Transition Journal: My Daily Update From the First Days of Our Move

Hey everyone! So this week I found the daily journal I kept from the first few days after we moved to France and I figured you all might be interested in reading it. To be honest, not many exciting things happened the first few days as school hadn't started and we didn't really have much to do, but I figured it might be worth a read to at least someone so here it is! A couple of notes before you start...:

1. First, please keep in mind that I wrote this over two years ago (at age 12) and I was in a very different headspace, so don't be offended by anything I write, I purposely didn't cut out some things because I think it's a part of the story. I also know the way it's written is kind of, well, embarrassing, so please just remember I was younger!

2. I added some of my notes from today in here so some of the comments in parentheses were written from the present day. Just something to keep in mind so you don't get confused!

Enjoy!

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We left on the 25th of August, 2018 at around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. We had a long flight where I watched four episodes of Some Assembly Required, one of The Worst Witch, and I finished the movie Zapped. I also watched a few random things on the TVs that were on the back of the back of the seats. I could barely sleep due to a baby that would not stop SCREAMING! It was so annoying! I woke up, but didn’t eat the breakfast of a sandwich they served me, because I wasn’t feeling that well. We stopped at Starbucks after getting off the plane in Paris and going through customs and all that jazz. We hopped on a train headed for Strasbourg. It was really fast! We finally arrived and looked for Gee, the owner of the temporary house we were renting who offered to pick us up. We drove through Robertsau, a town in Strasbourg. We finally arrived at Rue Himmerich, and there we met Katherine, Gee’s wife. They showed us to our “apartment” with me and Leo’s room upstairs and one bathroom. They very kindly invited us to their apartment for some wine and snacks. They lived two flights of stairs down. Their apartment decor was very cute with a giant watch clock on the wall and lots of string lights and Buddhas. We were introduced to two of their sons. They mostly played PS4 and iPad with Leo the whole time. I sat and talked with the adults while snacking on pretzels, dried breadsticks, and an Italian lemon drink. Later on, Katherine offered to make us crêpes. How could I refuse crêpes? I had a few with crunchy Nutella in them. So. Good! At around ten o'clock, we said goodnight and headed up for bed. I unpacked a little and then fell asleep.

*Picture of Strasbourg taken on a walk with the Cathedral visible in the background.

On Monday morning I woke up pretty late after having woken up early before falling back asleep again due to jet lag. We took a walk to the grocery store nearby to get some breakfast, but before that, we discovered that Katherine and Gee had delivered some fresh bread to our doorstep, so we had a little. When we got back from the store, we ate some cereal and because it had started to rain a little, we did not go running. I went back upstairs and took a nap because I was very tired. When I woke up, I ventured downstairs and watched a little TV with Leo before heading back upstairs. I was still very exhausted and jet lagged, so when I laid down, I fell asleep. I woke up to my mom yelling up the stairs asking if I was asleep. I said no even though I had just woken up (insert laughter here((sorry mom))).

I got ready quickly and then my dad arrived home from work. He was excited because the company gave him a company car and he didn’t think he would be getting one. We headed to the CIO, which is a place where Leo had an appointment to be evaluated to see if he could get into the public international schools. When we arrived at the address, we were a bit early so we walked a little bit before finding a small bakery and coffee shop where my mom, dad, and I got coffees. They were really good and super hot! When we got back to the office, we met Line, pronounced Lynn, who is the lady from the company that helps us with schools, housing, settling in, etc. She explained to us a little bit about the CIO, and then we went in. The people at the front desk spoke rapid French, so Line was our translator. It turned out that they were able to do both mine and Leo’s appointments at once instead of mine the next day. Leo and my mom went with the lady who spoke a little English and Line, my dad and I went with the French lady. We sat down in an office and the lady began asking Line questions, who translated for us so we could answer. It was simple stuff, like our names, how much French we knew, etc. The only work I had to do was write a few sentences about how I envisioned myself in ten years. I wrote about how I hoped to be in a successful college. We wrapped it up after that and Line, dad and I talked more about the schools so we could have a better understanding of what was going on. Once Leo and mom were done, we all said goodbye to Line and got back in the car to go to the private school, Biss, or Lucie Berger, where we had an appointment with the assistant principal, Madame Bologne. She spoke perfect English, which was such a relief. She was super informative and she described her school and all its advantages and disadvantages in a kind an honest way. She was up front about everything and super helpful. We decided that we really like that school academically, but there were problems for me. I could not start seventh grade due to their program and if I went there, I would be in sixth.* We thanked her and talked about it a little more on the way back to the car.

*The River Ile that surrounds the island.

We decided to stay in the area a bit and find a place for dinner. We walked around for a little bit but it became clear that Leo and I were starving, so we stopped at the first place we saw, a crêperie and burger place. I got a crêpe with cheese, Leo got a burger and dad also had a crêpe. We decided to eat by the benches near the river. There were wasps near where we were sitting. It panicked me and Leo and we both stood up. Later, the wasp came back and I dropped one fourth of my crêpe in my fear. Soon, we walked around a little bit and then headed back home. Once at home, my mom needed a few more things from the store, so I begrudgingly volunteered to go with her. We picked up a few things and talked a little bit more about the schooling. When we got home, we ate mini ice creams that mom and I had gotten and then we read and hung out before going to bed.

I had a murderous night. I woke up at around two o'clock and stayed up the rest of the night because I couldn't sleep! I read and played on my kindle and tried so hard to sleep. In the end, I didn’t fall asleep until around six thirty a.m. and then I was woken up by my mom at seven because it was important I got used to the time change. I was really tired, but I pulled myself up and got dressed because mom insisted that we go for a run. Yay! (That was sarcastic.) We ran about point seven of a mile (and no, I won't be converting that into kilometers for you) before heading back into the area of our house and stopping at O Papilles, a bakery. Unfortunately, it was closed. We headed back home. I showered and got ready and read a little bit while mom decided what we were going to do today. She decided that we would walk to the Orangerie, a nearby park. We took a long walk there, getting lost once, before finally arriving at the entrance. It was huge! It reminded my mom of a mini central park. We wandered a bit, exploring playgrounds, lakes, fountains, a mini zoo, houses, and the nature in general. It was very pretty. We walked around and Leo played at the playground a little bit before we headed out to run some errands and find some lunch along the way. We walked a lot more because we were trying to find an electronic store so my mom could charge my dad’s laptop.

We got super hungry and we eventually found a panini place, which is exactly what mom wanted for lunch. There were so many wasps inside the shop though, and I was super freaked! (As you maybe figuring out, the wasps were a huge problem for me when we first moved here, haha*) I stayed outside and looked in the door at the display case. My mom and I decided to split this amazing sandwich that had lettuce, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and pesto sauce. It was, as I mentioned, amazing! Leo had a croissant. We each got cokes, since we were extremely exhausted and the caffeine might help us. We started eating, but before long, a wasp came to bother us. Leo and I stood up, taking our food with us. Unfortunately, the wasp crawled into my coke, due to the sugars and nectars in it. My mom tried to shake it out, but it would not come out. Eventually, we just threw it away. We moved from our table to a bench to finish eating and I shared Leo’s coke. After lunch, we walked some more and stumbled across an ice cream shop. This one, though, had lots of wasps around and we figured out that we couldn’t get it anyway, because they only take cash and we had yet to withdraw Euros from an ATM. We kept walking before finding another ice cream place that looked good. I got caramel ice cream and dark chocolate, mom got raspberry and milk chocolate, and Leo got the same as me. The cool thing about this place? They shaped the ice cream into a flower on top of the cone! It was so pretty! We took pictures before devouring them pretty quickly. Walking some more, I found a cool shop with some items like mugs, art, and notebooks and Leo found a cool shop all about video game and board game things called The Games Workshop. We then gave up on the electronic store, being so tired and we decided to just head home.

*I unfortunately do not have a picture of our ice cream but here is pretty much what it looked like.

We decided to try and figure out the tram, because it would have been a super long walk back to Robertsau. We located a station and attempted to buy tickets, and after a long time deliberating and a kind, helpful lady helping us out, we got tickets and figured out our stops. We boarded the tram and changed one to two times. I read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, but it was the Disney version, so it featured pictures and a different summary. When we got off at our final stop, it was a fifteen minute walk back. We finally made it to the house and rested and had a snack before heading back out to the grocery store once more. We grabbed a few more things and then went back again. Mom made our first homemade meal. It was chicken (I wasn't vegetarian yet!), green beans, and these mashed potatoes with carrots in them. The portions here are so small, and I was a little hungry still after. It was good though, anyway. We finished up and Leo discovered that the kids of the owners of our rental were out playing soccer in the garden. I finished up a few things before getting ready to go outside and join them. When I went down, I played on the eleven year old’s team. We were pretty good and we totally dominated. Later on, we went inside and I got ready for bed. After playing some games, we went to bed. I slept much better!

This morning I woke up and totally tried to sleep in, but it was so bright, that I eventually gave in. I went downstairs and had a whole grapefruit. It was super good! Then everyone got ready for the day pretty slowly. Mom and Leo were deciding if we were feeling up to go running, or if we just wanted to walk to the bakery for breakfast. Leo said we could walk, which was such a relief to me. After breakfast, we got ready to go. We walked to the Orangerie and stopped at the dog park, because there were two cute corgis and a pretty husky. We pet them and then continued walking all through the Orangerie. I ate a sandwich on one of the benches and Leo had a bar. Finally, we emerged in search of the electronics store once more. It was a super long walk, and my feet felt dead. When we got there, guess what? It was closed! I was super annoyed, especially because mom made us walk another ten minutes to a different electronics store! We finally got the adaptor thingie she needed and then we went in search of ice cream again. We saw a few places, but none of them were what we were looking for (meaning they were Ben & Jerry’s and not traditional french ice cream!). Finally, we settled at a yummy looking place. I ordered the Cookie flavor, Leo got dark chocolate, and mom got raspberry again. It was pretty good. Then we walked over to Biss so we could drop off paperwork. We got there okay and some nice men helped us get inside the locked door. Then, we walked along slowly, in desperate search of a tram station because by now it was later in the afternoon and we wanted to go home. When we got to the second to last stop, we walked home because we failed to find a bus station like we had planned. Finally, we got back to the house. I read and ate a peach. Later on, I texted friends and family and facetimed a few people. After that, I headed off to the nearby grocery store alone. I got more peaches, because they were so good, and some dog food. I made my way home and then rested and texted some more. By now my dad was home and Leo and the boys were playing soccer again. I was too tired to join them. I had another peach and some water. After dinner, I sat down to do some writing when I heard that June (my doggie!) was arriving! I hurried downstairs only to be sent back up to grab her leash. She was very happy and very anxious to go to the bathroom and explore. I brought her upstairs and she explored and drank a lot of water! Man was she thirsty! Then, we all chilled some more, Leo came up and ate, and we watched some TV among other things. After I showered, I got ready for bed, talked with my mom, read, and then finally went to bed.

*A picture I took on a recent run in the Orangerie.

*Another angle of the huge and beautiful Orangerie taken on a recent run.

This morning I woke up earlier after my first uninterrupted night of sleep! We quickly ate breakfast and got ready to go. My dad dropped my mom, Leo and I off at College de Esplanades for our test. We were directed to a quick welcoming from a few teachers before splitting up into groups for the language of our test. There was Spanish, Italian, French, and, of course, English. Leo and I went with the English group, which was pretty small compared to the Italians. We followed a man up a few stairs and into a classroom, where he explained in French our instructions and then some French bilingual students translated. We began our ten to twelve sentence writing assignment about what we would do if we were invisible for one day. I started by brainstorming and creating a graphic organizer on the back (My teachers would be proud!) before planning my essay. We weren’t allowed to go over the sentence limit, which was really hard for me, but in the end, I came out with perfectly twelve sentences! Once I had finished and looked it over, there were still ten minutes out of the twenty we were given left in the exam. I sat for a little and then the French teacher entered for the French portion, to see where we were at with the language so we could be placed in the proper classes. We received papers with a few instructions on it. Leo and a few other kids left, because they could not speak or write enough french to even try the assignment. As I have been doing Duolingo, I decided to try. The things I did on the page were write a postcard and a few other sentences. It wasn’t that bad. Then, we had to take turns talking to the teacher in French about certain images she gave us and then about ourselves. I’m pretty sure I failed that portion. She was really nice, though. After, I went to sit back down with my mom and Leo to wait until ten o'clock for the after announcements or whatever. When ten thirty finally rolled around because they were late, they basically told us to go back with the same groups, this time with our parents, to fill out paperwork. The paperwork took forever, but eventually, we deciphered the French and finished it.

Next, we headed to find a tram to go to a certain town that had a pet store, because the movers had lost June’s collar and she needed a new one. We stopped at the Central Station for lunch and I split an okay sandwich with my mom. It was ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a weird, gross mayo. I ate it, but it wasn’t my favorite. We ran away from the wasps again! Next, we hopped on another tram to go to another station with the pet store. Turns out, it was a pet and garden store! We went inside and I immediately saw all sorts of cute birds, bunnies, fish, and hamsters! I even found baby hamsters that were miniature and so cute! There were small birds, and one super sweet bigger bird. After grabbing June a new dark pink collar (which she still has today), we walked back through the store to the cashier. On the way, I passed some pretty potted succulents that I thought I would get another time when I finally got to decorate a room of my own. We decided to take the tram to the bus station because the bus stop was closer to the house than the tram stop. However, when we changed trams, the railroads got all jammed because all the trams were on the same rail, but going different directions. Our tram went back the way it came and Leo, my mom and I did some shopping at H&M. Leo got a jacket. When we came back out to the tram station, it was open again and we traveled on. Eventually, we reached the bus stop and since it was a ten minute wait for our bus and there was a bakery really close nearby, we stopped in the bakery for some croissants. Then, we waited some more and caught the bus. We rode for a while before getting off at a stop that was super close to the house. Seriously, it was like two minutes away! When we got back, we rested for a little, me checking my messages and reading before mom called us to take the dog for a walk.

*A picture of my baby when she had arrived in our new (temporary) home.

We set off for Portalis, another park. It was a pretty long walk there, but not as long as to the Orangerie. When we got there, we took a path that was dog friendly and we walked along for a while. We saw some cool statues and old buildings from World War II. Eventually, we decided to turn around but mom chose the wrong path even though I told her it was the other way. Typical(No offense, Mom, this was over two years ago haha). Anyway, it ended up being about an hour walk back to the house. Anyway, we made it back safely and after a short break, mom left for the store. When she got back, she began making dinner. Leo and I read and went to jump on the small trampoline outside so we could have screen time. We mostly ended up fighting, though. We came back in after a bit and played screen games until dinner was ready. My dad wasn’t home because something broke at work and so we ate without him. This was probably one of my favorite meals since we got here. It was a burger on baguettes, cucumber tomato salad, and buttered curly noodles with peas and cooked carrots in them. I ate a ton! After dinner, Leo and I decided to walk to the store together to get more ice cream for dessert, since there were only two small cones left from the first time we got ice cream.

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Unfortunately, my journaling cuts off there (it seems my life got more...interesting to say the least and writing each day out was not exactly a priority). I hope you enjoyed the musings of 12 year-old me as I navigated the first few days of moving to a new country and fighting off wasps.

Next week will be a special post so keep your eyes out for notifications!

*In this article, I speak highly of the Gymnase schools, Lucie Berger and Jean Sturm however I would like to add here that I am in no way suggesting that it is exceptional in any way or the best school for immigrants. In fact, you could even say the opposite, but I'll save that for another time.

*I don't really remember, but judging on my reaction in this account I'm guessing that there weren't really wasps in California and for some reason they really scared me. (To be fair to this day I still try to avoid them).

Thanks and see you soon!

Loreleixx