hurry up and wait

I was hoping to be posting today from my new place in Belgium, telling all about the new job, the people, and my lame attempts at becoming fluent in French.

Instead I am in the living room of my friend's house in the U.S. chewing gum loudly and watching BBC America.

The employment contract is taking its sweet time moving through the proper channels in Europe, so I was unable to get my visa to go and work in Belgium. So we are waiting for the paperwork to go through and instead of starting on Nov.1 I will be starting Dec. 1. I thought about just going and trying to do the paperwork over there, but when I talked to people at the embassy about that option, they were quite adamant about that not being entirely legal. So, I called the airline and have the ticket held until everything gets sorted out.

It's disappointing because I am ready to go, I have everything packed, I have all the papers I am supposed to have from my medical certificate to my FBI background check. And, while I love staying with my friend, I am ready to get back into the swing of things with working and living independently.

So I am trying to look on the bright side, and think of the positive things that will develop during this extra time at home.

A couple of weeks ago, when I thought I was leaving last week, I sold my car. I didn't get as much as I wanted for it, and it was so pretty after I got it all detailed.

But, the rental car I am currently using to get around from day to day has satellite radio, so I have made my car a French zone, and only listen to the French-speaking radio stations in order to get accustomed to the language. Every day I understand more and more of what they are talking about, which eases my stress about adjusting to the language change.

I will get to spend more quality time with dad gathering bread and other food for charity in the mornings. It has been nice to spend time with him doing good things, especially after the drama of having to move out of his house. Every day on the bakery run is interesting, we never know what we are going to get. Apparently life in the bakeries is tough, because one day I found these 2 notes in the carts with our loaves:



I have been able to spend time with childhood friends that I probably would not have been able to do had I left on schedule.

I will get to finish the scarf I have started to work on from my super bright! yarn


I can go through my luggage again to see what I absolutely positively must take with me, because those bags are way to heavy for me to drag around airports and train stations.