The students in school

Hello Again,

I have now been in Belgium for 21 days. The time is flying, and now that school has started it’s going even faster. School is still going well. I have lots of friends and I understand more of what’s going on. The environment at school is very different then what I experienced in the American school system. Maybe it’s just because it’s a small school or because these kids have been going to school with each other forever, but they are all excepting of one another. All of the students are friends and get along; the punks hang out with the athletes and the nerds with the popular girls. I use these term because I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s very moving, and would seldom be seen in the schools in America.

Last week when I was in my French class there was a very nice girl from Brazil that asked me: “is your school in America like the ones in all those movies, where the cheerleaders date the football players”. You all know the stereotypical high school things. At first I said, “No, that’s just in the movies”, but then as I thought about it more I realized that it was like in the movies. It’s not as obviously as in the movies, but it is defiantly true the majority of the time. I was shocked, but unfortunately it’s true.

On a lighter note, I have been doing some good riding. Today I went on an excellent ride; it takes about twenty minutes to get out of town, after that is spectacular. There are roads of all kinds: smooth, cobbled, flat and hilly. I’m actually surprised there are a lot of hills. Tomorrow I will go on a ride with another student from my school who is a very good cyclist and I think he was a Belgian mountain bike champion. I’m eager to ride and learn of some new roads. I will bring my camera along and post some pictures.

If you have any questions about what life here is like please ask.

Talk to you tomorrow
Keep it real
Ian