Little Yellow School Bus

I miss little yellow school buses! Claire’s class took a field trip across town to watch a puppet show this last week. Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France, so it was quite a trip!

We took 24 four- and five-year olds on the metro here in Marseille. First, we walked a mile to get to the metro stop (so that we wouldn’t have to change trains). We had to spread out the kids among us, try to hold as many hands as possible, and walk beside the busiest and largest street in Marseille. Did you know that you can actually hold up to 6 little kids’s hands at the same time?? Then, we shoved all 24 kids on the train in the 13-20 seconds that the doors are open. Then, we had to shove all of them off again at our stop. (I think the conductor waited for us!)

After the teacher got finished arguing with the controllers about the price of the tickets for our kids, she asked me if it was like this in the States. All I could think of was a little yellow school bus that drops kids off right at the entrance to a museum or park.

We had a great time having our picnic, playing at the park and watching the puppet show.

On the way back, I was reminded once again that we now live in another world. All the kids drank from the same water bottle. Yuck! But, they were thirsty.

Vive la France.

Things CLaire has said...

Kids really do say the funniest things.

Joy Ride:

Driving in Marseille is not an easy task. Dodging and swerving to avoid being hit is considered “good driving” (and, it is quite necessary, too)! It was a typical day and Daniel was trying to avoid the cars that were stopping (to park in the middle of our lane) in front of him. Claire was in the back seat. She suddenly said, “Daddy, I have an idea. Let’s name our car McQueen because he swerves around cars, too!”

Lost in translation:

Claire can understand French VERY well. It’s not fair, really. But, the other day, Claire’s teacher told her to “cut it out” in French. Apparently, Claire’s teacher made a gesture like swiping a finger across her neck. (Her teacher did this to her own neck, not to Claire’s neck!) This gesture was made in conjunction with the “cut it out” statement. Claire came home and told us that her teacher told her to stop doing something. She then said that her teacher was going to cut her head off! Oops.

Singer/Songwriter:

Have you ever heard the song “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat? “It starts in my toes, then I crinkle my nose…” Well, Claire likes it when this song comes on the radio. However, she has her own version. “Touchin’ my toes, then I lean on my nose…” I think she has a chance at being a song writer!

2 Castles in 3 Days

Claire waiting to enter the Fortress of Mornas

We really do "work" sometimes, but it is so much more fun to show you what we do in our "spare time". (Life does seem to run together sometimes. Sometimes work is fun, sometimes having fun is just exhausting...)



Last Friday, we went to Chateau d'If (the famous, real castle/prison from the fictional, made-up story "The Count of Monte Cristo). We had a great time!



Then, on Sunday, in order to celebrate Tiffany and Mentanna's birthday, we went to the Fortress of Mornas. It is about 1,000 years old!



Here are some pics from our Medieval Weekend:

Claire picking flowers outside of Chateau d'If

The Lighthouse at Chateau d'if

The Day didn't go as Daniel had planned

Les Calanques

In the last post, we "vented" a little about life in the big city. (Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France.) Well, yesterday we were reminded how great Marseille can be.

We went hiking with some friends in "Les Calanques"-- the cliffs that line the Mediterranean Sea just outside of Marseille. It only took us about 15-20 minutes to drive out there. We took Claire, so the actual hiking part took about an hour. Another blessing we were reminded of yesterday--- Claire loves to hike! (And, she is pretty good at it, too!)

We hiked/walked out to a restaurant that is only accessible by foot or boat. There was a little beach (emphasis on the word "little"), so Claire got to play while we waited 3 hours to get seated! But, the weather was great and the food was good. (But, the water was pretty cold-- see pic of Claire.)

After eating lunch at about 4, we started off on the hour-long hike back to the car. Apparently EVERYONE went hiking that day because EVERYONE was on the road on the way back. Our 15-20 MINUTE trip there turned into a 2 1/2 HOUR trip back. We were quickly reminded that we do live in the 2nd largest city in France! (Look at the pretty flowers we took a picture of while waiting in traffic!)

Life in Europe

Most of the time I absolutely LOVE living in Europe. Most of the time I feel at home here. Most of the time I enjoy the different pace of life and unique way of thinking.

Most of the time.

There are also those times where I think I am living on another planet and I want to scream the question, "WHY??? Why do you do that??"

We had a lovely trip to the small country of Andorra during Claire's Spring Break. The snow was beautiful and the weather was perfect for skiing. In fact, Daniel had planned to go skiing during our time there. Tiffany had even thought of putting Claire in the ski school and trying to ski, too! Katie and Courtney (our friends and teammates who went with us) brought snow boots and ski jackets..

.

BUT, ski season closed the day before we got there. It didn't matter that the snow was still powder-y perfect. In Andorra, ski season opens every year around the 1st of December (even though there usually is no snow) and it closes mid-April (even if the snow is abundant). No capitalism here!!!

We did, however, find a ski resort still open across the border in France (where the snow was melting). But, ski season was not supposed to end until the next week.

I also cannot understand WHY people choose to have a dog in a big city like Marseille and then they don't pick up after the dog's, ummm, "business". I think that every dog owner that leaves it's dog's poop on the ground should be forced to step in the mess and then walk through their own house! Get rid of the dog or get rid of the poop! Come on, people.

AND, I would really like to "key" all of the cars that completely block the sidewalk so I am forced to walk my child out into the busy street. (I have NOT done that... I just imagine how good it could feel...)

I also got pretty angry when some big girls at the playground picked Claire up and moved her so that they could act stupid and play like little kids. I did chew them out--- But, hey, at least I did it in French!

So... that is a small record of my culture stress right now. Don't worry. I won't try to change the economic mindset of any small countries, I won't force people to step in poop, I won't scratch any cars, and I won't gripe out any more children-- unless they touch my Claire!

And, it's not bad here. I still love it. Andorra really was BEAUTIFUL, and we did get to sled while there. And, I am VERY thankful that God has chosen to place us in Europe!

Baseball in Marseille

Yesterday, Daniel officially played his first game with the Marseille baseball team. He hasn't played baseball or softball in quite a while, but here are some stats from yesterday's game...

Daniel hit 3 triples...

He was walked twice by the pitcher (after the triples)...

He was playing 3rd base--- twice in a row the ball was hit to him and he threw the runner out at 1st!

And, his batting average was between .600 and .700! Really, it was!

His team won both of the games in the "double header". The first game was 7 innings. The second game was 5 innings.

Go Meds!

Budapest

I had wanted to travel to Budapest for about 5 years. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a conference there, and I found myself feeling a bit nervous. What if it really wasn't as beautiful as everyone described? What if I was disappointed? What if I didn't really enjoy the trip?

Well, as you can see from these pictures, I had nothing to fear. Budapest was a cute little Eastern (or Central?) European city during the day. And, at night... Well, at night it was just spectacular!

I am so thankful I was able to FINALLY get to this beautiful city! I am also thankful that I didn't drop and partially break my camera until after I arrived safely home.

Why??

Why?

Sometimes, I think there is a little bit of a two-year old (or three-year old) in all of us. We all want to ask, “Why, why, why, why, why??” even when there are really no answers to our questions. So, here are my questions that probably have no answers. But, I ask myself anyway…




Why does Marseille have a baseball team and no baseball field?

Why does the French government make the paperwork to live here so hard that it is impossible to do everything the way they tell you it must be done?

Why do most French people know more about the American primaries and election process than most Americans?

Why is good Tex-Mex so hard to find?
Why is homemade salsa so much better?
Why do Haas avocadoes taste so much better than other avocadoes?

Why do people go on American Idol-type shows when they sing worse than me???

Why do people who live in apartment buildings in big cities have big dogs like Saint Bernards??
Why don’t people clean up after their own dogs when they do their “business” on the sidewalk?

Why do the home improvement stores in the middle of Marseille sell lawnmowers?

Why do I cry at sappy commercials and tv shows?

Thoughts

I have a lot of deep, blog-worthy things to say, and then I forget them all before I get to a computer!

We have been waiting for our container (crate) from the States; in the meantime we have been filling our apartment with a lot of stuff from Ikea!

You know you have been to Ikea too many times when your three-year old prays like this:

"Dear Jesus, thank you for Daddy and Mommy and my friends and our 'par'ment and all of our furniture."

Pictures of our new sofa coming soon!

Greetings from Marseille

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! We are now in our own apartment in Marseille. We just thought we would share a few of the most common conversations/questions around our home these days:

CLAIRE: Is this our home? Are we staying here for a WHILE? And, then, someone else will live here? Are we coming back here? Is our crate here? Our crate is coming!

DANIEL: Where is that thing? You know, the thing we put in the box with the other thing. Have you seen those nuts and bolts that go with this thing?

TIFFANY: This place is a mess! I can’t wait ‘til we have a couch, and a rug, and a dining room table and a desk and a bed…



Here are the only pics we can really show you of our new place. (It’s really a mess here!)

Newsletter Post (and Praise!)

Thank you so very much for your prayers. We truly felt them. Here it the update on the apartment. On Monday we were told that the owners needed more information about us and our company. On Tuesday the realtor said it was looking better in our favor. On Wednesday night we received a phone call from the realtor saying that the owners had agreed to rent to us. Then on Thursday (when we were to start our Final exams) the realtor said we needed to come down and sign the contract as soon as possible. So we left on Thursday afternoon for Marseille. We were then told we could sign the contracts on Friday morning. (Are you tired yet?) So, on Friday morning we signed the contract and came home that afternoon. THEN Saturday morning we took our “fourth” exam having missed the first three on Thursday and Friday. Now, we are getting ready to take 5 exams tomorrow, so we’ll have to cut post short.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

We live in a winter wonderland!

These pics were taken about 5-10 minutes from our apartment.

It is so beautiful here! We are so blessed.

Culture Shock

I am not currently in culture shock, however I was shocked by something I learned in class yesterday.

In America, I have heard the expression, "The Good is the enemy of the Best." I took this to mean that we should not be satisfied when something is just "good".

Yesterday I learned that the French have a similar expression. "The Best is the enemy of the Good." This means that if something is good, we should leave it alone. You can completely destroy something good if you mess with it just in order to make it better.

Wow! That explains a lot about the differences in our 2 cultures.

Please do not take this post as a judgment of any kind. It's just an observation!

Writers' Strike

To All my TV Watching and Downloading Friends...


What some writers said about the WGA strike on http://unitedhollywood.blogspot. com/...

"So how do we get our point across, to people who don’t understand why we’re doing this? The best way I have found, is to say: everything on the internet? We get zero. They get everything. They get millions and millions and eventually billions and billions, and we get zero. And the “they,” here, is basically six of the biggest baddest companies in the world, run by men who annually receive salaries and compensation well north of 50 million dollars."

And from Creative Screenwriting e-zine...

I'll give you an example [of why they are striking]-- the series Heroes," said Bernard Lechowick. "The writers and creators of Heroes earn nothing in reruns," he said. "Nothing. Because there are no reruns on television. They're all online, and in the past year tens of millions of people viewed the show in reruns online, and each of those tens of millions of viewings had paid advertisement on it. And the writers earned nothing from that. Not a penny."

"DVDs seem to bethe new residuals," says television writer David Graziano. "Things aren't airing on TV anymore. They're either on the internet or they're being released on DVD." But with the contract agreement reached in 1988 setting rates at a mere four cents per DVD..."


So, these are just some of the things we need to keep in mind when Heroes runs its season finale December 3rd. And, in 4-6 weeks there will be no new episodes (this season) from Desperate Housewives, the Office, or most other shows that are not reality TV based. The writers (in my opinion) have good reasons for striking.

youtube video from the staff of The Office

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hqP0c0_gw

A 3-bedroom in Marseille?

Check out this apartment! Lord willing (and the owner waits for us to get all the money and paperwork finalized) this will be our home in Marseille! Thank you for your prayers.

Please keep praying!

Mentanna found it a week ago. Here are some pics:

Here's the link:

http://www.seloger.com/192686/30803267/detail.htm

Question

Suddenly, I have a lot to blog about! Here's the first thing. This is more of a question than a blog, but I would really appreciate your responses. I could write pages on the background of this question and why it is driving me crazy, but I will try to limit the story to a few lines.

I believe in the power of prayer. (For my friends who follow other teachings or no teachings, please hang in there with me, this question is for you, too.) Recently, I prayed and prayed for what I THOUGHT was the best solution to a big problem, but God had other plans. He said, "No." But yet, I still have faith and I still have hope.

Paul encourages us in the New Testament to “always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have in you.” Why do I have this hope? I KNOW I DO have this incredible hope, a peace that is beyond my understanding, and a faith that I can rely on. But, WHY do I have this hope? If sometimes the answer is, “No,” why do I continue to “know” that everything will be okay?

So, here is the question. Actually, here are the questions (plural):

Christians: Why do you have the “hope” in you?
Friends of Other Faiths: Why might the “hope” seem crazy to you?

Thanks.

Hello Again!

We are now determined (once again) to update our blog regularly (once again).

Here's our problem:

When we have a lot to say, there is no time to post!

When we have time to post, there is not much to say!

But, we know that we love reading other people's blogs and newsletters (even if it takes us a while to comment), so we are going to try (once again) to let you know how things are going over here. (We're still in France in case you haven't heard from us in a REALLY long time!)

So, Claire is only 3, but she started school. They start official preschool between 2 1/2 and 4 here. It is not mandatory, but it seems as if "all the kids are doing it". She loves it! Her teacher says she is speaking French, and she is doing well. (Except she rarely takes naps.)

So, here are a few pictures from her first day of school!

(And, no... her parents did not cry!)

From Claire's Camera

As requested here are some pictures by Claire

Claire By Claire

Mommyand Daddy by Claire

The Phone by Claire

Ode to a Peaceful waterfront by Claire

Daniel's B-day

Chateau Chillon

Well another year has gone by and it is Daniel’s b-day again. Well this year, since there was no one in Albertville, we went to Geneva. We visited Chateau Chillon which is on the other side of the lake from Geneva. This is a really cool Chateau. We also went to the Nestle Chocolate factory. This was probably the highlight of the trip. During the tour there is a room were you can sample all the different types of chocolate they make. We also had Burger King and Domino’s pizza. Isn’t it funny that we go to a different country and eat American food? Here are some pictures of our trip.

Daniel on the Pot

The Great hall of Chocolate

It's Summer... Anybody out there??

I wanted to say something profound or thought-provoking or even interesting, but I cannot think of anything to say. You see, we are "on vacation" from language school which means that we find other ways outside of school to study and speak French. Therefore, our minds are tired. I cannot think in French or English sometimes! Did you know that simply watching a 45 minute TV show (in French) can be one of the most exhausting language exercises???

That being said, I just wanted to say SOMETHING, ANYTHING. It is summer and there is not much going on here, so I really wanted to reach out and communicate with SOMEONE! Please communicate with us.

Let's see what we have done that is worthy of showing a picture... I don't suppose you want to see a picture of our tutor, Bernard? Would you like to see a link to the new Grammar books we want to purchase? What about a clip from the tv show Numb3rs in French?? No? Really?

I have a picture of our overly ambitious attempt to climb a mountain... with Claire. Or you can see a picture of Claire playing at a beach on a lake. How about Claire watching the Tour de France? It came through Albertville (before the leader got stripped of the yellow jersey for doping).


I'll post some pics anyway. We hope all is going well for everyone out there. Here's a question... Why does France close during the summer?

The Tour de France (yellow jersey guy after the riders in pink)

Claire at the Lake Beach

A Picture of Claire Taking a Picture