I finally make it into the country that is soon to be my home. It was sooo great to see Tony down the long hallway waiting for me. I didn't even realize just how much I had missed him until then.
Our first stop is to tour Isabelle's new school, The American School in London. You would think that since she is an American living in London that she would automatically be admitted but not so much. We had to fill out lots of paperwork, her kindergarten teacher had to write a short essay for a recommendation (Thanks for such a great one Ms. Bukovitz) and Isabelle had to draw pictures for them. The admissions board deemed her fit to attend their school. We found out on the tour that Logan is not guaranteed a spot just because his sister is there. He has to go through the same admissions process and be admitted on his on merit. Here's hoping he has a good year at preschool next year. Oh, by the way, not attending preschool next year is not an option as far as the American school is concerned. Point blank, he won't get in if he is not in some sort of educational institution the year leading into kindergarten. I didn't think too much of it until I started looking into "preschools" which there are more like private education schools with a little more recess time. And they cost just as much!!! We're not sure what we are going to do about that yet but, like Scarlett, I'll think about that tomorrow.
We then spent a few days walking around the neighborhoods where we might live. On Tuesday and Wednesday we drove around with Juliett, our agent, looking at LOTS of houses in all different shapes, sizes and conditions! A strange thing there is that the people living there stay there while you tour the house unlike here where you are expected to leave the premise. At some houses, the owners took us on their on personal tour and pointed out all the great reasons for picking that house/flat. One place was still under so much construction that a guy yelled at me for stepping on his freshly placed tile... oops! Another was an older cute French couple who had Tony sit with them for a chat, meanwhile their son had a room occupied that we were not allowed to look in... the door must stay closed. And yet another, had adults and children throughout the four floors carrying on with their life... eating breakfast, just getting out of the shower with nothing but a robe on... all quite normal I guess.
In the end, we went with a very modern (comparatively speaking) flat. It is not at all what I envisioned . I really thought I wanted an older, quaint place, something with lots of
character. But all those places had strange smells or really odd layouts. The one I really loved had a very strange entrance and a staircase Logan would surely damage himself on somehow. I do however love the place we ultimately chose. It's not quaint really but it is spacious compared to what I had expected to find. Here are a few pictures of our new home (we are on the top floor). Hope you all will visit!!
