Directory - better re-introduce myself

Great to meet you Jean (or meet you again? I forget - I do apologise). Yes, it is very dark in this part of the world at the moment. However, you'll get the benefit in the summer, when the days will be longer than Georgia. The logistics of your move sound horrendous. Congratulations on getting it all figured out. . In message , jeanga6 writes

Good to see you! So you're in Alsace, right? Foodie heaven? (That might actually be Lyon, but it's close!) You will no doubt be miserable with culture shock until June or thereabouts, so don't despair. Also, they probably don't speak anything much like the French you learned in college :-) I'm just down the road near Munich -come on over. Roberta in D

"jeanga6" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@f3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

snipped-for-privacy@f3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Welcome Jean! or welcome back. Sabbaticals are allowed. Life interferes on us sometimes! Your move sounds a bit more than a small one! Jumped the pond,eh? Good luck on your new job. amy in CNY

What an exciting adventure. I do wish you would post more often and share your quilting life with us as well as ordering soup and other things. Wow. Polly

What a kick! I would love to live in another country for awhile and see what I can see, do what I can do and eat what I can eat! LOL

Hello from Sunny Florida Boca Jan

You are living our dream! I really envy you. What a grand adventure, and... you get to take the SM along on the adventure. Wow.

As for the cold and dark -- we moved from Phoenix to Washington State eight years ago. At the darkest, it's dark at 4 p.m. every day. However, summer repays us for all that dark. Midsummer days are light until 10 p.m. and then some and the angle of the light is just grand.

Good luck with the language. That's one I never mastered.

Now, I want to know what kind of job sends you from Georgia to France and if the move is permanent, if you will be "commuting" or .... everything!

Great meeting you, Sunny

Welcome back, Jean! I wish I could say I have a terrific memory for names, but I don't. :( But, wow, am I jealous of your opportunity! I taught French for many years and wish I could have lived there for a time in order to get a better feel for the French culture. :)

Howdy!

Jean? From Atlanta? Like sands thru' the hourglass? The Jean who designed some patterns? That Jean?

Welcome back. Hope to hear more from you.

Ragmop/Sandy --would also like to have your addy (I don't do the directory)

Yes, that Jean. Can hardly wait to get my machine, but of course there is that work thing looming.

Just so you all know, here is info on this move....

Metz is located in Lorraine (of Alsace Lorraine as it is commonly called, they place the two regions together) I am 30km from Saarbr=FCcken Germany and about 40km from Luxembourg city and 20 km from Nancy. Unfortunately we don't quite have the same food as they do in Alsace, but it is close. It is a city of about 150,000 people.

Work - pays for the appt we live in and gives us a leased car for the duration we are here. My DH and I are here, but for now I had to leave the QI's at home. We have two; Macy and Ginger, two very large cats. My appt is located on one of the main squares in town on the 3rd floor (63 steps to get there) and is huge! Really nice big windows that right now are being splattered by rain. the appt has 3 bedrooms and sort of 3 baths. Strange as it sounds, this is not too strange for europe, the appt has 1 full bath, one room with a toilet and small sink (common) and then a room with a large sink and a shower (never seen that before) We have cable TV, but only if you speak French, German or Italian. No english channels. Lucky for me I have a working knowledge of German so to understand the weather and most of the news is easy.

questions I have been asked,

What did you do with the house? well, Dawn (a member of the Atlanta gang) moved back to Atlanta a couple of months ago and got a job. She was immediately recruited to house sit. The house is paid for (has been for years) so if she pays the utilities and watches the cats, I am happy. She is happy too since it is a really nice part of town and the utilities are cheaper then the rent she was paying in a ikky part of town - we have a 3 bedroom ranch.

How long are you staying? Right now the plan is 2 years with the option of forever...we will see. If we stay forever, we sell the house in 4 or 5 years.

Did you ship all your stuff - You guys are funny....Think about it for a minute, you are moving to france, what do you pack??? We were allowed 400lbs. Most of that are things like books (we work in accadamia), kitchen things, clothes and, ok maybe a little thread and batting?

Just as a comment, only 1 person when we told them we were moving to Metz said "Why???" everyone else has been saying things like Wow, you are living our dream or some such comment. The one person who said "Why???" is in the prime of her career and absolutally can not even dream of moving anywhere for any reason. Climbing the coporate ladder has its setbacks.

Roberta - Dh had meetings every once in a while in Munich. We were there at the end of November. I have friends who live in the Stuttgart area, we lived there in the early 90s working for Atcetel - I like Germany, I dropped off stuff with a friend when we were here in November that I have to go get. My embroidery unit for one thing...

I am sure France will grow on me.I completed my masters degree here (classes were in english) and I have been visiting DH as he has been working here the last 2 summers but It is very different. The appartment has light purple walls in the kitchen (call it an accent wall), Orange in the front room , purple in the bedroom and red accent walls in the living room (non accent walls are off white) Got to love the French. Actually it is not bad, except the orange, not sure about that one.

Jean in Metz

There's a nice American Women's Club in Luxembourg, for when you need some Voice of America therapy. And do send me a note the next time you're over this way! Roberta in D

"jeanga6" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@j20g2000hsi.googlegroups.com... Yes, that Jean. Can hardly wait to get my machine, but of course there is that work thing looming.

Just so you all know, here is info on this move....

Metz is located in Lorraine (of Alsace Lorraine as it is commonly called, they place the two regions together) I am 30km from Saarbrücken Germany and about 40km from Luxembourg city and 20 km from Nancy. Unfortunately we don't quite have the same food as they do in Alsace, but it is close. It is a city of about 150,000 people.

Work - pays for the appt we live in and gives us a leased car for the duration we are here. My DH and I are here, but for now I had to leave the QI's at home. We have two; Macy and Ginger, two very large cats. My appt is located on one of the main squares in town on the 3rd floor (63 steps to get there) and is huge! Really nice big windows that right now are being splattered by rain. the appt has 3 bedrooms and sort of 3 baths. Strange as it sounds, this is not too strange for europe, the appt has 1 full bath, one room with a toilet and small sink (common) and then a room with a large sink and a shower (never seen that before) We have cable TV, but only if you speak French, German or Italian. No english channels. Lucky for me I have a working knowledge of German so to understand the weather and most of the news is easy.

questions I have been asked,

What did you do with the house? well, Dawn (a member of the Atlanta gang) moved back to Atlanta a couple of months ago and got a job. She was immediately recruited to house sit. The house is paid for (has been for years) so if she pays the utilities and watches the cats, I am happy. She is happy too since it is a really nice part of town and the utilities are cheaper then the rent she was paying in a ikky part of town - we have a 3 bedroom ranch.

How long are you staying? Right now the plan is 2 years with the option of forever...we will see. If we stay forever, we sell the house in 4 or 5 years.

Did you ship all your stuff - You guys are funny....Think about it for a minute, you are moving to france, what do you pack??? We were allowed 400lbs. Most of that are things like books (we work in accadamia), kitchen things, clothes and, ok maybe a little thread and batting?

Just as a comment, only 1 person when we told them we were moving to Metz said "Why???" everyone else has been saying things like Wow, you are living our dream or some such comment. The one person who said "Why???" is in the prime of her career and absolutally can not even dream of moving anywhere for any reason. Climbing the coporate ladder has its setbacks.

Roberta - Dh had meetings every once in a while in Munich. We were there at the end of November. I have friends who live in the Stuttgart area, we lived there in the early 90s working for Atcetel - I like Germany, I dropped off stuff with a friend when we were here in November that I have to go get. My embroidery unit for one thing...

I am sure France will grow on me.I completed my masters degree here (classes were in english) and I have been visiting DH as he has been working here the last 2 summers but It is very different. The appartment has light purple walls in the kitchen (call it an accent wall), Orange in the front room , purple in the bedroom and red accent walls in the living room (non accent walls are off white) Got to love the French. Actually it is not bad, except the orange, not sure about that one.

Jean in Metz

Kitchen things? I can't think of anything in my kitchen that I would bother to ship for a big move. 400lbs isn't much and I know kitchenware would not be on my packing list. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Howdy!

Oh, goody! It is you!!! ;-D

I do hope you meet-up w/ RobertaZ sometime; having met you both I know you'd enjoy that. ;-) Roberta gives great tours of Munich, and knows where to get the best lebkuchen. And she's from here! We're making plans to travel back to Germany "sometime", altho' as the Euro climbs on top of the dollar and jumps up & down on it, we'll just have to keep saving our dimes (pennies won't make it).

What a wonderful opportunity you have, living there. What an adventure. As you've been "over there" before you know some of what to expect, and you have a great attitude about this. Yes, I remember Dawn, too. A lovely solution for both of you regarding living situations; please ask her to come back to us on the ng. Thanks for the info, & intro, Jean. Don't be a stranger. Hugs & best wishes!

R/Sandy -- thinking of how you're missing all the "election" junk over here, lucky you ;-P (I don't believe you're "missing" it at all )

Welcome back, Jean. I've been here a very long time and I do remember that back in the day there was a group in the Atlanta area. It is always nice when old-timers return! PAT in VA/USA

It must have been nice to have others wistfully longing to take a sojourn in France, when you told them of your plans. Everyone in rural Alaska, when hearing I was moving to England said, "WHY?!?" Well, I have asked myself the same thing a couple of times. Much happier (as an American ex-pat) in Scotland!

-- Jo in Scotland