With the woes of packing and saying goodbye to loved possessions behind me, I was ready to face the only thing worrying me. My 35 minute connection in Chicago. I upgraded my seat on my flight from SLC for $39 to be closer to the front. That way I could get off faster and book it to the next flight. As luck would have it, there was no room for my carry on in the overhead bin. So along with many others, my bag was gate checked. Then to add to it the plane took off late.
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I was one of the first off the plane, but one of the last to get my bag. Then I scurried to the other side of the airport, sending up prayers the entire way. Finally I arrived at the gate, just as they closed the door. Sweaty and breathless I asked "Is this the flight to Munich?" I was the last one on board and again had to have my bag checked, this time all the way to Luxembourg. This had me a bit worried because I had packed a weeks worth of clothing in my carry on, thinking my checked bag probably wouldn't make the connection. Now if my luggage was lost, I had nothing.
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It was a relief to get off the plane in Germany. I hadn't been able to sleep a wink and knew that in just a couple more hours I would get to meet my new home and family for the next year. The signs for my next gate were very confusing and I ended up circling around and around the Munich airport. After my third loop I decided to venture down an abandoned hallway, and that is where I found my way to the next gate. After passing through customs, I found my gate in no time. I went to board my final flight, and was told they couldn't find my luggage. While I hadn't been hoping for this, it wasn't too big of a surprise. Yet, I prayed that somehow my bags would make it.
When I got to Luxembourg I saw the baggage claim and felt that I should wait and see if my luggage came through. Lo and behold… it did!! I was so relieved to have both my bags and finally be done flying. It was a short drive from the airport to my new home. It was exciting to see it all for the first time and to meet everyone.
A few weekends I met up with my friend Olivia at the town centre. Soldes (the end of season sale) was going on and we were ready to shop! I was able to find some great deals on boots, clothes, and even got a great running outfit for really cheap! Olivia and I decided to grab some food at Subway. The bread offered here in subway is different in the states, and they don't have my favorite, Italian Herbs and Cheese. But when the lady asked me "Quel pain?" I forgot all about the fact they don't have the same breads. Thanks to Duo Lingo I was able to understand the question and responded with what bread I wanted. I felt pretty good about myself. The next weekend Olivia and I hung out at my place Friday night then on Saturday we went with her family to Little Britain, which is an english/american store. Most of the things are english, but there are a few american items such as nerds, runts, and pop-tarts. Since Olivia is from England she was pointing out all the things I had to try. After we loaded up on crisps and chocolate we went back to Olivia's. This is were I found the smallest lift I have ever seen. There were four of us and we had to take go up in two separate turns.
We hung out at the apartment for a while and then decided to go out to eat. Olivia and Mathew really wanted to show me this mexican restaurant called Coyote Grill. The theme of the place is the cinema, probably becuase it is located in the same building as the cinema. Because of the theme the restaurant is very unusually decorated. Such as aliens, monsters, pieces of airplanes, etc. They have two very long tables each with a coffin shape glass on the surface and a monster inside. At the bar you are stared at by many movie characters such as Yoda and Superman. The food was really good but much sweeter than I was expecting. Just another thing to add to the list off differences between the U.S. and Luxembourg! It is becoming a very long and interesting list. Then this weekend Olivia and I met up with Luisa, who is from Spain and working over here as an au pair as well. We went to a bakery at the town centre and then up to Cactus (a mall near my home) to take advantage of Soldes. I was finally able to find a couple pairs of nice pants, both under 20 euros. After Cactus we introduced Luisa to Little Britain. She was really excited about all the english chocolate! That night I went out with Tracey, Sue and Becky to an indian restaurant. While we were leaving I realized that over here I am practically supermodel tall. Which is extremely different compared to back home where I am often teased about being the shortest in the family. Tracey and I went to the cinema afterwards to see 007, which I loved. The only thing that would have made the movie better was if James Bond wasn't so stinking old! On the way home from the movies it started to snow, and over here they don't exactly know how to take care of the roads when it snows. So we weren't sure if the roads would be clear enough to get to church the next morning. Then it rained and everything froze. 
Scott and Tracey accidentally slept in Sunday morning until 8:45, so the kids and I didn't know if we were going to church or not since it starts at 9:30. It was pure madness rushing around getting ready for church and scraping the thick ice of the windshields, but we made it with about 30 minutes left in Sacrament Meeting. We were a bit unprepared with things to help the kids stay quiet and the girls ended up being unusually loud. I was relieved when Sacrament was over. The ward in Luxembourg is french speaking. We just barely got an english sunday school, but Relief Society is still an french. For some reason this Sunday in Relief Society they handed out the dreadful translator headphones to the three of us who spoke english. We tend to avoid these as much as possible because they are very heavy and uncomfortable. Because the earbuds are so big and the whole contraption is huge it actually hurts to wear them. As if that isn't enough, they look ridiculous! But I think Olivia and I pull them off pretty well. 
