My Bedroom

Louise made this sign for my door - "Bienvenue" means "welcome."



Doing laundry...

Léopold

Edouard and his Lego train

Final Law School Application

In true Deb-style, last minute.

Mom and Dad

I love you guys!

At the Airport

Rain and Other Fun Tales

Well, I think I've met my match in rainy Nantes. It rains all the time here! And by "all the time," I of course mean, "all the time." It rains HARD all day, every day. Well, it's not raining right now, I guess, but it has rained every day since I've been here. I love rain, so it's no problem for me. The only problem is that where there is a lot of rain, there has to be a lot of humidity. So my hair is a bit Borneo-ish (see 11/11/06 entry if you aren't sure what that means). I tried to tell my hair that it just needs to "adapt and overcome," but it insists that it's too Concrete-Sequential for that. Seriously, though, I really like this city. The beautiful Loire runs right through it, much like the Mississippi to Minneapolis. I will get some pictures up soon. I was finally able to figure out why there is no computer tower for the iMac. Tee hee. So I figured out how to plug my camera in to the USB port, BUT I wasn't sure what was going to happen if I clicked "okay." The instructions were all in French, and I didn't have time to figure it all out. I didn't want to inadvertantly save all my photos to their wallpaper and then not be able to fix it in time. So I am working on the photo issue; it's just going to take a little bit of time.

So I had my first driving lesson on Friday. Oh, boy, that was a fun time. I felt so stupid, like I was 15 years old and didn't know how to drive. The instructor had all the pedals on his side and everything! In the middle of the lesson, I just started laughing, because I felt so dumb. He pretended not to notice. He only showed me how to put the car into first gear and then switch between 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and "point mort" (I'm not sure how to say that in English, but it roughly means "death point," and it's when the gear shift is in the middle). Anyway, I don't think I'm going to have too much trouble learning. The roads are different here, though. They are a lot smaller, and then there are the infamous roundabouts. Apparently you're supposed to signal on the way out? Okay. But you're already on your way out, and everyone can see what you're doing...so what's the point?

So, my classes. In order to obtain my visa, I had to register for 10 hours of French language classes per week. My classes are in downtown Nantes at a huge school that has more than just French classes. I'm actually going to be taking the DELF exam in June. The DELF is a diploma that signifies your proficency/fluency in French. Having passed that is a great thing to be able to put on your résumé. So I have 3 courses - grammar, DELF preparation, and Civilization. By the end of my first day here (last Monday), I had already made some new friends. I have met girls from Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Hong Kong, Britain...there are people from everywhere! Some of them (like the British or people who speak English very well) insist on speaking English with me. My French is actually better than most of theirs (there are three levels of proficency - I am at the superior level). For the most part, though, we speak French. The cool thing about making friends in a foreign country is that your common language is a lot less likely to be English and will more likely be the one of the country in which you are. So instead of being able to just fall back on English if necessary, you are forced to make your French work. Last week, some of the girls invited me to go out to a "boîte" on Saturday night (a nightclub). I turned them down, since I had to babysit, but I'm pretty sure our interests will differ in that area, unless they don't want to go out for the reasons most people do. We'll see what happens with that.

I have class again in five minutes, so that will have to be all for now. Ciao!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, United States (and Switzerland, of course). I of course am thinking of you all today, wishing I could be there with you all, but also happy to be here, despite all the unavoidable bumps in the road I've been experiencing. Let me just say...what a shock to go from hearing and speaking English all the time and seeing familiar surroundings each day to being completely immersed in French and walking down French streets! Crazy! And I love it!

After my arrival last Wednesday night, I was exhausted. I finally went to sleep about midnight. And I slept until what time the next day? Noon? 2 pm? No way - not late enough. I slept until 5:30 pm, which would actually be 10:30 am aux Etats-Unis. That evening began a series of days in which I felt as if I didn't know which way was up. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, and I could not understand the kids at all (especially Edouard, who is five years old). I felt again like I couldn't even speak French. Plus, Edouard seemed scared of me or something. I couldn't find a connection with him, which really bothered me. When I first saw his picture, I said, "He's going to be my favorite." And to my surprise, he was the one I couldn't reach. That may sound trite, but, having plunged myself into this whole situation, all I want is to do a good job. I want to bless this family and be a joy to them, not a burden! So I took it to the Lord in prayer. The great thing about being here (Sarah can attest to this) is that you don't have the option of just running to another person with your problems. And that causes you to draw near to God. So. I prayed and asked the Lord for some way to connect with Edouard. It seriously seemed impossible to me. That was Friday morning. Friday evening, I was here alone for awhile with Léopold (16 months old) and Edouard. Edourd was just sitting in the family room watching TV, which bugged me, since I'd rather be doing something constructive with them. But if I'm watching Léo at the same time, that can be difficult. I really wanted to go in and talk to him, but since I could barely understand him and he was wary of me, I was intimidated. But God opened up the door for me to walk in there anyway. I asked him if he was okay. He mumbled a response. He actually got up and turned off the TV, which surprised me, since normally when he and his older brother Arthur (8 years old) are in there, they don't want Léo or the dog, Adely, to come in. He started playing with a train made of Legos, and I asked him if he made it himself and then acted impressed. Ding ding! That worked like a charm. Suddenly he came out of his shell and exploded in conversation. This kid has an amazing imagination! We sat on the floor and played with the train for about 45 minutes. He was laughing and talking excitedly. I still missed a lot of what he said but was able to bluff my way through. At one point, I picked up a toy dinosaur and asked him what it was, wondering what the word was in French. He said, laughing hysterically, "C'est un dinosaur!" (pronounced DEEno-zaur). Then he said, "Dinosaur - c'est un gros mot!" (Un gros mot is a bad word). I found out later that dinosaur is not, in fact, a gros mot, but it was super funny! You know what else I think is super funny? The word super in French. It means the same thing, but it is HILARIOUS when the French use it in a sentence, because they're talking all nasally and French-like, and then all of a sudden, "...su-pare..." It's hard to explain in writing, but sometimes French sounds so funny, I just start laughing out of the blue. That draws some strange looks. So all that is to say that God heard and answered me! He cares about every detail of our lives. The Creator of the universe.

Oh, and that reminds me of another cool testimony. Right before I left the States, the Nuttings (Creationist scientists) were at church for 2 consecutive times. Although I find it interesting, I was hoping for one last good Bruce sermon before I left. But there was a reason for it, I know now. On one of my first nights here, there was also a baby-sitter, since I obviously didn't know the ropes yet at all. She is from the Czech Republic and is a former au pair for this family. She studies in Nantes and baby-sits on the side. So she and Caroline and I were sitting there having a conversation, and I think we were talking about religion and separation of church and state or something like that - the differences between the three countries, etc. Caroline knows that I am a Bible-believing Christian (in fact, I think the whole family knows by now, as much as the kids can understand). Caroline is also a Christian (Protestant in the most heavily Catholic region of France, the Loire-Atlantique). In that conversation, she asked me if I believed in creationism. I said of course. She was shocked that I actually believed it and said that she couldn't. Now without having had that refresher course from the Nuttings, I don't think I would have had a response other than, "The Bible says it; I believe it." In fact, that was my response, but I was able to add (and no, I didn't go off about fossils or rock layers in French), "If I can't believe the first thing that the Bible says, I see no reason to believe any of it." Both of them seemed to see my response as reasonable. And who knows what kind of seed that planted, you know? Praise the Lord.

Let's see...what else? Oh, so after the train-playing experience, Edouard and I are getting along better and better. He still doesn't like me at bathtime, but that's getting better, too. I love these kids. Sure, they have their faults just like anyone else, but they all have their unique personalities and special things that they do. Louise is 11 years old and very sweet. I always notice that she is careful to talk a little bit slower and enunciate for me. Also, she is great with Léopold. She is learning English at school this year, so I've been helping her with her homework. That has been a great bonding time. It's like having a little sister. She and I both have only brothers, so I think it's fun for her too. I've also noticed that she's a bit of a perfectionist, with which I definitely identify. She, however, doesn't wait until the last minute to do everything. She is very hardworking. Arthur, who is 8 years old, is very smart. He is one year ahead in school. He is funny and a bit mischievous. Practically every day, he comes up to me with such a look on his face, asking, "Peux-je prendre un bon bon, s'il te plaît?" He gives me the same tone of voice and look as a kid here would when they are asking for a piece of candy and saying, "Pretty please!"

So at the beginning of this week, the kids were always running around doing their thing, and I felt completely useless, since I didn't know what to do. Many of you know this about me, but if you don't, let me enlighten you. I'm not very good at figuring out how to do things on my own. I hate that about myself, and as much as I can, I try to "adapt and overcome," as the Concrete-Random type would, but, try as I do, I don't seem to have much success. I pretty much need you tell me 1) exactly what you want me to do, and 2) exactly how to do it. Well, as you can imagine, a momma with four kids and a full time job as a surgeon doesn't exactly have all day to sit around and shoot the breeze. So it's been a confusing, somewhat frustrating week. I've been feeling like I'm doing everything wrong. I know that I can't expect to be great at this right away (and I didn't think that I had that expectation before), but I kind of think they do. I know I can't read other people's thoughts, but you just get hints about stuff. Like apparently I'm supposed to be cooking the evening meals...uh, okay. But I don't cook French; I cook American (and by, I cook American, I mean, I sort of cook). Ugh. We'll see how that goes. I'll let you all know. If it was anything like yesterday, I don't have very high hopes. I was watching the kids (mainly Léo), and their dad was there, helping them with their homework. The housekeeper had already made the evening meal earlier (pot-au-feu) and left it cooking on the stove. All I had to do was turn the burner back on 30 minutes before we were to eat - simple, right? Uh, no. Turns out that the meat was tied up. It was like a tight net around the meat. I was trying to get that off, and it wasn't working out too well, so I took the meat out and put it on a plate. It still wasn't coming off, even though I was trying to cut it with a knife. So I had to grab it and manually pull it out of there (it was hot!). I was making a huge mess and probably looked like an idiot with my meager and futile attempts. All the while I was thinking, Please don't come in here; please don't come in here. I didn't want the dad to come in and see my incompetence at yet another thing! Argh. Thankfully, I got it all put back together in the knick of time. While I was doing this, I was trying to watch Léo, who gets into EVERYTHING! And most of it's dangerous stuff. Is that normal 16 month old behavior? I guess I probably did the same thing, but yeesh! Being a mom is hard, and I'm not even really a mom! Also, at the same time as I was getting the meal ready (and, keep in mind, I wasn't even actually cooking anything), I was trying to give Edouard a bath (which he doesn't like) and feed Léo dinner (a messy affair). Oh, là là. But I figure if I can survive that, I can survive anything, right? Hmmm, I don't know.

Oh, and one more thing: #10 on my to-do list never got done - learn how to drive a stick shift. Bad, bad. That has caused so many problems. So today I have a lesson with some guy. Great. I get to learn how to drive a stick shift in French from someone I don't know. I better go brush up on my auto terminology.

Well, that'll have to do for now. I offer you my sincerest congratulations if you've actually made it this far in the reading. I still have some more things to say about Nantes and my classes, but that'll have to wait for another day. I'm going to try to upload some pictures now, so you all can see my surroundings. A bientôt!

Yes, I AM here!

Ah, finally. I have time to post a blog. This past week has been crazy, and I really didn't think things would ever be "normal." But they are starting to come together.

So getting over here was a crazy adventure, as you can probably imagine. How can international travel not be crazy?

Last Tuesday, after 3 hours of sleep, I got up to finish packing and law school applications. Yes, I was finishing up my law school applications on Tuesday at 2pm, about 30 minutes before I was to depart for the airport. With respect to packing, my main problem was that each suitcase could hold only 50 pounds, and I was pushing it. After getting everything together, I hugged my brother Dan goodbye. That was the first thing that brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Then it was off to the house, where my other brother, Dave, proceeded to download music onto my iPod, much to the chagrin of my mom, who wanted to make sure I had enough time to get to the airport. My dad met us at the airport, and I finished my final application there, then gave it to my dad to mail. Could it get any more last minute than that?

My flight was to leave around 7pm, but it was a bit delayed. That worried me a bit, since I was only to have a 50 minute layover in Iceland to begin with. Argh! What if I miss my flight? But somehow, we managed to arrive in Iceland promptly at 7am local time (about 1am CST, I think). My next flight went off without a hitch, and we landed in Paris around noon local time (5am CST). At this point, I was extremely exhausted. All I wanted to do was sleep. But I had to find the train. Thankfully, I met a Hawaiian woman (Naomi) on the way off the plane. We helped each other collect our baggage, and a Parisian friend of hers was there at the airport to welcome her, so he directed me toward the shuttle to the train station. Somehow, I still managed to get lost, so I had to go to the information desk. My modus operandi at the airport was to approach an official and ask, "Vous parlez anglais?" It seemed better to make sure that I would understand the instructions. The airport people all spoke English, as I suspected. Then I made my way out to the bus. Up to this point, I had been toting my luggage (2 large suitcases of 50 pounds each and a small one of about 25 pounds!) around on a cart. But once I got outside to the shuttle, I had to take it myself. As the French would say, oh, là là! That was difficult. It was impossible to move it all at once. There is no way humanly possible to move 3 heavy unconncected suitcases at once (unless, perhaps, you're one of those huge guys who pulls semi trucks and stuff, and you can stack them). So I struggled with it for a few minutes, missing the first shuttle and having to wait for the next. I finally just lifted them one by one onto the shuttle. Then I connected them (but because of the weight, that didn't work very well). The shuttle arrived at the train station part of the airport, but I didn't know where to get off, so I got off way too early and ended up having to walk a long way. When I got off, I had no idea where to go, so a kind worker who saw my bewilderment asked me what I was looking for. I was feeling very tired and flustered and didn't trust my French, so I tried my "anglais" trick. No dice. He didn't speak English. To my surprise, I had no problem understanding his directions. He helped me put my luggage on a new cart, and I was on my way. When I got to the train station, I had to go down to the lower level, and carts were not allowed on the elevator. So began the constant unloading and reloading of the cart. Caroline had already reserved me a train ticket, so I paid for it and then sat down to wait. The train was to leave at 3:45pm, so I had to wait for over 2 hours. I didn't have a watch (and, in fact, am still without one), as I relinquished my cell phone at the airport, and that has been my "watch" for the past six years. I sat there for awhile, staring at the schedule. I couldn't figure out why my train number said it was going to Rennes via Massey, when Caroline had told me that I was going to be transferring trains at Le Mans - and then of course my final destination would be Nantes. I sat there trying to figure that out for awhile when it hit me: if you are transferring trains, you won't be going to the same place as the first one! Duh. Anyway, I learned a lot while riding the trains. I learned, for instance, that you get an actual seat number, unlike a bus or tram. So it's necessary to stand in the spot on the platform corresponding to the car number. Unfortunately, they don't seem to line up correctly in actuality, so you may end up having to run several yards to get to the right car. Some chivalrous guys helped me lift my luggage onto the train. Once on the train, there was absolutely NO place to put my luggage in the car itself. Taking Chris' advice, I didn't want to leave it alone, so I sat in the wrong seat so that I could watch my luggage. When the conductor (or whoever that guy is who checks your tickets) came, I timidly explained why I was sitting in the wrong place. He didn't mind at all. Then I settled in for the two hour ride, trying, but failing, to stay awake. Unfortunately, a bunch of weird, fortyish, rowdy men got on the train in pretty short order and proceeded to conversate boisterously for the remainder of the ride. The thing that really bugged me, though; was that I could barely make out what they were saying. At this point, I'm thinking, Man, my French isn't as good as I thought! As it turns out, I must have just been tired, because my comprehension (even of boisterous conversations) has been great (but more on that later)! Eventually, I got off the train at Le Mans. Then I had about 30 or so minutes until my next train. I carted my luggage from the platform down to the station, in search of a bathroom. This is where I learned the next sweet thing. I approached some officials that were standing at the bottom of the ramp and asked, "Est-ce qu'il y a une salle de bain?" She looked at me like I was crazy, looked at the other ladies, and then asked, "Une quoi?" So I repeated myself. She asked me, "Vous cherchez des toilettes? Un WC? Il n'y a pas de salle de bain ici." As it turns out, salle de bain is a term reserved solely for the room in your house where you shower, bathe, etc. And, in fact, in the house where I'm staying, the toilets (WC's) are separate from the sink, bath, and shower. Funny. So they agreed to watch my luggage while I made my way to bathroom, which I had to pay € .40 to use. It was definitely worth it, though. There are no bathrooms on the train, at least not in second class. I made it back up to the platforms in time, and the Nantes-bound train pulled in. From my experience that day, an annoucement would be made five minutes before a train's departure, and then again right before it left. The train pulled up, and I had to run to find my car, since it wasn't lined up properly. As I was still running (and slowly, with all that luggage), I heard, "Le train à Nantes va partir." I was waiting for her to add, "Dans 5 minutes," but she didn't. Uh oh. I jumped onto the nearest car with 2 of my suitcases (thankfully, another gallant guy who happened to be standing in the hall grabbed them for me). Then, as I was loading the other one, the doors almost closed on me! But I made it. I finally arrived in Nantes around 7:30pm. I got off the train not really knowing what to expect or what to do. I had assumed that Caroline would be there to pick me up, but I hadn't verified it with her exactly. I looked all around me and decided that I should try to get to the south side, which was the opposite of where I was standing. I made my way up there, expecting to see someone looking around anxiously for a girl in a purple shirt with purple suitcases. But there was no one there. I wandered around for about 15 minutes and then decided I should make a collect call to my dad, who would be able to check my email for a response from Caroline. Well, that didn't work. I couldn't figure out how to do it! I stood there for awhile longer, trying to decide what to do, when all of a sudden, I heard an announcement in rapid, muffled French. Mixed in I heard, "Mademoiselle Deborah Helm," pronounced the French way, that is, "Day-bo-rah Elm." So I knew someone was looking for me, but I had no idea where to go! So I went up to a police officer who was standing nearby and asked him if he had heard the announcement and where I was supposed to go. Of course I didn't understand his response, but he just kept pointing, so I started off in that direction, but aimlessly, and frequently looking back at him with a confused look on my face. So he relented and brought me over to the information desk, where I found Caroline! Hooray! Apparently she had been looking for me on the other side, since that's actually where I had gotten off the train. The info desk guy was telling her, "You've been here for 20 minutes...you should probably just go home. She probably missed the train from the airport. The next one doesn't get in until 1am...you want to make an annoucement? No, no. She's American? She's not going to hear that." Ha, info desk guy! I did. So there.

Caroline brought me home, and we talked the whole time (some English, some French). I met the kids, who are all SUPER cute - like cuter than their pictures! I think I weirded out Louise, the 11-year old, because, being a true American, I shook her hand. As it turns out, Europeans really DO do that kissing the air on the sides of the cheeks thing, even to people they don't know or are just meeting (although, as I've learned, that depends on the situation).

So that was my voyage here. I have a lot more to say (is that possible, you ask? She's not all talked out by now?), but my class starts in 13 minutes, and I'm not really sure where the room is, so I'm going to go on another fact-finding adventure.

Thanks to all of you who have sent me emails - if I haven't responded yet, I will. I just have had no time, as I will recount to you in my next blog. Oh, and I have some pictures to show you all, but I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to download them yet.

For now, au revoir!

And the countdown begins

I've spent the better portion of this day staring at, talking about, and rearranging my to-do list. I'm leaving in less than 48 hours, and I seem to still have an unreasonable number of items on my list. I did make some progress tonight, though.

My to do list

With no computer of my own in France, I'm going to have to go back to paper to-do lists. Whew! What an adjustment!

The Wild Woman of Borneo

It's not as if I have much to do before Tuesday...my to-do list only has about thirty items on it (many of which are loaded items like "pack"). But last weekend I still had a week and a half before departure date, so I decided to spend an hour and a half straightening my hair. Or, as I like to refer to them, the design team spent an hour and a half on it. The picture above is what I call the "lion" hair - because it looks like a lion's mane, of course. Other things that have been said about my crazy hair include "horse," "the Wild Woman of Borneo" (my brothers when I was little), and that infamous question, "Did you put your finger in a light socket??" (incidentally, that was also my brother). Well, after the design team (which consisted of Kara and Juli) went to work, I was the Wild Woman of Borneo no more...

After

The Design Team

Visa obtained

I got my visa on Monday! The story of my trip to Chicago is really a crazy one. I'm going to post about it later with some pictures. Also, I moved this past weekend. My departure date is fast approaching...12 days! I have a lot to do in the next several days, and before I know it, I'm going to be on the other side of the Atlantic.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with anything (other than it being part of my preparations), but I found a great website (there are lots of them, but this had the best deal on the shampoo I wanted) that sells big (like liter-sized) bottles of salon shampoo at discounted prices. Plus, they offer free shipping on orders of over $25 and 3 free samples with your order. Check it out for all your hair care needs. Of course, if you have normal hair that doesn't freak out over the smallest things, I suggest paying $1 for Suave brand. But if, like me, you have frizz, it's a great money-saver.