the students the choice of staying or leaving when the COVID-19 virus became pandemic. She and her parents felt that it was best for her to stay; since the healthcare system is very good in Belgium, but eventually, in May, when it became apparent that she was not fully experiencing the culture and not able to attend school, she returned home. She was very grateful for the experience and thanked the Rotary Club of Gettysburg for making this opportunity possible. When asked, she told us that she plans to attend HACC in the fall and then pursue a degree in psychology. She also intends to work and live in Europe some day like her brother, former exchange student, Jack Heidecker, who is currently working and living in Berlin, Germany. Elizabeth in Amsterdam |