Back to Brussels...

We have been back in Brussels for a week now. Well, to be precise, I have been back in Brussels for a week. Troy had to go to Tongeren (BE) last Tuesday, Nettetal (DE) last Wednesday, and then he drove to Dusseldorf (DE) Sunday evening to be ready for a two-week-long business summit that began this morning, so he has been in Brussels for about a combined 96 hours in the last week.

At any rate, our first visit to the States since moving overseas was a great one. After spending a fantastic Labor Day Weekend in New York City with Troy's brother, sister-in-law, and their two super cute kids, plus hanging out with our NYC friends, we flew to Colorado for two and a half weeks.

Top of the Rock with Empire State Building behind


In Brooklyn looking at the Manhattan Bridge


The Hudson River at Battery Park


Well, again, I was in Colorado that entire time, but Troy had to split his time between working in Phoenix during the week and relaxing in Denver on the weekends. We spent a lot of time with family and friends, enjoying sunshine and the mountains, and generally remembering how great Colorado is!

BBQ at Simone's parents' house with family and friends the day we arrived


B'day dinner for Simone & her dad at The Fort


At a friend's b'day party in Vail


But, after nearly a month abroad, it was back to Brussels for us. We tried a new flight plan this time: non-stop from Denver to Frankfurt (9-ish hours flying time), a short layover in Frankfurt, and then a quick 40-minute flight to Brussels. Pros: Getting the big chunk over with at the beginning; having enough time en route to safely grab some chemically-assisted sleep; getting home in the afternoon and thus only having to stay up for 6-7 hours before bed. Cons: Flying through the continental hub that is Frankfurt's airport -- we had to descend bleary-eyed onto the tarmac, board a crowded bus bound for the terminal, and walk for seemingly FOREVER to our gate. Not fun after a trans-Atlantic flight. Still, on the whole it is a pretty easy way to do it, especially if you don't get flustered by changing gates at a European airport instead of an American one.

And, it was good to have a relatively easy time traveling home as our whirlwind fall schedules began the day after we landed. Brussels tends to follow the school schedule, i.e. it slows down in the summer and picks up again in September. However, because we were traveling during the transition, it has taken a little adjusting to the pace change. It's sort of like running to catch the train and jumping on right as the doors are closing. Everyone else has a seat and some have even started reading their papers, so it feels like everyone is staring at you as you abruptly enter the scene. Like that, sort of.

While Troy has been criss-crossing Northern Europe, I have begun several new activities, the most exciting of which is taking French classes. Troy likes to tease me about getting excited for school, but I have been literally waiting all summer for school to start (as opposed to when I was a kid and it was the opposite). I am taking classes three mornings a week at the lovely Centre D'Etude du Français, located about a 15-minute walk away in my neighborhood. I joined the American Women's Club of Brussels, and I have also started attending rehearsals of the Brussels Choral Society, a choir for which I am auditioning this week. (Look for an upcoming post about the audition results -- hopefully it is a happy one announcing my success as opposed to...well, you know, the other possibility.)

Troy was out of town, so I had to take my own 'first day of school' pic


Though it was hard to say goodbye to everyone in the States, it is good to be back home in Brussels. We are loving this opportunity, and trying to cherish each day (even the rainy ones).