Life in Olympic Village

About a week and a half ago, we loaded up the Golf with everything we could possibly fit into the world’s smallest car. Jeremy worked some pretty miraculous feats of packing, and I was stunned by everything we were able to cram in. We spent three days driving across the country surrounded by the detritus of our life. The kids were great sports, though, and the highlight of the journey for them was the hotel swimming pool in Ames, Iowa.

Now we are all settled in our new home in St. Paul. The complex we live in is full of university students, most of whom have families, and most of whom are international students. The buildings are fairly dated; our apartment was built in the 1950s, and the “new” buildings were built in the 1970s. It’s a cross between Hooverville and an international housing project. After batting around several possible names for our new place (we always like to name our homes, sometimes more creatively than others), we settled on “Olympic Village.” It’s a great place. We have really embraced the lifestyle of our new international digs, including hanging our laundry out on the line with our Chinese neighbors. The only thing I don’t like is that I’m pretty sure they’re all better cooks than I am. Every evening when we’re fixing dinner, the scents of curries and sundry Chinese food waft through our open windows. Jeremy usually wanders wistfully to the window and says, “Wow. Doesn’t that smell good?” The truth is, it really does. Maybe I’ll have to figure out their culinary secrets in the short time we’re here.

The apartment itself is fairly basic, but in excellent repair. The paint is fresh (though we do wonder how many hundreds of layers of paint have been applied to this one apartment in the last 60 years) and the upstairs carpet is new. The kitchen, though small, is pleasant. We even have what I like to call a “Fisher Price” stove—a tiny apartment stove that looks too small to be real. But it works well and still has four burners. What more does one family need? We have no dishwasher and no garbage disposal, no internet, no microwave, no apartment laundry, (though there is a communal laundry at the end of the building), and no air conditioning. Believe it or not, none of these have been problematic other than the air conditioning. The weather hasn’t been horrible, but today, for example, the temperature is in the 90s and the low tonight will only be 75. Then tomorrow it’ll be in the 90s again. That makes for some hot times inside.

Other than the periodic heat, I can’t say enough good about the Twin Cities. Other than the odd bridge falling into the Mississippi River, this seems to be an ideal place. Yes, I know I haven’t hit winter yet, but of all the wintry places I’ve lived in (and you may know that’s been quite a few), this is the only place that actually seems prepared for a long winter in terms of having lots of fun indoor things to do. There are indoor conservatories and museums, lots of great libraries, and of course the Mall of America. And both downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis have extensive skyway systems, so you can enjoy a winter day downtown with minimal exposure to the elements. Genius!

As is our tradition, on our second day here we went to the library to get everyone library cards. Our closest library is small, but it’s in this beautiful old brick building, and the children’s section is in a circular room. You’d have to have known me for pretty long to know how excessively fond I am of round rooms. We’ve also visited the Como Park Zoo, which is free (with a nominal requested donation), Ikea, and the Mall of America. And we’ve gone to several fun parks. All of this in less than a week, and there’s still so much to see and do! We haven’t even been to Minneapolis yet! We look forward to upcoming visits to the Children’s Museum, and, of course, the State Fair. Some of my alert readers will know that we live within a very near proximity to the State Fair. Even though we haven’t gone yet, we have enjoyed several concerts and fireworks show from our bedroom. And by “enjoy” I mean “stay awake until 11:00 p.m. listening to Big Head Todd and the Monsters and waiting for the fireworks so we can go to bed.” Last night we were favored by a concert from Tim McGraw and Julianne Hough. We’re super pumped about some of next week’s offerings: Weird Al Yankovich and Kiss. Goodness. We actually are excited about Prairie Home Companion and are more or less indifferent to tonight’s guest: Carrie Underwood.

Sorry there aren't more pictures (Mom)! I'll get some good ones posted soon...