Bienvenue!

By Amanda

Alex and I have called Brussels home for three months now, and I have to say it’s starting to feel like it. It’s my first time living overseas (except for a quick summer abroad in Paris between my junior and senior years of college), and Alex’s fifth go-round as an expat. In many ways our life in Brussels, so far, is the exact opposite of what we expected: First, we’ve been treated to a lovely (sunny!) fall, despite reports of perpetual overcast, gloomy skies. Second, though located in Western Europe, Belgium is hardly a model of efficiency. (Three months later after moving in to our lovely apartment we still have only seven of nine living room curtains, two sad, bare curtain rods, and repeated promises that the remaining curtains will be ready “any day now.”) Finally, English is spoken much less frequently than we imagined, meaning that I communicate with my very patient Belgian neighbors through an awkward mixture of butchered high-school French and hand gestures. (All those years of miserably conjugating verbs are starting to pay off…)

That said, I think we’re finally starting to understand the pace of the city. Yesterday, after conducting much internet research to impress a new friend with hip brunch spot suggestions, we arrived at the selected restaurant to find that despite claiming to open at 11 a.m., chairs were still on tables and waiters were only starting to arrive for work. A few months ago, we would have been annoyed, rolling our eyes as we pointed out that when D.C. restaurants say that they open at 11 a.m., they do, in fact, open then and often to a line of hungry patrons waiting outside. Yesterday, however, Alex and I just shrugged and suggested to our dining companion that it might make sense to walk around and try to find an open place.

The hardest part of being here is being so far away from friends and family in the U.S. (A nine hour time difference from my native California!) So, in addition to wanting to chronicle our adventure, this blog is a way to share our overseas life with them. Keep reading for updates from all of us, including Harry!