Dear Brussels:

Well Brussels, I'm heading out. The game is over. Kaput. Finished. The end. But I have two words before I leave: Thank you.

Okay so maybe I have more than two words, but I really could just leave it at that. Brussels, you see, there's a corny song that says "because I knew you, I have been changed for the better" and I feel like that about you. I'm serious.

I've heard people talk about getting "Brusseled" and would offer a litany of reasons why Brussels wasn't as pretty or exotic or exciting as some other city in the world. They would talk about the times the buses didn't necessarily run on time or at all (to read more about Brussels transportation fun click here) They would mention extreme cases of getting pick-pocketed or taken advantage of in a restaurant and chalk it up to "Getting Brusseled."

Brussels, don't believe a word they say.

You've been good to me. Really good. Yesterday I found a 50 Euro bill sitting on an escalator going down to the metro. Talk about getting "Brussled". I looked around for someone who might have dropped it, but there was no one around. Honest. Brussels, I think you gave me that 50 Euros because you like me too. But even if I hadn't found the money on the ground, I would have felt the same way about you.

You let me live with a Countess and her awesome family; including Titus the dog. To the Van Cutsems (Berenice, I know you're blog-stalking me so feel free to pass this along :) I'll never forget how you welcomed me and immediately made me feel like your house was "home." Brussels, my experience with you would be a bit shallow had I not lived with the Van Cutsems. They made my experience so worth it.

My bags are stuffed full of chocolate, Brussels, and other little trinkets for my family back in Utah. My mind is filled with cherished memories of three months in my life that I'll never forget.

I'll never forget Gran Place and the amazing architecture around the square. I'll always remember the "unavoidable atomium which is to Brussels as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris." (Okay so I stole that from the Atomium brochure because the description was so awesome!) I won't forget the funny shaped trees because someone decided that cutting trees into squares was vogue. I won't forget my time at USNATO, getting up at 5:30 AM to catch a 6:15 AM bus. It was okay getting up that early because I really felt like I was part of a team and was doing something that was valued.

Memories are just rushing through my mind right now.

When I get home tomorrow I probably won't sleep very well and I don't think it will be just jet lag. I'll be thinking of you and when sleep finds me I'll be dreaming of you. When I wake, I may be a bit confused as to where I am, but know, it's just because you've meant so much to me for the last three months.

I don't know when we'll see each other again, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we will.

Until then.

Cody

Talented People You May or May Not Know

One of the great things about websites like YouTube is that they have given people permission to be amateurs. Sometimes this results in hilarious videos of kids coming home from the dentist still recovering from the happy gas and other times it results in awful, but still funny videos, like gymnastics bloopers and young girls singing about Friday. (If you don't know what I am talking about, look up Rebecca Black "Friday" and you will find out!) Okay, fine, I'll make it easy, here's the link, but I'm not embedding the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0- for the record, it's the most "disliked" video on YouTube...ever.

YouTube became popular when I was on my mission. (Side note- Six years ago today I went to the MTC. Hard to believe it's been that long!) When I got back from the mish, I didn't know what "YouTube" was. Fairly soon after I returned, Miss America took a fall at the Miss Universe Pageant and I missed it. I mean, I am an avid fan of the Miss Universe pageant so you can imagine my dismay.

My little brother told me to look it up on YouTube and I had no idea what he was talking about. He explained and I looked up Utube and couldn't find anything. I thought he was full of it. Well, come to find out, he was right and once I found YouTube, I think I spent the next 3 or 4 hours watching every bloopers video on the entire site: I think this was when I "normalized" post-mish.

Besides blooper videos, one of my favorite things about YouTube is that ordinary people with incredible talents can also put videos up. Sometimes they're lesser known bands trying to make it big or just people with a hidden talent or two. I am always amazed at how many good/talented people I find on YouTube. Here are a few I've come across lately. It's too bad, really, that these videos get far less views than the blooper ones I waste time on. Who knows, you may already know some of these people.

Natalie Weiss: Up-and-coming Broadway star from what I gather. She is amazing...A-MA-ZING! Her voice control is incredible. She has runs and trills but they don't seem forced or contrived or show-offy...just natural. I could post a baker's dozen of her videos, but I've narrowed it down to my favorites:

Angela Jeffries: One of Utah's own. A quick google looks like she is/was performing at Hale Theatre in A Tale of Two Cities as Madame Defarge. Just came across this video and the way she tells the story through song really struck me.

Matt Johnson: Matt used to be one of my roommates and is an all-around good guy. I knew him before his video went over 10,000 views. His song is a hilarious Mormon-take on Adam Sandler's Chanukah Song.

Nikki & Rich: I actually first saw this band on the Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno (the clip I've included below) and really liked them. Their music has a throw-back feel to the big-band era mixed with this funky 60/70s vibe with a modern twist if that makes any sense at all.

James Egan: James is one of those guys who you want to hate, but can't find a reason to. He's really smart, funny, and talented (I might have a man-crush on him). We met while attending the University of Utah and I know very few people who are just genuinely "good" like him. I can't find a YouTube video, but, better yet, you can see him performing live this Friday April 8! I am really bummed I can't make it as I'll still be in Brussels. Check out the details and listen to some clips from his CD So Much Still Remains on his website: http://www.jameseganmusic.com. My favorite song is "Rachel, Ms. Operator".

Cody Rogers: Kind of dorky and nerdy. I mean, he forgot to take his name tag off in this video, but give him a break, I know him pretty well.

Whitney Layne: Whitney and I went to high school together. She was known as Whitney Wooley then. We were in Oklahoma! together...she was my "wife" to be exact. She's in Nashville right now working hard and I'm looking forward to saying "I knew her when" when she makes it big.