While it's a challenge to think about moving and living in another country, there are so many ways to benefit from such an opportunity. Some days that we've been here have been a bit intimidating. Mostly it's the language barrier that causes the issues, but other times it's just dealing with a different way of doing things. We can either embrace the journey or hide from it. Frankly, it's easier to hide from it.
We can stay within our comfort zones with people from our country. We can refuse to learn the native language. We can be arrogant about our Americanism. We can close ourselves off. But, why come to a new place to begin with?
New experiences, even frightening ones, allow us to grow. We learn from them. We discover our limits, and usually we find we can tolerate more than we thought. We also learn about people and the world, and this new knowledge makes us better residents of this planet.
Having been in much more intimidating experiences than living in Luxembourg, I've learned it's best to approach these adventures as positively as possible. One of the ways I do that is to list things about that place or culture that I find interesting, or beautiful, or inspiring, or just plain smart. I've started my Luxembourg list and would like to share it with you.
1. Heated towel racks. What's better than stepping out of the shower and into a nice warm towel? Not much. The racks also serve as bathroom heaters.
2. Bathroom stall indicators. When you lock a stall door in a public restroom, a switch on the outside changes from green to red. No more bending over looking for feet!
3. Orchids. Every house has them in the windows, and they're just marvelous.
4. No carpeting. They only use tile or wood. That means the floors never gather crud and if the cat vomits, it's a cinch to clean.
5. Waffles. They aren't your mama's breakfast treat. The Belgians invented them and everyone else benefits. They selling them hot out of trucks, from vending machines, and serve them with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Prepackaged ones (and I'm not talking Eggos) make great snacks to take on a ride and fit perfectly in a pocket.
6. Separate yet not totally separate beds. I'm not sure if people have them in their homes, but if they do we're getting one. All the nice hotels we've been in have them. They have one large platform bed in which they place two twin size mattresses (or what their equivalents are). Each mattress has it's own set of sheets and blankets. That means no disturbance from your partner when they are dreaming of playing soccer and no cover battles. Brilliant, I say!
7. Dinners with class. When you go to a restaurant here, you are expected to enjoy yourself. When you get your table, it's yours for the night. The server will not rush you through your meal to free up the table. That means you have time to enjoy your food which is always delicious. In Luxembourg the food is French and comes in German portions!
8. City centers. Yeah, we have outdoor malls, but they're always the same. AND, you still have to drive to them because they're in the test of strip mall hell. Here the designer clothing stores, the butcher, the bank and everything else are located in a pedestrian only center. If you live in the heart of the cities, you don't need a car. Plus, they are the cultural centers too. Every week they have an outdoor market or performances of some sort. They serves to tie the community together. I wish our cities in the States continued to use their downtowns the same way.
9. Sparkling water. All the fizz without the calories. Unlike back home, it's standard fare here and hardly more expensive than "flat" water.
10. Culinary variety. This isn't a three meat place (beef, chicken, fish). Expect to find venison, pheasant, stag, and boar. Of course, there are a few things you may not want to try like escargot and horse.
Of course, that's not all. I'm sure I'll have many more things to add over the next few years. For now we're back in the good ole US for five weeks until we go back for good. I'm pretty sure I'll be expanding my list with Christmas in Luxembourg.
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