Here in Brussels!!

Well, this is actually the end of my second day in Brussels, but I am here! I did make it! And I'm currently helping Kristoffer with his Math homework so if this seems a little disjointed its because I'm writing in between explanations.

So to recap my trip here!

The flight to Philly was great. I had an aisle seat and there was no one in the middle seat, so the lady who was at the window and I just shared the space. It was fantastic. I had a nice layover in Philly; I had a stuffed pizza and salad, and then sat back and enjoyed a few hours of "House" on my laptop while I waited for my next and final flight.

As I was waiting in line to board the plane to Brussels, a man asked one of the airline attendants if the plane was very full. She said "Oh no, its about 60% capacity." And the man who was taking the boarding passes, laughed and said "Hah! Maybe 60% empty!" This gave me a little hope since the last time I checked my seats, no one had booked the two seats next to me in the center aisle. Low and Behold, what would you know! I had a whole set of 3 seats in the center aisle all to myself. That meant that when it came time to sleep I got to lay down across all 3 seats (since the armrests moved up), with three pillows for me to use! :)

So that flight was amazing, and even though I only got 4 hours of sleep, they were really good hours of sleep.

I got my bags without an issue (quite a difference from my experience in Sweden; the long layover helped for sure), and Kristoffer was there to pick me up, no problem.

Yesterday was spent in a jet lagged haze, but I managed to have lunch, get my work done, and with only a small afternoon nap. Last night I woke up at 4:45am and couldn't sleep for an hour, but fell back asleep and slept in till 10:30. Tonight I should go to bed on time, and hopefully won't have any wake-up problems, so maybe the jet lag is over? We'll see. :)

Today I had a shopping adventure. The apartment is located very near what seems to be a popular shopping area, so I managed to buy everything I needed (hair straightener, towel, umbrella), except for a post card for my great grandma! Postcards seem to be elusive in this city! I looked everywhere today and a post card could not be found. I will try again tomorrow.

But shopping today! So crazy. The man selling me the straightener was very nice and easy to work with. He spoke some English. HOWEVER, the Belgians have decided that VISA and Mastercard are not good enough for them, so they have their own cards that are excepted everywhere, but doom on you if you try your VISA. Eesh, I guess its cash for me. Otherwise "NO VISA, NO VISA!" being screamed at me, is what I will expect from here on out.

In general, I've enjoyed my two days here so far. A bit of culture shock to say the least (as in no customer service, rude people in the street, not being able to use my debit cards, and ridiculously expensive grocery stores), but its been a learning experience! I'm excited to get out and actually see some culture: the Grand Place, museums, and such. I will enjoy this weekend, I think.


Alright. Signing off from Brussels. More adventures to come, I'm sure!

PS-Sorry, no pictures of my own yet. The Green arrow in the map picture is where we are living.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Well, here we are sitting in our hotel room, Mom and me. Tomorrow Mom will take me to the airport and I will be taking off at 8:40am for Brussels, Belgium!

As you might have noticed I survived my exam (physically if not totally mentally), and I am so excited, exhausted, and ready to get on that plane! So many things had to come together for this trip to even happen, and its amazing to think that its finally here. I will be trying to update as much as possible, sharing anecdotes and such of my traveling experiences. Hopefully it will be interesting, but I give no guarantees!

I am so excited to go back to Europe and to be spending longer than a couple weeks. I hope that this will be an enlightening experience. I know it will be something I remember for the rest of my life. Hopefully I'll get some studying done as well. :)

The hardest part about leaving is just the uncertainty that lies ahead. I said goodbye to my great grandmother today, having to face the very harsh reality that it might be the last time I see her. I love her very much, and I know that God will take her in His time. It makes leaving very hard, but I know that its what she wants, and that life must go on. Even so, I've learned this year more than ever that Goodbyes are the hardest parts of life.

And with that, I must go and finish getting ready. Tomorrow will be a long day and it starts very early. Adventure is waiting in all its forms. Ah, c'est la vie!

Grandpa's wisdom

My Grandpa said something to me today that, for some reason, meant a lot. He asked me if I was ready to take my CPA tests on Friday. I was reluctantly honest and said no. Then he said, "Well, thats ok. Take them anyway."

I know that it may seem like a silly, off the cuff remark, but it really made me feel good. I'm not ready for these tests. They are not the type of tests that I think you can truly be ready for. But I have done as well as I could in preparing myself, and I'll try my hardest come Friday.

It hasn't been easy. I haven't studied as much as I should or could have. I've been dealing with loneliness, restlessness, living with my family again after being out of the house for several years, and coming to terms with the fact that I will very soon loose a dearly loved great-grandmother. I wanted to do so much else with this time that I have been home.

I wanted to spend it with my brother out having fun.
I wanted to work on my cooking skills for my dad.
I wanted to help keep the house picked up better for my mom.
I wanted to spend more time with my great grandma.
I wanted to start my scrap booking.
I wanted to study up on my French for my trip.
I wanted to work on my quilt with my grandma.

But instead, I was reading about auditing and business concepts. Blah. Nose in book and plugs in ears.

I hope this was time well spent. I'm praying like mad that I pass these tests. But even if I don't, even if it ends up I was unprepared, I took them anyway. I tried. I gave it my best.

It's hard to live with no regrets. If I studied non-stop, I would have missed the little I got to do while I've been home. If I had done more of the things I wanted to do, I would no doubt fail these tests. I've struck the best balance I could, and the hope is that I will have managed the best of both.

In 3 days, I guess we'll find out.

The Quest

This song has been running through my head all day. This is from the musical "The Man of La Mancha" and is so poignant. As I dream about my days ahead of me, the fun of the unknown, and the wonder of the future, this song keeps popping up.

"It is the mission of each true knight...
His duty... nay, his privilege!
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go;
To right the unrightable wrong.

"To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!

"This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!

"And I know, if I'll only be true
To this glorious Quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest.

"And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!"

Friendly Healing

I get so much crap in my email. I get tired of never getting anything fun or important. Spam is the worst, but often its just mundane emails for information that I need, but isn't necessarily interesting.

Then, every once in a while, a warm email from a friend turns up. Not a cheesy forward, or a one-liner, or a message that you've been poked on Facebook. A real letter, that tells you how they are doing and responds to your previous inquiries and own-life revelations. It's heart-warming, I'd even describe it as healing. To connect with a friend through a full, thought out correspondence seems to me a luxury.

Maybe its that we are too busy anymore, but I hope that this can become a more regular occurrence for me. If I initiate it more often, maybe it will.

"In God" we must see

My friend and I had a disagreement the other day.

It started with an email forward she sent me that was asking (demanding?) people to boycott using the new presidential dollar coins that are being minted in a series, much like the state quarters (http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/index.cfm?flash=yes). The reason stated was because these coins did not have "In God We Trust" printed on them at all.

I sent her an email back informing her that the coins do in fact have "In God We Trust" printed on the edge of the coin, along with "E Pluribus Unum" and the mint year. This is much like the Euro coin. I also pointed out that using these coins are a good idea because they last many times longer than a dollar bill and therefore can save the government enormous amounts of money, as well as not requiring the use of trees for the paper. In my opinion this is a great idea. Europe uses a 1 Euro coin, Canada uses a 1 dollar coin (as well as a 2 dollar coin!). And while I definitely don't advocate doing something just because thats what other countries do, when it makes since in (almost) every regard, lets jump on the band wagon.

She replied back, that while she appreciates my points, and though "In God We Trust" is printed on the coin, the fact that it is printed on the edge and "in the smallest letters possible," she would still refuse to use it.

This truly puzzled me. It drove me to examine a normal quarter (not a state quarter) where "In God We Trust" is printed on the face, and compare the print size to that used on the new dollar coin (of which we happened to have sitting on our counter). To my eyes there is no difference in font size. The only difference being that the letters are more spaced out on the dollar coin to cover more of the circumference, so making the phrase actually larger in that regard. In fact, the font sizes on the dime and penny are smaller, it seemed to me.

So that would seem to leave the only argument as being the placement of the words. Edge or face.

This then drove me to wonder, what other people might think about the new coins, and I hoped to find further justifications as to why not to use it. I found none. In fact what I did find was a very clever commentary that emphasized that refusing to accept the dollar coin was illegal as it is legal tendered currency. However, one can request an alternate form of payment, such as a dollar bill (if available), or other equivalent coinage.

Refusing to accept the new dollar coin as a statement of faith (for so it was claimed) seems to me a lifeless and loveless expression of something that is so rich and deep as the Christian faith in God. Does God really care that his name is no longer on the face of a coin, but instead on an edge? I leave this last thought: having "In God We Trust" printed on the edge of a coin, means that in a stack of coins, like that you would receive from the bank in its clear plastic sheath, would mean that "God" is seen 39 more times than it otherwise would be. Does that make it better? Who knows.

I guess my point is that we try to make these grandiose statements of faith (in whatever we believe in) in some of the most innane ways. I appreciate my friend for her faith and her desire to stand for a cause, but my fear is that many other people, like a my friend, are sucked into these ways of thinking and acting that are not helpful to a greater cause. I hope that her choice of actions does make a good difference in someone else's life. I'm just afraid that this is all that our faith has come down to.