A Week in the Books

It has been just over a week that we have been in Houston, in short we have been busy, overwhelmed at times and quite tired.  Of course we have had some laughs.

So far we have managed to stock our fridge and cabinets, buy a car, set up internet and home security, had pest control perform quarterly service, purchase a phone, set up two phone plans, purchase a computer, get the dog her vaccinations, get library cards, work on paperwork for our son's school, update addresses and phone numbers, receive our air shipment and have some friends over for dinner.

Everything is big...cars are big, roads are big, parking spots are big, stores are big.  The smallest bag of sugar we could get in the grocery store is the largest size we could get in Europe (true for many grocery items).  How many types of orange juice, kinds of dog shampoo and school glue do you need?  There are as many pet meds as there are for people.  One of my complaints moving overseas was the lack of variety.  I sense one of my new complaints will be too much variety (at least too much "junk").  Big can be a good thing, North America has the best toilet paper and you can buy it in jumbo packs!

??????

Our tiredness can be partially attributed to jet lag and being busy.  My wise wife proposed the idea that on previous trips to the US we have had "fun" for a week running on adrenaline and then got on an airplane.  Now we are here for good and for "work" so not as much adrenaline and no return trip.

One of the things that entertained me in Europe was the "American style" items, usually in the grocery store.  For example American style pizza, Chicago style hamburger buns and American sauce for hamburgers (I have never seen anything like this in the US).  The Europeans do not have a monopoly of this promotional tactic.  On our first morning back we ran across "European Style Whipped Butter Blend Margarine."  I do not recall any margarine in Europe and all the butter they had was real and most certainly not whipped.  My son and I ran across some "French Brioche" made by a French baker who knows brioche.  The baker may be French and may know what brioche is but what he made was not brioche, to me it resembled "Texas toast" (i.e. white bread cut in thick slices).

The to-do list is getting shorter.  We will continue to adjust and acclimate (sounds strange coming back to a place you have lived before).  Tiredness is slowly fading.  Eventually we will establish what is to be normal.  We will continue to laugh and make the most of our adventure as a family.

Touchdown!

On Saturday, 21 July we left France and flew to Houston, Texas.  The voyage went well. Our dog was a trooper. This new chapter in our lives has already had some interesting adventures—anecdotes to come soon.

Last Day

In the autumn of 2011 my wife took a business trip to Norway.  One of the purposes of the journey was to perform reconnaissance on working and living in the country.  Within six months of that trip our journey/adventures as expats commenced.  The circle is now almost complete, today is our last full day overseas.  Tomorrow we fly to Houston and start the next chapter as repatriates...

Please stay tuned as I will post again after our internet is established.

Out With a Bang!

This past weekend was our last full weekend in France.  I would like to thank the people of France for giving us a tremendous and memorable send-off.  On Saturday we headed to Paris.  After a day of being a tourist in our "home town" we were treated to the most amazing fireworks display at the Eiffel Tower surrounded by roughly half a million of our closest French friends.    Coincidently our farewell fell on Bastille Day (the French national holiday), but I still like to think the celebration was for us.

For the sake of making life simple we stayed the night in Paris.  Sunday morning we went to the Rodin Museum and saw many of his works incuding the famous "The Kiss" and "The Thinker."

Upon our return to Fontainebleau we headed off to the central square in town to watch Les Bleus take on Croatia in the World Cup finals.  We were joined by over 9000 of our closest local friends.  The French team did not disappoint and the town went wild celebrating the world championship.

What a tremendous final weekend in France, truly one we will not soon forget!

Juke Box

So the smaller nearby grocery store that I often go to for the basics has an interesting public address system:  announcements in German and Spanish (recall we are in France), the occasional top-40 song, Lynard Skynard, Dolly Parton (the only country music I have heard in France), ZZ-Top, 1990’s rap, and the most frequent selection of music...drum roll...elevator music version of the theme from “The Simpsons” (I heard this literally every visit).?

Pendulum

Today has been quite a day.  The first thing I did this morning was ride my bike to the bakery for croissants and pastries (you can't get much more French than that).  The movers arrived mid morning to finish up the final packing.  At 16:00 I sold my beloved Skoda Fabia leaving me with a small hole inside.  An hour later the container truck left with all of our belongings, opening that inner hole a little more.  To book-end my day I headed off to another bakery for a fresh baguette, this time on foot as my bike was in the shipping container.  Reality most definitely set in today.  Besides the obligatory thorough house cleaning we still have a little "being a tourist in your area" left this weekend,  hopefully including celebrating a French victory at the World Cup.

Croissants and Pastries

Some of the boxes ready to be loaded.

Creative moving

Shipping container leaving

Ending the day with a baguette for dinner

Skoda Fabia

Not in Green Bay

The packers were at the house today and we aren't even in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Tomorrow the crew is suppose to be double in number so things should really progress.  One more day of packing and then load the container.

Sentimental Without Emotion

A strange feeling came across me the other day, I was leaving the grocery store and it crossed my mind that that may have been my last trip to that store.  I most certainly was not emotional about the thought but at the same time I did sense some sentiment realizing that I would no longer be going somewhere that had become a regular part of my life.

Popcorn!

A variety of topics in no particular order.

Tentative travel and packing dates have been set and our house is starting to resemble the aftermath of a tornado.  Our airline tickets to the US have been purchased, including having our dog Chloe (aka. The Prissy Princess) in the cabin with us.  The movers come by on 4 July to determine container size and packing time with the sea shipment scheduled for two days the following week and the air shipment one day the week after that.  Much of my time is spent selling items we do not want or can not use in the US, filling out paperwork and sorting out belongings.

Hit and miss
Language
Will miss:  On recent trips to North America I started to feel homesick (for Europe) when all I heard was English.  Hearing non-English reminds me that I am living and/or visiting a foreign country, and that gives me comfort.  As much as it can be a hassle, it is satisfying when you can communicate in another language.  Secondly, when you are surrounded by a language you may not fully understand it is easy for chatter to become background noise and your audible world becomes more peaceful.

Will not miss:  Sometimes it is nice to be able to communicate with ease and not have to think, concentrate, translate, etc.

A bit of trivia.  As I write this it is July 4th.  I have not celebrated Independence Day in the United States since I became an American citizen.

Allez les Bleus!

Lastly, on a lighter note (or should I say on a heavier note) I provide photographic evidence of the rampant dog poop epidemic on the sidewalks in France.  I have included my foot in the photo for referencing size.