Here a stork, there a stork...

The stork is an iconic emblem of the Alsatian region.  Walk into any tourist shop in the area and you can't avoid seeing those cute little devils in a myriad of forms. Even better, its easy to spot them in the wild as well.  There are a couple nesting couples in the village where we live and several more in a well known park in downtown Strasbourg. There are also some picturesque villages just to our south that are home to many stork couples who have incorporated their nests into the charm of the towns where they reside. Storks have been said to bring good luck, fidelity and fertility!



Interestingly enough, they were on the brink of extinction in Alsace some 30 years ago.  In the late 70's it was estimated that there were just 5 nesting couples (down from 150 couples some 15 years prior). The reason?  The storks in Alsace migrate to Africa in the winter and many were not surviving the journey back.  So some organizations stepped into action to try to repopulate the stork population in Alsace.  By raising storks in captivity for at least 3 years, their natural migratory instincts were curtailed and the birds repopulated.  Today, it is estimated that close to 300 nesting couples make Alsace their home.

So why the random post on storks?  It seems that one will be making a delivery at our place just in time for the holidays ; ) So in addition to the massive feat of remodeling a 300 year old house, a new baby is providing us another exciting adventure in Alsace!

Building (quite literally) our life in France

The beginning of September in France is known as the "rentree" - literally the re-entry.  Given that the French take full advantage of long summer vacations, right around this time there is a return to normalcy - everyone makes there way back after an extended break, school starts back up life sort of gets back to normal. This rentree is a big one for us.  Both Audrey and Thomas will be in school and we've got a big project planned. We recently purchased the old family house (located in the same village where we have been living) which has been in Jean's family for centuries (yes, I said centuries!) So  when I say old, I mean OLD - the house was built back in 1720 so its just shy of 300 years (though is doesn't look a day over 200). The picture to the right shows the date of construction engraved on one of the beams.







It is a half timbered house which is common in the Alsace region where we reside.  Perhaps one of the coolest things I have learned about these houses is that they were able to be disassemble and rebuilt in a different location. The beams were labeled (see photo below from our new place) to then be able to be reassembled in that same order.

This is NOT an actual picture of our place but just an example
of the framing of a traditional Alsatian house

We took possession of the house at the end of August and since there were renters occupying it previously, the kids and I never really got to see the house up close.  So, with the renters out and the house officially ours, we planned a picnic in the backyard to give the kids a first glimpse of the house we hope to live in for a very long time.  It didn't take them long to appreciate the large garden and space to run around.

There's a good 6-8 months of major renovation ahead of us but its a huge step to truly making Alsace our home. While its a bit overwhelming at times, I am excited to have to step out of my comfort zone and work on planning and designing the house (in French of course!).  Since Jean is working all day, that leaves me as the one to make the round of the stores and pick out the new kitchen, bathrooms, etc. Needless to say, my construction/decorating vocabulary has increased exponentially in the last couple weeks.

Oh, and here's a bonus photo of the house.  Taken in 1911, its a family member (I'd have to confer with my mother-in-law to get an exact identity) who decided to build a plane in the front yard.  Not sure of the whole story but its a pretty cool to have some old pictures of our future abode!

 

Lots more updates to come on the progress of the house to come!

A taste of the islands

Yes, I know - it's been a while.  I guess in a way that's good in that life here is becoming busy.  It's seeming less like living abroad and more like, well - living. I've slowly started picking up work and the kids are getting big.  Audrey has now officially spent more time in the living in France as she has in the states.  Both of them have demonstrated excellent language skills with them both being fully bilingual although Thomas has a tendency to make more grammatical mistakes (Mama, look at the truck blue!) Cute, nonetheless. He also likes to rummage through my desk in search of scotch. Before you call the French authorities on me, he's just looking for tape (called scotch in french - though this requires a bit of explaining when anglophones are visiting...)

It seems like a lifetime ago but we had the awesome opportunity to spend Christmas and New Years on Reunion Island.  Yes, that is a real place.  It's a small French owned island off the coast of Madagascar.  Jean's two sisters both live there and the younger of the two got married at the end of December offering us the perfect opportunity to escape the dismal Strasbourg winter and trade it in for some year-round island sunshine. It was a loooong trip (an 11.5 hours flight from Paris) but the kids were total troopers.  It was quite perhaps the most fantastic vacation we have ever taken.  The perfect mix of family and tourism, beach and mountains and just the right amount of relaxation. As the trip was ending, I remember looking back and thinking that this was really a once in a lifetime vacation and that these moments will not be relived - Christmas in 80 degree weather, fireworks beachside at midnight on new years eve and both kiddos getting to spend their January birthdays at the pool with their cousins. Although I guess that's what makes these moments so special - knowing that they are not likely to come around again.  As Thomas would say, "Mama, it was a vacation fantastic!"

Boo! (note the French accent)

It's now been a little over 2 years since we've made the big move. It is seeming more like home everyday but I have still noticed we haven't totally assimilated into village life and I feel like an outsider in many ways. Then I think, what better way to get to know more people in the town than to take advantage of what sets me apart here. So with Halloween right around the corner, I decide this is the time to introduce the French to a real American Halloween!  It's not that Halloween isn't celebrated here...just nothing to the close to the festivities in the States.  I decide to throw a kids Halloween party and invite all the girls from Audrey's class. I invite all 17 thinking surely a good proportion of them won't be able to make it, right?  In fact, we end up only 2 regrets so it's now a party for 15! Okay...not a problem, we can handle this.

Luckily we end up with a sunny, 60 degree day and we are able to have most of the festivities outside.  One by one, the girls start to arrive. First, two sisters both dressed as witches. Super cute, no?  Then a third witch, then a fourth followed by a fifth.  At first I though it was just a strange coincidence. As witch after witch arrived, I realized that apparently in France you dress as a witch at Halloween. That is THE costume. In fact, by the time all he girls have arrived we have a total of 14 witches (Audrey stood out just a bit as Tinkerbell).   I must admit that there was a bit of variability in the witch costumes though - some were "cat" witches (with a cute nose and whiskers) and others as "princess" witches and a couple with a Harry Potter take on the witch. But hey, at least I didn't have a house full of Elsas ; )

I tried to keep the party kid-friendly as I was a bit worried about making it too scary and have kids run into their parents arms at the end crying that the lady with the funny accent tried to get them to eat witch's eyeballs and monster brains. So we stick with Halloween crafts, broom races (appropriate since we pretty much only witches at the party) and a Frankenstein pinata. We eat some harmless spiderweb cupcakes and come back inside the house as its starting to get dark. Overall, the party seems like a hit. Parents come pick up their respective witches and we put our feet up, content with a job well done.

It's funny, the next day at school parents greeted me.  Of course in France (especially in small towns) you always say "bonjour' as you pass someone but this "bonjour" seemed a little different. It wasn't just a pleasantry, it was a real acknowledgement.  This was a big step for our assimilation into the village and I am happy that I decided to take this risk.  Instead of letting my differences separate me from the rest, why not use it as a way to help me meet others. Who knows, the Sprauer Halloween party may become an annual event around here.  But watch out girls, next time monster brains and witches eyes WILL be on the menu! I mean scaring the crap out of a houseful of 5-year old girls is one of the joys of parenthood, no?

Vacationland

It's August in France and that means one thing - VACATION!  With an average of 5 weeks of vacation per year, vacationing is serious business.  People don't really ask IF you are going on vacation but rather for how many weeks. As an American, this abundance of vacation is pretty new. But that's not to say I won't take advantage of it. I love hearing stories of my hubby's road trips around Europe with his family when he was younger. So I am trying to make some similar memories for our own kiddos.

Most recently, we headed to Salzburg, Austria for a 4 day weekend.  The kids are real troopers when in comes to car travel which came in handy when a 5 hour drive turned into a 8 hour one because of traffic on the German highways. We have really started to master the art of highway travel with preschoolers - looking for trucks in every color or naming the models of the cars as we pass them (neither of which work well though in stopped traffic though!). I think we are also really getting the hang of vacationing with kids without going insane.  I am no expert but I will happily share my findings.

Could this picture scream "bored at museum" any louder?

So we started dividing the day into morning and afternoon chunks, designating one for adult activities and the other one for something of interest to the kids.  That way we aren't dragging cranky kids around museums for hours on end nor are we stuck all day at kiddy amusement parks.  It seems to strike a nice balance for both parties. Since the kids are still small, naps are a natural dividing point in the day. Although its tempting to skip them and get the most out of the place you are visiting, we have learned to respect the naps at any cost. While in Salzburg, we headed back to the apartment each afternoon to let the kids sleep a proper nap.  At the same time, we realized that this gave Jean and I the fantastic opportunity to sit and relax (yes, relax while on vacation with kids!). Truthfully, this break in the middle of the day allowed everyone to recharge.  It's hard to slow down on vacation but we've realized that we just can't pack in what we could before we had kids.

Sadly, three of the four days that we were in Salzburg it rained. While a bit frustrating at the time, the kids adored jumping in the puddles and hiding under umbrellas. We made the best of it - stopping for mid-afternoons snacks and coffee or ducking into churches we might have walked past otherwise. Its funny how the kids couldn't have cared less what the weather was like...they were just enjoying being out and about (and perhaps content that warm "apfelstrudel" break).  Note to self - their view of a great vacation is much different from ours.  Perhaps we could learn a lesson or two...

Thomas in Wiener Schnitzel heaven

All in all, we worked out the kinks and had an awesome family trip in the land of Mozart. I'm not sure if the kids will retain any memories of the trip but for me it'll stand out as the one that helped us find the balance needed to travel with kids as well as learning to appreciate your company as much as (or even more than!) the new surroundings.

"sprechen Sie Deutsch"

Ugh...long time no post.  Jean says its lame to state that because its what everyone says in their blogs.  So there - sentence ended.

For those of you that don't know, we live on the very border with Germany.  It's funny sometimes to think about driving for 10 minutes and being in a different country! And its pretty obvious when you get there because my non-existent German makes me stand out like a sore "Daumen" (Google translate indicated that meant "thumb" - I guess my vocab is now up to a whole 5 words!).  Truthfully, I haven't made much of an attempt to learn German quite yet considering that I'm keeping French as my main focus.  Nevertheless, it's crazy to have another language at our doorstep.

When we enrolled Audrey in school, we decided to take advantage of the bilingual programs offered - bilingual French/German that is.  And to my surprise, the class is REALLY bilingual with a 50-50 split between the two languages.  While I'm not thinking this will necessarily add a third language for Audrey, I do think that the exposure to a new language at such a young age is something really hard to pass up.  So in order to try and reinforce some of what she's learning, I planned a mom/daughter shopping trip across the border.  Its really the same shopping trip I normally do, just with her in tow.







First stop - DM...the place where you buy all your toiletry items for half price what you'd pay in France. Audrey got a kick out of the mini carts made for the youngest of shoppers.  Germans are much more kids friendly in many ways with this store for example having their own public bathroom, changing station (with free diapers and wipes) and a pretty cool rocking horse.

Next up, across the street to the bakery/coffee shop for a mid-morning snack.  Now here too you can see that you're not in France anymore.  Pastries are about 50% bigger and not as nearly fancy.  Just massive amounts of dough and sugar and a whole lot of consonants to go with that increase in size.  I use the universal pointing of the finger and saying of "ein" to indicate one of the cinnamon rolls is what we are interested in. I add on a Milchkaffee since as a coffee addict, my caffeine containing vocab is quite strong. We enjoy our pastry and soak in the German language! Oh, and one other great thing about the Germans? They're much more American taste in music as witnessed by Chicago's "It's Hard for Me to Say I'm Sorry" playing on their radio.  So not only does Audrey get a German immersion morning but a nice intro to classic 80's music as well.  Not sure if she realizes how lucky she is.

On my way out, I can't help but notice the berliners, or jelly donuts.  Come on people, no wonder JFK got blamed for the mix-up.  Seems like a pretty easy mistake to me...

In memory of Aunt Julie

Two days ago, my family lost a very special person - my Aunt Julie.  She was more than just the typical aunt. As my father's only sibling and with no children of her own, she was a part of our immediate family.  Hearing of the loss and being so far away has been incredibly difficult though I know this comes with the territory.

For our family and many others, the word "Aunt" was almost permanently placed in front of her name, as if she had Aunt Julie written on her birth certificate or something.  I think that speaks volumes about her.  She took her role of aunt seriously and it became a part of her persona.  She was always looking to spend time with us, welcome new family members and comfort us when we needed it.  In fact she laughed one time when she told me I had addressed a letter to her as just "Aunt Julie" (with no last name).  It still made its way to her with no problem as if the postman also knew just where Aunt Julie's house was.

I looked back at my last post about the trip home with the kids at Christmas.  I have to say that this Christmas was one of the best we have had in a long time.  And this was something Aunt Julie also said to me as I was leaving.  She was in good health the last time I saw her 6 weeks ago and I am glad that those are the last memories I have of her. She had been battling cancer but things were looking better and she was in great spirits. Aunt Julie was always so content to see all the family together and that is exactly what happened at Christmas this year.  I would do the solo flight with the kids a hundred times over if it would give me more day with her.  Nevertheless, going home for Christmas was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am incredibly thankful for the wonderful memories.

Aunt Julie said she loved reading this blog.  Somehow I think she still will...

We love you and miss you Aunt Julie and you will always be in our thoughts.