Brrrrrr

It is June 6 and a rainy, cold, 54 degrees Farenheit outside. Because our first summer in Brussels had record breaking highs, I was scared into thinking summer was incredibly hot here. Instead, it turns out that June, July and August are some of the wettest months of the year here and the average temperature in June is 61 degrees. Thank goodness we didn't put away all our winter stuff, because that is all we have been wearing recently. However, I just saw that it will be 93, dry and sticky in Atlanta and I can't say I am really jealous of that either.

I have been a bit homesick in the past few weeks and I can't really figure out why. Basically I just miss seeing my family, friends, and I am embarassed to say, but US fast food! I seem to be thinking about Chic-Fil-A a little more than their own CEO does. However, I can't imagine an easier time in the history of the world to be an expat. Today I turned on our Slingbox (US TV over the internet) and was watching the local Atlanta news in real-time. They were talking about a problem at the intersection right where my mom works. It is just too weird to think here I am over in Belgium but looking at my mom's office building in Atlanta. With Vonage/Skype, high-speed internet, SlingBox and so many other easy ways of keeping in touch, I can't ever understand why people complain about being an expat. I read a book by Julia Child recently and when she lived in Paris they didn't even have a phone or radio in their apartment. She wasn't even able to talk to her own husband during the day! I can't imagine how lonely it must have been to feel so far away from your family and only be able to write letters that took a month to receive, but I guess that is what gave her time to become such a good cook!