Hello all!
This will be a short post due to my unfamiliarity with the french keyboard. Hopefully tomorrow, when the stores are open, I will be able to get my laptop sorted out.
I landed without any major complications yesterday morning (only yesterday?!) at around 6:30am Frankfurt time, feeling like it was 1:30am. Jean-Luc, the father of the family I am currently staying with, picked me up after customs...for which I am very grateful for. The Frankfurt airport is by far the largest airport I've been in. In addition to the minor complication of me not speaking any German...
To my surprise, Jean-Luc lead me to a comparatively large-sized car and proceeded to get into the driver's seat on the left side. Apparently France has long been a right-side-of-the-road driving country, a fact of which I was unaware of (I know, good research for the american here). However! Just for kicks, along the of Avenue du Général Lemonnier in Paris (some 350 meters) traffic drives on the left!
The Servias, the family I'm staying with, live in Dorlisheim, a small village 30 minutes outside of Strasbourg. Despite the continuous drizzle it is very pretty -- such cute houses! Many things I thought to be stereotypes are actually reality. Grey-haired ladies ride their bikes with a basket full of baguettes along the narrow cobblestone streets, while accordionists pump out passionate tangos.
Today we went to Strasbourg (Jean-Luc's maman is in the Strasbourg hospital due to heart trouble). It was gorgeous. I especially loved le Cathèdral with its hand carved stone exterior and the vibrant stained glass windows.
The language barrier is both overwhelming and wonderful. I feel like I am understanding a lot more already. I also *think* I'm putting together more coherent sentences. This morning I woke up thinking a sentence in french! Yet I get frustrated and have to keep reminding myself that I still have many more days, weeks, to improve. I also haven't had to interact with any complete strangers by myself yet. I think in part because it is the weekend and everyone is home with time to help me.
So maybe not such a very short post.
peace.
Thank you so much for putting this up!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see pictures.
Love you and I'm so happy you are there safely!
Dude you're making me sooo pumped about Japan! Everything you're doing sounds so exciting and awesome and culturally amazing. Aren't language barriers great? They really make you deal with having to learn the language or... not... Anyways I hope you take as many opportunities as available, such as walking into shops by yourself lol. Do it!
ReplyDeleteI was a bit of a hypocrite back then cause I had a hard time speaking Japanese with everyone but I did find it super beneficial to deal with strangers who most the time didn't speak too much Japanese. I'm ready to go back this summer...
ReplyDelete