Checking in from Switzerland

Hello!

Just wanted to say hi from the Swiss Alps and tell you all that I've had a very enjoyable holiday so far and the end is approaching far too rapidly! ;) I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I wish everybody a Happy and Holy New Year!!

Back again soon! :)
Monnie

Christmas Vacation!!!

Today, We Leave For SWITZERLAND!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!! Best wishes!!!

À la prochaine!

The Longest Shortest Day of the Year

This morning I opened the shutters in the kitchen about 8 am. It was still dark as night outside. And it dawned on me (no pun intended! ;)) that today is the shortest day of the year, in daylight hours.

But the shortest day of the year has become the longest as I eagerly await the coming of vacation. :)

49.5 hours until our train leaves for Switzerland. :D

LOL!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Time has been going so slowly this week! I thought it would fly by (just like all the other weeks!), because I didn't get back from St. Manvieu and start work again until Monday afternoon and also because Rose will arrive tomorrow evening (instead of the usual Friday evening arrival). Short week, right? Right... but it doesn't feel like it! Time actually seems to be going slowly! I think it's because I can't wait for "Christmas vacation" (that makes it sound like I'm in school again :)). You know that feeling of barely contained excitement? An inability to concentrate on your work? An ancy feeling in your stomach? Yep, I've got all the symptoms.

Only two more days of work now!! I can't wait!! :D

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Decorations are going up around the house and Christmas cookies are being made. There is a secretive feel as bedroom doors remain firmly closed. And all await the coming of Our Savior and King...

Accidental Find

As I mentioned, I spent this past weekend with Rose in Normandy. It was a great break for me, to be able to spend a few days in an environment so unlike the one in which I work!!

On Saturday, we took the bus from Carpiquet to Caen to do some shopping. We got off at a bus stop that seemed to be in a promising area for shopping purposes. Right near the bus stop, we saw a beautiful church and decided to go in on a whim. We toured the church (which we later found out was the Abbaye aux Hommes), accompanied by the church's choir practice of various traditional Christmas carols. Just as we were about to head over and see their crêche (which turned out to be really nice!), I saw a sign with an arrow reading "Tomb of William the Conqueror" (in French and English)!!! What?! We had stumbled so unknowingly into the church housing the bones of William the Conqueror?! Wow! We followed the indication and found, indeed, his tomb in the sanctuary of the church. A few minutes later, we learned that he had begun the building of the church itself (although I don't think it was finished until after his death).

Perhaps the fact that William the Conqueror is buried in Caen is a well-known fact (it certainly makes sense that he is)... I don't know. I only know that it wasn't to me and Rose!! :) That surprise discovery really made our day! :D
(This is so you can tell where the tomb is, relative to the main altar.)

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and More!

I spent this past weekend (Friday evening to Monday morning) visiting Rose at Cours Ste. Catherine de Sienne in Normandy.

To reach the school on Friday afternoon/evening, I went through the following steps:
* walking
* taking the bus
* taking the RER
* taking the metro
* taking the train
* taking a taxi

All that in less than six hours. Wow, did I feel traveled! But all that combined was still easier than a single airplane flight alone. The airports just seem to work together to make your travels as full of hassle as they possibly can. I LOVE being able to show up at the train station fifteen minutes before your desired train leaves and purchase the ticket, then walk directly to the train and get on. Your bags never leave your hands. You go through NOT A SINGLE measure of so-called "security." And you SOMEHOW manage to arrive at your destination alive and well. Your luggage isn't lost and (a lot of times) the train is on time to the minute. I'm lovin' it! ;)


(Picture taken in the Châtelet-Les-Halles metro station in Paris, late afternoon December 8, 2006.)

Menu du Jour

I think, from time to time, I'm going to write about what we ate during the day... the French way of eating is quite healthy (one reason out of several for the fact that they are almost all QUITE slender), but I'm afraid I'll forget how they do it once I get home, so I'm gonna jot it down... and maybe a few of you readers will find it of interest too...

So, for starters:
Tonight's dinner was composed of salad and quiche. Both EXTREMELY standard fare over here.
It was a green salad, with a vinaigrette concocted with dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and another kind of oil.
The quiche was a ham and leek affair... with milk (maybe a little crème fraiche... I'm not sure; I didn't do that part of it...) an egg or two, perhaps some herbs, and I don't know what else.
Dessert was yogurt. The natural variety (sans sucre) that is sooo common over here (but that I don't recall ever seeing before I got to France). You add the sugar to it just before eating. It's sooo yummy!!

...One big problem is that they very regularly use ingredients that are not available in the United States. What a pity it is, too! You just can't find baguettes "aux Etats-Unis" ...nor crème fraiche ...nor, as far as I know, fromage blanc ...lots of things.
Oh well! I suppose the methods and principals of their eating habits can be imitated even without the ingredients, right?

Pop Rocks

This evening, I was supposed to be teaching Alban (5) and Jacques (7) English. They don't particularly like these lessons, although I try to make them light... Tonight, Alban - who is particularly strong-willed by nature - was having NONE of it. Very uncooperative. I mentioned though that if he would be good, he could have some "bonbons." He straightened right up and actually became nearly enthusiastic about the English lesson. Let's just say he actually showed interest and initiative... and really surprised me with how much he remembered from his previous (lethargic) lesson. He has quite a memory!

...So I had him read some in a beginner book, double-checking to make sure he was comprehending the meaning of the English words and quizzing him on some of the vocab. As a reward, I gave him some Pop Rocks. He had never seen anything like them at first and seemed a little loathe to try them at first. But try them, he did. The look on his face was priceless! He actually displayed wonder. (If you knew this stubborn, ornery-as-heck little kid as well as I do, you would marvel too!) I gave him a little more and he ran downstairs to show his mom and brother. :)

Whaddya know?? Jacques was suddenly eager to get started on his own lesson. :D I had him read several pages of a different book, worked on some spelling, and then quizzed him on vocab from today's book as well as from last week and a few weeks before. Colors, food, various things... when he had satisfactorily accomplished a fair amount, I dished out Pop Rocks to him too. His reaction matched Alban's. There was a "What's going on in there anyway??" look on his face, and he ran downstairs also to share the tidings of this wonder candy with his mom.

Ahh, a little bribery now and then never hurt anybody... LOL! Thank you VERY much to Linds for sending the novelty "bonbons"!! They came in very handy and the boys are now a little more on their way to speaking English. :) Baby steps, baby steps...

Sleep? What's that?

The fact that I have weekends off in no way implies that I am able to catch up on sleep! What a laugh! ;) I am not a morning person. But I have to get up at 7 am just about every day of the week. (That's early for me.) Does this mean I go to bed earlier? No. Especially when my sister is in town, LOL! Let's see... Thursday night, I was in Paris and got to bed at midnight; woke up at 7:15 am. Friday night, Rose and I went into Paris for Mass and a procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception. Went to bed about 1:30 am; got up a little after 8 am. On Saturday night, we went to bed after midnight, I think. Sunday morning, we rose at 8. Last night, we got to bed at 12:30 am and this morning had to rise at 6:40, so Rose could leave for the train station at 7:15...

*yawn*

Theoretically, I am going to go to bed early this week and try to make up some of that lost sleep... we'll see what actually happens!


AHEM! Wake up!

Hey! You mean this post put you to sleep?? Cool, maybe I'll read it tonight and thereby go to sleep at a decent time!

Ciao.

House Call

On Tuesday morning, the family doctor actually came to the house and made a house call!! I thought my dad was the only doctor in the world who still did this! :O It was actually neat to be on the "receiving" end for once, instead of always on the "sending" end, watching Dad leave...

"Du Jour" posting

I'm gonna try to update this blog more frequently from now on (as I am able), because I know that if I don't write a lot of the daily incidents down, they will quickly be forgotten (some already have been!)... and also, that will make me keep an eye out for the humorous highlights of the day and help me see things in a humorous light (not that that has really been a problem so far).

I'm just saying.

And now you can hold me to it if I don't post very often. ;) (All both of you that read the blog.)



That being said... what can I report? Ah, yes, you wanted to hear about my weekend. (Yes, you did. Don't argue with me!)
In brief, it went well. The babysitting was a bit hectic... 8 1/2 year old Gregoire broke his plate at dinner by telling a story too animatedly and 9-month-old Béatrice was feverish and cranky, but overall, things went just fine. :) And I got a kick out of watching The Love Bug in French!! Buddy Hackett "speaking" French was TOO funny!
As for visiting a museum on Sunday, well, it just didn't happen. I met up with Bridget (a British girl I met about 2 1/2 weeks ago) after Mass at St. Nicolas and we talked with various people outside in the pouring rain for a few minutes. (Neither of us had had the forethought to tote an umbrella with us.) Then we tried to find our way to one of her better-liked cafés, meanwhile assuming the appearance of drowned rats. At last, we found the place and were able to dry off (most of the way) over a hot lunch. Another English girl met up with us there. ...I had wanted to go to the Louvre, but Bridget convinced me that it would be way too crowded and not at all worth going. I'm sure she was right. So I let her pick a different museum we could go to together. She picked one on costumes and jewelry since she is fascinated by that sort of thing. We went together to the the metro (thankfully, Katherine - the third-party - had brought an umbrella so we maintained a semblance of dryness that time!) and then walked the several blocks from the final stop to the museum, only to discover that it was closed until its next exhibit opened in 2007. There were no other museums of interest nearby (our choices being Asian Modern Art, Hinduism, or some other strange thing - which I can't recall at the moment), so we headed toward Bridget's "flat" for tea. On the way there, we walked beneath the Eiffel Tower (which is, in fact, HUGE) and then stopped at a "Vente de Noël" for a little bit. At the apartment, I met her roommate, Anne (yep, another English girl! :)), we had tea (yummy!), and then talked, listened to music, looked at pictures, and watched two episodes of a BBC show called "Keeping Up Appearances" - funny, but frustrating! By that time, it was nearly 9 pm!! Katherine and I decided to leave Bridget in peace to work on her homework (she's a university student) and make our separate ways 'home.'

My weekend went WAY too quickly, but it was fun!

...I realize that this post has been entirely too plentiful in its use of parenthetical observations, but that's what happens when I try to put something in a nutshell! :)

I was hoping to tack a couple photos onto the end of this post, but it's not working right now, so I'll put them up later.

*and now a word from our sponsors...*


Stay tuned!

If We Make It Through December...

...We'll Be Fine.

So goes the song.

Considering we've made it TO December, making it THROUGH December now seems quite feasible. :) Especially with the way time is FLYING!! Yikes!
The first couple of months over here were rough. I can't say they weren't, although hindsight is 20/20... I never realize how difficult a situation is until I'm out of it. That's probably a very good thing!
Nevertheless, the last four weeks (i.e. since my arrival at the Smiths' on the sixth) have gone much, much better. It's not always easy. It can't be said to be "fun" - at least, not much of the time. It's far from perfect. But it's very satisfying and I really like it. The kids are growing on me... and I can foresee it be really hard to say goodbye when my stint here is over.

The big news of today, however, is that I got a package from Joegi and Linds this morning!!! It was sooo thoughtful of them!!! I loved it! And savored every minute of opening it. :)
I'm absolutely spoiled. :D I got a little packet from Mom earlier this week and received a care package from Mom (complete with banana bread and some really good candy! :D) early last week. Those things certainly do help me keep going over here. It's so nice to know I've got support from home. That means far more than the candy and letters - but I love those because that's how the support is shown.
And I can't express how much I appreciate Dad's encouragement and support (both monetary and otherwise :)).
And, of course, I'm so glad for those friends who have been consistent about keeping in touch with me over here. It's nice to know that I haven't been entirely forgotten. ;)
SO MUCH for which to be thankful!!!!!!!!!

As other news goes, Rose visited last weekend and we had a good couple of days together. We were both happy to see "familial faces" again and share stories and experiences. On Friday evening, we didn't do anything special. Ate dinner and let Rose get settled in a bit. And talked to the family for a short bit. Saturday, we spent the afternoon and evening in St. Germain, shopping, eating, and exploring. Very tiring, but fun! (We also discovered that there is no such thing as eating an early dinner out. Only ONE restaurant opened at 6 pm. The rest opened at 7 or later. So much for our plan to have dinner about 5 or 5:30!! We ended up eating at 7:15 at a yummy Italian place. :)) On Sunday, we went to the "Grande Messe" at St. Nicolas and stuck around Paris afterwards. We spent a couple of hours in an awesome bookshop called "Shakespeare and Company," visited Notre Dame de Paris, and ate traditional French cuisine at a café nearby... snails, rumpsteak, and crème brulée. Mm-MM! :D ...Rose reluctantly headed back 'à l'école' on Monday morning, via the train to Caen.

This week itself has gone very quickly (what's new?) and I will be spending this weekend doing two basic things: babysitting and touring a museum. :) I'll be babysitting six French children from 2 pm tomorrow until... well, basically until Sunday morning. I'm spending the night at their house, since their parents are going to a wedding and won't be back until LATE!
Hopefully, I'll be able to make it to the Louvre on Sunday. That's the plan. I might even be able to go with a recently-made friend of mine... a British girl I met a couple weeks ago.

I know this has been a pretty random post. Sorry about that! What can I say? ...it's nearly midnight and I'm not entirely coherent. ;)
So, without further ado, I'm going to hit the "publish post" button and bid you "bonne nuit!"