Tag: turkey

One Year in Europe: My journey of growth, challenges, and new perspectives

January 16th, 2024

Today marks ONE YEAR of living in Europe, 4,000+ miles away from home. Can you believe it?! It has been a whirlwind for Ben and I…with new jobs, global friendships, hosting 16 visitors, and exploring 12 countries (8 of them brand new!). This year brought personal growth, adventures, and challenges – and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

The Highlights

Obviously, the reason for this international move was for my job. I have had three roles with Komatsu so far, and this one is definitely my favorite! In my recent performance review, my manager mentioned that I have assimilated extremely well into the work culture and have formed relationships at all levels of the organization. She even said that I was exactly what the HR team here needed!

As the HR projects supervisor, I am the European liaison from headquarters to all European entities for HR related topics (Germany, Italy, Sweden, etc.) I have been able to work on some exciting initiatives…from creation to implementation to evaluation. Having a project-based role is right up my alley. In 2024, I will have business trips to our facilities in Sweden and Italy too!

We hosted a “Family Day” back in March on a Saturday. I normally dress more in business attire during the week

Another major highlight is that we have an established community of friends here. I knew that it was really important for Ben and I to find this because we are both super social people who love to host. Because Brussels is such an international city, we have made friends from all over the world, which has brought new insight and unique experiences. We have made friends through work, hockey, and expat groups on Facebook! I am so thankful for these people who we get to celebrate birthdays and holidays with, plan trips with, and have been such a support system during our time here.

Celebrating Thanksgiving together!

Vacation (referred to as holiday) time is extensive, and I am taking advantage of that! Not only that, but it is encouraged at work that you take your time off…even multiple weeks in a row. The famous question “Are you living to work or working to live?” really resonates here. In my experience, the American dream drives Americans to live to work, whereas Europeans are working to live.

And the best highlight…being able to travel at a level I have never before experienced (and will probably never experience again). In 2023, I flew 44,388 miles on 30 flights. That is 1.8x around the world! We spent our first wedding anniversary in Paris, saw the famous tulips at Keukenhof in The Netherlands with my sister, stayed in a villa in the French Riviera with my dad, visited Prague with my mom, went to a music festival in Budapest with a friend from college, went on the “World’s Best Hot Air Balloon Ride” in Turkey with Ben, stayed in a honeymoon suite in Santorini next door to our best friends on their honeymoon, went to Germany for famous Christmas markets with Ben’s family, and so much more!! It sounds like I am making all of this stuff up…I seriously think that when we tell our future children about this life that we lived, they won’t believe us!

The hardest parts

I have received SO much encouragement and excitement from family, friends, acquaintances…even people I haven’t talked to in years. I love getting to share this journey with everyone, but I don’t want it to seem through the lens of social media that everything is perfect. It is easy for everything to appear like sunshine and rainbows, but there are clouds and storms (literally because it rains 200 days per year here!!!).

The most difficult part of this entire experience was trying to focus on living my life here while being away from my life back home. For example, being away from our families during the holidays, missing my childhood best friend experience her first pregnancy, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, baby showers, birthdays, family dinners…people’s lives keep continuing and I’m watching them from a far. There are also so many events I will miss in 2024 and I know I will struggle with that. On the other hand, our family and friends have been SO intentional with planning to FaceTime, sending us letters in the mail, and encouraging us above and beyond. To my people, you know who you are, I love you!!! Thank you for your support.

The second most difficult thing was not having air conditioning. This is such an “American” comment but let me tell you…it SUCKED. There was a 10-day period in July/August where it was above 85 degrees Fahrenheit every day. Ben was back home in Chicago and Mallow and I were so overheated. It resulted in her not eating and me having an actual heat stroke. I finally decided to check us into a hotel for one night so just we could reset. She immediately ate 3 bowls of her food and I started to feel better. All my friends were teasing me for not being able to withstand the heat, but I had no shame! I needed to feel the A/C again LOL.

Mallow at the hotel…naturally she had to bring her frisbee

Another difficult adjustment was living in a country that is sooooo different from my own. Being around people that speak in foreign languages and navigating a completely different culture can be a challenge. For example, the workplace culture is completely different (& I experienced my first ever conflict in the workplace!), the currency is euros, we drive in kilometers, discuss the weather in Celsius, must use our translator app when shopping for groceries, etc. I even got a bridesmaid’s dress tailored by a woman who spoke only French! Every day I’m outside of my comfort zone. Most of the time I can handle it but sometimes things feel overwhelming.

Another battle was the neighborhood we lived in for the last 11 months. We thought we could handle the city center, but it turned out that after surviving an attempted mugging (thanks to Ben’s quick reflexes and my fight/flight response he didn’t get our jewelry), our building being broken into resulting in my favorite blue bike being stolen, and the constant crowds of people…that the city center was not for us. We have just moved (only 3 miles away) to a new neighborhood into the most beautiful apartment! We are so excited for this change and thankful to my company for being accommodating.

Some other funny “challenges” we’ve experienced…one of the hockey teams in the league Ben plays in filed a complaint against Ben. They were inquiring to see if we moved here for his hockey career LOL (because he is the #1-point scorer on his team, humble brag), so we had to provide our work contracts to prove hockey is just an extracurricular. North American hockey is at a completely different level than European hockey, so Ben has been targeted during games. It isn’t fun to watch your husband get slammed up against the boards, and I am now making him wear a cage to protect his face. I just think this is so funny because if we were to move for his hockey career, why do they think we would choose Belgium???

Go #16!!!

Lastly, our challenges in America (political, social, and economic) have undoubtedly tainted the reputation of the United States. For many, they view the US as somewhere they still want to visit but not necessarily live. I take a lot of heat about America…people are always making comments about how I should be use to mass shootings, how the food is so unhealthy there, or how our Presidents are a joke (they’re not wrong). I can handle it for the most part, but sometimes it gets to me. I have to realize that I can’t defend an entire country.

What I’ve learned

I’ve learned that I am adaptable and can handle change. As someone who typically fears changes and struggles with anxiety, this is exciting progress!

My perspective has changed about sooo many things and I’ve learned more about the world and myself more than ever before. I am changing and growing and figuring out who I am and what I like. Part of that is what your 20s are for, but it is definitely intensified in my current situation.

For example, I definitely don’t want to live in the middle of a city. But I don’t think living in the suburbs is for me either. I think I’d like a balance where we could drive/park and have a backyard but also be able to walk to dinner or some grocery stores/markets. Anyone have any recommendations?

I’ve learned more about sustainability, extreme consumerism in America, what’s in our food and how we should treat our bodies, etc. For example, this past year I have shopped less than I ever have. I now only buy things that “speak to me”, whereas back home I would have an Amazon package showing up on my porch every other day…yikes.

Conclusion

I am the first, youngest, and female expat in a male-dominated organization to have an international assignment in Europe. There are not enough words that could ever express this experience. I’ve felt every emotion this year. Happiness, sadness, excitement, frustration, overwhelmed, pure joy…you name it, I’ve felt it. But the thought of leaving here makes me so sad…so I’m going to make this last year count!!!

In the city center of Brussels
Traveling in Turkey

November 9th, 2023

The number one thing on my travel bucket list that I wanted to tackle while living abroad was going to Cappadocia, Turkey for the “World’s Best Hot Air Balloon Ride”. So in the beginning of this year, I went onto Google Flights and searched the cheapest weekend to fly from Brussels to Turkey…and September it was!

To be honest, Turkey had never really be on my radar. I have a whole list of places that I want to go, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that the hot air balloon ride caught my attention. The truth is that Americans tend to have a negative perception of Turkey and it can get tied in with the Middle East, being perceived as dangerous. Also, it is quite a far journey from America. I can honestly say that there was not one moment during our 5 day trip to Turkey where I felt unsafe. Of course, there are extremists in every country (we’ve certainly seen that in the US), but we talked with each of our tour guides and they said that you are free to choose your religion in Turkey. I feel like I learned a lot about the culture and the people, and really believe that everyone should go to Turkey once in their lifetime.

I have two Turkish colleagues that I regularly hangout with, not to mention there is a large Turkish community in Brussels. I have been around many Turkish people and tried many traditional Turkish dishes. Plus, my friends sent me with some great recommendations for our trip of things to try and places to see. I will be honest and say that I did not do enough of my own research before this trip because I a) did not know we needed a visa to enter Turkey and b) did not know about the dress code when entering mosques. Luckily we were able to get our visas upon arrival and I bought a scarf to cover my head and shoulders and Ben changed into pants for most of our touring.

Blue Mosque right near our hotel

We flew into Istanbul first (rated the 2022 best international airport…I seriously could live in the airport lounge there) and spent 1.5 days there. Honestly, you need much more time than this, however the main purpose of this trip was to get to Cappadocia, which you have to fly to Istanbul first anyways. The sun was shining and it was HOT. We went from chilly Brussels to weather back to summer it felt like! We walked that city up and down, exploring the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Gulhane Park, Grand Bazaar, and stopped at Sehzade Cag Kebap which was rated #9 on the Best Dishes of the World in 2022 & featured in The New York Times.

kebap for dayssss

Then we spent the evening on the Bosphorus Strait, an internationally significant waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara (the divide between Asia and Europe). For only $44 each, we spent the evening on a yacht watching sunset with snacks and non-alcoholic drinks included. I’m linking this here because it’s something you have to do if you ever visit Istanbul. Overall, Turkey was extremely affordable.

sunset yacht cruise on the Bosphorus! to our left was Asia, to the right was Europe

Another thing I wanted to mention is that during this entire 5 day trip, we each had 1 beer (2 if you count the airport beers). Most of the places we went for meals didn’t offer alcohol on their menu, but we weren’t necessarily seeking it out either. I believe this is partly due to the high taxation on alcohol and also the conservative culture here. Regardless, this trip was proof that you can have an amazing time without it. Don’t worry though…we used all our calories on the food there anyways.

The next morning at 3:45am we got picked up for our flight to Cappadocia! I wouldn’t even say we slept…it was more of a nap. The flight was only an hour long, but it was quite the journey to get there. Upon landing, we technically left Europe and ended up in Asia. The airport shuttle took us to our hotel where we dropped off our bags with the front desk. The hotel was essentially in a cave and only had 6 rooms. The front desk kept our belongings outside in their corridor, so I just prayed that they would still be there when we came back. We began our North Cappadocia Tour where we toured the Open Air Museum, Uchisar Historic Castle, Pasabag Monks Valley, Deviant Valley, Avanos Pottery, and Love Valley. The land formations we saw were formed approximately 3-9 million years ago.

After a full day tour, we were taken straight to the quad bike tour for sunset (we went through a company who booked everything for us and put together a full itinerary, they didn’t miss a beat!) We went through various parts of the desert and went to a high view point to watch the sunset. Common theme here- I always need to end up on a boat and watch the sunset as many times as I can on each trip.

At one of the stops Ben and I stopped to just to take it all in. I looked at him and said “Can you believe we are ATVing through the Turkish desert?!?!?!?” I swear this life we are living feels like a dream. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t recognize how amazing this opportunity is and how grateful I am that we get to experience this together.

just a little bit dusty

After the ATV tour ended, we had dust in about every crevice so we took a quick shower then walked into town for dinner. We absolutely love Turkish food, and had another great meal. We headed to bed early because we had another 3:45am wakeup call LOL (I think we slept an average of 4 hours per night so ya girl definitely got cranky towards the end of the trip…Ben can confirm 😉 ).

I could barely sleep anyways because I knew that the hot air balloon ride was just hours away!!!!!! We got picked up outside of our hotel at 4:30 (yes I did fully do my hair and makeup before this) and were on our way. We picked up a few others and were dropped off in a field while it was pitch black out LOL. The hot air balloon companies began their set up, and before we knew it, the sky was illuminated. We climbed into what seemed like a basket made of wood with 18 other passengers and 2 pilots.

look at this basket…how is this sturdy?!?!?

It was in this moment I started to think about what it would actually be like to take flight in this contraption. The balloons fly from ground level to 3,000 feet above ground level, depending on wind direction and speed. The max. altitude is 6000 feet, which the pilot said we reached. He also mentioned that he cannot control if we go left or right, only up or down depending on the wind. Each flight they take ends up landing in a different area, where the crew meets us for landing. Ben was silent in fear and I was trying not to giggle. Once we got in the air, I was overtaken with immense happiness as I looked out and saw the 150 balloons flying simultaneously. No pictures could ever do this justice!

After a safe landing, we got dropped back off at our hotel where we used the 2 hour buffer to take a quick nap and get some breakfast. We spent the rest of the day on the South Cappadocia Tour where we explored the Red & Rose Valley, Cavusin Village, Underground city, Pigeon Valley, Goreme Town, and Ortahisa Panorama. The bus driver on this tour never spoke one word until the last stop. He then shared with us that he is a photographer in his free time and then proceeded to put Ben and I in ridiculous poses which I will share below. It was soooo funny.

like WHAT was happening here

Then we headed back to the airport in Cappadocia to fly to Istanbul for one more night before going back to Brussels. It was safe to say that we had seen Cappadocia from North to South and most importantly survived our hot air balloon ride! We left Turkey with full hearts, full stomachs, and absolutely exhausted. Ben & I agreed it was our best trip yet this year, and I would recommend going to Turkey to anyone.