Transition: An Anthology of Children’s Experiences of Change

 

 

Brussels (Belgium), 2012.

Acknowledgements:Art Direction: Brendan KellyEditorial Assistant: Denise BainesGraphic Design: Karel van der Waarde

We wish to dedicate this book to Mr. Denis Newson, with gratitude for so kindly sharing his childhood experiences of World War II with our class, and all children displaced as a result of war.

Transition: An Anthology of Children’s Experiences of Change

Preface Anna Beggs . . . 7

1. Eva . . . 9 2. Rikki . . . 12 3. Alexandra . . . 14 4. Virginia . . . 16 5. Luisa . . . 18 6. John . . . 19 7. Peter . . . 23 8. George . . . 25 9. Daniel . . . 28 10. Al . . . 30 11. Michał . . . 31 12. Lou . . . 33 13. Rachel . . . 35 14. Jury . . . 37 15. James . . . 39 16. Ivan . . . 41 17. Sebastian . . . 44 18. Julieta . . . 47 19. Frank . . . 49 20. Louise . . . 50 21. Franscesco . . . 52 22. James . . . 54 23. Andre . . . 56 24. Lewis . . . 60 25. Giuliana . . . 62 26. Celien . . . 64 27. Gwendolyn . . . 66

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Preface

Across EU Member States a chain of 14 schools exists called The European Schools. These schools were established to provide a multilingual and multicultural education for nursery, primary and secondary level pupils. The student body comprises children of those who work at the various European Institutions, including EU Member-State Embassies. A common curriculum is followed throughout the schools, culminating in the European Baccalaureate examination, a European-wide recognized university entrance qualification.

The European Schools are divided into language sections with each student in primary studying a second language, and at secondary level at least a third language. Many students study more than three languages and up to as many as five.

As an English teacher in several of the European Schools I have the opportunity to be part of this unique educational experience, and see firsthand the advantages it brings and the challenges that students face.

Whilst doing a unit of work around the theme of transition, with a 1st year secondary class who had English as a second language, it became evident that the children were very interested in the experiences of other children who had endured change in their lives, especially, children evacuated from London during the Second World War. Clearly, this touched something in them due to their personal experiences of moving away from their own countries.

We decided to write about our individual experiences and combine them into a book. The advantages of the exercise were two-fold: the students learnt the process of writing and publishing a book from draft form to finished product, a process which required the protection of identities, and collaboration with other departments in the school.

Secondly, and even more importantly, it awarded the children the opportunity to reflect on the challenges posed to them by leaving their countries, schools, friends, and families, and how they dealt with those challenges. I hope also that it allowed them to take account of how they managed the process and acknowledge their own personal courage and resourcefulness in doing so.

This book could also serve to help parents and other students undergoing similar changes in their lives.

In order to protect the identities of the students, pseudonyms have been used. Out of respect for the fact that English is the second language of the students, a margin of flexibility was applied during the editorial process in order to maintain the uniqueness of how the students use English.

We hope you enjoy our efforts.

Anna Beggs (Teacher / Editor)

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• 9

“Eva, darling, I have some very important news for you. We are going to live in England!” I remember my parents saying this as if it were yesterday, but back then I was only 5 years old and I didn’t really understand how these words were about to change my life.

I can’t deny that leaving your homeland and your beloved friends and members of your family was a very hard thing to do, especially if you grew up with them. I hugged my grandparents and waved for the last time at my hometown, Sofia. “See you soon”, I thought, because I was going to visit during the summer holidays, but as I went into the airplane I felt like things, for me and my family, were going to change completely, like a whole new beginning.

I slept for most of the journey, but when we arrived, I felt more excited than ever. We immediately went to see our house and it was wonderful! My room was pink (at that age pink was my favourite colour) and it had a pink desk and pink drawers. Our living room looked very cozy, but of course after we put all of the furniture and decorations in, it looked even better.

Not long after our arrival, my parents signed me up for a British school. I was very excited on my first day of school. My dad drove me to our destination and when we arrived, I felt both excited and very nervous. After all, it wasn’t just my first day of school (before I had only been to nursery), but it was also my first day in an English school and I barely knew the language.

My parents came inside the school with me, so they could speak to the teachers and the principal. I was very shy at first, but very soon after my parents left I was playing with the other children. I felt really excited when they told us that every year there was a talent competition and because I love dancing, I was really looking forward to it. My class was nice and I made new friends. However, some children were rude and mean, but I had made some really nice and kind friends too. Unfortunately, one of my really good friends left the school and suddenly I felt lonely, left-out, unhappy and I started to not like my school so much, not only because my friend left, but also for other reasons. When it was time for the talent competition, though, I was very excited and I danced to one of my favourite Shakira songs. I won third place and felt wonderful when everyone gave me a round of applause. The prize was a book token from Waterstones. Eventually, despite the fantastic talent competitions every year, I swapped schools. My new school was the most wonderful school I had been to so far and I loved it there. I made loads of new friends, I really liked the teachers and because it was a Catholic school, we used to go to church every week and I am a religious person, so I sang holy songs and prayed to God.

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I liked my life in London, I was a very happy child. In the year 2006, my sister was born and I felt even happier. We became best friends and I always cared for her. I also got to see amazing land marks, such as Big Ben, The London Eye, the Queen’s Royal Palace and many more. In Summer, I visited Bulgaria and in the Christmas holidays, my grandparents came to visit.

After three years of wonderful experiences, my parents received a message, saying we had to move again. This time to a country called Belgium. I was stunned, puzzled, confused. I couldn’t imagine myself leaving England. I couldn’t imagine myself having to be the new girl again, leaving my friends, my home, my school. No one understood how I felt, but what could I do? Nothing.

In my last few months in London, I tried to be strong and enjoyed every day I had. On my last day, everyone made me a wonderful book with their pictures and a little note, so I could remember them. Nearly all the girls in my class made me a special gift or a card to say goodbye. Even the boys in my class wrote really nice things in the book they made for me. That made me feel special, respected, cared for, loved.

A few days after that, I found myself in a plane, going to an unknown country, Belgium. My parents told me they spoke French there, so I was thankful that I had learnt some words of French in my school in England, but I couldn’t really get through a dialogue, knowing so little. I was scared and worried.

When we arrived, we went to a hotel. It was a small place, but it had all that was necessary for a few weeks. I soon started school and I was amazed when I found out how many Bulgarian students there were! I first made friends with some Bulgarian students in the year after mine, because year 3 and 4 were put together. We spoke in Bulgarian and in class we spoke in English, so I didn’t end up having to use French so much. Well, sometimes it was necessary to use it and I got in some quite embarrassing situations. For example, in our canteen, I was having lunch when a French-speaking lady came up to me and said something, to me, which I did not understand. I knew how to say “oui” and “non”, and I thought she asked if I wanted to continue eating, so I said “oui”. Actually, she was asking if she could take my plate away and when I said “oui” she took it and I was left hungry all afternoon. So, in situations as such I did need French language. I quickly adapted, though. I also got to know people from different cultures. However, I usually stayed with the Bulgarian group. I liked everything in my new school, but I still kept the memories of my school in London in my heart.

I also went to Green School in Belgium (school in the countryside) and it was an amazing experience! I had a wonderful time, even though I missed my family. I learnt new things and played many games! The year passed very quickly and I found myself in Year Four. I had a new teacher and a new Bulgarian student was in my class. Her name was Margarita. I knew that it was hard to adapt in a new country, to learn a new language, I knew the feeling very well.

Again, that year, we went to Green School and it was a really fun journey to a wonderful destination.

At the end of the year, I stopped being only with the Bulgarian students and started making new friendships with girls from other nationalities. I made friends with a half German, half Italian and quarter Greek girl, called Hannah. We became best friends and had many things in common. We went to each other’s houses and were inseparable.

Eva

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In Year 5, I made one more new friend from England. Her name was Lucy. She reminded me of my friends in London and I really liked her. We three had so many things in common and we all liked the same things! Our teacher was the same and during class time it was really nice. I also played with the other girls and even started playing football (with the other girls in my class) against the boys. We were all very close. Also, another boy joined our class. His name was Josh. He was in a wheelchair, but that didn’t stop us from getting to know each other and becoming friends. He was very nice to me and some other girls and I talked to him at break-time and got to know him better.

In January, there was a Christmas show, we sang a song and two girls and I danced in front of everyone! I was nervous, but I enjoyed it very much and I will never forget it. At the end of the year, we did another show, but this time it was a play. I had never been in a school play before, only in nursery, so I was really excited. I was pleased with the part I got to play, I really enjoy acting, so it was a wonderful experience. The play was based on moving on to Secondary School, because after Year 5, comes S1 (Secondary one), but also on the English TV series “Doctor Who”.

At the end of the year, they also gave us a special certificate to mark the end of Primary school. We were all very excited to embark on our new adventure, all a part of growing up. During the summer holidays, as always, I went to Bulgaria for two months and I couldn’t wait to get back to Belgium and start Secondary school.

In Autumn, it was the start of Secondary one for us. It was really different from Primary school. We had a different teacher for almost every subject, there were many tests and there was a lot of pressure. But after all, that is all a part of growing up, being responsible, organised. It was a big step to take, but if you are willing to take it and put a lot of effort into your work, you can quickly adapt. I made loads of new friends and even one friend from the Dutch section. She was the only girl and we became extremely good friends throughout the year and went to each other’s houses.

A few days after my birthday, I had a birthday party in a bowling centre. Of all my birthday parties in Brussels I thought that was the best, because I invited people from different nationalities, different sections and that made me feel like we are united, one whole community of friends.

I knew it couldn’t last forever. I had a feeling that we were moving again, but sometimes you know something is going to happen, but inside you secretly hope and believe it doesn’t. Unfortunately, I know it will. I am moving back to Bulgaria. I can’t believe I am leaving everything behind once again. Bulgaria is my homeland, but I never went to school there. I only went to nursery. I haven’t left yet, but I will after the school year ends. At first, I felt like crying, infact I did cry. But now I realise something. I have an amazing opportunity to travel around Europe, to meet new people from different cultures, to learn new languages and I will still have contact with my friends, remember my school, the wonderful moments I’ve had. After all, nothing lasts forever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make new friends, dive into another life, full of amazing experiences and unforgettable moments. This is what life is about, treasuring precious moments and people in our hearts and making new friendships and unforgettable memories, then treasuring them in our hearts just like we did before, so they can stay there forever and ever.

Eva

12 •

My name is Rikki and I was born in 1999 in Bulgaria. I live with my parents and my younger brother.

One day, 3 years ago, when I was in 3rd grade at school, my mum came to me and said that we needed to talk. I asked her why and she replied that she had found a job in Belgium and we had to go and live there. I was very shocked and surprised. The next day I stayed at home thinking about what would change, where we would live? Which school we would go to (my brother and me)? Would I find new friends?

After about a month my mum left Bulgaria for Brussels. We talked every night on Skype, but I really missed her. She came back to visit us in the Easter and May holidays and brought us a lot of presents. My mum also came in the summer holidays in July, but this time we had to return with her. First, we went to the mountains and the seaside in Bulgaria for 2 weeks. The weather was super hot - about 40°C. Then my brother and I spent some time with our grandparents and our friends.

After a month, on 2nd of August we had to leave for Belgium. I was very sad and upset so I just said goodbye to my grandparents, my uncle and my friends and got into the car. When we arrived at the airport in Romania we boarded the plane. I wasn’t worried, because it wasn’t my first time to travel in a plane so I sat down calmly next to my family, and then the plane took off.

A few hours later we landed in Brussels Airport and we took our suitcases. Then we took a bus which dropped us off in front of the European Commission. After that, we walked a little bit and arrived at our new home. I went into my new room and started unpacking my suitcase and arranging my things.

The next week my mum went off to work and my dad, my brother, and I got to know the city. In the weekends we visited other cities next to Brussels. The weather was nice and everything was fantastic.

After a month, on 2nd of September, it was the first day of school. I was very scared, because I didn’t know much English, and I didn’t know my new school.

In the morning we took the school bus and travelled for 20 minutes. Then we arrived. It was nice, a big building with a large playground and large parking area. There were a lot of children around us running and talking. First, we found my brother’s new class and I left him there. Then we went to the last floor to find my classroom. I was very worried and shy. I sat

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next to another Bulgarian girl called Olivia. Olivia was very nice to me and helped me with everything.

The first week of school I cried almost every night, because I didn’t understand much English and I was the oldest in the class and I didn’t speak in class. Later in the year I got used to the new school. I missed my family, my dog (Liza), my old school, and my friends in Bulgaria, but there was also a good side to going to the European School, we do more fun things than I did in Bulgaria, we get less homework, and we have more holidays. Seven months after coming to Belgium, the Easter holidays arrived and we decided to take our car and go back to Bulgaria for 2 weeks. We travelled 2 days through Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania, then finally arrived in Bulgaria. Our family welcomed us. I saw my friends and visited my old school. We celebrated Easter and then returned to Belgium. I was upset that the holiday had finished and school had started again.

In the end of Spring I went to the mountains (Ardennes) with my class for 3 days. Two months later school finished and the summer holidays started! First, we visited my mum’s friend in Germany. Then went to Bulgaria again. We visited the mountains and the sea. We met our friends and then we returned to Belgium for the new school year.

This time I felt more comfortable. I made some friends with girls from the lower class. The year past again. I went to the mountains again with my class. Then we went by train to London to visit the British museum and to watch War Horse in the theatre. I was happy because my mum came with us and also 4 other mothers of children from my class. The British museum was nice and the play in the theatre was interesting.

The year finished again and we went to Bulgaria again for the summer.

The new school year started, it was the end of primary and the beginning of secondary. There was a new Bulgarian girl in our class. Her name was Blondy. Blondy had lived in Belgium for 2 years before. Then, she had returned in Bulgaria and then returned to Belgium again. We became very good friends - Blondy, Olivia and me. I was happy to have friends.

This year we went to Bulgaria for the winter holidays too and this time by plane. I received a lot of presents and also celebrated my birthday with my friends over there.

After 2 hard years in Belgium and in the European School I finally got used to everything and now feel more comfortable.

Rikki

14 •

I was born in France in the much celebrated year of 2000. At the time my family, who are originally from Romania, were living in France because of my father’s work. He is an economist.

Shortly after my arrival the family moved to Geneva, in Switzerland. In Switzerland I enjoyed lots of winter sports like ice-skating and I began to learn the piano. I went to a French-speaking school and I had lots of friends.

When I was 8 years old my family returned to France, not far from the Swiss border. I remember that move well because in Switzerland we lived in an apartment but in France we had a big house. It meant I had to change schools which was difficult at first but I soon made new friends. The school was a small village school so that was nice. The other advantage was that I could have a piano at home.

At 10 years old, we moved again. My dad told me that we would have to move to Belgium, again for his work. He had been offered a post at the European Commission. This meant a very big change for me and my brother who is 6 years younger than me. Initially, I was worried about this move because it would mean leaving my best friend. I was also a little worried about having to speak English at my new school, the European School.

After Dad broke the news, I remember lying in my bed thinking about my new school and if the children in my class would be nasty to me? If I would be able to find a new best friend? If I would have bad marks? I had so many questions in my head that I fell asleep. Dad told me the news about the move nearly a year before we left France but before I knew it .....“Alexandra. Wake up. We have to go to Belgium!”. It was my mother waking me from my sleep.

– “Ok”. I replied, “2 minutes Mum.”

I opened my eyes and I saw my room with many boxes and bags. It was eight o’clock. My best friend was already waiting for me. I took all the bags with me and I went downstairs. We said good-bye to each other and I got in the car. I was very sad and my best friend was crying. My brother, who was next to me said, “You don’t have to be sad. I can be your best friend and you

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can be mine.” Family can really help at a time like this. I was very surprised because normally he prefers fighting with me! I was so surprised that I said, “Ok if you want.”

The trip was very long, it took two days and one night (including some stops for the toilet, for eating, and for sleeping). All the way my dad was reminding us that Belgium is sunny and very cold but when we arrived in Brussels it was raining, very cold and it wasn’t sunny at all!! I remember thinking “I have to live in this country where it rains all the time?” When we arrived in front of the hotel, my brother was very happy, and I asked him, “Why are you so happy?”

He replied, “Because I like the rain and I like the hotel!!” I was surprised he wasn’t missing his friends and wondered how important they were to him. He was much better with the separation than I was, maybe because he is younger than me.

I thought, “Ok, Eliott is very strange!” (He is only five years old!)

My brother continued, “You have to make new friends”. I was taking advice from a five-year-old.

The hotel was very spacious and very chic. I lay on a bed and I fell asleep immediately. The next day we visited my new house, it was very big but the problem was that the garden was very little but I said to myself that it was raining anyway. The big problem was that all the children in the neighborhood were boys who were younger than me or older than me. Horrible! Anyway I had the TV, DS, and PlayStation to keep me occupied. Then I asked my mum if there was an ice-skating rink nearby (remembering my skills from Switzerland) but unfortunately there wasn’t. I was however, allowed a piano once we found a house.

The day after, we went shopping and my dad bought me a lot of clothes, it was super! But when we arrived back at the hotel it was raining again and when we returned to our room, very wet, my mum began to say that my dad had misled us on the subject of the Belgian weather. Anyway, that day was my worst day.

Two weeks later my mum, my dad, my brother, and I went to buy the materiel for the school. It is hard to imagine that that was last year already.

I was a little scared on my first day of school, but I soon made new friends. My teachers were very nice and having French was definitely an advantage. Now, nearly two years later I am very comfortable in Brussels and at the European School. I continue to play the piano and whenever I have the opportunity I go ice-skating.

Alexandra

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My name is Virginia Campiello, I am 11 years old and I live in Brussels with my father Giovanni, waiting for the rest of the family to join us before the next school year. Now I will tell you all the steps I went trough before landing here in Belgium.

I was born in the hospital “Sant’Anna” of Turin the 28th September 2000. My family at that time was living in Chieri, a nice little town in the hills surrounding Turin. I loved Chieri because I started kindergarten there and that is where I made my very first friends, in particular Elisa Caboni, with whom I played all day long

The family was made up of my mother, my dog Ugo, my father who was travelling between Milan and Chieri because of his job, and of course, me. When my parents were not at home a babysitter called Simona took care of me until I was 3 years old.

I also used to spend a lot of time with our neighbour Marisa, who was always very nice to me and who often invited me to visit her apartment where she was always giving me sweets and candies. She was a very heavy smoker and you could smell it everywhere.

I started practising acrobatic gymnastics at the age of 4 and a new nanny called Ana joined us. We used to take two buses to go from Chieri to Turin and another two to come back. I remember that everybody said it was dead tiring, but I found this journey very exciting because it represented an adventure where I could observe plenty of things and meet a lot of people.

Just before I started the first year in primary school we moved to Turin and, suddenly, several changes took place in our life: my father left Turin to join the EU Institutions in Brussels and a few months later my brother Dave was born.

On one side I was very happy to have a brother, but I also realised I was no longer an only child and that I had to start sharing everything with someone else.

Then in 2008 my mother gave birth to my sister Angelica who, I hope, is the third and the last brother or sister I will have !!!

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Our babysitter Ana is still working with us and we all consider her a member of the family. She takes good care of us and she is very protective, we are like her own children.

Last summer I decided to follow my dad to Brussels and to start the secondary cycle at the EU school. I did the whole primary school in Turin in the Elementary School Michele Coppino where I still have many friends with whom I am still in contact. They were all surprised that I left Turin and all told me that I was very courageous. I still remember the day I took my plane from Turin to Brussels with my mum the 5th September 2011.This change for me was very important because Ieaving Turin, my mother, my brother and sister to move to a foreign country represented a great challenge. Moreover I was excited to live alone with my father.

The first day of school I was really curious to meet my new teachers and schoolmates, and in the end I was happy with my decision to move to Brussels. Before my arrival I had visited my father when he was living in his old place and then more often since he bought his new place.

Our apartment is not very big, but very modern and cosy. I haven’t got a real bedroom, I sleep in a big sofa-bed in the living room. Now that the rest of the family has decided to move to Brussels too, my dad is visiting many houses and apartments, so I will have my own bedroom again soon.

Living just with dad is great because I practice acrobatic gymnastics and we are always together and we have a lot of fun. We also invite my school friends to our place. I miss the rest of my family, but we can video chat thanks to Skype.

Every time I go back to Italy the rest of the family all want to hear about my life in Belgium and I am very happy to explain the differences between life in Belgium and life in Italy. I have a lot of new friends from many different countries here in Brussels and this is something I like.

Now my life is very busy because of school and because I started acrobatic gym in a local sports club called “l’Ancienne de Saint Gilles”. Due to my good results, I do it two hours three times a week. I will soon compete in the Belgian finals of my category, so I have to work hard.

I go back to Italy with my father quite often and my mother and the little ones come across as well, but, as a consequence of my departure, my mother has finally decided to move to Brussels and, by the end of the summer, the whole family will be altogether here in Belgium!!

That is my story ... so far! Who knows which other surprises the future will bring to me?

Virginia

18 •

My story is normal but with an unhappy element. That being, that I left a lot of feelings in my old homes and houses ...

My name is Luisa. I moved to Brussels in 2011. It was a bit sad, but now I’m trying to accept changing home and living in a new town. With technology I can still keep in touch with my friends and have the same friends because we are always on the computer.

Before leaving Italy I cried but my parents promised me that they would give me a present - it worked. It’s sad leaving your home behind but, if you can remember that you belong only to that place you will feel very happy and not sad.

I really like my country, Italy, maybe because I can spend time with friends, and stay outside and play. Here, in Brussels, I don’t know a lot of people so I feel like I am in prison. My mother decided to buy me a personal computer but she didn’t realize that with my own computer I wouldn’t stop chatting with with my friends back home!

I look forward to days when I can be back with my old pals but I have to wait until the holidays. I do miss Italy. Moving to a new school, with a new language, means it is very hard to get into a new rhythm. Indeed, you can still talk, write, chat with everyone back home (thanks to the computer) but that means I don’t even help my mother with the dinner!

I really like changing homes but I’m not in the new rhythm yet. I think that it’s a good experience and if I have to tell the truth, despite missing my friends, I’d say that for learning new languages, a new life in new places can be good. It is something special and I am lucky to have this possibility.

One thing that is very important, one thing I need to make my new life is a heart. Yes, you have to bring your heart and keep it next to you so you have the strength to keep your tears inside instead of letting them go outside.

This is my story. If you have to leave your home just remember one thing: You always belong to one place and you never leave that place completely.

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Almost a year and half has passed since my first arrival in Brussels on 5th September 2010. My first memory of this city is the cold, but still sunny weather, in the very beginning of September.

My name is John Cena. I was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on 31st December 1998, just on New Year’s Eve. Now I live in Brussels. I do not have brothers or sisters.

I came to Brussels with varying expectations. When I boarded the plane I thought that it was bad in Belgium and in Bulgaria it was better. When I arrived I saw that it was not so bad. It was even pleasant and surprisingly clean.

I started going to school. At the beginning I was a bit worried because I did not know anybody. There were many new teachers and many new classmates. I had never been to a European School before and I always thought that the building would be a big sombre house constructed on the ruins of an old castle. To be honest, I felt somehow like Harry Potter going to study at the school for magicians.

I remember that on that day when I entered the school I was trembling. I was so scared that I could not remember the names of my new classmates or of my teacher. I only noticed how clean the school was compared to the one in Bulgaria.

The first week at school was the most difficult one. Luckily, the teacher, Mr Treadwell, was a smiling, caring person who helped me a lot to feel comfortable in the new class.

In fact, this story should have started with the story of my mother. She was the main reason for my move from Bulgaria to Belgium. Her first visit to Brussels was in 2008. She passed a very tough examination and started working here as a translator. She did not like her job very much. In Bulgaria she had worked for the Office of the Prime Minister and she had been very enthusiastic about her job. She used to meet very important people and to attend ministerial receptions. At that time, however, she had some personal problems with my father and they divorced. Maybe her decision to move to Brussels was influenced by the divorce. My mother had decided to start a new life and to forget the past Thus, she became a translator at the Council where she was part of a big team and assigned various challenging tasks.

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For the first two years after my mother’s arrival in Brussels she wasn’t sure if she was going to stay permanently or not. During those two years when my mother was not sure what to do, I stayed with my grandparents in Plovdiv. I attended a nice little primary school. There, I was always surrounded by friendly classmates and good teachers. We had only 4-5 subjects, plenty of free time and we played a lot. There was a nice playground in the school yard where we played football almost every day. I will never forget how happy I was in my Bulgarian primary school and how I lived there carefree and merrily.

I liked the weather very much in Bulgaria. In winter it was cold and snowy but the summer was splendid, with much sunshine and really hot days. Once I remember that even before the beginning of summer the thermometer reached 40 degrees. We did not have air conditioning at school and the teachers reduced the lessons to only 15 minutes because otherwise somebody could have suffered from heat stroke. In winter we sometimes had extraordinary holidays because of the bad weather and amount of snow. These holidays could last a week or more.

Meanwhile, my mother made up her mind to stay in Brussels and even started looking for a house to buy. She told my grandparents that it was cheaper and more convenient to buy a small house than to rent something because rents in Brussels were too high. It took three months until she found the house where we live now.

My mother told us that she had looked for a flat first, and even had decided to sign a contract for a 2-room flat not far from our present place. The brokers, however, had cheated her and she could not buy anything because the flat in question had already been sold to somebody else. She was disappointed but not long after that she found our house. It was small and not very attractive inside but my mother found some good workers and they refurbished and renovated it in less than three months. She bought new furniture and lovely carpets. She likes decorating and interior design and she made each room different. Classical furniture, beige and red colours prevail in the living room, my room is in green and grey, and my mother’s bedroom is in brown and yellow. So when I first saw our house everything inside was new and modern and only the pictures taken some months ago reminded us how the house looked before.

As I already said, when I came to Brussels for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by the weather. I saw sunshine instead of rain and friendly people instead of cold, frowning faces. On top of it, the house was surprisingly attractive and cosy and I immediately felt at home. There was no need to live in a hotel, four people stuffed in one room. I had my own room already, well furnished, where I could unpack my luggage and go to bed straight away or start playing computer games on my new PC. There was one thing that I did not like about the house and that was the wooden creaking stairs it had. My room was on the top and I had to climb up a lot of stairs. I also found the yard too small for playing football or basketball but luckily park George Henri was in 5 minutes walking distance and there was enough space for playing.

I did not at all like the fact that we did not have a car. My mother has a driving license but she is afraid to drive and generally she is a bad driver who is ashamed of her driving skills. As a result of her fears she decided not to buy a car. She is still waiting for me to turn 18 and then will buy me a car on the condition I drive her regularly to the biggest shops.

John

• 21

My first difficulties with school lessons appeared when we started learning rather long texts in their original language, English. In Bulgaria I did not master my English enough. So, when I started reading English books here I had to look up every fifth word in the dictionary and it was awful. Later, I read some adapted books but to read Harry Potter in original when you know only the basics of the English language was an unbearable task. I was aware of the fact that the problem was to read the first book, from then on your reading becomes as easy as a song. That is why my mother bought me some funny books for kids with many illustrations, and then reading became more pleasant. I enjoyed it.

Then it was ‘Macbeth’ that I had to devour. To be honest, I was frightened by the ghost of Banquo. I am still scared and expecting to come across him somewhere in the darkness. To better understand the contents of the tragedy with archaic Shakespearean language I watched a cartoon called Macbeth. The night after the film I could not sleep, I had a nightmare, I saw the three witches approaching my bed, the body of Banquo all covered in blood and strange voices which were shouting hysterically ‘Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff, Thane of Cawdor!’ This horror, however, helped me a lot to understand the play and even to find Shakespeare interesting. I am curious to see some of Shakespeare’s tragedies performed on stage or as a 3D or 4D movie. I would like to play a character in a Shakespearean drama, but, please, do not give me the role of Banquo!

Another difficult moment was the book project. Mr. Treadwell asked everybody to write a fairy tale and to make it as a small book with hard covers and colourful paintings inside. First, I did not know what story to invent. My English was not at all perfect, I could hardly retell an existing story so imagine how I felt when I was expected to write a fairy tale myself.

The first two sentences were the most difficult and when I wrote ‘Once upon a time there was a big castle in the forest…’ the story started running by itself. There was a beautiful poisoned princess, a prince converted into a dog by an evil witch, ferocious animals and three-headed monsters. At the end of the story the prince kissed the enchanted princess and she woke up. Finally, they married and they lived in the silver castle in the mountains. I wished I were there as well rather than making stitches with golden threads and embroidering the book’s title with beads. This was the final task when the contents of the book was ready and paper sheets already stringed through. Of course, I asked my mother to help me with the needles and stitches. Needless to say, I pricked almost all my fingers and left my bloody traces on the book. But as we know, history of glory must be written in bloody letters.

The rest of the subjects were easier compared to what we study in Bulgaria at 5th primary. In fact, 5th primary in Bulgaria does not exist because the 4th class is the last one in primary school. 5th primary corresponds to 1st secondary in our country. I was happy to discover that here we had one and the same teacher for all subjects and were still considered small pupils. My ex-classmates in Bulgaria told me that they had more than 10 new subjects in 5th primary and more than 8 different teachers. Even Maths was divided in two subjects - Algebra and Geometry. What a hell! This reminded me again how lucky I was that I had moved to Brussels.

I have still not made up my mind about what I would like to do in the future. Sometimes I want to become a doctor but I find that profession very difficult. At the same time it is very noble and humane and doctors are welcome everywhere in the world. Sometimes I want to

John

22 •

become a WWE wrestler. It is also a very tough and demanding job. Wrestlers are like movie stars but every day they have to train themselves to be in perfect form. They are often injured and stay in hospital for months. I like the perfect bodies of wrestlers. They are handsome men with muscles and fighting is their destiny. They need energy and a lot of enthusiasm to always be in perfect shape.

Actually I still do not know what profession to choose but one is sure, I want to go to the USA and work and live there. I spent one week in Chicago in November and I liked America very much. There is a special atmosphere there which does not exist in Europe. I do not know how to explain it but it seems to me that even the air is different. I want to live in Florida. There is no winter at all there and the weather is always fine. No cold winters and icy winds.

Brrr, with the negative temperatures right now in Brussels I am dreaming more and more of going to Florida!

John

• 23

Boom! The door slammed shut. When I got out of my bed I saw all my stuff packed up. I was really scared. Looking down the stairs I saw my sister and my parents waiting for me. I couldn’t believe I forgot that we had to move to Belgium. Oops, I nearly forgot to tell you my name is Peter Mate and I come from Bucharest, Romania. Going to my bedroom I started changing my clothes. We went to the car and started the journey to the airport. My dad dropped my sister, my mum, and me at the airport because he was going by car to Belgium (2100 km). We had to wait 1 hour and 13 minutes until we were on the plane. I wasn’t scared. It took us two and a half hours to get to Belgium. We took a taxi to our new house. From the outside it didn’t look nice, but on the inside it was very nice. It had 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 kitchen and was on one level.

Even if I was away from some of my family, the European School let me settle in easily because I spoke English and my second language was Romanian. My best friend was John. In nearly every break I played football. That is because my favorite sport is football. When I came here I was in P4 (primary) English section and I was 9 years old. Our playground had 4 goals and 2 little football pitches. Only 6 times I played football on a real football pitch. Sometimes we play a big match of 30 players, but they are from all the language sections. I miss Romania, my friends and my house. In Romania school is harder though. In the center of Brussels you can find a lot of chocolates and waffles. You can also visit the Mannekin Pis, a small statue, famous in Belgium. At school we have 2 ICT rooms, science laboratories, 2 canteens and 3 buildings. In total we have 63 classes. I really like Music. Maths is also my favourite subject. Sometimes I go bowling with my friends or my dad. Here in Belgium I go swimming and it’s really nice. My friend comes swimming with me.

In Brussels there are a lot of parks and places to play with your friends. I enjoy playing football with my friends. At school I have only four friends, but it doesn’t matter. I really like ICT because it is about computers and laptops. I adapted quickly to the school and the weather, I think because it’s too rainy and cold in Romania, and sometimes in summer it

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gets up to 40 degrees and here it only gets up to 25 degrees and at Oostende (beach) it’s very windy.

The traffic in Belgium is really bad, nearly every day there are traffic jams. People here don’t really care about crossing the street when it is a red light and there are a lot of tunnels. You can find taxis all over the place. They’re a lot of touristic places in Brussels. You can find lots of houses to buy and hotels are all over the place. There a lot of shops also in the center of Brussels. There are a lot of big apartments and not small houses and they’re houses also, but not that much.

Lots of construction is taking place all over Brussels. You get paid a lot here, but the food and daily needs are a little bit too expensive. The hottest time of the year is in May. Most people go outside or to the beach. In December it gets cold and it usually snows. In summer it gets up to 27 degrees. School here is not that hard as it is in other countries. There are a lot of protests that take place in Brussels because it is the capital of Europe.

Often people eat at the restaurants or go outside for a walk, they don’t usually stay in their houses when it’s cold outside. You have big shops like Cora and Real like in other countries. There are not earthquakes or tsunamis like in China. So overall, it isn’t a bad place to be.

Peter

• 25

I am George and I have a very particular story. I am 13 years old and I was born in Romania. That alone does not make me special, many children are 13 years old and born in Romania. You may ask what does make me special? I am a child with a disability. I am also a child with many gifts. My disability is called Cerebral Palsy (in French: infirmité motrice cérébrale / IMOC) which means that I am a wheelchair-user. My gifts are that I am articulate, I am intelligent, I have a very enquiring mind, I have a loving family, and a supportive network. I also have a smile that can melt people and a wicked twinkle in my eye.

My disability is congenital, that means it is from birth. When I was born, I was very, very small and I was not able to breathe. This is called Hypoxia, or not having enough oxygen. So a part of my brain shut down. It is the part of the brain which controls the legs and hands. For every 500 babies who are born, one has Cerebral Palsy, like me. My disability is not contagious and it is not evolving. It is not curable either.

Several months after my 12th birthday I moved to Brussels, Belgium. This meant a very big change for me because I left my school and my friends behind me. In Romania my school experience was very different from where I am at now, one of the European Schools. For example, all my lessons were in Romanian with only a few English lessons a week. I did not get a lot of Learning Support and I was not allowed to have a computer at school to do my work on which meant I had to write everything by hand which is a bit of a struggle for me. Let’s just call it ‘old school’.

My new school brought with it many opportunities but also, as is often the case, accompanied by challenges and frustrations. So much so that after the first day I just wanted to head to the airport, Romania-bound. At the European School all my lessons are in English except one Romanian lesson every day. You see, it was the opposite of what I was used to. The upside was that I was allowed, even encouraged, to use a computer in class. Mobility was easier for me too. The Romanian school did not have many ramps, not even at the main entrance. Whereas, the European Schools are far more wheelchair-friendly. The awareness and sensitivity to wheelchair users’ needs was really impressive. The school even installed an elevator to facilitate my access to the courtyard.

Little did I know, before leaving Romania, that attending the European School would mean I had almost full-time assistance from a walking, talking, angel in the form of Nora. Nora’s

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official title is Learning Assistant, my preferred and private title for her is Angel from Heaven. Nora’s job is to help me, she helps me get around, she helps me organise my books, she helps me do the daily exercises I have to do in order to keep my muscles strong. My day would be far more challenging, certainly in a logistical sense, without Nora. However, it isn’t only the practicalities, it is also that when required she can help me with my school work which sometimes takes a little longer than it does for others (for obvious reasons).

Another reason why I feel such a strong alliance with Nora is because she doesn’t just come from the same region as I do in Romania, she comes from the same county. This means that we have an even stronger bond and level of common understanding and appreciation.

In terms of opportunities the European School has been great. I am a SWALS pupil. This means that I do not belong to a language section because for the moment there is not a Romanian section in the European School I attend. A language section means that a lot of your lessons are taught in your mother tongue. As a SWALS student most of my lessons are taught in English. I see this as an advantage because my dream is to become an astronaut.

This dream started about 3 years ago in 2009. The person who gave me this amazing dream was my primary teacher. One day she gave me a book about astronomy and space travel. When I opened the book an amazing new world materialised in front of my eyes. I looked at a picture of two astronauts in their space capsule and I knew that one day that was what I wanted to do. My amazing passion grew bigger and bigger inside me and soon enough I knew more about space than anyone else my age.

My passion for space travel meant I always wanted to meet an astronaut and to ask how it feels to be up there, among the stars. My dream came true on a beautiful sunny Spring day in 2011. That day I met the second Belgian astronaut ever to go into space.

Another advantage that my move to Belgium has brought is that I have access to very good treatment for my physical challenge. I did have treatment in Romania too. However, in Belgium there are more facilities that I have access to. For example, I go to Saint Luc Hospital twice a week to do hydrotherapy. I can move my body better in the water than out of it. I also do kinestherapy twice a week, and I do ergotherapy once a week. This combination of treatment has certainly improved my physical condition.

At the European School I also take part in a programme to educate other children about people with physical disabilities. I speak to classes at different levels throughout the school, both primary and secondary, to educate the children about people with physical challenges so they know how to interact with them.

An extract from my presentation is below: 1) I can read and I can speak, but I cannot take my books from the schoolbag2) I can eat with a spoon, but I cannot cut my own food.3) I can write, but not very fast4) I can crawl on the floor, but I cannot walk5) I can move in the wheelchair, but I cannot run6) I can use the laptop7) I can enjoy life and I can smile and tell jokes.

George

• 27

What YOU can do:1) You can be aware that there are children who have special needs2) You should recognize the sign for disabilities when you see it.3) You can help these children with disabilities. You should not call them handicapped, or

crippled4) When you see a blind person with a dog, you should not pet the dog, because petting will

distract the dog from escorting the blind person. 5) When you walk on the street, you should not stare and you should not point at children

with disabilities 6) You should treat children with disabilities like you treat the other children.

You should know that children with disabilities are not the same, they do not have the same disability:- some are wheelchair users, like me- others are deaf, or hearing impaired- others are blind, or visually impaired- others have learning disabilities, like dyslexia (they cannot read)

The disadvantages of moving away from Romania are mainly sentimental. The distance between me and close friends and family unquestionably creates a feeling of loss. There is not the same day-to-day contact. The solution could be a Star Trek type transporter which would allow me to travel to Romania every evening and then return a few hours later.

I hope that I have been able to illustrate the tremendous advantages my move to Brussels and the European School has brought me. Some specific to my unique situation, others, shared by the other students at the school. Likewise, the disadvantages, challenges, and fears I have had to face as part of this change in my life.

In conclusion, I would advise others to embrace change, there is always a price to pay but through change we grow!

George

28 •

On 8th June 1999 in Iaşi, Romania, a boy named Daniel was born. He had blue eyes, brown hair, he was 50cm long and he weighed 3.4 kg. His mother was kind and his father was very happy to have his first son.

The boy started walking at 1 year old and he spoke his first words. He was very happy about this and so were his parents. At 4 years old, he got a new brother named Michael. He was 52 centimetres long and weighed 3.5 kilograms. He had blue eyes and a very serious look.

I was that boy Daniel and I was very happy to have a new brother because it meant I was no longer alone.

My mother started to study because she knew there would be an exam to have a job in Luxembourg. She studied a lot, not only for the Luxembourg opportunity, but she had the idea to do more exams for other job opportunities. That was a good decision because she didn’t get the Luxembourg job, but she didn’t give up. She tried for more cities until she got the highest grade for a job in Brussels, Belgium. She took 2 years to study for the exams. Some weeks after the exams she gave birth to a new boy. He is my brother and he is called Victor. He was 50 centimeters long and weighed 3.5 kilograms. He had blue eyes and like his brothers, his look was extremely serious.

My mother stayed with my brother for only 9 months before she had to go to Brussels where she stayed alone for 5 months. During this period, our grandmother looked after my baby brother and that is when he spoke his first words - in front of our grandmother not in front of our mother. Our grandmother was like a mother for him. Victor calls his mother by her first name (Camelia) and his grandmother he calls his mother. When our mother returned to Romania she was very shocked when she saw her son calling her mother, Mama.

We all arrived in Brussels on 29th August 2011. That day, our future was changed thanks to the hard work and determination of my mother. Our father stayed in Romania because he didn’t have a job in Brussels.

Now, we are all together in Brussels and my younger brother is in the second class of primary and my youngest brother, Victor is at the kindergarden. Our grandmother is also in Brussels and lives with us. This helps my mother a lot.

9

• 29

I liked Brussels as soon as I arrived here. I knew exactly when my first lesson at the European School was but I didn’t know how to speak English, just a few words. I was a little scared by this.

In time I started to understand and speak English. Now I know English and it is Michael and Victor’s turn to learn the language and for my Mum too. We hope that in the future our father will join us and live in Belgium with his family.

Daniel

30 •

I see my roots in communist Bulgaria, where my mother was born. I see my roots in the Netherlands, where my father was born. I see my roots in Brussels, Belgium, where I’ve lived my entire life.

I could have been born in Bulgaria, but my mom left it when she was twenty. A factory was polluting a city on the Danube River. My mother, who at the time was a true Communist, signed a petition to stop this, thinking she was helping the Bulgarian people. The very next morning, the director of the university in which my mother studied told her she had to remove her signature, because the Communist Party forbade the group she had joined. If she did not remove her signature, she would be thrown out of the university, he said.

She didn’t remove her signature and became one of the organisers of the student strikes against the regime. But when the Communist Party fell, the same director who threatened my mother became the leader of the Democratic Party. My mum understood there was no future for her in Bulgaria, so she left.

I could have been born in France, where my mother went to study, met my father, and found an excellent job in Strasbourg. Nevertheless, she thought it was to soon for her to settle, and Strasbourg – too small. She wanted to see the world.

I could have been born in America, where my mum went to study next. She stayed in New York for five years and loved it. My father didn’t like it – but my mother liked my father, so she moved to Brussels with him.

I was born in Brussels. At home we speak English, Dutch and Bulgarian. I studied in a local Flemish school near our house, until I was nine. I was very happy in the school, but felt that I did not belong there. I am a bit Bulgarian, a bit Dutch, a bit Belgian and a bit English (or American, whatever comes first) but European before all. I insisted that my parents move me to the European school.

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• 31

My name is Michał Fernandez. I know that you expect that I will tell you my story, a story about how I changed countries and where my home is. I also know that you expect that my story will be interesting and funny, and not too long. I can promise I will do my best. I will try to explain what it is like to live in many countries such as Poland, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany, and still know where I really come from.

Let’s start from the beginning. As I said my name is Michał. I’m 12 years old, I am half Polish, half Spanish, and I have a wonderful family!

The members of my family are: my parents Jose and Irena, my little sister Cathy, my grand-parents (Polish side) Beata and Witold, my grand-parents (Spanish side) Antonio and Demetria, and finally my dog Sancho.

My story goes back to the year 2000 when a little baby (me) was born in a beautiful Polish city called Lublin. I was born healthy and happy surrounded by my family. Not only my mother and father and Polish grandparents were there, but my Spanish grandparents also came to see me. From Lublin I went to Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It was a good time! I loved the snow in winters and sunny weather in summer. I often saw my Polish grandparents and it was fantastic. For Christmas and Easter I would go to Spain to visit my Spanish grandparents.

From Poland I moved to Belgium where I lived for 2 or 3 years. After that, when I was 6, I moved to Germany and I went to the European School in Munich. It was a very big change for me to be in a primary school in a new country - but my parents helped me a lot. Also in Germany I met some friends and I studied Spanish.

After only six months, when I was still 6 years old, I moved to The Netherlands where I lived in a city called The Hague. My mother worked and I went to a school called Lycée Français. When I returned home after school, my babysitter, Dorota, helped me with my homework.

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I returned to Belgium when I was 7 and I started my adventure at the European school. The first days were a bit difficult but I knew that any beginning is difficult. And it was true because I quickly made new friends. The name of my first best friend in Belgium was Pierre. He loved playing football and games. We spent a lot of time together and I treated him almost like a brother. But as time past I saw that he preferred playing football to spending time with me. In the beginning I felt sad, lonely and a bit disappointed but I met another new best friend. His name was Leonard and he is still my best friend.

I also have some friends like: Michel (Italian), George (half English half Greek), Francois (French), Matthias (Romanian) and Edward (German).

Nowadays I feel well where I live. I have visited many countries in the European Union but now I enjoy my life in Brussels and I think this is my home. Here in Brussels I can realize my passion: I love painting and I am taking drawing classes. In particular I am fascinated by the paintings of Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rene Magritte, and Jan Matejko (famous Polish painter). I would also like to mention that my favorite painting is “The Constellation”.

I like my European school where I have many friends who come from different countries and with different nationalities. This is very interesting. We learn from each other. We come from different countries but we still have much in common and this is what really matters. I also appreciate that I can speak 5 languages: Polish, Catalan, Spanish, French, and I am studying English.

I also want to tell you about one very important change in my life. In fact it is a key change in the life of my whole family. Her name is Cathy and she is my little sister. A recent addition to our family. She makes our life wonderful (although sometimes I feel tired when she doesn’t sleep). But my life is beautiful.

Michał

• 33

My name is Lou. I am 12 years old and my favourite animal is the wolf but I love all animals even insects! I love the colours blue and purple. I don’t have brothers and sisters and I prefer it that way.

I was born in Madrid, but I have not always lived in Spain. In 2002 and 2003, I lived in Nicaragua; in 2007, I lived in Morocco; but my biggest move was when I came to Brussels in 2008.

Let me explain to you my move to Brussels.

We were living in Spain in 2008 when my mum arrived home, she was holding a big plastic bag. Both Mum and Dad gave me a small, blue DVD player. I asked, “What is it for?”– “You need this for when we are going to Brussels by car”, Mum explained.– “What? Are we going to live in Brussels? But all my friends are here. It’s not fair”, I protested.– “Yes I know, but, don’t worry, we’ll return here for the holidays,” Mum reassured me.I was sad but I was used to moving.

During the Easter holidays we went to Brussels by plane to look for a flat. We stayed in a hotel near my future school. We found a flat very quickly and it was not far from the school. My room was very big, a lot of place for all my stuff, so I was excited with the idea of moving.

Dad and I returned to Spain because the school in Madrid had not yet finished. We stayed in Madrid while Mum was in Brussels preparing our arrival.

The last day of my school in Madrid arrived and I invited some friends to say good-bye. It was sad but Mum arrived from Brussels and we were ready for the big move!

We got up very early in the morning, and we began our trip to Brussels by car. It was very boring, but happily I had the DVD device and I watched two films before arriving in Bordeaux, where we stopped for the night. I was really happy to get out of that car! We stayed in a hotel near the motorway and I could recharge my DVD and also my MP4. I was once again ready to set out on a long journey.

The second day we arrived at the new flat in Brussels without any problems. That was because Catherine helped us. Catherine is our GPS. My parents don’t know how to travel without her. It is very funny to hear my Dad talking to her. When we arrived at the flat, I thought that it would be empty as I left it in Easter but....”Waoooooouuuuuhhh!!!”, I cried. The entire flat was organised and my room was great.

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We spent all the summer holidays in Belgium. First we went to a village called Han in Ardennes. We visited the caves, and a nature park where there were baby boars, which were very cute. There was also a wolf pack! The weather was great.

After the Ardennes we went to the coast, but the weather was awful. I’d never been so cold on a beach so we decided to return to Brussels and we finished our holidays with a visit to the Atomium.

Before my holidays finished, Dad wanted to check my enrolment in the school. My Mum explained to us that the school was a huge, red and white building so we went to my school’s street and we went into a big red building. My Dad said to the person at the front desk, “Hello, my daughter is registered here”.– “What?”, responded the man.– “Yes, she is starting here next week”, insisted my father.– “Sorry, Mister. Are you sure?”A lady eating a sandwich came over. She was very interested in what was going on.– “Yes, of course”, my father persisted. “She is going to begin P3 in the French section”.The man and the woman laughed very loudly.– “This is the women’s prison. I’m sure she is not a delinquent. The European School is the next building!” they informed us. Dad laughed with them and we went to the school.

When my first school day arrived, I didn’t want to go, I was so stressed! When I arrived at the school, I went to my class and I discovered that there were two other Spanish girls. One of them was in my previous school in Madrid but I had never met her before. I had to say that my previous school was very big. I was a little bit surprised because the European School was not so big.

During the playtime, I played with all the girls in my class. It was fun. Most of us we were new to the school so it was easy to make friends. All day the only work we did was introducing ourselves, for example: “My name is Lou…”. At the end of the school day I had a lot of friends in my new class and I felt very happy in the new school. Dad came to pick me up, at the end of the day. “Was the school good?”, he asked. “Yes, I made a lot of friends and there are two Spanish girls in my class.” “Great”, he said. When I arrived home, I watched TV. It was so big compared with our old TV in Madrid. Mum arrived home at 18h00. I was happy. “You are home early.” I said. “Yes”, she replied. “Here I finish earlier than in Spain. It’s better. Isn’t it? Was the school good?”. “Yes, and the other girls are friendly”, I answered. We watched TV together, and then I went to bed.

The second day was better still, all the girls were friends. On Wednesday I returned home at 12h15. I ate spaghetti and meat - delicious!

The first week was the most difficult, but the rest of the year was easy and fun. The only bad thing was that my dictionary disappeared and my parents had to buy another one, the new edition. They were not happy with me.

Finally the Christmas holidays arrived and we returned to Spain. All my family was there. The holidays finished too quickly and I had to go back to Brussels. Now I am happy to live here, in Brussels.

Lou

• 35

It was autumn, I was 7 years old in my second year of primary school. My name is Rachel and I was living in Bulgaria. I was at home when my mum came and said that we had to talk. I thought I had done something wrong, but that was far from the truth. The news was bad for me - my family and I had to move to Belgium for 2 years. The following days I stayed in bed doing nothing but hugging my big bear. I was worried about my English and my new school. The day we had to leave arrived and I told myself that I had to be positive.

At the airport I said goodbye to my grandmas. In the plane I sat next to the window, when we went in the air I felt like something jumped out of my stomach (it was awesome). I slept the rest of the trip. At first when we got off the plane I didn’t like anything, it was cold and it was raining. We took a taxi to a nice hotel where we stayed almost a month until we rented an apartment. After we moved into the apartment, the day to start at The European School arrived. I liked the school, my class was small and there were two Bulgarians like me, Jessica and Jason. The class teacher was really good to me. With time I learned English and it became easier for me to communicate with other kids.

The year past very quickly. I visited Germany, France and Spain with Jessica and Jason. The following year two more Bulgarians came (at first I didn’t know they spoke Bulgarian and I spoke in English to them). They were Phoebe, a nice girl who knew English very well, and a boy, Chandler who had very good grades. We became best friends but the year came to its end and I had to return to Bulgaria for two years. This time I didn’t want to go because I had friends here, but I didn’t have a choice. In the summer I had a wonderful time at the sea with two of my best friends in Bulgaria, Ross and Mona.

My school in Bulgaria was the best school I have ever been to. I made new friends and we spent time together every day after school, one of them that I still have contact with is Joey, he is the best in Math’s and has three turtles.

The best thing that happened when we returned to Bulgaria that summer was that my mum bought me a DOG!!! His name is Charles Eduard or as I call him, Charlie, he is a Golden Retriever that loves eating my red sweatshirt and hates when someone touches his food.

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The next year was a little tough for me. The Maths got harder and of course the History did too. Every day after school when I went home I played with Charlie and went to the park with him. It was relaxing and nice. In the summer when I went to the sea I went there with many friends and every night we got together and played cards till 1:00! One day I even found a pink shell, it was very beautiful.

After two years in Bulgaria it come time to return to Belgium. I was less frightened the second time than I was the first time. My parents and my dog went first with a car. One week later I went with a friend, by plane. When I arrived I stayed with my parents in my friend’s house for a while, till we got a house (it took about one week). Two weeks after I started school we left the house and moved to an apartment. The apartment wasn’t bad, it was big and next to a park. There was a store nearby and restaurants and cafes.

This time I was at The European School, as before, but it secondary. The school was big and the classrooms and the laboratory were very nice. The teachers were very kind. My classmates were nice too. There was a Bulgarian girl, Monica who became my best friend, and you know what? Phoebe was still there. I liked everything in the school and next year all the students from here are going to move to a new building!

For now everything is perfect and I hope it will stay as it is but alas, after one more year we have to return again to Bulgaria.

Moving around this way is interesting but I feel most comfortable in Bulgaria, the country where I was born.

Rachel

• 37

The rain fell from the Belgian sky onto the country and put a sad feeling on everything it fell. The cold water darkened as it leaped off the red car that had just driven up the road passing “Aldi” and “Aveve” shops. The driver pushed the brakes in front of number twenty-three which you couldn’t recognize through the white mist that surrounded the entire neighborhood. There was a black cat with a white spot on its chest sitting in the window and staring at the car with her big yellow eyes.

– “Cheyenne!”, the boy said with a touch of excitement. He was sitting on the back seat of the red car that was completely clean by then, as if it had been washed in the brand-new hand car-wash down the road.

That boy was me.

I was twelve years old and my name is Jury. Jury Van Den Aar. I had just moved to my new home, number twenty-three Queen Victoria street, Woluwe.

I felt really sad about my parents’ choice to move to Brussels because I had not wanted to leave all my friends behind. But on the other side, I was glad I was going to learn some new languages and make new friends.

I stepped out of the car and ran with my coat on my head, and my dad by my side, to the entrance of number twenty-three, a blue door. “Glad to be home”, was the sentence swimming through my head.

The door opened and my mum stood in the doorway. After some quick hugging and kissing, I explored the new house. My room was pretty big and my toys, books, and other stuff were still all over the room.

After dinner I unpacked my stuff and went to bed, after I placed the last books in the bookcase. The next day was my first day in my new house. I woke up and I remembered that we were going to paint my room. After breakfast, we went to the paint shop to choose a colour from the assortment. There was a pretty big choice. I chose red and my mother liked it too (and

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that’s important). We bought enough paint for the whole house. Red for the rooms and white for the rest.

Then, uncle Ben came to help us with the painting. At the end of the summer vacation our house was ready. But it wasn’t only uncle Ben who helped us with the painting, Aunt Maria and other uncles and aunts helped as well. My room was now painted dark red on one wall and white on the others, just like in most of the rooms.

We also went to buy new curtains for my room. We put away those old blinds which sure enough had their best years decades ago.

Once we were settled, my dad took me to a test lesson of fencing. It was held in a big building with an underground parking that most souls would have thought would have been twice as full. But perhaps it was because there aren’t many people who love dark places. It certainly wasn’t a place for claustrophobic people. But, sure enough, this was where the red car with me sitting in it parked.

We went upstairs. There were fitness rooms, gyms for playing basketball and football, and also the gym for fencing. We actually found it thanks to the noise. The iron swords crushing against each other made a metallic sound that your ears could not miss. We greeted the teachers of the fencing club “Parcival” and saw all the kids waiting for the test. I was not too stressed because I had already followed fencing training in Luxembourg. When it was my turn, I had to show a few positions such as en garde or fondre or esquive and have a short duel with the teacher. I was happy because I was accepted to become a club member.

Soon it was the end of the holidays and I was excited to go to a new school and meet new friends. I went, together with my father, on a school bus and met my new teachers and classmates. There were only six of us in the Dutch section. I felt a bit sorry for the girl because she was the only one amongst five boys. The first school day was fun and I made a few new friends.

If you are very shy try to amass all your courage and start talking to someone. Perhaps he or she will become your future best friend.

Jury

• 39

My name is James. I am eleven years old. I was born in Athens, Greece. My favorite sports are football, basketball and tennis. My favorite music is rock and rap like ACDC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem and 2pac. I play the guitar and I know how to play some songs (‘Can’t stop’ and ‘The Zephyr’, from Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Back in Black’, ‘Thunderstruck’, from AC DC, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, from Nirvana, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ and ‘Wake me up When September Ends’, from Green day, and many others). I speak two foreign languages: English and French. Greek is my mother tongue. My favorite subjects at school are Math’s, Science, Art, English and Gym. I am 1.61m high and my weight is 42kg, I have brown eyes, the color of my hair is light brown. I am kind but I do not like to loose.

I like video games. My favorite games in my iPod are Mega Jump, Cut the Rope, and Gorilla Jump. In the Ps3 I like Call of Duty and Granturismo5. When I use the computer I like to watch videos or listen to music on YouTube. When I grow up my dream is to become the owner of a computer and high technology company or have a job that has to do with Math’s, Science, Physics and Biology. For the moment, I am in the first year of secondary school, in the French section of the European School. I moved to Brussels about five months ago and I already have many friends, but I also keep in touch with my old friends in Athens, almost every day.

When I was a baby, we moved to Luxembourg. I used to go to the European School there, the kindergarten in the French section. There, I met Christos who was also from Greece and we became friends. I remember that I didn’t like the food in the canteen, I gave all of it to him so I could have a dessert. At the European School, I made a lot of friends of different nationalities. My best friends were Nicolo who was Italian and Jaime who was Spanish. I met them at the playground near my house. The playground had plenty of swings and slides (my favorite was a giant blue one). When I was in Luxembourg we visited many countries like France, Belgium, Germany and England. I was very young and I don’t remember anything. I loved going to the ancient town under the “Adolph Bridge” and taking the little train to visit the area.

After four years we returned to Athens. When we arrived back to Athens, I went to a pre-school where we learnt mostly French and a little bit of Greek. I made many friends but we had an enemy, a girl called Mirana “Zoungrana”. She had fun throwing rocks at us and pulling

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our hair. I had three really good friends George, Steve (twins) and Orestis. George and Steve’s house was two feet from our school so sometimes we went to their swimming pool. Orestis was scared of the water, he thought that a crocodile would bite him, we laughed at him all the time and he always got angry. Every day when we returned home on the bus we sang, we also collected stones from the ground.

For the last year of pre-school I went to the Lycee Français. We learned how to read a little bit and how to write. I was the first pupil in our class who got a double smile (10/10) the 21st of October. it was there I started to play tennis with George and Steve in a club, later Orestis joined us. We also went every Wednesday to the swimming pool. We had a really strict teacher, she punished everybody for nothing, especially Orestis, every single day! He became my best friend. I also met Marie-Louise and Leo. Marie-Louise lived near my house, we went together to the park and we learnt roller blades.

Then I went to primary school. I made a lot of friends, I knew almost all the pupils in the school (because of the fact that I was in the same school for six years). We played football or basketball at every break. I continued to play tennis and I started to practice basketball and football. I liked my teachers except for the fourth year one, she was really strict. We started to practice Greek in the second year and English in the third year.

In spring 2011 of the last year of primary school we went to a “Discovery class”. We went for a walk every day in the forest. We did different activities and sports. The last day we had a treasure hunt and my team won (I was the leader). It was the best holiday of my life!!! My dad had an offer for a job in Brussels. He moved in March 2011.That was the most difficult part of my life, I had spent six years in that school and had a really good group of friends. I didn’t want to go to Brussels at all. I refused to go even for one year but my father said that we might stay for FIVE YEARS!

We decided to make the journey by car, we started with the boat. We took the boat at Patras, a Greek port. We headed for Ancona in Italy. Then we went to Venice where we stayed for two days. It was the most beautiful place that I have ever seen. After that, we went to Innsbruck in Austria and then to Brussels. The first week we went for walks with my mum to explore Brussels a little.

Then, when the first day of the school arrived I had no friends and it was really boring. I approached a group of potential friends. I thought that they would play with me or talk to me, but I was wrong. So I decided to start playing football. I made some friends but they weren’t really good ‘friendships’. Then I met Louis and we became really good friends, he was also new in this school like me. I also met Alexander who is Greek like me. One month later I didn’t want to return to Athens as quickly.

James

• 41

My name is Ivan. I was born in 1999 in Sofia, Bulgaria. I have an older brother who still lives in Bulgaria. My parents and I are in Brussels, Belgium. We have been here for one year already, my father longer. Before that, I was in Bulgaria and before that, from 1 to 5 years old, I lived in Hungary.

I speak 4 languages: Bulgarian, Hungarian, English, and a little French. I play several sports, football, basketball, tennis, dancing, athletics. I also have a hobby, painting. My friends and I like playing football. In Bulgaria I played a lot of football with my friends. I also have a pet in Bulgaria and one in Hungary, at my grandparents’ house. In Bulgaria it is a fish and in Hungary a small dog. The dog’s name is Morzi. It’s a typical Hungarian name for a dog. In Brussels I have many friends at school and in the neighbourhood where I live.

I had lots of friends in Bulgaria and Hungary. More than about half liked playing football. Fortunately, I also made friends here in Belgium, it took a little bit of time, but I now have lots of friends, again, and most of them enjoy football.

When I found out we were moving to Brussels I was very pleased because it meant we would be with my dad. Previously, my mum and I had remained in Bulgaria so we only saw Dad during holidays. When we moved to Belgium Dad’s flat was too small, but then we got a bigger one.

Yesterday my brother came from Bulgaria and I was very happy. My brother and I spend lots of time together. We play lots of video games like Counter-Strike. My brother visits us at least a couple of times a year.

One thing I like about being at the European School is that we have football matches between the different language sections. Sometimes they attract up to 30 spectators. Clearly, one of the major pastimes in our shool is playing football.

I remember living in Hungary, even though I was small. It is a very beautiful place to live. Budapest is one of the most beautiful places in Europe. You can see many things in Budapest, like the rivers with the gold eagles on the bridges, or the beautiful Hungarian castles. It’s popular to go fishing in the Moshoni Duna River, some of the people know it only as Duna.

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When I first came to Belgium I was in the last year of primary school. It was difficult for me to make friends because I did not speak a lot of English and there were not a lot of Bulgarian-speakers, and there were no Hungarian-speakers, not one. I did not really start making friends till my English improved, which took about three months. Fortunately, I had my family to help me.

One day when we were going home from where my father works I noticed the Sport Centrum and I asked my parents if we could go swiming there because it was just 124 meters from our house. I used to swim in Sofia at school. Belgium is a great place for sports that’s why they often win many medals.

Shortly after starting at the European School we went on two excursions. The first was to a different sport centrum. It was interesting and we had a lot of fun. We did some cool sports like table tennis, football, and wrestling, amongst others. After that we had lunch and then we returned to school. On the way home we talked, we played video games, and we listened to music.

The second excursion was to the dinosaur museum. It was intresting. We had to fill out a paper for marks. First, we had Science and after, lunch. When we ate our lunch somebody flooded the table and the water went on a classmate and his food was covered in water. After, the culprit had to clean it. After lunch, we had Human Science. It was quite hard because nothing matched. We just wrote someting. After that we went home.

The other days we had interesting subjects like Bulgarian, Maths, Science, English and Ethics (Moral).

My father collects me from school almost every Monday and Friday, the other days I travel by either bus, tram, or metro then walk the rest of the way. When I get home I usually eat and watch TV or I play games. First I do my favorite subjects like Maths, Bulgarian or Human Science. After, I do the other subjects. When I’ve finished my homework I often go swimming in the sport centrum for an hour. Then I go home and watch TV. I watch a serial called Tera Nova. It’s in Bulgarian and is about people who can time-travel.

Adrian Mitu and John Cena are my best frends at school, and even in my life. I had never met such good friends like them before. It took me five months to find them, after arriving at the European School, but they were worth the wait. My first five months here without them were very lonely. They help me a lot in school in subjects like Maths. I have met many other friends but these guys remain my best frends.

To have friends is a great thing. They help you with many things. You feel lonely if you don’t have frends. You can play with them and do sports with them. My life is very good now in Brussels but it was difficult to start with. In Bulgaria and Hungary the people are friendlier than in Belgium.

By best friends in Bulgaria were Mitku and Simeon. Unfortunately I’ve lost contact with them. Simeon and I studied at the same shool, we went to the same playground where I played a lot of football with Mitku. We also went to the same English lessons. The teacher was really good. She was fantastic. We were glad that she was our teacher. She sometimes brought us sweets. She was a really amazing teacher.

Ivan

• 43

I travel a lot around the world with my parents during school holidays. I see different countries, different monuments, different cultures. I like eating fast food but what I like the most is my Mum’s cooking. She cooks diferent things like, meat, bread, salads, puddings, tarts, and soups.

I really enjoy watching action movies with Tom Cruise or James Bond or Schwarzenegger but most of the action movies I like are with Jackie Chan. I like the writer Roald Dahl. I have lots of books written by him. Now I am reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it’s really interesting. Some of the books which I like are: Ezio Trot, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BGF, The Twits, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Magic Finger, Boy Going Solo, Boy. That man is such a good writer I think he is the best writer who lived on Earth so far. I also have the film versions of some of them on Blu-Ray DVD.

I like reading lots of books and every day when I come back from school I read about 50 pages of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Before that I read many other books from Roald Dahl, and Bulgarian books. I really like to read Bulgarian books too but for now I try to concentrate on English books so I can improve my English. I like it when we have literature in Bulgarian because we speak a lot and we learn many interesting things and facts and the reading, I just love it. I like the Bulgarian language, but I like even more the literature.

My father is also a big fan of reading, he has a lot of books. I like to read in Bulgaria, in Reselec, in the mountains when we go there, or on the terrace, or in the swiming pool. I like computer games as well .

Ivan

44 •

I was born 13th April 1999, in the well known capital of Bulgaria – Sofia. My experience of living in Sofia was that it was fine for living, but not for going to school. I didn’t enjoy my school experience there at all. I felt the atmosphere to be dangerous, but my story is not about that.

I have a sister. When I was small I desperately wanted a brother or sister, and then she arrived. The age difference between us is six years, because she was born in 2005 and I was born in 1999. Most of the time she is nice to me, but whenever we have an argument, my parents say:– “It’s your fault.”– “No, it was her!” I answer.– “Yes, but you are bigger, so you are responsible!”

I guess that just comes with being the big brother. It is annoying but I can live with it.My mum is Bulgarian too, and she is always nice to me. Whenever I need help with school work I go to her and she always helps.

In addition to Bulgarian, she speaks English perfectly and a bit of French, which she is studying at the moment. My mum works at one of the EU Institutions and so she is kept very busy, but she somehow always manages to make time for me when I need her.

My mum is happy to know that we are all living in a good place - Belgium. Both my sister and I go to a good school and I think the best thing for my sister is that she started P1 in Brussels. I had to deal with the transition from the Bulgarian system to the system in the European Schools. I am so, so, so, so thankful to my mum for giving us this opportunity.

Did I mention that my mum is also very young and very beautiful as well as being very clever and a super mum?

My dad is Bulgarian like my mum. He is also very nice to me. Before, in Bulgaria, both my parents had a job, but now Dad’s job is helping us a lot by taking care of the family and home here. He cooks, collects my sister and me from the bus. We help him with the cleaning. He also does the shopping, but the hardest thing for him I think is that he is studying French. He also knows a bit of English and he knows many words, that you can use in practical life. He even knows some words that neither my mum nor I know! Finally, he can drive so sometimes he drives us to different places.

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• 45

As maybe you noticed I can speak three languages and my language story is pretty long - probably six years. My first language is Bulgarian by the nature of where I was born. When I started the first class in my Bulgarian school I also studied English three times a week for one and a half hours. That is how I learned my second language. After my fourth year at that school I stopped the English lessons because I knew I was going to Brussels, so there was no point in paying for the English anymore, knowing I’d have English in Brussels.

Last, but not least – French. I started studying French when I came to Brussels and went into S1 at the European School. To help me more, a teacher also comes to my home to teach me.

Before coming to Brussels I had never moved to another country. It started like this:

It was a cold September evening. Outside it was raining and the rain was hitting the windows, making a slightly annoying sound. Who would ever have thought that that evening would be when I learnt of what would change my life completely? It was some days before 15th of September – the first school day in Bulgaria. I was at my grandmother’s apartment, playing on the computer and waiting for my mum. Suddenly my mum came in the room. She looked at me strangely and I knew immediately something was up. My heart was beating very quickly. I was so suspicious. I had never felt like that before. Mum started speaking but I don’t know why I wasn’t listening, her words were passing through my head, without me hearing them, until she said something about Belgium. The “day dreaming” ground to an abrupt halt and I asked: – “What about Belgium?” – “We are going to live there!”

I was completely shocked. I could not sleep that evening. I was thinking about this incredible news and with each second my questions multiplied! There were so many of them I even forgot some. I was asking myself questions I couldn’t answer. For me, the hardest thing was to live through the coming months, because it was the middle of September and we were not leaving until 23rd January, that meant I had to endure September, October, November, December and January. Those months were super, duper, long! Then finally I was taken out of my motherland.

The most obvious advantages were: education, language immersion, feeling more secure because in Bulgaria it is dangerous at night because of the possibility of being attacked by a dog or a thief. Also, there were often fights between children at school.

The disadvantages were: I would not really understand what people were saying to me, I would have to find new friends which I didn’t anticipate would be too difficult for me.

Even strapped into the seat on the plane, there was another three hours of waiting. I couldn’t fall asleep, but my seat was next to the window, so it wasn’t so bad. The plane landed easily and afterwards we got our luggage then headed to passport control where we lost my sister, but finally everything was okay.

Another interesting thing that happened when I was at the airport was that when I was passing through the metal detector my shoes set off the alarm because there are some metal pieces in them. This happened twice, but the third time I took them off, and nothing happened. Finally after all these impediments we were nearly there.

Sebastian

46 •

Before coming to Brussels I was training for TAE – KWON – DO (a sport like karate, but you can use weapons). I was training twice a week. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to continue in Brussels because here it isn’t so popular. The hardest thing for it was that to achieve a higher grade, you need to know different, long and difficult combinations of hits and kicks. It wasn’t simple at all. The times you get a higher grade we called “exams”. In a year there are two exams. I had green belt with a blue line. The belts were: white belt, white belt with yellow line, yellow belt, yellow belt with a green line, green belt, green belt with blue line, blue belt, blue belt with a red line, red belt, red belt and a black line, black belt and black belt with a golden line. The maximum golden lines you can have are ten, but not many people had gone that far, even my teacher hadn’t, he had four golden lines the last time I saw him. For now I am not training in any sport, apart from sometimes playing football at school, even if we don’t have a real ball it is still fun to play it.

When I came to Brussels I couldn’t believe what was happening for the first few days. The thing that comforted me was that my mum told me that in my class there were already five people who could speak Bulgarian. That was one of the things that helped me settle in the new school.

On the first day of school my class, with me already a part of it, went on a trip to a museum, but I don’t really remember where it was. Another thing that was easy for me was that I live close to some people who can speak Bulgarian. Also, some other friends from school live close to me, so sometimes we go to each other’s houses. I can say that I love the fact I live here, in Brussels. Also, I cannot imagine if I had to go back to my old school. I was not really happy there. It would be difficult to find a school there, that gave me the same opportunities I have here.

There the holidays are rare. Even if you have one it is always for three days: Saturday, Sunday and Monday. That annoyed me a lot, because after a “holiday” you study more. That is why it was easy to settle in here in a new country, that’s why I am happy to be here, that’s why I am even scared of going back.

Sebastian

• 47

My friends in Jordan told me that Belgium had very cold and rainy weather, but strangely, when I arrived in Brussels, the weather wasn’t that cold at all. Actually, it was sunny and hot, probably because we were in the middle of the summer.

At the airport, everybody smiled and seemed happy, but I wasn’t very excited, even if I was coming back to the country I was born in. I left very good friends in Jordan and I was sure I would miss them a lot.My younger brother, Samuel, came and said, “Hey, Julieta, come into the car.”Five minutes later, on the way to our new house, I looked through the car’s window: apartments, trees, houses, schools, restaurants, it was beautiful, there were so many parks! Everything looked green, quite different from the Jordanian landscape. But I was too confused to concentrate. Questions multiplied in my head! Would I make friends? Would the teacher in the school be good or bad? And my new ballet teacher? The horseback riding instructor? The piano professor? How will my bedroom look? I was so confused that I fell asleep.– “Julieta! Julieta! Julieta! Wake up!”, said my mother. “We have arrived at our new home and guess what, you have got your own bedroom.”I looked again through the car’s window and I said to myself, “Well, it is not as nice as Jordan, but it seems ok. It’s going to be beautiful, it’s going to be beautiful, and it’s going to be beautiful.” I keep repeating to myself.And it was. The building was very nice, an old “maison de maître” recently renovated and transformed into three apartments. I entered the house and went into the lift.– “First floor”, my father said.I pressed the button. The doors closed and opened a few seconds later. “Here we are”, I thought. My mum opened the door of our new apartment. It was quite impressive, with a large living room, a dining room, a fully equipped kitchen and a huge library (we needed a ladder to get to top shelves) and there was a second floor. Quickly I went upstairs. There were four doors - one to the left, two to the right, and another one in the middle. I opened the first one, a bathroom: bathtub, toilet, sink, mirror, and cupboard. Then I opened the one in the middle, a square bedroom painted in light green: a bed, an empty bookshelf, and a wardrobe. Finally, I opened the third door, a beautiful rectangular bedroom, painted in light purple, with white furniture, a desk and a chair. A large window replaced an entire wall of the room. It was very sunny. I loved it.

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– “Mum, I think I have chosen my bedroom,” I said.– “Ok, dear,” she answered. “But could you please help us now? These boxes are heavy”, she added.– “Of course, Mum”, I replied with a big smile.Then, I started to arrange my books on my bookshelf. While I was putting the last books, a folder fell and opened with a big boom. I picked it up and opened it and then I saw a picture of me and my Jordanian friends taken during my farewell party. I started to think of what would have happened if my friends were here. I realised how much I missed them!But I couldn’t think of it too much because my mum called me for dinner, so I went downstairs.– “What are we going to eat?”, my brother asked.– “I don’t know, we have nothing to eat”, said my dad.– “Well, maybe today we could go to a restaurant”, I suggested.And so we did. We went to a French “Crêperie” nearby. Yum! That night, I was so tired that I fell asleep quickly, dreaming of my new school.The following day my father suggested we have a look around the neighborhood and visit my new school. Close to our house were many restaurants, shops, bookshops, museums and parks. When we arrived at the main door of the school, I was surprised about the size of the site, compared to my former school it was enormous. I really liked the courtyard, the library and the corridors, full of art work. The only thing I didn’t really like is that there were many floors and that we weren’t allowed to use the lift.After that, we went back to our new house, because we were going to have a visit from some family friends and their children. My mother told me that when I was three, while living also in Brussels, I used to be close to one of the girls (in fact, we were in the same kindergarten), but we lost contact during the last five years, so we had a little bit forgotten our friendship. The first minutes were odd, but, after a while, we were friends again and we played together all the afternoon long. She was also at the European School, but unfortunately a different one from mine, because she was in another linguistic section, so no chances of being together in school.The big day arrived: the first day of school! My brother and I woke up very early in the morning and we walked nervously to the car. When we arrived, we had to go to the courtyard. There were lists with the names of the children and teachers displayed on the walls and on tables. All the parents accompanied their children and the director started to organise the groups. When she said my name, I waved my hand to said goodbye to my family. I had butterflies in my stomach, but on the way to class, I met three nice girls. Luckily, they were in the same class as me. The day passed quickly and at the end, I was happy because I knew that everything would be okay in this new school.The months passed, winter came, I started to miss the sunny days in Jordan, the weekend trips to the Dead Sea, the desert and the Red Sea, but most of all, the parties, the birthday celebrations, and my friends …

After school, my afternoons were full of extracurricular activities. We found a nice academy for my ballet classes and a centre for horseback riding, quite far from Brussels. I also took piano lessons with an old lady teacher (but very funny) who came once a week to our home.The good thing is that I had a little sister (or a little monster) who is still destroying everything and can’t stop screaming. She likes Barbies and wants to be like them, putting make-up on at three years old and wearing heels even to bed. No, in fact and to tell the truth, everybody thinks that she is “so cute”.

Julieta

• 49

My name is Frank and I come from Belgium. I was born in the commune of Uccle, in the hospital Edith Cavell on the 3/31/2000. I grew up in Saint-Gilles in Brussels. I’m 12 years old and I’m trying to survive the terribly cold weather here in Belgium. My dad is English and German and my mum is Greek. This is how I come to be an English, German, Greek boy in Belgium.

I have never moved out of Belgium but I have travelled a lot. The only problem is that I hate airplanes, but it’s ok. I manage to travel a lot but it is a little difficult for me although it is getting better and I am becoming more accustomed to airplanes. Every summer I go to Greece. Sometimes, during the summer, I visit other countries apart from Greece. I would love to go to Australia because it’s my favorite country and England, and Germany.

I like Australia because it’s sunny and the sea has a light blue colour. The thing that I also likein Australia is that the wildlife is different from that in Belgium. There are kangaroos, crocodiles and sharks. Lastly, I also like the outdoors lifestyle: surfing, and going to the beach.

In summer, I nearly always go to Greece. I go there because it’s my country and because most of my family live there. In summer, most of the time I’m on the beach, swimming with friends and my family. I love swimming. It’s one of my favorite sports. The only problem in Greece is that you can’t do a lot, because it’s too warm. Nearly every summer the temperature is about 40 degrees. In Belgium, by comparison, it’s nearly always raining.

In summer, after one month of holidays, I go to a little island called Kithnos, and there we have a little house where we stay for a couple of weeks. In the village there live some ‘yayas’ (grannies) dressed all in black. They wear black because they lost their husbands and they are mourning. In the evening all the children meet in front of the church and play football. I stay up very late because in the evening it’s always hot and difficult to sleep. One thing that I hate on Kithnos is all the mosquitoes. I hate them but they love me! My dad and I also go sailing Kithnos. We love sailing so much that we invented a name for our boat, the Union Jack, like the English flag.

Despite having lived in Belgium all of my life I feel equally Greek, English, and German. This is probably because I spend all my holidays in one of these countries and because my parents nationalities and cultures are Greek, English, and German and our common language is English. Therefore, the European School suits me because I am not Belgian and by being here I have exposure to my three nationalities. I started school in a Belgian school and when I was 7 years old I moved to the European School. Initially it was hard leaving my friends but I am more comfortable in this school.

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My name is Louise Sommer and I am 12 years old. My parents are John Sommer and Marie Herdegen. My birthday is on March the 28th and I was born in the Capital of Nicaragua, Managua. This country is situated in Central America, but I don’t remember details about my place of birth, because I was just 3 years old when we left Nicaragua

My Mum wanted more children, but I didn’t want her to have anymore. Mum asks me sometimes, “Would you like a brother?” but I always answer: “No, I wouldn’t, because I don’t like sharing my room and my toys!”

My Dad is not tall. He has got an oval head, brown eyes and brown hair. He has got small lips. I like my Dad very much. He is from Austria and my Mum is from Nicaragua. She has got dark brown eyes and black curly hair. I speak German and I understand Spanish as well. At school I have been learning English since the primary school. Next school year I will start learning French.

When I was 3 years old, we left Nicaragua and moved to Krems in Austria. There, I went to Kindergarten and to Primary School. When I was eleven years old my dad got a job in Brussels. My school year wasn’t finished so my mum remained with me in Krems. Therefore we were separated for some time and my father came to visit us every two weeks. After four months my Mum and I moved to Brussels as well.

At the beginning I was very sad, because I thought I wouldn’t be able to see my friends from Austria any longer but now I am not that worried because we have managed to maintain contact.

The European School in Brussels is better than my Austrian school. In Austria we have four big tests per subject per year. So there is a lot of pressure to pass those few exams. At the European School I like the different languages and cultures.

I don’t think that Austria is better or that I would like to be in Krems. So I don’t like to wallow in self-pity. I always see the good side of things.

Last year I started going to the European School in Brussels. I love sports. My favourite Sports are tennis and swimming. I play tennis quite well because I have react quickly.

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I miss my Austrian friends a lot, but I have good friends in Brussels as well. It is important for me, that my family is united. I have got two mice. The black one is called “Blacky” and the brown one is called “Jenny”.

I like living in Brussels because we are renting a nice apartment and I can practice my knowledge of foreign languages here. There are many interesting museums in Brussels and I like going to the Belgium coast on the weekend. I don’t like the weather here, because it’s often rainy and quite cold.

When my father’s contract with the European Commission is over, we will go back to Austria. Probably I will finish secondary school in Austria.

Afterwards I would like to study Medicine at university, because I like to help other people and I am interested in how the human body functions.

Additionally I wish all people could live in peace and without war. Maybe I can make my small contribution to achieving that goal.

Louise

52 •

My name is Francesco and I am 11 years old. I was born in Bolzano, Italy where The Dolomites are, so you can guess that my favorite thing to do is ski. I started skiing when I was 3 years old and I have loved it ever since. My dream is to get to the Olympics and win a gold medal but I don’t think that it will happen because I don’t think that I do enough training, but that doesn’t keep me away from skiing.

My experience skiing In New York State was great fun because we went to a “mountain” where we skied on what was practically ice!!!!!!!!! But we didn’t care and we went every weekend. We always had a lot of fun because my dad had fun friends and we always had races.

I speak Italian, English, German, and a little French. I’ve lived in Moscow, Rome, New York, and Brussels. I change locations every 4 years because my dad is a diplomat and my grandfather was a famous Italian ambassador for 15 years. My mom and dad are both Italian. I have a sister and a brother who are both younger than me.

My brother and sister are very annoying sometimes and we always fight. But then we all forgive each other and play together again. I’ve changed schools many times and I have left a lot of friends behind in the different places I’ve lived. My best friend just moved to Hong Kong so it is very hard to communicate with him but he will always be my best friend.

Even though I’d moved a few times before, I was still a little anxious about leaving New York, where I felt very comfortable, and moving to Brussels.

I was comfortable in New York because I had a lot of friends, I lived in a nice little apartment, I had very nice neighbors, the city was always very exciting, and in the winter I could go to the mountains and ski almost every weekend. Here in Brussels I don’t have a lot of friends and I am always teased, I only have a very grumpy neighbor, the city is not very exciting, and there are no mountains.

If I look on the bright side, I have a much bigger house with a ping-pong table and a garden. But either way I would love to have stayed in New York. I didn’t like the idea of moving to

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Brussels because it meant leaving my best friends, and all my other friends behind. The only reason I agreed to come here was because I would learn a new language.

School here is not so much fun. I always get teased in my first language class but I guess it could be worse. The only classes I enjoy are: English, Art, Music and Physical Education.

My activities during the week are: tennis on Wednesdays and Fridays, guitar on Tuesdays.

I loved living in New York but I would still prefer to live in my hometown in Italy. My house is in the mountains, in a community were everybody knows everybody else. My grandmother and cousins live there, I could go skiing 2 days a week in the winter, and in the summer it is always beautiful and we get to go hiking and climbing in the mountains and eat my favorite dishes like fried eggs and speck or knoedl. Speck is a ham made from pork meat and a knoedl is a Tyrolean dumpling.

I have another house, but I only go there in the winter and for summer vacations. There, my whole family (from my father’s side) meets during these vacations. In the winter vacations we do a lot of skiing, sledding and cross-country skiing. In the summer vacations we do a lot of hiking and special activities like tree climbing and swimming.

In my free time I like to build things with Lego, invent things, create stuff, and do origami. I am the most creative in my family. I’ve done origami for a year and a half now and I have more then 400 origami’s and I do some exhibitions. I would like to continue improving my origami and would like to have a lesson at the British Origami Society.

In general, I don’t mind living in Brussels but I preferred New York. I’m very lucky in that wherever I live I have my family around me and we travel a lot so I also see my extended family regularly.

Fransesco

54 •

22

My story is unique. I was born in Belgium and have always gone to school in Belgium. However, my existence and life experience is most definitely international. I go to a European School, neither one of my parents are Belgian, consequently we travel a lot. I speak 3 different languages: French, Dutch and English .

My name is James Smith, son of Paul and Olive. I was born in Brussels. A few months after my birth, my parents were glad to finally see my hair grow. At first they thought my hair was blonde and they didn’t understand why, because no one in my family is blonde. They waited a few more days, only to discover that it was red. That was more logical because my grandma was too.

After having me for two years my parents began to think that it was really a lot of work to bring up a child. I could speak and walk so it was hard for them to sleep (because I was always trying to talk at night).

One day my mum and dad came to me and explained that I would have a little sister. This event was to take place when I was three and I was expected to be excited about it because according to my parents, I’d never had a brother or sister before! That changed with time.

My mum’s ‘’tummy’’ got bigger and bigger, to the point where I was even a bit scared of it. Mum wasn’t at home for a few days and my dad explained to me that it was because the baby was about to arrive. I was so excited to have a little sister. A few of my friends already had one and they explained many things about it.

The baby arrives !!!

The BIG day finally arrived. My dad and I went to the hospital and waited in front of my mum’s room. After a few minutes a doctor came to my dad and said to my dad that we were allowed to go in. I was so impatient!

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In the room I saw my mum in a bed and another doctor next to her with my sister in his arm’s. My parents decided to call the baby Stephanie. That was a very special day.

Another day I remember was when I was 5 years old. Paul and Olive came to my sister and me. They looked very sad, and my dad said, “We want to talk to you. Mum and I don’t want to live together anymore”. That was the beginning of a big change for my sister and me.

I was only five and did not understood a thing. But it wasn’t hard to know it wasn’t good at all.

I had to change schools because my mum came to live in Brussels. I thought that that was the worst thing that could happen. I was against it but I really didn’t have a choice. I was obliged to start at the European School. I already spoke three languages so that wasn’t an issue for me. After a few months I finally liked the school and I made many friends. My best friends were called Luis and Justin.

On my 7th birthday my mum gave me a cat which died 2 weeks afterwards, because of an illness. I was pretty sad, but after a few weeks of searching my mum and I found one which looked exactly the same.

There were some problems that began in this school. When I say ‘problems’ I don’t mean very bad things, but when we do a lot of ‘not such bad things’, they add up to make a few big problems. I remember a discussion I had with my mum on this subject.

– “I am sick of all your problems!”, she said.– “I know, sorry.” I replied.– “Sorry? You always say that. Can’t you be a normal kid and study without getting into trouble every 2 seconds?”– “It’s harder than you think.” I said. She looked at me very sadly and hugged me a few seconds after realising that she had been a kid too and knew how it felt. The only thing she said after was, “Please don’t continue this, it’s really stupid”.

The days past really quickly and we finally arrived at the summer holidays. Everyone at school was telling his/her friends where they were going on holiday. In my case it was Italy. I always go there for the summer holidays because my grandparents live there. Everything is beautiful there I just love it.

On the first day after the holidays most people are glad that school has started again because although we love holidays, 2 months is a long time. The ‘routine’ starts again and life goes on.

That is my story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Maybe they will be a sequence. Special thanks to: My mum, my dad, my sister, and my English teacher.

James

56 •

23

I was living in Romania when my mother decided that we had to set off to another country. At the beginning, the idea frightened me and I was not very happy because I had to give up my friends and the places I loved. In spite of all my negative thoughts I started to get used to the idea. Even all my friends were encouraging me not to be afraid because I would have the chance to make new friends, see and experience a lot of new things. Therefore, when the day came for me to go on my journey I was somehow prepared.

The big day came and I sat, with my family, at the airport and waited for our flight, and played with my sister. I tried to imagine how my new house and school would be. I thought about the wonderful holidays I spent at my grandmother’s house in the countryside where the landscape is of utmost beauty and where I could bathe in the river till the sun went down. Oh, wonderful days, playing football with my friends and then when the game was over we would race with our bicycles back home. How could I forget all that? The mountains that I explored with my friends and the new born calf I saw, and all the beautiful animals that surrounded me. Would I have the chance to do all this again? What nice peaceful holidays. Would I be back to experience this beauty? I was questioning myself.

My thoughts were interrupted by the voice that announced our flight to my ‘new, mysterious planet’. That is how I used to call my new destination, Brussels. Finally, I was in the plane with my family, and as usual I wanted to sit by the window and play with my little sister. It was just a two hour flight anyway and I decided to talk with my sister and imagine what our new school would be like.

By the time we arrived it was afternoon. From the airport we headed straight to our new house. I was so anxious to see it. I was surprised to see that it was not so big, but it was really cosy. The next day, I went to school and I was supposed to meet my new classmates.

The big challenge was that I had to face a new language after studying in Romanian and Italian, now I had to continue my studies in English and since I didn’t know a word of English or French I was a little bit terrified by the idea that I would never be able to understand what the teacher was saying or to make friends with my school mates. Anyway, I went to bed early that evening since it was quite a day and I felt a little bit exhausted by all the changes.

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The next day my sister had to face a new language as well since she had to attend the kindergarten in the Belgian system and I had to go to school to the English section of the European School. So, there I was in the school bus heading to my new school and my new teacher. I wanted to be good and learn the language quickly.

My first day at school was quite a disaster as it turned out that I couldn’t understand a word of English and I started to be worried about how I would be able to cope with the new language. On my way back from school I said to myself that definitely English was not similar to any of the languages I had studied before, therefore it would take me a while to learn but with my fantastic new teacher I was sure that my English would improve day-by-day.

The months passed and my sister started to speak French. She is really good at languages. I started to understand a bit and speak a little, though the process of learning was slow in the beginning.

In general, my school mates and my new school, were really great, just what I was expecting. I made new friends easily and played football in the courtyard, of course it was not like back home, but the start was promising. I was invited to many parties so I had the chance to go out and have fun with my school mates.

Later in the year I found out that we would go on a trip as well. “Wow”, I said. It is a great adventure to be away from the school even for three days, to be able to play at night with my friends. I can tell you my first trip with the school was excellent. I loved my teacher, my school and everything that was new in my life. I need to tell you aswell that after four or five months my English improved dramatically, so my mother cooled down a little bit as she was dead worried about my progress at school.

The time was passing on my ‘new, mysterious planet’ and I got used to, and came to love, the Belgian traditions, like French fries. I could eat them everyday. So, you see, we settled down very well and made a lot of new friends. We went to the cinema quite often and enjoyed small trips around Belgium, which were interesting and fun. We often went to Luxembourg, which is not far from Brussels, to visit my uncle. I made friends there too and every time I had to go there I was so happy because I knew that my friend Pablo would play football with me or show me his secret paths in the forest where we made ourselves weapons and could pretend that we were warriors.

My first year in the European school came to a close, summer time was in front of me and I was thrilled to return to Romania for my summer holidays. It was with a lot of joy and happiness that I saw my old friends again at my grandmother’s house, but I have to admit that I was changing and so were my friends. We started to leave our childhoods behind and become more serious. I told them about my new school and friends and teacher, they listened to me, fascinated and interested by my story. I told them that I was learning English at school and that things were so different from what I had done back home. I told as well of all the progress I made, the fact that I was starting to speak French and how much I was enjoying Brussels. I can tell you that I adapted to the Belgian weather very easily and never had problems, like my sister did, because of the rainy, windy weather.

Two months of holidays passed quickly and I was happy to return to my house in Brussels, to begin school. A very important thing for me that I forgot to mention was that my

Andre

58 •

grandparents were living with us and I was so happy to have them with me all the time. I love them so much. My grandfather tells us interesting history stories and I can talk to him about history and geography. I learn so many things from him. My grandmother helps me a lot too with my Romanian and she cooks great dishes, her bread and pizza are delicious.

My fourth primary year began with a new challenge - I was told that I would have a new teacher. I was a little scared of the changes and I wondered if I would have the same classmates as the previous year. Another change was that my sister started school in the same section I was, so I could help her a little bit with her English homework although it turned out that she learnt English very quickly. My sister is definitely gifted with languages. She adapted very well to her new school and changing from the Belgian system to the European school. I helped her with the surroundings of the school - where everything is in the school like the canteen, the library, the gym, and reassured her that she would learn quickly.

Another change we had that year was that my mother announced that we would move house. We moved to a better one, to a really nice, bright and sunny apartment, I loved it from the first time I saw it. That year I made new friends, Romanian ones and among them I met my best friend Teodor. I spent most of my time with him playing in the park after school, I was so lucky that he lived nearby my house, we got along so well.

The fourth year primary went pretty well. I was making good progress with my English although I still had a lot of work to do. I was happy with my new teacher as he was very nice and taught us a lot of things.

At the end of the fourth year we went back to Romania for my holidays. It was shorter this time as we also spent two weeks in Turkey at the seaside where my sister and I had a lot of fun playing by the seaside or in the swimming pool. Though the weather was terribly hot we still enjoyed a lot of games inside the hotel like playing cards, bowling or simply enjoying a good book. It was a different summer holiday but I still remember it like a very nice and adventurous one.

In the fifth year primary I was lucky to continue my studies with the same teacher and same classmates. Nothing changed except the fact that I had to study more and play less.

My sister was in second year primary and studied well. She made a lot of friends and was very happy with the teacher and the school. I was thrilled when my teacher told us that we would go to London for a day trip, it was really fantastic. I had the chance to see a little bit of London and the most exciting was the show ‘War horse’, I can tell you that I enjoyed every minute of that show, sitting in the front row I felt I was part of the show. Then we had a picnic in the park and we played tag and we went to the British museum. In the British museum I bought many souvenirs. My mother was waiting for me at the train station on my return, and I was very excited to tell her about my adventure and I couldn’t wait to arrive home to give my sister the present I got for her, a little sword.

In the same year we went on another school trip to The Ardennes for three days. We went by bus and had a lot of fun during the trip. It was a research trip. We went to the mountains to look for fossils and carried out all sorts of experiments. We needed to find elements in the forest in order to be able to do the experiments. The second day we had some challenges, we

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were split in groups of five and had to use a bow and arrow. It was really exciting as it was the first time I had used a bow. I felt like a warrior. On the last day we had a disco and we were allowed to stay until late in the evening.

The next day before returning to Brussels we went to a museum that was about World War Two. There, we saw weapons, helmets and guns kept all those years. My small three-day adventure away from home was soon over and we had to return to Brussels.

It was a difficult year as that year my grandmother had to stay in Romania for a while and my sister and I had to go to the after-school care. I felt exhausted most of the time and I was not able to study a lot. Finally, school was over and I enjoyed a relaxing holiday. My well deserved holiday in Romania, in the countryside, with my old friends. We went to the Black Sea where I met the family from my grandfather’s side. I really liked when my mother took us to see the dolphin show and the most exciting was the planetarium where I saw the planets, the stars, and we were shown how the sun goes down and rises. It was for me the most interesting thing I have ever seen. Then, we went to the Sea Museum, where I saw many types of fish. It was fantastic! That summer was the coolest one before my biggest challenge - first year in Secondary! This is the present moment. It’s not so easy, as I have to study a lot and things got very complicated but I have to see the positive side as well, that school will prepare me for life. For this, I have to tell you that I have wonderful, dedicated teachers that are guiding me everyday, and it’s a joy having them. Since I came here I learnt two new languages, I made new friends and I feel I belong to this ‘new, mysterious planet’ as I used to call it before coming to Brussels. The fact that every time after my summer holidays I want to return to Brussels, is a positive sign that I really belong here and that I enjoy my life here, my school, my friends and I do feel blessed to have all these adorable people in my life.

Andre

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24I’m Lewis Blackblock. I arrived in Brussels in 2010. It is another life when you go to live in a city like Brussels. Before, I lived in Germany, in Bayern near Munich, but not in the centre of Munich.

What is the biggest difference between Brussels and the countryside?

It is another life living in Brussels, from where I lived in the countryside of Bayern. There you can go to your neighbor and ask, “Hey do you have time to play something?” Here in Brussels you can’t go out and play football in the street, because there are hundreds of people and hundreds of cars, buses, trams and motorbikes. You know what I mean? Here, you ask your friend who might be on the other side of Brussels, and then you must go to a playground. In brief, you have to organize playing with your friends. In the countryside you can go out and play on the street and there are only about 10 cars coming in one day! Brussels is soooo big. That’s the worst thing, that your friends live sometimes 10km from your house.

I was born in 2000. I have one brother and one sister, but my brother is 31 years old and my is sister 29 years old, so I am definitely the baby. They both have jobs in Germany and they have houses, but not together. My Dad is nearing retirement age, but he still works hard and he prefers to continue working. In fact, the reason why we are here now is because my dad was offered a good job here.

My mother was also working before I was born, but than I arrived and she stopped working. Back to me! The big move from Germany to Brussels was not my first move. My first move was out of Munich to another town in Germany. Then, I had a second move. That move was also further and further out of Munich into the country, into a village with only 3000 people. The city was called “Donauwörth”. After 4 years in the German countryside we moved to Brussels.

My favourite sports are: carting, skating and football. I’m also a big fan of Formula 1 where all the most successful drivers began in the Carting sport. In the little cars you learn to ‘feel’ the car and learn more about the engine, which is very important for when you drive the bigger cars.

Living, in and going to school, in Brussels has meant that I have been able to improve my football skills. Before coming here, I knew how to play it but could not improve because in my old school we weren’t allowed to play football in the breaks, but here we can play.

 

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My mother tongue is German but here in Brussels I learnt more English. For next year I have chosen French for my 3rd language, because you need it in the city but also in school. That is one of the positive aspects of living in Brussels.

Shortly after our move, I missed my old friends but in the new school I quickly found new friends and now, after one year here, understand better how the boys and girls tick!

Because I’m often home alone I wanted a pet but my mom does not like the idea because we travel frequently from Brussels to Donauwörth and back again, which would make having a pet difficult. Also, because Mum does not like it when a dog jumps for joy. Furthermore, who would feed the dog or the Hamster (if we had one) during the holidays? Nobody! That is the problem. So, I’m guessing I won’t win that argument.

In conclusion, I enjoy some elements of my life in Brussels but I also enjoyed living in Germany. If I had to choose I would live in Germany because it is my home, my country, my language and there I lived in a village which I prefer to living in a city, as I do in Brussels.

Lewis

62 •

I was trying to read a book, when suddenly the bedroom door opened. It was my mother, she sat on my bed and started talking to me.

– “Honey, you know Belgium?”, she asked.– “I’ve never heard of it”, I replied.– “It’s a beautiful country, you know even if it’s a bit cold …”– “Aa …”, I protested. “We’re not doing Geography you know Mum!”

We started laughing like crazy. At the same time, she took the opportunity to see if I knew a few capitals of Europe:

– “The capital of France?”, she asked.– “Paris”, I replied.– “Ok, hum ... the capital of Bulgaria?”– “Sofia …”– “Good girl!”

My mum continued asking me questions. I continued answering them. Once I asked my mother why she had come into my room to tell me about Belgium.

– “Honey”, she said, “I think Dad is going to work there, and …”I interrupted, “And what?”– “He’ll stay there for four years!”

I looked at the floor without saying anything.” Infinite words of my father were walking in my brain. “... and we will move soon, with dad!” I asked mum

I was sad. Belgium? I had never heard of it!!!

– “Giuliana, we have to move soon, in August. You have to prepare some boxes, many boxes! But for the moment, pack only your toys. It is only June, you have a lot of time!”

I started clean my room and put my toys are in the boxes.

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One day later my brother asked me, “Giugy, why are your toys in boxes?”– “Because we will move soon, in August,” I replied.

He didn’t understand everything I had said, and asked 3 minutes later – “Where?”– “In Belgium!”– “Belgium is cool, with the ‘Manniken piss, isn’t it?”– “Yes, with the Manniken piss.” I reassured him.– “Do you want some help with the toys and the boxes?”– “Yes, thanks Bill.” I took up his offer.He was happy, very happy, and he said to me, “Don’t be sad, Belgium is cool!”

Two months later we heard our name of the public address system at the airport. “Will the Brilli Family please go to departure number 24.” We were late by about 10 minutes. We ran fast, gave the tickets to the hostess and found our seats in the plane. I looked down at Rome for the last time.

Faster than I thought my mother was telling us, “Ok, guys, this is the new house!”We were amazed, the house was so big! With a big hall, and the garden was about 50 meters long! Suddenly the idea of living in Brussels wasn’t so bad.– “Wow,” said Bill.

I went upstairs to my new bedroom. It was the biggest bedroom I had ever seen. The house was like the royal palace (I liked what I was seeing of Belgium). There were thirteen rooms!

I was woken up at seven o’clock. Dad was downstairs dressed in beautiful clothes.– “Where are you going Dad?” I asked.– “Today is the first day of my job.”– “And the school? For me and Bill?”– “Tomorrow is your first day of school!”– “What? Tomorrow?”– “Yes darling, tomorrow is Monday!”

The next day was my first day at school. It was a beautiful experience but too difficult to explain. The years passed quickly and during that time I made many friends. Bill was right. Belgium is indeed cool.

Giuliana

64 •

26

I started my old school when I was three years old. I spent three years at the kindergarden, and 5 years in the primary. I liked my old school. It was small and pretty. It was in Flanders and everyone spoke Dutch. The name of the school was Ter Berken. It was a local school very close to our house.

My second year teacher was Italian and she spoke 4 languages: Dutch, French, English, and Italian. She was my favorite teacher. Her name was Ms. Laila.

Flemish primary schools are 6 years and secondary is also 6 years. I wanted to start the European School in the first year of the secondary. So I had to leave primary at the end of the fifth year.

In the fifth year, I knew I was going to go the European School, but none of my friends knew that I was going until the last week of school. It was a challenge to tell them that I was going, but I managed. The last day of the school year, I felt very sad. I was leaving all my friends. I cried and all my friends cried too, even my fifth year teacher cried. I was afraid that I wouldn’t see my friends any more. But my parents said that I would meet them soon, even after the summer holidays.

After the summer holiday, I woke up and I realized it was the first day of the European School. I was so nervous. When I went to school it turned out that I was the only girl in the Dutch section. I missed my friends so much that day. The second day of school, I met a girl named Deni. She was really kind. I hoped that she was in my English class, and she was!!! The next day I heard that Deni changed groups, to a higher group. I felt like crying. But it didn’t matter. We were still friends. That lunch we went to the canteen together.

After lunch, she went away and I went to the boys. They were talking about football and stuff like that (I hate football). I don’t know how I did it, but I did. I went to the girls where Deni was. They were really kind to me and I played with them. The only problem was that my English wasn’t so good. And I was shy to speak English. Suddenly I could speak. I was really happy. I didn’t even think about my old friends any more.

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In this school, I like the different languages that everyone speaks. There is not only Dutch, but also English, German, Italian, French, Bulgarian, Romanian. And I have so many different teachers: Ms. G, Mr. B, Mr. O’C., Ms. B, Ms. C., ...

Next year is going to be another challenge, then we are moving to Laeken. I am really excited about it. It’s a big school and everything is new. And all my friends are also going to be there.

Celien

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27

My name is Gwendolyn Verpoint. I am twelve years old. I was born in Paris. I moved to Belgium at 1 month so I don’t remember the move. I spent the first two years of my nursery school at the school “Prinses Juliana”. The second school, where I spent four years, was the school “Ecole du Bonheur”. After I went to the European School but I will tell you about that more precisely.

I was listening to music in my bedroom, at the time we were living in Belgium, when my mother called me for dinner. I went downstairs to eat. I spoke to Mama and she said:– “Tomorrow, you will go to a new school.”– “Which school?” I asked.– “The European School and you will need to go by bus and your father will follow the bus with his car to get to know the way” answered Mum.– “A school-bus?” I asked.– “Yes, but clean your bedroom now”, she replied.– “Oh no! “I protested.

I went to my bedroom and kicked my schoolbag. I hated cleaning my bedroom. Then I opened a book and I started reading, after that I went to sleep. The next morning at half past six my dad woke me up. – “I don’t want to go to school Papa,” I said.– “Come on Gwendolyn, wake up!” said dad, ignoring my protests.– “Ok Papa”, I gave in.

Then I went to the bathroom to get dressed, then I started eating my breakfast. Later, Papa came and said, “ Hurry up, we are going to be late for the bus!”

I took the bus. I sat alone in the bus. I thought of my father, he was following me by car. When we arrived, I saw a big school. I didn’t recognize the place, and I thought that it was surely the building for the nursery school. Then, I looked for my class. I saw a teacher and he shouted “P3FR”. I went to him and he asked me my name? “My name is Gwendolyn Verpoint!” I said.

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– “Hum, sorry you aren’t in my class. Go over there!” said the teacher, and he pointed to another teacher. I was stressed but I went to the other teacher. “Hello, my name is Gwendolyn Verpoint!” I said.– “Sorry you aren’t in my class. Go into the building”, said the teacher.

Then I went into a large building and got lost but the headmaster came and called me. “Are you Gwendolyn?” he said. I replied that I was she and he told me to go with him.

I went then with him and he called my father. It appears that I took the bus to the another European School instead of the bus for the one I was supposed to go to! Ten minutes later, my dad came to fetch me and he took me to the right school. I was very late when I went to my class. I was a little bit afraid that the teacher might yell at me.

That wasn’t the best start to a new school career. However, things were looking up ...

Gwendolyn