Life Lately

Summing up ordinary life in the past couple months:

Kids went to the bus museum.

Lux News announces the victory of Emmanuel Macron as France's next president.

Birdie looks fly as she heads outside to rollarskate.

Tryna escape on a date and Sienna runs into the elevator to thwart us.

Just dropping kids off at the bus stop after lunch.

We went camping one weekend in June.

It was threatening to rain, so what else can you do but wear your slicker just in case.

 Lux Mother's Day was in June and the kids painted a mat and made a cement candle holder at school for me. Awwww.

 Thanks, kids! Just like last year, Adam was gone to Seattle this week.

 All of my freaking friends left recently and I am mad about it. This was a going away party we had for the Andrews and the MacKays.

 We went to the Polish festival with our Polish buddies.

 The face painter was not good. The balloon artist was excellent!

Karolina's mom filled up their splash pool and put it on the balcony for hours of fun.

 June 23 is National Lux Day, so we headed downtown to catch some of the festivities.

 Noah was feeling sick by the end, so he's not too happy here.

 Right before the Andrews left, we had them over for raclette! Yum and fun!

 I recently finished my third semester of French. These were my two BFFs in the class, Lea and Maria.

Here's our whole class on the last day. I got powned by some bunny ears. Thanks a lot, girl whose name I don't know.

Drove a couple hours north one Sunday to Liege Belgium to catch the end of stage 2 of the Tour de France.

 Adam walked one hour to get us food. Remember how I said I missed fast food a couple posts ago? It's hard to find on a regular day but nearly impossible on a Sunday. And the organization of this race chute was not good on top of it. Crusty baguette that cuts your mouth, butter, ham, and cheese. Not the worst thing I ever ate, but not worth an hour of foraging.

 Lots of walking and waiting, that's the life of a Tour de France chaser. Noah was not having it.

As a little July 4th celebration, we invited the MacKays over the Saturday before and hiked around our forest and ate lunch together. It was a rainy day, otherwise we would have picnicked outside.

 We sent the kids on a bug-finding mission. They found lots of giant slugs.

 Adam was Steve Irwin-ing all over that frog he picked up. His enthusiasm spread to all of us.

Amazon's yearly family party was a hit. Sienna was quite literally taken by the clowns on stilts.

 A bouncy castle with a backdrop of fortress walls. Luxembourg is just the coolest.

 Kids playing the fishy game while Adam watches and I enjoy the view of that lovely bridge.

 Bowling and a bowling spectator.

 There was free paint and giant paper for painting. The kids loooooved that.

The day before Mandy left, she presented me with my very own candy poster! I had given candy posters as going away presents for several of my friends here, and she returned the gift! So cute! 

 Aaaand now we're up to date. This was last Saturday when Adam and I took a stroll after dinner around Lux City. The views in this place never disappoint.

Lux School: Over

It's the end of an era for us. My kids finished two years of local Luxembourgish school. When I sit and think about it, it's amazing what they did. They are my heros. We threw them into a completely foreign world, and they had to sink or swim. There were plenty of sinking moments. It doesn't feel like a 100% success. But they swam really hard, and I'm proud of them. Let us pray their future therapists don't have to unravel too much from these past two years.

Speaking of therapists, Sienna's teachers asked us to meet with one several times over the past year. She continued to not be very verbal and it was hard to assess if she wasn't able to keep up completely because of the language barrier or if there was something else going on. She did several rounds of testing and they found that it was still the language barrier. She is doing well otherwise. Her teachers recommended she be held back a year because she would not be able to keep up with the following year's cirriculum. That's when Adam and I decided to search out a different school. If we had to stay here forever, it might make sense to stress that she learn everything in the local school. But that's not our situation, and it was a good time to wake up to the fact that we are returning to America and it will be important for our kids to get up to speed with English. 

Next year my kids are headed to a brand new English international school that's run by the Lux government. They will still both have a little Luxembourgish on the side and Sienna will ditch German completely but have some French. Going back to English-only subjects will be its own adjustment. Noah's only formal schooling has all been in Luxembourgish, so I think he'll have a harder adjustment period. I am thinking Sienna will flourish. Fingers crossed!

The end of this year brought some fun performances, field trips, and sleepovers.

The kids both performed in a Trommelzauber (drum magic). So did the entire school and the auditorium was filled with the noise to prove it.

Sienna did some kind of pirate-inspired trumpet performance. 

This year they had colorful, plastic instruments! I've never seen anything like them. Brass instruments gone kid-friendly! I like it.

Sienna spent three days with her classmates at a farm she referred to as Kolonie. She rode on a donkey, in a horse-drawn carriage, made a beeswax candle, hammered her initial into a horseshoe, ate Nutella toast for breakfast and Weinerschnitzel for dinner. She loved every minute of it!

 Noah had a one-night sleepover at his school. He was freaking out with excitement. Spaghetti for dinner and toast with chocolate sprinkles for breakfast!

 His face says it all: he was in heaven.

Here he is with his teachers at the class party. Joffer Paola and Joffer Marine will always hold a special place in our hearts.

 Sienna fell sick the last two days of school and stayed home but was able to rally at the last minute to go get a picture with her teacher, Joffer Claudine. She has been a very patient teacher and we will remember her fondly.

 The Three Musketeers! Just sprouting like weeds!

Lessons Learned - 2 Years in Lux

We hit the 2 year mark on June 22! Can I just say??? It feels like I've been here 10 years!

Here are a few thoughts on this anniversary:

1. There's a reason a lot of expats stay two years. The first year is the excitement of a new place and the endless paperwork and footwork required to get settled. The second year is feeling less foreign and more comfortable. At the end of that, you still want to stay but it's time to go, and you leave with a happy memory of a time you wish lasted a bit longer. But cross over into the third year and .... wah wahhhhh ... it starts to feel like real life. And I feel like real life should feel completely familiar but it still doesn't cuz language(s) barrier and it's just not home. Alas. We are staying another year and that still feels right for us. But just remember next time: most people get out of here before it starts to feel too real.

2. You fill the space you're given. We moved from a 1400 square foot town home in Seattle to this 900 square foot apartment in Lux. Other things that shrunk: the size of our washer and dryer, the size of our kitchen sink, the size of our dishwasher, the size of our bathrooms, the size of our kitchen pantry (to nil), the size of one bathroom sink to a small shoebox, the fridge and freezer to camper-size. Things that expanded: our parking space (we have a luxurious two spots for one car, and were able to give one away to a friend - all still better than our cramped garage in Seattle), our storage space (yes, in French it's referred to as a "cave," and it holds everything we own out of sight instead of crammed in our teeny garage and the spare bedroom). I guess that's it. A small space keeps me de-cluttering and throwing things out constantly.  A small space is quick to clean. A small fridge means leftovers get the boot early on. I've surprised myself at this two year mark by not hating all the tiny-sized things in my life anymore. We can live like this! We have plenty of space.

3. The never-ending traveling lifestyle cannot last. Not for me anyway. After each (amazing, glorious, awe-inspiring trip) we've taken, I've been so grateful for my own apartment, my own bed, my own shower, my own stuff. I absolutely live for adventure and discovering new things. But I also realized I live for familiarity and routine just as much. Maybe more. I guess we all go through phases, right? At this two-year mark, I'm grateful for staying home more often than running off to the next new destination.

4. Kids do not learn languages "just suh fast." This will go down in history as a top pet peeve statement along with "kids grow up just suh fast!" No, they don't. And, no, they don't. Let the record show: It took a four-year-old Noah eight very tough, very sad months to learn Luxembourgish. And he was in an immersion environment. For Sienna, starting at age six, learning Luxembourgish and German, and as of a couple months ago French, she is still struggling two years later. If you want your kids to learn a language "just suh fast," I'd recommend starting them at age zero and reinforcing it everyday for their entire life. That's how long it takes to learn a language. Take it from the Luxembourgers. It's all they work on in their schools. For years. And years. And years. And years.

5. Oops - there is still one size-related complaint. Why are Europeans still living on double beds? I guess less of a lesson learned and more of a: Do I need to drag you people to a Discount Mattress Store? It's not rocket science. The mattresses here (that I've slept on at way too many Airbnbs) are horrible. The double bed needs to go the way of the dino.

6. Living life at a slower pace is so gratifying. My kids are in school all day. I live next to a beautiful forest. I can walk to three grocery stores. My kids come home for lunch everyday on a bus. My husband and kids get loads of work and school holidays. I don't feel a lot of pressure to have my kids in all the activities. Everything's closed on Sunday and national holidays. Everyday life just feels full of TIME. I have time to go to classes, go for a jog, walk to the grocery store, walk a few blocks to the bus stop, make dinner, and take solid vacations or stay-cations with my family. It's pretty freaking amazing.

7.  Ironing isn't so bad. Most Europeans don't have clothes dryers. Therefore, they are more used to hanging clothes out to dry and then ironing them. Luckily, we do have a dryer. But I've grown up recently. I want to dress better and look more put together as an adult human. So, I picked up ironing here. I never ironed before. But now I kind of like it. I turn on a podcast and it feels quite therapeutic to remove wrinkles for 20-30 minutes. Who knew?

8. I kind of a leeeeetle bit understand what it feels like to be an immigrant. Refer back to lesson #1, where I state that expats have all the fun .... for two years. But immigrants, moving to Lux for a better life, stay long-term. And that's a whole different apple to peel. People from all over the world live in Lux. Some are like me, temporary. Others come here to stay. While I get to have fun and explore, they have to face the reality that they must learn a new language (or two) and get a job in that new language. I feel like an immigrant mom, hiding behind my kids in a scenerio where they'd understand the language but not me. "Hey, Noah. What'd they say?" "Sienna, can you read this menu?" I'm her. I'm the mom who hides at home and doesn't want to face the real world out there. If I stayed here forever, would I always be that cowardly mom? Maybe. I can see how it would be easy to do.

9. I have a love/hate relationship with French. And maybe all languages. I hope not. But this is the first time I've reeeeaaallly tried to learn a language, so I don't know. But each day I have to go to French class (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), I don't want to go. The whole drive and walk I don't want to go, I don't want to go, I don't want to go, I don't want to go. Then I get there and I think, It's okay, I'm doing okay, I can do this, this isn't so bad, it's kinda fun, I should really do this more often. Then I leave the class and walk back to my car and drive home and think, French is the most important thing in the world, I need to become fluent, I will try and try and practice and try to become fluent for the rest of my days. And then I go home and my life is in English and I never think about it again until I feel stupid at the store or I go back to French class. It's a roller coaster. I think I'd like Italian better.

10. I miss fast food. Is this a profound lesson? It certainly is! Look. Europe. We get that you want to keep things old school. But some of us have kids. And when we're in a rush and when we're traveling, we'd love to stop in for a quick bite. We'd love to grab something on the go. Slowing down and eating and enjoying food has its place. It's important. But we could stand to add some variety apart from McDonald's. Right?!

Book Report January - June

JANUARY
The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless
Adam and I both loved Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, a story about Chris McCandless, the young man who set out to find himself in the Alaskan wilderness and died there from starvation in 1992. In The Wild Truth, Chris's sister, Carine, sets out to tell the whole story of their family life, which included violence and verbal abuse, to shed more light on why Chris would do the drastic things he did. Adam and I listened to it on our long road trip to and from Barcelona, our first audio book listening experience together. We liked it and now need another one for the next road trip.

FEBRUARY
Nada - didn't read anything!

MARCH
Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton
Sooooo....there was this point a bit ago in which I discovered in a short span of time that several of my favorite authors/online people I followed who had previously been married to men had divorced and become lesbians. Glennon Doyle Melton was one of those people. And I could not wrap my head around it. However, I'm willing to wait for her to write that memoir; in the meantime, I thought I'd give her Love Warrior book a try. I knew it was about her divorce but that's it. So, that's what it was. A story about her growing up, becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol, getting pregnant, marrying young, and the aftermath of all that. She has a lot of insightful comments about love and life and motherhood and womanhood. I really enjoyed it. But, yes, I'd like to know about the sequel. I'm sure it's on its way.

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
I'd seen that this was a popular book since Trump's election, and my mother-in-law recommended it. I have been fascinated by the culture of people who live in Appalachia since reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is about that plus commentary from the author about his thoughts on why some people can leave family and cultural dysfunction behind and some can't. It was really interesting. I liked it and I thought the author had enough humility to realize that there are no easy fixes. When I Googled him after reading the book, I found an article he'd written to explain why he had decided to move back to Ohio. And it's to help his people. I admire him using his talents to help others. Stand up dude.

The Magnolia Story by Chip & Joanna Gaines
Oh those darling Fixer Uppers. I haven't even watched their show but I kept hearing about them. My sister just read their book, so I just got it on audio. They really are fall-in-love-with-able. They're hard workers and they're nice people. Now just add their show to the list of shows I'll need to catch up on when I return to the States.

APRIL
The Expats by Chris Pavone
A novel, mystery, thriller set in Luxembourg written by a former Luxembourg expat. Really fun, a John Grisham type. His observations of life in Luxembourg were clever and I could relate. Plus the familiar setting made it feel like I had a front row seat to a world I know well.

MAY
The Law of Attraction by Abraham Hicks
The law of attraction is the concept behind that famous book once celebrated by Oprah called The Secret. I've never read The Secret, but I've heard it's about people manifesting their hopes and dreams through the law of attraction. The law of attraction is this: positive energy attracts positive energy and negative energy attracts negative energy. Like attracts like. That which you focus on expands. It's a familiar concept to me and aligns with the way Mormons are taught to pray: give thanks for the good in your life, then ask for the blessings you want. Focusing on the positive things in your life will bring more positive things in your life, and asking for what you want, if it's aligned with your higher purpose, it will be granted. I think it's interesting and I believe a lot of it. However, the part where your negative attracts negative? Hmmm. I'm not really buying it. I mean, to a certain extent, yes. But to the "real atrocities" extent, no. Sometimes bad things happen to good, nice, happy, positive people.

JUNE
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
This one was a brain bender. But it's basically just what it says it is: a brief history of humankind. It takes a large span of time, from the beginning of the universe to now, and makes it compact and digestible. At every turn, I thought, "Wooowww, this is so interesting." I highlighted a large portion of this book. Adam read it, too, and we intend to get our Kindles together soon for some book review conversation. It just drops knowledge left and right and I didn't want to forget a thing. Highly recommend! Sidenote: it was helpful for me to read a bit of the author's bio beforehand .... he seems like one interesting dude! He grew up Jewish in Israel, married his gay partner in Toronto and returned to live in a commune in Jerusalem and teach as a professor at a Hebrew university there. I'm not sure if he practices religion of any kind, but he does meditate for 2 hours a day and does not own a smart phone. Adam thinks he's an existential nihilist - a person who thinks there's no point or purpose to life as we know it, so nothing we do really matters. His book certainly makes you feel this way. At times his take on things was very depressing for me, but I tried to remember that the book definitely has the author's bias ingrained in the message. Oh, he's vegan, too, and a very active animal rights activist, so the history of cruelty to animals came up a lot, too. (And now you can see why I prefer memoirs over all other books - I'm much more interested in the author's life than I am about what he has to say.)

Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin
I picked up this one for the gossip but then was pleasantly surprised that it was even better than that. It's the author's memoir about her life among the super-rich moms/wives who live on the Upper East Side of NYC. The author lived there for 6 years and, using her background as a cultural researcher/anthropologist, compared their habits and social structure to those of other human tribes worldwide, as well as various animal species. It was truly fascinating. One minute I was peeking into the hidden world of lifestyles of the rich and famous and the next I was thrust into the world of bonobos or women from an obscure tribe in Samoa. Both groups were mined for clues about why we humans do all the weird things we do. I could read books like this all day.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This book is a collection of essays written from the author father to his son. The author tells about his experiences as a black man in America today. It was published recently so it has many references to things that have been in the news over the past couple years. It's clear we still have a long way to go regarding civil rights, I don't pretend to understand the half of it, but I'm trying.

Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J.B. West.
The author of this delightful book worked as the Chief Usher in the White house during the presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt all the way to Richard Nixon. He was in charge of managing the everyday goings-on of the White House (parties, dinners, guests, events) and worked closely with the First Ladies to do so. He also oversaw each renovation and redecoration that took place with each new president. His take on each First Lady was fascinating. He's an old man by now and had no interest in gossiping about his former colleagues/employers, but he did offer some fascinating insights into personalities, habits, rituals, and values of each First Lady and her family.

May Birthdays

Another May has come and gone and Adam and the kids are officially one year older.

Adam turned 37 this year. He's like fine cheese, just gets better with age. Har har.

 Our Sweet Sienna babe turned 8 and loved every minute of it.

We combined the kids' birthday party and celebrated mid-month at an indoor pool. The kids got to invite 2 friends each. The pool provided pizza and cupcakes after swimming plus one mesmerizing firework candle.

 Little Noah Britches has to wait the longest with an end-of-month birthday. But he made it, and he officially turned 6. Worth the wait!

 He's obsessed with Pokemon and so his stuffed Charmander has not left his sight since.

 And YEAH I whipped out a volcano cake! I was very proud of it. Noah's idea to add the dinosaurs.

 Both kids got rollerskates and were able to join Karolina in hers.

And after that we headed to one of the outdoor pools to enjoy an uncharacteristically HOT Saturday in May with our friends, the MacKays.

 

Great weather, great birthdays, thanks for being awesome, MAY!