2 Months: Update

I'm a Luxembourg Freshman. Two months has not been enough time to get a handle on the nuances of this new life. The truth is, I still spend a lot of time riddling things out in the grocery store and looking things up on iTranslate. I end up cursing Google Maps when the automated voice has me driving in circles downtown. I get on the highway going the wrong direction. I don't know who is going to try to kiss me at church or how many kisses that person is going to expect. I bobble. I stammer. I'm a rookie, and it shows.

I am, however, learning.

Here are some things I know now:

1. Not available in Lux: canned green chilis, ground turkey, skim milk, cream of tartar, etc.

On the other hand, fresh baguette + goat cheese + strawberries= spectacular meal.

2. The eggs sometimes come splattered in poo, hay, and feathers. This increases your chances of getting food poisoning. (I may or may not have learned this the hard way.)

3. I still don't really know how to work our oven.

4. Some people like rainbow toliet paper. Purple, orange, pink... Brown...? Never mind.

5. It's a darn good thing Russ gets more vacation in Europe than he did in America, because we've already alloted out almost all of his paid days off. And it's going to be excellent.

6. Going for a drive has NEVER been more rewarding.

(At the beach in Belgium. Freezing in February wind!)

(Up on the castle walls at Esch-sur-Sure.)

7. Living here without our stuff feels very similar to living in the extended-stay motel I stayed in for 7 weeks prior to the wedding. Fine, but make-shift and temporary. I find myself inadvertantly anticipating a move back to the house in Seattle or possibly even back to my job in Salt Lake, when really I am not going anywhere for quite awhile. Maybe when our stuff gets here, things will start to feel a bit more permanent.

8. People make a huge difference. I have never been more attached to Facebook and Instagram. I cling to them as if they are some sort of lifeline to North America. I also think I see people I know in crowds. I've found dopplegangers of my dad, Kirsten Threlkeld, Mary Chai, Jeff Holbrook, and half a dozen of my former students. So, yeah, sometimes living here gets lonely. But the good news is that we've made some new friends here as well, and they are good, good people who are wise, funny, and encouraging, so everyone is staying afloat.

Other Stats:

Countries Visited: 5

Recent Trips of Note: Milan, Italy; Bruges, Brussels; Esch-sur-Sure Castle, Luxembourg; Nancy, France (stake conference).

My French: Subpar

Things I miss about USA: my job, ordering pizza, cornmeal, easy access to bookstores, having a closet, my pillows, stores open later than 8 pm, being able to call my friends/family before 4 pm.

So we continue to tread water. We're getting braver and some things are getting easier, and I am confident that soon enough things will be going swimmingly. We've just got to keep our heads above water until then.

#update #star