About

 

Hi, I’m Deborah and I’m a military spouse originally from New England.  When I first moved away from the Northeast, it was to the Carolinas….and hoooooboy!  My extended family treated me like an expat.  I had moved “away”, into a foreign culture and into a land few of them travelled to:  South of the Mason-Dixon Line.   Eventually I moved with my husband and kids to Norway and became an expat for real.   This is my second time around in Belgium after a three year sojourn in Paris.

In all this moving, I have found that it is actually possible to live in a foreign country without ever speaking anything but English.  I could choose to insulate myself with friends from my own homeland and friends who speak “my language.”  Yet, language opens doors.   I have lost count of how many times I have been the clueless foreigner doing things all wrong only to have someone explain “how it’s done here.” (Both in the Carolinas AND in Europe.)

Language in a classroom setting takes time to master.  It just doesn’t come all at once.  In the meantime, diving in and blundering is super important to the acclimation process.  I’m very good at blundering.  Lucky for me, most Belgians are patient….actually, very patient as well as very compassionate and will take the time to earnestly help out when they see an effort (or struggle) to learn some French or Flemish.

Every time I move it gets harder.   As an expat, I settle in, I make friends, I learn to love another culture and another language.  And then I have to say goodbye.  Even though I move away, bits and pieces of my soul are Forever Norwegian, Forever French, Forever Belgian and yes, Forever Carolinian.  It’s a blessing to come back to Belgium, to say “Rebonjour” and “Welkom terug.”