Parc De merl

So ladies and gents I have discovered my favorite past time for sunday as well as my fellow luxembourgers. It seems that sunday is a family day of sorts and I witnessed first hand how this works. I went to Parc de Merl with jordan today as it was recommended to me by one several of my coworkers as a favorite park for families to take their kids. What really caught my attention is that the familes not only come out in huge numbers but then their parents come out as well. For every family there were grandparents with them as well, sometimes two sets, one from each side I am assuming.

Also the parents don't just let the kids run and play they actually interact with them. I brought a book and was sitting quietly reading while jordan was  playing when I realized that perhaps I should join in the fun as well. That is when I saw all the park had to offer. There was a zip line swing that I was more than happy to jump on with jordan as well as a fun mesh basket swing.

- a rocket slide that we both could only go on together because it was a little treacherous looking for jordan to go down by herself.

Not to mention you can have a picinic in this beautiful park and laze about- which we will do next time, you can also bring bread and feed the friendly ducks.

It amazed me that there were families from all over- I know I heard of six different languages (french, german, portuguese, spanish, english, polish, indian. It was so wonderful to see all these families from all over sitting and talking to each other and setting up play dates, really no one is from here and are happy to make friends and enjoy their company.

Oh yeah so yesterday I mentioned how some of the soccer moms come out to serious when they step out for a walk or even with their kids to the park. Well I caught a great one in action. She was working it, short shorts and tights with white pumps. She was getting around the park like it was nothing.

The last stop of the day- I was driving around our neighborhood where our flat is and I discovered that not only are we a two mile walk from Parc de Merl but there is a big parc closer to my flat as well!! Then I got a glimpse of a beautiful field of yellow flowers as I was heading home. This field is only 3 blocks away from my flat. Just so much encouragement to get out and walk around everyday.

Well on to week two.

au revoir 

2nd day @ work, ending with something peculiar

Bonjour everyone,

So today was my second day at work and jordan at school. We both come home full of new adventures and stories to share but most of all tired. Jordan is just up the river from me- like a five minute walk from the building. I will post pictures soon. Everything is down in a ravine of sorts with a old castle built all around on the top of the hill. Most of it is in ruin but some of the towers are beind repaired. So its funn to drive or walk down the hill and see the old buildings and the river. I cant wait for the flowers to finish blooming and the sun to come out so we can really enjoy the outside.

Jordan takes German in the 2nd half of her day with a lot of spanish speaking students. She loves it because she gets to learn German and practice her spanish with the other students. The best part of it is that she has not cried not once since I left her the first day. It makes me happy.

My first day of work a few members of my team took me to a great little Italian place. I ordered ravioli stuffed with asparugus and a little oil. It was light and delicious. Most of my day was spent trying to get back into the the system and getting back int he swing of things.

Today was about the same just getting a little bit closer to getting back to normal. I also had a chance to go over my lease contract with my agent. It seems that we will be able to move in mid may. 

any way- my something peculiar was me gathering dinner dishes to take in the kitchen and passing our bigger window. The peculiar part was that I went over to the window to close the window shades and I saw the neighbors in the next building. The weird part was I thought it was a women sitting at a table reading a book with a skirt on and a suit jacket, (let me say it takes a while to lower the outside metal shades so Im not just staring at my neighbors) but then the person stands up to walk around and I see its a man with his suit jacket, tie and boxers on!!! 

hahah so weird.

Well tomorrow is friday and then I will be experiencing my first holiday here muawhahahahah

J'ai trouvé un appartement!

Yes you read correctly, I found a flat today. Great location, plenty of natural light, a nice long terrace (getting me a hammock), next to a grocery store and up the street from a hospital!! What more can I ask for oh yeah great space and two bathrooms. One thing I love about it over here is that the water closet (toilet) is in a seperate room with a sink, so its like having two separate bathrooms. The only thing I need to get is a washer and dryer for the unit!! Also a cool rotating parking garage, you push a button on your spot and it lifts one level of cars up to where you are supposed to park. So super excited.

But let me really flash back to the crack of dawn when we got up to start the day- first stop, TB test where jordan cried like someone was trying to kill her. the nurse stabbed her little bony arm to hard and she freaked out. 

 After a chest xray we were on our way to see the first flat of the day. It was great only the stairs going up were long and winding but the flat itself was rather large and in a great neighborhood. 

Shortly after we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then off to see Jordan's school which is located in a historical part of the city and not to mention 5 min walking distance from my job :) . Oh how I love this school. Its a private montesourri school that houses four different languages: english, french, german, and spanish. Jordan will be taking english speaking courses in the morning and German in the afternoon as well as a few moments of french in between. It makes me happy to know she will be soaking up all this knowledge is various languages. The school also has a gym program, art classes as well as a music class where they play the keyboard, guitar and other various music instruments. I would love for her to stay at this school for the next two years, working on it right now since it is a private school. 

So after the trip to school we went to view another flat that did not really feel all that great to me. I was not visualizing myself there. So we went to the supermall where I got somethings for jordans school, some lotion, well because i needed some ( my skin gets really dry here) and a Garmin to navigate my way around quickly. The mall has not only clothes, grocery superstore, jewelry stores, music stores,

 and appliances to buy for your house as well as a cinema. I know where I will be getting my 

washer and dryer from ;)

After that quick stop went drove up to the last flat and I must say that from the moment we walked in I had a great homey feeling. I knew it was the one I could see us living in. I did not take pictures of the inside yet but when I go through the paperwork I will. Renting a flat over here is much like getting a condo. You have to come to an agreement with the landlord, pay deposit and agent fee plus taxes. I 

went ahead on jumped on the flat because of the great location and it felt right. The market is so quick here that you literally have to make decisions within a couple of hours of seeing it or you 

will lose your chance.

So I made my decision feeling rather good and then it was off to the other Dr appt. We have to have a thorough checkup for the government in order for me to start work and jordan to go to school. I discovered that I would have to start over on my shots since it had been so long in between them so I got a tetnus shot in my hip- ugghh not so bad though. jordan once again freaked out because she thought she was getting shots and I could not make her believe it was just me. geesh you would think that girl had been plagued by tons of shots her whole life, instead of once a year. lol

supermarché

Well yesterday we ventured out to the grocery store yesterday and that was adventure all in itself. Let me just say that it is something I have never experienced before. I always loved playing the parking game in the US, though of it as a challenge. But let me tell you, the parking game is not a game here. I mean people stalk their parking prey for more than a hour in the parking lot. I was lucky to come across a spot right as I was turning the corning and someone is coming out- a bmw almost beat me to it- but I am a professional!!

Anyway- did I mention that the supermarket also is inside a mall with clothing stores like H&M and computer retail stores as well as gift stores and restaurants. Well I get in their and there is so much to choose from in the supermarket that I have no idea where to start. There are tones of fresh produce not to mention fresh meat (mostly moo cow and oink oink) but I am find different things to try.

As some of you who really know me, I am a huge cheese head. So image how I acted when I i saw miles of cheese down the wonderous isles!!! Now I know I have issues eating it but i still love it. I resisted the temptation and continued down all the aisles of french labeled product and found my way to the candy isle where some of my favorite candies from my childhood where. Kinder eggs with a toy in every chocolate covered goodness and Haribo gummies in every flavor and shape- ohhh I thought I died and gone to heaven. 

As I was coming out of the store I noticed a small Mac retail store- aww yeah! Well I got a couple of European plugs for my laptop- one for home and the other for work. Then off to the flat for a rest.

Tomorrow we are off to tour jordans school and look at flats to rent out. Wish us luck!

bonne nuit

Bonjour à tous

Hello Everyone or should I say Bonjour! So we finally made it to the Grand ole Duchy yesterday afternoon. Let me just tell you that it was a long long ride on the plan. 

The first trouble was going through security with all my electronics and then just making my way to the plane. Once aboard we got comfy. I put on the disney channel on Jordans TV and she was occupied the whole day/night. I think I watched four or five movies- was so occupied by the movies that we both forgot to fall asleep until the last 30 minutes of the flight. 

So we got to Germany where we go off outside and took a bus to the terminal, boy that was interesting. i had to take jordan all the through the terminal and back through customs and security where I received a thorough and I mean thorough pat down. ohh man, it was kinda weird feeling but I understand security must make us all safe. So we sat at the terminal for three hours and both knocked in one chair- think the night finally caught up to us- hehehe. Then I had to wake up jordan (big mistake) to walk down the stairs to the bus to catch the smaller plane. She was truly po'd and was not afraid to make it known. Once on the smaller plane- all 25 minutes of the flight into Lux, we both were knocked out, but the turbulance woke me up, it felt like we were wind surfing or something. 

Anyway- I grabbed the luggage and had to have jordan push her own stroller because I had two carts full of heavy luggage.  I thought I was gonna cry and pass out of exhaustion and upset from trying to get the big carts through the doors to get our rental car, but then I heard a voice an angel as we went through the doors. It was my relocation agent!!! She is a God Send. She grabbed a cart and pushed jordan in the stroller for me. When we got to the car rental office she spoke french for to the customer service agent, made sure I had a great car and then we were off! I followed through scenic downtown Lux and to the city hall where were signed up for residency, tax card, and schooling. 

After that we made our way to our flat

And across the street we have a great park for jordan to play at

Stay tuned for more day to day stuff

 well its time to get ready for bed- 

au revoir!

Storm Trooper surprise

Ok one of the best moments ever!

 I was walking with Jordan downtown to go to the movies when she starts crying I ask what's wrong. Convo goes like this:

Me: what's wrong baby?
Jordan: you know that star wars movie we watched last night? There is a storm trooper

 following g us and I'm Scared
Me: (laughing no doubt). Baby ur being silly now walk faster before we miss the show
Jordan: mom I'm serious and he is getting closer. I'm so scared. (now crying loudly)

So I turn around and lo and behold there is a storm tropper right behind us!!! Forgot today was comic con! Best story yet —

Sunday walk in the park- Que up sound of music sountrack

So this weekend myself and jordan had a great time. We saw mirror mirror on saturday, jordan scared by a storm trooper. Sunday we went for the long run/walk. Such a beautiful day we decided to stroll over to what I thought was point defiance park was actually called Gas Works park. In the summer they shoot off fireworks and there is a cool colorful i ndustrial-like park for the kids to play on. We watched kids fly kites and almost fly away with the early afternoon breeze. So then we decided that it would be a great idea to be Gretchen and Gavin back when they visit this week and fly some kites. Now I know this is going to be hilarious. Might have to tie some weights to the kids since we have some wee small ones. lol But here are a few pics from the park- more to come once the 

Olchawas vist :)