SOS! Basics!

Hi guys. I would be really grateful if you could just explain the basic forex trade process itself to me. I mean i went to the fabled School of Pipsology. finished middle school. But for the life of me i still cannot understand - how does trade work???!!!:confused:
In practice account i have single currency, for eg. in USD. I put out an order for the purchase of x amount of EUR (EUR/USD). Now basically i need to wait for the prices to go up for making some pips as i have bought x EUR and they are lying somewhere safe, right? But where are those x EUR? All i see is my balance +/- the profit/loss made from the last trade. Would appreciate your help.

Spot forex is basically a short term futures contract.
You buy, or sell euros today, based on which way you think the value of that currency will move against the dollar. As long as your trade is open, it rolls over daily, so the close date never arrives, and you never take delivery.

The only thing that changes is the value of one against the other, which shows up in your account as profit or loss.