Preview Trip: Part 4

We began Wednesday fairly confident we'd be taking the apartment we saw on Monday in Belair.  Yet one unknown still loomed large: schools.  Our relocation agency knows very little about the local schools (even which ages go where, school boundaries for neighborhoods, etc) because 99.9% of the expats they work with put their kids in private school here (see previous posts on why that's not a long-term option for us).  Neither of the agents we'd been working with had dealt with a situation like ours before.  Thus, local schools in Luxembourg remained a great mystery to us.

Against all apparent odds, they managed to get us appointments at the primary school and preschool/kindergarden in Belair on Wednesday morning.

And the schools were amazing!  We were so relieved!

We spoke at length with the "President" of the two schools.  She was extremely kind, helpful, and spoke great English.  We even got to look around a bit and peek into a couple classes.  Everyone was friendly, the children looked happy, and the school buildings were pleasant and well-cared for, with tons of student art decorating the walls and hanging from ceilings.   Our kids are going to love this!  It's going to be difficult at first, but it will be a great experience.

But by the way, confirming our suspicions from the beginning, the President could only think of a handful of English speaking kids in the schools, and not a single child with two American parents!

So!

Simple decision, yes?  Belair apartment is a go!  The kids will attend school from June 4th-July 15th this year and get some great language practice for the fall.

Ah, but it's never that simple.

At this point we had one more apartment to visit.  We had only seen a picture of the front of the building but had walked by it on Sunday.  We ruled out all the others on our list of potentials because they were either too expensive or not available until mid-July, which would be much more complicated from both moving and schooling standpoints (the kids probably won't be able to attend school until we actually take possession of an apartment, and we really want them to get that language practice before the summer)

The question was, would this new apartment feed into the same schools we had just visited?  Not even the schools know exactly where their boundary ends - it's up to the Education Ministry of the city.  Our agent was trying to have her office get ahold of the Educaiton Ministry to shed some light on our situation.

And, of course, we liked this other apartment better.  Waaaayyyy better.   Virtually every doubt we had about the first apartment, this one overcame.  Better interior, better features, closer to work, and we liked the neighborhood much better.  For a little more money, we could still meet our budget in a much more livable apartment.

near Parc Merl

green space in back!

And then our agent got a call from her office.  This apartment is less than a block from the school boundary - and outside of Belair, in Hollerich.

Of course it is.  Sigh.

If we want to sign a rental contract by the end of the week, we needed to make this decision today.

It was too late to make an appointment to see the Hollerich school that afternoon, but we decided to at least find it and look around.   Our agent made a valiant effort to get inside, and we found the lunchtime daycare in session (kids either stay at daycare over the 1.5 hour lunch or go home for lunch).  Our agent talked to the daycare supervisor, who informed us that the rest of the school was actually closed today due to a school-wide field trip.  We can try to make an appointment for Thursday or Friday.

Well, shoot.

So we stood outside the school with our agent to hash it out.  Here's what we figured:  The daycare supervisor and workers we briefly met seemed kind and helpful.  We suspect that the school's attitude will be similar, and that the quality of the school will not likely be vastly different from the Belair school.  If some of the areas this school pools from are slightly "lower middle class," than in Belair, it's only likely we (and our kids) will feel more comfortable and at home rather than less.

preschool/kindergarten

primary school (1st-6th grade)

One huge advantage of the Hollerich schools is that both the preschool/kindergarten and primary schools are right next to each other, so dropping off/picking up will be a lot simpler and more doable with no car.

So we decided.  Apartment 2 in Hollerich, and hope for the best for school!!

And thus concludes our own personal episode of House Hunters International.   Thrilling, eh?

Roll credits!

Our apartment! (directly above us)

Preview Trip: Part 3

I'm writing these posts the day after they happen, so please forgive me if my tenses get all mixed up.  It's 4pm on Wednesday afternoon right now and a lot has happened since what I'm about to write about Tuesday happenings!

As I mentioned, Europe was closed on Tuesday for the May Day holiday.  So we did more walking around the city and also drove/walked around the area near the apartment we found on Monday. We timed walking distances (tried to go at a slowish-kid-friendly pace) from the apartment to schools, parks, grocery, city center, etc.

We slept in and missed breakfast at the hotel, so we were somewhat afraid we might starve if everything was indeed closed (actually Pete is always worried we might starve, since I have a very bad habit to begin with of not stopping to eat or drink when I'm focused on tasks).  But fortunately the square in the city center had open restaurants and cafes.

all these tables soon filled with people eating lunch and enjoying another day of nice weather

Pete decided he was in the photos too much yesterday, so I made sure I handed him the camera more today...

Mexican food (we were worried there might not be any, it's our favorite)

modern Kirchberg up behind me

opposite side of the street from above picture 

center of this photo is Pete's office

We took it easy back at the hotel in the evening (there was a thunderstorm!) and ate dinner at the hotel.  We feel sort of lame for eating at the hotel so much but the food has been amazing and we're often tired, so it's an easy no-thinking-no-walking-no-finding-parking option.  We also did some internet research on the different bus lines and how we might get around without a car, specifically in relation to the apartment in Belair.

That's about it.  More exciting stuff next post!!

Preview Trip: Part 2

Reality Checks from Day 1 of Looking for a Place to Live in Luxembourg:

1.  The cost of living in Luxembourg, specifically Luxembourg City, is HIGH.   We must embrace this fact and adjust housing expectations accordingly.
2.  If we are committed to our budget, we can barely afford anything in the city and will be lucky to find something within what we've budgeted at all.
3.  We will have to make many sacrifices in apartment "features" if our main priorities are price, 3 bedrooms, and proximity to work/city.
4.  We should not let our agent show us properties outside of our budget.  They tell you they do it "just to get an idea of what's out there" - but ultimately we don't want to know "what's out there" since that just sets us up for disappointment.  (Should have stuck to our guns a little better on that one!)
5.  Bonus reality check - we have still not yet met, or even heard of, another American family who has their kids in local Luxembourgish schools.

So yes, not complaining, just stating the pros and cons, and doing reality checks.  I hope I don't come across as complaining or too picky.  I feel very fortunate that we have this amazing opportunity!

On Monday we were able to look at about 5 apartments/townhomes.   Complicating matters was the fact that many of the agencies were closed - Tuesday is a national holiday and many agencies took Monday off and called it a 4 day weekend.  So our selection was very limited, and our consultant/agent filled out our search with several properties that were too expensive or too far away.  We found one attached house that was relatively close to the city center but still in sort of it's own little neighborhood.  It had a nice backyard, and that backed to a common green space which led to a playground.  On top of that, the house was right across the street from the primary school, it had 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms - plenty of space, light, and room for guests.

We loved it!  Of course we loved it - it was way out of our league!!!

We might be able swing it, but even if we managed to negotiate down 100 Euros, it would still cut deeply into our monthly cushion we've tried to leave in the budget for all the unexpected/higher costs associated with living here.

However, we also found an apartment within the city (west of the center in "Belair") that actually comes in slightly UNDER budget! There are plenty of downsides - I'm guessing it's one of the "worst" apartments in the area (but that's what you'd expect in a nice area if it's something we can actually afford, right?!?!).  The kitchen is outdated, fairly ugly, and itty-bitty.  There's only one toilet (fairly common in small apartments, but two would be nice), and no windows in the bathroom.  It's a bit on the dark side and it's on the first floor (which I suppose has it's own pros and cons).  Our washing machine would live down in a dungeon-esque basement, and who really needs laundry to be a MORE depressing chore?  It's a little far from the nearest grocery shopping areas, potential churches, and not as close to the schools as we might like, so we aren't sure if we still might end up needing a car.

There are lots of great pluses, though.  First, I would dub it a "minimalist" apartment and thus in keeping with our family philosophy.  Pete's commute should be quite easy by bus or bike.  It's on a very quiet street with a lovely little park at the end.

It's also about a 10 minute walk to Merl Park, a Luxembourg favorite.

cafe in center of Merl Park

playground at Merl Park

The apartment backs to a green area and is very close to a bus stop. There is plenty of storage space and a garage with a long driveway for guest parking (parking and/or garages often are missing or cost extra, and parking on the street can be very hard to find).  There is a small shared patio outside and shared basement inside, both with lines to hang laundry, and possibly room for a dryer in the basement.  It has brand new windows and a brand new bathroom (still being installed).  The landlord was an amiable fellow, although he didn't seem to know much English (frankly, we're not sure what his native language is, maybe German or Luxembourgish - the kids will have to be our translators!)  The renovations would be done by the time we arrive or shortly after, so we could potentially move right in (skipping temporary housing) and get the kids enrolled in school immediately.

shared patio with laundry lines, dandelion "garden" in back

The school situation is another story for another post, but if we are able to get that figured out on Wednesday morning we'll probably just bite the bullet and snag this apartment, without waiting to see if there is something "better" out there (when we get more of the appointments we couldn't get due to the holiday).  At this price, we're afraid if we wait too long it will be gone.

To be continued!

Preview Trip: Part 1

First thing's first:  I love it here and I'm excited!  Pete is relieved!

We arrived Sunday.   I should mention for all you potential visitors from the Portland area:  If you fly on Delta, the first flight is from PDX to Amsterdam and takes 9 hours.  The second flight to the Lux airport is 1 hour.

Lux Airport.  Bonus point if you know what "Moien" is.  Can you identify all the other languages?

Considering it's halfway across the world, I'd say it's a pretty easy trip!!!

about to land, maybe over Belgium?

Sunday was gorgeous and we wanted to stay awake, so we spent the day walking around the city to orient ourselves.  Pete assured me that a city tour "death march" would keep jet lag at bay.

Luxembourg City has a great contrast between really old and really new areas and buildings.  Like our hotel in Kirchberg:

Compared with the Grand Duke's Palace:

Although many European cities have this contrast, I think it's still somehow a strong distinguishing feature of Luxembourg City.

old (left/foreground) vs. new (right/background)

It's also a city with higher elevation sections and canyon-type sections down by the rivers.

One of the main things we set out to do on Sunday was find Pete's office building.  According to our map, the location was somewhere down here...

But we figured that had to be wrong.  It's Amazon we're talking about here.  Shouldn't it be one of those modern blueish-grayish-glass buildings up top in the distance on the right?

We decided to trust the map and go for it.  You can actually take an elevator to get down/up, but we walked the winding way down...

And sure enough, there it was, down a little cobblestone alley...

back side of building to the right of Pete

Yeah, we thought this was just about the coolest thing ever, as you can tell!

The line for the elevator back up was a a little long (and we didn't want to terrify other passengers with our uncontrollable grinning resulting from our recent discovery), so we decided to walk the bike path Pete might take to and from work.

Lovely!

Four hours from when we set off, we finally limped back to our hotel, ate a well-earned dinner, and crashed for the night.  Apartment hunting set to begin at 10am the next morning.

To be continued!

The Timeline

Our plan as of today:

April 26: Overwhelmed into a state of non-productivity, Rosie procrastinates packing and cleaning by writing a blog post entitled "The Timeline."
April 27: Pete's last day at old job
April 28-May 5: Pete and Rosie apartment hunt in Lux
May 10: James' last day of preschool
May 15: Movers pack, we stay at Pete's parents' house in Wilsonville until we leave
May 18: Daphne's last day of school
May 18-19: Moving sale at our house - everything we didn't pack
May 19: Our last Saturday Evening Service at church (5pm)
May 20: Farewell Open House at Pete's parents' house (see Facebook for details, EVERYONE is invited!)
May 22: Off we go!
May 23: Arrive in Lux, location TBD
June 4: Pete starts new job

Yes, we will miss Trader Joe's

That's the answer to a question we've been hearing quite a lot.  It must be common knowledge that TJ's is our favorite grocery store and we buy almost all our food there.  Most people either love or hate the place.  We are solidly in the love category.

We ran into our best buddies there after school last week.

(Daphne in her PJs from PJ day at school)

We are not allowed to ship any food in our moving containers, so I'm sure I'll be tempted to stuff our luggage with roasted flaxseed peanut butter and spiced chai latte powder.   Mmmmm.

Truthfully, I am excited to learn grocery shopping in a new country.  I have already read a few tips here, here, and here.

Yet, I'm 96.7% certain you will be reading a post entitled "I miss Trader Joe's" sometime in the future, detailing how I spent 7 hours in a store buying all the wrong items.  And you have to admit, "Luxembourg grocery store" will have a lot to live up to in the customer service department.

So for now, I'm savoring our last few outings to the Trader, and his yummy merchandise.

A message from Daphne

The kids often ask to "type a message" to someone using one of our email accounts.  I received this message from Daphne the other day:

Allow me to translate:

"gootin tog" = guten Tag = "Good day/hello" in German

"shimepil Daphne" = Je m'appelle Daphne = "My name is Daphne" in French

"hou are you" = "How are you" in English

Now she just has to work in some Luxembourgish and she's all set, eh?