A Catch-up Post - Our First Two Months

Well, we've covered the decision process, traveling/moving, the first week, and recent events, but I wanted to share what happened in those first two months. First of all, we spent (and still do spend) a lot of our time asking people "do you speak English?"...Hence, the title of the blog.

The second week we were in Gent, we continued to try to adjust to our new life here, Cole started working a little bit (which was scary for me), and we received our sea shipment from the U.S. We were supposed to get our air and sea shipments on the same day, but we received an email the day before the delivery letting us know that they had accidentally shipped someone else's air freight to Belgium instead of ours!! We were frustrated, but probably not as frustrated as the people who were told that their valuables were in Belgium instead of the U.S. Anyway, we were VERY excited to get some of our things so we could feel a little more at home here...especially all of our beds! The movers who came were fantastic! I have never lived in a city, and definitely have never lived on the 5th floor of a building, so I had no idea how they were planning to get our things into the loft. Here are some pictures of the process...I was impressed and amazed!

Moving our things in through the window

Looking down at the street from our fifth story window

The movers put all of our things on this lift, hauled it in through our fifth story window, and put it in the loft! I would have been terrified, but they were obviously very experienced!

We had a ton of boxes, paper, and trash from unpacking, but thankfully, they took it all with them!

We received our air freight the next week and I spent the next couple weeks continuing to clean, unpack, put things away, adjust to life in Belgium, explore, and entertain the boys. I'm still moving things around as we find out what works best, but after the first few weeks, we really started to feel like we were at home. On top of unpacking, we had to purchase some new appliances with the proper European plugs, and some furniture for the loft. We really haven't purchased anything big since either of the boys were born, so it was quite an experience trying to pick out furniture and make a good/united decision while also trying to rein in the troops! I don't remember how many times we went to the store to furnish the loft, but it was several too many! As a side note, we have yet to find any furniture stores here that have much in stock. For example, we ordered a couch from a store called Gaverzicht and were told it would be 10 weeks before it would be delivered! 10 weeks!!! That was hard for our American brains to comprehend. We still don't have couches in our living room, but we're making it somehow. :) 

We have started to get a bit of a routine. It's not so much a routine as it is I know where things are, when they are open, and what they have, etc. I feel confident getting places, and I'm even starting to get more confident just walking around, even if I get lost. People have been very helpful so far and so I'm not as afraid as I was. This may sound weird, but when we arrived, I was so worried that we stuck out like a sore thumb. I also felt like a very dumb American. Belgians typically know three languages (Dutch, French, and English). These are taught standard in school, so I felt really dumb only knowing one language. It took me a long time to stop feeling so self-conscious and just be. It wasn't until just the other day that I realized that people can't even really tell I'm from America! I have had several people ask in the past couple weeks where I am from...none of them could tell I was from America. I thought there was a red, white, and blue flag waving above my head signaling that I was American. And I was sure that as soon as I opened my mouth, they would know. Because of all the negative things that America has been involved with over the last  couple years, it's hard to know what people think about Americans. I didn't want anyone to know for the longest time. I was worried they wouldn't like me or immediately think less of me. So I was very quiet if and when we went out. I didn't say anything or look at anyone. Of course every time we went out, Cameron would immediately blow my cover because, if you know Cameron, you know that he is not quiet, nor does he hide in the shadows! :) I am thankful that I feel more confident and less worried about what other people think. I am American, I like America, I like Belgium, and that's ok!   

Here are a few stories from our first two months here...

I was very hesitant to go out by myself and explore because I didn't want to get lost. One of the first times I really ventured out with the boys on my own, I tried to go over to visit Cole at work. Cameron wanted to get him a pastry from the bakery nearby and give it to him for dinner. I had forgotten that Cole had dinner plans with a colleague, so we decided to walk to where he works and take it to him before dinner. I didn't really know how to get there, but I decided I could make it! So, I strapped Harrison in the backpack (all 24 lbs of him) and put Cameron on his bike and off we went. To make a long story short, I got REALLY lost and ended up in the red light district instead of with Cole. It was quite a scene...me with my two little boys in the middle of the red light district! There were many people in the windows (I'm sure you know what I mean), and in true Cameron fashion, he was waving and saying "hi" to all of them! I'm glad he was enjoying it, because it was a mess! What should have taken maybe 20 minutes ended up taking an hour and a half and we never even made it to Cole! At one point I was on the phone with Cole, but we were both so confused as to where I was and where I needed to go that we gave up! I was very frustrated and tired (remember the 24 lbs on my back??) by the time we got home. The weekend after that incident, Cole walked with me to show me the way to get to his work and back. We have now successfully been there many times!

The weather has been very interesting since we've been here. It seems like it's been pretty unpredictable everywhere, but we realized pretty quickly after we arrived that we would need to invest in some quality winter gear. Because we grew up in Ohio, we are used to snow and crazy winter weather, but it has been a long time since we have been have had to endure the cold/snow for that long! We had to take Harrison to the doctor the second or third week we were here because of an ear infection. Because the doctor is only a 5 minute walk from our loft (10 minute drive plus parking), we decided that it would be better to just walk. Cole took the morning off to help me get to the doctor. I'm sure you have seen the pictures on Facebook, but let me fill in the details! While it had been snowing on and off the days leading up to the doctor appointment, it hadn't really stuck and we weren't worried about it the night before. However, when we woke up in the morning, this is what we saw...

Lots and lots of snow! We decided that we would not be deterred and that "when in Belgium, do as the Belgians do!" So we bundled the boys up the best we could and were on our way. We were pretty successful until Cameron stepped in a huge snow drift and stepped out without his boot. When I picked him up to try to help, the other boot fell off! So I dug the boots out of the snow and tried to carry him the rest of the way to the doctor (his socks were soaking wet)! It was crazy, but also fun! An adventure! We made it there and back in one piece and, for the most part, we were happy. 

Another thing that we have had to deal with since we've been here is the sale of our house. When I say "deal with," I just mean we had to get some paperwork notarized and send it back to the U.S. To do that, we had to go to Brussels (all of us) to the U.S. embassy to sign the paperwork and have it notarized. Cole was very prepared for this trip...he made an appointment with the embassy, had all the necessary paperwork, passports, payment, etc. In fact, he was so prepared for our trip to Brussels that we went a week early! When we arrived at the gate, the officer tried to find our name on the sheet so we could go in. After he looked for a bit, he asked for our appointment paperwork. After looking over it, he looked at us, almost laughing, and said that it was not yet March 28th...it was only March 21st! He made a call inside and asked if we could be seen anyways and told us we could go in. Our experience at the embassy that day was not great. They were not very friendly with anyone, not even the Americans! We had to stand outside, in the snow, for almost an hour and a French gentleman cut in front of everyone and took a bunch of time so that we had to wait even longer! Once we got to the door, they only let one of us in at a time. So the boys and I went in to go through security while Cole waited outside. Once I was inside, they told me that we had to have an appointment and that we could not be seen that day! Even though we were not there on the right day, it was frustrating that we waited outside for so long in the snow with the boys. When we went back for our actual appointment, we still stood outside for almost an hour and wouldn't you know it, another French gentleman cut in front of everyone again! Cole stood up for all of us that he cut in front of and confronted him about it. After some words, other people backed Cole up, but the man would not move. He took up a lot of time, but ended up being escorted out because he did not have what he needed to complete whatever he was there for. We stayed at the embassy for several hours, but we got the necessary paperwork and, as I have mentioned before, the house is now sold!

One other little adventure that I experienced happened while Cole was on his first work trip to France. The boys and I were planning to go along because I wasn't sure if I could handle things by myself so soon after moving. But after talking through it, it didn't make sense for us to spend all that money to go with him and just sit in our hotel room while he worked. The town he went to is small and there's not much to do or see there, so we decided that, at least for this trip, we would stay home. Anyways, I needed to find things to do with the boys because I knew I would go nuts if I didn't have some things planned. So, I decided to take them to an aquarium in Liege. I had looked it up online and it looked nice. I knew Cameron would love the fish and that Harrison would like looking at them as well. I also thought that it was just 30 minutes from our house. However, after talking it up to Cameron, packing everything up, and making our way to the car, I discovered after punching in the address into the GPS that it was actually 1 1/2 southeast of us  in the French speaking region of Belgium!

Looking at the sharks

 I knew I couldn't back out once we were in the car and I did not have a plan B, so off we went. I decided that once we got there, it would be worth it and the drive wouldn't matter. When we arrived, I found parking on the street, payed, and then prayed I would remember where we parked so I could get back. I found the aquarium pretty easily, but when I got there, I discovered that there was no way in except to go up about 30 stairs! Having the boys, two bags (a diaper bag and a lunch bag), and a double stroller, it was not going to happen! I wanted to cry. I decided that I would at least give it a try. So I got the boys out, folded the stroller, and tried to start up the stairs. Thankfully, a kind soul had pity on me, grabbed the stroller, and carried it up the stairs for me! Once we were inside the building, I quickly realized two things...first, this was not an aquarium that we would find in America, and two, people did not speak English as readily as here in Gent. The aquarium was part of the university in Liege and was more like a place to go study fossils, etc. There were some fish , turtles, and an alligator in a very small, dark room, but we were through there in 10 minutes! Again, I wanted to cry! We went to the room where the fossils were located to see if I could entertain the boys there, but it was very quiet and there were many people studying in there, so I felt like I was a real nuisance! We quickly ate lunch after the fossils, then went to see the fish again. We stayed for maybe another 30 minutes before the boys had had enough! I gave up and decided it would just be better to go home. Luckily, on the way out another good samaritan who worked at the aquarium saw me with the stroller and showed me a way out that did not involve stairs. I made it back to the car without incident and we headed back to Gent. Fortunately, the boys promptly fell asleep and I was able to focus on getting home. Unfortunately, I ran into rush hour traffic and our 1 1/2 hour trip home turned into 3 hours! Harrison was kind enough to scream for the last half hour of the trip! At least it got us out of the loft for the day :)

In the belly of the whale!

Rather than type out all that we have done the past two months, here are a few more pictures of things we have done since we've been here:

bike rides

parks around our loft

 

fun indoor playground

Cole ran his first 10k (with no training)

Celebrated Easter at International Community Church Gent

More Parks

 

Walking to where Cole works for lunch with daddy 

We've eaten lots of ice cream!

Played at the mall or "bus store" as Cameron likes to call it

Picnics at the park near our loft

and this little man turned 1!

One thing that was really difficult for us when we first arrived was that we wanted to get everything done and settled right away. Cole wanted to fix the problems at work that he was sent here to deal with immediately, and I wanted to clean, unpack, and furnish the loft immediately. It took us a few days to remember that we did not have to do it all right away. We needed to take time to enjoy each other and the time that we were given. We made a pact in the second week to give everything 90 days. We did not have to do everything right away. We did not need to stress out about everything. Looking back it's kind of funny because we were REALLY stressed about it. It hasn't even been 90 days yet, but I have cleaned, unpacked everything, and mostly furnished the apartment. Although the problems at work are not an overnight fix, Cole has a good handle on what needs to be done and is moving forward with his colleagues to make necessary changes. We trying to enjoy this experience and remember that we have been very blessed!