Bonjour!

Disclaimer: The next several weeks will probably have nothing to do with teaching, or being a teacher. Instead, it will be all about my summer vacation. And that is, technically, a part of being a teacher (arguably the best part...)

We finally arrived in France yesterday. How different it was to pull up to a new house in a new town! Everything about this new home is unfamiliar to me. Right away, mom gave us the grand tour. The house struck me as old, creaky, and typically French. It was also light, airy, and overall charming. The great part for my folks is that it is big enough to accommodate lots of people, which is vital to my parent's ministry. I enjoy this new house in a disconnected way. It seems devoid of all the memories the old house had. It will take some getting used to.

This morning I woke up at 6:30 after a ten hour sleep. I'm still jet-lagged but definitely feeling better than yesterday :). I ate one of my favorite French pastries for breakfast called a "pain au chocolat". It's flaky bread with a chocolate strip hidden inside. Then, I watched French cartoons. I was surprised to see "Spongebob Squarepants" translated to French (over here, it's called "Bob, the sponge"). Quite funny. After that, Max and I went outside to the front yard where our neighbor/landlady had invited us to pick all the wild currants that we wanted from a big bush (they're called "groseilles" in French). Later, we'll make a tart with them :). The red berries looked a little poisonous to us at first and Max made up a delightful song about dying from poison set to the tune of "A mighty fortress is our God". Don't ask...

Later on today we'll probably go to the store with mom to pick up some patio furniture for the balcony outside our bedroom. And hopefully, I'll be awake tonight to watch France play Portugal in the semi-finals tonight for the World Cup. Germany lost to Italy last night, which was a very sad thing indeed. The French, typically pessimistic, are not waving French flags all over like the Germans did to root for their team. We're the only house on the block that's waving a French flag in honor of the game tonight.... Ironic, wouldn't you say?