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It's been such a long time since I've posted a blog, but it didn't seem so long, since I was busy the entire time! I spent over a week in Alsace for Christmas and New Year's. We returned to Nantes late on New Year's Day. Last week, the kids were still on vacation from school, so I was with them all day Tuesday through Thursday. Then I left early Friday morning to meet Molly and Sarah in Paris! I got back here late Sunday night, and I was busy from 7 am to 9:30 pm yesterday. Oh, là là, I don't like to be that busy. But I better get used to it if I'm going to go to law school. That's going to be like a military schedule.

So I can sum up what I did in Alsace in one word - eat! Seriously, whole days were taken up by cooking, eating, and cleaning up. At first I was extremely overwhelmed by it and wanted to get away, and then I just decided to just give in and do what they were doing, even though I would have appreciated some down time. We stayed with the kids' grandparents in a house (which I think is technically a castle) that was built in the 17th century. The house was big - and it needed to be, as we had 19 people staying there! So we arrived on Christmas Eve after 8 hours of driving (surprisingly, the trip was very calm). We attended the local Protestant church, where they spoke and sang hymns in German, French, and Alsatian (a dialect of Upper German). The church service was traditional, but just being in that room with other believers (even if many of them were only there for traditions' sake) renewed my hunger for true fellowship with other believers here. My goal for this week (one of them) is to start scouting out an on-fire church in Nantes. As I mentioned, throughout the rest of the week, we did a lot of eating and such. I had a rough time with all the wine, since I don't drink alcohol. My family here is fully aware that I don't drink and why - 1) My history with alcohol is complete escapism; 2) I have no family traditions connected with alchohol, so it's not something I want or feel like I ought to do; and 3) Romans 14: I don't want to cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble - yet somehow, every night, I was chided for not tasting the wine. In fact, this has been going on since I got to France, and for a brief moment when I first arrived, I considered just doing as the Romans do when in Rome (but then I decided definitively not to partake at all). Wine is very important for the French - and they generally don't use it to get drunk - it's an integral part of their cuisine, and they are proud of the high quality of their wine. That's fine with me, but I've made the decision not to drink at all, and I think that should be fine with other people. But apparently it's not, although sometimes I'm not sure how much of the talk is actually serious and how much is just in fun. Not drinking is always a conversation starter. People naturally want to know why, and it's a great way to share your testimony or the Gospel. However, in Alsace, it didn't quite work out that way for me. Everyone assumed that I don't drink because my "religion forbids it." What? What religion? I tried to tell them about the difference between a religion and a relationship and why I study my Bible and pray. But being either staunch Catholics or Protestants, they seemed to have all their own answers already. I tried to find a point of agreement - we can all agree on the Gospel, right? Wrong. Plus, I'm "anti-Darwinist" - not good in a family full of medical professionals. I felt like I had to take the defensive in those conversations, which is stupid. I don't need to defend myself. It's not about me, anyway. I can stand up for the truth, but if people don't hear it, they don't hear it. I think the main problem was that it is difficult to express myself with precision in French. Sure, I can have a conversation. But precision is another level, and I'm not there yet.

Some of the food...

Christmas Day meal - rooster, chestnuts, and red cabbage

Raclette - traditional French/Swiss dish

Dessert (all cheese)


Although we did spend a lot of time eating, I also did get the chance to see downtown Strasbourg and some of the surrounding area. Alsace is a very interesting region, as it has traditionally been fought over by Germany and France (it borders Germany). It was finally taken back by the French for good (thanks to the Americans - and I didn't say that; it was a French person who told me that) in 1945. Because of this history, the area has a German flavor. However, I found out that you should never say that to an Alsatian. They would be offended. To them, it's not "German;" it is just "Alsatian." But it is completely different than Nantes. The names of the towns are all German-sounding, and the houses are all very colorful (unlike Nantes) and have high-peaked roofs (an architectural innovation intended to relieve a structure from the heavy weight of snow accumulations).

Colorful houses with high-peaked roofs

New Year's Eve was fun. Louise and her aunt put on a little concert with their flutes, and the cousins put together a couple of skits. At midnight, we set off fireworks and blew party horns in each other's faces.

Louise and I

Arthur - intently listening to the flute concert

Edouard

Léopold


So I just got back from a great weekend in Paris with Mol and Sarah. I'm going have to post some pictures from that a little later. It's nice to be back into a rhythm. And I drove the kids to school for the first time today! Yay! I was really ready about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but with vacation and such, it was delayed until now. It's so nice to have that settled. Now that I have regular access to the Internet again, I'll hopefully be back on soon with some more pictures and some interesting stories. I have to go for now, as I'm late to class (again). Ciao :)