Saying Goodbye

We interrupt this incredibly long string of "catching up" posts to bring you our final post from Antwerp................

Eric and I have truly enjoyed our time here in Antwerp, but alas, it has come to an end. We leave this afternoon to return to the states. We have actually planned several stops along the way to enjoy Eric's first non-working vacation since our honeymoon. We'll be spending 9 days in Italy and then two weeks in the Cayman Islands. I will try to post along the way, but it's internet access-dependent.

Until then, I'd like to post a few pictures of the friends we've made here who largely contributed to the great fun we had during our stay.

This is Leo, Brigit, and Kevin. Leo is the reason why we're here. He and Eric worked together in Chicago and have stayed great friends since then. Leo even came to our wedding in 2005. They have been such great "hosts", helping us when we need to translate Flemish to English, inviting us over for dinners, coming to Eric's birthday celebration, and just generally being great to us!
And here's Justin, Leo & Brigit's oldest son. He's showing us what he made with the k'nex-like-thingys he got for his birthday. He also drew us a really great picture of a bird that's safely packed in a box headed back to California.

A cute picture of Leo and Eric:
This past Wednesday I thought I was going to have my last lunch with Stephanie before leaving Antwerp (since she was headed to Stockholm on Thursday). We had planned to go to lunch after our regular gym workout. Little did I know but a going away lunch was being planned for me. We arrived at the restaurant and I was so surprised to see so many of my friends there! I had no idea, nor did I expect anything since we'd been here for such a short time. I, of course, started crying and without the protection of waterproof mascara! Luckily there's no pictures of that. But here are a few of all my sweet friends:

Around the table from left to right: Cristina, Eva, Sunita, Steph, me, Kerstin (with little Sullivan), Christa, Lois and Linda

And, of course, Stephanie, who I suspect was behind the whole lunch plan. She's also my daily gym, lunch, shopping, hanging-out-in-Antwerp partner:

And I have to include this picture too so that Nicole makes an appearance on this blog. She had already returned to the States when we had this lunch, but here we are at a dinner right before she left. She's the one in the bright pink sweater.

And a picture of Joanna (in the purple shirt). She's the one I went to Paris with way back in February for a shopping trip. She was already back in Australia, but I couldn't leave her out either:

There were many other gals that I really enjoyed meeting too. I may not have a picture of them here, but it has to be said that it was so much fun meeting so many neat ladies.

While I was here, I was lucky enough to find a GREAT Mandarin tutor so I could continue my studies. We met nearly every week when we were both in town and I learned so much from Carmen. Eric has said he notices I have a lot more confidence speaking Chinese since starting lessons with her. I just hope I can find another teacher as great as Carmen back in California. Carmen and her husband, Kim, are from Malaysia and working here until the end of the year.

We met them in Chinatown last week for dinner, and they surprised us by TREATING us to dinner. It was such a thoughtful gesture. Thanks, guys! Here we are after our yummy dim sum meal:

And even though Eric doesn't really blog, here's a picture of him and some of his gang. They meet up to watch all sorts of European (and American) sports pretty much weekly. This is Eric with Mike and Sean, but there's also Andrew, Adrian, and Silas too.

And I simply must include one last picture of Oscar. I thought this was the best picture since it's how I'll remember him, looking up and waiting for someone, anyone, to drop some food:


Thank you to all of you who have touched our lives. You have made a big difference and we feel blessed to have met you all. We wish everyone the best and hope to see you again! There's always a place for you in San Francisco!

Goodbye, Antwerp!