Sunday, August 24, 2008

Dana's second blog....

Hello to all once again. I thought I would attempt to write another blog...well actually Matt told me to write one b/c he said it would make me feel better. Why do I need to feel better you may ask? The simple answer is that I am homesick. I think most of it was triggered by a recent trip to Germany. I had to go to Wackersdorf, Germany early on Thursday morning for work. So I did not have much time to rest after we got home from Paris on Wednesday evening and if you read Matt's novel on Paris you know that we were constantly on the go. Now Germany was pretty nice and I enjoyed the trip. I got to meet part of my staff, who were all really nice and I got to see some of Germany's country side as I had to ride in a taxi for 1 1/2 hours after arriving at the Munich airport. It was neat to see...no mountains, but grassy hills and lots and lots of fields (which was probably 20% corn and 80% hops). I guess they will start harvesting in September so maybe I can make a trip back then and see it in progress and feel like I am back at home in Illinois, although I will be missing a combine ride with Uncle Tom or a semi ride with Uncle Bobby.
The part that triggered the homesickness for me though did not take place until I got back to Grenoble and we went grocery shopping and running other errands with Matt and the kids on Saturday morning....it was the language. The great part about Germany is that they learn English at a young age in school so every where I went, I was able to communicate in English and what a nice feeling that was. So I got frustrated as we ran our errands b/c I was back to not understanding what was being said around me, and more importantly what was being said to me. But hopefully this will improve over the months, but it will definitely be a long haul.
My evening improved though as I got a call from mom and gma and gpa Adcock. It was so nice to talk to them and find out what was going on back home. Then we had our good friends, Jennifer and James and their dog, over for supper last night. It was a great time and they didn't leave until close to midnight.
And then after a good nights rest, I am feeling better today. I will second what Matt said though about visitors. We would love to see some familiar faces and would love to show you around France.
I do really appreciate all of the emails and phone calls we have received. I especially enjoyed the recent pictures of Peyton and Drew and also the first day of school pictures of Keagen and Avery.
Love you all lots and miss you! Take care!
Dana

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dana: Regarding homesickness..it gets better with time. That's the only thing that makes it better. I used to watch the mailbox like a hawk. If the mailman was 1/2 hour late, I was complaining to Dick. He thought I had a screw loose. Try hooking up a camera to your computer and "see" your family when you msn them on-line. I promise you, they won't speak any French phrases unless you ask them to try..
Take care.
Kathy

Anonymous said...

Dana,
Hang in there - you guys are doing a great job of adjusting to a really unique situation. We wish you all the best! Be watching for your birthday box from us - it includes several "tastes of home" that I think you'll like.
RT