Ghent, Belgium – July 6
Planes, trains, and automobiles. No, not the movie, but our modes of transportation. Add to that list taxies, shuttles, trams, and walking. That pretty well sums up our first few days of July. It was especially interesting adding in the challenges of one parent traveling with younger children, an overnight trans-Atlantic flight, and one piece of lost luggage. But all in all a safe and hassle-free trip. In some ways it was a fun trip, but I will stop short of calling it delightful.
Besides traveling to get to Belgium, I am finding it interesting to get around in our new city (for the month). I imagined that we would be in a more central location where we would do a lot of walking. However, we are a bit south of the city center. So, waiting for buses and trams (and taxies if we miss the bus) adds to the experience. However, it is not so bad, especially since a lot of folks speak English and the transport system is pretty efficient.
Our other task this past few days has been to adjust to “dorm life”. We are living in a dorm with the kids. We have four rooms, only I share a room and it is with Sam. That has worked out well, except the one time Sam woke me up from a nap saying, “Daddy, no you snore so loud!” Sarah of course has the “coolest” room. She brought several small knick knacks including a calendar to fix up her room. She has even bought a very small plant at the floral shop to add to her room.
Our only real problem at this point is the time the sun goes down. Given that we are in Belgium and a bit more north that we are used to, sunset does not occur until around 10:00 p.m. It is pretty difficult to first recognize that it is later than usual and second to convince the kids that it really is bedtime, even though the sun is up. So, our sleep is off a bit.
We thank God that we have had a pretty smooth transition for this month. It is such a short time with much to accomplish that getting settled in quickly has been a blessing. Planes, trains, and automobiles – a fun way to get around.
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