One Year Later...

Today marks my first full year in Belgium!

It was exactly a year ago today when I said goodbye to my girls (and what turned out to be my final goodbye to my mom) and boarded the plane to Belgium. It sure seems like just yesterday when I first came home and told Jo that we were being assigned to Belgium. As they say, time sure flies…

Although we are not exactly newcomers to Europe anymore, we still discover new and exciting things almost every day. And, it’s only when we meet new arrivals to Belgium when we realize how much we have actually learned about living here, and all the tricks and shortcuts we have experienced. Sometimes we give out advice, and at other times we think its best for them to experience it themselves…

It is also interesting to note how seemingly important things in life quickly become unimportant. For me, it’s been a year since I last wore slippers, been in contact with sunscreen, worked outside in the garage or have eaten Portugese sausage, eggs and rice. But then again, a year ago, I had never been to Paris, eaten REALLY GOOD chocolate, or had my daughters teach me words in French. So, as they say, life is full of tradeoffs…!!!

For working expats, the one thing that makes the assignment easy is if the family is happy in their new environment. And for me, this has never been an issue. Jo Ann has settled in quite nicely here and both girls are enjoying their new life in Belgium. In fact, the difficulty for me will be when Toyota reassigns me back to the US!

Working in Belgium has been quite an interesting education for me. Toyota Europe is so different than Toyota in the US (or Japan), and this fact has proven to be both delightful and frustrating at the same time! However, I hope to build some good relationships here and be able to take some good ideas back with me to California.

So after my first year, I am happy to report that things are going well and we are grateful for the opportunity to be here. We feel especially fortunate that despite the global downturn, Toyota still has enough faith in this program to let us remain here. But, we know this last year will go quickly and soon enough, it will be time to go home again.

So, as I write this, Jo Ann is very busy planning this year’s excursions and holiday visits. And we hope that you will all continue to stay tuned to experience our adventures together