Your Favorite Place to Live?

One question I get a lot due to our lifestyle is what has been my favorite place to live overseas?  We have lived now in 6 foreign cities:

1. Athens, Greece
2. Wloclawek, Poland
3. Teramo, Italy
4. Zaragoza, Spain
5. Bandirma, Turkey
6. Brindisi, Italy

This is always a tough question to answer because each place has their good and bad points. Plus it is not like we are simply vacationing in the city. We are there to live for months at a time in the midst of a professional basketball world. So my preferences in what I like in a city is a lot different than what others may prefer due to our specific living and family situation. Here are some of the top things that make a city pleasant for me:

1. An English-speaking church. We have yet to be in a city with this, but it would make things really enjoyable for us to have consistent fellowship and preaching in our time overseas.

2. A good apartment. I don’t think I am too high maintenance when it comes to the apartments we are given. Some of the toughest things about our overseas apartments are when things are constantly not working or malfunctioning (losing water, electricity, heat, internet, etc.) Being in a place where things are pretty reliable lowers the stress level.

3. Nearby parks. Since the kids are used to living in the States where we have a yard, coming overseas can be a bit of shock for them. Cabin fever usually sets in during the first moth we come overseas after our summer at home. So having nearby parks where we can walk to is a great blessing!

4. A good grocery store within walking distance. The grocery stores over here are not anything like what we have in the States, but some are better than others in terms of selection and variety. To have a grocery store with good selection within walking distance of our apartment is key. Why within walking distance? Well, first of all, we get one car from the team and it is nice to be able to walk to the store when Joe is at practice. And secondly, parking in most of the cities we have been in is usually pretty tough. So walking with the kids (one being in the stroller…this is why I always like a stroller with a big basket!) is usually the easier option.

5. Relaxed basketball club, coach and fans. Since the main reason we are living abroad is for the basketball, if Joe is employed by a club that is relatively relaxed, it makes a huge difference in our home life. When Joe has played for clubs that are uptight about every loss, the fans freak out at the players and the practices are overdone, it makes the home more stressful. It is hard not to think about going home every day when that is the case!

So those are some of the things that make a place great to me. I am not too worried about the food, the night life or the scenery, although some of those things are nice bonuses. I will save those priorities for when we are picking a vacation spot!