caring is creepy.

It's funny how quickly your mood can change. Halloween left me feeling euphoric but I've drifted from that feeling into a weird funk. I just feel a little off. Not homesick, not angry, not even sad. I suppose I don't know how I feel and that's unsettling. What's even worse is I don't know how to fix it because I don't know why I should be fixing anything. While there have been other things on my mind, I think the weather might be playing a part in all this. It's gray here all most all the time now that winter is approaching and coming from a place called Sun Valley it's no surprise that I'm having trouble adjusting to the lack of direct sunlight. For now I'll just keep listening to rainy day music and maybe I'll be able to bring out the calm, rain loving, Belgian I know is inside of me.

-Alyssa

color in your cheeks.

I realize I've been neglecting my blog and it's totally ironic that I've chosen this time to type an update because at the moment I have a little under 9 hours to type 1,703 words. This is because I made a last minute decision to participate in Nanowrimo, or National Novel Writing Month. I will be attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in one month and I couldn't be more excited. I've already got an outline and 297 words down so maybe it's good I'm taking a little break and typing something else. And now for the goings on of my life as of late...

It's been getting colder here so I finally got around to buying new boots and a new coat. Surprisingly enough last night it was warm. I can't tell you how good it felt to be walking around dressed up in a place where Halloween isn't really a big deal with people who wanted to celebrate anyway. I realize that I'm here to integrate into Belgian life and culture, but it felt so damn good to have been given this one warm, sweet night to ourselves. I felt so at home with these people who I've known for all of 2 1/2 months and maybe part of that was just the fact that we click and automatically gravitated toward each other. But what made me feel so close to them last night was though we're all strangers in a strange land here, we managed to make ourselves at home.

I could tell you about countless other things that have happened in the past month but I feel like it would all be conveying the same message. I love it here. Simple as that.

-Alyssa