Introduction

This memoir is a delightfully humorous account of a suburban homemaker's foray into the Old World in the wake of her husband's corporate transfer to Belgium. As a nave forty-something, suffering from wanderlust despite never having taken a flight longer than a twenty-minute puddle-hopper between Syracuse and Buffalo, the author was suddenly confronted with the necessity of moving herself and all her family's worldly possessions to a little town in Belgium. She was ready for this. Or so she thought.

Her Naivete and Adventures

Given her propensity to attract trouble (think Lucy Ricardo!), the author's great naivete leads her into many comic misadventures ranging from her attempt to smuggle thousands of dollars in pesetas through Spanish customs for a friend, introducing the Mexican ambassador to a roomful of people by the wrong name (a faux pas that haunts her to this day), and finding her car missing in London when she goes on a wild shopping spree. Her husband once said that every time she walks out the door, he wonders if he'll ever see her again. And with good reason.

Poignant Moments

But there are poignant and heartrending moments, as well, such as a never-to-be-forgotten moment at Luxembourg War Memorial Cemetery, and the gut-wrenching events that unfold at the infamous Berlin Wall.

Return and Reflection

When the author finally returns stateside at the end of her husband's assignment, she was more savoir-faire and worldly-wise than when she came. Or was she? Even she is surprised by the answer to that question.