So it's finally here. The final hours in Belgium have come. I wish I could say I was sad to leave, but truthfully I am excited. There are things I will miss about Belgium, but I will not miss working as a nanny. I will miss the girls, but I will not miss the constant never ending work and all the other drama that came with it.
However, I will miss Europe. I do love it here, in Benelux and everywhere else I have ever lived and travelled. I am truly fortunate to say that by the age of 23 I have lived in 3 countries, travelled on 3 continents, and visited 14 countries and countless cities. I have seen many people and places and have images and memories etched into my mind that I will never forget. The good, the bad, the beautiful, and the breathtaking; all of it has been worth every second of tired feet, delayed trains, missing luggage, sleepless nights and teary moments.
I have always been a firm believer that travel is truly the one thing you can invest in that makes a permanent and irreversible change in your life. My mindset is always changed, tweaked and re imagined with every new place I visit and every new person that I meet. Having a global perspective is invaluable in the world which we live in today. I would gladly continue to be poor and live from a backpack if it meant that I could be blessed with more opportunities like I have had.
Specifically in Belgium, I have learned a lot about myself, from the smallest introspective details to the more tangible things. Since moving here, I have learned to master driving a stick shift car and drive it amongst the insanity that is the European auto route; I have learned to improve my French language and cultural skills; I have learned to navigate the Benelux railway system flawlessly; and most importantly, I have learned about myself.
My limits have been pushed constantly while being here. I remember the first week and feeling so small and sad all the time because I was jet lagged and tired and hearing and speaking nothing but French was so overwhelming that I just wanted to give up and go home. But I have learned now that I am much stronger than that. I can survive the tough times because I know what is waiting on the other side if I continue to push through for just a little bit longer.
After the initial period of adjustment, I began to make friends. Michelle, my American friend, has been an amazing source of comfort and knowledge for me while I have been here. My BBF's, Best Belgian Friends (who aren't even Belgian), Simon and Lora have shown me fun, laughter, and joy. I willful greatly miss these three friends that I have made here. Because the quantity of friends doesn't matter, but the quality of the bond does.
It is always bittersweet to begin a new chapter in life. To look back and fondly remember the good times is good, but as Dumbledore told us "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live". So we must remember the past and learn from it (a lesson from Rafiki) but also remember that the past is just a stop along the journey of life, and another one is just around the corner to come.
When I think of the near future, I am excited and ready. I know that the things I have faced in the past three months have helped to shape who I am and who I will be in the years to come. I am excited to go home and see my family and friends and share a tiny slice of my story with them, hoping that they may enjoy the stories of what I have done.
But the best story of all is yet to be written; "The best is yet to be".
Monday, June 30, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Almost.
Hey there again,
It is truly almost the end. It's hard to fully comprehend and wrap my head around.
This final school week has gone by both extremely quickly and yet super slowly. I feel this is how time always passes when you are both equally wanting to leave and wanting to stay.
On Monday, the girls began their last week of school, but since exams are finished, they really don't have any real work to do, just games and crafts, which is fun for them. But it doesn't make much sense for me that they have to continue school right up until the last day of June...so after a long night in Luxembourg on Sunday, I slept in on Monday. After school, Emma went to a friends house and I went to English class at Michelle's house with Elise. We played baseball with her class in a field by Michelle's house. Many of the kids had never played baseball and therefore didn't know the rules. It was super fun to play with them and watch them struggle a bit to get it the first few innings, but they eventually caught on and they were all having fun, and so was I. After the game, we walked back to Michelle's house and she made hot dogs while I played go fish and uno with the kids. A few of them had also never had a hot dog, but they all loved them. It was truly an all American day! After dinner, I skyped with Brent and went to bed.
On Tuesday, I had a busy day. I finished reading The Fault In Our Stars in the morning, and after taking the girls back to school in the afternoon, I rode my bike into town to close my Belgian bank account and then I had lunch with Lora at her house and we talked in the sun out on her porch. After picking the girls up from school, we played the whole afternoon. We did arts and crafts, we played tag and hide and seek and jumped on the trampoline. We took off our shoes and pretended that we were rabbits and the shoes were the wolves, and if they touched is we had only three times before we were dead. Although I was exhausted by the end of the day, I am going to miss them when I leave. After putting them to bed, I skyped Molly and went to bed.
Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school like normal, and so after school two of their friends came over to stay the night. It was a good day, full of playing outside and swimming in the pool and jumping on the trampoline. I drew an oil portrait of Elise and she loved it. However, she then got a nose bleed from hell and I was scared she was going to bleed out through her nostrils. I have literally never seen a nose bleed so bad, and out of nowhere! We were sitting at the table drawing it started draining like a faucet! So of course it got all over her shirt and the table and I made her whip her shirt off so I could wash it immediately so it wouldn't stain. After the bleeding stopped, Elise made me a friendship bracelet and it was so cute I nearly cried. After dinner, I skyped Sara and then I went to bed.
Thursday morning, I met Michelle at our usual spot, Maison Knopes, for breakfast. It was our last Thursday morning tradition together. There have been a lot of last things happening this week. It's sad. After we had breakfast, Michelle left and I stayed in town for a little bit to buy some chocolates and flowers for the family for a thank you gift, and then I walked home and made chili for lunch. After taking the girls back to lunch, I showered and got ready for my reception at the academy of fine arts to receive my French class diploma, since I passed the exam. When the girls came home from school, we had about two hours together before I left and so we played on the trampoline and then made chocolate chip cookies. At 6, I left to go meet Lora and Tania and some of their friends for pizza and a drink before the reception. It was nice to sit outside with them and enjoy the lovely weather. Although at some points I was getting distracted and kept dashing into a nearby bar to check the score of the USA VS Germany soccer game. Although we lost the game, we thankfully moved on due to score differentials between Ghana and Portugal. After eating, we walked to the academy and mingled with some other people from our class and our professor gave us our certificates. It was just an open house for all the classes, nothing super fancy, but it was nice. After an hour there, a bunch of girls from the class went to have a drink together in town. Town was super busy because of the Belgium Vs South Korea soccer game. Afterwords, we walked to Lora's place and her and I had some tea together and talked for a bit before I headed home. I skyped with my family for a while, which was nice, and then I went to sleep.
Friday the girls had a barbecue at school for lunch, so Catherine and I went out to lunch together in town. It was nice to talk in English where I felt like we stood on common ground. It was an enjoyable afternoon. When we came home, I spent the afternoon prepping my suitcase and doing some organizing and packing. After school, I picked up the girls, and we came home and made cookies and put together two puzzles and did some arts and crafts. Then we all did our hair and makeup together for their end of the year party for school. It was very sweet, they asked to use my makeup and of course I let them. They were actually very civilized and respectful about it, and didn't overdo it. At 6, we all went to the schools soccer field together where the school party was being held. Each grade had prepared a dance that was the theme of the World Cup. The youngest kids were super simple but also super cute. The third and fourth graders, Elise and Emma's classes, combined into one dance because their classes are so small. All the girls were cheerleaders and all the boys were soccer players running drills while the girls cheered them on. I thought it was cute, but a little sexist that none of the girls were allowed to play soccer too, they just had to be cute cheerleaders. The sixth grade class made a very cool dance to stromae's hit single "ta fête" which was actually really well choreographed and you could tell they spent a lot of time on it. After the dances were over, everyone went inside to have a barbecue dinner which was really good. Many other school parents commented on how good my French was, and it felt good to be praised and included in the conversations. Catherine also told me she is sad that I am leaving and that she doesn't want me to go. It made me feel good to finally hear out loud that she appreciates me and what I have done for her and her family. After lots of red wine and laughter, we finally left the school around 11pm!
After my last full week here in Arlon, I feel everything. I feel sad, happy, nervous, excited, proud.... Just 4 days left here before I leave for good. It's bittersweet.
It is truly almost the end. It's hard to fully comprehend and wrap my head around.
This final school week has gone by both extremely quickly and yet super slowly. I feel this is how time always passes when you are both equally wanting to leave and wanting to stay.
On Monday, the girls began their last week of school, but since exams are finished, they really don't have any real work to do, just games and crafts, which is fun for them. But it doesn't make much sense for me that they have to continue school right up until the last day of June...so after a long night in Luxembourg on Sunday, I slept in on Monday. After school, Emma went to a friends house and I went to English class at Michelle's house with Elise. We played baseball with her class in a field by Michelle's house. Many of the kids had never played baseball and therefore didn't know the rules. It was super fun to play with them and watch them struggle a bit to get it the first few innings, but they eventually caught on and they were all having fun, and so was I. After the game, we walked back to Michelle's house and she made hot dogs while I played go fish and uno with the kids. A few of them had also never had a hot dog, but they all loved them. It was truly an all American day! After dinner, I skyped with Brent and went to bed.
On Tuesday, I had a busy day. I finished reading The Fault In Our Stars in the morning, and after taking the girls back to school in the afternoon, I rode my bike into town to close my Belgian bank account and then I had lunch with Lora at her house and we talked in the sun out on her porch. After picking the girls up from school, we played the whole afternoon. We did arts and crafts, we played tag and hide and seek and jumped on the trampoline. We took off our shoes and pretended that we were rabbits and the shoes were the wolves, and if they touched is we had only three times before we were dead. Although I was exhausted by the end of the day, I am going to miss them when I leave. After putting them to bed, I skyped Molly and went to bed.
Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school like normal, and so after school two of their friends came over to stay the night. It was a good day, full of playing outside and swimming in the pool and jumping on the trampoline. I drew an oil portrait of Elise and she loved it. However, she then got a nose bleed from hell and I was scared she was going to bleed out through her nostrils. I have literally never seen a nose bleed so bad, and out of nowhere! We were sitting at the table drawing it started draining like a faucet! So of course it got all over her shirt and the table and I made her whip her shirt off so I could wash it immediately so it wouldn't stain. After the bleeding stopped, Elise made me a friendship bracelet and it was so cute I nearly cried. After dinner, I skyped Sara and then I went to bed.
Thursday morning, I met Michelle at our usual spot, Maison Knopes, for breakfast. It was our last Thursday morning tradition together. There have been a lot of last things happening this week. It's sad. After we had breakfast, Michelle left and I stayed in town for a little bit to buy some chocolates and flowers for the family for a thank you gift, and then I walked home and made chili for lunch. After taking the girls back to lunch, I showered and got ready for my reception at the academy of fine arts to receive my French class diploma, since I passed the exam. When the girls came home from school, we had about two hours together before I left and so we played on the trampoline and then made chocolate chip cookies. At 6, I left to go meet Lora and Tania and some of their friends for pizza and a drink before the reception. It was nice to sit outside with them and enjoy the lovely weather. Although at some points I was getting distracted and kept dashing into a nearby bar to check the score of the USA VS Germany soccer game. Although we lost the game, we thankfully moved on due to score differentials between Ghana and Portugal. After eating, we walked to the academy and mingled with some other people from our class and our professor gave us our certificates. It was just an open house for all the classes, nothing super fancy, but it was nice. After an hour there, a bunch of girls from the class went to have a drink together in town. Town was super busy because of the Belgium Vs South Korea soccer game. Afterwords, we walked to Lora's place and her and I had some tea together and talked for a bit before I headed home. I skyped with my family for a while, which was nice, and then I went to sleep.
Friday the girls had a barbecue at school for lunch, so Catherine and I went out to lunch together in town. It was nice to talk in English where I felt like we stood on common ground. It was an enjoyable afternoon. When we came home, I spent the afternoon prepping my suitcase and doing some organizing and packing. After school, I picked up the girls, and we came home and made cookies and put together two puzzles and did some arts and crafts. Then we all did our hair and makeup together for their end of the year party for school. It was very sweet, they asked to use my makeup and of course I let them. They were actually very civilized and respectful about it, and didn't overdo it. At 6, we all went to the schools soccer field together where the school party was being held. Each grade had prepared a dance that was the theme of the World Cup. The youngest kids were super simple but also super cute. The third and fourth graders, Elise and Emma's classes, combined into one dance because their classes are so small. All the girls were cheerleaders and all the boys were soccer players running drills while the girls cheered them on. I thought it was cute, but a little sexist that none of the girls were allowed to play soccer too, they just had to be cute cheerleaders. The sixth grade class made a very cool dance to stromae's hit single "ta fête" which was actually really well choreographed and you could tell they spent a lot of time on it. After the dances were over, everyone went inside to have a barbecue dinner which was really good. Many other school parents commented on how good my French was, and it felt good to be praised and included in the conversations. Catherine also told me she is sad that I am leaving and that she doesn't want me to go. It made me feel good to finally hear out loud that she appreciates me and what I have done for her and her family. After lots of red wine and laughter, we finally left the school around 11pm!
After my last full week here in Arlon, I feel everything. I feel sad, happy, nervous, excited, proud.... Just 4 days left here before I leave for good. It's bittersweet.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Lux-urious
Hello there!
Well, already another week on the books. The past four days have been alright, but they've gone by ridiculously slowly because it is week 2/2 of the girls final exams at school. If you've read my last few posts, you know how stressful this has been for me. Studying with them has been a nonstop everyday task for the past few weeks, but now it's done, hooray! Now we just have to wait for the results and hope that they pass...
On Monday, I was dragging a little bit, like I normally am after a weekend of traveling. But I had to kick myself into gear right away to begin studying with the girls. After school, we were hitting the books right away. Like last week, they were not happy with this or with me. Math is definitely not their favorite subject, and I had to push them to study with me. Other than studying, Monday was mostly Uneventful.
On Tuesday, thankfully we didn't have too much to study because Wednesday is always a half day so they only had one subject each to study for. This didn't take too long, thank goodness, because I had the second part of my French exam, the oral exam, at 6. I had to pull a topic from a hat and then speak with the professor about what the topic well. I had to talk about my passions and what I would like to do in the future. Piece of cake. I also got to look at my written exam and I passed! Combined with the score from the oral and I did pretty well! I'm proud of myself and what I have been able to learn in such a short time.
After the exam, my friends Lora and Simon and I went to the plaza in town to watch the World Cup math of Belgium Versus Algeria. There was a huge projector screen set up and the whole plaza was covered in a sea of red and yellow and black. People were waving Belgian flags and screaming and cheering and yelling and of course, drinking beer and eating waffles, how else would the Belgians do a soccer match?
After the first half, we left the square to watch the rest of the game at a favorite bar of Simon and his wife. Thankfully, the game picked up from here with two incredible goals and Belgium won! The town was in hysteria. I've never seen that many people out and about in the town and wild and screaming with flags painted on their faces and colors in their hair, eyes wild and bright, cheering loud and whooping in delight.
I walked home and had dinner and then headed to bed shortly after. The weeks events were already wearing on me!
Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school, as always. So after we has lunch, we began studying right away. But Elise had gotten a 100% on her math exam that morning, so I was super proud of her and also happy that all the studying had paid off! It was a gratifying moment.
After studying, Elise had a friend over so Emma and I played princesses in the garden and I made flower crowns for us our of ivy branches and flowers. She loved it, and paraded around declaring she was the flower queen, and her cat, Romeo, was the flower prince. I have turned these children over to the hippie side. They don't seem to be complaining about it ;) After having a princess tea party and doing our princess makeup, we did what all princesses do on hot days and had ice cream sundaes. After dinner, and reading bedtime stories, Emma whispered "I really like you" in my ear as I was kissing her goodnight. I think I teared up. I'm leaving already so soon, and then we may never see each other again.
Thursday, I met Michelle for breakfast and a walk in town. We spent a few hours together, and then I came home to start making lunch. After taking the girls back to school, I spent the afternoon sunbathing by the pool in the sunshine. After I picked the girls up from school, we had our final day of studying, which went just as poorly as all the other days, and there were tears shed. Since the parents were gone, I made crepes for dinner and put the girls to bed.
Friday morning, I went for an hour walk around town with Michelle, and then came home and made chicken parmesan for lunch. After taking the girls back to school I did some reading before picking them up again in the afternoon. After school was go go go go, because we went straight from the school to the arts and crafts store in town to buy a birthday gift for Emma's friend who was having a birthday party on Saturday. After finding a gift, I dropped Elise off at her friends house so they could go to boxing together, and then Emma and I went straight to Michelle's house for English class. It was super fun, we made peanut butter cups, which don't really exist in Europe because Europeans don't love peanut butter like Americans do. And the kids also were introduced to "Flat Stanley" and they got to make one and pick someone to send it to. Emma is going to send hers to one of her former au pairs who lives in London. After coming home at about 7, I relaxed for a little bit and watched part of a World Cup game with Sebastien. Then we all went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in town to celebrate the end of the girls exams. I am so relieved that they are over! Two weeks of studying and tears and anxiety are finally finished! Dinner was delicious, and we were home in time to watch the second half of the French-Swiss game, and watched France dominate 2-6.
Saturday, I slept in which was amazing and much needed. I spent most of the morning lounging by the pool and we had a nice fresh salad for lunch. After lunch, the girls had their friends over the play, and having my fill of the sun, I sat under the large umbrella in the shade and watched them splash around in the pool, and at their request I made them more ivy/willow/flower crowns so they could play as mermaid princesses in the pool. They are so hippie and I so know it's my fault. In the late afternoon, I went over to my friend Lora's house and we took a walk through town and into the small park, and then we came back to her house and had ice cream and watched a movie with her daughter and just talked for hours. It was very nice to hang out with her. After I left her house, I stopped at the bank and then got some frites to eat on the walk home. It was a balmy evening, the first of summer, and light was still glowing on the horizon as I came home at 11pm. Happy solstice!
Sunday, I slept in again, and after breakfast, I played on the the trampoline with the girls and we also worked on some art projects. For lunch, we had a barbecue and ate outside, which was nice and the weather was great. At 4, Michelle and her husband Bert came over to pick me up and after a drink with Sebastien and Catherine, we headed to Luxembourg to celebrate their national holiday!
We drove into the city and parked at a garage and took the bus into the city center. We grabbed some sausages and set off walking around the city just so I could see the sites. Luxembourg is nestled into this valley amongst the hills and the old walls of the city fortress are still standing around most of it, giving it this secluded, fairy tale like feeling. The views standing on the bridges were beautiful; lush green hills and forests surrounded by ancient gray brown stone walls and aqueducts. It was a view to behold. After sight seeing a bit, we headed towards a parliament building where the duke and duchess of Luxembourg and the Royal family would assemble to sit on high and watch the parade. It is interesting to me how close we were to them, just across the street, yet there seemed to be such limited security for the heads of their country. It goes to show how in America the president would never be able to do this because of how powerful our president is to the entire world, not just our nation.
The parade was fun to see, with the military band and baton twirlers and people carrying torches and playing accordions. They each got the chance to stand in front of the royal family and perform their talents. It must have been nice but nerve wracking for them, I'm sure.
After the parade, we walked back towards one of the plazas and spent a while watching a good band play, with a very good female singer, and huge white balloons were being bounced around amongst the crowd. After they finished, we watched the fireworks from a park, and man were they good. Michelle and I agreed it was our Fourth of July celebration, since neither of us would be in the states at that time. I will be in Croatia on the Fourth of July, which is actually quite soon!
After the fireworks were finished, we headed back to the car and Bert and Michelle dropped me off at home after a jam session to Lana Del Ray in the car. They are so kind and I truly enjoy their company.
So tomorrow is my final full week here. I leave on July 1st, just one week from Tuesday. The end is near.
Goodnight, all
XOXO
Well, already another week on the books. The past four days have been alright, but they've gone by ridiculously slowly because it is week 2/2 of the girls final exams at school. If you've read my last few posts, you know how stressful this has been for me. Studying with them has been a nonstop everyday task for the past few weeks, but now it's done, hooray! Now we just have to wait for the results and hope that they pass...
On Monday, I was dragging a little bit, like I normally am after a weekend of traveling. But I had to kick myself into gear right away to begin studying with the girls. After school, we were hitting the books right away. Like last week, they were not happy with this or with me. Math is definitely not their favorite subject, and I had to push them to study with me. Other than studying, Monday was mostly Uneventful.
On Tuesday, thankfully we didn't have too much to study because Wednesday is always a half day so they only had one subject each to study for. This didn't take too long, thank goodness, because I had the second part of my French exam, the oral exam, at 6. I had to pull a topic from a hat and then speak with the professor about what the topic well. I had to talk about my passions and what I would like to do in the future. Piece of cake. I also got to look at my written exam and I passed! Combined with the score from the oral and I did pretty well! I'm proud of myself and what I have been able to learn in such a short time.
After the exam, my friends Lora and Simon and I went to the plaza in town to watch the World Cup math of Belgium Versus Algeria. There was a huge projector screen set up and the whole plaza was covered in a sea of red and yellow and black. People were waving Belgian flags and screaming and cheering and yelling and of course, drinking beer and eating waffles, how else would the Belgians do a soccer match?
After the first half, we left the square to watch the rest of the game at a favorite bar of Simon and his wife. Thankfully, the game picked up from here with two incredible goals and Belgium won! The town was in hysteria. I've never seen that many people out and about in the town and wild and screaming with flags painted on their faces and colors in their hair, eyes wild and bright, cheering loud and whooping in delight.
I walked home and had dinner and then headed to bed shortly after. The weeks events were already wearing on me!
Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school, as always. So after we has lunch, we began studying right away. But Elise had gotten a 100% on her math exam that morning, so I was super proud of her and also happy that all the studying had paid off! It was a gratifying moment.
After studying, Elise had a friend over so Emma and I played princesses in the garden and I made flower crowns for us our of ivy branches and flowers. She loved it, and paraded around declaring she was the flower queen, and her cat, Romeo, was the flower prince. I have turned these children over to the hippie side. They don't seem to be complaining about it ;) After having a princess tea party and doing our princess makeup, we did what all princesses do on hot days and had ice cream sundaes. After dinner, and reading bedtime stories, Emma whispered "I really like you" in my ear as I was kissing her goodnight. I think I teared up. I'm leaving already so soon, and then we may never see each other again.
Thursday, I met Michelle for breakfast and a walk in town. We spent a few hours together, and then I came home to start making lunch. After taking the girls back to school, I spent the afternoon sunbathing by the pool in the sunshine. After I picked the girls up from school, we had our final day of studying, which went just as poorly as all the other days, and there were tears shed. Since the parents were gone, I made crepes for dinner and put the girls to bed.
Friday morning, I went for an hour walk around town with Michelle, and then came home and made chicken parmesan for lunch. After taking the girls back to school I did some reading before picking them up again in the afternoon. After school was go go go go, because we went straight from the school to the arts and crafts store in town to buy a birthday gift for Emma's friend who was having a birthday party on Saturday. After finding a gift, I dropped Elise off at her friends house so they could go to boxing together, and then Emma and I went straight to Michelle's house for English class. It was super fun, we made peanut butter cups, which don't really exist in Europe because Europeans don't love peanut butter like Americans do. And the kids also were introduced to "Flat Stanley" and they got to make one and pick someone to send it to. Emma is going to send hers to one of her former au pairs who lives in London. After coming home at about 7, I relaxed for a little bit and watched part of a World Cup game with Sebastien. Then we all went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in town to celebrate the end of the girls exams. I am so relieved that they are over! Two weeks of studying and tears and anxiety are finally finished! Dinner was delicious, and we were home in time to watch the second half of the French-Swiss game, and watched France dominate 2-6.
Saturday, I slept in which was amazing and much needed. I spent most of the morning lounging by the pool and we had a nice fresh salad for lunch. After lunch, the girls had their friends over the play, and having my fill of the sun, I sat under the large umbrella in the shade and watched them splash around in the pool, and at their request I made them more ivy/willow/flower crowns so they could play as mermaid princesses in the pool. They are so hippie and I so know it's my fault. In the late afternoon, I went over to my friend Lora's house and we took a walk through town and into the small park, and then we came back to her house and had ice cream and watched a movie with her daughter and just talked for hours. It was very nice to hang out with her. After I left her house, I stopped at the bank and then got some frites to eat on the walk home. It was a balmy evening, the first of summer, and light was still glowing on the horizon as I came home at 11pm. Happy solstice!
Sunday, I slept in again, and after breakfast, I played on the the trampoline with the girls and we also worked on some art projects. For lunch, we had a barbecue and ate outside, which was nice and the weather was great. At 4, Michelle and her husband Bert came over to pick me up and after a drink with Sebastien and Catherine, we headed to Luxembourg to celebrate their national holiday!
We drove into the city and parked at a garage and took the bus into the city center. We grabbed some sausages and set off walking around the city just so I could see the sites. Luxembourg is nestled into this valley amongst the hills and the old walls of the city fortress are still standing around most of it, giving it this secluded, fairy tale like feeling. The views standing on the bridges were beautiful; lush green hills and forests surrounded by ancient gray brown stone walls and aqueducts. It was a view to behold. After sight seeing a bit, we headed towards a parliament building where the duke and duchess of Luxembourg and the Royal family would assemble to sit on high and watch the parade. It is interesting to me how close we were to them, just across the street, yet there seemed to be such limited security for the heads of their country. It goes to show how in America the president would never be able to do this because of how powerful our president is to the entire world, not just our nation.
The parade was fun to see, with the military band and baton twirlers and people carrying torches and playing accordions. They each got the chance to stand in front of the royal family and perform their talents. It must have been nice but nerve wracking for them, I'm sure.
After the parade, we walked back towards one of the plazas and spent a while watching a good band play, with a very good female singer, and huge white balloons were being bounced around amongst the crowd. After they finished, we watched the fireworks from a park, and man were they good. Michelle and I agreed it was our Fourth of July celebration, since neither of us would be in the states at that time. I will be in Croatia on the Fourth of July, which is actually quite soon!
After the fireworks were finished, we headed back to the car and Bert and Michelle dropped me off at home after a jam session to Lana Del Ray in the car. They are so kind and I truly enjoy their company.
So tomorrow is my final full week here. I leave on July 1st, just one week from Tuesday. The end is near.
Goodnight, all
XOXO
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Birthday.
Hello again, everyone!
I write to you now one whole year older than when we last spoke. What a year it has been. Thinking back on it, there have been so many radical changes in my life over the past year, most of them for the good, and I have a feeling that this year things will only continue to get better and better with more positive changes on the horizon. I genuinely can't wait to see what 23 has to offer me.
Getting another year older helps to take things into perspective and really see how you have changed and grown over the course of a year. A year ago turning 22, I had just graduated college and I wish feeling full of ambition and drive, but I was also nervous and lost and unsure of where to go with the next part of my life. I remember feeling so overwhelmed and pressured about where the next steps of my life would take me. Shortly thereafter, when I moved to Chicago, I noticed a gradual shift in my personality. Things I thought were once so important didn't seem to matter anymore to me. Although I would still struggle and battle with my anxiety, I began to tell myself that life would continue on no matter what turmoil I seemed to be facing. It's an amazing realization once you accept that simple fact: life just goes on. It simply continues to revolve around you, the minutes passing at the same velocity for you as they do for the stranger standing next to you at the train station.
In this past year, my relationship with Brent has also grown to a new place. We went the longest period yet without seeing each other, as he left in the winter to move to the Netherlands. As gut wrenching as it was at times to cry and cry until my throat was raw when I missed him so, it also helped me to grow independently as a person and learn to truly live for myself. When we were reunited in the spring, this made me appreciate him even more. By being two capable and independent people when we are apart, we are just that much stronger and I breakable when we are together. I find myself falling in love with him over and over again when he does the kindest things for me, and works to make our relationship strong even when we are apart. I am truly blessed to have had him by my side over the past year.
Moving abroad for the second time in my life has also changed me drastically as a person. The experience that I am currently having here is so much different than the first time that I lived in Europe. I think back to that time, so short and so long ago, and I marvel at how much in have changed since then. My current life in Belgium has taught me how strong my resolve is when the going gets tough. Anyone who is close to me has heard of the fears, doubts, and insecurities that I have had living here. Although I may talk of confidence and independence and bravery, I'm no impervious stone woman. I have been broken and down and small and unsure. But that's just a testament to how far I know I can go. I may get pushed down but there's never been a time that I have stayed down. I have continued on and I am proud of myself for that. Life will always have it's battles and hard moments, no matter where I am in the world. Because happiness is not a place, it is a state of being. If you can't find happiness within yourself on the darkest of nights to light the way, then you can search the world over and you will still eventually come home empty handed and frowning.
In these dark moments, I tend to take a lot of things for granted and talk about all of the things that I don't have and the things that I want to have. But honestly, it's time to take a step back and literally count my blessings for the things that I do have. I have an amazing family who is by no means perfect but they are mine and I am theirs and they have supported me in my crazy endeavors over the past year and continued to love me. My amazing group of girlfriends has done the same, being a never ending source of support and laughter and joy. I am by no means rich, but I have a home to live in, a car to drive, and education, food to eat, and most importantly good people to share these things with. I have love. Love from so many amazing, wonderful people. I give love. I will never stop giving love because life is too short not to.
I feel so old and wise and so young and foolish all at once. I go from planning my adult life one moment, making budgets and signing leases and paying bills, to relishing in my fleeting youth and channeling my mothers spirit, dancing to Bruce Springsteen to shake the stress away.
At 23, I have lived in 3 countries, traveled to three continents, ten countries, learned to speak three languages, and visited dozens of beautiful places and sites. I am beyond thankful for these things. I can't say I'm lucky though, because it was all through hard work as desire that I made these opportunities happen for myself. There was no divine luck that threw these things into my lap. This past year has firmed my resolved that I can truly do anything I put my mind to with some hard work and a positive state of mind. And when I forget that fact, I have the ones I love to remind me of it.
So, 23. How did I celebrate the passing of the year? Well, Friday I left Belgium around 5 and got on the lovely 7 hour train ride to Groningen to go see Brent. Although the ride was long, it is always more than worth it to see him. Sadly, while I was on the train I missed the Netherlands playing Spain in the World Cup. However, I was greeted at the train station by Brent showing his Dutch pride! The under dog team defeated the current world champions 5-1! Needless to say, as we rode through the city center on his bike together, the whole city was in a state of madness, orange flags covering every building and flags waving from all the building and draped around people's shoulders. I truly love the spirit that accompanies the World Cup, it brings out such emotion and pride in everyone, young and old. So even though it was one am, after dropping off my bag at Brent's place, we of course began drinking orange heinekens and celebrating with the rest of the country! With some of his friends, we went to a bar that was literally perfect for me, called The Warhol. Alternative music with barrels painted as Campbell's soup cans for tables dotted the electric walls with projections of Andy's paintings twisted and warped like kaleidoscopes on the walls. After a few hours, we bikes home at 4:30 with the dawn on the horizon and exhaustedly went to sleep.
Saturday, we woke up and ventured out in search of pastries for breakfast. We ate them in a park with a nice view of the city center, and then we went to indulge in some birthday shopping for me, and Brent graciously bought me some dresses as a birthday present. After shopping, we walked into the fish market, and strolled among all the fresh food vendors while snacking on some fish nuggets and enjoying the nice weather together. We walked around the city for a few hours with no particular agenda other than enjoying our time together.
Around dinner time, we biked home and bought groceries to make dinner. After making dinner, a bunch of Brent's friends from his floor and I started to play some drinking games getting ready to go out for the night. It was the 400 year anniversary of his university so there had been weeks of celebration in the city leading up to this final night of partying in the city center. After some intense rounds of slap cup, flip cup, and beer pong, which were funny to explain to so many foreign people from all over the world who don't know how to play them, we headed out in our bike brigade downtown.
Finding a place among the thousands of bikes, we chained them up and headed towards the fish market, one of the main plazas where there was a stage set up with dj music going on. Enjoying some beers, we danced for a while, and even played a public round of potatoes, a super silly and rather pointless polish game, which is none the less super fun.
After a little while of this, we left the square to head to a speciality shot bar called "chupitos" which means "shots" in Spanish. Aptly named, eh? After ordering a "Harry Potter shot" and an "American pie shot", both of which were lit on fire before we drank them, we headed to The Three Sisters to watch some of the England versus Italy match. Sadly, England lost, but they put up a good fight. We biked home and headed to bed.
This morning, I woke to to a nice little note and breakfast from Brent for my birthday. He also got me a new charm for my pandora bracelet, a windmill, to represent our time spent in Benelux together. It is absolutely perfect and I love it. It may be the favorite charm on my bracelet, so far.
We made our way into town for lunch together at a restaurant and then we stopped at the store to pick me up snacks for the train ride home. After that, it was already time for me to get on the train again to go back to Belgium. Every time I say goodbye to him part of me is so so sad. Even though I always know I will see him again soon. But the next time I see him in 16 days from now, it will be for the last time with this long distance relationship. Because in 16 days I will leave Belgium for the final time and I will meet Brent in Amsterdam and we will fly off to Croatia together to meet his sister for a great vacation! I am beyond excited. So close yet so far away.
After Croatia, I will be flying home to Chicago on July 11. Less than one month away! I am so excited to see everyone that I have missed so much and to begin the next chapter of my life with Brent in Florida.
As soon as I got off the train in Arlon, Sebastien picked me up and took me back home. The girls had made a banner as hung ribbons over my bedroom door that said "happy birday". It was so sweet I started crying.
Well friends, thank each and everyone of you for the birthday well wishes. It means a lot to me. Even being so far away from home you helped make this birthday a special one. Thank you <3
As always, thanks for reading.
XOXO
I write to you now one whole year older than when we last spoke. What a year it has been. Thinking back on it, there have been so many radical changes in my life over the past year, most of them for the good, and I have a feeling that this year things will only continue to get better and better with more positive changes on the horizon. I genuinely can't wait to see what 23 has to offer me.
Getting another year older helps to take things into perspective and really see how you have changed and grown over the course of a year. A year ago turning 22, I had just graduated college and I wish feeling full of ambition and drive, but I was also nervous and lost and unsure of where to go with the next part of my life. I remember feeling so overwhelmed and pressured about where the next steps of my life would take me. Shortly thereafter, when I moved to Chicago, I noticed a gradual shift in my personality. Things I thought were once so important didn't seem to matter anymore to me. Although I would still struggle and battle with my anxiety, I began to tell myself that life would continue on no matter what turmoil I seemed to be facing. It's an amazing realization once you accept that simple fact: life just goes on. It simply continues to revolve around you, the minutes passing at the same velocity for you as they do for the stranger standing next to you at the train station.
In this past year, my relationship with Brent has also grown to a new place. We went the longest period yet without seeing each other, as he left in the winter to move to the Netherlands. As gut wrenching as it was at times to cry and cry until my throat was raw when I missed him so, it also helped me to grow independently as a person and learn to truly live for myself. When we were reunited in the spring, this made me appreciate him even more. By being two capable and independent people when we are apart, we are just that much stronger and I breakable when we are together. I find myself falling in love with him over and over again when he does the kindest things for me, and works to make our relationship strong even when we are apart. I am truly blessed to have had him by my side over the past year.
Moving abroad for the second time in my life has also changed me drastically as a person. The experience that I am currently having here is so much different than the first time that I lived in Europe. I think back to that time, so short and so long ago, and I marvel at how much in have changed since then. My current life in Belgium has taught me how strong my resolve is when the going gets tough. Anyone who is close to me has heard of the fears, doubts, and insecurities that I have had living here. Although I may talk of confidence and independence and bravery, I'm no impervious stone woman. I have been broken and down and small and unsure. But that's just a testament to how far I know I can go. I may get pushed down but there's never been a time that I have stayed down. I have continued on and I am proud of myself for that. Life will always have it's battles and hard moments, no matter where I am in the world. Because happiness is not a place, it is a state of being. If you can't find happiness within yourself on the darkest of nights to light the way, then you can search the world over and you will still eventually come home empty handed and frowning.
In these dark moments, I tend to take a lot of things for granted and talk about all of the things that I don't have and the things that I want to have. But honestly, it's time to take a step back and literally count my blessings for the things that I do have. I have an amazing family who is by no means perfect but they are mine and I am theirs and they have supported me in my crazy endeavors over the past year and continued to love me. My amazing group of girlfriends has done the same, being a never ending source of support and laughter and joy. I am by no means rich, but I have a home to live in, a car to drive, and education, food to eat, and most importantly good people to share these things with. I have love. Love from so many amazing, wonderful people. I give love. I will never stop giving love because life is too short not to.
I feel so old and wise and so young and foolish all at once. I go from planning my adult life one moment, making budgets and signing leases and paying bills, to relishing in my fleeting youth and channeling my mothers spirit, dancing to Bruce Springsteen to shake the stress away.
At 23, I have lived in 3 countries, traveled to three continents, ten countries, learned to speak three languages, and visited dozens of beautiful places and sites. I am beyond thankful for these things. I can't say I'm lucky though, because it was all through hard work as desire that I made these opportunities happen for myself. There was no divine luck that threw these things into my lap. This past year has firmed my resolved that I can truly do anything I put my mind to with some hard work and a positive state of mind. And when I forget that fact, I have the ones I love to remind me of it.
So, 23. How did I celebrate the passing of the year? Well, Friday I left Belgium around 5 and got on the lovely 7 hour train ride to Groningen to go see Brent. Although the ride was long, it is always more than worth it to see him. Sadly, while I was on the train I missed the Netherlands playing Spain in the World Cup. However, I was greeted at the train station by Brent showing his Dutch pride! The under dog team defeated the current world champions 5-1! Needless to say, as we rode through the city center on his bike together, the whole city was in a state of madness, orange flags covering every building and flags waving from all the building and draped around people's shoulders. I truly love the spirit that accompanies the World Cup, it brings out such emotion and pride in everyone, young and old. So even though it was one am, after dropping off my bag at Brent's place, we of course began drinking orange heinekens and celebrating with the rest of the country! With some of his friends, we went to a bar that was literally perfect for me, called The Warhol. Alternative music with barrels painted as Campbell's soup cans for tables dotted the electric walls with projections of Andy's paintings twisted and warped like kaleidoscopes on the walls. After a few hours, we bikes home at 4:30 with the dawn on the horizon and exhaustedly went to sleep.
Saturday, we woke up and ventured out in search of pastries for breakfast. We ate them in a park with a nice view of the city center, and then we went to indulge in some birthday shopping for me, and Brent graciously bought me some dresses as a birthday present. After shopping, we walked into the fish market, and strolled among all the fresh food vendors while snacking on some fish nuggets and enjoying the nice weather together. We walked around the city for a few hours with no particular agenda other than enjoying our time together.
Around dinner time, we biked home and bought groceries to make dinner. After making dinner, a bunch of Brent's friends from his floor and I started to play some drinking games getting ready to go out for the night. It was the 400 year anniversary of his university so there had been weeks of celebration in the city leading up to this final night of partying in the city center. After some intense rounds of slap cup, flip cup, and beer pong, which were funny to explain to so many foreign people from all over the world who don't know how to play them, we headed out in our bike brigade downtown.
Finding a place among the thousands of bikes, we chained them up and headed towards the fish market, one of the main plazas where there was a stage set up with dj music going on. Enjoying some beers, we danced for a while, and even played a public round of potatoes, a super silly and rather pointless polish game, which is none the less super fun.
After a little while of this, we left the square to head to a speciality shot bar called "chupitos" which means "shots" in Spanish. Aptly named, eh? After ordering a "Harry Potter shot" and an "American pie shot", both of which were lit on fire before we drank them, we headed to The Three Sisters to watch some of the England versus Italy match. Sadly, England lost, but they put up a good fight. We biked home and headed to bed.
This morning, I woke to to a nice little note and breakfast from Brent for my birthday. He also got me a new charm for my pandora bracelet, a windmill, to represent our time spent in Benelux together. It is absolutely perfect and I love it. It may be the favorite charm on my bracelet, so far.
We made our way into town for lunch together at a restaurant and then we stopped at the store to pick me up snacks for the train ride home. After that, it was already time for me to get on the train again to go back to Belgium. Every time I say goodbye to him part of me is so so sad. Even though I always know I will see him again soon. But the next time I see him in 16 days from now, it will be for the last time with this long distance relationship. Because in 16 days I will leave Belgium for the final time and I will meet Brent in Amsterdam and we will fly off to Croatia together to meet his sister for a great vacation! I am beyond excited. So close yet so far away.
After Croatia, I will be flying home to Chicago on July 11. Less than one month away! I am so excited to see everyone that I have missed so much and to begin the next chapter of my life with Brent in Florida.
As soon as I got off the train in Arlon, Sebastien picked me up and took me back home. The girls had made a banner as hung ribbons over my bedroom door that said "happy birday". It was so sweet I started crying.
Well friends, thank each and everyone of you for the birthday well wishes. It means a lot to me. Even being so far away from home you helped make this birthday a special one. Thank you <3
As always, thanks for reading.
XOXO
Thursday, June 12, 2014
School Daze
Hello friends!
What a week it has shaped up to be so far, holy cow. It's only Thursday and I'm already tired out. This has been a short week, but for some reason I always think that short weeks feel longer...
So Monday, the girls didn't have school and the parents didn't go to work. It was a religious holiday. It was nice, because the weather was still super great. The girls cousin had spent the night on Sunday, so on Monday, the aunt and uncle came over again to pick her up, and we once again had a BBQ for lunch. It was nice to be outside and we went swimming and enjoyed the day. Once the family left, Seb and Cath studied with the girls some for their exams, which began on Tuesday, and continue for two weeks.
I had a super productive day personally, because I booked my flight back to the USA (July 11 at 1:50 in O Hare, if you're interested!) as well as my train ticket to Amsterdam to meet Brent for our flight to Croatia. I'm glad to have those big details taken care of so the weight is off my chest.
So after the nice long weekend, Tuesday began the first of two weeks of final exams for the girls. This has proven to be a very stressful week for everyone, because if they don't pass their exams they can't continue on to the next school year! But the kids can't study very much without getting tired or losing focus, and I also don think they grasp the gravity of the situation fully. So after hours of struggling through studying on Tuesday afternoon, I went off to study myself at my final French class before the final exam! It was a long class of review, but I still left feeling nervous for the exam. It's been over a year now since I've been in school and actually had to study and prepare for an exam, so that's also kind of odd to realize. I feel like I just finished school but it's been so long...
Wednesday was literally the worst day. The girls fought all day long no matter what I did to try and stop them. They were misbehaving, they wouldn't listen to me, and they wouldn't study well with me for their exams. Of course, this lead to their mom getting involved and yelling and the girls going into time out. It obvious that they are feeling the stress of these exams and so am I. Their parents are coming down on them hard to study, but yet all the studying falls on me, because the parents don't have time to study with them. I can't tell which of us is more stressed with this week.
Their moods slightly improved after we finally got through a sufficient amount of studying and went outside to play on the trampoline and swim in the pool. I thought things were looking up from here, but then after dinner they were back to their shenanigans of fighting and crying. Bedtime was not nice with the parents, since the girls were being so awful. I hope this passes, because if everyday for the rest of this week and next week is like this, I literally think I will come apart at the seems, and probably they will as well!
Today, Thursday, I met Michelle at our favorite café and we walked around the Thursday market in town for a while in the sun and just talked about life. She is such a good mentor to have in my life, and I'm going to miss her when I leave. I was asking her all about the education field and her job history and how she got to where she is now. I think she has helped me to see that maybe education is the field that I want I pursue, after all.
After coming home, I made lunch for the girls and I. Catherine was in Brussels for work so she didn't eat with us. After telling the girls they were only allowed ten minutes each on their iPads, we watched a little Disney channel together and I took them back to school.
When I dropped them off, I went to my friend Lora's house to have some lunch and to study with her for our French exam. Of course, we didn't study too much because there wasn't much we could do at that point. If we don't know it, we don't know it. So we just ended up eating and talking about life. She is such a great friend to talk to about everything.
I left her house at 3 to go and pick up the girls from school. We only had about two hours before I left to go to my French exam, so of course I had to make their studies a priority and not mine, and of course, even with their best interests at heart, they fought with me about it and didn't want to do it. Maybe it's because I'm not a parent yet, but I genuinely do not understand how studying is that much different from regular homework? I'm not dumping a ton on them at once, we do it in nice, manageable parts, like we always do with their other homework, and I give them breaks in between and tons of positive encouragement, yet still they fight me.
In any event, despite the struggles, I got them to study a sufficient amount before I had to go to my French exam at 6.
Surprisingly, I feel that my exam went well. I won't know the results just yet and honestly I am not sure when they will arrive. But I have my oral exam next Tuesday so probably at the earliest I would know next Friday. I tried my best and that's all that matters! I'm happy for myself that I did what I could. So now we wait for results!
After the exam some friends and I from class went out to get a pizza and a beer. I wish I could elaborate more but I'm literally falling asleep as I type this. But it was a good time and I am glad I met all of them, they made my time here so much better and enjoyable. I will be sad to leave them.
Now I'm back at home attempting to watch some of the first World Cup match. Go Croatia!
Tomorrow at 5 I head to the Netherlands for the weekend to see Brent for my birthday weekend! Who's excited? Me! Who's tired? Me!
Goodnight everyone
XOXO
What a week it has shaped up to be so far, holy cow. It's only Thursday and I'm already tired out. This has been a short week, but for some reason I always think that short weeks feel longer...
So Monday, the girls didn't have school and the parents didn't go to work. It was a religious holiday. It was nice, because the weather was still super great. The girls cousin had spent the night on Sunday, so on Monday, the aunt and uncle came over again to pick her up, and we once again had a BBQ for lunch. It was nice to be outside and we went swimming and enjoyed the day. Once the family left, Seb and Cath studied with the girls some for their exams, which began on Tuesday, and continue for two weeks.
I had a super productive day personally, because I booked my flight back to the USA (July 11 at 1:50 in O Hare, if you're interested!) as well as my train ticket to Amsterdam to meet Brent for our flight to Croatia. I'm glad to have those big details taken care of so the weight is off my chest.
So after the nice long weekend, Tuesday began the first of two weeks of final exams for the girls. This has proven to be a very stressful week for everyone, because if they don't pass their exams they can't continue on to the next school year! But the kids can't study very much without getting tired or losing focus, and I also don think they grasp the gravity of the situation fully. So after hours of struggling through studying on Tuesday afternoon, I went off to study myself at my final French class before the final exam! It was a long class of review, but I still left feeling nervous for the exam. It's been over a year now since I've been in school and actually had to study and prepare for an exam, so that's also kind of odd to realize. I feel like I just finished school but it's been so long...
Wednesday was literally the worst day. The girls fought all day long no matter what I did to try and stop them. They were misbehaving, they wouldn't listen to me, and they wouldn't study well with me for their exams. Of course, this lead to their mom getting involved and yelling and the girls going into time out. It obvious that they are feeling the stress of these exams and so am I. Their parents are coming down on them hard to study, but yet all the studying falls on me, because the parents don't have time to study with them. I can't tell which of us is more stressed with this week.
Their moods slightly improved after we finally got through a sufficient amount of studying and went outside to play on the trampoline and swim in the pool. I thought things were looking up from here, but then after dinner they were back to their shenanigans of fighting and crying. Bedtime was not nice with the parents, since the girls were being so awful. I hope this passes, because if everyday for the rest of this week and next week is like this, I literally think I will come apart at the seems, and probably they will as well!
Today, Thursday, I met Michelle at our favorite café and we walked around the Thursday market in town for a while in the sun and just talked about life. She is such a good mentor to have in my life, and I'm going to miss her when I leave. I was asking her all about the education field and her job history and how she got to where she is now. I think she has helped me to see that maybe education is the field that I want I pursue, after all.
After coming home, I made lunch for the girls and I. Catherine was in Brussels for work so she didn't eat with us. After telling the girls they were only allowed ten minutes each on their iPads, we watched a little Disney channel together and I took them back to school.
When I dropped them off, I went to my friend Lora's house to have some lunch and to study with her for our French exam. Of course, we didn't study too much because there wasn't much we could do at that point. If we don't know it, we don't know it. So we just ended up eating and talking about life. She is such a great friend to talk to about everything.
I left her house at 3 to go and pick up the girls from school. We only had about two hours before I left to go to my French exam, so of course I had to make their studies a priority and not mine, and of course, even with their best interests at heart, they fought with me about it and didn't want to do it. Maybe it's because I'm not a parent yet, but I genuinely do not understand how studying is that much different from regular homework? I'm not dumping a ton on them at once, we do it in nice, manageable parts, like we always do with their other homework, and I give them breaks in between and tons of positive encouragement, yet still they fight me.
In any event, despite the struggles, I got them to study a sufficient amount before I had to go to my French exam at 6.
Surprisingly, I feel that my exam went well. I won't know the results just yet and honestly I am not sure when they will arrive. But I have my oral exam next Tuesday so probably at the earliest I would know next Friday. I tried my best and that's all that matters! I'm happy for myself that I did what I could. So now we wait for results!
After the exam some friends and I from class went out to get a pizza and a beer. I wish I could elaborate more but I'm literally falling asleep as I type this. But it was a good time and I am glad I met all of them, they made my time here so much better and enjoyable. I will be sad to leave them.
Now I'm back at home attempting to watch some of the first World Cup match. Go Croatia!
Tomorrow at 5 I head to the Netherlands for the weekend to see Brent for my birthday weekend! Who's excited? Me! Who's tired? Me!
Goodnight everyone
XOXO
Sunday, June 8, 2014
The Beginning of the End
Hi there!
What a week it has been! I'm seriously tired out. I feel like I could fall asleep at any second. This week has gone by so slow and there has been so much going on. And there is so much more to happen in the remaining three weeks that I have here in Belgium.
It's amazing how time is such a fluid concept. We count things down by days and hours and minutes. And for each person the time seems to pass by at a different rate of speed, although in reality we all have the same 24 hours in each day on this earth. Curious.
So, after a last weekend of traveling with Brent, Monday was difficult as always, because I was tired. It didn't help that there were construction workers at our house for the first three days of the week repairing parts of our driveway. They came early every morning and all the noise right outside my window woke me up each day.
Monday passed without too much excitement, just English class as usual for Elise.
Tuesday evening, I had my French class and we took a walking tour through the village with our professor. It was really nice because although I know the city now, I didn't know the history behind everything there is here. It turns out that Arlon is the oldest city in Belgium! Who knew?! After we walked around the village, we all stopped and sat at an outdoor cafe in one of the small plazas and had a drink. It was nice to just chit chat in French with our class mates and get outside of the classroom for a change. After we were done for the evening, I walked back to the school with a Spanish girl from my class, and I encountered my first tri lingual problem. My brain is so used to defaulting to French these days that I found it difficult to speak to her in Spanish, which irritated me very much, since Spanish is my first language love and I have studied it much longer than French. But it is true that if you don't use it, you lose it, and I haven't had any practice with Spanish conversation in many months.
Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school, like normal, and much to their dismay we had to begin to study for their exams. Here in Belgium, there is a large exam at the end of every school year and if the kids don't pass it then they can't go on to the next year of school, and they have to re do the previous year. This exam is huge and covers all the material they did over the entire year. It's so big that they do it one subject/section at a time each day over the last two weeks of the school year. Holy crap! So it's overwhelming for the girls, but also for me, because it is my responsibility to make sure that they pass the exam and do well and can go on to the next year. As you can imagine, this is a lot of pressure for me, because I want them to do well!
On Thursday morning, I met my friend Michelle for breakfast and coffee at Maison Knopes, my favorite cafe here in the village. After we ate quickly, we walked around the market that comes to town every Thursday. It's like a farmers market with all sorts of fresh grown foods but it also has local artisan goods and clothes and such. It was nice to get out in the sun for the morning with her and enjoy the marketand her company. After this, I came home and made lunch for the girls and studied with them more after school.
On Thursday evening, I had my French class again and we began to seriously study and review for the final exam, which is this Thursday! So not only am I trying to study for my own exam, but I am trying to help the girls with theirs! Obviously theirs are more important, because it doesn't really matter much if I pass or fail my exam, however, I would like to pass it just to say I did well and accomplished something while I was here.
Friday was a whirlwind. Sebastien had been in Paris all week for work, and on Friday Catherine left to meet him for the night in Brussels. So the girls and I were alone. After school, I took Elise to her art class and then Emma to her English class at Michelle's house. When I can, I like to stay with the class on Fridays because I enjoy working with them and I also enjoy watching Michelle's teaching methods. Truly observing her classes of different age levels has made me consider becoming an ESL teacher of some sort. I enjoy working with education and forging language and the kids. I admire how hard she works.
After the class, Emma and I came home and it was just the two of us for the night, since the parents were in Brussels and Elise was staying at a friends house for the night. We went to the store together to buy sleepover goodies. In American stores, there is an international section which has a small section of products from select countries. Friday for the first time, I noticed that there is an American section in the international aisle, here! How bizarre this was for me! So we bought American microwave popcorn, which Emma had never had before, and some Belgian chocolates and headed home.
We had lasagna for dinner, and afterwords, we made a giant pillow and blanket fort in the living room and enjoyed our salty American popcorn (in Europe they eat it with sugar!) while watching "The Parent Trap" in French. Finally around midnight, we went to sleep.
Saturday afternoon, the parents returned home with Elise in tow and we had a quick lunch together before the girls went to tennis in the afternoon. I skyped with my friend Brittany, and as always, it was good to see her face and catch up with her.
Then, around five pm, I walked into town to my friend Lora's apartment to meet her and her daughter, Lea. We went for a walk around town together to enjoy the beautiful weather we have had this weekend, and then we had dinner at a pizzeria and sat outside. At least three people passed who she knew. She is so kind and she is friends with everyone she meets. What a good soul.
After eating dinner, we went to the movie theater in Arlon, my first time going. We went to see Maleficent, since her daughter was with us, and it was more kid friendly. It was her first time in a movie theater! (She is 2). And she did so well! Although the movie was all in French with no subtitles, I was happy to say that I understood most of it. Also, there are some things you don't need language to understand, like hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially if that woman is Angelina Jolie.
After the movie, we walked around town a little bit in the fading light and then back to Lora's apartment to have a quick drink before I headed home for the evening.
I had such a great time with her and she is truly a good friend that I have met here. I will be sad to leave her!
Today, Sunday, we all had breakfast together at home, and I helped Catherine prepare some dishes for the big family barbecue we had today. Today in Belgium it is Father's Day. It isn't until next Sunday, my birthday also, in the United States. But it was truly the perfect day for a barbecue, hot and sunny. The girls and their cousins used the pool. But all the drinking wine in the sun has made me oh so tired today.
However, I am happy to say that the whole family noted how much my French has improved since the last time I saw them on Easter. This made me feel good about myself, because I still think my French is fairly weak. But it was a true compliment to hear.
Tonight, the girls cousins are sleeping over since there's no school tomorrow for some sort of religious holiday. But tomorrow we also need to crack down on studying because exams begin on Tuesday! I'm sure they will not be happy about this. I will be just as relieved when these exam are done as they will be!
But it won't be long until I am done with my brief time here. I say brief, although at time it has not felt this way. There have truly been ups and downs and highs and lows, but in the end, I suppose that's how life goes anywhere. The one consistency around the world is that no matter what happens, life goes on.
The rest of my time here looks like this: this coming Friday, I will head to Groningen for one last time for my birthday weekend to visit Brent. When I return next Sunday, I will have just two weeks left in Belgium before I depart on the 1st of July to meet Brent and Stephanie for a ten day vacation in Croatia, which we are all super excited about. Then, hopefully on July 11, I will be flying back home to the good old USA! I still haven't booked a flight home yet, so stay tuned for the actual fight date.
This week ahead will feel long, I'm sure, as it always does when I'm counting down the days to see Brent again (5, if you're interested). But these next five days will be packed full of cooking, studying, driving, exams, and my French exam on Thursday! Yikes, lots to do!
I hope everyone at home had a great weekend and has a great week ahead!
All my love
XOXO
What a week it has been! I'm seriously tired out. I feel like I could fall asleep at any second. This week has gone by so slow and there has been so much going on. And there is so much more to happen in the remaining three weeks that I have here in Belgium.
It's amazing how time is such a fluid concept. We count things down by days and hours and minutes. And for each person the time seems to pass by at a different rate of speed, although in reality we all have the same 24 hours in each day on this earth. Curious.
So, after a last weekend of traveling with Brent, Monday was difficult as always, because I was tired. It didn't help that there were construction workers at our house for the first three days of the week repairing parts of our driveway. They came early every morning and all the noise right outside my window woke me up each day.
Monday passed without too much excitement, just English class as usual for Elise.
Tuesday evening, I had my French class and we took a walking tour through the village with our professor. It was really nice because although I know the city now, I didn't know the history behind everything there is here. It turns out that Arlon is the oldest city in Belgium! Who knew?! After we walked around the village, we all stopped and sat at an outdoor cafe in one of the small plazas and had a drink. It was nice to just chit chat in French with our class mates and get outside of the classroom for a change. After we were done for the evening, I walked back to the school with a Spanish girl from my class, and I encountered my first tri lingual problem. My brain is so used to defaulting to French these days that I found it difficult to speak to her in Spanish, which irritated me very much, since Spanish is my first language love and I have studied it much longer than French. But it is true that if you don't use it, you lose it, and I haven't had any practice with Spanish conversation in many months.
Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school, like normal, and much to their dismay we had to begin to study for their exams. Here in Belgium, there is a large exam at the end of every school year and if the kids don't pass it then they can't go on to the next year of school, and they have to re do the previous year. This exam is huge and covers all the material they did over the entire year. It's so big that they do it one subject/section at a time each day over the last two weeks of the school year. Holy crap! So it's overwhelming for the girls, but also for me, because it is my responsibility to make sure that they pass the exam and do well and can go on to the next year. As you can imagine, this is a lot of pressure for me, because I want them to do well!
On Thursday morning, I met my friend Michelle for breakfast and coffee at Maison Knopes, my favorite cafe here in the village. After we ate quickly, we walked around the market that comes to town every Thursday. It's like a farmers market with all sorts of fresh grown foods but it also has local artisan goods and clothes and such. It was nice to get out in the sun for the morning with her and enjoy the marketand her company. After this, I came home and made lunch for the girls and studied with them more after school.
On Thursday evening, I had my French class again and we began to seriously study and review for the final exam, which is this Thursday! So not only am I trying to study for my own exam, but I am trying to help the girls with theirs! Obviously theirs are more important, because it doesn't really matter much if I pass or fail my exam, however, I would like to pass it just to say I did well and accomplished something while I was here.
Friday was a whirlwind. Sebastien had been in Paris all week for work, and on Friday Catherine left to meet him for the night in Brussels. So the girls and I were alone. After school, I took Elise to her art class and then Emma to her English class at Michelle's house. When I can, I like to stay with the class on Fridays because I enjoy working with them and I also enjoy watching Michelle's teaching methods. Truly observing her classes of different age levels has made me consider becoming an ESL teacher of some sort. I enjoy working with education and forging language and the kids. I admire how hard she works.
After the class, Emma and I came home and it was just the two of us for the night, since the parents were in Brussels and Elise was staying at a friends house for the night. We went to the store together to buy sleepover goodies. In American stores, there is an international section which has a small section of products from select countries. Friday for the first time, I noticed that there is an American section in the international aisle, here! How bizarre this was for me! So we bought American microwave popcorn, which Emma had never had before, and some Belgian chocolates and headed home.
We had lasagna for dinner, and afterwords, we made a giant pillow and blanket fort in the living room and enjoyed our salty American popcorn (in Europe they eat it with sugar!) while watching "The Parent Trap" in French. Finally around midnight, we went to sleep.
Saturday afternoon, the parents returned home with Elise in tow and we had a quick lunch together before the girls went to tennis in the afternoon. I skyped with my friend Brittany, and as always, it was good to see her face and catch up with her.
Then, around five pm, I walked into town to my friend Lora's apartment to meet her and her daughter, Lea. We went for a walk around town together to enjoy the beautiful weather we have had this weekend, and then we had dinner at a pizzeria and sat outside. At least three people passed who she knew. She is so kind and she is friends with everyone she meets. What a good soul.
After eating dinner, we went to the movie theater in Arlon, my first time going. We went to see Maleficent, since her daughter was with us, and it was more kid friendly. It was her first time in a movie theater! (She is 2). And she did so well! Although the movie was all in French with no subtitles, I was happy to say that I understood most of it. Also, there are some things you don't need language to understand, like hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially if that woman is Angelina Jolie.
After the movie, we walked around town a little bit in the fading light and then back to Lora's apartment to have a quick drink before I headed home for the evening.
I had such a great time with her and she is truly a good friend that I have met here. I will be sad to leave her!
Today, Sunday, we all had breakfast together at home, and I helped Catherine prepare some dishes for the big family barbecue we had today. Today in Belgium it is Father's Day. It isn't until next Sunday, my birthday also, in the United States. But it was truly the perfect day for a barbecue, hot and sunny. The girls and their cousins used the pool. But all the drinking wine in the sun has made me oh so tired today.
However, I am happy to say that the whole family noted how much my French has improved since the last time I saw them on Easter. This made me feel good about myself, because I still think my French is fairly weak. But it was a true compliment to hear.
Tonight, the girls cousins are sleeping over since there's no school tomorrow for some sort of religious holiday. But tomorrow we also need to crack down on studying because exams begin on Tuesday! I'm sure they will not be happy about this. I will be just as relieved when these exam are done as they will be!
But it won't be long until I am done with my brief time here. I say brief, although at time it has not felt this way. There have truly been ups and downs and highs and lows, but in the end, I suppose that's how life goes anywhere. The one consistency around the world is that no matter what happens, life goes on.
The rest of my time here looks like this: this coming Friday, I will head to Groningen for one last time for my birthday weekend to visit Brent. When I return next Sunday, I will have just two weeks left in Belgium before I depart on the 1st of July to meet Brent and Stephanie for a ten day vacation in Croatia, which we are all super excited about. Then, hopefully on July 11, I will be flying back home to the good old USA! I still haven't booked a flight home yet, so stay tuned for the actual fight date.
This week ahead will feel long, I'm sure, as it always does when I'm counting down the days to see Brent again (5, if you're interested). But these next five days will be packed full of cooking, studying, driving, exams, and my French exam on Thursday! Yikes, lots to do!
I hope everyone at home had a great weekend and has a great week ahead!
All my love
XOXO
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Brussels&Bruges
Hi there, everyone!
So i know it's been a while since I posted last. I keep trying to be better about posting more often but life seems to keep getting in the way and making me busy! Anyways, lots has happened since last week that I would love to tell you about.
Last week was short, since I left on Thursday morning for a long weekend away. On Wednesday, Emma had her belated 10th birthday party sleepover, and she had four friends come over and spend the night.
Don't get me wrong, it was super fun to make cupcakes with the girls on Tuesday night and put all the decorations up, but as always, taking care of 6 kids at once all alone is not an easy task when it isn't your native language.
Everything was going fine until somehow the girls ripped down part of the net that goes around the trampoline. Of course, this was somehow labeled as my fault even though I couldn't control what was going on or stop it even if I wanted to. So, luckily I was able to fix the net, but it didn't put me in a very good mood. Thankfully, Seb and Catherine took care of dinner and the evening activities, and I went to bed early because the next morning I was leaving for a long weekend in Brussels and Bruges with Brent!
So on Thursday morning I got up and had breakfast and Seb dropped me off at the train station. My ride to Brussels was an easy 2 and a half hours without problems. Brent and I met at the station and we set off to find our bed and breakfast. Luckily this was an easy walk from the central station, so we got in and settle and met our host, François. He was very kind and helped give us tips about what to see and do in the city. We set out to explore in the late afternoon and just wandered around the city and marveled at the architectural beauty of the Grand Place, the large open plaza in the center of the downtown area. We had some lunch and also some beers at an extremely old bar called "A La Mort Subite", or "Sudden Death". After a while, we returned to the apartment and recollected ourselves for the evening. François gave us a set of keys and he headed out for the night to stay with his girlfriend. But not five minutes after he had left, somehow we had broken the flush on the toilet. So of course, we are both panicking and we emailed him to ask what to do. Of course, he said not to worry, but we were still worrying anyway.
Despite the unease, we went out and found a Thai food place for dinner, which was pretty good, although not too cheap. Afterwords, we headed to a large bar in the city center called "Delirium", which is quite well known for it's atmosphere and it's beers. We spent a few hours there watching lots of drunk friends smash pint glasses on tables in their drunkenness. We went home and headed to bed later on.
On Friday morning, we woke up early and more funness ensued when neither of us could figure out how to work the shower properly. This lead to hair washing under the faucet. After struggling a little bit with this, we headed to back to the Grand Place and had breakfast at a little cafe there, which of course included Belgian waffles.
After we ate we headed to the metro station and hopped on to go to the Atomium, which is basically the large silver metallic structure of an atom that has become almost as iconic in Belgium as the Eiffel Tower in France. Although the line was long, it was fun to go up into the structure and see how it was made. Mainly though, we were interested in getting to the top to see the view, which took a while of waiting in line to do, but the view was worth it, because we could see all of Brussels from the top.
After coming down, we took the subway back towards the city center and bought things for a picnic lunch and ate in a large park next to all of the European Union Parliament buildings. Belgium, and Brussels in particular, is the headquarters of the EU, so it was interesting to see all the sleek, modern buildings that resembled something you would see in the US blended in amongst the more historical aspects of the city.
After we ate and relaxed in the park for a while, we headed towards the Palace of Justice, which also was on a nice hillside and had another great view of the city. We also saw the Royal Palace, which is where the Belgian Royal Family lives. Belgium has a similar government to England, where the Royal Family serves as more of a figurehead/placeholder and the parliament really does all the leg work.
In the early evening, I did a little bit of shopping, and then Brent and I bought some food to prepare dinner at the apartment to save a little money. It turned out really well, we made breaded fish fillets and broccoli and had some rose wine and rested our legs for a little bit.
After dinner, we went on a walk around other parts of the city we had yet to explore. We both agreed it was one of our favorite places that we have been so far, and we enjoyed it a lot. We stopped in at a pub and had a few beers and just sat and talked for a few hours about all of the things that are coming up for us in our future. There's a lot to plan and do, and it can seem overwhelming, but we have decisions to make soon that will affect both of our futures.
After a nice long evening, we made our way back towards the apartment and of course had the best Belgian late night snack: fries! We ate as we walked back and then came home and slept.
Saturday morning we were up early once again, and after taking quick showers (thanks to François showing us how, which was actually super easy and made us feel like idiots) we said our goodbyes to François and headed towards the train station to get on our way to Bruges!
Bruges is about an hour northwest from Brussels, in the Flemish, Dutch speaking region of the country. It is a smaller city that is commonly referred to as the "Venice of the North" because it is a city with lots of canals and breathtaking views. It truly was like a fairytale city, but of course Brent and I kept referring to it as a "shithole". If you have never seen the movie "In Bruges" with Colin Farrell, rent it and you will know why.
So we ate some breakfast at the train station in Brussels and took the hour train ride to Bruges, which was quick and easy. When we got to the station, we looked on a map to find our hostel, the Snuffle, and we set off to walk there. The weather was pleasant so the twenty minute walk wasn't bad. Once we got there and checked in, we left our backpacks and set off to explore the city! It was just past noon so we has the whole day and night ahead of us!
First, we headed to the city center and saw the beautiful grand plaza, including the Belfort clock tower. After passing through the winding streets lined with chocolate shops and breweries we made our way to the part of the city which is all canals and bridges and looks like something out of a fairytale. We ate some fries (of course) and got tickets to go on a boat tour of the city. This was my favorite part of the whole day. The little motor boat whisked us through the winding water ways and under stone bridges and past ivy covered brick walls, coated with brilliantly blooming flowers. If you continued along the canals, eventually you would reach the North Sea. I wish we would have had the time and money to go that far! The views from the canals were great, and showed off the many architectural wonders of the city, such as homes, churches and also the oldest hospital in Europe (which is no longer a running hospital, just a museum).
After hopping off the boat (where I got slightly sunburned, although I won't complain about the nice sunny weather) we headed back towards the city center to climb to the top of the Belfort. It was 336 tiny winding narrow stairs to the top, and there was only one way up and down so with people going both directions you can imagine how crowded and claustrophobic this got. If you have super claustrophobia, I would not recommend visiting any church towers in Europe, because they are all like this due to their extreme age.
Although the climb was rough, the view from the top was worth it, to see all the veins of the canals flowing out towards the sea, and all of the red and orange brick rooftops dotted alone the greenery. When we came down, we headed in the direction of where we were told by the hostel worker would be a walking tour, but when we got to the supposed location, there was no one in sight. Although a little bummed, it ended up putting us along the river on a hillside with a large windmill, which was also a good view of the city. We sat on the hillside in the sun trying to figure out what we wanted to do next, and decided on headed towards the Church of Our Lady to see the Statue of the Madonna and Child, by Michelangelo. However, although we could see the inside of the church, the statue was already closed for viewing for the day. I a as a bit bummed to not be able to see this great work of art, but what can you do, that's just life. And it gives us an excuse to come back in the future!
So we headed in the direction of Minnewater Lake/Park on the outskirts of the city. This beautiful area where many canals meet to form a "lake" was beautiful with all the weeping willows on the banks and white swans lazily floating along the water.
At this point, we were famished and realized that we has hardy ate that day and/or drank a lot of water. So what did we do? Found a brewery and had a beer tasting, of course, because we are super responsible. After a brief rest and some tasty beers, we finally found an Italian restaurant and very tiredly made our way through a shared pasta dish and a pizza.
After dinner, we walked back to the Snuffle (if only it was the Winchester...) and enjoyed their "happy hour" with one euro beers, and rested our legs. As the sun went down, we made our way back towards the city center and enjoyed the lovely evening glow over the canals. We enjoyed a beer on the main plaza and just admired the view and enjoyed each other company.
As the evening wound down, we made our way back to the Snuffle and attempted to head to bed. I say attempted because when we got back to our room someone was already sleeping in my bed. Apparently somehow the hostel has booked 9 people for an 8 person room. So after talking to the people at reception, and juggling things around, we were finally able to get our beds and go to sleep.
Once again on Sunday, we were up early and on the move. We had breakfast at our hostel and checked out. We left our backpacks there in storage though, and headed to the Church of the Holy Blood, where there is supposedly a vial of Jesus Christ's blood saved. Upon entering the church, we lit a prayer candle and placed in on an altar in front our a podium where there was a satin pillow with an ornate crystal and jeweled vial. Inside the large vial was a crystallized and congealed clear and red substance, which is supposedly the actual blood of Christ. For some reason the whole church seemed to suck the air out of my lungs. The feeling was very surreal as the choir sang a low, hauntingly beautiful melody in the background. Although it was interesting, I feel as if I surfaced from cold water when we left the building.
After this, we walked towards some artisan markets that were set up in the square with all kinda of handmade crafts as well as antiques. We bought two paintings of Bruges for our apartment as well as a vintage bicycle shaped key hook for the wall. Making our way along the canals, we went to a small park for a while and then had lunch at a small cafe near it. After we ate, we went back to the Snuffle to collect our backpacks, and began the walk back to the train station.
After a short wait at the station, we boarded our train back to Brussels. The ride was a brief hour, and when we got back to the station we went outside to sit in the sun for a while before our separate trains departed. As always, leaving Brent makes me sad. Even when the time between visits is just two weeks, the time we spend together is never enough. I can't wait to finally be living together for the first time in just a few months from now.
So I sadly boarded my train back to Arlon, which was an easy ride, and I read most of the time. I got home and took a shower and unpacked and had some dinner and then had a Skype with my family, which was nice. It is always so good to talk to them.
Monday morning it was back to reality. The reality is setting in that I have just under one month left here in Belgium. I will be leaving here on July 1st for a trip to Croatia with Brent and his sister, and heading back to the US around the 11th or 12th. The time left seems so short and so long all at once.
Next weekend, the weekend of my birthday, I will go to visit Brent in Groningen one last time, which will be my final weekend trip before leaving.
Tonight, I have my French class, which is also approaching an end. The first part of the final exam is already next Thursday. I'm not sure how prepared I am. I hope to pass, but if I don't, oh well, it's not the end of the world, and nothing bad will come of it.
In the mean time, in the remaining month and a half left here in Europe, I am just trying to live each day in the moment as well as plan for the near future of Brent and I beginning our new chapter in Florida together.
I hope all is well at home, and as always, I am missing you.
XOXO
So i know it's been a while since I posted last. I keep trying to be better about posting more often but life seems to keep getting in the way and making me busy! Anyways, lots has happened since last week that I would love to tell you about.
Last week was short, since I left on Thursday morning for a long weekend away. On Wednesday, Emma had her belated 10th birthday party sleepover, and she had four friends come over and spend the night.
Don't get me wrong, it was super fun to make cupcakes with the girls on Tuesday night and put all the decorations up, but as always, taking care of 6 kids at once all alone is not an easy task when it isn't your native language.
Everything was going fine until somehow the girls ripped down part of the net that goes around the trampoline. Of course, this was somehow labeled as my fault even though I couldn't control what was going on or stop it even if I wanted to. So, luckily I was able to fix the net, but it didn't put me in a very good mood. Thankfully, Seb and Catherine took care of dinner and the evening activities, and I went to bed early because the next morning I was leaving for a long weekend in Brussels and Bruges with Brent!
So on Thursday morning I got up and had breakfast and Seb dropped me off at the train station. My ride to Brussels was an easy 2 and a half hours without problems. Brent and I met at the station and we set off to find our bed and breakfast. Luckily this was an easy walk from the central station, so we got in and settle and met our host, François. He was very kind and helped give us tips about what to see and do in the city. We set out to explore in the late afternoon and just wandered around the city and marveled at the architectural beauty of the Grand Place, the large open plaza in the center of the downtown area. We had some lunch and also some beers at an extremely old bar called "A La Mort Subite", or "Sudden Death". After a while, we returned to the apartment and recollected ourselves for the evening. François gave us a set of keys and he headed out for the night to stay with his girlfriend. But not five minutes after he had left, somehow we had broken the flush on the toilet. So of course, we are both panicking and we emailed him to ask what to do. Of course, he said not to worry, but we were still worrying anyway.
Despite the unease, we went out and found a Thai food place for dinner, which was pretty good, although not too cheap. Afterwords, we headed to a large bar in the city center called "Delirium", which is quite well known for it's atmosphere and it's beers. We spent a few hours there watching lots of drunk friends smash pint glasses on tables in their drunkenness. We went home and headed to bed later on.
On Friday morning, we woke up early and more funness ensued when neither of us could figure out how to work the shower properly. This lead to hair washing under the faucet. After struggling a little bit with this, we headed to back to the Grand Place and had breakfast at a little cafe there, which of course included Belgian waffles.
After we ate we headed to the metro station and hopped on to go to the Atomium, which is basically the large silver metallic structure of an atom that has become almost as iconic in Belgium as the Eiffel Tower in France. Although the line was long, it was fun to go up into the structure and see how it was made. Mainly though, we were interested in getting to the top to see the view, which took a while of waiting in line to do, but the view was worth it, because we could see all of Brussels from the top.
After coming down, we took the subway back towards the city center and bought things for a picnic lunch and ate in a large park next to all of the European Union Parliament buildings. Belgium, and Brussels in particular, is the headquarters of the EU, so it was interesting to see all the sleek, modern buildings that resembled something you would see in the US blended in amongst the more historical aspects of the city.
After we ate and relaxed in the park for a while, we headed towards the Palace of Justice, which also was on a nice hillside and had another great view of the city. We also saw the Royal Palace, which is where the Belgian Royal Family lives. Belgium has a similar government to England, where the Royal Family serves as more of a figurehead/placeholder and the parliament really does all the leg work.
In the early evening, I did a little bit of shopping, and then Brent and I bought some food to prepare dinner at the apartment to save a little money. It turned out really well, we made breaded fish fillets and broccoli and had some rose wine and rested our legs for a little bit.
After dinner, we went on a walk around other parts of the city we had yet to explore. We both agreed it was one of our favorite places that we have been so far, and we enjoyed it a lot. We stopped in at a pub and had a few beers and just sat and talked for a few hours about all of the things that are coming up for us in our future. There's a lot to plan and do, and it can seem overwhelming, but we have decisions to make soon that will affect both of our futures.
After a nice long evening, we made our way back towards the apartment and of course had the best Belgian late night snack: fries! We ate as we walked back and then came home and slept.
Saturday morning we were up early once again, and after taking quick showers (thanks to François showing us how, which was actually super easy and made us feel like idiots) we said our goodbyes to François and headed towards the train station to get on our way to Bruges!
Bruges is about an hour northwest from Brussels, in the Flemish, Dutch speaking region of the country. It is a smaller city that is commonly referred to as the "Venice of the North" because it is a city with lots of canals and breathtaking views. It truly was like a fairytale city, but of course Brent and I kept referring to it as a "shithole". If you have never seen the movie "In Bruges" with Colin Farrell, rent it and you will know why.
So we ate some breakfast at the train station in Brussels and took the hour train ride to Bruges, which was quick and easy. When we got to the station, we looked on a map to find our hostel, the Snuffle, and we set off to walk there. The weather was pleasant so the twenty minute walk wasn't bad. Once we got there and checked in, we left our backpacks and set off to explore the city! It was just past noon so we has the whole day and night ahead of us!
First, we headed to the city center and saw the beautiful grand plaza, including the Belfort clock tower. After passing through the winding streets lined with chocolate shops and breweries we made our way to the part of the city which is all canals and bridges and looks like something out of a fairytale. We ate some fries (of course) and got tickets to go on a boat tour of the city. This was my favorite part of the whole day. The little motor boat whisked us through the winding water ways and under stone bridges and past ivy covered brick walls, coated with brilliantly blooming flowers. If you continued along the canals, eventually you would reach the North Sea. I wish we would have had the time and money to go that far! The views from the canals were great, and showed off the many architectural wonders of the city, such as homes, churches and also the oldest hospital in Europe (which is no longer a running hospital, just a museum).
After hopping off the boat (where I got slightly sunburned, although I won't complain about the nice sunny weather) we headed back towards the city center to climb to the top of the Belfort. It was 336 tiny winding narrow stairs to the top, and there was only one way up and down so with people going both directions you can imagine how crowded and claustrophobic this got. If you have super claustrophobia, I would not recommend visiting any church towers in Europe, because they are all like this due to their extreme age.
Although the climb was rough, the view from the top was worth it, to see all the veins of the canals flowing out towards the sea, and all of the red and orange brick rooftops dotted alone the greenery. When we came down, we headed in the direction of where we were told by the hostel worker would be a walking tour, but when we got to the supposed location, there was no one in sight. Although a little bummed, it ended up putting us along the river on a hillside with a large windmill, which was also a good view of the city. We sat on the hillside in the sun trying to figure out what we wanted to do next, and decided on headed towards the Church of Our Lady to see the Statue of the Madonna and Child, by Michelangelo. However, although we could see the inside of the church, the statue was already closed for viewing for the day. I a as a bit bummed to not be able to see this great work of art, but what can you do, that's just life. And it gives us an excuse to come back in the future!
So we headed in the direction of Minnewater Lake/Park on the outskirts of the city. This beautiful area where many canals meet to form a "lake" was beautiful with all the weeping willows on the banks and white swans lazily floating along the water.
At this point, we were famished and realized that we has hardy ate that day and/or drank a lot of water. So what did we do? Found a brewery and had a beer tasting, of course, because we are super responsible. After a brief rest and some tasty beers, we finally found an Italian restaurant and very tiredly made our way through a shared pasta dish and a pizza.
After dinner, we walked back to the Snuffle (if only it was the Winchester...) and enjoyed their "happy hour" with one euro beers, and rested our legs. As the sun went down, we made our way back towards the city center and enjoyed the lovely evening glow over the canals. We enjoyed a beer on the main plaza and just admired the view and enjoyed each other company.
As the evening wound down, we made our way back to the Snuffle and attempted to head to bed. I say attempted because when we got back to our room someone was already sleeping in my bed. Apparently somehow the hostel has booked 9 people for an 8 person room. So after talking to the people at reception, and juggling things around, we were finally able to get our beds and go to sleep.
Once again on Sunday, we were up early and on the move. We had breakfast at our hostel and checked out. We left our backpacks there in storage though, and headed to the Church of the Holy Blood, where there is supposedly a vial of Jesus Christ's blood saved. Upon entering the church, we lit a prayer candle and placed in on an altar in front our a podium where there was a satin pillow with an ornate crystal and jeweled vial. Inside the large vial was a crystallized and congealed clear and red substance, which is supposedly the actual blood of Christ. For some reason the whole church seemed to suck the air out of my lungs. The feeling was very surreal as the choir sang a low, hauntingly beautiful melody in the background. Although it was interesting, I feel as if I surfaced from cold water when we left the building.
After this, we walked towards some artisan markets that were set up in the square with all kinda of handmade crafts as well as antiques. We bought two paintings of Bruges for our apartment as well as a vintage bicycle shaped key hook for the wall. Making our way along the canals, we went to a small park for a while and then had lunch at a small cafe near it. After we ate, we went back to the Snuffle to collect our backpacks, and began the walk back to the train station.
After a short wait at the station, we boarded our train back to Brussels. The ride was a brief hour, and when we got back to the station we went outside to sit in the sun for a while before our separate trains departed. As always, leaving Brent makes me sad. Even when the time between visits is just two weeks, the time we spend together is never enough. I can't wait to finally be living together for the first time in just a few months from now.
So I sadly boarded my train back to Arlon, which was an easy ride, and I read most of the time. I got home and took a shower and unpacked and had some dinner and then had a Skype with my family, which was nice. It is always so good to talk to them.
Monday morning it was back to reality. The reality is setting in that I have just under one month left here in Belgium. I will be leaving here on July 1st for a trip to Croatia with Brent and his sister, and heading back to the US around the 11th or 12th. The time left seems so short and so long all at once.
Next weekend, the weekend of my birthday, I will go to visit Brent in Groningen one last time, which will be my final weekend trip before leaving.
Tonight, I have my French class, which is also approaching an end. The first part of the final exam is already next Thursday. I'm not sure how prepared I am. I hope to pass, but if I don't, oh well, it's not the end of the world, and nothing bad will come of it.
In the mean time, in the remaining month and a half left here in Europe, I am just trying to live each day in the moment as well as plan for the near future of Brent and I beginning our new chapter in Florida together.
I hope all is well at home, and as always, I am missing you.
XOXO
Monday, May 26, 2014
Big News, Big Changes
Hello again!
Although it was very busy, I had a pretty good weekend, and this week isn't off to a bad start, either!
Thursday, I kicked off the weekend with a trip into Luxembourg City with my friend Michelle. I met her at her house and she drove us there in her adorable new fiat convertible! We went to pick up her friend Alexis, who she wanted to introduce me to. Alexis is from Chicago and she has been living in Luxembourg for a year now because of her husbands job.
It was nice to be in a group of just American women where we could all chat in English freely. Michelle is wonderful and her friend Alexis was also very nice and funny. We all went to dinner at an Italian restaurant and drank some nice red wine and griped about the difficulties and joys of being an ex pat. After a great meal and good conversation, we went to see a movie at the theater which actually has the original English film. We saw "the other woman" with Cameron Diaz and it was super funny. It's amazing how normal it felt to just be watching an American movie like I would at home with my friends.
After the movie, it was super late so we dropped off Alexis and made our way back to Arlon. Michelle is such a wise woman, and she makes me feel like I'm not alone. It was nice to realize that even though sometimes I feel like the only person who is missing their country and their family and friends, that this is not the case. The world is so big and full of so many people, who have relocated anywhere and everywhere for so many reasons. It's a good reminder that my problems aren't as bad as I make them out to be, and that I have a great opportunity to be where I am now.
After finally getting into bed at 2am on Thursday, Friday morning was hard to make it through. But the day went by surprisingly fast, because I knew I would have the house to myself that evening. The girls would both be at sleepovers, and the parents were going out of town for a work dinner. So after dropping Emma off at her friends house after her English class, I had the evening at home to myself. It may not sound exciting, but I got to do all my laundry, relax and read, and Skype with my friend Molly and my sister. It was a nice relaxing evening.
On Saturday afternoon, the girls and their parents returned home. However, the parents left again for the evening at about six o clock because it was Catherine's sisters 30th birthday party, which was at their parents home in Tournai, a two hour drive away.
So the girls and I had a sleepover on Saturday night and I made dinner and they made dessert (chocolate fondue I was amazed they did it without blowing up something in the kitchen). Then we all watched Frozen in French! It was interesting for me to watch it in another language, especially because all the songs were different! But it was fun and it made the girls really tired, which was good because they went to bed really easily.
On Sunday, the parents came home around ten am and we all had breakfast. But then they were on the move again because they had to go and vote. Elections are mandatory in Belgium, and all people over the age of 18 are required to vote. I can see there are lots of pros and cons with this.
After they voted, the parents had a communion for the daughter of a friend, so they didn't return home till the mid afternoon. When they did, we all spent the lovely sunny afternoon outside. The pool was opened for the first time, and the girls jumped in. I just sat on the edge and hung my feet in the water and enjoyed the sun for a while. After resting I spent about an hour doing garden work. Voluntarily, they didn't ask or expect me to, but I like working in the garden. It's very meditative and calming to be outside and work with the earth. I had tons of very important thoughts swirling around in my head and this helped me to figure them all out and come to some decisions.
Being outside with the family made me feel almost as if I was at home with my own family in the summer time. The dad was tinkering with all kinds of projects around the yard, like my own dad would. The mother was playing in the garden like my mom would do. And the girls were running around playing like my sister and I would when we were that age. The only thing that has changed now is that my sister and I would probably have our feet up on the patio enjoying ice cold beers. You would think this would have made me home sick, but it actually made me feel comforted. I was once again reminded of just how small the world really is, and how even though we are all so different, in the end we are all somehow the same.
As dinner approached, we all made personal homemade pizzas. They were delicious. After dinner we all watched some tv together for a while. This was a first, since they don't really watch a lot of tv, but it was nice. Shortly after 9pm, we put the girls to bed.
Now we get to the fun part. Please note the sarcasm here. After the girls were in bed, I had to talk to the parents about some important things.
As some of you may or may not know, my boyfriend, Brent, was offered an amazing opportunity for a fully funded phd program and teaching assistantship at Florida State University for this coming fall. I could not be more proud of him. However, this means that we will be moving together to Tallahassee on August 1st. It's a very exciting and yet very stressful process, since planning to move and work in a different state than your home state while you are in another country is not easy!
Of course, with this new development and beginning has to come an ending here in Belgium. So I knew that I had to talk to the parents as soon as I got the courage to tell them that I would need to leave here in July.
So, with butterflies of steel scraping around my stomach, I sat them down in their office to have a talk with them about everything. It went well, overall, despite a few awkward and uncomfortable moments. But I suppose this is to be expected. They said I have to do what is best for me and begin living my life. So I was grateful that they were understanding.
The only bad part will be telling the girls. I know they will be sad and I will be sad to leave them, too. Although there have been ups and downs they really are great kids. I will miss them when I leave.
Now for some good news! So here is the game plan: I will leave Belgium on July 1st and meet Brent in Amsterdam. From there, we will fly together to Croatia to meet his sister for a week long vacation! I am very excited. It is supposed to be a beautiful country, especially in the summer. After the vacation, I will fly back home to the United States, sometime in the second week of July. Then I will have a few weeks to unpack and repack and see friends and family before Brent and I move down to Florida on the 1st.
Are you still with me? Thanks for sticking it out through this long post!
Today, Monday, I went for a run and then made lunch for the girls (chili con carne) and then after I dropped them back off at school I went to my friend Lora's house for lunch and coffee/pastries. She is Bulgarian and I met her in my French class. She is so kind and I am so glad I met her. Just when I am starting to make friends here, I will have to leave in just about a month. Isn't that always how life goes?
But I am excited that even though it will be chaotic leading up to the move to Florida, that come August Brent and I will finally be living together in a stable arrangement for quite some time. It will be nice to finally have some stability.
This week is a short one. I will leave on the train early Thursday morning to meet Brent in Brussels! We will spend two days there, and then spend two days in Bruges! I am super excited :)
Till next time,
XOXO
Although it was very busy, I had a pretty good weekend, and this week isn't off to a bad start, either!
Thursday, I kicked off the weekend with a trip into Luxembourg City with my friend Michelle. I met her at her house and she drove us there in her adorable new fiat convertible! We went to pick up her friend Alexis, who she wanted to introduce me to. Alexis is from Chicago and she has been living in Luxembourg for a year now because of her husbands job.
It was nice to be in a group of just American women where we could all chat in English freely. Michelle is wonderful and her friend Alexis was also very nice and funny. We all went to dinner at an Italian restaurant and drank some nice red wine and griped about the difficulties and joys of being an ex pat. After a great meal and good conversation, we went to see a movie at the theater which actually has the original English film. We saw "the other woman" with Cameron Diaz and it was super funny. It's amazing how normal it felt to just be watching an American movie like I would at home with my friends.
After the movie, it was super late so we dropped off Alexis and made our way back to Arlon. Michelle is such a wise woman, and she makes me feel like I'm not alone. It was nice to realize that even though sometimes I feel like the only person who is missing their country and their family and friends, that this is not the case. The world is so big and full of so many people, who have relocated anywhere and everywhere for so many reasons. It's a good reminder that my problems aren't as bad as I make them out to be, and that I have a great opportunity to be where I am now.
After finally getting into bed at 2am on Thursday, Friday morning was hard to make it through. But the day went by surprisingly fast, because I knew I would have the house to myself that evening. The girls would both be at sleepovers, and the parents were going out of town for a work dinner. So after dropping Emma off at her friends house after her English class, I had the evening at home to myself. It may not sound exciting, but I got to do all my laundry, relax and read, and Skype with my friend Molly and my sister. It was a nice relaxing evening.
On Saturday afternoon, the girls and their parents returned home. However, the parents left again for the evening at about six o clock because it was Catherine's sisters 30th birthday party, which was at their parents home in Tournai, a two hour drive away.
So the girls and I had a sleepover on Saturday night and I made dinner and they made dessert (chocolate fondue I was amazed they did it without blowing up something in the kitchen). Then we all watched Frozen in French! It was interesting for me to watch it in another language, especially because all the songs were different! But it was fun and it made the girls really tired, which was good because they went to bed really easily.
On Sunday, the parents came home around ten am and we all had breakfast. But then they were on the move again because they had to go and vote. Elections are mandatory in Belgium, and all people over the age of 18 are required to vote. I can see there are lots of pros and cons with this.
After they voted, the parents had a communion for the daughter of a friend, so they didn't return home till the mid afternoon. When they did, we all spent the lovely sunny afternoon outside. The pool was opened for the first time, and the girls jumped in. I just sat on the edge and hung my feet in the water and enjoyed the sun for a while. After resting I spent about an hour doing garden work. Voluntarily, they didn't ask or expect me to, but I like working in the garden. It's very meditative and calming to be outside and work with the earth. I had tons of very important thoughts swirling around in my head and this helped me to figure them all out and come to some decisions.
Being outside with the family made me feel almost as if I was at home with my own family in the summer time. The dad was tinkering with all kinds of projects around the yard, like my own dad would. The mother was playing in the garden like my mom would do. And the girls were running around playing like my sister and I would when we were that age. The only thing that has changed now is that my sister and I would probably have our feet up on the patio enjoying ice cold beers. You would think this would have made me home sick, but it actually made me feel comforted. I was once again reminded of just how small the world really is, and how even though we are all so different, in the end we are all somehow the same.
As dinner approached, we all made personal homemade pizzas. They were delicious. After dinner we all watched some tv together for a while. This was a first, since they don't really watch a lot of tv, but it was nice. Shortly after 9pm, we put the girls to bed.
Now we get to the fun part. Please note the sarcasm here. After the girls were in bed, I had to talk to the parents about some important things.
As some of you may or may not know, my boyfriend, Brent, was offered an amazing opportunity for a fully funded phd program and teaching assistantship at Florida State University for this coming fall. I could not be more proud of him. However, this means that we will be moving together to Tallahassee on August 1st. It's a very exciting and yet very stressful process, since planning to move and work in a different state than your home state while you are in another country is not easy!
Of course, with this new development and beginning has to come an ending here in Belgium. So I knew that I had to talk to the parents as soon as I got the courage to tell them that I would need to leave here in July.
So, with butterflies of steel scraping around my stomach, I sat them down in their office to have a talk with them about everything. It went well, overall, despite a few awkward and uncomfortable moments. But I suppose this is to be expected. They said I have to do what is best for me and begin living my life. So I was grateful that they were understanding.
The only bad part will be telling the girls. I know they will be sad and I will be sad to leave them, too. Although there have been ups and downs they really are great kids. I will miss them when I leave.
Now for some good news! So here is the game plan: I will leave Belgium on July 1st and meet Brent in Amsterdam. From there, we will fly together to Croatia to meet his sister for a week long vacation! I am very excited. It is supposed to be a beautiful country, especially in the summer. After the vacation, I will fly back home to the United States, sometime in the second week of July. Then I will have a few weeks to unpack and repack and see friends and family before Brent and I move down to Florida on the 1st.
Are you still with me? Thanks for sticking it out through this long post!
Today, Monday, I went for a run and then made lunch for the girls (chili con carne) and then after I dropped them back off at school I went to my friend Lora's house for lunch and coffee/pastries. She is Bulgarian and I met her in my French class. She is so kind and I am so glad I met her. Just when I am starting to make friends here, I will have to leave in just about a month. Isn't that always how life goes?
But I am excited that even though it will be chaotic leading up to the move to Florida, that come August Brent and I will finally be living together in a stable arrangement for quite some time. It will be nice to finally have some stability.
This week is a short one. I will leave on the train early Thursday morning to meet Brent in Brussels! We will spend two days there, and then spend two days in Bruges! I am super excited :)
Till next time,
XOXO
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Antwerpen Twerkin
Hi everyone!
How are you? I feel like it's been so long since I've last posted even though it was only 8 days ago. It's hard to find the time to sit down and write all the things that I want to say.
So where did we leave off? Last Tuesday. So I had my French class that evening like normal, and the evening passed without anything too exciting. On Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school, like normal, and Emma's friend Elsa came over and had lunch with us. I played outside with the girls on the trampoline for a while, and of course, on the wii. On Thursday, I had an exam in my French class. The first one since I have been there since I missed the first half of the class. It was not hard but it was also not easy. I felt only so so about it. But it made me feel better to know my fellow classmates felt the same. We still haven't got the results back from the test yet though, so I'm not sure what my grade is. Technically, the grades don't even matter. There's a final exam at the end of June and that's the only thing that counts to pass or fail the course. So as long as I pass the final exam I will pass the course. And even if for some reason I fail the course, this again doesn't really matter. The class is more meant for me to learn for myself.
In any event, Friday came and was a bit difficult because the parents were going out town overnight to a friends house for dinner. So the afternoon was super busy with my picking up the girls from school and dropping them off and picking them up from all their activities. However, it all ended up okay and I made us pancakes for dinner, which they loved!
On Saturday morning, I got up early and made pancakes yet again for breakfast, at the girls request, and then I headed out to walk to the train station. I left on Saturday morning to meet Brent for a short one night two days in Antwerp, a large city in the north of Belgium.
The train ride thankfully passed without problems or delays this time! It took me four hours to get to Antwerp from Arlon. I met Brent at the Centraal Station, and we set off to explore right away! Fortunately, we had beautiful weather. Almost too beautiful since walking around with our backpacks in the sun made us really hot! I went into a store and bought a sun dress and ditched shirt and pants.
Antwerp is truly a beautiful city. The architecture is gorgeous. It is in the northern part of Belgium which has the Flemish culture and is Dutch speaking, so it's different from where I live in the southern part of the country which is culturally more French.
We walked around and just took in all the sites of the city, and of course had to have some Belgian staples: fries and beer! After walking along the river for a while, we finally made it to our hostel in the early evening to check in and rest our feet for a moment. We had some beers at the hostel and I used Brent's computer to finally get some photos up, since I've been having trouble doing it with my tablet. There's more photos to come, I promise! Soon!
After drinking our beers, we left our hostel to walk through the city to the top of the history museum which has a lookout over the entire city. It was a long way up, and thankfully there were escalators. But the view at night was worth it. To see all of the twinkling lights of the city and the indigo river bending through the night, dotted with house boats.
After making our way down from the top, we slowly made our way back through the city and back to our hostel, where we slept.
On Sunday morning, we got up early and had breakfast in the hostel. The food was fine but the coffee was awful. We left around 9:30 and went to find the tram line that would take us to an outdoor modern art park that we wanted to go to, but it was too far to go by foot. Getting on the tram was no problem, but once we got off, there was no tram stop close to the park, so we had to walk for quote a while still and we got slightly lost. Thankfully, the weather was once again nice.
We finally made it to the park and walked through it for a few hours admiring the modern art sculptures and enjoying the weather. When we were ready to leave, we had the same problem as we did getting there. We had to walk forever to find a bus stop, and once the bus came, it was packed the brim with school children (on a Sunday, why?!) and so it was very hot and crowded and we had to stand until they all finally got off. We went back to the city center and got some lunch at an Irish pub and then had some iced coffee and sat for a while. We walked to a park close by and laid in the grass and watched people playing soccer and enjoyed the sun.
Shortly after, we made our way back to the train station and once again, went our separate ways, north and south. Even though we will see each other again next weekend, just 8 days away, I always find it hard to say goodbye to Brent. I can never not be a little bit sad.
Thankfully, my train ride home also passed without problems, and I got back to Arlon at about 9:30 and Sebastien picked me up from the train station. Although I was tired, I got to Skype with my family, which was very nice to see and talk to all three of them. I went to bed very tired but also happy.
On Monday, I intended to run but my legs were super sore from running Friday and then walking all weekend. Mondays after traveling are always hard because I am tired but I still have to get up and function like normal and make lunch and take the girls to all of their activities. I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for lunch, because they had never had it. They liked it, but it wasn't their favorite thing. I'm glad they at least ate some and tried it, but I probably won't make it again.
After school, I took Elise to her English class, and I got to have a lovey chat with Michelle, her American teacher. She is so kind. I think we are going out together sometime this week.
Tuesday I woke up early and went running, and I prepared chicken cordon blues for lunch. How very frenchy of me! Later in the evening I had my French class, which went well. I have two friends in class now, which makes it even better to go of course.
Today, Wednesday was less than ideal. I cut my finger open slicing carrots. Then after the meal, I broke a glass casserole dish into a million pieces on the floor. And the girls were in cranky moods and they had a lot of homework. So today has been less than ideal!!!
I'm trying to keep my head up and remember that bad days happen no matter where you are in the world and no matter what you are doing. I know things will always be more complicated living abroad, no matter how adjusted I get over time.
Tomorrow, I hope I will find out how I did on my French exam. I also think I may see Michelle afterwords.
This weekend, the parents are going away for a few parties, so the girls and I will have to find some ways to entertain ourselves. I think it will be okay!
I love you all and I miss you very much! I hope everything is well at home :)
XOXO
How are you? I feel like it's been so long since I've last posted even though it was only 8 days ago. It's hard to find the time to sit down and write all the things that I want to say.
So where did we leave off? Last Tuesday. So I had my French class that evening like normal, and the evening passed without anything too exciting. On Wednesday, the girls had a half day of school, like normal, and Emma's friend Elsa came over and had lunch with us. I played outside with the girls on the trampoline for a while, and of course, on the wii. On Thursday, I had an exam in my French class. The first one since I have been there since I missed the first half of the class. It was not hard but it was also not easy. I felt only so so about it. But it made me feel better to know my fellow classmates felt the same. We still haven't got the results back from the test yet though, so I'm not sure what my grade is. Technically, the grades don't even matter. There's a final exam at the end of June and that's the only thing that counts to pass or fail the course. So as long as I pass the final exam I will pass the course. And even if for some reason I fail the course, this again doesn't really matter. The class is more meant for me to learn for myself.
In any event, Friday came and was a bit difficult because the parents were going out town overnight to a friends house for dinner. So the afternoon was super busy with my picking up the girls from school and dropping them off and picking them up from all their activities. However, it all ended up okay and I made us pancakes for dinner, which they loved!
On Saturday morning, I got up early and made pancakes yet again for breakfast, at the girls request, and then I headed out to walk to the train station. I left on Saturday morning to meet Brent for a short one night two days in Antwerp, a large city in the north of Belgium.
The train ride thankfully passed without problems or delays this time! It took me four hours to get to Antwerp from Arlon. I met Brent at the Centraal Station, and we set off to explore right away! Fortunately, we had beautiful weather. Almost too beautiful since walking around with our backpacks in the sun made us really hot! I went into a store and bought a sun dress and ditched shirt and pants.
Antwerp is truly a beautiful city. The architecture is gorgeous. It is in the northern part of Belgium which has the Flemish culture and is Dutch speaking, so it's different from where I live in the southern part of the country which is culturally more French.
We walked around and just took in all the sites of the city, and of course had to have some Belgian staples: fries and beer! After walking along the river for a while, we finally made it to our hostel in the early evening to check in and rest our feet for a moment. We had some beers at the hostel and I used Brent's computer to finally get some photos up, since I've been having trouble doing it with my tablet. There's more photos to come, I promise! Soon!
After drinking our beers, we left our hostel to walk through the city to the top of the history museum which has a lookout over the entire city. It was a long way up, and thankfully there were escalators. But the view at night was worth it. To see all of the twinkling lights of the city and the indigo river bending through the night, dotted with house boats.
After making our way down from the top, we slowly made our way back through the city and back to our hostel, where we slept.
On Sunday morning, we got up early and had breakfast in the hostel. The food was fine but the coffee was awful. We left around 9:30 and went to find the tram line that would take us to an outdoor modern art park that we wanted to go to, but it was too far to go by foot. Getting on the tram was no problem, but once we got off, there was no tram stop close to the park, so we had to walk for quote a while still and we got slightly lost. Thankfully, the weather was once again nice.
We finally made it to the park and walked through it for a few hours admiring the modern art sculptures and enjoying the weather. When we were ready to leave, we had the same problem as we did getting there. We had to walk forever to find a bus stop, and once the bus came, it was packed the brim with school children (on a Sunday, why?!) and so it was very hot and crowded and we had to stand until they all finally got off. We went back to the city center and got some lunch at an Irish pub and then had some iced coffee and sat for a while. We walked to a park close by and laid in the grass and watched people playing soccer and enjoyed the sun.
Shortly after, we made our way back to the train station and once again, went our separate ways, north and south. Even though we will see each other again next weekend, just 8 days away, I always find it hard to say goodbye to Brent. I can never not be a little bit sad.
Thankfully, my train ride home also passed without problems, and I got back to Arlon at about 9:30 and Sebastien picked me up from the train station. Although I was tired, I got to Skype with my family, which was very nice to see and talk to all three of them. I went to bed very tired but also happy.
On Monday, I intended to run but my legs were super sore from running Friday and then walking all weekend. Mondays after traveling are always hard because I am tired but I still have to get up and function like normal and make lunch and take the girls to all of their activities. I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for lunch, because they had never had it. They liked it, but it wasn't their favorite thing. I'm glad they at least ate some and tried it, but I probably won't make it again.
After school, I took Elise to her English class, and I got to have a lovey chat with Michelle, her American teacher. She is so kind. I think we are going out together sometime this week.
Tuesday I woke up early and went running, and I prepared chicken cordon blues for lunch. How very frenchy of me! Later in the evening I had my French class, which went well. I have two friends in class now, which makes it even better to go of course.
Today, Wednesday was less than ideal. I cut my finger open slicing carrots. Then after the meal, I broke a glass casserole dish into a million pieces on the floor. And the girls were in cranky moods and they had a lot of homework. So today has been less than ideal!!!
I'm trying to keep my head up and remember that bad days happen no matter where you are in the world and no matter what you are doing. I know things will always be more complicated living abroad, no matter how adjusted I get over time.
Tomorrow, I hope I will find out how I did on my French exam. I also think I may see Michelle afterwords.
This weekend, the parents are going away for a few parties, so the girls and I will have to find some ways to entertain ourselves. I think it will be okay!
I love you all and I miss you very much! I hope everything is well at home :)
XOXO
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
One Month In
Hello, Everyone!
For some reason, I have notice that I tend to find myself blogging on Tuesdays. I need to make an effort to be blogging more than once a week! In any event, let me tell you about my past week.
Last week, the girls did not have English classes because their instructor was away on holiday in Italy with her husband. So that was nice, since it was one less thing I had to worry about taking care of. Nothing super special happened last week, other than the fact that it rained all week long, all of this weekend, and for the foreseeable future, most of this week, as well. The rain is really getting me down. It's making me stir crazy. Usually when the weather is nice, the girls like to play outside on the trampoline or ride their bikes or use their roller blades. However, we haven't played outside in almost two weeks now since it's been non-stop raining! This isn't good for any of us, because anyone who knows anything about kids knows that if you don't keep them active and entertained they start to get cranky, and then they fight with each other, which is of course not good! So this past week we have done a lot of arts and crafts and played a lotttttt of Mario Bros on the Wii. I hope the weather gets better tout suite so that we can get back to playing outside!
I have also noticed that being outside with the girls is not only good for them, but good for me as well because it makes me active and helps me get exercise. The endorphins of exercise are really good for mental well being, and physical as well. With the combination of the rain plus little exercise, the mood was low. So I finally kicked myself in the butt to get into a routine of running in the mornings. I do love to run, but getting into a routine the first week is always hard, especially when the routes are all crazy hills and it's raining outside! But running has not only been a good way to help me stay in good mental and physical shape, it has helped me see more of the city of Arlon. Like many European city centers, there is very limited access by car, which means that it is easiest to see on foot or on bike. Running through the downtown area has given me access to seeing what is out there, so that at another time I can come back and explore more. I really haven't gotten to explore my new hometown very much, simply because of the fact that I am busy all week with the girls, and then on the weekends I am either traveling to another city, or I find myself busy with other things around the house/with the family.
It has already been a month since I have been here in Europe now, and my weekends so far have been as follows: I arrived in Belgium and the first weekend I departed for Italy with the family. I was there for that first weekend/week, and then the second weekend was spent in Belgium for Easter with Catherine's family. The third weekend, I had my first weekend at home in Arlon with the family, but I really didn't have any time to explore the city then, because I ended up doing things with the family like shopping and errands, and then that Saturday the parents went to Brussels so I stayed home with the girls. The following weekend, the first weekend of May, I spent a long weekend in the Netherlands with Brent. Last weekend, although I was home in Arlon, I didn't get a chance to go out and do much.
As I have explained to some of my friends, I am in the odd paradox that is being a nanny. I am neither fully an employee nor fully a family member, and I fall into that weird space in between. Although the weekends are mine to do what I please, I find it sometimes hard to extricate myself from the family life because I want to spend time with them and get to know them, and I don't want them to think that I am avoiding them by spending time alone or outside the home. However, I do want time to myself as well, and time to travel both outside the city, and explore the city that I live in. It's hard for me to find a balance.
This past weekend, I was home, but Fridays basically can't be considered the weekend because by the time the girls get home at 7 from English class and eat dinner and go to bed, it's already around 9ish and I am tired too, from a long week. This Saturday, the Collards hosted a dinner party. They had 6 friends over, and those 6 friends also brought their 4 kids, which made for a total of 8 adults, 6 children, and me in the house that evening. Again, I found myself in a weird limbo like I did on Easter. Do I try to socialize with the adults even though I can't understand everything that's going on? Or do I run around after all the kids making sure they don't hurt themselves or each other and/or destroy the house? And also like Easter, I tried my hand at both of these things, and it didn't seem that I fit in anywhere. In the beginning of the evening, I had champagne and appetizers with the adults and tried to make small talk in French and fit into what they were talking about. Everyone was very kind, but it's hard to feel included when you don't quite understand everything that is being said. I would nod when everyone would nod, and laugh when everyone would laugh, and frown and make disapproving faces when everyone would do the same. But this can only last for so long, because I feel more like a puppet than an actual human with feelings and thoughts to contribute to the conversations. So I attempted to go hang out with/monitor the children. There were my two girls, two other girls around their age, and two little boys. For the first few hours, they were rowdy and energetic, and like on Easter, they just wanted to play and really didn't want to have anything to do with me. So I was in an awkward limbo between not being wanted by children, and not feeling comfortable around adults. Well, isn't that just a grand metaphor for the life of a twenty-something who has no idea what they are doing with their life?
Because of seating arrangements, I also had to end up eating at the kids table. Again, if you know anything about young kids, meal time is always a challenge to make sure they actually eat enough and not spill things all over themselves and the floor. Multiple that by six, and that is what I was dealing with. Thankfully, there were no major incidents! After we ate, things started to go down hill. The adults didn't start eating dinner until about 10pm, and that was only the first course of many. The kids all started to get tired and cranky and because of this they started to fight with each other. Even though I am not obligated to work on the weekends, how can I feel not obligated to make sure the kids are okay and not hitting each other while all the adults laugh and drink downstairs? The later into the night it got, the more frustrated I became because the kids were all getting tired and so was I. After I put Emma and Elise to bed around 1am, the adults and their kids were still here, I gave up and went to my room to go to bed. I found out on Sunday that everyone left at around 3am.
Don't get me wrong, I know that big friend/family gatherings can go on for a long time, and that we all love to socialize, but I just thought it was insensitive of the parents to keep their kids awake that long at someone elses house where they don't have the opportunity to sleep. Maybe this is just yet another cultural difference. Or maybe adults everywhere just really like to have a good time once in a while, even when they have young kids.
So Sunday, everyone was tired and the day seemed to drag on. I am ashamed to admit that I have started reading 50 Shades of Grey, because it is one of the only English novels in the house, and when it's rainy and I'm bored, I like to read. I need to make it a point to get to a book store and see if I can have any luck finding something in English...
Sunday was also Mother's Day, both here and at home in the United States. The girls and I had gone on a secret mission to the store earlier in the week to buy Catherine a white orchid (her favorite) and they hid it in my apartment for a few days. It was a hard day for me, because it really made me miss my family and my mom, especially. I got to FaceTime with family for the first time since coming to Belgium. For those of you who don't know, my family home doesn't have Internet access of any kind, so we rely on WhatsApp and FaceTime to communicate, since Skype isn't really an option unless they take my laptop to a coffee shop with free wifi. Even then, my parents are kind of computer challenged, so this is not as easily done. Regardless, we were all able to FaceTime, since my sister just moved home for the summer, and I was so happy to see their faces and hear their voices that it made me cry. I cried instantly when I saw my mom. The saying is true, that you truly do not know what you have until it is gone. Seeing them made me realize just how deeply that I miss them, so it was a very bittersweet moment. I hope that in the future we can FaceTime more often, so that we can keep in better touch.
I also was able to Skype with many of my friends in the past week and weekend, which was wonderful to be able to see their faces and spend a few hours talking and catching up on life. It is amazing how much happens in just one short month. Thank goodness for modern technology.
Sunday was a long day, after all my chats with family and friends. I didn't get much sleep because I had to wake up early on Monday morning to take the girls to school. I normally don't have to do this, since their mom does it, but she had to leave at 6am to spend the day working in Brussels, and the dad always leaves for work in Luxembourg around 6:30, so they asked if I could take them. Of course, I said yes, so I got them up and ready for school and took them at 8:30. After dropping them off, I was tempted to go back to bed, but I made myself go out for a run even though it was raining. I saw my French professor walking in town and I waved at him as I ran by but I am not sure that he recognized me since my hair was all slicked back to my head with rain and sweat and he was using an umbrella. After coming home and showering, I made chili for lunch, and thankfully the girls liked it. I am glad that they are mostly good with food, so I usually don't have to worry too much about what they will eat. After picking them up from school in the afternoon, we came home and had a quick snack and I took Elise to her English lesson. She hates it. She doesn't like to learn it, and so she just blocks it out. When I try to help her with English or talk to her in English (only things I know she can understand, of course) she pretends she doesn't understand or she just ignores me. I'm just like, giiiirrrrllllll, how do you think I feel?! I know how hard it is to learn another language! But she just won't level with me, and she begs her mom to drop of out of English classes, but thankfully her mother won't let her. Smart woman! Emma is very good with English, and she likes to speak and practice with me and read bedtime stories in English. She is excited to go to classes and to learn more. I guess everyone has their different skills and interests, which is good.
On Monday night, Brent and I decided to make last minute plans to visit Antwerp, a large city in the north of Belgium, this weekend. So I bought my train ticket and booked our hostel. I am very excited to see him! With this weekend planned, plus the final weekend of May (we have a five day trip planned to visit Brussels and Bruges, the capital of Belgium, and the "Venice of the North", respectively) we will see each other every other weekend in May, so that's great!
Today, Tuesday May 13, is Catherine's birthday! So thankfully, this week she has been in a very good mood and there haven't been any problems with us. We had a lovely conversation today at lunch, and I hope that now that it's been just over a month, that we have come to a turning point and that she is starting to like and trust me more. I am feeling confident about it. Tonight I have my french class, and I have a test on Thursday, my first one! I am nervous, but I am studying hard!
Other than that, there is nothing big planned this week. Just getting through all the daily activities of cooking and homework and play time, and French lessons. Then I will leave to see Brent in Antwerp this weekend. I promise to try and actually get some pictures up, I know I have been bad about that!
Have a great week, everyone! I love you all and I miss you so much! As always, thank you for taking the time to read my posts :)
XOXO
PS-- Fun Fact: if a kid sticks a piece of food up their nose, they will almost always eat it anyway, afterwords.
For some reason, I have notice that I tend to find myself blogging on Tuesdays. I need to make an effort to be blogging more than once a week! In any event, let me tell you about my past week.
Last week, the girls did not have English classes because their instructor was away on holiday in Italy with her husband. So that was nice, since it was one less thing I had to worry about taking care of. Nothing super special happened last week, other than the fact that it rained all week long, all of this weekend, and for the foreseeable future, most of this week, as well. The rain is really getting me down. It's making me stir crazy. Usually when the weather is nice, the girls like to play outside on the trampoline or ride their bikes or use their roller blades. However, we haven't played outside in almost two weeks now since it's been non-stop raining! This isn't good for any of us, because anyone who knows anything about kids knows that if you don't keep them active and entertained they start to get cranky, and then they fight with each other, which is of course not good! So this past week we have done a lot of arts and crafts and played a lotttttt of Mario Bros on the Wii. I hope the weather gets better tout suite so that we can get back to playing outside!
I have also noticed that being outside with the girls is not only good for them, but good for me as well because it makes me active and helps me get exercise. The endorphins of exercise are really good for mental well being, and physical as well. With the combination of the rain plus little exercise, the mood was low. So I finally kicked myself in the butt to get into a routine of running in the mornings. I do love to run, but getting into a routine the first week is always hard, especially when the routes are all crazy hills and it's raining outside! But running has not only been a good way to help me stay in good mental and physical shape, it has helped me see more of the city of Arlon. Like many European city centers, there is very limited access by car, which means that it is easiest to see on foot or on bike. Running through the downtown area has given me access to seeing what is out there, so that at another time I can come back and explore more. I really haven't gotten to explore my new hometown very much, simply because of the fact that I am busy all week with the girls, and then on the weekends I am either traveling to another city, or I find myself busy with other things around the house/with the family.
It has already been a month since I have been here in Europe now, and my weekends so far have been as follows: I arrived in Belgium and the first weekend I departed for Italy with the family. I was there for that first weekend/week, and then the second weekend was spent in Belgium for Easter with Catherine's family. The third weekend, I had my first weekend at home in Arlon with the family, but I really didn't have any time to explore the city then, because I ended up doing things with the family like shopping and errands, and then that Saturday the parents went to Brussels so I stayed home with the girls. The following weekend, the first weekend of May, I spent a long weekend in the Netherlands with Brent. Last weekend, although I was home in Arlon, I didn't get a chance to go out and do much.
As I have explained to some of my friends, I am in the odd paradox that is being a nanny. I am neither fully an employee nor fully a family member, and I fall into that weird space in between. Although the weekends are mine to do what I please, I find it sometimes hard to extricate myself from the family life because I want to spend time with them and get to know them, and I don't want them to think that I am avoiding them by spending time alone or outside the home. However, I do want time to myself as well, and time to travel both outside the city, and explore the city that I live in. It's hard for me to find a balance.
This past weekend, I was home, but Fridays basically can't be considered the weekend because by the time the girls get home at 7 from English class and eat dinner and go to bed, it's already around 9ish and I am tired too, from a long week. This Saturday, the Collards hosted a dinner party. They had 6 friends over, and those 6 friends also brought their 4 kids, which made for a total of 8 adults, 6 children, and me in the house that evening. Again, I found myself in a weird limbo like I did on Easter. Do I try to socialize with the adults even though I can't understand everything that's going on? Or do I run around after all the kids making sure they don't hurt themselves or each other and/or destroy the house? And also like Easter, I tried my hand at both of these things, and it didn't seem that I fit in anywhere. In the beginning of the evening, I had champagne and appetizers with the adults and tried to make small talk in French and fit into what they were talking about. Everyone was very kind, but it's hard to feel included when you don't quite understand everything that is being said. I would nod when everyone would nod, and laugh when everyone would laugh, and frown and make disapproving faces when everyone would do the same. But this can only last for so long, because I feel more like a puppet than an actual human with feelings and thoughts to contribute to the conversations. So I attempted to go hang out with/monitor the children. There were my two girls, two other girls around their age, and two little boys. For the first few hours, they were rowdy and energetic, and like on Easter, they just wanted to play and really didn't want to have anything to do with me. So I was in an awkward limbo between not being wanted by children, and not feeling comfortable around adults. Well, isn't that just a grand metaphor for the life of a twenty-something who has no idea what they are doing with their life?
Because of seating arrangements, I also had to end up eating at the kids table. Again, if you know anything about young kids, meal time is always a challenge to make sure they actually eat enough and not spill things all over themselves and the floor. Multiple that by six, and that is what I was dealing with. Thankfully, there were no major incidents! After we ate, things started to go down hill. The adults didn't start eating dinner until about 10pm, and that was only the first course of many. The kids all started to get tired and cranky and because of this they started to fight with each other. Even though I am not obligated to work on the weekends, how can I feel not obligated to make sure the kids are okay and not hitting each other while all the adults laugh and drink downstairs? The later into the night it got, the more frustrated I became because the kids were all getting tired and so was I. After I put Emma and Elise to bed around 1am, the adults and their kids were still here, I gave up and went to my room to go to bed. I found out on Sunday that everyone left at around 3am.
Don't get me wrong, I know that big friend/family gatherings can go on for a long time, and that we all love to socialize, but I just thought it was insensitive of the parents to keep their kids awake that long at someone elses house where they don't have the opportunity to sleep. Maybe this is just yet another cultural difference. Or maybe adults everywhere just really like to have a good time once in a while, even when they have young kids.
So Sunday, everyone was tired and the day seemed to drag on. I am ashamed to admit that I have started reading 50 Shades of Grey, because it is one of the only English novels in the house, and when it's rainy and I'm bored, I like to read. I need to make it a point to get to a book store and see if I can have any luck finding something in English...
Sunday was also Mother's Day, both here and at home in the United States. The girls and I had gone on a secret mission to the store earlier in the week to buy Catherine a white orchid (her favorite) and they hid it in my apartment for a few days. It was a hard day for me, because it really made me miss my family and my mom, especially. I got to FaceTime with family for the first time since coming to Belgium. For those of you who don't know, my family home doesn't have Internet access of any kind, so we rely on WhatsApp and FaceTime to communicate, since Skype isn't really an option unless they take my laptop to a coffee shop with free wifi. Even then, my parents are kind of computer challenged, so this is not as easily done. Regardless, we were all able to FaceTime, since my sister just moved home for the summer, and I was so happy to see their faces and hear their voices that it made me cry. I cried instantly when I saw my mom. The saying is true, that you truly do not know what you have until it is gone. Seeing them made me realize just how deeply that I miss them, so it was a very bittersweet moment. I hope that in the future we can FaceTime more often, so that we can keep in better touch.
I also was able to Skype with many of my friends in the past week and weekend, which was wonderful to be able to see their faces and spend a few hours talking and catching up on life. It is amazing how much happens in just one short month. Thank goodness for modern technology.
Sunday was a long day, after all my chats with family and friends. I didn't get much sleep because I had to wake up early on Monday morning to take the girls to school. I normally don't have to do this, since their mom does it, but she had to leave at 6am to spend the day working in Brussels, and the dad always leaves for work in Luxembourg around 6:30, so they asked if I could take them. Of course, I said yes, so I got them up and ready for school and took them at 8:30. After dropping them off, I was tempted to go back to bed, but I made myself go out for a run even though it was raining. I saw my French professor walking in town and I waved at him as I ran by but I am not sure that he recognized me since my hair was all slicked back to my head with rain and sweat and he was using an umbrella. After coming home and showering, I made chili for lunch, and thankfully the girls liked it. I am glad that they are mostly good with food, so I usually don't have to worry too much about what they will eat. After picking them up from school in the afternoon, we came home and had a quick snack and I took Elise to her English lesson. She hates it. She doesn't like to learn it, and so she just blocks it out. When I try to help her with English or talk to her in English (only things I know she can understand, of course) she pretends she doesn't understand or she just ignores me. I'm just like, giiiirrrrllllll, how do you think I feel?! I know how hard it is to learn another language! But she just won't level with me, and she begs her mom to drop of out of English classes, but thankfully her mother won't let her. Smart woman! Emma is very good with English, and she likes to speak and practice with me and read bedtime stories in English. She is excited to go to classes and to learn more. I guess everyone has their different skills and interests, which is good.
On Monday night, Brent and I decided to make last minute plans to visit Antwerp, a large city in the north of Belgium, this weekend. So I bought my train ticket and booked our hostel. I am very excited to see him! With this weekend planned, plus the final weekend of May (we have a five day trip planned to visit Brussels and Bruges, the capital of Belgium, and the "Venice of the North", respectively) we will see each other every other weekend in May, so that's great!
Today, Tuesday May 13, is Catherine's birthday! So thankfully, this week she has been in a very good mood and there haven't been any problems with us. We had a lovely conversation today at lunch, and I hope that now that it's been just over a month, that we have come to a turning point and that she is starting to like and trust me more. I am feeling confident about it. Tonight I have my french class, and I have a test on Thursday, my first one! I am nervous, but I am studying hard!
Other than that, there is nothing big planned this week. Just getting through all the daily activities of cooking and homework and play time, and French lessons. Then I will leave to see Brent in Antwerp this weekend. I promise to try and actually get some pictures up, I know I have been bad about that!
Have a great week, everyone! I love you all and I miss you so much! As always, thank you for taking the time to read my posts :)
XOXO
PS-- Fun Fact: if a kid sticks a piece of food up their nose, they will almost always eat it anyway, afterwords.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
"I'm like, so Dutch right now"
Hello!
Once again, I apologize for a delay in posting. But finally, I have wifi set up in my apartment, so I can work from here, rather than downstairs, which makes things a bit easier.
Let me start off from where we left off:
Last week Tuesday, I had my french class in the evening, and then came home for the night, nothing special to report there. Last Wednesday, I left for The Netherlands in the late afternoon. But before that, it was a regular day, the girls had a half day of school, and I picked them up from school and we had lunch. Then we did their homework and played on the trampoline and on their bikes. At 3pm, Elise and I both went with Catherine to the doctor. She had to get a sports physical so she can do boxing on the weekends, and I had to get a medical exam by a Belgian doctor to prove that I was fit and healthy. As I stated earlier, I had one of these done in the States, but for some reason, it was not valid, so I had to get it done again. After we came home, Elise went to her friend Killian's house, and Emma and I went on a walk down to the village where there is a family that has five horses. The girls like to keep their old bread ends and when there is a full bag, they bring them to feed to the horses. After we went there and came back to the house, it was time to finally leave to see Brent after three long months apart!
Catherine took me to the train station in Arlon at 5pm, and my first train, to Brussels, was supposed to leave the station at 5:30. However, the train was late by over ten minutes. This caused me to arrive late in Brussels, which made me miss my train connection to Rotterdam, where I was supposed to meet Brent. Needless to say, I was not happy about this and I wasn't sure exactly what to do. I asked a person who worked at the station, and he told me to get on the next train to Melench, and from there, I could transfer to a train to Rotterdam. So a few minutes later, I hopped on the train to Melench which was only about ten minutes by train away from the Brussels Centraal Station. However, once I got to Melench I had to wait about 45 minutes for the next train to Rotterdam. This may not seem like a very long time, but it feels like a very long time when you are just sitting by yourself counting down the minutes. Of course, this train was delayed also, and so I waited even longer. By the time I finally got on the train to Rotterdam, I was beyond ready to get there already. After what felt like the longest train ride of my life, I arrived to the Rotterdam station at about 10:50pm, and began eagerly searching for Brent. I saw him right away. Suddenly, my irritable and tired feelings went away. I never feel happier and more comfortable than when I am with him. It was so good to finally hug him again. Our reunion moment didn't last long, since we had to hustle to get on the last train to Groningen, the city where he lives and goes to school. From there, it was one long three hour ride, and although I was tired, I was just happy to be with Brent.
When we arrived in Groningen, I was amazed by the sheer number of bikes everywhere. There was an underground parking garage that was made just for bikes. There were literally hundreds of them in double decker parking ramps, all crammed in side by side and locked up. I asked Brent how he even manages to find his own bike amongst all of it, I know for sure I would lose my bike somehow! But he knew exactly where his was, and we got out of the station and I sat on the back of his bike and hung on, as he rode through the quiet streets of the very early morning. I jokingly said that this was the closest thing that I would have to my "Lizzie McGuire" moment of riding on the back of a vespa in Europe. Although it was hard to get balance at first, we made it, and slowly pedaled our way across the city in the darkness. It was quiet and peaceful, and Brent told me that come morning, it would not be so calm and quiet anymore. Finally, we made it back to his apartment building, which of course contained another bike garage for all the students who lived there. After a long day of travelling, sleep was much needed.
On Thursdays, Brent doesn't have classes, which worked out well. However, he did have to give an important presentation on Friday morning, so he had a group meeting on Thursday afternoon. So after making breakfast, we went together to campus, and I relaxed on the computer for an hour while he met with his group to go over the project. When this was done, we hopped on the bus to the city center, where Brent helped me find the place for my interview with Pure Distance, the international perfume company. He dropped me off there, and waited for me to go inside the old church building converted into office space. Hesitantly, I knocked at the door and asked for Nele, the woman I had been in email correspondence with. It was her, and she took me upstairs for my interview with herself and another woman named Kateryna. Overall, it was a fairly normal interview process. They asked me all the basic things about myself and my past education and work experiences. However, at the end of it all, I am not sure how I felt about it. This was phase one of three for the interview process, and I am not sure if I get invited back for phase two if I will accept it or not. The company still seems small and in the start up phases, which makes me worry about some aspects of the work environment. So, we shall see how that goes, and I will keep you updated on the progress.
After the interview, I went outside, and Brent was waiting for me a little ways away on a bench. I explained the interview to him as we rode the bus back to his place. We stopped at the grocery store, and bought stuff for dinner, and when we got back, I finally got to meet some of his friends. He has Polish friends, French friends, Czech friends, Spanish friends and Canadian friends. It's fitting, since he lives in an international student house! However, he is the only American on his floor, and maybe in his building. Everyone was very nice, and the Canadian girl, Kayla, was going away for the weekend, so she was kind enough to let me borrow her bike, which was a huge help!
After dinner, we wanted to go ride around the city, but it had started to rain, so we stayed in for the night. We watched the Lego Movie and had a few beers and went to bed.
On Friday morning, Brent got up early to go to campus and give his presentation. So I slept in a bit, and then got up and ready to go. When he came back at about 10:15, we were ready to take on the day of exploring Groningen! We wanted to go get breakfast at a place called the "Pancake Ship", which is (oddly enough) a ship on one of the many canals that is a restaurant known for its traditional Dutch pancakes. However, we got there at about 10:30 and it didn't open until noon! We were hungry, but we didn't want to go anywhere else, so we went and got coffee and then we went to the main plaza of the city to climb the Martini Tower, which was at one point the tallest standing building in Europe. The climb was very claustrophobic! The tiny, winding, brick staircase was for traffic climbing up and down, but there was definitely not enough room for people going in both directions. Once we got to the top, it was a great view of the city, and Brent pointed out everything to me. Where the university campuses were, where he lived, where the train station and the art museum were. It was a nice view, although it was very windy at the top! After making our slow and twisting decent, we finally went to the Pancake Ship! These are not what you would get at ihop, they were much better! Brent got a pancake the size of his huge plate that had ham and cheese baked into it, and I got an "Austrian Pancake" which was stuffed with apple strudel and had vanilla sauce and whipped cream on it. We were both super full and happy when we left the ship, and carried on with our sightseeing.
We went through the large town center, and through all the shopping districts, since I was on the hunt for more comfortable walking shoes. We also went through the fish market, which is a large open air market with all kinds of fresh fruits, veggies, meats and fish. Brent bought some fresh mint to make mint tea with. He showed me the main campus of the university, which is of course old and beautiful, complete with black and white marble flooring and red carpets inside the main administrative building. After a long afternoon, we picked up some Heineken's, and sat in the large, beautiful park next to a big pond and just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine for a while. After about an hour, we rode back towards Brent's place and stopped at the store to buy dinner. Side note, the stores in Europe really have it down. They don't have big carts that will crowd up the aisles, and they don't just give you plastic bags. You either have to buy a bag, or bring your own reusable one. Awesome for recycling and sustainability! Anyway, we went back and made dinner and hung out with some of his friends from his floor for a bit. After we ate, we rode our bikes down to the river with some beers and found a quiet place to watch the sunset. It was very calming and nice to sit together and enjoy the view. In the dark, we slowly made our way back to Brent's place. We went to sleep relatively early, since we were leaving early Saturday morning for Amsterdam!
On Saturday, we left at about 9am. Brent's polish friend Lucas (and his girlfriend Daria, who was also visiting for the weekend) has his car here, so he drove all four of us the two hour trip south to Amsterdam. First, we stopped at Keukenhof, which is just outside of Amsterdam and is one of the largest tulip fields in the country. There were thousands of tulips weaving along paths and through trees and along little ponds with fountains, and of course, amongst the large windmills. It was a nice sunny afternoon, and there were tulips of all different colors and patterns and sizes! They were beautiful. After about an hour spent there, we headed into Amsterdam. We parked the car outside of the city center, and took the bus downtown. Upon arriving at the central station, I was amazed by just how many people were there. It was so damn crowded! I honestly felt like it was busier than Chicago in the middle of rush hour, except instead of cars clogging up the road, it was bikes, thousands of them, and people, and trams, and dogs, and kids, and boats in the many canals. Although the city itself was beautiful, and the architecture was amazing, it was a bit too chaotic for me. I am not sure how people manage to drive there, let alone bike. Walking was difficult enough! But we managed to work our way around the city and see all of the gorgeous canals lined with houseboats and trees and flowers, and of course, hundreds of bikes. Of course, we also had to see the Red Light District, which was just crazy to me. Women standing in barely there lingerie in windows at street level, beckoning you to come inside. Very strange. Also, the vast amount of "coffee shops" which sell all sorts of drugs, and you can just sit inside and smoke weed and eat food. A stoners paradise, for sure. We also ate some traditional foods, which are similar to the foods of Belgium: frites, pancakes, and waffles! Brent and I finally found a place that made the waffle ice cream sandwiches, and needless to say, we were very happy about that! They were so delicious! After a long day in the city, we made our way back to the car, and began the drive back to Groningen.
When we got back, Brent and I made hamburgers and homemade fries for an "all American dinner" that we were both craving. They turned out really good! Then we had a party on his floor with all of his awesome international friends. They put on loud music in their common room, and we all drank and talked and danced. Later in the night, Brent asked me "five years ago, at the end of high school, did you ever think you would be here, dancing with a bunch of international people in the Netherlands?" Truthfully, no, not at all. But I was so glad that I was there, and I am so glad that I am here, where I am in life. Everything that has lead up to this point, the good and the bad, has happened for a reason. It may not always be a smooth and easy ride, but getting to where I am now has made me who I am right now, and it will help me to grow into who I want to be.
Around midnight, with everyone finishing the last of their current drinks and throwing on their jackets, we made our way down the stairs and onto our bikes in a large caravan. Hooting and hollering, everyone took off into the night, heading for the city center to go to the Three Sisters, one of the largest bars/clubs in Europe. With the wind pulling my hair back, and the thrill of racing beneath the street lights, my feet pumping the pedals, I felt more at home than I had since leaving the States. That night truly showed me that there are some things that transcend languages and cultures and ethnicity's. People are all just people. We all want to have friends, we all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted and be free, yet feel safe and cared for. We all want to have fun, most of all. Music, dancing, smiles, and hugs go a long way in communicating emotions where words can sometimes fail. By the end of that night, I fell asleep exhausted but happy.
However, Sunday morning, those happy feelings were beginning to fade away as I knew I would have to leave Brent soon. We got up and made breakfast and then took a bike ride around the outskirts of the city, along the river through the fields. We came back to his place and had a quick snack and I packed up my backpack, and we left for the train station. Saying goodbye to Brent is literally always one of the hardest things that I have to do. It never fails to tear me apart inside. I hate not knowing when we will see each other, again.
I left very sad on the train, and spent a lonely two hours on the train to Amsterdam. Once I got there, I had to wait another hour and a half for my train to Brussels. However, once the train was supposed to arrive, it did not. Apparently there had been some sort of accident, and the train was going to be delayed another hour or more before arriving. I couldn't help it, I began to cry. My emotions were already heightened from leaving Brent, and the delay seemed too much to handle. Somehow, a young redheaded woman came to my rescue, so to speak. She overheard me talking to the rail worker and so she knew I was going to Brussels, she was also. She asked if I wanted to go get a coffee together while we waited for the train to arrive. She seemed very kind and helpful, so I agreed to go with her. We went to the cafe upstairs and she bought me a coffee, which was very nice of her. This is how I met Sini, the 31 year old from Finland, who has spent the past 4 years travelling for work. She said that I reminded her of herself when she first starting travelling in her twenties, and she said that she had cried many times about delayed trains, planes, and stolen luggage. It was nice to spend an hour chatting with her, knowing that not everyone around me is a local, and there are many others like me that are far from home and sometimes confused and sad. Since she currently lives in Brussels, we exchanged emails. Maybe someday I will see her again. When the train finally came, she hugged me and wished me luck, as if it were the most natural thing, like she was my sister or something. It was nice to finally have a hug from someone, rather than just a cheek kiss or a handshake.
Finally on my way to Brussels, the train went quickly, only an hour and a half since it was a high speed train. However, because of the accident setting everything behind schedule, there were two trains worth of people trying to fit onto just one train. This caused some issues, as you can imagine, but thankfully I had a seat, so I tried to just keep my head down and make it to Brussels in one piece. Once I arrived in Brussels, I just made it onto the train to Arlon before it left, thank goodness, because the other one would have made me wait yet another hour behind schedule! The train from Brussels to Arlon is the longest because it is not high speed and it makes a lot of stops along the way. It takes a little under three hours. By the time I arrived in Arlon, it was 11:30pm, about 10 hours after my departure from Groningen, and I was mentally exhausted. Sebastien picked me up at the station and brought me home, and after unpacking, I finally slept.
Monday was up and at 'em, once again for another week. The girls don't have English classes this week because their teacher is on holiday in Italy. So that's one less thing to worry about, I guess. Monday morning, I woke up and did some laundry, and made pizza for lunch for the girls and I. They were happy to see me, which was nice. It's nice to know I was missed. I missed them too, I realized I talked about them a lot to people in the Netherlands. Monday mostly passed without incidents, and I finally got to skype with Ebony, since I now have wifi in my room. So let's all skype as soon as possible, because I miss your faces and your voices! My skype username is: jennfisher26
Today, Tuesday, I had breakfast, hung out around the house, and made veggie burgers for lunch. I just took the girls back to school and I will pick them up again in the afternoon. Tonight, I have my french lesson from 6:30-9pm. I don't think anything else big is happening this week, but then again, there seems to be some hidden surprise and challenge in every day that I never see coming. So wish me luck!
I love you all,
XOXO
Once again, I apologize for a delay in posting. But finally, I have wifi set up in my apartment, so I can work from here, rather than downstairs, which makes things a bit easier.
Let me start off from where we left off:
Last week Tuesday, I had my french class in the evening, and then came home for the night, nothing special to report there. Last Wednesday, I left for The Netherlands in the late afternoon. But before that, it was a regular day, the girls had a half day of school, and I picked them up from school and we had lunch. Then we did their homework and played on the trampoline and on their bikes. At 3pm, Elise and I both went with Catherine to the doctor. She had to get a sports physical so she can do boxing on the weekends, and I had to get a medical exam by a Belgian doctor to prove that I was fit and healthy. As I stated earlier, I had one of these done in the States, but for some reason, it was not valid, so I had to get it done again. After we came home, Elise went to her friend Killian's house, and Emma and I went on a walk down to the village where there is a family that has five horses. The girls like to keep their old bread ends and when there is a full bag, they bring them to feed to the horses. After we went there and came back to the house, it was time to finally leave to see Brent after three long months apart!
Catherine took me to the train station in Arlon at 5pm, and my first train, to Brussels, was supposed to leave the station at 5:30. However, the train was late by over ten minutes. This caused me to arrive late in Brussels, which made me miss my train connection to Rotterdam, where I was supposed to meet Brent. Needless to say, I was not happy about this and I wasn't sure exactly what to do. I asked a person who worked at the station, and he told me to get on the next train to Melench, and from there, I could transfer to a train to Rotterdam. So a few minutes later, I hopped on the train to Melench which was only about ten minutes by train away from the Brussels Centraal Station. However, once I got to Melench I had to wait about 45 minutes for the next train to Rotterdam. This may not seem like a very long time, but it feels like a very long time when you are just sitting by yourself counting down the minutes. Of course, this train was delayed also, and so I waited even longer. By the time I finally got on the train to Rotterdam, I was beyond ready to get there already. After what felt like the longest train ride of my life, I arrived to the Rotterdam station at about 10:50pm, and began eagerly searching for Brent. I saw him right away. Suddenly, my irritable and tired feelings went away. I never feel happier and more comfortable than when I am with him. It was so good to finally hug him again. Our reunion moment didn't last long, since we had to hustle to get on the last train to Groningen, the city where he lives and goes to school. From there, it was one long three hour ride, and although I was tired, I was just happy to be with Brent.
When we arrived in Groningen, I was amazed by the sheer number of bikes everywhere. There was an underground parking garage that was made just for bikes. There were literally hundreds of them in double decker parking ramps, all crammed in side by side and locked up. I asked Brent how he even manages to find his own bike amongst all of it, I know for sure I would lose my bike somehow! But he knew exactly where his was, and we got out of the station and I sat on the back of his bike and hung on, as he rode through the quiet streets of the very early morning. I jokingly said that this was the closest thing that I would have to my "Lizzie McGuire" moment of riding on the back of a vespa in Europe. Although it was hard to get balance at first, we made it, and slowly pedaled our way across the city in the darkness. It was quiet and peaceful, and Brent told me that come morning, it would not be so calm and quiet anymore. Finally, we made it back to his apartment building, which of course contained another bike garage for all the students who lived there. After a long day of travelling, sleep was much needed.
On Thursdays, Brent doesn't have classes, which worked out well. However, he did have to give an important presentation on Friday morning, so he had a group meeting on Thursday afternoon. So after making breakfast, we went together to campus, and I relaxed on the computer for an hour while he met with his group to go over the project. When this was done, we hopped on the bus to the city center, where Brent helped me find the place for my interview with Pure Distance, the international perfume company. He dropped me off there, and waited for me to go inside the old church building converted into office space. Hesitantly, I knocked at the door and asked for Nele, the woman I had been in email correspondence with. It was her, and she took me upstairs for my interview with herself and another woman named Kateryna. Overall, it was a fairly normal interview process. They asked me all the basic things about myself and my past education and work experiences. However, at the end of it all, I am not sure how I felt about it. This was phase one of three for the interview process, and I am not sure if I get invited back for phase two if I will accept it or not. The company still seems small and in the start up phases, which makes me worry about some aspects of the work environment. So, we shall see how that goes, and I will keep you updated on the progress.
After the interview, I went outside, and Brent was waiting for me a little ways away on a bench. I explained the interview to him as we rode the bus back to his place. We stopped at the grocery store, and bought stuff for dinner, and when we got back, I finally got to meet some of his friends. He has Polish friends, French friends, Czech friends, Spanish friends and Canadian friends. It's fitting, since he lives in an international student house! However, he is the only American on his floor, and maybe in his building. Everyone was very nice, and the Canadian girl, Kayla, was going away for the weekend, so she was kind enough to let me borrow her bike, which was a huge help!
After dinner, we wanted to go ride around the city, but it had started to rain, so we stayed in for the night. We watched the Lego Movie and had a few beers and went to bed.
On Friday morning, Brent got up early to go to campus and give his presentation. So I slept in a bit, and then got up and ready to go. When he came back at about 10:15, we were ready to take on the day of exploring Groningen! We wanted to go get breakfast at a place called the "Pancake Ship", which is (oddly enough) a ship on one of the many canals that is a restaurant known for its traditional Dutch pancakes. However, we got there at about 10:30 and it didn't open until noon! We were hungry, but we didn't want to go anywhere else, so we went and got coffee and then we went to the main plaza of the city to climb the Martini Tower, which was at one point the tallest standing building in Europe. The climb was very claustrophobic! The tiny, winding, brick staircase was for traffic climbing up and down, but there was definitely not enough room for people going in both directions. Once we got to the top, it was a great view of the city, and Brent pointed out everything to me. Where the university campuses were, where he lived, where the train station and the art museum were. It was a nice view, although it was very windy at the top! After making our slow and twisting decent, we finally went to the Pancake Ship! These are not what you would get at ihop, they were much better! Brent got a pancake the size of his huge plate that had ham and cheese baked into it, and I got an "Austrian Pancake" which was stuffed with apple strudel and had vanilla sauce and whipped cream on it. We were both super full and happy when we left the ship, and carried on with our sightseeing.
We went through the large town center, and through all the shopping districts, since I was on the hunt for more comfortable walking shoes. We also went through the fish market, which is a large open air market with all kinds of fresh fruits, veggies, meats and fish. Brent bought some fresh mint to make mint tea with. He showed me the main campus of the university, which is of course old and beautiful, complete with black and white marble flooring and red carpets inside the main administrative building. After a long afternoon, we picked up some Heineken's, and sat in the large, beautiful park next to a big pond and just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine for a while. After about an hour, we rode back towards Brent's place and stopped at the store to buy dinner. Side note, the stores in Europe really have it down. They don't have big carts that will crowd up the aisles, and they don't just give you plastic bags. You either have to buy a bag, or bring your own reusable one. Awesome for recycling and sustainability! Anyway, we went back and made dinner and hung out with some of his friends from his floor for a bit. After we ate, we rode our bikes down to the river with some beers and found a quiet place to watch the sunset. It was very calming and nice to sit together and enjoy the view. In the dark, we slowly made our way back to Brent's place. We went to sleep relatively early, since we were leaving early Saturday morning for Amsterdam!
On Saturday, we left at about 9am. Brent's polish friend Lucas (and his girlfriend Daria, who was also visiting for the weekend) has his car here, so he drove all four of us the two hour trip south to Amsterdam. First, we stopped at Keukenhof, which is just outside of Amsterdam and is one of the largest tulip fields in the country. There were thousands of tulips weaving along paths and through trees and along little ponds with fountains, and of course, amongst the large windmills. It was a nice sunny afternoon, and there were tulips of all different colors and patterns and sizes! They were beautiful. After about an hour spent there, we headed into Amsterdam. We parked the car outside of the city center, and took the bus downtown. Upon arriving at the central station, I was amazed by just how many people were there. It was so damn crowded! I honestly felt like it was busier than Chicago in the middle of rush hour, except instead of cars clogging up the road, it was bikes, thousands of them, and people, and trams, and dogs, and kids, and boats in the many canals. Although the city itself was beautiful, and the architecture was amazing, it was a bit too chaotic for me. I am not sure how people manage to drive there, let alone bike. Walking was difficult enough! But we managed to work our way around the city and see all of the gorgeous canals lined with houseboats and trees and flowers, and of course, hundreds of bikes. Of course, we also had to see the Red Light District, which was just crazy to me. Women standing in barely there lingerie in windows at street level, beckoning you to come inside. Very strange. Also, the vast amount of "coffee shops" which sell all sorts of drugs, and you can just sit inside and smoke weed and eat food. A stoners paradise, for sure. We also ate some traditional foods, which are similar to the foods of Belgium: frites, pancakes, and waffles! Brent and I finally found a place that made the waffle ice cream sandwiches, and needless to say, we were very happy about that! They were so delicious! After a long day in the city, we made our way back to the car, and began the drive back to Groningen.
When we got back, Brent and I made hamburgers and homemade fries for an "all American dinner" that we were both craving. They turned out really good! Then we had a party on his floor with all of his awesome international friends. They put on loud music in their common room, and we all drank and talked and danced. Later in the night, Brent asked me "five years ago, at the end of high school, did you ever think you would be here, dancing with a bunch of international people in the Netherlands?" Truthfully, no, not at all. But I was so glad that I was there, and I am so glad that I am here, where I am in life. Everything that has lead up to this point, the good and the bad, has happened for a reason. It may not always be a smooth and easy ride, but getting to where I am now has made me who I am right now, and it will help me to grow into who I want to be.
Around midnight, with everyone finishing the last of their current drinks and throwing on their jackets, we made our way down the stairs and onto our bikes in a large caravan. Hooting and hollering, everyone took off into the night, heading for the city center to go to the Three Sisters, one of the largest bars/clubs in Europe. With the wind pulling my hair back, and the thrill of racing beneath the street lights, my feet pumping the pedals, I felt more at home than I had since leaving the States. That night truly showed me that there are some things that transcend languages and cultures and ethnicity's. People are all just people. We all want to have friends, we all want to be loved. We all want to be accepted and be free, yet feel safe and cared for. We all want to have fun, most of all. Music, dancing, smiles, and hugs go a long way in communicating emotions where words can sometimes fail. By the end of that night, I fell asleep exhausted but happy.
However, Sunday morning, those happy feelings were beginning to fade away as I knew I would have to leave Brent soon. We got up and made breakfast and then took a bike ride around the outskirts of the city, along the river through the fields. We came back to his place and had a quick snack and I packed up my backpack, and we left for the train station. Saying goodbye to Brent is literally always one of the hardest things that I have to do. It never fails to tear me apart inside. I hate not knowing when we will see each other, again.
I left very sad on the train, and spent a lonely two hours on the train to Amsterdam. Once I got there, I had to wait another hour and a half for my train to Brussels. However, once the train was supposed to arrive, it did not. Apparently there had been some sort of accident, and the train was going to be delayed another hour or more before arriving. I couldn't help it, I began to cry. My emotions were already heightened from leaving Brent, and the delay seemed too much to handle. Somehow, a young redheaded woman came to my rescue, so to speak. She overheard me talking to the rail worker and so she knew I was going to Brussels, she was also. She asked if I wanted to go get a coffee together while we waited for the train to arrive. She seemed very kind and helpful, so I agreed to go with her. We went to the cafe upstairs and she bought me a coffee, which was very nice of her. This is how I met Sini, the 31 year old from Finland, who has spent the past 4 years travelling for work. She said that I reminded her of herself when she first starting travelling in her twenties, and she said that she had cried many times about delayed trains, planes, and stolen luggage. It was nice to spend an hour chatting with her, knowing that not everyone around me is a local, and there are many others like me that are far from home and sometimes confused and sad. Since she currently lives in Brussels, we exchanged emails. Maybe someday I will see her again. When the train finally came, she hugged me and wished me luck, as if it were the most natural thing, like she was my sister or something. It was nice to finally have a hug from someone, rather than just a cheek kiss or a handshake.
Finally on my way to Brussels, the train went quickly, only an hour and a half since it was a high speed train. However, because of the accident setting everything behind schedule, there were two trains worth of people trying to fit onto just one train. This caused some issues, as you can imagine, but thankfully I had a seat, so I tried to just keep my head down and make it to Brussels in one piece. Once I arrived in Brussels, I just made it onto the train to Arlon before it left, thank goodness, because the other one would have made me wait yet another hour behind schedule! The train from Brussels to Arlon is the longest because it is not high speed and it makes a lot of stops along the way. It takes a little under three hours. By the time I arrived in Arlon, it was 11:30pm, about 10 hours after my departure from Groningen, and I was mentally exhausted. Sebastien picked me up at the station and brought me home, and after unpacking, I finally slept.
Monday was up and at 'em, once again for another week. The girls don't have English classes this week because their teacher is on holiday in Italy. So that's one less thing to worry about, I guess. Monday morning, I woke up and did some laundry, and made pizza for lunch for the girls and I. They were happy to see me, which was nice. It's nice to know I was missed. I missed them too, I realized I talked about them a lot to people in the Netherlands. Monday mostly passed without incidents, and I finally got to skype with Ebony, since I now have wifi in my room. So let's all skype as soon as possible, because I miss your faces and your voices! My skype username is: jennfisher26
Today, Tuesday, I had breakfast, hung out around the house, and made veggie burgers for lunch. I just took the girls back to school and I will pick them up again in the afternoon. Tonight, I have my french lesson from 6:30-9pm. I don't think anything else big is happening this week, but then again, there seems to be some hidden surprise and challenge in every day that I never see coming. So wish me luck!
I love you all,
XOXO
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