Hey everyone! This is my very first fanfic, so I'm completely open for any kind of advice. I'm from Belgium myself, so if you're going to read this story, you'll surely get a lot of side information about Belgium :) Oh, first of all, I haven't really decided yet if I want to make Ezra a teacher or just a student. I really like the teacher storyline, but maybe that would make it a bit too predictable? Let me know!
Chapter 1
Before the plane even landed, it was clear that the Belgian weather was being its typical gray self. Rain was pouring down as she got off the plane and the sudden cold made her shiver. This would definitely take some time to get used to.
Passing the passport control was surprisingly easy. Maybe because she was used to the strict controls in America. It took a while, but eventually she found her baggage and started looking for the exit. There were quite some people waiting when she got out. She had no idea what Belgian people looked like, or how they behaved, but for some reason, she felt good here. Her eyes were scanning the crowd, looking for a sign with her name on it.
It took her only a few seconds to find it, and before she knew it she was hugged by a tiny woman, accompanied by a girl who looked younger than Aria did, but her smile was as radiant as the sun.
"Aria, dear, so nice to finally see you," the woman exclaimed, "please call me Ellen!" "Hi Ellen, it's nice to see you too. You have no idea how excited I am for this year."
Normally Aria wasn't shy at all, but opening up to complete strangers like this wasn't something she often did. She felt an immediate connection, and it made her feel at ease.
"I'm Eveline, nice to meet you Aria." So this was going to be her sister for the next few months. She was tiny, about the same height as Aria, which made her like the girl even more.
The ride home consisted of Ellen explaining how they were going to take care of the home planning and other necessities, while Eveline kept telling her typical things about Belgium. It made Aria smile. This was going to be great. At least so far. She signed up for a student exchange program a few months agp, but she never thought she'd get sent so far away. And when Aria first found out she was sent to Belgium, she wasn't very excited. She had so many questions. Do they have electricity there? Or internet? What language do they speak? But when she looked up some more information, it turned out Belgium would fit her perfectly. It was a tiny country where they had three official languages. Dutch, French and German. She would be living in the Dutch part of it, which didn't matter much to her, she'd find out what that meant soon enough. So far Belgium looked a bit like America, only there was more nature, and things seemed a bit less crowded.
It took them about an hour to get from the airport to the Janssens house. Even though Aria spent practically the whole ride trying to pronounce the family's last name right, it was still very hard for her.
The house was quite different from houses she was used to seeing in America, but not in a bad way, just a different style. She really wanted to explore the rest of the house but Eveline grabbed her hand and lead her upstairs.
"I hope you don't mind sharing my room with me. If it's really a problem we'll find another solution, but this would definitely be the easiest option," she said as she showed her teeth in a kind smile. "Oh, don't worry, I don't mind at all," Aria replied as she threw her bag on the ground. "Let's get you settled."
Her first dinner was another memorable moment. When Eveline exclaimed excitedly that they would eat 'prut' tonight, Aria couldn't help but frown. But she turned out to fall in love with this dish. It was a combination of mashed potatoes, leek with a delicious white sauce and minced meat.
After dinner, Aria was so exhausted from the travel that she didn't have to help doing the dishes, so she went upstairs. When Eveline came upstairs a little later, she found Aria sound asleep on the bed.