Home Sweet Home

Since my last post, I've arrived at my final destination safe and sound. My mother is probably about ready to kill me, since I haven't been able to get a hold of her and let her know that I got here. My host, Norby, just did some major renovations on his house and has not reinstalled the wi-fi yet. Thus, since I literally just got off the plane, got on a bus, got off the bus, got into Norby's car, and came to Esch-sur-Alzette (from here on out referred to as simply, "Esch"), I have not had any internet connectivity. Sorry mom, hope you didn't freak out too much.

So far so good. I've been getting settled in at Norby's house. It's a really cool, three-story house right in the middle of Esch. I have the entire attic to myself, and have plenty of room for a bed, desk, couch, and small tv. Once the wi-fi is reconnected, I will also have internet access here. Norby walked me around the city for a while, and showed me exactly how to get on the train in Esch, and how to read all the maps and timetables.  Oh, we also took Norby's dog, Timmy, on the walk with us. It was quite entertaining. On our way back to Norby's house from the train station, we stopped by some street window shop and got two Tourinames (spelling is probably way off). Basically it was a white sausage in a bun of French bread with mustard. It was very satisfying. Since we were both thirsty at that point, we decided to sit out at this corner street café and have some beer (first day here and I'm embracing the culture already). So I had a Diekirch, which is apparently one of Luxembourg's three beers (the others being Bofferding and Mousel). The beer was quite refreshing, and extremely sooth. We just chilled out at this street café for a while, and then walked home.

Interesting cultural note: there is a huge population of Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg. Yeah, Norby was telling me that the problem Luxembourgers have with Portuguese immigrants is similar to the problem Americans have with Mexican immigrants. From my understanding, Portuguese people come to Luxembourg to try to get jobs with banks (Luxembourg's financial industry is huge). The problem is that these Portuguese people are not integrating with the rest of the Luxembourgers. Norby told me that back in the 1920's and '30's a ton of Italian people came to Luxembourg, but that back then, they all learned Luxembourgish and really became part of the country. Now, the lack of integration seems to be a cultural rift.

It's about 2100 here. I slept from about 1600 to 1930. Then I got up, had a peanut butter sandwich, and watched two episodes of Friends, in French. That was cool. Norby is out, I believe at the Schouberfouer  (big Luxembourg fair, similar to Oktoberfest) with some of his friends. He told me that he might go, but I have no idea when he'll be back. I have to get up tomorrow and get on the 0844 train to Differdange. I hope I don't get lost or panic. I was feeling much better earlier, but now, when I'm sitting in my room alone, with no way to contact anyone I know, I feel very alone. I miss my mom.

It's 0030 Luxembourg time now. I'm sitting awake in bed, not being able to fall asleep (surprise surprise).  I had my obligatory breakdown while Norby was gone where I cried for a couple of minutes, panicked about all the things I have to do, missed all of my friends back home, and just felt rotten. I think I'm better now. I'm still very nervous about getting on the train tomorrow morning. What if I don't get on the right one? What if I miss it? What if I can't get back? All of these thoughts terrify me. I just keep telling myself to be brave. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear (I think some famous person said that?).

For those of you who don't know me as well, I am a type A, control-freak-esque, basket case. I very rarely feel comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings and I am generally shy when it comes to meeting new people. You might be wondering why I decided to up and leave Oxford and travel halfway around the globe to stay and study with a bunch of strangers for four months. I myself have never really wondered about that. I knew going into this that it was going to be incredibly difficult, especially for me. I try to think about what my dad told me when I was leaving, "I'm proud of you." It really meant a lot to me that he understood what I'm doing and how hard it is for me. I'm going to hold on to that.

To my friends back in America, please be on skype soon. My skype name is "jtrotier", and I would love to see your smiling faces. I plan on taking my laptop to the Chateau tomorrow and checking my e-mail and stuff there, as Norby's internet at my house is not up and running yet. Again, I really hope my mom doesn't kill me for not contacting her. I need to ask Norby about the cell phone he gave me to use. I'm not entirely sure how it works, whether I can make international calls, or what the deal is. Anyway, I'm going to try to figure that out tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can get to sleep soon. This whole time change thing really sucks.