For those of you who are in the military, you know the joys and pains of house-hunting in a new city. The joys include visiting a new city, looking at lots of different places, and planning your new life. The pains include dealing with the lease agreement, making a final choice, communicating with your bank, and all the other fun-filled administrative tasks that roll through a military family's life every 3 years or so. Well, our experience in Strasbourg included all the joys and all the pains, but both were magnified by at least 100%. The joys were magnified because we LOVED the city. It is quite possibly the most charming place we have ever seen. All of the people, contrary to the horrible American rumors, were very kind and helpful. They didn't even make fun of our accents, and a couple went as far as complimenting our French! However, before I start to sound too proud of myself, let me be clear. The pains of house-hunting were most definitely magnified as well, due in part to the language barrier. We managed. We actually managed much better than we had expected, but there is definitely something a little nerve-wracking about signing a lease or opening a bank account when you are "95 percent sure that that is what that phrase means."
But all's well that ends well, because our french bank account seems to be functioning online, our french cell phones are in working order, and we have a key to a lovely apartment. And, I found a job! (Teaching fourth and fifth grade part-time at an International Bilingual School.) And, best of all, Peter received a verbal acceptance from the program director of his new university.
Of course, in addition to all the work, we had to do a little playing. Or should I say pastry-eating? I am fairly certain that culinary activities will become some of my favorite memories of France. We definitely enjoyed more than our fair share of delicious Bordeaux, fresh pastries, delicious cheeses, and of course, the absolutely necessary baguette-a-day that is, so far, my favorite french tradition. Our new apartment has a fresh bread/patisserie shop literally across the street, so all of you should expect Whitney to be carrying a few lb's when you visit! :)
We also made it to the top of the beautiful cathedral that is the high-light of Strasbourg's city center. Peter was a trooper....... he definitely wasn't a fan of the claustrophobic winding stairway with the tiny peep-hole views that were continuous reminders of our dizzying height. The view was 100% worth it though! The first picture on the blog is of the view from the cathedral. I'm also including some more pics of the cathedral and our new home. Sorry the one of the cathedral is side-ways.....still figuring this blogging thing out! Our apartment in the highest one with a balcony in the pic of our bulding. The pic of the street is our view from our balcony. I also included a pic of the much talked about stained glass window in the living room. Isn't it beautiful? I promise to post more pics of our place after it is clean and decorated. Our next and permanent trip will be on May 1st. We will spend a few days in Paris taking care of business at the Embassy. And, then we should be arriving in Strasbourg around the 5th or 6th. We will keep you posted. Expect the typical Eiffel Tower picture in the next post!
