Just Checking In…

Visiting Friends

Christos Drettas (Greek) - overlooking Luxembourg City

General George S. Patton - Luxembourg American Cemetery

After a six month “semi-sabbatical” from the MBA diary, it seemed high time to open up another digital journal to collect my thoughts. I say “semi-sabbatical” because I’m not sure moving to Belgium and taking a job at a high powered firm counts as time off. At the same time, I was suffering severe diary withdrawal and was really missing those thoughtful and funny pages. So here goes…the Belgian continuation of my diary. Hopefully, you will enjoy the peek behind the curtains into our world and adventure.

The first thing that struck me about Belgium is the size – this place is small, about 1/22 the size of Texas. This makes driving places on the weekend a cinch. Generally, anything within a few hours of the house is fair game for a day trip. This might mean meeting friends in Luxembourg, having Aggie Muster in Rotterdam (Holland), or touring vineyards in Champagne (France). Coming from Texas, where drives are measured in hours and not miles, this has taken some getting used to.

Work keeps me busy on weekdays and the weekend is free to play. Weekends also seem to be when I get into trouble as well. For example, I seem to be breaking records for tickets and fines – having been ticketed at least twice and even towed during my first month here. Since then, I’ve learned how to read “No parking” in five languages and the ticket index has decreased a bit.

I hope that all you former MBA diary readers and new friends enjoy the journey that Heidi and I take you on this year. So buckle up, it could be a bumpy ride…but worth every ticket! Life is beautiful, isn’t it?

Ken