My Life in and Love of France

Well, it's basically been two months since I updated about my life here- that either means I'm really busy or really lazy, but knowing me, it's both!

I've fallen nicely into the rhythm here, but a two-week school break this week and last has thrown off that rhythm a little. (And I can't decide which is better: not having to drive the kids back and forth to school every day, or not having to watch the kids by myself all day. I like the vacation days because they're so relaxed, but then all my friends are away on their own personal vacation, so I will be ready for the normal school days to start again.) I can't believe that it's already been almost two and a half months! That's insane! Christmas will be here soon! (And yes, I do get to come home! Hooray! Thanks mom&dad:))

Claire, my neighbor au pair, and I "go out" at least twice a week so that we're not stuck at home and so that we're maximizing the incredible opportunity we have here to be a part of a new culture and region. There's an au pair club that meets twice a month, and the leaders host a Bible Study every Monday night that we have been attending. We have also met a couple people via couchsurfers, and have discovered new places to hang out via other au pairs. There's also a wonderful English-speaking church twenty minutes away, and a contemporary church service on Sunday nights in Geneva. And of course, there's French class twice a week, in which we have met more au pairs! What else!

I have never been a drinker, as I simply don't like the taste of alcohol, but with Europe being such a different environment for drinking, I'm starting to try some new things out. It seems that here, almost no one drinks to get drunk; the exceptions would be foreigners and young college kids. I knew that drinking was a social experience here, but it's hard to understand what that means until you're involved in it. But when everything closes by 7pm and the only things left open are classy little bars and pubs, it only makes sense to grab a drink with friends at the end of the day!

I have come to love the region and pace of life here so much that I'm starting a search for a job to take after my year here as an au pair is finished. I'm primarily considering and English-teaching job, since I have an English degree and should have enough experience with French and children at the end of the year to qualify, but I am really open to anything. However, the cost of living so close to Geneva is somewhat high, so I'll have to find a good enough job to cover expensive housing costs.

Things I love about the culture/region, etc.:

• It's not necessary to smile at everyone. Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy person and I like to smile, but it does get tiring to smile at anyone you make eye contact with, like you would in the US. I like being generally left alone, especially if I'm not in the mood to smile! ;)
• Everyone is extremely polite and courteous. This concept overlaps with the no-smiling custom, as people simply want to be kind and respectful towards others, helping when necessary and giving them their space when it's not. The principle of non-toleration towards screaming children in public also falls under this umbrella.
• I love roundabouts, aka rond points. When I was first learning to navigate these curious little streetways, I hated them; but now, as I sometimes miss my turn... I think they are wonderful little inventions for the absent-minded or lost citizens who need another chance to make their turn without having to turn into a parking lot, etc., to turn around somewhere down the road. Insert philosophical musings on second chances in life here, haha!
• Everyone is much more health-conscious. Meals are balanced, sugar is not eaten in excess, fruits and vegetables are grown locally, and packaged foods have color-coded health notices. Because all the food is so much healthier, everything tastes better and I enjoy trying new things almost every day.
• Nothing can compare to looking outside and seeing the Alps every day. Nothing. I can't imagine wanting to live somewhere where you couldn't see such a wonderful landscape every day.
• When there is a price sticker, you pay exactly that price! The tax is included! This is brilliant if you only have a certain dollar amount to spend, and you know exactly what your total will end up being. Revolutionary (except that it's really not). Let's do it in the US, please.
• The historical atmosphere of Europe is wonderful. I love seeing simple houses that have been there for hundreds of years, old architecture, famous historical spots, everything! When I visited Annecy and saw a French prison that Frenchmen had been detained in during World War II, it really hit home to me where I was and what I had become a part of by living here.
• Even though tea is common in the US, it's more of a tea-friendly atmosphere here. I've never been big into drinking tea before, but after getting sick and drinking it for the benefit of my poor, sore throat, I discovered how much I enjoy it. Also, tea is so common that you can get great tea at any place that serves any kind of drink, and not just some basic bland tea that you would probably get at a restaurant in the US. Therefore, the social drinking concept includes tea (and coffee)!

I'm sure there's much more that I'm forgetting, but I am obviously enjoying it here! It's hard for me to know what I should share with you, so please let me know if there is something you would like to hear about! (And yes, I do know that I need to post about traveling to Paris and Annecy... I am indeed a true procrastinator!)

Can you see the evidence of our first snowfall? The pictures are hard to discern, but it was lovely to watch coming down! It snowed October 27th and 28th, but there hasn't been any more since then.

My Progress

Salut! Sorry that it's been so long since I posted - I've been busy! What has happened since I last wrote?...

Well, I'm slowly getting better at everything as each day passes: driving, finding my way around, understanding the language, understanding my tasks, getting used to the way of life...

And I have to get used to military time!

With driving, I'm more afraid of getting lost, etc, than not being able to drive a standard properly, but I am still far from perfect with the driving!!! I can say, however, that I'm thankful for mistakes because they teach me what to look for next time. For example: I stopped at a stoplight and put the car in first, or so I thought; it took me two and a half light cycles with people passing me for me to figure out that I was in third instead of first! Oh la la! I felt like an idiot after that, but now I know that that's something I need to be especially careful of and something to look for if I have the same problem again! With the traffic, there are a ton of round-abouts and, particularly in the smaller towns, the streets have no rhyme or reason to how they are organized, and so it's hard to learn how to get around. But, I'm getting by, even if it means arriving somewhere a little late because I got momentarily lost.

I don't know how to track my language progression except for basic explanations. For the most part, I can understand almost everything that is said with a combination of current knowledge and context clues, but there are still many times when I simply don't understand. I'm still pretty bad at speaking because of a combination of lack of vocabulary and stage-fright/thought translation lag, but I'm hoping that all of my "absorbing" with oral comprehension will soon translate to better speaking!

My French classes start on October 1st, and I'll be in the same class as Claire (we are the two American au pairs of Gex!); I'm ready for them to start because I hope they'll help me with my grammar so that I'll feel more confident in speaking. I'm also using Duolingo to brush up on basic vocabulary (and as I advance in the program, learn more difficult vocabulary), and I have a little phrasebook that I skim through. Soon, I'll also start using Livemocha and see how helpful it is, because I got an all-access key for really cheap. I get motivated for language work by Benny the Irish Polyglot, who stresses immersion, among other things.

I'd say the most stressful thing is learning how to take care of two small children, as I've never done so before. Erine is in the stage of testing me to see if I'll respond to bad behavior like the parents do. Oscar is still warming up to me, but it's coming along. My patience is definitely being tested, particularly when I don't know the vocabulary to tell them to do or not to do something or to explain an answer to their questions.

I'm sorry I haven't posted any scenery pictures, but it has still been so foggy that I can hardly see the Alps in the distance. But here are some pics of my current room vs. future room!

My current little space

The insulation being worked on in my future room

The walls on opp side being finished

The main view from the door

(I don't know what's up with the spacing, btw. I worked on it for ages and it wouldn't work right.)

I'm going to learn how to make a Croque Monsieur (typical French dish- like a toasted ham sandwich, basically) tomorrow, so I should have a lovely food post for you on Friday!

My Arrival and First Full Day

Eh bien...

My brain is in French overdrive! Talk about immersion! The parents will speak English if I don't understand something or if they want to make something easily understood, and I speak English with the other au pair, Claire, but otherwise everything is in French and it's spoken pretty quickly! For the most part, while I don't understand 100% of what is said (probably about 50/50!), I get the basic message, or if I look confused, they'll say it differently! :) But I've immediately found myself saying little words to myself in French automatically since it's basically all I hear. It's hard to imagine myself becoming fluent, but I guess it will come with time.

I hated the nine-hour flight because it was cramped and I couldn't sleep, but there was a good movie selection, so I watched The Lucky One (which is a one-time watch kind of movie... super cheesy) and part of The Avengers. I was so glad to get off that plane! Then I had to go through security in the London Heathrow airport, where they're much more strict than at DFW. (The lady made me try to cram my liquids into a sandwich-size bag and pulled out most of the contents of my bag into a separate bin, so that it was practically impossible to be organized any longer- gee, thanks!)

I finally started to fall asleep on the second flight, but then they served a snack and I was hungry... And then the best part... the view! Omg. The view of the Alps coming close to Geneva was the most spectacular thing I've ever seen!!! I wish I could have taken a picture, but the best views were during the slow descent and I couldn't have my phone on. The mountains stretched across the horizon and they were so majestic! It was the perfect welcome to my new home!!! (Oh, and I can see both the Alps and the Jura Mountains from my house! It was too foggy for pictures today, but I'll take some as soon as I can! I can see Mont Blanc from the second story!)

Apparently, Claire (the au pair of a nearby family) was on the flight from DFW to London as well as from London to Geneva, but I had no idea what she looked like and so I chanced asking this random girl what her name was right before going through customs and it was her! haha! The mother and the kids were waiting for me, and the kids were extremely shy at first, but I'm practically best friends with little Erine now!

Today, I played with Erine, had my driving lesson, chatted with Claire as her little Marie and my kids played, and drove around Gex a little with the mom and kids. Ah, the driving lesson... mon dieu. Evidently the driving teachers are insanely strict here and most people fail their test at least once. My teacher kept tsk-tsking me when my shifting gears wasn't 100% smooth and she told me that if it was a test I would have failed and that it would be very hard for me to drive here, and so I should get an automatic instead. Talk about a stressful hour! But then get this- I drove around with the mom and she said that all I need is some practice because everyone has trouble at first, and that I'll be just fine! She also said that the teachers are so strict these days that even she would probably fail if she had to take the test again because now they have a lot of confusing questions on courtesy and theory.

Upcoming...
The kids' school starts next Tuesday, so a schedule will fall into place then. I'll have the kids all day long by myself on Thursday and Friday! Maybe next week, I'll be going to Bourg with Claire so that we can register for our residency. I also have an appointment at the bank to get an account and a debit card on the 9th, I think. My school starts on the 17th, so I'll have to take the placement test the week before to see what level I'm on.

I've got information overload, but everything is going ok so far! I'm definitely ready to go to bed, however! (It's about 11:30 here!)

Final Pre-France Update

Well, I'm not really sure what to update on. I haven't quite finished packing yet... but if you know me, that comes as no surprise. It's the phenomenon of moving, in which you have no idea how much stuff you have and how much you need to do until you get down to it; and I'm a perpetual procrastinator, so that really doesn't help matters. :)

Once I get packed and am on the road to the airport, it will all be downhill from there. It's just stressful particularly because I've never moved to another country before. Traveling is one thing, but moving... gah. Especially because shipping costs are extraordinary and not worth it unless it's mandatory, so I can't forget anything!

I've also got all my stuff spread out across my floor right now, and as I'm about to go to bed as I'm typing this, that's a problem considering I need my air mattress to go somewhere... It's really bad when your procrastination makes you lose sleep.

Well, I would really appreciate it if you all keep me in your prayers as I travel and get adjusted in a new world. I'm sure I'll get used to everything, but thinking about it is slightly terrifying. I also really hope I don't have to sit next to a smelly person on my nine-hour flight. Really.

My blog posts will probably be in and out for the next week as I get used to a new schedule, so bear with me!

See you on the other side!