Went for a drive on Sunday

On Saturday we recieved a local tourism magazine. The feature article was on the most beautiful drives in the Isere region. The picture on the cover was enough to make you drop everything and hop in the car, which is exactly what we did late Sunday morning.

We grabbed some sandwhiches, fruit, and cheese and threw them into our cooler, which reminds me of something else I've been meaning to talk about. Ice, it doesn't exist over here, at least like it does at home. They don't put it in drinks, it's not made in your refrigerator and they don't sell it at the gas stations. I had to buy a new travel cooler for occasions such as this. It's got it's own cooling mechanism and runs off of 12 volt power in the car. You can't even put ice in the thing or it'll short out. Just something I thought you'd like to know, I'll get back to the story.

The magazine article had about 8 different routes that you could chose from. It also had a description of each, but such vocabulary is not quite in my grasp yet. This meant that we were reduced to just closing our eyes and picking one out. The lucky winner was located in the Chartreuse mountains which is on the other side of the valley from us. The route itself is a 12 km patch from connecting one mountain town to another. I simply put the first town into the GPS and we set out. 45 minutes later, and a beautiful drive in its own right, later we reached the first town; however, it was lunch time.

Luckily we found a wonderful picnic spot with a play area. So we took our sweet time and even took a short hike on a nearby trail. Amazingly it turned out to be one of the most beautiful walks we've been on. We saw an old mountain church, a few caves, a few tiny bridges over picturesque mountain streams, and even a boar skin strapped up for tanning (this, by the way did nothing to help my mild homesickness brought on by the fact that a fall without deer hunting is rapidly approaching). So, after lunch, some play time, and a short hike it was time to start the drive.

Now seems like a good time to mention the article in the magazine following the article on "le belles routes". It was, as far as I could surmise, all about the safety of the mountain roads in the area. There were a few words that I could make out along with pictues of guys in hard hats hanging precariosly from cliffs while installing heavy wires and chains. Apparently a large amount of time and money has recently been spent to make sure that schmucks like me can go for a Sunday drive.

Your French would not have had to be as good as mine to read the sign that sat at the beginning of our randomly chosen route.

ROUTE BARREE
DEVIATION

Even if you couldn't read the sign, you wouldn't have accidently driven down the road. It was undoubtedly closed to any type of traffic. Now, I've questioned the French and some of their decisions many times over the last two months, but I doubt even they would justify purposely closing a route that was being advertised in a tourism magazine. Judging by the looks of things, I'd say the route was closed due to something less forseen, like say a rock slide. Ironic, heh?

Rather than give up we chose another one of the magazines selections which was only 15 minutes away. It was worth it. Pictures don't do it justice. We even found an old chateau along the way, which we explored.

All in all, a great Sunday

Bonne Anniversaire Granny Ruth

http://2.recordertheapp.com/cca15dd682d5d0e93ad0/

Happy Birthday Granny Ruth. Hope this link works.

We're still here.

I know, I know I haven't written in a while, but that's a good thing. The reason is that we are settling in and starting to feel at home. Much like many of you we're hitting our stride a few weeks into the school year. Another possible factor is that the English TV, on which we've been patiently waiting, was finally installed. Alright, it's mostly the latter. Sorry. No, TV isn't more important than keeping our friends and family updated, or at least, it won't be anymore.

Here are a few person by person updates

Matt

I'm still adjusting to being a French Housewife, but I'm getting used to it. I do have to laugh when any friend of mine will send me a note asking what I do with all my "free time". I really wish I knew. It goes somewhere but I haven't figured out where yet. I have; however, learned to adjust my calendar to it. I've accepted the fact that a trip to the grocery store will take an entire morning. No, it's not an extremely exciting way to spend a morning, but it's always interesting. I always leave the store with a tale or two to tell, which I'll be sure to include in a blog very soon

A lot of time gets used up with French lessons as well. It's instense. Generally I have 3-2 hour lessons per week, and on the days I don't have lessons, I'll spend an hour or so working on my own. The good news is that its working. Lately I've been able to carry on more conversations than I used to. Like today, for example, we purchased a buffet for some dishes. I took care of everything in French: price, sale price, type of wood, the size, delivery date, and payment. Everything. It's not perfect and fluent, just being able to do it makes you feel much more comfortable. There are, of course, still instances where I am completely lost, but they are fewer.

The second basketball outing wasn't quite as shocking, but, then again, how could it be "as shocking"? It was still, an experience. I've noticed that the French are always willing to point out flaws, even they can't do it themselves. It's not unlike fat sportswriters critiquing NFL quarterbacks, except that they will do it with you standing right there. They aren't being rude, it's just a cultural difference. For example. The latest basketball session included some shooting drills (funny, I know). Anyway, I got paired with the only bilingual player on the "team". In her defense, she is the best player out of all the women. Now, being a coach, I thought I could help her out. Surely, I thought, she could learn to shoot with one hand instead of two, after all it was from only 5 feet away. I asked her to just try, which she did a couple of times before saying "nope, I can't". Oh well, I tried. Then it was my turn. After a miss following 5 or 6 swishes, she felt that she needed to mention my lack of a complete follow-thru. Yes, I was slacking and no, I wasn't "putting my hand in the cookie jar" like I should have been, but I was shocked that she mentioned it. That never would have happened in the U.S. Just a funny little difference.

Other than that, I'm just living. It's really starting to feel more comfortable. School has helped immensely. We are meeting more people and starting to feel more at home. As mentioned, I've got some funny stories that I'll be sharing soon.

Dana

Well, hello everyone! As Matt mentioned, we are starting to establish a schedule, which is nice. It is helping all of us. And the Amercian TV is nice....I can tell I am feeling more 'at home' as I am now back to falling asleep while we watch TV of an evening. Nice for me, but not so for Matt!

The house is starting to feel comfy too. We have rearranged the living room a few times, but I think we now have it set up so we maximize the space, can see the TV and also enjoy the fire - which I imagine we will be doing lots this fall and winter.

We have a big week this week as we prep for Audrey's birthday. We are going to have some families over to play and eat supper with us. And she has requested that we go to our favorite restaurant on pizza row on Sunday after church.

Well - I am ready to fall asleep on the couch now so I am going to turn it back over to Matt!
Lots of love to you all!

Audrey

Audrey's probably got the toughest path of all. I can't imagine it. She went from Kindergarten in English to 2nd grade (or CE1 to them) in French. She's doing well, but it's tough. She also has 3 French lessons a week, which are used mostly to translate her homework for her. The good news is that her teacher deals with it every year and is, supposedly, very good at it. Also from the "good" column is the fact that she is handling it very well. Her new best friend is bilingual and helps her out quite a bit.

Her ballet is also going well. She really enjoys it, but it could potentially be very stressful for her. After all, it's all in French. The fact that she doesn't let this deter her is amazing. She can't wait to go every Wednesday. Lane and I watch and play from the outside, and it's more than a little humorous. First is the delayed reaction by Audrey. She listens, watches and then acts. I heard through a second party that one mother asked "What's wrong with that girl?". Just American that's all. She's learning though, and quick. The funniest part; however, is her height. Audrey was tall for her age by American standards, over here it's even more so. She's easily a head taller than any other student and only 6 inches shorter than her teacher.

All in all, she's doing great and very excited to be turning 7 next Sunday. So, if you get a chance, send her an email or an online card to the address posted on our website. She'll love it.

Lane

Well, Lane is Lane. Judo didn't work out like we hoped, and in hindsight, I'm not surprised. The only experience he had with judo is watching it on the Olympics and then we tried to throw him onto a mat with teacher that spoke no English. He was a little frightened. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but it easily could have been that the teacher was going to flip him and pin him for not understanding his instructions. We tried twice, neither with any success. Maybe next year.

Lane is probably picking up French as fast as any of us just in a different way. He can't spout out sentences or vocab on request, but he can somehow understand his teacher when she rattles off orders in French. It's strange how kids his age learn. They just understand. I doubt he'll every be able to translate for us, yet I have no doubt that after 6 months he'll be carrying on conversations.

One thing we didn't expect is his learning of a third language. He's learning the "Kings English". His best friend in British and they spend a lot of time together. Lane can switch from an American to a Britsih accent on command. It's not some crappy fake accent either, it's (as they say) "spot on". I can't wait for some of you to hear it. Lane will probably be used as a parlor trick anytime someone comes to visit. I'll have to work out a script for him.

His school is also going well. Back home he would be going to school for 2 hours three times per week, but here he goes for full days (w/ lunch) twice a week, half days twice and week and has French lessons 3 times per week. He has shown some resistance, but not much. I usually tell him that I know it's tough, but it's just something he's got to do. Before school the other day we had this conversation

Lane - "Dad, I don't want to go to school today"
Me - "Well, Lane, I'm sorry, but you have to"
Lane - "I know that, I just want you to know that I don't want to go"

Fair enough.


Kensie

We're ready for our pooch to come on over. It looks like Dana has to head back the U.S. sometime in October. Now the rest of us aren't thrilled that she gets to head home with out us, but we'll forgive her if she brings back the dog.


Well, that's all for now. I'll post some more very soon.

The Basketball Diaries

I admit it. On occasion, for the purpose of this blog I have taken some small liberties with my story telling. Don't take offense; these stories are far from fiction. My imagination is not inventive enough to conjure up such tales, but, on occasion, I will write something funnier than it was when it happened. However, not even the tiniest of embellishments are needed for the following narrative. In fact, I'll be lucky to do it justice.

I did not have high expectations when entering the gym, and looking back I was questioning myself for being so quick to dismiss something before even experiencing it. Thus far while in France, I have certainly embraced the cuisine, the language, and the people; and, the majority of the time very few of my preconceived notions have been withheld. People aren't nearly as rude as I was told they would be and the bureaucracy isn't quite as ridiculous as I was led to believe it would be. Why should hoops be any different? After all, Tony Parker is French, and, in general, French people seem to be more active than Americans. Could the reality of a pick up game in France be as bad as what I had pictured up in my head?

No, it was so so much worse. I'm sure there is some decent, even very good, basketball being played throughout France, but I did not find it Wednesday night.

We started by warming up, in a pretty typical fashion, and surprisingly I could tell I was a little nervous. I'd introduced myself and given them a little background information, which is always necessary to help explain why you can't speak the indigenous language. Most of them were very impressed that I was a basketball coach back in the U.S.. In fact this was how the coach introduced me to everyone else. "Le Coach American". I also heard the words (or letters rather) "NBA" spoken. They were joking, but it still gives you a reference point. So you see, I was right to be nervous, I had a lot to live up to.

After mandatory stretching, along with what I can only assume was a thorough explanation of each stretch and its importance, the coach divided us up for a little pick up game. He also handed out jerseys for the teams. I opted to keep my shirt on underneath as I figured I would have enough eyes on me without wearing a yellow, see through, mid riff.

My first shot was not pretty. Not quite an airball, but it sure wasn't pretty. Did the nerves get to me? Not really, it’s just that a girl's ball just doesn't feel the same in your hands, especially when you aren't expecting it. Stupid of me not to be expecting it though as our merry band of cagers was almost half women. Open sign up for a basketball program in this little (but not that little) town yielded 6 men and 6 women.

That I followed my wife's career to France while taking care of our children should tell you everything you need to know about the level of my chauvinism; however, I think it's fair to say that their aren't a lot of women, at any level, that are strong enough to guard a man my size in the post. It's just the way it is. Add into this equation that 5 of the 6 women playing in this game were probably playing in their first game ever, and you can start to get the picture.

I certainly never guarded one of the women and none of the women guarded me, but they were still there, on the court and in the way. Again that's not chauvinistic, it’s dangerous. My 113.5 kg (still sounds better than 250 lb) can still move pretty quick, it just can't stop very quick. The men were really trying to stop me, so I'd have to use a quick step or spin move to get around them, which wasn't too hard. The real challenge was sidestepping the petite mademoiselle standing in the lane with her head turned the other direction clueless that she was about to be made into a pancake, or rather a crepe. Basketball, like many sports, is about knowledge. Sure it takes some athletic ability but just knowing where to be and where not to be can make you better and keep you from getting hurt. These girls had none of this.

A few of the men were certainly better but there was just something different about the way they played. I've watched kids playing soccer at Audrey and Lane's school, and am always amazed. They do some amazing things with their feet. I saw 8 year olds tossing up the ball to do a handstand and kick the ball in the goal while upside down and backwards. Yet, I'll bet they couldn't have dribbled the ball once around the playground. I'll have to do a search for any scientific studies on the correlation between foot/eye coordination and hand/eye coordination. More specifically, if you have a lot of one, does it mean you don't have one of the other? Gun to my head I couldn't keep a ball in the air with my two lower limbs for longer than 10 seconds, and if I tried to play soccer it would show. Well, its opposite for these guys. They just look awkward playing basketball, I don't know how else to say it.

"Perdon". It means "excuse me" and it was the easily the most commonly uttered word of the evening. Can you imagine it? Every time you accidently bump into someone on the court you actually pause and say "Oh, excuse me". It was slightly less physical game than I'm used to. And not just the accidental contact, there was almost no contact at all. They didn't set picks and forget boxing out. This worked for and against me. On one hand I reeled in about 3/4 of the rebounds. On the other hand I also reeled in a few close range passes an inch from my face while trying to set a ball screen. Along with this lack of physical play was their definition of a “foul”. If this coach would have been calling a randomly selected high school game back home, no player would have lasted more than a half.

One last thing. Lines. Every sport has ‘em. Boundaries, service line, distance markers, etc. and when they are used in their respective sports they make sense. However, when you put them all onto one floor you end up with something like this.

Honestly I think it would have been less confusing with no lines at all. It's certainly a multi purpose gym, not a basketball court. But , of course, I'd be even more dumfounded if they did have a gym just for basketball.

Well, that’s about all I can remember, but fear not, I’m planning on going back every week. I’ll get some exercise and I can always work on my shot. But the best part: Wednesdays just became a 2 for 1 special on blog fuel. How could I pass that up?

A missed opportunity

The potential for "blog fuel" today was huge. On Friday, Dana and I were invited to attend a little game on Sunday. It's a local co-ed "touch" rugby tournament. We were prepared to look like fools (even more so than usual), have some fun and probably offend some natives. Unfortunately, our weather here hasn't been much different than what most of you are experiencing now in the midwest. No joke, it has been raining for the last week. Not surprisinlgly the park was in no shape to have amateur Rugby morons running around on it. If it works out in the next week or so, I'll be sure to post the results. Not the score so much, but injuries and cultural faux pas.

The weather caused some other anxiety earlier this week. After dropping the kids off for school I sometimes drive into Grenoble for my French lesson. Then after 2 hours of mind wrenching translating I drive the 30 minutes back to pick the kids up for lunch. It's tight, but I usually make it with 10 minutes to spare. Well, on Friday I realized another major difference between roads here and back home. It's a lot of work to cut a road through the mountains, so they don't usually cut another one parallel to it a mere mile away. Once again this is one of those things that make sense, but you don't really think about until the rain causes some poor guy's driveway to move 10 yards downhill and on to the only road you know. Fresh from my French lesson, I attempted to talk to a French policeman in order to assertain if I could go past the barrier to access a side road that I thought would get me home. My French is improving quite well, but that is not a simple question to formulate when he is waving you on and a line of cars is honking behind you. I failed and made a right with the rest of the mob.

So let's reset the scene. I have 20 minutes to make it to school to pick up two kids who have been told, "Do not go to canteen today, I WILL be there to pick you up". I have just been shooed off the road that will get me there in 10-15 minutes and have no idea how long it will take me to get there via the detour. (I use the word "detour" lightly. They use a similar word, but it is only a detour in the sense that it keeps you from using the intended road. I was initially hoping to follow the signs to get me around, the problem was that there was only a sign. We don't care where you go, but you can't go here) My trusty Tom Tom was helpful, but not that helpful. I had to drive for 10 minutes in a randomly selected direction before "turn around when possible" became something more useful.

To make matters worse, I was also trying to call someone to pick up my children so they wouldn't be wandering around outside the school searching for their dad who's told them to "I will be there, don't ever go with anyone else". Now, the technology on my new iPhone is awesome but it could be better. For instance, it can hold the numbers of every contact I have ever known, but it cannot look into the future and store numbers that I "am going to put in as soon as I get home". The only numbers I had were of people who had called me, and only one of those was useful. Not because she was a parent of kids at my school, but because I knew she would have someone's number. Never mind that she's in Italy watching the practice for a Formual One race, I need help. So, a couple calls back and forth over the border and I had someone to monitor my children until I could arrive.

The events of the last three paragraphs was stressful enough, but the French have a way of making such events even more stressful to us untrained Americans. Manual Transmission. "Oh, I can drive a stick" is what you are saying right now. Well, me too, but it sure doesn't make things any easier. In fact, it's a real pain sometimes. Have you ever seen a game show where people can't answer simple questions while under physical strain? That's what it feels like. My train of thought was being derailed every 10 -20 seconds.

The rest of our weekend was not as eventful. A couple from the UK has two boys, one in Lane's class and one in Audrey's, so it worked out well that they invited us for dinner. Surprisingly, having dinner in France with a couple from the UK was almost identical to you inviting my family and I over to your home. The only notable exception being that at home my wife doesn't spend the entire night laughing at your 4 year olds adorable cockney accent. She wasn't being mean, of course, but it did give us away as Americans.

Since we stayed out till 11:00 with the kids on Friday, Saturday consisted of resting and a quick trip to the mall. Which was fine because it rained all day, again. I feel like I bit on a time share scam in which they take you to the location during the only week of good weather for the year. Ok, not really, but the weather stinks. I spoke with the owner of the house today and I think he feels directly responsible. Which he shouldn't, but on the other hand, it is early September and he was walking me through the heating system for the house. We didn't need it yet, but I've always thought that a time of neccessity was a poor time to make sure your heating works. Besides, it was down to 62 degrees or so in the house this morning because it was below 50 outside last night. A little heat wouldn't hurt anything. So today on the 14th of September......

Carrefour

I snapped this pic on my phone this afternoon at Carrefour. What is Carrefour you ask? Some exotic fish market? Nope. Carrefour is France's version of a Super Wal-Mart. There are 2 or 3 in the immediate area. Food is different here, that's all there is to it and the Carrefour is a great place to notice this.

There are 4 different sections in which I can find cheese. One is pre-packaged cheeses that they cut in house, another is with a worker behind the counter that takes orders, the third is a section of brand name pre packed cheeses more like you would see in the U.S, and the fourth is an isle of fresh cheeses like fromage blanc (think cottage cheese put in a blender) Amazingly, each one of the first of these 3 sections has more options than any U.S. Grocery store I have ever been to.

Right now you're probably saying "The French love cheese?! What a news flash". I know, I know it's no secret, but you have to see it to even try to understand it.

The bad news is that we are probably going to O.D. on cheese very soon. I took this picture of my pint sized refrigerator the other day just for fun. I have a shelf that holds nothing but cheese. Now, a true Frenchman would be gasping right now, becuase they don't normally put cheese in such modern equipment. They leave it out with their eggs like normal people. ???? Still haven't wrapped my brain (which contains a semester of Microbiology) around that one.

Anyway, at the time of the photo, my "cheese shelf" was holding the following. Gruyere, Comte, Parmasean Reggiano, baby bella's (for the kids), Roquefort (France's most popular bleu), some form of chevre (goat cheese) and a camembert. We all eat these regularly, except for the camembert. I'm really the only one who eats this. It stinks a little. I accidently bought a special camembert. It had been soaked in some sort of cider and aged. It tasted fine as long as you only breathed through your mouth. Eventually I had to throw it out because it made the house stink everytime I opened the refrigerator. Actually I only indirectly threw it out. I first tried to use it on a potato dish, then, after much complaining by Lane, I threw it out.

Back to the Carrefour. It's an adventure everytime I go, uless I'm only searching for things I previously found, but what fun would that be. Take today's trip for example. I decided to buy some lettuce. A simple task, except I knew that at Carrefour you must weigh and tag your own produce prior to heading to the checkout. I've never forgotten to do this simply because I fear hitting the checkout line and having to converse about the problem. The problem today was that lettuce is sold by the piece. So do I need to tag it or will they know it at the checkout? Not wanting to experience the aforementioned conversation, I employed a technique used by many a imported citizen. Wait and watch. Luckily I noticed a woman who appeared to be in the mood for some lettuce. Unluckily she was undoubtedly French. Frech women pick out produce like most people pick out cars. They kick the tires, take it for a spin, and get a good whiff. I had to pretend to look at shallots for a good 4 minutes while she selected the right head of lettuce. Then just as she was about to do so, a stock boy roars in with a cart of onions, which, as you know, go right next to the shallots. I didn't get the chance to see if she tagged it because I and my (4 wheel pivoting) cart were fleeing for our life. I did not wait around for another French woman to come along, as I had to pick up the kids in an hour.

Random thoughts from September 10th

HAPPY GARDEN

There it is and it works. I've still got a little bit of cosmetic work to do around the ground, but other than that it's good to go. Unfortunately, other than the day I took this picture (late one afternoon), the weather has looked like this since it's been completed, about a week ago.

This may look somewhat similar to a picture on our website. Trust me, it's the same piece of panoramic bliss, it's just covered by fog (I guess it's called fog although if I drive down into the valley and look up I call it a cloud. All about your point of view I guess). Anyway, it is apparently rainy season here. I don't know if all this rain is normal, but if it is the roads don't show it. There are several spots on the road that have large portions of earth and trees now encroaching in on them. Not a huge deal back home as you can see a road hazard well in advance, but here they tend to jump out at you, making driving even more of a white knuckle thrill ride.

Normally the driving isn't to crazy. For the most part people allow you to be a slow defensive driver if you so chose, they just don't follow suit. There is a 3 km section of road on the way to our house that the kids have dubbed the "crazy road". We started using it versus a longer (probably safer) route, because we are really trying hard to "live like the French". As a general rule we find this seems to make life easier. Then one of the tutors showed up (10 minutes late) to our house and asked, "Do you take that back road?" "You're crazy". Apparently not all French people think it's a good idea.

For the folks that do use this road every day, it is cleary a different story. Dana has a couple of wide spots where she routinely pulls over to let people pass. I'm not sure this is what they want, in fact, I'm convinced it's the opposite. As close as they follow, they've got to be drafting. Europeans are much more conscious about fuel comsumption, you know. I, on the other hand, never let them pass. I just ignore them. Or.....Two days ago, I was coming up the road by myself, one of my favorite songs was on the radio (via my iPod of course), I was feeling good, and a BMW turned on the road right behind me. I hit the gas, started going through gears and my goal became to make sure that I didn't have a car tailgating me when I made it to the top of the hill. Mission accomplished, by the time I made it to the top I had two cars tailgating me. Even worse was that I was treating it like the Grand Prix with a concentration level to matchh while the guy directly behind me was checking his Email. Maybe the real problem was my VW minivan.

School is still going well, or as well as can be expected. By that I mean that the kids like going and seem to be having fun. As for what they do at school, who knows? In hindsight I should have expected to be clueless for a while, but it has kind of hit Dana and I like a 2x4 (or the metric equivalent) to the head. For those of you that know us well, you know that saying that Dana and I like to be on top of things is putting it mildly. Well, toss that out the window. Here is a standard conversation after school with Audrey (the poor kid)

Us: "How was school?"

Aud: "Good"

Us: "What did you do today?"

Aud: "I played outside and Lane chased me some"

Us: "Ok, what did you do in class?"

Aud: "I don't know"

Us: "Do you have any homework?"

Aud: "I don't know, look in my yellow folder"

Us: "Yes, Audrey, it's all in French. Do you have any idea what you're supposed to do"

Aud: "No, it's all in French"

Us: "ummm, OK"

Repeat every day

They tell us that this is normal and that she'll figure it out, as will we. I sure hope so, because it's hard to do anything about it. Before I chilled a few degrees, I decided that one morning I'd just ask her teacher how it was going. Her teacher speaks less English than I do French. It was a short conversation. However, via broken French and body language I gathered that there was nothing to worry about. Hope so.

Dana and I decided a long time ago that this was an excellent opportunity for the kids. They'll learn a second language at the best possible time and be better off for it. Everyone we talked to agreed, it's a fact. However, it seems a little like me saying that I want to run a marathon. It's easy to see yourself thinned down and in great shape on raceday, the part you gloss over is getting to that point. Well, that's where the kids are now. It is a lot of frustrating work. Honestly it's probably harder on Dana and I, but it's going to be a long month and a half till the first break.

Speaking of the first break.....Here is where we are headed.

http://www.bandbnormandie.com/

We are really looking forward to it. Normandy is about an 8 hour drive, but it should be fun. We'll leave early and break it up

A couple more notes about school. The kids stayed for lunch (a.k.a. Canteen) yesterday, meaning that I dropped of the kids at 8:15 and picked them up at 4:30. A very long day for them, but it went great. They loved it. Their lunch is hard to believe. They sit down for close to an hour and have four courses. From what I gathered, their menu was as follows: 1-Some sort of seasonal melon 2-Ravioli and sauce with cheese 3-a cheese course of some sort 4-Desert was a collection of seasonal fruits. A little different from your standard cafeteria fodder and the alloted 15 minutes (maybe) to inhale it. The flip side is that it should be for 5 euros each per day. They certainly view food differently over here and it starts at a very young age.

On Saturday we went to our local "Forum des Associations". This is a fabulous idea. Sports are not school related in France, they are public and are village or city related. Every Septembre, there is a Saturday devoted to signing kids (and adults) up for everything from pottery class to ping-pong. If you are new to a town, you don't have to search out who is in charge of what. It's all right here in one large room on one day.

Everyone got signed up for something. Yes, everyone. Dana signed up to play some volleyball one night a week and I signed up for local basketball, which I was told actually travels to play against other villages. I took this as an excellent indicator as to the level of play. Who would waste their time at something they suck at? Well, apparently plenty of people. I haven't actually been yet, but since signing up I spoke with a local ex-pat and fellow Midwesterner who did not give me good reviews. Oh well, we'll see. I'll be sure to update Hopefully the volleyball is a little better.

As for the kids, they are very excited. Audrey is signed up for ballet. She could not be more exicited. She starts next Wednsesday after which we will probably have to buy shoes and a tu-tu. For Lane, we'll be buying a judogi, that is the name for the judo uniform. He hasn't been to one lesson and already acts the expert. It gives him an excuse to run around chopping and kicking (like he needed one). We've been told that the teacher is excellent and stresses discipline, so we'll hope he likes it after he's told it's not just running around doing karate like SpongeBob.

WARNING: The following story conatins graphic images. It is not for the easily queasy.

Do you remember me mentioning the slugs? I wasn't joking around. It's like a plague of locusts only they're slimy, terrestrial, and slow moving.

This picture is of the beginning of my children's "slug collection". They were bored one afternoon so they decided to start hunting. They used Audrey's butterfly net to bring them to a pile 3 feet from my chair, which, at first, I condoned. Slugs are slow, but when you leave to collect a net full a few sprinters can start to get away, which was constantly interrupting my book reading. (terrible, I know) Plus, for some reason this upset Audrey. She wanted all the slugs to stay together, in their "family". So, I (scientist that I am) constructed a simple cheap "slug prison". Unfortunately this prison, like most prisons, was constructed before the number of known inmates was determined, which is always many more than you ever thought possible. Part of the reason for the increase in number is that they somehow, someway got Dana to help them collect.

What you are looking at is 300+ slugs in a circle of Sea Salt. Who needs TV.

I say that jokingly because, the anser is me. I was oblivious, until Sunday afternoon (our time), to the current status of American sports. Then an email alereted me to the fact that it was opening Sunday for the NFL. I suddenly had an acute attack of home sickness. Now, I'm working on eventually gettng a satellite dish that includes some NFL games, but I don't have it yet. So, I started searching frantically for some way to scratch my NFL itch. Specifically the Bears. I figured that, considereing all predictions, I'd better watch some of the 1st half of the season, because I probably wouldn't care by the second half.

The good news is that I actually found a way to buy all NFL games via the internet for those out of the U.S.. The bad news is that, for some yet undiscovered reason, our internet is extremely inconsisstent in the evening. So, there I was late Sunday night cornocopia of NFL games at my disposal and my internet would not stay connected for more than 5 minutes at a time. I was not a fun person to be around. Luckily (for me anyway) the games are archived and the internet works like a dream during the day. Good thing I don't have a job to get in the way!

GO BEARS!

The First Day of School

I'll be honest. During some of the more frustrating moments of the last month, I smile at the oddest times. It is because I know that I am experiencing what I like to call "blog fuel". As I've mentioned before, this blog is my therapy and I enjoy writing it; therefore, I am sadisticly happy at every new bit of culture shock. Odd, I know, but that's me.

Despite all of this, I was hoping and praying that no "blog fuel" was experienced by any of us on the first day of school. We were all more than just a little nervous about it. New school, new language, new protocols, new parents, new everything. Also, it was Lane's first day of school outside of preschool for two hours two days a week. We were ready, but it was a bit daunting. Nothing looms like the unknown. I tried to explain this to Audrey during one spell of anxiety one night, but the concept was lost on her.

Well, enough build up. I am unbelievably pleased to report that the first day went without a hitch. It was great. We got there on time. Dropped the kids in the right spot and they were happy to go. I picked them up for lunch and both were excited to go back . I then picked them up at 4:30 and they were all smiles and stories. They are both excited to go back on Thursday and are even excited to stay for lunch (canteen) some day, although they did enjoy eating lunch at home watching a movie in English ( I know I would have wanted it after a morning of French).

Communication was not a huge problem either. Audrey sat by a bilingual girl, who was helpful, and she said she even understood some words on her own. She did say that a boy kept talking to her during class and that she couldn't understand him. This was probably a good thing as she also told me he was later playing an imaginary trumpet. I doubt he had anything helpful to add. As for Lane, well, he really doesn't listen to anyone anyway so language isn't a huge factor. I doubt he'd noticed if his teacher has used only clicks and grunts.

The bottom line is that we can't thank the Good Lord enough for how well it went on Tuesday and can't pray enough that it continues. I'm sure I'll get plenty of "blog fuel" from school down the road, I just didn't want it on the first day.

The swingset.

Almost done. It is completed, just not quite anchored yet. Throughout the process of building it, I was actually impressed with it's construction and lack of cheap materials. That is until I got to the anchoring process. It was a joke. These tiny little anchors had to be placed in concrete just before it set and at the exact right spot. Then you attach the legs to these tiny anchors. At least that's what I could surmise from the pictures as there was no verbage of any kind. Likewise there were no measurements given to tell you where to put the anchors. So, I decided to wing it. The jury is still out on whether or not it will work well enough to keep it from flipping over during play time. I'll keep you updated.

Putting it together didn't go too badly. It took the 4 of us about 5 hours, which is to say that Dana and I together could have done it in 4.

There was only one minor hiccup: Judging by the name, I'll assume that Murphy was an Irishman, so I don't know if the French have a translation for "Murphy's Law". Regardless of whether or not the name exists, the law does. It must be like gravity. Like the students that always claim that Newton made the Law of Gravity or how Ben Franklin invented Electricity. Nope, they've always been there. Anyway I opened up my shiny brand new metric socket set (purchased in the U.S.) to assemble "Happy Garden". Right away we noticed that the 10mm socket was somehow missing. I have no idea how. Since you can see where this is going, I'll skip the stories about Dana and I tightening every hard to reach nut with a socket wrench and a pair of pliers. I can skip it because, you've probably been there. Like I said it's "Murphy's LAW" and not Murphy's theory.

I'll include some pics of the kids playing if and when the anchors set properly.

Oh, by the way, Happy Belated Labor Day. We didn't get it here, but don't feel bad we get plenty of others. We did however miss some things that typically happen on this day. Dana missed the big Labor Day Parade in Pana and I miss sending them to it so I could go Dove and/or early Goose hunting.