Daphne Turns Siwen

This past Wednesday on 12/12/12, our Daphne turned siwen ("zeevuhn").  On Friday she had a non-sleepover pajama party with a few friends from school.

some of the nationalities and/or languages represented: Luxembourgish, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Italian, Danish, German, Brazilian... 

They ate American pancakes with various toppings.

That's a 7-shaped pancake on Daphne's plate

Once again, video chat was open during the party, allowing the grandparents to check in.

As I suspected it would be, this party was just about as loud and crazy as James' party, and perhaps even louder with the high-pitched-girl-screaming.  I think they were playing a monster-chase game of some sort. Pete took this picture as we were frantically Googling how to calm them down in French and German, as to not (further) anger the neighbors.

apparently they were just ignoring us because Quiet = Quiet in German?!?!

He also took this one - James' way of coping with the chaos...

The girls finally calmed down after awhile, around the time when the art supplies came out.  It was fun to see them all communicating in Luxembourgish, especially when Daphne was able to participate in the conversation at a very functional level.

Then this afternoon she and Pete went to The Hobbit.  Pete's birthday is in a couple of days, and they've been planning this dual-birthday-daddy-daughter-date ever since they finished the book this spring.

2 more Hobbit movies, 2 more birthday dates to go!

(As in other English-language movies shown in Lux, the audio is in English, with French and German subtitles.  However, this doesn't help for the Elvish parts - no English subtitles pop up!)

Daphne reports that she enjoyed the movie, although it was probably a bit too scary at times.  Her favorite part was the song the dwarves sang.  Upon arriving at home she immediately headed to the piano to work out the tune.

Love this kid!

Happy Birthday, Daphne!

A Tale of Four Christmas Trees

This is the story of four Christmas trees - two Oregon trees, and two Luxembourg trees.

Tree #1
The December before Pete and I got married, I picked up an $8 artificial tree at an odd little yard sale and set it up in Pete's apartment.  It was probably less than two feet tall and severely overpriced at $8 second-hand.  Yet, we used and loved that little tree every year from 2002 to 2010.   Each December we would calculate and then giggle at how much money the tree had cost us on a per-year basis, which of course gradually tapered to less than $1 per year.  (Ah, the things frugal nerds find amusing.)

2009

Tree #2
For December 2011, I decided we should get a real tree.  By this point we were solidly in the minimalist camp, and I was tired of awkwardly storing our tree wrapped up in a garbage bag under the stairs all year long.  I decided I would much rather store a little Christmas tree stand - smaller and less awkward.  Also, I think I just missed having a real tree (we always had them growing up), and I wanted the kids to enjoy the experience.  So we picked out a tree at a local parking lot-lot.  And, I have to say, I loved the real tree, especially the smell.

2011

Tree #3
Before we moved to Luxembourg, we sold or otherwise ditched everything that wasn't imminently useful.  The stand we had purchased from the tree lot out of convenience wasn't the greatest, and we didn't know what our tree situation would be in Luxembourg, so we gave it up.  Around mid-November I started thinking about what we might do for a Christmas tree in Luxembourg this year.  I had already seen a few questions/comments regarding where to acquire real trees on the American Women's Club of Luxembourg Facebook page.  Most suggestions were places like Ikea, Cactus (hypermarket), and Hornbach (hardware store) - but all these options were far away and not really doable without a car.  Artificial trees at Auchan (a hypermarket that's much easier by bus from our place than these other locations) were extremely expensive.  Of course, at this point, I was wishing we still had our old $8 tree!

But, as usual, Amazon came to the rescue.  I found a 5 ft tree on Amazon.de (Germany) for around 15 Euros.  This seemed a quite sensible option for a frugal family with no car.  One slight hitch remained: it was through a 3rd party seller and would only ship to Germany.  This is a common issue and fairly easily dealt with; Pete simply asked a co-worker who commutes from Germany (again, common) if we could ship it to her place and she could bring it on the way to work.  So, we were all set!

Meanwhile, a mom from school tipped me off that a little tree lot had just sprung up only a few blocks from our apartment on the other side of Merl Park!  I went over, just to look - they were really expensive, but suddenly I wanted a real tree all over again!  I called Pete to see what he thought--after all, we could probably re-sell or return the artificial one---but between having to hunt down a tree stand and feeling a bit wasteful, we decided to try for a real tree next year.  I also spotted another tree lot in a parking lot near the city center - so clearly, there will be real trees within reach next year.

A couple weeks went by and I finally asked Pete if there was any news on our tree (not exactly sure why I didn't ask before then, maybe I hadn't wanted to seem too pushy or eager or make him pester his coworker).  But upon hearing the question, Pete's eyes popped wide open! "Oh! I forgot to tell you! She was in a car accident!!  She's okay, but she's in the hospital and we don't know when she'll be back at work!"

Okay, so then I just felt bad.  I felt really bad for the woman.  And I felt bad that we didn't know if/when we'd get our tree.  And I felt the most bad for even feeling remotely bad about our stupid tree when a poor girl had been injured in a car accident.

Still, I resigned myself to patiently waiting for our tree.  It sounded like Pete's co-worker would be back before Christmas at least.  But a couple of days went by, and possibly because this is our first Christmas away from "home" and family, I started feeling like I needed a tree sooner rather than later.  When I shared my predicament with a couple friends over a croissant in the city center, joking that I could take a tree on the bus, one of them remarked that she'd seen people do it.  It was then I decided, I'm getting us a real tree!  Today!

Tree #4 
With an extra spring in my step, I walked from the city center over to the lot I'd spotted a few days before.  These trees were quite a bit cheaper than the ones near our place (still not cheap), but they didn't sell stands.  So I hopped on the bus to Auchan to pick up a stand and some tree lights (realizing for the first time that the lights in my Christmas storage box would not work with European voltage!).  They only sold one kind of stand and the thing was 33 Euros!  But it was clearly a quality German product, fancy, does all kinds of unnecessary things - but beggars can't be choosers, and I wasn't about to "shop around" for tree stands on the bus all day long.  So I bought it and headed for the lot.  The way I figured, this lot was a block or so from the bus stop for the bus that would put me about two blocks from my front door, and thus was actually a bit closer walking-wise than trying to drag a tree home from the lot at the park near our place, at which there was minimal tree selection anyway.  So I picked out one of the smallest trees on the lot.  Fortunately, the lots here neatly bag up the tree for you in a net.  The gentleman assisting me asked if he could put it in my car for me.  I told him I was taking the bus.  He laughed.

So I poked a hole through the net, grabbed the trunk, and started walking.  The thing was 5 feet tall and pretty heavy, so I stopped to put it down or switch hands every 30 steps or so.  After several funny looks at the bus stop, my bus arrived.  Mercifully, it was nearly empty.

The two blocks and change from the bus stop to my door were tough, but I got my arm workout in for the day at least.

made it! (self-portrait in our building lobby)

And...Voila!

2012

Snow in Luxembourg

We've now had a couple of snow storms this December.  What follows is an exorbitant number of snow photos.  Snow is pretty.

park in city center

pirate ship park

Merl Park near our place

little tree lot at Merl Park

on the way to church (Limpertsberg)

on my way to get groceries.  happy to not be driving!

on my way to get the kids form school

the school kids I got

school yard with another layer of snow

school yard from another angle

school yard yet another angle, and just a few minutes later, after the light changed.  James throwing snowball!

yep, more school yard.  Daphne might be making a snow angel.  She might just be tired.

snow cherub

walking home from school

yeah, we did that.  shhh...

First Christmas Market (for 3/4s of the Ts)

Exactly one year ago, Pete visited Luxembourg for the first time.  As part of his weekend stay with a friend, he experienced his first Christmas market.  The Christmas market is a common phenomenon in European cities.  It's typically held in the town square and lasts for all of December, and consists of several wood huts selling trinkets, gifts, food, and hot mulled wine.

At this time, I would like to turn the keyboard over to Pete for a moment so that he can properly explain the role the Luxembourg Christmas market played in our eventual move here:

"During a particularly grim assignment for my last company, I was marooned for about four weeks in rural southwestern France.  However, since I couldn't go home on the weekends, the company paid for me to travel, and since I only knew one person in all of continental Europe, I figured I'd pay him a visit. Thanks, Matt!

Among the many things that I loved about Luxembourg on that first visit was the Christmas market.  I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it at first.  My conversation with Matt went something like this:

Me:  So... what's everyone drinking?
Matt:  Glühwein - it's like a hot sweet wine for the winter.
Me:  (now drinking and thoroughly enjoying a Glühwein) Wow this is good!  And it looks like everyone is enjoying sausages too!
Matt:  There's also crepes.
Me: (now drinking Glühwein and with a mouth full of Nutella crepe) Mmmph mmmm uhmm mm mmm? -- translation --- "and this happens how often?"
Matt:  Uh, every day in December up to Christmas.
Me:  So let me summarize.  So... everyone just gets together in the middle of town to drink mulled wine, sing Christmas songs, and eat sausages and crepes?  Everyday?

At this point it clicked for me that Europe/Luxembourg has some things figured out.  It doesn't get much better as far as simple-community-pleasures-on-a-winters-day go than hot wine and street food, and all your friends in the same place.  For some reason, it just made sense to me that if the people and the city of Luxembourg were this serious about The Christmas Market, then this would be a good place to live and raise a family.  Dubious logic I suppose, but there you have it."

Yes, there you have it.  So a couple weeks ago we all stopped by this "famous" Christmas market on our way home from church.

not the greatest picture, but it was difficult to capture a good view of the whole thing

And here are a few more shots from walking around the market....

Santa waving Lux flag

typical gift stand

large heart-shapped cookies and other treats

A few of the huts provided some semi-indoor space, a welcome shelter from the cold.

chocky chaud (French nickname for "hot chocolate") is another popular drink

and of course, some Glühwein.  1 euro deposit for the mug.

Daphne found a classmate, so we stopped to enjoy some street food with her and her family.

bandstand for Christmas concerts in the background

And finally, for the big news of the day (and those of you who know me well will know why this is big news), I tried the Gluhwein - and liked it!  It was quite sweet with a lovely mix of Christmasy spices.

I stole Pete's so he had to go get another!

Verdict: the Christmas market receives my solid stamp of approval as worthwhile Christmas tradition.  I'll take this over a shopping mall or Black Friday any day.  Although I don't think I'll be partaking in the retail aspect, the market itself supplies a pleasant atmosphere and experience.  It's truly a simple community pleasure, so right up our alley.

My only complaint is that it can be quite cold standing around outside, but that's what proper winter clothing and Glühwein is for!!

Happy Klees'chen Day!

The 6th of December is a special day in Luxembourg - the celebration of St. Nicolas.  I assume that many Americans think St. Nick is just another name for Santa Claus.  I did.

Turns out, it's not that simple. At least in Luxembourg it's not.

As our kids are in the local schools and we'd like to incorporate a little Luxembourgish tradition into our lives, we wanted to find out what we're "supposed" to do for December 6th.  I knew there was no school the elementary grades this day, that it's kind of a big deal, and that Daphne and James were talking and singing songs about "Klees'chen" beginning in sometime in November.  We soon deduced that this is the Luxembourgish name for St. Nicolas.

The St. Nicolas Center website is a great resource for St. Nick background and traditions.

Here is an excerpt from the Luxembourg page at the St. Nicolas Center website:

"During November, St. Nicolas, known as Klees'chen, comes to Luxembourg to check and see if the children deserve any presents. He is also found in shops where children have pictures taken with him. For days and weeks before St. Nicolas Day on December 6th, children put their shoes or slippers on the windowsill or in front of their bedroom doors. During the night, St. Nicolas may drop chocolates or other sweets into the shoes as he travels around learning about children's behavior. He also visits school classrooms.

On the Eve of St. Nicholas Day, children put a plate on the table for St. Nicolas to fill with sweets when he comes with gifts. A donkey carries the toys and sweets and Nicolas is accompanied by angels or maye Housécker (Black Peter or Père Fouettard) who brings a bag of switches. In the past, Nicholas' gifts were oranges, nuts, and perhaps a pair of socks. Now, however, they might be Lego sets or even fancy electronics, as St. Nicholas Day is the primary day for gift giving."

As mentioned above, Klees'chen has sidekicks, which vary from country to country, but many are a version of a character called "Black Peter." Black Peter ranges anywhere from playful and jester-like:

a Dutch Zwarte Piet (yes, there's been a lot of controversy in recent years about this one) - source: Wikipedia

...to a character much more sinister that resembles the Grim Reaper...

a Luxembourgish Housecker.  source: sycamore stirrings

You can read about all the different iterations here.  For now, I'll include one more...

found this set at the local hypermarket.  A Black Peter rides on the back.  In some traditions, St. Nick arrives on a boat from Madrid.  No, I didn't buy it.

You're probably already catching on to how navigating Klees'chen Day is not as simple following the instructions on the Luxembourg St. Nick page.  In a nutshell, the way people celebrate the December holidays in Luxembourg is as diverse as the country itself.  As far as I know, if you are Luxembourgish through and through, December 6th is the day that gifts are exchanged, and nothing of the sort happens on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, whether or not you celebrate the birth of Jesus at that time.  Yet "Luxembourgish through and through" only describes a handful of the population, even in the local schools. 

When I asked a few expat friends from various countries who have their kids in local schools about their traditions, this unfortunately only left me more confused.   Some consider St. Nick and Santa Claus two completely different fellows, and invoke each one on his respective "eve."  Sometimes the two guys even know each other and trade notes on the kids' behavior!  Some do boots, some stockings, some shoes, some slippers...some do chocolates, some coins, some small gifts, some big gifts, some sticks, some coal....  I figured that some Catholics in the U.S must celebrate a more traditional St. Nicolas, but now I know that in some cities, particularly in the the midwestern United States, St. Nick and his traditions are very widely practiced on the 6th.

What's especially tricky is that although we'd like to embrace the traditions of our newly-adopted country, our little family has never even done Santa, and would rather not start.  I will restrain myself from ranting against Mr. Claus and the whole "system" surrounding the guy, but suffice it to say, we'd just rather take a pass, and that it doesn't actually have much to do with the fact that we are Christian and do celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas.  We exchange gifts on Christmas, but they're all from real people.  Thus, it's basically the same deal for us with Klees'chen - Luxembourgish tradition or not, we'd rather not elaborately lie to tell the kids he's real/currently alive and that he's really checking to see if they're bad or good and bringing them stuff accordingly.  (Ok, so I mostly restrained myself).

Last weekend Pete took the kids to the grocery store, and to their surprise, a Klees'chen greeted them at the door with a box containing crackers, juice, and some chocolate.  I admit, I'm still on Pete's case for not snapping a picture, but according to him, the Klees'chen quickly disappeared.  Hmm....

Klees'chen also visited James' class at school yesterday.  Apparently he talked to each child individually, and James said he was pretty sure Klees'chen asked in Luxembourgish if he'd been good.  James must have seemed sincere in his affirmative answer, as he was given some snacks and a traditional chocolate Klees'chen:

So, in the end we decided to celebrate today by giving the kids a small gift (not inside any footwear) and saying "Happy Klees'chen Day!"  Daphne asked if it was really Klees'chen who brought the gifts.  We said no, we just give gifts on Klees'chen Day in Luxembourg because Klees'chen was a man who lived a long time ago who was known for his generous giving, but to please not mention this to the other kids at school.  We also decorated our Christmas tree.  I have to say, if I was to celebrate at St. Nicolas, Klees'chen, or Santa Claus, or even exchange gifts as we'd typically do, I'd actually much rather do it on the 6th!  As our family does celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas, I'm all for keeping this other bit separate.

Now, if I can just convince the extended family...

Here are a couple more worthwhile links:

Article from today's newspaper

U.S. St. Nick Day Celebrations - including a photo from Portland, Oregon!

A special connection between Luxembourg and an American St. Nicolas, 1944. - you might need a Kleenex handy.  You can also watch the films here.

Math in Luxembourgish School (Fall, 1st Grade)

Daphne had her first math test today.  I thought I'd share a couple pages from her math workbook, "Flex und Flo." Apparently, Flex is the spring-looking duck-guy, and Flo is the green ball with limbs.

One interesting thing about the public school curriculum Luxembourg is that all kids in the same grade do the same exact thing.  So, all 1st grade (Cycle 2.1) classes in the country are using Flex und Flo and are should be at the same place in the curriculum right now.  The same goes for the German curriculum.

"Rechnen bis 10" is "Count to 10."  In this first unit they learned to write all the numbers from 1 to 10 and worked on basic addition and subtraction.  They have now moved onto patterns, shapes, and simple geometry in their 2nd workbook.

Yes, math is a universal language (thankfully!!!).  Still, there are a few subtle differences.  For example, the European number 1 is written like this:

In practice, I've noticed many adults make he tail on the 1 start all the way an the bottom of the number, like an upside-down V.  I've started writing my #1 like this too!

Then, the 7 has a cross in the middle.  The 9 looks like our lower-case latter g.

Watching Daphne write numbers reminds me of growing up watching my British mom write numbers.  I remember the number 1 in particular looking funny to me.

This page below could easily be from and American math workbook, yet the give-away is that two panels feature sausage math!

And then we just thought that these terrified mushrooms were kind of cute.

No-Car Update: Medical Issues and Emergencies

Yep, I knew the day was coming, but I still wasn't ready.  We're all fine now, and things could have been a lot worse.

Still, last week was definitely not our greatest.

For some background, you can read more about our no-car lifestyle here, but suffice it to say that in our view, the three main issues with not owing a car are:

1. Shopping (we're managing fine)
2. Travel (we're managing okay here too, the most "luxury" of the issues)
3. Medical Issues and Emergencies....

This last one is the no-car issue I care most about - the one I fear.  The others are just lifestyle and attitude adjustments, suffering some inconveniences but often trading for other great benefits.  But issue #3 was put to the test this week.  I wrote out the whole story the other night, long and detailed, but decided against posting it all here.  It's just too, too long and woe-is-me.  Instead, I'll just mention that the three problems we encountered last week were: 1) my back went out completely and I basically couldn't move, 2) James gashed his head, resulting in a a trip to the ER, and 3) Daphne developed a nasty double ear infection.  These maladies resulted in 5 separate interactions/visits with doctors.  Through a combination of bus rides, walks, rides from friends, a bit of luck, and even one house-call, it all turned out okay in the end.

So this will still be a bit long, but mercifully not as long as what I'd typed initially.

Here are 7 lessons learned from last week:

1. It's difficult to make a plan until you are faced with the actual situation the plan would address (duh).  I think this is especially true in a foreign country, where you may have "heard" about what to do and where to go, but have never done it in person.  After you have experienced the system once, medical or otherwise, you can make a plan for next time.  When you don't have a car, this plan requires an extra degree of creativity and resourcefulness.  Even so, you can't predict and plan for everything and will always make decisions on the fly, car or no car.

2. (And a subset of #1) - I need a special list of people I can call if we find ourselves in a medical pickle or emergency that requires a car.  The key to this list will be that I have specifically talked to each person ahead of time and they've agreed that they will drop what they're doing, within reason, and come to our aid.  Then I will know exactly who to call, and they've already given me permission to "bother" them.  (Side note:  It's always amusing to me how "bothering people" is pretty much the cardinal sin in modern Western culture.  But I digress...)  And I will be happy to help them if they're ever in trouble.  I'll just have to take the bus/walk/bike to get to them, but in many situations this is sufficient.  Perhaps I can watch kids or bring something from the store or just provide company and support.  But the point is that I'll help in any way I can. Exchanges of help, friendship, and goodwill need not be one-for-one, apples-to-apples transactions.  However, because of my North American guilt and worry, I'll feel better if I have the list.

3. In some instances this week, a car of my own would have really helped, and in some it really wouldn't have made much difference.  If you can't walk, you can't get to a car.  I can't have both eyes on both kids 100% of the time, and accidents happen.  They can happen near your car if have one, or far away from it.  One must often rely on passers-by and good Samaritans to give you the help you need.  But in a serious emergency, car or no car, you just call an ambulance, which I do know how to do here (and which we did not have to do this week!).  It's comforting to know that this is always an option.

4. It's a bit daunting to face navigating public transport after a traumatic ordeal or during an illness, particularly in the cold/wet with kids thrown in the mix.  But guess what?  It's also sometimes daunting to face grocery shopping on the bus, particularly in the cold/wet with kids thrown in the mix.  Heck, it's sometimes daunting to grocery shop by car!   So?  You gotta eat, so you buck up and do it.   As Daphne would say, you "pump up your feelings!" and find a way.  Still, common sense dictates the situation, and there will be times when we just need a ride.  Then we must "pump up our feelings" and "bother" someone.  (And Western civilization sucks in a collective gasp of horror!)

5. Whether or not you have your own car, but if you do have kids, it's great to call someone to come help when medical problems arise.  As I say, I think we--people--should do this more.  It could be your spouse or another family member, but sometimes they can't get there.  Maybe we should all reach out to some friends to make that special list of people to call day-or-night, car or no car.  Although we took the bus to Daphne's appointment for her ear infections, we got a ride back.  Not only was it helpful in transporting a sick kid, but it also meant Daphne could sit with my friend in the car parked a block away while I ran into the pharmacy to get antibiotics, and while I ran into our friend's house to pick up James on the way home.  Not to mention, a friendly face and a little company goes a long way these situations.

6. The medical system in Luxembourg is quite good in dealing with urgent cases and semi-emergencies - accessible, prompt, user-friendly.  No complaints.

7. Free comics from the doctor's office to read on the bus are entertaining in any language.

I still don't know what language this is, actually.  I know it's not French, German, or Luxembourgish...