Now that I’ve tipped the needle past 4 1/2 years, and am moving towards year 5, it seemed like my 5th home in Mulhouse was in order. Okay, so that’s not exactly how the train of thought went, but the result remains the same: I am on the move: to a place in between places 1 and 2 and place 3. Can I interest you in a brief recap?
I arrived in France in January 2003 for a 5-month stint as an exchange student via Laurier, despite having already graduated (thank you, Laurier!). I thought that 5 months was going to be difficult so far from home (even though at university I never actually went home, despite being little more than an hour’s drive away).
Within a bit more than a month, happy with the progress my French was making, I was already looking into ways to stay a bit longer. I fell upon the opportunity to teach English at the university where I was a student, and decided to take it, taking also the “renewable once” option on my one-year contract. When later looking for a job in HR, as my studies and experience would logically lead me, I discovered a Boomerang: a French company started in 1997 by a Frenchman and an American (we celebrated our 10th anniversary at the beginning of August!) and got a job in an unexpected role in marketing. While I miss some aspects of HR, I’ve been able to bring a bit of it to the table now and then, as the company has no HR department, and I have the most such experience (a bit scary in itself, but what can ya do).
Anyway, during this time, I’ve lived in 4 different places:
1) Batiment A – Chambre 409. Oh, the memories. Less than 100 square feet, this miracle of modern architecture included a shower that had a fold-up sink. Those of you that heard some of my stories back then may recall that it took me a couple of days to realize that the bizarre thing about waist-high in the shower was a sink that folded down from the wall, and that the shower head could be hung just above it, becoming the “tap”. The building was in terrible shape, and there was talk of it being removed, although that had been going of for years, apparently. After my first (and only, thusfar) earthquake, I was amused to see a letter taped to the front door, telling us not to worry about the cracks in the walls: that the building was sound. Indeed, the next year they repainted some of the walls and declared it better. Things only got worse, and another Canadian student a couple of years later ended up with the pleasure of bed bugs. They finally gave up on the building that housed only foreign students… not because it was intended that way, but because it was the cheapest, and it seems a lot like no students with parents close enough to visit would be caught dead living in such a building.
2) Edison Residence – the-studio-that-had-once-been-the-concierge-office. This gem was almost 175 square feet, so I figured it was a step up. Well, it was a step up, but it didn’t take long before I realized that it wasn’t a big enough step. This less-than-bachelor apartment was bedroom/living room/kitchenette all in one. In my bathroom (ok, so it was a step up) I even had my own toilet to go along with a shower and a sink that didn’t fold down from the wall. I quickly realized that looking at the same 4 walls morning, noon and night was bad for the sanity, especially when opening the window led to far too many people looking in (including some of my own students) who couldn’t miss my window, strategically located next to the door to the building. That the building didn’t have a buzzboard was another “bonus” as people knocked on my window to be let in. The cherry on top was that all rooms in the building were in hallways, each with a door off the foyer…except mine. My door was next to the door to one of the hallways, and I quickly learned that leaving it unlocked when I was home was a great way to get unexpected visitors (once, one of my own students), who were just as surprised as I was to see them in my room.
3) The château – not-the-real-name-but-compared-to-my-previous-homes-giant (oh, and located on Rue du Château zu Rhein). If Edison was a step up from batiment A, the château was a pole vault. Almost 1200 square feet, shared with a fellow English teacher, and another after that, this measurement didn’t even count the private roof-top terrace, itself roughly the size of my studio in Edison. A nightmare to heat in winter, this apartment was otherwise a dream. I even thought about moving back into it this year, since I know that it had become available, but there are better deals out there (although most don’t have a fireplace, a fully furnished kitchen, a rooftop terrace…sigh). To be fair, I really wanted to start having my own furniture though…even if that meant fridge, oven…the works, since an unfurnished apartment here doesn’t even have to have a kitchen sink (although a toilet, a bathroom sink and a bathtub and/or shower seem to be standard).
4) Avenue d’Altkirch – nothing-special-to-report, I moved in with Luc, and his brother, Marc. After a year, we’re ready for a place of our own, and I am really ready to have furniture of my own. The first purchases: a fridge big enough to impress a North American (keep in mind, fridge’s here are about half or 2/3 the size of standard fridges on the west side of the Atlantic), and a washing machine. These will be arriving tomorrow (I hope, because we move in tomorrow, Wednesday is a holiday, and having a place to put food and wash clothes is always helpful).
5) Rue d’Illberg – I-can’t-believe-that-my-yoga-instructor-is-now-my-landlord. Yep, so I decided to give yoga a try this year, and did a 12-week course (spread out over about 18 or 20 weeks; yay for French holidays) on Mondays starting in January. The Monday after the course ended, I unexpectedly found myself facing my yoga instructor in front of the house that we were about to check out. And thus ends this chapter: the last of the boxes (and ourselves) will move in tomorrow, with our first big purchases (I never thought I’d own a fridge with an electronic lock) being delivered tomorrow, after the semi-annual sales worked very much in our favour. The landlord is finishing the promised re-wallpapering (yeah, wallpaper is big here: and having done some myself several months ago, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it can be) and re-flooring. I have also discovered Google Sketch-Up; a 3D modeling tool that is helping me play with my furniture before moving in, since our ceiling is more than a little slanted, and the height at the external wall is between 74 and 86 cms depending on the room, making the choice of furniture organization (and purchase) interesting. I’m excited though (and looking forward to playing with my new software as we plan our furniture purchases for the January sales).
