It has been a month since I've started school and I feel a fair amount of progression. First off-when I got here I had never done physics in my life and this afternoon I did a problem completely by myself and got it right. I know that is boasting, but I'm just so happy and relieved!! (We have a test Monday). For math however, after the quiz that was so bad my prof didn't even grade it, I decided that I really needed some help. The teacher said that I could do the 4th year curriculum for trigonometry (I'm in 5th year), so that way I could actually learn what everyone else already learned! During class I am now doing my own work with a little "4ème" packet, and I couldn't be happier with it. It was hard to let go of the lovely idea of doing great in every class - but for an exchange student, that's nearly impossible at the beginning.
Being here has really made me let go of trying to do well at everything. It's a very humbling experience; between not doing well on tests, needing things clarified multiple times, making mistakes and stumbling when speaking, and classmates smiling at you as if you're five years old. But with all of that, small accomplishments make you feel on top of the world in a way that nothing else can: understanding a class in its entirety, having a conversation without slowing down with a group of (in my case Belgian) teenagers, understanding the argument between your host sisters at dinner, and, with formulas learned in another language, doing a single physics problem.
I LOVE BELGIUM
Being here has really made me let go of trying to do well at everything. It's a very humbling experience; between not doing well on tests, needing things clarified multiple times, making mistakes and stumbling when speaking, and classmates smiling at you as if you're five years old. But with all of that, small accomplishments make you feel on top of the world in a way that nothing else can: understanding a class in its entirety, having a conversation without slowing down with a group of (in my case Belgian) teenagers, understanding the argument between your host sisters at dinner, and, with formulas learned in another language, doing a single physics problem.
I LOVE BELGIUM