1. Dress up more. Jeans don't count. I never really got good at this. Jeans and a T-shirt still constitute a solid daily outfit choice for me. But I think I did a little better on a more regular basis. And that makes me feel like a proper grown-up.
2. Bicycle in a suit and / or high heels if you want. I saw people do this all the time. They looked darn good doing it, and I tipped my hat to them.
3. Don't be afraid of narrow roads. The planning meetings for Luxembourg city transportation must have gone like this:
Gustav: "We've only got really narrow streets to work with. Let's make sure our city buses aren't too wide or lumbering."
Council: "Nah, let's make the buses huge. HUGE."
Gustav: "Okay, well, the council has spoken. All city buses from here on out will be gigantic."
We lowly car drivers must face these facts with courage. The buses will eventually win. But not today. Not on my watch. After I leave, probably.
4. If you're going to be a short-term expat (2-5 years), put your kids in international school. If you can afford it. If not, local school won't kill them. We've done both and I think my kids will live to be responsible, civil, well-adjusted adults. (Fingers crossed!!) I wouldn't say I regret our school choice for the kids for the first two years. Local school was our best option at the time. But if I could go back, I'd have done more research and talked to more people beforehand and tried to better understand our options.
5. Own fewer, nicer clothes and wear the same outfit twice in a row. I observed some very stylish women wear the same exact outfit several times in the same week. Mind blown. No shame people. Own nice things, take care of them, and rock them often.
6. Wear navy and black together. Do it. You'll look chic.
7. Hang more things out to dry. Most Europeans don't own dryers. It's made me realize that the dryer is where the clothes get ruined. Not the washer. So, air dry more.
8. Towel heaters offer nirvana. I hated the towel warmer in my bathroom at first. It's ugly, it takes up half the wall, it's unnecessary. But here's where the Europeans make up for not having a dryer. It can dry a bunch of random things pretty quick without the dryer damage. And wrapping yourself in a towel fresh off the heater after a shower in a drafty bathroom in the middle of winter is a luxurious sensation I'll never forget.
9. Chocolate for breakfast is fine. I've finally made peace with the fact that half of all cereal sold in Luxembourg is full of chocolate. If you want chocolate shavings in your granola, whatever dude. If you want chocolate sprinkles on your toast in the morning, go ahead. If you want to spread Nutella on everything, you'll probably be happier than the average human. It's not for me, but I will no longer judge you. Ok, fine, my daughter drinks hot cocoa every morning. And my son eats some kind of chocolate/vanilla garbage cereal every morning. And sometimes I do, too. Ok, this morning I had a croissant dipped in Nutella and an amazing cup of hot chocolate. Stop judging me! Geez.
10. Fresh baked bread is non-negotiable. I don't know how I'm going to keep this one up. My best idea is to start a fresh bread bakery in Seattle. That's it. That's my best idea. I don't know who else is going to do it. Can somebody please do it? Pllleeeeeaaassse?
11. Subsidized healthcare = less stress. It's a tiny country. It can't be compared to larger countries. The taxes are high. But when you go to the doctor or take your kid to the doctor, any doctor, you know that it'll all work out to be a fairly small bill in the end. It just feels a little less stressful going into it. Awwww, now, don't high taxes feel nice?
12. Don't be mad about paid parking. It's a normal part of life. Also, don't be embarrassed to ask how to pay for the parking.
13. Don't be mad about speeding tickets. The traffic cameras in France and Germany will always get you and you'll arrive home from your trip with a crisp, new ticket in the mail (or two!). Just work it into your travel budget.
14. Don't be ashamed your French was never good. Actually, I am ashamed. But I'm telling myself not to be. Because so many people spoke excellent English. They enabled me! Dang you multi-lingual Europeans. You bring me too much shame and ease.
15. Worker 1st, customer 2nd. Euro-peeps in the service industry get a bad rap. "Bad customer service!" is a main complaint of Americans traveling in Europe. But the thing is, their workers come first and the customers come second. Workers have good pay and shorter hours. Most people get Sundays off. They work to live, we live to work ... and make others work around the clock for us. It's just a difference in values. It's not so bad. Just keep those expectations low, don't buy anything you expect to return, and someday you may be thrilled when a waiter actually acts like they're happy to have you in their restaurant.
16. Work to live. Speaking of working to live! It's really nice. I think some companies are moving in this direction in the States (better maternity/paternity leave, more vacation time, more flexible sick and personal days off) but, like I said, it's just a difference in values and expectations. What do we as a society value? Americans have a "work hard, play hard" mentality ... but what if there could be a mentality of "work hard, and then take more time to truly relax"? I think the Europeans are better balanced this way.
17. Simplify mealtime. I love to cook and bake and I love trying new recipes. But then I moved to Luxembourg and realized half of the meals in my usual rotation were Mexican-inspired. That was not gonna work in this town. Trying new recipes in general also never worked well. So I had to make simple meals for three years. And guess what? We all survived. But I'm reeeeeaaaaallllly excited to eat loads of Mexican food again.
18. Nix billboards. Not that I have any control over this. But driving through an entire country (France, Belgium, Germany, say) without seeing billboards is so pleasant. Nature before commercialism. It's a beautiful thing.
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