Assimilation

Greetings!

I'm thrilled to be sitting here and writing my blog because I'm honestly surprised that I survived the early part of this week. This is my first week with my full school, volleyball, and life schedules all in high gear and with the way that it is set up, Monday and Tuesday are a little on the insane side. I finally figured out my class schedule which was extremely relieving because I am the type of person who becomes easily flustered, especially when my schedule is up in the air. I was hoping to stack all of my classes into 3 out of 5 school days to minimize the number of days that I had to commute into Brussels, but the way that it worked out I actually have ALL of my classes and seminars (smaller discussion groups) scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Now that may not sound too horrible, but when you add in a commute and my volleyball schedule (practices on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and a match on the weekend) then things get a little more complicated.

Monday is by far the worse day of the two (naturally, because being a shitty day is part of Monday's job description) and involves me getting up at 6 so that I can make it into Brussels for a full class schedule that lasts from 9 am until 8 pm... that's just rude. However, I do believe that will get a bit easier now that I've discovered that I can skip my last class of the day and still stay up to date because the lecture notes are posted online. Should I feel guilty about that? Maybe, but I don't because the class is a course on how to properly do research for your dissertation, and there is a seminar which is far more important to attend. I mean, I love school, but 9 am to 8 pm is a little over the top and I like to think that I'm doing my professors a favor by missing a few lectures here and there as opposed to the only other option, which would be for me to show up to lecture drunk. So, you're welcome. Even if I do miss an occasional class I still have to get home on the train so that I can make it to weight lifting and volleyball practice on both Mon and Tues from 7-10. Yikes. But I think I've concluded that I'm happy to have two extremely challenging days and perhaps suffer from time to time, so that I can have the other 5 days of the week to focus on practice, volleyball matches, basketball games, occasional fun... oh, and of course the hundreds of pages of reading that I have for each class every week! Party. 

 I really can't complain though because in all honesty I'm loving class to the point that I even get excited about note taking. I know, it's gross. Ask me how I feel about that in a month or two when I'm drowning in research papers and we'll see if I feel the same way. HA! I really do love being busy, and I think that things will get a bit easier in a week or so when the post knee surgery cripple I live with is more mobile, and my body gets used to having less sleep, more physical exertion, and a regularly stimulated brain! All of these things really make me feel even more at home in Europe. In fact as I was sprinting to catch a train connection the other day, I couldn't help but think to myself that it was a sign that I had started to really fit into this Belgian lifestyle. You really haven't experienced European life until you've had to haul ass to catch your train only to have the door shut in your face, or until you've had to take four different trains to make up for the one that was canceled for no apparent reason (not that both of those things happened to me this week or anything...).

As I was driving to the grocery store the other day I realized that FINALLY being able to drive stick-shift also made me feel like I was really starting to assimilate here. Something about being able to drive myself around and go about my daily life with such ease made me feel like I was no longer just a visitor here. I'm a resident. The majority of the time I just blend in with all of the other Belgians living here, unless of course I open my mouth and/or wear sweat pants to the grocery store... and then of course there is the fact that the car that I drive is covered in ridiculous basketball sponsorship stickers that make it pretty obvious that I'm American. But generally speaking I don't stand out in any way. As far as most people are concerned I'm just another person waiting at the train station to commute into Brussels like the thousands of other people that do that every day. I'm just like anyone else getting bread at the bakery, filling up my car with gas, or stocking up on mini kegs...

There is however, one particular time in which the true American that I am cannot be suppressed. I might have a shopping problem. Now, when you're talking about women with shopping problems it usually implies that they like to buy shoes, clothes, and purses... but that isn't where my problem lies. I have a grocery shopping problem. Having the use of a car is what brought this to my attention because it is the ultimate facilitator. When I had to walk to get groceries I could obviously only buy what I could carry, but a car on the other hand leaves you with unlimited options for how much crap you can haul home. That's dangerous to say the least. Yesterday I had to admit to myself that I had a slight problem after announcing that I needed just a few things like vegetables and fruit, and came home with three giant bags spilling over with food. There is a store in Aalst called Colruyt, and I blame them for my problem because it tricks me into thinking that maybe, just maybe, I'm in a Costco or a Sam's Club. I walk in there and seeing as though I'm an American, I feel obligated to shop like it is going out of style. Suddenly I'm buying things as though I'm stocking my bomb shelter for the approaching apocalypse. As with any healthy shopaholic, I have a justification for every ridiculous thing that I buy. Of course I need six bottles of wine in case we have guests over; naturally I should have an 30 pack of frozen Belgian waffles in case Damon might crave one (everyday for a month); I should be prepared and buy 20 cans of tomato sauce in case there's an earthquake; maybe I'll buy some dog food in the off chance that I one day become a dog owner, and clearly I'm obligated to buy this artichoke because it is on sale. You get the drift. Most of the other people in the store are buying things in large amounts to stock their restaurant or business, and I can't even argue that I'm shopping to feed an entire family. There are two people living in this house. I repeat, TWO. Get ahold of yourself, Alanna.


I guess you can take the girl out of America, but you can't take America out of the girl.

Now I'm off to binge eat so that none of my groceries go to waste. Until next time...