Review

I started writing here again with the intent of keeping far away friends & family in the loop. But looking back, it seems that the blog has slowly begun to dedicate itself to my pop-cultural interests. Which is fine, but I'd also like to get back into the habit of documentation.

I realized that there was a large gap of information between entries. Then I stumbled across a page of text towards the back of my French notebook. I had written it after an exam, intending to post it later.

I guess now is later.

[Dec 16 2000&8]
I'm sitting in a plastic/wooden desk at Palomar College.
French is being reviewed. Two days from now I'll be finalling.
15 days from now, I'll be flying to a place where french is spoken all day long.

I got the job.

I'm off to Brussels.

I'm really happy. It's a cliché, but Europe feels like home.
It's the best place to be young.
American life feels static and predetermined; there you've got a dozen cultures at your fingertips.

I spoke to my friend Jul the other night (he's also living in Brussels) & he told me that he wouldn't be in town when I arrived, but the next day. He's spending New Year's in Paris. My best friend Sarah (who is German) is spending her New Year's in Amsterdam.
These people aren't wealthy or glamorous, just lucky to live in a place of endless options.
It'll be nice to be back.
I'll buy some bread & maybe some red wine, & spend an afternoon in the nearest park, thanking my lucky stars & probably crying.

It's been almost exactly three months since I wrote that. I'm all settled in, and really feeling wonderful.
Aside from this cough; so not wonderful.

I'm working here as an au pair. The family is perfect. Last year, in Germany, I always said that I couldn't have been any luckier with the family I'd found, but I think I underestimated my good luck.

It's two fathers and their two adopted Belgian darlings. The children are brilliant and unbearably cute.
Iris is 4 and Leo is 2 and a half.
Leo loves puzzles and dancing.
Iris has a vocabulary that I just can't get over.
Yesterday Iris nearly ran into a spiderweb. She jumped back and said "Ooh! He startled me!"

I love both of them, tons and tons. They're sweet, affectionate kids, with so much to impress.

My job is great. I'm on duty from 3pm until 7pm. Perfect hours. We play, and bake, and dance, and visit parks.

In the evening I have plenty of time for friendship.
At the moment, my main pals are Jul & Jonathan.


Jonathan & I met a week after I arrived in Brussels.
(First we met on myspace, but that's beside the point)
With everything in common from the need for subtitles, to the amount of pulp preferred in our orange juice, we became friends easily and quickly.
That first night we drank Belgian beer and ate Italian spaghetti to the sounds of one of his impressively orchestrated playlists.
I sliced my finger open at one point. Now that's a scar.
We laughed, had nice conversations, and wrapped up the meeting with Southpark's Imagination Land.
I left that night feeling like I'd left that place a thousand times before.
By now I probably have.

Jul & I met when I visited Brussels for the first time, last May.
He gave me a great introduction to the city, with his beautiful flat, quirky/charming neighbors, flea markets and French mom.
We meet up and laze about. We listen to CDs that he meticulously organizes, eat pumpkin soup that he makes so well, and then he gives me all kinds of good advice.
Then I put on my scarf, hug him goodbye, and head out the ground floor, pass the Palais du Justice, and climb into the metro.

It's a good time in my life, now.
I hope I take advantage in all the right ways.