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