Back in Brussels

We returned from the States a few weeks ago and are finally settled back into our life here. I was telling someone recently that I feel like it takes two weeks of planning the details prior to the trip, then three weeks spent in the States and then another week here in Brussels getting unpacked and re-organized. No wonder this trip had felt like six weeks instead of three!

We spent a week in NYC visting Kyle's sister Rebecca, our friends Tim, Lynn and their baby Matty, and our friends the Carneys. In between all of that Kyle was working and I was running around and shopping. We flew to Atlanta and were able to make it up to Athens, GA for the UGA/TN game. Kyle hadn't been to a UGA game in four years so he was one happy Bulldawg (especially because we beat Tennessee). Next we spent some time in Kyle's hometown (Dalton, GA) and then back in Atlanta. Along the way we were able to visit with lots of family and friends. Every time we come home for a visit we are always amazed because even though a year has passed, everyone and everything still seems to be the exact same. We talk about the same topics with people, we visit the same restaurants. I am sure there are many subtle changes, but if you look at pictures from our visit three years ago, the photos would probably look the exact same as this years. However, we still take the photos and still eat at the same places because I guess it is consistency in life that is also what is so comforting about being home.

Speaking of photos, click here for the ones from our trip.

Some quick thoughts from NYC:

--The amount of people walking around with take away coffee is incredible. Keep in mind that in Brussels it has only been within the last two years that you have even seen take away coffee. However, I just can't imagine that consuming that much liquid and caffeine can be good for a person. I remember when I was in college and my mom pointed out that students should try to drink as much water as they do beer. I have a feeling some New Yorkers would balk at drinking three ventis full of water in a day but that is about the amount of water a person should actually consume (a venti equals 20 oz).

--I can't decide if it is better to be in Belgium where stores don't care at all about customer service, but at least you know that going in, or to be in the US where they act like they care, but then anytime you ask a question, no one has any clue of the answer. However, in the US, instead of telling you they don't know, they just give you a run-around answer and seem to hope you will go away. I have decided that it doesn't really matter if a place has customer service if the employees don't know anything about the products, so perhaps I shouldn't complain so much about Belgium's lack of customer service.

--I hate how much waste there is in the US. I think we received more plastic bags in two weeks in NYC than we had in the last two months in Brussels. In NYC they packaged everything as if it were take away, even if you were eating there (at a breakfast/lunch type of place). It was all so unnecessary.

--I thought that after being back on American soil I would get away from the language issues that plague me every day here, but I was wrong. At one point I had to ask a man four times to repeat himself because he spoke in such mumbled, incorrect English. Another time the person that was manning the dressing room only spoke to me in Spanish. Maybe I should be spending my time learning Ebonics and Spanish instead of French.

As always, I come back from a trip to the States and realize that there are things I love about each country and things that bother me about each one. The nice part about seeing the good and the bad in both is that I am reminded to enjoy the good while I can and that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the ocean.

The Good Life

We are getting ready to head to NYC and I am so excited! I recently told Kyle that this is what people with multiple houses must feel like. I am going to a place where I am really comfortable, know my way around, and get to visit every year or two. I have been there enough that I don't feel the need to do the touristy stuff and instead I can just wander around and enjoy the real city. New York City, here I come!!!