It has taken me awhile to get up to writing this, because first, I needed to stay awake past the kids, which is hard when you are jet-lagged, and second, I needed to actually have time to do it, and third, I needed to be a little less stressed out and emotional, which is hard to do when your life completely changes within 3 weeks. While I haven't exactly reached any of these places yet, I am thinking that now is about as good a time as any to try to bring some closure to these wonderful past 2 years of our lives that we spent in Belgium.
Honestly, I can't believe it is over. It seems like only yesterday that we were thinking of moving abroad, and had no idea where Belgium was, much less Brussels, and now that we can pinpoint all the little towns and fun areas of Belgium, and know all the great places to shop and eat, and can drive around the city without getting lost and actually know where we are(most of the time), it is time for us to leave. Where did the past 2 years go? And what happened to our last year, our 3rd year that we were supposed to have?
One thing that I have learned from this experience is that things don't always go as you plan it, and actually most of the time, they never do. We never dreamed of living in Europe, and we got a chance to know it as our home. And even though we didn't plan on moving back to the states this summer, I am sure this is just another event that we will look back upon and cherish. It is the unplanned events that really enrich your lives with new adventures and crazy experiences. The planned events are good too, but the unplanned ones add that extra spice.
And the unplanned event that took us to Belgium really led to several crazy experiences, and lots of memories to laugh about, and it was definitely the hardest move I have ever done, but it was so worth it. We all grew so much during our time here. We were able to really learn to appreciate other cultures and to open our eyes to the world around us. Life does not revolve around the U.S., and actually there is so much more life going on outside of it that most people (in the U.S.) don't realize. But like everything else, life must go on. We don't have time to sit and be upset about leaving, but instead we must embrace the newness of being back in the states and all the things that we have missed (can anyone say TARGET?).
So, what can I say about our last 2 years in Belgium? They were wonderful, filled with lots of things out of our comfort zone, but boy did we learn so much about ourselves and what we can put up with and handle. That constant state of being challenged almost daily makes for excitement and frustration too at times, but we have always done our best to chalk it up to "it is what it is" and laugh about it. We all learned alot and loved having friends from all over the world, especially the kids, and I know that I will miss them having that extra exposure to other cultures.
It's really hard to be sad for us when you see the list below. We definitely were not deprived of seeing the world while we lived in Belgium. In fact, it was quite the opposite since we really took advantage of our time there and traveled to lots of cool places. Not only did we get to know the city of Brussels very well, and even more, the city of Waterloo, we also ventured to more far and away places. While we had made a tentative list of our must-sees for the next year, which we are unfortunaetly not going to get to do, and this made us sad to not get to see some things, we sat down and made of list of all the places we have had the pleasure of experiencing in these past 2 years, and it is really amazing! I am very happy to say that we did see alot of places.
Here is the list:
Belgium-Waterloo, Brussels (and surrounding areas), Mechelen, Gent, Brugge, Knokke, Dinant, Mons, Antwerp, Ath, Nieuwpoort (Jordan)
Netherlands - Amsterdam, Nijkerk, Zooland, Maastricht
Germany - Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen, Nuremburg, Potzbach, Kaiserslautern, Fussen, Dusseldorf, Warnemunde, Lubeck, Berlin (Lee), Mannheim (Lee)
France - Paris, Lille, Giverny, Vaujany, Lyon, Calais
Luxemburg- Luxemburg City (driving though only)
England - London, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge, Dover
Ireland and Northern Ireland - Dublin, Newgrange, Belfast, Bushmill, North Antrim Coast
Denmark - Copenhagen
Sweden - Stockholm
Russia - St. Petersburg
Estonia - Tallin
Finland - Helsinki
Turkey - Istanbul
Greece - Athens
Switzerland - Geneva, Zurich (for Lee)
Italy - Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Murano, Burano, Torcello, Genoa
Austria - Innsbruck
Spain - Barcelona
And when you add this to the US and Jamaica, that means that the girls have been in 20 different countries. They have gotten to experience firsthand all of those amazing places at such a young age. They truly are lucky, but more importantly, I hope that they remember our time abroad and I can definitely say that I feel that it has impacted them tremendously for the better. I smile every time I hear Jordan speak with a British accent or Camille says something like, "carry on." I even like hearing them say their little "Excuse-moi,s'il vous plait, get your big butt out of the way" thing. They definitely did not get that from the U.S., and I hope that they never lose it. I really wish that there was some way to keep them exposed to all the different cultures that they meshed with on a daily basis in Belgium. That is one big thing that makes me sad.
The other thing that really bothers me is that the girls didn't get to say goodbye to anyone. Everyone was gone on holiday basically all summer, and other than getting to see a couple people, everyone else they missed. I will say that they did each get to have one last playdate with their best friend though. Also, they missed out on all the activities at school for the kids that were leaving, such as leaving their painted handprint on the wall with their name, getting to say goodbye to Mrs. Bambridge (their principal) and getting a big hug in return from her, and also having her give them a goodbye Lion to always remember the school (since this is the mascot). Lee was able to get them their Lions, but it won't be the same as having had done it the other way. There were several people that I also didn't get to say goodbye to, and sadly, may never see again....
So, all I can say is that this all happened way too fast. The move was inevitable though, and we are just doing it one year earlier than planned. I do think I personally am in for a good case of emotional whiplash soon once all the stress dies down. I will recover though and move on. Already, I see or hear something that brings back a Belgian memory, which makes me smile, but also makes me sad, because I know that that part of our lives is over with.
I will miss the quirkiness of Belgium, and I will always cherish our 2 years there.
Goodbye to the land of chocolates, beer, moules (mussels), frites, and waffles.
I hope we all get to return one day....