The Family

After I made it through customs S and I identified each other and we proceeded to the car which to my relief was plenty big enough for my luggage. To my surprise it was not awkward at all. He was very interested in my flight and kindly explained the meaning of French words as we passed them. That night was the night of the three wise men….or something like that? Anywhooo There is a cake/pastry and inside it somewhere there is a token and the cake is cut and whoever has the piece with the token is going to be the luckiest person for the next year. They pick someone to go under the table and yell out a name and that person gets the first piece of cake, etc to ensure that no one cheats. It was amusing and D (the 9yr old girl, soon to be 10 on Saturday) called my name first then her parents than Ir (8yr old girl) and then her name last which was good for her because she got the token which was an Indian riding a horse, oo yeah John Wayne style!
My two sisters are 8 and 10 and they are both tall, I didn’t realize just how tall they are until I met D an Ir who are a lot shorter. They are very cute they speak French, English, and Greek. They go to an international school were half the classes are in French and then the other half the parents can choose to have it be in English or German. So their English is superb which if good for me. They are typical kids very close in age the bicker but are clearly close to each other. E, the mom, is beautiful. She is Greek and works at the Council of Europe S also works there. They make a striking couple. They are both very sophisticated looking but not at all snobbish. They both speak English with the most elegant (lack of a better word) accent. They have been very kind. I don’t ever have to cook which is amazing because I am sure the girls would very soon tire of the Mac and Cheese…wait they don’t have that, ok the girls would tire of nothing very soon J
My room is on the fifth floor of the apartment building and their flat is on the fourth floor, there is an elevator. There are five other rooms on my floor. And so far I know the Chinese guy Hong who lives next door to me and the Prussian Iranian painter Raza who lives two doors down. Both have been very gracious and polite. E tells me that there is an Australian girl as well but I have yet to see her. The room is big with a great window. On the fifth floor there is a kitchen, the shower is in the kitchen which grosses me out and the toilet is in the hall. So far I have eaten lunch and dinner downstairs with the family. I am supposed to go downstairs for anything I need whenever I like. Their flat is spacious and well planned my mom would love it. She is eternally annoyed with our house’s poor layout. Their flat is exactly how I pictured a European apartment to be. I will post pictures when I get the chance. My room does not have internet which stinks but I am going to try to remedy that situation.
The parents are very involved with their kids they take them to school in the morning as many times as possible they come home for lunch and they are almost always both home for dinner. Before I left for France at the dinner table with my family I was commenting on how odd it is that my family talks about such varied subjects and it’s not just the older ones even the little girls participate and this family does too, I love it! S and E talked about their jobs and we talked about American politics because I guess everyone in the world is interested except Americans, go figureJ. The D and Ir listened and participated when they could. It was very nice.

So far I feel very comfortable with the family and the living arrangements. I have to see about the internet though. They have it in their flat but the walls are so thick that I don’t get the signal upstairs and nighttime is the only time I could talk to Alex and friends back home.