This is Different...

I'm sure posts like this will continue to pop up as we learn more about being here, but here are a few things that have stuck out to me as being pretty different from America. And when I say different, I don't necessarily mean bad, just different! I already posted a few things, but here are a some new things to add to this list of adjustments we have had to make!

Grocery shopping (or really any shopping):

I already posted a little bit about my struggles with grocery shopping, but as I think back over the past few months, there are some more things that stick out to me. When I first started going shopping by myself with the boys, it was very intimidating. I still struggle sometimes, but one of the biggest issues for me was that I couldn't then and still struggle with reading things. Take laundry detergent for example. I remember standing in the aisle looking at all the options. In my head I knew they were all laundry detergent and, for the most part, laundry detergent is laundry detergent am I right?! There were even brands I recognized, but I still had a crazy inner struggle with picking one! It would go something like this..."Ok, I recognize this brand...but I've never used it before...but there isn't anything else I recognize, so it's better than a total unknown...but it might be different in Belgium...maybe I should compare these two...you are a crazy person, just pick it up and move on." What is my problem?!? And I did that with almost EVERYTHING! I now have a translate app on my phone so I can find out what something is if I really need to know. It's not that efficient, but I can calm the crazies a little bit if I need to! :) The other difficult thing about grocery shopping is that measurements are different in Europe. In Europe they use the metric system, so things are measured in liters, kilograms, grams, etc. Of course, all my recipes have measurements in pounds, ounces, etc, so I am constantly converting things. There's no such thing as going to the store for a 15 oz can of something here. So, of course, I have an app to convert everything too...this is the 21st century! :) I hope by the end of our 3-5 years here, I will know the conversions without having to look them up every single time!  

Laundry:

This is an interesting one for me. We have a washer and dryer in our loft, which in and of itself is a very nice thing. There are many who don't have a dryer or neither of them at all! For me, laundry is almost a daily thing...or it should be! :) However, one load of laundry, from start to finish, takes at least 3 hours, if not longer! The fastest wash cycle I have takes 40 minutes and that's just a quick wash...not bad, but also not very thorough. A normal wash takes an hour and a half! Drying takes hours! I have never gotten a load completely dry in less than two hours. Two and a half hours is the least, but that's a small load! So this is VERY different from what I'm used to at home! 

Road Etiquette:

This is a big one and has been a huge adjustment...mostly because if you mess this one up, there could be very bad consequences! I think I mentioned before that bikes and pedestrians have the right of way when crossing the street. People and bikes come out of no where, so you always have to be on the lookout. It's stressful when driving, biking, and walking. You just always have to be alert of what and who is around you! While it is a little nerve-racking to just go across the street without waiting to be absolutely certain that cars are going to stop, you just have to go! If you hesitate, the locals get very annoyed with you! Now that I know that you are supposed to just cross the street without waiting for cars to stop, I get annoyed with people who hesitate...one step closer to becoming a local! :) I still haven't determined who has the right of way between a pedestrian and a bike, but I have seen a couple of people get run over by bikes! Ouch! A friend of mine who is also doing an expat assignment with her husband, told me that she always worries about her kids being run over by some form of transportation and I now understand why!  We are getting better with the rules, but it is still stressful to drive when everyone is out!

Clothing:

I'm not even sure where to start with this one. People dress very different here. Back home, unless it was a special occasion, I usually dressed pretty casual...especially if I was taking the boys somewhere to play. I will never forget the first time I took the boys to the park by myself. I was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a sweater with my hair was in a pony tail. There were two other mothers at the park with their children. Each of them, and their children, were dressed to the nines! The moms had on skinny jeans and boots, and their hair was all done. The kids also had on nice pants and shoes. I couldn't believe it! I had already noticed that people dress very nice here, but I guess I was shocked to see that almost everyone, in almost every circumstance dresses up. Biking, playing, shopping, you name it, they look nice! There is no such thing as a cute mom-on-the-go here (as we know it in America). I have to admit that I have gone shopping or to the park in my workout clothes or sweats and have been very happy doing so. I would get crazy looks here if I did that!! It has taken me some time to stop worrying about this very inane issue and just be me! It's not realistic for me to get a completely new wardrobe and it doesn't seem comfortable to me to be dressed so nice all the time, so I have decided that I am just going to be me, and that's good enough! However, I still get looks when I go out and I am still shocked almost daily by some of the outfits I see.      

Breakfast:

We were invited over to our neighbors loft a couple weeks ago for breakfast to get to know them better. They told us not to bring anything and to just come and enjoy ourselves. We had no idea what to expect because this was our first time eating with some locals! Of course when we think of breakfast, we think of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, pancakes, cereal, etc. When we walked in the loft, we saw fresh breads, bagels, and pastries with butter, cream cheese, jelly, Nutella, etc., cheeses, tomatoes and cucumbers with balsamic vinegar, ham and salami, coffee, tea, and juice! It was very different than what we're used to, but it was delicious! As a side note, we have awesome neighbors and are thankful to have had the chance to get to know them.

Restaurants/Eating Out:

First of all, almost every sit down restaurant worth visiting in Gent (and other places) requires a reservation on most nights....usually several days before you want to visit. There have been several occasions where we have tried to go out to eat last minute and have been turned away from every place because we didn't have a reservation. We couldn't even wait for a table because literally every table was booked for the entire night! I'm not used to that, so we have missed out on some good meals, but I'm sure we'll get better at remembering this detail. The other thing about eating out here that's different is that meals take hours. It's not like you go in, order, eat, and pay within an hour. There's no such thing. You arrive, you have appetizers and drinks (or try to read the menus as we do), you order, eat and eat and eat, then you wait for a while and decide whether or not you have room for dessert. You then decide it's foolish not to order dessert and order what you want. During dessert and after, you are supposed to sit and drink some more, then sit and talk for a while. We have never had the ticket brought to us without asking for it so we could pay and leave. Eating out is definitely an event and, unless you really plan for it, it can be stressful...especially with kids along. It's very difficult, at least for me, to keep my kids quiet and sitting for two or three hours. Although I have yet to have a bad meal here, I usually leave a restaurant exhausted from trying to entertain the crazies so they don't disturb all the other patrons. Side note, they don't believe in ice here, so all drinks are served at room temperature, or at best, chilled. Also, water is not free, so meals can get very expensive! All that to say, eating out is a delicious event!

As I said before, these things aren't all necessarily bad, they have just taken some getting used to! It makes life interesting to introduced to new things, so we are trying to embrace them as they come and do with them what we can!