Yes, after much bugging I do have some of my new pics posted on the site. I don't have my desktop computer running yet, and that had some of my custom fonts and other things. So, the pages aren't really complete, but most are up. Some of the pictures taken just before I left Austin are up, and some of the pictures taken in Austin when I came back for Brian and Lisa's wedding are up. I also put up pictures taken in Grenoble and pictures taken from my apartment. I also put up a couple pictures that I took last weekend at Lake Annecy.
You can click on the links above, or go to my photogallery and navigate through 'Texas' and 'Grenoble'.
Speaking of great photogalleries, my friend Travis has some pretty cool pictures in his photogallery. There are pictures of me from 3 to 4 years ago in a few of them.
Have fun browsing! Let me know if you have a favorite.
It appears there is an inverse relationship between the amount of time I have to write these journal entries, and the amount of interesting things I have to share. This comes as no surprise of course, I just haven't thought about it before. This weekend was pretty dang nice.
I did my first 'single guy's night out' on Saturday. It was the first time any of the three of us (yes there are only 3 single guys here with my company) went out together. That's always nice. When I go out with the other people I always have a good time, but their goals are certainly different. When I'm witht hem everyone is content to hang out all night at one place. But, on Saturday, we did the Grand Tour. I realized how much I missed that. Among other places, we went to a Spanish Tapas bar. Quite nice, it was great food. While we were there we noticed three women speaking English a little ways from us. I of course had to go say hello. My friends were rather pleased of course. As it turns out 2 were married (and the other apparently didn't speak) but it was great talking with them. They are Americans but have been here between 15 and 20 years. It was interesting that they said they had noticed us, and they wanted me to settle a bet. One thought I was German, and the other was sure I was from the northeast part of the US. Boy were they off!
Speaking of that, I went out with a group from Scotland on Friday night. They told me that I drink like I'm Scottish. Last week I was told again that I eat cheese like I'm French. I take both as a compliment. A coworker brought me some very special cheese from a well known farm in her hometown. Apparently this cheese is some of the best of the best, but there are even alot of French that find it slightly too strong for their taste. Honestly, this was some of the best cheese I've ever had, but it sure stunk. It didn't taste at all like it smelled. When I put the first bit with my bread, I couldn't believe I was actually trying this stuff. But, I ended up eating all of it in one sitting cause I liked it so much! She tells me that no one from her hometown believed she was buying it for an American.
On Saturday we also went to a local popular bar. A guy about our age (and quite drunk) immediately recognized the three of us as Americans (even though one of us was German). He started talking to me aboiut France and the US and current tensions. He was more than a little drunk. he was pretty polite for a really drunk guy. We actually had a decent conversation for about 45 minutes. Towards the end of it he asked me if I thought Americans would come to France's aid if they were under attack. I told him we already had, and asked if France would do the same for us. He didn't say anything, but I thought he would bring up the American revolution.
On Saturday during the day I went to try para gliding for the first time. It turned out to be a little to dangerous because of unpredictable winds. But, I made an appointment for next weekend (assuming the weather will cooperate). So instead, I spent the day with a friend at lake Annecy. It was unbelievable. We drove around part of the lake, next to tbe beaches of Annecy, and up the mountain. I have some pretty nice pictures that I'll be able to put up soon. We had lunch on the top of the mountain with an amazing view.
My last two bottles of wine have been 2000 Bordeauxs. They weren't from especially well known vineyards as far as I know, but they wer amazing nonetheless. With the first, I smiled just about every time I picked up the glass cause ti was so good. The year 2000 was supposedly the best ever for red wines from that region (which is a particularly great region for reds anyway). Americans preordered a ton of them before it was even known that they would be so good simply because they wanted a 'millenium' vintage. This makes them quite expensive generally speaking, and a bit harder to find. This is what I've been told, but I can find them at some grocery stores here (although they are a bit more expensive than the others).
Greve. This is the French word for strike, and boy do they do alot of it. This last week public transportation, the mail service, and even garbage services have been on strike. On every other street corner there's a mountain of garbage cause they missed two weeks now. yuck.
There aren't alot of billboards here. Or, at least not as Americans know them (large stand alones on the side of the highway). They do have alot of signs for advertising though (usually on the side of bus or tram stops). These are about 5 ft tall by maybe 3.5 ft wide. I see quite a few between my apt, work, french lessons, and the grocery store. These stay the same for about a week, and t hen all at once they are changed. Alot of times they are some cute underwear model, but I must say i am quite displeased with the most recent edition. My friend Mike would probably have to leave the city. Yes, these are pictures of Vin Diesel. This is almost worse than the garbage stacking up on the street corners. :-)
My things arrived, finally. They came on Friday, and I've been trying to unpack and put things away every since. It's always interesting when you have to go through all of your possessions one at a time. With some things I'm wondering "why in the world did I keep this?" Since I've had to go almost 7 weeks with nothing more than what I could fit into a few suitcases it's given me a slightly different perspective on some of my things. It also always brings back alot of memories. As I went through my box of pictures I, of course, had to stop and go through most of them. With the box of old girlfriend's letters I didn't stop to put myself through that torture. Unpacking should keep me busy this week.
Yes, I went to the dinner at my new friend's house. It was great. Most of the things I was taught at my cultural training class weren't true in this case. We talked about music, and shared some of the same favorite artists. They apologized for not having better food to offer. So, all they did was fix three rounds of fresh crepes. Kill me! If that's the worst their gonna do I'm gonna have to invite myself over next time. They were great!
There have been a number of times that people assumed I was British, but int he last 3 days it's been 5 times. I asked one of the people why they thought that, and th ey told me it was cause they could understand me (speaking french) and that they normally can't understand Americans because of the accent. They said I sounded more like I was English. Someone else (who I was speaking English with) told me that they thought I spoke English English more than American English. I'm not sure if I should be happy or insulted :-) but I certainly don't think I sound Brittish.
I spoke to my father tonight. It's interesting to me that even though we haven't been apart longer than we normally would, the fact that I'm farther away makes us both much happier when we get the chance to talk. It's the same with with my mom. I guess it's simply the idea that we won't see each other for a while, and that it's much harder to get together. If nothing else, this whole experience will sure teach me alot. I feel like I've learned so much already. I can't believe I've only been here 7 weeks.
I had my longest conversation yet in French tonight. It was with the pizza guy downstairs. We spoke for 10 minutes in French. I've seen him every Sunday (since nothing else is open then). It makes me feel like I'm in college, ordering pizza every week. We talked about where I was working, how long I've been here, how long his pizza place has been there, the weather, and other such small talk. It's nice chatting with someone, and being able to communicate, and them intersted in continuing to make the effort after they realize I don't speak french that well. We drnk beer together while we chatted, it sure is nice getting offered free things at places you regularly attend. The customer service is better in general in the US, but I'll never get tired of being treated like I'm a friend simply because I'm a regular.
They tell me that it gets very hot here in the summer. I'm not looking forward to that, especially without AC. But, I must say that the weather right no is simply unbelievable. The high most days is about 75, maybe up to 80. The lows at night are in the low 50s, clear skies, simply wonderful. I had dinner last night out on a patio, two words: simply amazing. I'm talking about the weather, but the Spanish girls dancing some of their traditional dances were pretty nice too!
I went to get my first haircut here today. I had one just before I left Austin, and again when I returned for the wedding. I wanted to try this little place on my block that reminds me of an old timey barber's shop, one man, one chair, never a wait. I went in and discovered he takes appointments and is booked through next week. There's never a wait cause everyone makes appointments!
I've had more questions about my appliances here. The ovens all come with a rotisserie bar. The washers and dryers are very small (a load is little more than 2 towels and 2 pair of jeans). My fridge has the feezer on the bottom. I love this. I don't have to bend down to see in the fridge, and it's more efficient. I was loking for this when I bought my fridge in the US, but it was hard to find, and cost more.
While I'm on the subject of differences...there are very few commercials on television during the actual shows. They're normally between the shows. The first ad I saw with a topless woman caught me slightly off guard. It showed a young woman jumping out of an airplane, she was skydiving. She opened the parachute, slowed down, tha camera panned below to show the oacean. Then, she took off her top, unbuckled the chute, and dove into the ocean. It was a soap commercial. I'm sure the add said something about their soap being refreshing, but I wasn't concentrating on the words enough to translate it.
There is a political parody show I've seen a few times. They use puppets that look alot like claymation caricatures. Their favorite seems to be Sylvester Stallone who apparently typifies Americans. The last episode I saw showed a US soldier working on his tank in Iraq. A little girl approached him with a pad and pencil presumbably reqsuesting his autograph. He didn't understand her request, and attempted to shew her away. She persisted though, so he took the pad and pencil and drew a bad sketch of his tank for her. This did not satisfy her and she requested again. At this he grew frustrated, grabbed his rifle, and gave her a stern look. She left. The last episode I saw was based on the recent news that some suspected terrorists were now being released from Guatanamo Bay. It showed a scene much like television portrays US prisoners leaving prisons, recovering their confiscated items. Except, the items they were recovering were their own body parts supposedly removed during 'questioning'.
Work is going well, I've had some nice successes recently. They're small, but certainly start me off on the right track. Some of the furniture I purchased here arrived today. As they assembled my bedframe today I think they stripped every screw. They used a cordless drill with a screw bit, and were clearly using it too fast. It sounded like guys putting tires on a car using a pneumatic torque wrench and not knowing when to stop. The furniture all looked very nice though, that was the only small part that required any type of assembly. My things from Austin have still not arrived. Apparently customs is on strike, so we aren't really sure when my things will be released. Customs has been on strike a few weeks now, and off and on for months. Yesterday, the entire rest of the country went on strike. Apparently they're upset that the government is moving the retirement age for social security to 63.
I've been invited to my first French dinner at someone's home. It's a coworker, and I'm looking forward to it. I heard about some of the things to expect from my cultural adjustment class. But, many of those things don't seem to apply to people my age or younger, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. At the very least, I'll be prepared for some of the cultural differences. Remember, 'faux pas' is a French phrase.
It's really amazing what you'll watch on TV. I didn't have one for quite a while, and didn't really miss it. Now that mine has been delivered I try to watch a little everyday at the advice of my language instructor, I aim for a half hour. I keep flipping the channels, I guess looking for something in english, but no dice. Most of the TV shows are american, but not really the best of american. The other night I got to pick between Knight Rider (a particularly bad episode where Michael Knight was fighting with his evil twin) and french movie. This was a low budget movie about a french guy in south america. So most of the people he spoke to spoke spanish, and there were subtitles for them. I understood more of what theys aid than what he said. The Simpson's is still pretty funny. Their dubbed voices are remarkably similar to the actual voices. I was articularly impressed with Marge's. Why is there no channel '1' in the US? There is here, and I don't understand why there isn't in the US.
I have a new office. It's everything I could have asked for (and actually expected to get). It's fairly private for my teammate and me, which is much better than our previous. There is an AC unit right next to my desk, and a window with a beautiful view of the mountains (and powergliders). It's May now, and there's still snow on the mountains. I can understand why people go to work later here. The sun comes up earlier, so you might think that you would wake up earlier. But I can't! When it's still light at 9pm and it feels like it's 7, it's hard to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Some of you have asked for more descriptions of the food. Tonight I had a great dish. It was a wonderfully delicate white fish of some kind. Two pieces on top of each other with steamed fresh spinach in between. It was served on a bed of saffron spiced wheat grains. The grains also had a dried pepper cooked with them that tasted like a cross between a dried tomato and bell pepper. It was very nice. The whole thing was topped with parsley and a lemon butter and poppy sauce. It sounded like an odd combination, but it was delicious. This restaraunt gets their food from the farmer's market every morning and then creates something with the fresh ingredients they bought. Speaking of great food, I had tex-mex the other night. I've seen 3 places that advertise tex-mex, which surprised me. This place was not good! I should have known when they served chips and salsa, and the chips were pork rinds, and the salsa was little more than tomato sauce. So, there's alot of great food here, but it's not the tex-mex!!
I have found some yoghurt that is simply unbelievable. I've never been a huge fan, but this stuff is great. Plus, each container is a small clay pot. How cool! The weather recently has been perfect. Tonight reminded me of when I was a kid swimming in the summertime. I would go under water hold my breath, and not move. This feeling was the same. Not cold, not hot, just perfect!
So, I learned that I'll have to go to driver's ed again. Our Texas licenses will not convert. I need approximately 20 hours of driving classes including class time and driving time. Then we have to take a written test (in french of course), but with a translator. Apparently it's a very hard test, and to pass you have to get a 90% or better. Recently they gave the test to 200 random french drivers, and only 3 passed. Then there's the driving test. Luckily, I have 1 year before I have to take the course and pass the test.
Well, I've met some extremely interesting people. Some that I wouldn't be too surprised to read about in about a month. I hung out one night with a group of people trying to 'educate' the city about their cause, and prepare them for the G8 meeting roughly an hour from here next month. They were very nice people, a couple of them clearly going out of their way to make me feel at home. I've met a number of very interesting people here! This Thursday is another french holiday, the third since I've been here. I asked my french instructor what the holiday was for and she said is was 'the day we won the war'. I smiled (not quite believing my ears) and asked 'huh, which war was that?'. And she said, 'WWII of course'. I stared at her for about 2 seconds before she said 'well we won with your help of course'. I just smiled. I was told the same day that Germany still refers to it as 'invasion day'. I don't know if that's true, but happy Invasion Day!