Settling In: The First Few Days

Months ago, I made a resolution to myself that we would settle in quickly once we arrived France. The sooner we could take care of all the "un-fun" business, the sooner we could enjoy ourselves and get to the good stuff! I realize this is not a new concept, but it is one that we tend to be notoriously bad at. Anyone who ever visited our house in Houston can attest to this - in three years we never got around to buying a dining room table, and let's not even mention the landscaping... So in order to make the most of our time in France, I decided to work against my procrastination tendency and get to work!


So after 10 days, how am i doing? Well, moving to a new house is stressful. Moving to a new country? Totally different ballgame! Nothing is the same here. We went to four different stores before we managed to find dog food, and it felt like a big success when we finally found it! If dog food takes two hours and four stores, imagine setting up a French bank account, or understanding cell phone contracts - which in my opinion are confusing enough in English. But we are getting there. We do have a bank account, although we don't know how to use it yet. On a related note, did you know that credit cards in Europe have chips instead of magnetic strips? This was news to me, and it will be a big relief to have "European Visas," because very few places will accept "American Visas." We have also received recommendations for vets and pet sitters for Max and Min, which is crucial, since we can't pick up and go anywhere if they aren't taken care of. We've started the apartment hunting process, and are learning our way around town pretty quickly. We have the inner-city tram system mastered! I even managed to figure out how to do laundry, which also took me a few tries before I got it right. We thought this would work fine as laundry detergent, see the clothes on the box?

Too bad we didn't notice this until we got home.

I went through a similar process with dishwasher soap. Automatic dryers are also very rare here. Everyone uses these thingys:

I guess I'm going to have to make fast friends with my clothing iron unless I want a closet full of wrinkly clothes.

 

But along with the stresses of moving have been a number of pleasant finds as well. Our temporary apartment is in a neighborhood called "The Antigone." It is one of the newer parts of town (i.e. air conditioning and elevators), and we are really enjoying the area. If it wasn't a full hour each way to the office everyday, we might consider settling in around here. They have big outdoor markets every other day, plenty of green space for the dogs, and of course, my favorite pizza joint! They don't speak a word of English, but they are super nice and the pizza is delicious!!

I have already been three times in two weeks. It's a surprise every time we go: point to something on the menu, nod and smile, and see what you end up with! We are still learning our "menu French."

 

We are finding that every day here is a struggle and a surprise. Nothing is simple or expected, but with a lot of patience and humility, we are figuring out our new lives in Montpellier, one task at a time!