Observations from our First Week

We've been here one week and though it's not enough time to be settled in, I do have a few observations...

• Hard Water -- did you know it will stain your best pasta pot?
• Garbage disposal -- never knew how much I loved it!!
• Daylight -- It is light outside VERY early and stays light until REALLY late. Try explaining that to children who are already having sleep problems. I especially love my own words coming back to me.. "You said we sleep when it's dark and play when it's light"... words of wisdom that worked well in Charlotte, NC. I went by this theory the first night until 10:00 rolled around and my children were adamant they could still see a sliver of sun. My new words of wisdom... close the lovely black as night darkening shades/curtains in your room and use your imagination that you see stars and moonlight.
• No AC during heat wave -- I grew up without central heat and air but I have come to love the finer things in life. I will be adding AC to that list.
• Heat Waves (i.e. 80-85 degree weather) -- are far too short (and apparently there are few of them). Yes, I want my cake and eat it too!
• Apartment living -- I am constantly worried about being too noisy. I never realized I gave birth to elephants!!
• Getting "stuff" home -- On our way to a home store, we passed three twenty something girls carrying a 6' ladder down the street. These girls were not carpenters or painters unless their attire here is a cute dress that flows all the way to the sidewalk. I smirked to myself "I bet they wished they had a car" (of course, with the size of the cars here I'm not sure it would have fit). One hour later, I am carrying 2 heavy fans, an iron and a Brita water pitcher (remember the hard water... yucky!) down the street. Love Karma!
• Getting "stuff" home (part 2) --Hire a taxi!! Which is exactly what we did to get home from IKEA.
• Food/grocery store challenge -- it's like a game... can you guess what something is called here? Anyone know the name for hamburger buns? Baps... uh?
• Walking Hazards -- I got honked at (& called a stupid woman) because I looked the wrong way when crossing the street so I stepped out in front of him (to my defense, the traffic was back up and he had nowhere to go). I got honked at for standing near a crosswalk without crossing the street. So apparently my biggest obstacle so far in a new country is learning how to walk down the street.
• Our Kids -- are learning to lean on and play with each other because they have no one else. It's a beautiful thing to experience (right up until Logan has had enough of all this togetherness and whacks Isabelle in the head, stomach, back... take your pick).