My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been nearly two weeks since my last post and it's quite simply because I have been under the weather with some sort of cold/sinus infection/disease and studying with my friends for my mid-term in Financial Accounting. My cough (some say it sounds like I have tuberculosis) wasn't enough to stop me from spending this past weekend in Amsterdam where I had a fantastic time blowing off some steam, with some of my friends (and classmates). I finally have health insurance here in Belgium (all for 82 euros for the year) and officially I'm a Belgian resident (for the rest of my school year) after multiple visits to the City Hall Office here in Leuven. My bank account situation was straightened out a few weeks ago and I was even elected as one of four student representatives for my class. My future's so bright I gotta wear shades, right?

Ironically, with all of the good news coming my way, this past couple of weeks have been my toughest so far because I've had a burst of homesickness that seemed to hit me out of the blue. Some of the minor annoyances of living here in Leuven, like my noisy neighbors, have started to wear on my nerves more than usual. This weekend in Amsterdam I think I realized that my biggest frustration is coming to terms with the fact that I have to live within a student budget. That's tougher for me than I thought it would be, simply because my standard of living was a few notches above my current (humble) student lifestyle. I'm not sure this is my biggest issue, but I think it contributes to my feelings of discontent. I am also feeling like information overload is about to make my head explode. My classes are fantastic, but a lot of the topics I'm covering aren't my area of expertise (Financial Accounting anyone?) and that makes the control freak in me a little crazy. Overall, I'm having a great time here, but I think I'm fully entering my "crisis" mode of culture shock.

I have to say that I am so thankful to have met some of what I believe will be lifelong friends here in Belgium. Everyone has a different perspective, based on their life experiences and backgrounds. It's these friendships that will get me through the rough patches... they make me realize that I need to focus on enjoying life and living each moment to the fullest. I should also say that my family has been incredibly supportive of me coming here and my parents have been helpful in keeping my life in order back at home in the US. All these things help me to deal with the strain I'm feeling right now. My friends (old + new) and family make me happy that I decided to come to the top 10 MBA programs in the world, according to the rankings by The Economist. I have the feeling that six months from now this culture shock "crisis" will be a faded, distant memory. After such a relaxing weekend in Amsterdam - it feels like it already is becoming one!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach