this is life

This is life. My life consists of living in a major city, taking the Tram to class, the Metro to work, and walking every where in between. I have to walk 3 blocks to the market for groceries, I walk down the street and around the corner into one of the best shopping districts in Brussels. I get free access to any and all art exhibits in the area. This is life.

All of that sounds ridiculously fabulous, doesn't it?
Ninety-five percent of the time it really and truly is the dream, but I have a few of those five percent moments this week that I will briefly reflect on then go about enjoying my new life in this amazing city.

1. The Cold. Brussels had me fooled before my arrival. According to the weather channel, Brussels weather is not too far off from Nashville's climate. In actuality, I feel as if I have entered into a snow globe... even my SCANDINAVIAN roommates are cold here. That says a lot. Not only is the cold outside miserable, but apparently this country does not believe in heating because indoors is only slightly warmer than the frigid cold outside!

2. The Language. I love French. I love that I am learning French. But I hate that sometimes I can not communicate effectively with people. I remember getting frustrated multiple times this week because I could not make clear what I was intending to say. Honestly, I can't even remember what I got so frustrated about, so clearly it was not that big of a deal, but really. I wish I could learn French overnight and not worry about the communication barrier anymore.

3. Grocery Shopping. On this point, I am not sure if I dislike the situation, or if I dislike America more for using a system that no one else in the world can relate to! My goodness, I went to the market today to buy some cheese and meat and I didn't even know how much to ask for because everything is in grams! It really and truly is the small things that can make this adjustment so aggravating.

4. Lone Soldier. Well, that is quite an exaggeration, but it does get a little lonely here on occasion (although living with 3 girls it is definitely rare!) However, all of my close friends who know me from cover to cover are an ocean away and I feel like everyone here is in the introductory stage of friendship. There are definitely pros and cons to this... Pro: I get a clean slate and an opportunity to be the person I have always wanted to be. Really and truly, I have been more extroverted in the last month than I have been in my entire life. As a result, I have made a lot of friends in a very short amount of time. I really am proud of the connections I have made and the effort I have put into meeting people, instead of letting all my friends at home do the meeting and greeting for me. Con: it is hard to talk to complete strangers about much. After a while, you run out of things to say, and it just gets awkward if you start to delve into your past or personal life, blah blah blah. So I have definitely had to get creative with how I talk to people and what we talk about.

Enough whining though. I said all of those things for my readers to know that life here is not just a dream, but it is pretty close. All of those things are very small in comparison to the things I am learning and the fun I am having.
I'm lucky to have met some really incredible people, from the US, from Scandinavia, and from Belgium. This trip has really been a blast and I can't believe I'm already a month into it. I hope the next few months don't pass quite as quickly!