Changing continent with a family of 5 and a dog. Part 1!

It has been a little while I wanted to write about our move from Luxembourg to New York !

We are travelers in our souls and until our finger tips, but this goes beyond traveling, even if, in its direct continuity!

If you follow me since the beginning or for a while you know that I am a French American girl brought up in Paris France, married to a Dutch guy, with 3 children born in Luxembourg, and a dog coming from Friesland and extensive traveler as he joined our family. and that I write my blog from my iPhone (at 95%).

For those who joined more recently here you are into the confidence 😉💫.

I take advantage of this post to thank you for following me, and to all passing by, I give you all a great smile!

So moving to NYC was meant to be, and arrived at the right time, NYC was not unknown to us all ( except to Rocky our dog ;-)).

But moving and becoming a habitant of NYC is different from all the visits we did to the big Apple before!

We moved from a very international and cosmopolitan city in the middle of the green with around 107,247 inhabitants to one of the hugest country in the world, in one of the biggest city with around 8,336,697 New Yorkers.

Some of the people we would meet, would barely knew Luxembourg, and joke that the city had as many people as in a NYC block!

Funny how it did not feel like it, but yet the difference was obvious and the energy we found here as inhabitants was what we were looking for.

We were Green as it can be!

But happy, as if we were mounting a rodeo bull, we might have felt a little or let ourselves go with the speed, but soon managed to ride it and remind him of our own pace.

So much to deal with, first and most important for us was finding a good school for the kids, and leave near by Central Park for the sake of us all.

Further to our searches, we chose the apartment.

And off we go! New language for the kids even if they were familiar with English. There is a definite gap between understanding a little and getting fluent in writing and reading.

Sticking to the French ! Our French and European culture bursted even more after we arrived!

As visitor we were found of US food, as resident it was a “no way” for our daily meals, we had to find ways to get the quality of product we were used to! Hard hard hard, as we were very organic in Europe, possible for sure in the USA but so hard! You need to be attentive to everything, in the USA as a lot more is permitted as far as food’s production. In the USA the labels are mandatory to read, I am looking for Meat: hormone free/antibiotic free/ non GMO ! Pasture raised! Same with eggs, same with Dairy! I could write a complete book on that matter! Not mentioning the bread ( no high corn syrup or high fructose or non GMO) or flour ! So complicated not to mention the price of good quality food ! Outrageous! Welcome to the country where 12 eggs “good quality” would cost not less than 6$/13$ if you do not own your own chicken 😰. To be clear as you cab see in the below pic, you cab find 12 Eggs for 2.79$ even in NYC, but What are They Made Of!!!! Well compliant to the Us regulations is not food to me if That means That the chicken were raised inside in pour conditions, fed with hormones, antibiotics GMO grains ! Further to animal cruelty it seems like not human friendly neither. Really sorry !

Some options for good organic good:

farmers markets,
Whole food,
a home delivery rustic roots our “panier bio” https://rusticrootsdelivery.com/
Matter Of health

No wonder so many American have health issue, it s a sin to let them eat so bad! Not their fault! If you do not have enough money to eat quality product it is very hard, thus I think they might not realize… let’s come back to that an other moment…

The “relocation” story to be continued in Part 2… With some insides in discarding and what led me to reading Marie Kondo book, and meeting her at Barnes and Nobles yesterday at Union square, while she was sharing with her audience her Konmari method….
Feel free to follow and pass on…

A bientôt,

Hopeje

Instagram @hopeje