Confessions of an Expat

My first confession: I am not an expat, but I think about it. My goal recently has been to spend 3 months a year in Europe.

My hometown friends tell me that Texas is terribly hot and getting worse. When I tell people here it is 40 degrees (C) at home, they are shocked. They believe they will burst into flames at 35 degrees. It’s 20 here now.

They have old stuff here. Old in Fredericksburg is 175 years. Old here is 1500’s. It’s charming, and they’ve capitalized on it.

Switzerland is gorgeous, and clean. No trash! In the popular city parks there is a trash can every 50 feet but no trash on the ground. If you look hard you can find graffiti in the cities (along the railway), but not in the villages.

Belgium is also clean, with wonderful weather in June. Rural Italy, except for the touristic places, looks poor. Rome is very crowded, trashed and graffitied -and fabulous, all at the same time.

America is very popular here. This is a typical show about fires, floods, tornadoes. American disasters are featured often. One interesting thing: the show has both voice over and original dialogue, and when the Americans said “Oh my God!” the subtitles say “ce n’est pas possible” which means “it’s not possible.” I saw this quite a few times. I am living in French these days. I’m not fluent but I generally know what is going on.

Josette has an enviable life here. Grandkids show up unannounced for snacks. I am speaking English with 13 year old Axel, who has an oral exam in English next week. I’ve been to family gatherings at daughter Virginia’s pool. There is very little traffic in the village. She lives in a comfortable, modern – but at the same time old – house.

It’s tempting, but I’ll be home Friday.