Lounging in Lebbeke

I have been in Belgium for about 2 weeks. What a wild sentence to write. I am so excited to be here. Coming here has been the culmination of several months of plotting, prayers and poor planning on my part. I am going to be living in Brussels for a year and teaching English at two secondary schools through the Fulbright ETA program. Which honestly is a dream in of itself.

These past few weeks, I have been staying with extended family in Lebbeke, a small Dutch speaking town an hour train ride outside of Brussels. *Shout out to Africans for having family all across the globe*. The day I landed in Brussels my dear mother called my great-uncle and asked him to pick me up from the airport- I had not met him prior to this. Thankfully he came and graciously welcomed me into his home and heart where I met my biggest supporters. They have honestly been the biggest blessing my time here. The family consists of 10 people- 2 parents and 8 kiddos , who range in age from 23-10 . While that sounds overwhelming it has been my favorite part of being in Belgium. Coming from a large family myself being in close proximity to family is something that has become important to me. I love being surrounded by my siblings and these past few weeks of getting to know my cousins-- who I didn't even know existed-- has been so wonderful. They openly welcomed me into their home and I could not be more grateful.

While I have been here I have spent several hours getting lost (no surprise there) trying to explore Brussels and forming a love affair with public transport. I LOVE the train. To get to Brussels from Lebbeke I have to take a train, which is about 45 minutes. The time on the train has quickly become one of my favorite parts of my day. The train is so peaceful and efficient. I have been spending that time listening to podcasts, people watching and journaling- which is admittedly difficult on a moving train. Trying to communicate in Brussels has been annoyingly easy- to my disappointment a large portion of people in Brussels speak English which is sad boii hours for me because the plan was to improve my French. No worries as I have devised a plan to force myself to only communicate in French so we shall really see if I can actually do it.

I am low-key nervous about teaching English this year. I have never taught anyone anything and I am so apprehensive about it. In all honesty- I have been battling some severe imposter syndrome being here. I have been doubting that I was supposed to be chosen for this program and that I am actually equipped for this. Which has lead to trying to manage my expectations for this year. I always have such high expectations for everything. I expect the heavens to open, manna to rain down and for Jesus to literally appear. And while I believe that is entirely possible -- its not exactly realistic. I am struggling to settle on realistic expectations while maintaining a heightened level of excitement. It's been difficult trying to figure out what that looks like in my day to day life. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon. In the meantime here are pictures of my excursions, sightseeing and a peak of the city. xx