Idiot expat moment of the day:

Having to go back to Ikea (again -- fifth time, but who's counting??) because the hinges weren't included with the wardrobe doors I bought.  I indignantly went to Ikea Customer Service, armed with my little speech -- which I'd verified was correct on Google Translate -- all ready to inform them they'd made a mistake by not supplying me with hinges for my doors, only to be told that hinges must be purchased separately.  Oops.

I then had to go back to the wardrobe section, where a very nice lady printed out a paper detailing exactly what I'd need, told me where to go to find them, then highlighted it in neon marker, just to be sure I couldn't make a mistake this time.  On this visit, I did notice that they had big signs everywhere indicating that hinges must be purchased separately.  In my defense, before this little incident, I didn't know the French word for hinges (charnières, in case anyone needs to know) -- not something ever covered in any of my French classes.  

Again, people were very kind and patient, and a little bit of humiliation is a small price to pay for a neatly organized closet, isn't it?

Sorry for the dim, shadowy picture but we still haven't gotten around to having the light fixtures installed!