On My Belgian's Soil

  
Ten days ago I left on a journey. A journey to someplace new. To a life and culture foreign to my own. Ten days ago, days that have slipped through my fingers quicker than sand...

Ten days ago, I left on a journey a much different person than when I returned. I can already say that with a profound certainty. I returned with an inner peace that I had not expected to find. A journey without the fixed mark of a destination, a journey which has brought me another step closer to myself.

I stepped in only for a moment to peer into someone else's world - into the life of a most treasured friend, and into the world of many people whom I will never forget. I tiptoed briefly as a stranger in a strangeland and found myself with eyes that were always ready to see more, a profound eagerness to learn, a true desire to meet new friends, and to genuinely appreciate all that was put before me.

Belgium was magical.

It was the kind of trip everyone should have at least once in a lifetime. And it was such a trip because of my tour guide. I really couldn't have had a better one, or one that I would have wanted to have more. Anyway, perhaps that's something for another day, but before I get to caught up on that, here are a few observations from this American Girl on her Belgian's soil:

• Belgium is flat. For some reason I thought it would be mountainous. But no.
• The grass is really green. Like green as in astroturf green. I wonder if that saying "the grass is always greener on the other side" might really be true.
• American's need to walk more. And ride bikes more. And be friendlier to those around them.
• Some songs like "Dear Mr. President" can really rile up a Belgian. Or songs that are themes for the different cities. The Red Hot Chili Peppers seem to have found their spot, Christina Aguleria and Beyonce are overplayed. And favorite songs, sound all the better when the person they remind you of is sitting next to you.
• Who knew? They love Hillary and don't, euhm, care for our current commander in chief.
• People are friendly in Belgium. They buy drinks for everyone in the bar. They talk to each other and not in a fake, "hi how are ya," don't really care but thanks kind of way.
• Belgian pubs rock. Especially the Continental. And the beautiful bartender and her fabulously-lemony-and-oh-so-delightfully-intoxicating drinks.
• I apparently look like Barbra Streisand, even in Belgium.
• Belgian beer is the best. Undoubtadly. Unquestionably. And the glasses are pretty great, too. Even the ones that make you look silly when you drink from them, ahem, Kwak.
• Cows in Belgium look different. They are mostly white but all seem to have color on their ankles, and I think they are fatter but not fat in an American-we-will-inject-all-animals-with-hormones kind of way. Not to mention that they sure are tasty!!!
• You can still smoke in the hospitals -- cafeteria only. But not in some restaurants.
• Dining is enjoyable in Belgium. It's relaxed. It's un-hurried. It's what it should be always like. It's take your time and enjoy your food and your company. There is a pretty fabulous one called LaRiva that you should go to next time you happen to be in Antwerp.
• Cake time is 4:00 p.m.!!!
• Belgian waffles really do taste better in cafe's in Gent.
• Ice cream is a perfectly acceptable lunch.
• I have finally found a country who has the same profound appreciation for the finest food in all the world :: the fry. I won't say the "F" word, because as I know now, it was really the Belgians who created that wonderful treat. God bless them for it!
• The sun doesn't come up until after 8:00 a.m. and sets by 5:30 or so. That makes for lots of time to sleep.
• Did you know that there are Buckeye's in Brussels? I found one in the park. Of all things. I found a Buckeye. (Nut that is)
• Maybe what I observed most of all, and appreciate most of all is that some things are the same no matter what your geographical location: The struggle of the heart and how it affects all of us.

I think if I sat here long enough I could think of a million more reasons to fall in love with a place like Belgium. There is so much to love and to look at with awe and true wonderment. It leaves you wishing that you could ever have a life filled with so much culture and heritage and pride. It makes you see how wasteful American's are, how desensitized we are to just enjoying life because we always are in a hurry to get to whatever is next. How we have lost the ability to enjoy each other, and each other's company. It makes you long for something more...

And yet, there is a familiar ease in coming home. An ease to be back in your routine, and your way of life...A comfort in the faces of the people who are your friends, and the sky and the sun and world that make up your surroundings. Even still, I seem to be unable to unpack my luggage, as if that simple act will make the reality of being home...well, real.

I think now back to the beginning of my journey only ten days ago, how I felt at the moment I stepped off the plane. A stranger in a strangeland...an American Girl in a place that seemed so foreign. On her Belgian's soil. The same girl who when she left only seven days later, looked back as we drove away, away from a place that now seems so familiar.

What I have taken with me, what has been changed in me because of my few but blessed days on my Belgian's soil is that I will never forget now what it means to take time to enjoy. I feel renewed, and confident that I will go out more and make time to enjoy those friends around me. I will make myself enjoy the outside, even when it's cold. I will walk more places. I will speak to people instead of being cordial. I will slow down. I will drink good beer, definitely champagne, and I will always eat fries. I will dream of a time and a place when I was spoiled more than I deserved. I will remember what it is to live every moment.

I will think about the spirit and the smiles and the laughter of the people I met, how they never treated me as a stranger...and I will know...I will cherish...I will remember...

I am forever changed.