Friday was quite a long day you could say. Our travelling experience started when we arrived at the airport at 1245 EST. We hired a skycab to help us with luggage b/c there was really no way for me to manage 4 huge backs, 2 backpacks, a purse, a carseat, a cat, a stroller, oh yeah.. and The Brum (or so I thought).

Check-in was quite easy, although they charged me $250 for excess weight in my baggage. What can you do? Since we got there 2 hours before our flight left, we sat down and had some chow. Nothing exciting to report there unfortunately. Abe was pretty good and listened well at the restaurant which was nice.

At around 2:15 we boarded our plane. Abe was extremely excited and I was ready to start the long process! The flight to Atlanta was pretty uneventful. We played with these little toys I purchased (for myself) from the local Cracker Barrel and kept ourselves amused.

We arrived in Atlanta with about 2 hours to spare before our flight took off. We went to Nathans and got a hot dog which killed some time.Walking around the International part of the airport was just cool. I’m a people watcher in general and i got to see all kinds of different cultures and lifestyles all mingle together.

We get to board the plane first because we are special. Actually, it’s because Abe was acting like a nut and they figured it would be safer to confine the area he could run around to to a small airplane seat. We sat there for about 30 minutes before taking off but we kept ourselves amused. Once we took flight, it was pretty smooth from there. He only slept for about 3 hours and I didn’t sleep at all actually. While he was sleeping, I watched sea biscuit which was actually really good.

Once we boarded we got our luggage, which was a pita–I won’t bore you with the details here. We finally saw Drew and Ian which was just a relief. He had a volvo station wagon for the day and somehow we managed to cram all of our stuff into the car and mira, who was quiet the entire trip, sat on my lap. Apparently she held her bladder to long (16 hours) and finally had to release it..on me. It’s okay though, I could hardly blame her. She travelled wonderfully.

I do have a gripe about TSA who went through all of my bags and fondled my underwear… I had bought pralines to bring over here and they took them. Maybe you’re not allowed to bring food items over here. Who knows. But how rude!

My first impression of the people didn’t start out too good. Before I got to see Drew and Ian, I had to pick up my luggage. I had 4 huge bags, a car seat, two backpacks, a purse, a cat, a child, and a stroller. Not a single person offered to help, and instead as I try to put the 85 pound suitcase on the luggage cart, push my stuff out of their way. I even asked someone for helpand they simply said no and walked on. Welcome to Belgium. Even after I sw drew we were pushing the cart to the car and the luggage fell off twice and got in everyone’s way, and people just used their carts to move our luggage so they could get by. I actually said some choice words to someone and I sincerely hope they understood. To say I was pissed was an understatement.

We get out to the parking garage and all of the cars are very small. They all remind me of the Geo Metros that we had in the States many, many years ago. It’s a really good thing that we didn’t try to bring the truck. It would be an extremely tight fit. We leave the airport and I start looking around. It is very green and pretty. I don’t really see any signs of urban life. It looks very country and in fact that is what it seems to be all the way to our town. Even our town is very rural. It looks like something out of a movie. All of the building look very old and the houses are mainly on the main roads. There doesn’t appear to be any neighborhoods or subdivisions; at least as we know them in the states.

There are canals running throughout the entire country and we happen to live right by one. It looks like a good place to run as their is a sidewalk that follows along side of it.

It really is beautiful here. We may look into going camping this month, just to get out and it will be some place where we don’t need to know French! We are both signed up for a French class for a week, all day long. I am really looking forward to it as it has been rough. They only speak English on post and even there, most peope speak French. It has certainly been interesting around town where it seems no one speaks English. I guess in Brussels (about 45 min away), most people do speak English. I can’t wait to get out and start taking pictures. It will be really nice to do that.

Overall, I guess I like it so far even if it is a little intimidating and scary to throw away everything you’ve known and embrace something new. I guess that is what makes a good experience though!

Just wanted to let everyone know that Abe and I have arrived safely. Friday was a very long day and we are both catching up on sleep. I was unable to sleep on the plane and Abe slept for about 3 hours. I will write more details later, but for now I just wanted everyone to know.

We went to the largest IKEA in the world this weekend. It was cool. Now, I don’t really know if it was in fact the largest IKEA ever, but it was big. It was like going to another country or something. In the hour it took to follow the arrows from the entrance to the exit, I heard no less than six languages spoken, with multiple languages being spoken by members of the sama family. Inspiring. It was also weird. The weirdest thing was the stuffed toy dragon I bought for Ian, mainly because it looks a little scary. But maybe kids in Europe aren’t scared of dragons. Europeans are in fact responsible for the destruction of dragons back in the 10th and 11th centuries. What were they thinking. So now I have this toy in my hotel room that looks like it could wipe me and everyone I know out. Oh well, the kid is happy.

I also learned that Mardi is in fact the word for Tuesday. So after years of thinking that Louisiana made up that story about fat Tuesday, but it appears to be true… or at least half true.

Drew and Ian have had some trouble getting online this weekend, so I’ll give yyou the gist of whats been going on and let him fill you in on the rest. Ian started camp on Friday. Apparently he won’t start school until the 28th which is weird because they told us he would start the 2nd week in August. I guess it is working out okay though and now that he is in camp he won’t have to count on Drew to keep him entertained. Plus I will get to be there when he starts Kindergarten! yay. He can either go to a Belgian school or an American school. We have opted for the American school because i think it will be an easier adjustment for him. They will teah him french though for 1.5 hours a day. He will probably know more than us! Speaking of that, we really need to get on the ball.

Below are pics of the Child Development center on post.

Apparently he is friends with this little french boy named Louis. Neither of them speak the other’s language but they get along just fine.

Here are some more pictures of the house that we kind of like. Below is supposed to be a shot of the kitchen; Drew swears it is really big, but it’s really good he doesn’t take pictures for people selling their houses. The cabinet that is open is the fridge.

Here is the cellar/garage. there is a big work bench and a storage room. There is also a wine cellar. Too bad I don’t drink wine.

This is the bathroom. It leaves a little to be desired for taste-wise, but it’s workable. The downside is that it is the ONLY bathroom in the house

Finally, here is a picture of a bedroom. There are 3 others just like it. Drew thinks that 2 of them could fit our furniture. I told him to get a tape measure!

And that’s it. His camera died so he will go back another time with fresh batteries.

I’ve seen this billboard everywhere. I have no clue what it says, but I think I have figured it out. It says, “It sucks being tired.” That’s what I think. I see a lot of Belgians yawning and just looking tired. I think this is because of a complete lack of coffee shops. Yeah sure, they have cafes that serve coffee, but where are the Starbucks and smaller, spirited (and futile) competitors? What about globalization? Why hasn’t it ruined the small businesses here? Probably because they are too tired to sell out to the man and have Starbucks. Fools! If you are going to have gas at 8 dollars a gallon (which no one knows the meaning of) why not have affordable, convenient coffee. Dammit!! I’m done.

I found a Mickey D’s today. Great!! I thought. I am set for lunch. Well… there is a universal truth that I now know. McDonald’s is gross in every country I have been dumb enough to eat it. Italy, the US, Germany(although they sold beer instead of happy meals), Saudi, Kuwait. They all had nasty greasy McDonald’s, and now Belgium has joined the list. I wasn’t naseated, but my tummy was not too happy. Also… if anyone remembers that idot line from John Travolta in Pulp Fiction about it being a Royale with Cheese, it’s true. Pictures are coming, but I have angered the blog gods and am still to dumb to figure out how to load a picture. My son liked it though. He especially liked his happy meal with the most spectacular prize included. Kleenex. That’s right. Incase you get really excited about the food and have to blow your nose. It did have a picture of the main character from cars on it so I guess it was a toy. I guess you learn when you travel. Oh yeah, I also learned that moms yelled at their kids in a foreign language still sounds like, “you better be quiet or else..” interesting.

Day number 2 found us wandering the post again, looking for food… and video games. Ian decided he likes them after years of showing no interest what so ever. It is likely because he is bored. There isn’t much to do here without a car, and I am boring. I plan on fixing that tomorrow though. Not by being exciting, but by renting a car. I can’t the pictures to upload, because I am dumb, and so you will have to wait for someone smarter than all of us to figure it out. That’s Sara if you don’t know. When she does post them you’ll get to see what the NATO symbol in 3D and 10 feet tall looks like.

Ian also made a wish after blowing the seeds off a dandelion. He wished for a Willy Wonka Chocolate Truck. His words, not mine. I am not yet certain what he means.

Oh yeah, German MTV is creepy.

Well, Ian and I have arrived in Belgium and are currently trying to shake off jet lag. We’ll see how long that takes. The people in my new office were nice enough to give me until Monday to report, so me and Mr E. have been busy learning our way around our new home. I am toying with the idea of going to Paris tomorrow, but the Tour De France is wrapping, so I know it will be crazy. Maybe that’s a good reason to go. I will let you know. The hotel we are in is nice enough, but like the rest of this country they do not believe in air conditioning. I am sure they know of its existance… well, maybe not. So we are getting the full experience. We will write again soon.