Surprises

My friend Darren asked: "What has been the most positive surprise? ... The most negative?" It made me think about all the surprising and interesting things (big & small) so far on this journey...

Sunnier weather as well as spending more time outdoors has a good impact on my mental wellbeing. I knew this to be true but it feels more significant. The weather has been great and we often open all the French doors in our place and it feels like we're outside.

On the negative side... People here often don't pickup their dog poop from the sidewalk and it's everywhere. Not sure what the rules are but it's gross. On the way moving to the apartment our large suitcase rolled through some. Didn't notice it until I was on the wheels end of that suitcase as John and I carried it up the stairs.

Phone and internet is less than half the cost than in the US, and with much faster speeds. John is so excited!

Air conditioning is not common here. Apparently only 20% of homes in Europe have AC compared with 90% in the U.S. We did buy a small AC unit for the bedroom that just arrived today.

Milk is found on the store shelf unrefrigerated. I had to look that up before drinking it! In France (and in all parts of Europe), milk is pasteurized using “ultra-high temperature” processing or UHT, that heats it above 275 degrees for a few seconds. This method means that milk can last for months without refrigeration before it's opened. This is very convenient! You may ask why the US doesn't do this. Apparently, in the early 1990s one company attempted to sell UHT milk on American shelves, but it never caught on. Why? For starters, the high temperatures make UHT milk taste a bit more “cooked”. Also, Americans worried that milk that’s not cold isn’t actually safe.

Old buildings break often. I would say this is the most negative surprise so far. Now that I'm writing about it, I realize it probably shouldn't have been so unexpected. I was surprised by the sitting water in our dining room after the storm, the elevator being out for a month, as well as some of the other repairs that need to be made to our apartment. But after talking to other expats, these are things that happen.

All the French people we've interacted with so far have been very nice to us. They have been patient with our level of French and encouraging too. This has been the most pleasant surprise.

Loving our adventure and all the interesting experiences. As Darren said, "most of the problems so far are nothing that a glass of wine at a cafe will not solve!"