Thanksgiving, On Time, In Belgium

Today is the real Thanksgiving in the States. And I'm in Belgium. I'm telling you, it's hard. It's really hard to be away from my family today. The holidays are very important to me. They are the days when I get to see my whole family. When we come together to celebrate having each other and being lucky to spend the time together. And for the first time in my life, I spent it thousands and thousands of miles away from my family. It was truly difficult.

Today was a hard day anyways. I was tired, even though I had slept so much yesterday. I had tests in my classes and little things are really starting to get to me. I'm short tempered lately and I find myself getting really homesick, especially thinking about the boyfriend that I left at home. The French seems to get more difficult instead of easier, as well. Then I dropped my iPod after school and the screen cracked, and that's about when I cracked too. It's just starting to feel like thing after thing is going wrong or being unnecessarily difficult. I binged today and had a chocolate eclair after school, even though I'm on a diet. I had fish for dinner on Thanksgiving. So not right.

But then I went to dance and everything started to get a little better. Dancing really is a stress relief for me. It's a shame I don't get to dance as much here as I did in the States. I have a couple of special performances coming up, one that is actually going to be in Brussels. So that was a good thing for me to think about. And when I got home, my host mom said she had something for me. She gave me a little cake from the local bakery, the raspberry mousse one, one of my favorites. It had a little sign in it that said "Joyeux Thanksgiving Emma!" She said it was for Thanksgiving, so that I could eat with my family while I Skyped with them today. It was probably one of the sweetest gestures I've received here. So that made me smile. And I did eat my cake while I Skyped with my family. It was hard to watch them all be in my house, around my dining room table, eating their turkey dinners, without me actually being there. But it was great to talk to everyone and catch up.

And here is what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

-Family

-Friends

-Kaitlyn (best friend)

-Ryan

-This opportunity in Belgium

-All the people that made this possible for me to be here

-My host family

-My education

-The roof over my head

-The food in my stomach

-My bed

-My memories

-The things that I get to participate in

-My clothing

-My overall health

-My good fortune

-The technology that makes it possible for me to communicate with the people back home

-The support of my family

-This beautiful life

Bonne nuit