New Adventures in Belgium: Going Away Parties: People come and go in Brussels (Aug 28 & Sept 5)

It's kind of sad to say, but it seems like everyone is on an assignment in Brussels, so it's hard to meet genuine people. Even though it was for a short time, I was lucky enough to meet a girl named Christina in my French class at Amira in March. We clicked right away and ended up hanging out with each other quite a bit. Christina initially had moved to Brussels in January (I think) to be closer to her boyfriend, Stig, who worked for the European Union. She was about to begin looking for a job when Stig received a new position back in their homeland of Oslo, Norway; thus, resulting in their move back home. Anyway, at the end of August Shannon and I decided to throw them a small dinner party to wish them well. Besides her boyfriend, Stig, she invited Rosie, Thijs and Vicky. Stephanie and Rick also attended since Stephanie had hung out with Christina occasionally (Since they've left, Stephanie and I have hung out with Rosie and Vicky a few times and feel lucky that Christina and Stig introduced us to such nice people. I also run with Rosie once a week or so...she keeps me on my toes!) Anyway, back to the dinner, I served Mexican cuisine consisting of enchiladas, beans, rice and a 7 layer taco dip; of course there was also salsa and guacamole. I think everyone enjoyed it especially since you don't find many Mexican restaurants around here unfortunately. Since Christina has left, I still keep in touch with her and hope to visit her and Stig someday in Norway. They actually just got married in Singapore on October 3, so Congrats to them!

Just a week later, my friend Stephanie hosted a going away party for one of her close friends, Maria, whom I also knew. It was another fun, yet sad party to see another one of our friends leave. She left for London to go to Chef School (Cooking school). She is originally from Slovakia, but has lived in London previously which is where she met her boyfriend, Clive, who's English. Anyway, I think she'll be a fantastic Chef since she's always creating fabulous concoctions. I can't wait to try out her new recipes someday!

I guess this gives us a good reason to go visit them in their new homes. We're always up for more traveling especially in new and exciting places which they both moved to!

I only have photos from Christina and Stig's party. I forgot my camera for Maria's party :(

Christina and me