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Daniela Birch

Carpe diem

Living, working and going to school in a new country has definitely been a new experience for our family. I was asked by one of the MFS(E) team to do a short write-up about thriving in Belgium. I thought rather than trying to give advice on the subject I’d share a story about one of our experiences here in Belgium. Our family moved to Belgium in August 2018 and started to settle in. Our home here in Belgium had a different layout than our home in Canada and we needed to get a dining table for our new empty dining room. We used a local online marketplace and found some beautiful tables in nearby towns and made arrangements to go see them.

My husband and I set out to have a look at a table one Saturday morning. We had a bit of trouble getting there because our connection was spotty in some areas, but before we knew it, Google Maps said we had arrived. We messaged the seller to let them know we arrived.


They lived in a second-floor apartment, so they told us to come on up. We approached the door and I remember my husband saying that the townhouses didn’t look like apartments but we noted the correct street number on the house so we let ourselves in. There was a beautiful grand foyer upon entry. I was in love with the high ceilings, the marble floor and the ornate hallway table. I ran my hand over the beautiful table as I paused to admire a large painting that hung above it. I thought the frame was just as beautiful as the painting. My husband was looking for a way upstairs when suddenly we noticed a woman slowly poke her head out from around a doorway down the hall. "Bonjour!" I said. "We're here to see a dining room table upstairs." After an awkward moment of silence and unmistakable look of shock on the woman’s face we quickly realized we may have just let ourselves in to someone else’s home. We did.


The lovely homeowner gave us a chance to explain, in our best broken French, what we were doing in her home as she slowly ushered us down her hallway and showed us the door. I remember profusely apologizing to her as we were leaving. I thought that poor woman! I just walked into her house. I touched her furniture! She must've been terrified. Thankfully she was very understanding.


We did make it to the correct address that day which, incidentally, was still four blocks away (thanks a bunch Google Maps) and once there we insisted that the seller meet us outside.


We had a good laugh about it later that day. We've learned to see the humour in our mistakes because we will make mistakes, despite our good intentions, and it's okay. We've learned (and accepted the fact) that Google Maps will steer us wrong out here in between the old buildings and bumpy cobblestone roads, and it's okay. We’ve learned to go easy on ourselves. Thriving also means overcoming obstacles and embarrassing moments, no matter how mortifying they appear to be at the time. Carpe all your diems with the right attitude and you’ll always have an interesting story to tell.



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