May 21, 2012

Wow, it’s been a while since an update, so this could be a long one!  We’ve just been so busy with the three bridge holiday weekends.  Having four day weekends three weeks in a row really cuts down on writing time.  Next year it won’t fall this way, so we’ll only get random mid-week days off.  We did some traveling over the weekends so I’ll try and capture those in writing.

First, my language lessons are going great; this place does what you need, rather than classroom style. I still have so much to learn but each week I am able to communicate a bit more and with less stumbling.  Because most people at the school are learning English, we are the odd ones out. They usually have several small groups or individuals at one time in the five rooms, so they use me to help the English learners. I love that, Ross thinks they might offer me a part time job eventually. We'll see.....

Anyway, they'll have me come in and the others must ask me questions in English and I answer them in English. Then we reverse and I ask them in French to help me. Most of the facilitators are English or Scottish so the students like my easy English, they say it's loud and clear and slower than the others. I think it's the lack of strong accent too. We laugh because we're all in the same boat and struggling, so it's easy to practice with each other. I have to explain so many American things to them too; they're fascinated with the US. They have about 65 adults learning English from SKF so I have met more people there than Ross has at work and know personal details about them. It's funny. You know basic conversation questions......but you find out stuff :) SKF is the largest employer in the Tours area so everyone knows it. I think there are 4000+ people employed there. So I meet people from every area where Ross meets more in his division and building. Plus, at the language school they've learned that I don't embarrass easily and I'm outgoing enough to mix with strangers. It terrifies some of them, but I'll meet anybody!

Last week it was actually three men from Tupperware (another big employer here); they wanted to understand American driving rules and ages, etc. So, they pulled me from my room to meet these men and fill them in and answer their questions.  They were impressed that for a short while a very long time ago (1982-1984) I was a Tupperware lady. 

What I like about this language place is that if I have something I need or coming up, we'll go on a field trip. So, Neil and I toured a pharmacy, have gone looking to make a copy of a key, and ask directions from people on the street

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I make his face go red a lot and the other facilitators love that. Like everywhere I kept seeing "tampons" lit up in neon signs and on store fronts. Big letters.....I thought, surely not......so I asked....turns out they're rubber stamps, you know with your return address on them or paid in full on them......but if you add "hygenique" or "feminine" to the end, it means what you think. He handles it well; I just treat him a bit like my teacher and a bit like my kids! He comes in once a week from Paris for my lessons because of my level and his "native" speaking.  The rule is when you have a full days’ worth of lessons, you take the facilitator to lunch and you pay. (SKF pays me back) It's good language training to order, etc.....plus we usually tie it into another stop just to try my skills with a safeguard. I do so much on my own, so it's been kind of fun. I just can't call them our "lunch date" like I would with Calum :) We like this one little pizza cafe and go there a lot, this week he was laughing because they know us. I said they probably think "oh isn't it nice, that lady taking her son to lunch". I laugh and tell him all the reasons the restaurant would be shut down in the US. We enjoy the food and it’s a fun little place, we haven’t gotten sick or died yet, so I guess the US regulations are maybe a bit too much!  Sometimes, if Ross has an afternoon class he joins us for lunch too.

Neil's been super helpful but after this many sessions we know an awful lot about each other's personal lives.  He likes a lot of my random questions….like “who picks if an object is masculine or feminine?” And “why is a bra masculine?”

And why on earth do we have to say “I have five years” instead of “I am five years old”. Or if it’s in the future, why say “Je vais aller” which literally means I go go…..instead of “I will go”.  Sometimes I overthink it a bit too much.

Anyway, I am plugging along and getting better at communicating my needs.  I still struggle with the responses, but that’s getting better.  I made a hair appointment for tomorrow, my first one here, so I’m hoping for success.  Explaining a cut and color seems so simple in English!!

I’ve also gone once to the kinesiotherapist for a massage.  In the US I go once a month for a deep tissue massage.  It’s not for relaxation at all, but rather to keep my muscles from getting tight and stiff.  I can so tell I have not been going regularly.  My joints are stiffer and my muscles not cooperating. The record rainfall in April/May hasn’t helped either….my arthritis is letting me know it’s still there.  Well, just like the doctor, she stood there while I took my clothes off (down to my bra and undies-don’t worry…..no nudity, although I am sure some French people would think nothing of it), no blanket or draping on the table, plus they have been trained to work only one area at a time for a half hour. Oh my, I really needed a good workout too.  I liked her and she wants to learn more English as well.  I’m like the local expert J it helped and I’ll go back, but I need more. She’s agreed to try longer and two areas.  In the meantime I found a massage school in Luynes.  He also does massage.  Like the US, you have to be careful here which is why I went to the kiniesiologist, they’re at least medical in nature.  I just didn’t want to end up in a parlor of some sort with someone touching more than my muscles!  From what I’ve read on this guy’s website, it’s more what I want, so I go tomorrow for an hour and 15 minutes.  We’ll see……fortunately as Ross pointed out, I’m bigger than all the French people so if I’m in an uncomfortable situation I can probably take them! J He actually said that about a French jail cell when I said I never want to be stopped by the police for driving or anything and put in jail.

One very fun thing I’ve noticed here…..it’s random I know, but I love it.  When I go to my little bakery in town for bread or pastry it doesn’t matter how many people are in line behind me, they wrap my pastry up like it’s a beautiful gift, usually complete with a ribbon.  No one complains or gets impatient, they just wait.  The bread gets a triangle paper wrapped around the center.  But I LOVE in the evening getting out the pastry and having to open the “present”.  It just tastes better that way.  Every bakery is the same and everyone just waits.  It’s like a quaint cultural thing but very amazing especially with a line going out the door.

If I have Sophie, I usually pick her up, although that isn’t necessary, she can just walk in with me.  She causes quite a stir being so little for her breed.  They’ve never seen a teacup Aussie before so they want to pet her and say hello.  We went for a walk in the park this week and got stopped by a guy who wanted to know all about her.

So, for our first long weekend, we went to visit Ross’ cousin Laura and her husband Christopher.  We hadn’t seen them in years, but have kept in touch.  They live 3 hours from us in the Vondy which is near the coast.  Christopher is French, so Laura has learned the language very well over the years although her strong Scottish accent makes a few words and sounds difficult for her.  As we arrived, she came out to greet us with her two little dogs and two cats.  There are also two horses in the field! The big dog Leelu wasn’t there so she started calling for her.  As the dog approached us, we saw she had a lovely present for us.  She had been down in the field and brought us a freshly killed rabbit, blood dripping and all. We just laughed and laughed.  We took Sophie and she soon adjusted to the menagerie!

One of the highlights of the weekend was a trip to Noir-Moutier, an island off the coast where Christopher works.  First you take the “passage du gois” which is a road to the island, probably 4-5 miles long.  BUT, you can only take the road when the tide is out, otherwise the road is underwater.  As we crossed, families had parked on the sand and were out collecting the shellfish, mostly mussels.  The signs at each end of the road tell you what times that day the road will be open.  It’s only about 2-3  hours twice a day.  We drove up to see it at the end of our visit and it was amazing….just an ocean view and you can’t imagine that a road is there.  There is one bridge on the other side of the island for easy access, but the “passage du gois” was fascinating.  On the island, they are most famous for the salt they collect.  We bought some to bring home, fresh from the ocean.  We looked at the collection sites and the process, amazing! It takes sea salt to the next level!

Christopher works as the managing director of three resorts called “Original Camping” and if you Google it, you can see some of the sites.  It’s amazing; in fact the press has labeled it “GLAMPING” for glamorous camping!  We toured the one site and they are developing the other two sites.  The cabin/tent things are very cool.  They start simple and go up to the one I’d like to stay in, complete with your bed overlooking the ocean!  It really is a fabulous site and not camping like at all.  The restaurant was just opening as we were there so Christopher took us to be guinea pigs for a sample menu.  Seriously, it’s a rustic looking, classy beach like restaurant.  We were treated so nicely and we were the only ones there except for another employee and her family.  So it was custom for us and the food was fabulous.  The man who owns the sites is this amazing entrepreneur who helped develop the modern art museum in Paris, owns his own chateau and vineyard.  Only his wines are served in the restaurant and they’re only available in very few wine stores.   This is his newest venture and it has taken off.  We really enjoyed our day and think the sites will be very popular.

We also went the next day to a seaside town called St. Gilles, which was beautiful.  Ross had his first “moulles frites” which is mussels and fries.  It’s a seasonal thing and from table to table, bowls of mussels were brought out.  I’ve never seen so many in my life.  I had another entrée but ate a few mussels as well.  They were very good and fresh, but I just didn’t want an entire bowl of them.

The next weekend, Ross had business in Brussels, so I went along and we made a long weekend out of it.  I took Sophie for her first visit ever to a kennel.  A lady at work recommended it to Ross.  It is run by a woman about my age and her mother.  We drove out into the country to get there and they were both very nice.  We then laughed as they decided Sophie didn’t need to go out back in the kennel with the other dogs, but rather she would stay inside the house with them and be like their pet!  They raise Pomeranians but kept them away as they’re nippy.  But Sophie spent the time with them and their two cats in the house and running in the garden. Honestly!  

We took the train to Brussels and stayed in the old downtown section.  We did this for ease of walking around without a car.  Ross worked on the Friday so I had the day to explore and see the sights.  I enjoyed a breakfast at a little café on the square with one of their two waffle dishes.  There is the normal what we’d call Belgian waffle, fresh made on the street or this smaller version called a  “gaufres de Liege aux perles de sucre”  It’s similar to the waffle only crunchier because of the sugar crystals. They top it with all kinds of things; I had strawberries and cream but watched kids getting it topped with nutella or chocolate! 

The city itself was amazing to see and the buildings beautiful, but it wasn’t my favorite place at all.  It was dirty and pretty rough; we had to use our room key to get the elevator to go to our room to keep others off the floors.  On the streets, the beggars were plentiful, mostly Romanians called Roms and they had a sad kind of organized routine.  They had territories and met up every hour or so in the square and would trade children; so you’d see the same child all day but with several different adults.  While sitting on a bench enjoying my sandwich I was approached by 8 different beggars within an hour.  Then there was one little old man with a trowel collecting every used cigarette butt he could and wrapping them in napkins and putting them in his pockets.  I asked and he would then take them and shake out any whatever you call the cigarette part and use rolling papers to make his own smokes.  It was soooo sad.   I watched one Rom pull a carton from the trash that had leftover fries with mayonnaise (the local treat), she handed it to the three year old who proceeded to take the used fork from the container and eat the dregs of what was left.  That really bothered me, we had been warned not to give money as it is an organized begging system, but it all was so sad to me.

We took the train to Bruge the next day which was a lovely old town. The buildings were just amazing and the shops carried the local lace that is hand done. We had a great meal in a little sidewalk café and enjoyed the day.

Sunday our train wasn’t until 4:15PM but we had really had enough and wanted to catch the earlier one at noon.  I had tripped and stumbled on the cobblestones the day before and had a few bruises on my arm and knee, plus the cold damp was making me achy.  It was also Mother’s Day in the US, so I was kind of feeling weepy at not being with my kids for the first time.  I just really wanted to go home.  You know that feeling where that’s it….you just want to be home.  So we walked to the local train station where they couldn’t change our tickets and said we needed to do it by phone.  So back to the hotel where the desk clerk tried but was told we needed to go to the main station to do it.  So now we hauled our suitcases and took the local train to the main station.  Once there, we were told they couldn’t change our tickets as they were purchased in France and with Ross’s frequent train card discount so it would cost like 80 euro each. SO…..I spent my Mother’s Day with Ross and our luggage at the train station for five hours until our train.  We walked around, ate, read our books, etc, but it was a looooong day.  As the train passed into France I could turn my phone on again and there were messages from the kids and I was able to text back and forth with them.  Pitiful I know, but sometimes these things just get to me.  Ross advised me to get out my sunspecs as I started reading my messages…..good call…then no one could see my tears!!  But it was the good laughing tears. Tristan had written a message in French, Katie and email and card, Lindsay and Calum numerous texts and an email gift…..we arrived home about 9PM and I was able to have a Skype date which helped.

Then during the week we Skyped with Katie and Liam several times and I got to watch him try peaches for the first time and watch his crazy almost crawling thing.  He screeches at us on the screen which makes us just smile!  So, my emotional moment passed and all is well again.

This weekend Ross had Thursday, Friday off as well but we did things around the house.  We had dinner with Anne-Rachel and Paco Friday night and had a great time.  They have three kids and the middle one Martha is a hoot, she’s 3 or 4 and just makes us laugh.  Naomi the oldest is more serious, but she and I were able to converse in French which was nice.  The baby Esteban is just over a year and almost walking.  We’re planning a day trip with them next week to Chennanceau, a local chateau. 

We have two sets of guests coming up and we are excited.  Our friends Jacques and Claire are moving back to France after 16 years in the US, we’re their first stop for a few days before heading to family and getting settled.  We’re looking forward to their visit!!  They helped us so much before we moved and made it not so difficult for us.  Then my friend from Pennsylvania Dyane and her husband Todd are coming in June.  He has a medical conference on Paris and they’re coming for a couple days.  I can’t wait; Ross says he and Todd won’t have to say a word, Dyane and I will be talking nonstop!!!!!  We raised our kids together and did so much together when the kids were young; it will be fun to be just grownups!!  We’re all grandparents, so I’m sure we’ll be talking a bit about our grandkids!!!

The bathroom renovations are still underway.  I’m hoping it is finished before our first guests arrive next week. Nothing moves fast here!  I like some of the things they picked for the bathroom, other bits aren’t my taste, but I am excited to get rid of the ugly tile and worn out tub and have a brand new room with a shower stall!!

Then I think the landlord is going to re paint the kitchen and put in a new floor. J That will be two out of the three ugly brown tiled rooms changed….yahoo!  We still will have the main area tiles, but one set is tolerable, the three butting up against each other was something else!!!  We would have lived happily with everything the way it was, but I admit I do like new and fresh!  I feel like we’re making friends with the plumber and his wife (and dog), so that is nice.  We work on our languages together and it actually has helped us both.

Ross is in the US this week for work, but in Philly, not Georgia.  I have a busy week, but have the car so that helps.  We go together to the US in June where we’ll both head to camp for teen camp and a family visit.  After we return, we’re going to get a little car for me.  That will help me get around town and do my errands.

So, that’s the last few weeks…….we’re still struggling at church, but praying we get that figured out.  The language issue is one thing, but there are a few doctrine issues we don’t like.  We’re not sure where we’re supposed to be or what we’re supposed to do, so that is difficult.  But, we plug along and in general we are really happy here.  If the weather will ever turn warm and sunny, I’ll be so happy!  I’ve really gotten used to my hot Georgia days.  I’m thinking I will roast when we are back this summer…..my body is now used to this colder damp weather.  We still have the heat on! I turn it off if there is an afternoon I can open a window, but in general, it’s still on and I wear a jacket to go out places.  That is so different for me!!!  I see the kids on Skype in shorts and sleeveless shirts and the sun shining…..so I’m basically paying for A/C in the US at the same time I’m paying for heat here…….amazing!

Off for lunch than a Skype date with Lindsay and a mystery person.  She told me to make sure my makeup and hair were good and that I wasn’t in my jammies.  We usually Skype when she gets home from work so it’s 10 or 11 Pm for me, so I’m pretty haggard by then!  So I’ve been wondering who my mystery Skype date is with and have conjured up some amazing scenarios!!  I’m sure the reality is nothing as crazy as my imagination.  Ross has been laughing and laughing at my guesses.  She’s off school, so we can Skype earlier and yes, I did my hair and makeup and I’m wearing clothes, not jammies!