November 26, 2012

I’m back!  After delays and weather related issues, I was finally able to fly out.  It was a long yucky flight where I literally was the last seat in the last row of the plane.  Just me and the toilets….what fun!  It was one of delta’s oldest planes which should be retired.  It’s so small and seats are tight with no individual screens for movies.  I cannot fit my knees straight in these seats so I spent the flight trying to sit kind of crooked without having my butt right up on the young guy next to me.  He was very sweet, a Muslim guy who is a policeman in Toronto who had been visiting his fiancé.  It’s an arranged marriage and he is looking forward to having her join him early next year.  We actually had a few very good chats about morals and beliefs and our core differences.  It helped a very long flight seem bearable.

I arrived in the US after being awake for 22 hours and was so glad to see Lindsay and Calum waiting for me.  They said as each crowd would come through they’d wonder if it was my plane when finally Calum said “Oh that’s it, they are so French looking”.  Sure enough it was my plane, but of course when you’re in the LAST seat, you don’t get off the plane quickly.  

I’ve decided that there are far too many rude people who travel.  They push and shove to try and be first without a care for anyone else.  It amazes me to see so many people putting themselves first and doing anything to get there.  I have found that politeness and kindness go over so much better.  Yes, it had been a crazy week of delays and every seat on every plane was full; but that’s no excuse for rudeness.  One flight attendant who was not in my section recognized me and he kept coming to the “way back” to check on me and chat.  He remembered that I lived here and traveled back and forth; so it was nice to have someone recognize me.  The center seats next to me ha the rudest, most selfish family in them.  They even brought their duty free booze and during the flight kept sneaking drinks from the bottle.  They yelled at the flight attendants and demanded things, it was just awful to watch them.  They got on the plane last and then threw a fit because the overhead bins were full.  They were an eastern European family who didn’t speak French or English so they just kept yelling in their own language.  Then I could see the flight attendants getting frustrated and finally they just kept getting slower and slower to help this family.  After politely asking the woman to get her legs out of the aisle five or six times while they were trying to serve dinner, finally the one flight attendant had enough and she just rammed the cart along smacking the woman’s leg. I That was ugly!!  Fortunately they fell asleep and only woke up to swig their booze for the rest of the flight!

I had a great visit with family and friends.  I felt like the time flew by and it was a whirlwind of a trip.  I was able to pack and mail myself two boxes of things I wanted here including several simple children’s books to use at school.  It was fun to celebrate Liam’s first birthday and get to spend some time in Alabama with him.  I so enjoy these visits with my adult children too, our conversations can be serious, silly or filled with memories!  I was sad that Ross didn’t get to come and he missed out on all the family time; but it did give him time to start his new job.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned Ross’ new job before, if I have sorry……..Ross worked in Georgia as one part of a 12 person team in business development.  He was brought to France to continue this and have most of the team based here.  Anyway, his boss was given a new position and Ross was asked to head up the team.  It means at least an extra year on our contract so as we are finishing our first year here, we look forward to at least two more.  He may be asked to be as many as five years but that will only happen yearly adding one year at a time.  He feels this could be a job he does from anywhere so we will see what the future holds for us. For now, this is home and we enjoy it.  

Okay, the first picture I call “What on earth?” and it looks like an odd swirly pile of dog doo.  It actually is freshly dug dirt and we have hundreds of them all over our yard. We thought at first we had moles or some burrowing animal.  Well, it turns out the mounds are made from the earthworms digging.  They burrow and dig and provide themselves with pathways for the winter.  I’ve been told that seeing these mounds in the grass during the fall is a sign that our soil is fantastic and rich.  What a difference from the Georgia clay we are used to.   

Then there are some random photos of Tours as they decorate for Christmas.  Downtown there are 75 booths that will be open daily selling all kinds of items and treats. Some are in our yard as the fall weather has set in and things change.  One set is of trees here with a problem disease on them.  It only shows up as the leaves fall away and leave these puffs of what look like leaves on them.  I call them Dr. Seuss trees because they look like they are from Who-ville. I keep trying to pull over and get a photo but the best shots are of course not available as I drive along.  I know it’s bad, but I like how they lookJ  Of course, there are a few food photos too…..one of the chickens at my little Luynes market on Saturdays where the farmers come and sell their wares.  I’m just not keen on head, feet and feathers!!  The pother food photo is in the grocery store….yes it’s the hooves of the cow….okay, seriously who eats that and how would you cook them? Also, I think the funniest road sign in France so far!!

Yesterday several area evangelical churches did their once a year get together at a local school gym.  So we had church with about 500 others; it was nice to know people from several places and feel like we had friends.  I enjoyed it and loved the group singing. It was not Ross’ kind of fun, but he was a good sport.  He tells me next year I can go alone! 

He is just home from a week in Malaysia with hot temperatures and apparently the worst traffic ever.  His driver would dart in and out and there were endless delays.  In February he’ll head to China for a week as well.  I have no desire to go with him to either place but will tag along when it’s somewhere I want to go.  Somehow for me the week flew by, I was so dreading being alone but I had something to do every day but one so it kept me busy and thankfully it wasn’t nearly as lonely as I had anticipated.

The weather had been kind of cold and dreary with a good bit of rain.  Seems like now it’s headed to colder but drier, so I think that might be better than the rain.  It’s just over three weeks until the kids arrive and I am getting excited about that.  I’ve been setting our schedule so I could purchase tickets from the visitor center in advance.  It’s about 1 euro cheaper per person to buy them there so as I purchased several last week the savings added up.  We’re headed to Normandy for two days as the boys are all about the war and Band of Brothers stuff.  It should be a sobering, historic visit and I’m sure we’ll all enjoy it.  We will cram in as many things as we can in this visit but then as they come separately in the future, we can take time and do more. 

We’re planning on Calum will be here for 8 weeks in May/June.  He will do an internship at SKF which hopefully will help him as he looks form a job in the future.  It will be fun to have him here and see him each night at dinner.  During that time our nephew Craig will visit as well which should be fun.   At the weekends we can tour and travel together which will be great!

Friday, I had coffee and tea with two ladies and we did our conversations completely in French for the first hour and then in English for the second.  Two of us are learning French and the other wants to refresh her English.  We had a nice time and will meet together again.  BUT….while there I made one of those “wrong word’ mistakes.  The guy next to us started smoking and would turn to blow the smoke not realizing it was right into my face; the seats are pretty close in restaurants.  We were in the outside café which has a tent like structure over it for all weather.  There is a heater in the center which keeps it toasty.  Anyway, the second time the smoke came blowing at me I made a noise and the guy turned and apologized.  I told him in French that it was “en ma face” and FORTUNATELY I used my hands to frame my face….because the word for face is “visage”…what I actually told him was that he was blowing the smoke “in my A**”.  Oh my…..,I did not know……and you can believe I will remember!  Well, the ladies with me busted out laughing and fortunately so did the two guys……..ah the joys!    Oh well, it just happens!  Too many words are similar and then some are similar but mean such different things!

I am surprised by the way teachers handle kids in class.  The public ridicule or screaming at one student is something we would never do in the US.  They really take them to task when misbehaving and not sweetly at all.  I mean they’re super nice and they treat the kids fine, it’s just the way they handle discipline; just not at all what I am used to.  This past week I was  at school on Thanksgiving and was able to explain our holiday both historically and current day.  Then I showed them my picture in my turkey suit; I’m just different than what they know here, even the teachers were laughing….but they would never dress up like a turkey!

Anyway, that’s all for now…..I’ll keep looking for the funny, quirky and unusual….