Reality Bites

Forgive me for venting a bit tonight. It was a looooong and frustrating day. This adventure feels more like a battle at times and some days it feels like we are not on the winning team. For starters, temporary living always looks better on paper. 6 weeks or more in an apartment sounds tolerable. Temporary living sounds harmless enough, but when you actually get there and put the living into practice, no matter how "temporary" it is, the end of the "temporary" seems far, far away.
Throughout our two weeks here in Belgium (that is all it has been, and in some ways it has flown by, but in others it has seemed an eternity) we have learned many things the hard way. I know we are just beginning in our Belgium life lessons, often referred to as "Belgium Moments" and frankly, I find that a little scary. We have met tons of people who have gone through or are going through the same things we are and it has been so helpful to have them to talk these moments through. It is helpful to know that we aren't the only ones who have thought, "What did we do?!"
Day to day life is getting easier. I can actually drive without complete silence and my palms don't sweat as much as they used to. I attempted to find a place last week, didn't find it, but didn't get lost either. I haven't mastered shopping in the supermarkets or markets, but I am not feeling near tears as I was the first time I went shopping. I even attempted to buy shoes this weekend, but they didn't have my size.
Another type of "shopping" we are doing is going through list after list of people's belongings. These are other expats leaving Belgium and selling their European electronics, swing sets, furniture, etc. It is quite overwhelming going through the lists and realizing all we need to buy. We have met so many people at the end of their stay here. It is a sad reality here that friends we make will be leaving at all different times during our stay here and we will be going to many farewell parties. It is just part of the lifestyle here. It is something we knew we'd be dealing with ourselves when we came here and we had thought about how hard it will be to leave after four years, but we didn't think about all of the friends our children will have come and go throughout that time. It is a blessing to be able to have so many lives touch ours and to touch other lives, but it will be hard to say goodbye so often.
We are adjusting to so many things right now and we are doing well despite the many frustrations we are encountering. The children are the most resilient. Nathan has cried after every function we have attended because he does not want to leave. To quote him, "NEVER EVER". Despite the annoyance of the crying, we are glad that he is having so much fun. Hannah has a way of exhausting me before breakfast. She is very feisty and unpredictable. She has had the most trouble adjusting because she just doesn't understand that we are "home". She also misses her daddy a lot when he is gone. As she told me the other morning, "Daddy holds me when I crying because he's my friend!" Sarah seems to have someone else's genes because she sleeps all night long. It is more than a little disturbing to me. I am just not used to a child who sleeps. She still gets a ton of attention from big brother and big sister whether she wants it or not. She probably sleeps so well at night because she is disturbed so much during the day. Nathan is going to go to school all day tomorrow for the first time at his request. He is very excited about it and I really hope he has a good day.
Sunday was Family Day at Nathan's school and we all had a great time. There were booths with food from all of the different cultures at the school. The US booth had hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, ding dongs and ice cream. We visited the US, Japan and Korea for our lunch. The kids played tons of games and made friends. Hannah scared us by wandering off, but we found her sitting and watching the school auction. She didn't know she was lost and hopefully didn't bid on anything. Thankfully the rain held off until today so that Family Day could be held outside in lovely weather.
We miss everyone so much and haven't quite figured out the best time to have the kids talk to everyone with the time difference. We are looking forward to sharing our new home with our friends and family once we have worked through all of the frustration of adjustment. Keep us in your prayers as we endure the temporary living and adjust to the travel Joe will be doing in the next few weeks. Bonne nuit.