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Never been looked at like a foreigner before. Walking around I get looks as if I'm from a foreign country- the same look that must be on my face when I see someone from somewhere else back home- but I AM the foreigner. It's an odd feeling; no familiar faces, no familiar places. The food is different; the money is different; the customs are different but oddly they are all familiar. For the first six days I didn't or couldn't comprehend that I was actually about to be living in Europe. I had never given much thought to visiting Europe, it was always one of those fantasies that one has but only imagines the sights. For both those who have been to Europe and those who haven't, you know what I mean. My impressions of Europe were manifested in movies, art, photographs, etc. Even talking to friends who have been to Europe left me without any preparation for this. All they could say was simply, "You're going to love it." Sure you could say that to someone who has never had ice cream or sex or beer but sometimes that's the only way to describe something- your own personal emotional imprint of the experience. They couldn't describe it directly. Europe, and anywhere else for that matter, can only be experienced (I risk saying that having only been here for 10 days). Only until you walk down a street or try to navigate a market for milk that you then realize how remarkably similar yet completely different Europe is from what's home to you. And it still hasn't hit me yet; perhaps when I leave all of this will finally sink in.

This is my first blog, journal, diary- whatever you want to call it- so please enjoy. It will be the most comprehensive experience with creative writing which I have ever attempted. Perhaps it took a trip across an ocean to facilitate it but nonetheless you're all welcome to follow along. I wish I could schedule out a table of contents more directly but that's impossible in this case because I'm just going to write whatever comes to mind. I'll make comparisons; draw differences; comment on Europeans; comment on Americans and the friends of mine that I have had the privilege or pain to know; describe details which I see; expose parts of my personality that are usually reserved for very, very few; this will basically be a cathartic canvas on which the voices in my head dance. I do this at the risk of many things but foremost is exposing too much. Why would you want to see a movie if you already know how it ends? Enjoy regardless...it's just Ryan.

For those that don't know, I'm in Europe for work for the next 10 weeks (already been here for one) and at first I had no comprehension of that. "Europe for three months?" I said to myself before I left as I considered going. You see I was sent here from my job to work; to show the employees at our European location how things at our Iowa headquarters are done. There was no way to prepare someone for coming to Europe for the first time to work. Working here is challenging and eventhough those reading this aren't interested in that aspect of my stay it might offer an insight into how I view Europe. Everyone I work with is Dutch; speaks Dutch; uses an Belgian AZERTY keyboard (Google that one!); but they are all very smart- more intelligent than some of my domestic co-workers, they all work very hard but they have their own way of doing things which was why myself (and others, Travis included) were sent to Europe, and they all speak English too. I spend the first week getting my bearings; becoming more familiar with how they do things and cross-training in their various responsibilities which I have never done before. It was a long week to say the least but now I'm here by myself; no familiar face to talk to, no familiar place to go but, I'll be honest, it's not as frightening as it sounds. I can go down to the Oude Market and walk into the two bars where the bartenders know me. It's a familiar face. Then I go on elsewhere to just sit and watch European college students act as all college students do. It's quite remarkable how universal it is to be a college student. Next week at work may or may not be better but I will begin to turn-the-screws and fall into a comfortable situation. Again this is the inaugural posting for this travel blog but there will be more.

To be continued...

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