RIDGE RAMBLING – AUGUST 2009

FAVOURITE THINGS
• My shopping trolley – saves my arms from becoming orangutan limbs
• My coffee bodum – mmm coffee… I get my grounds from Laos.
• Our Canon PowerShot S3 1S digital camera. I have taken 13GB of photos Jan – Aug!
• Public Transport – frequent, comprehensive coverage, clean and safe, local and national
• Gardens – though at first I mostly noticed the doggie-do areas.
• Museums free one Sunday a month
• Friendly – I like the mountain people here, they’re not pretentious.
• La Bastille – I love having a mountain in the middle of my town. Perspiration and inspiration.
• Food: Farmers’ markets, mountain fare and lack of preservatives
• Buzz downtown – love the energy, especially in the spring and early summer. Feels like 10pm when it’s 1am. Vivid colours, music and conversation spiced with laughter.
• Alps – each of the three ranges have such different characters. I’m indulging in them all.
• Tom Tom when we’re travelling (we borrow one). Saves many an argument.
• Rest stops – they’re well thought out, practical and inviting
• Baking – how can you NOT like baking?
• Architecture
• History – around every corner is a discovery
• Latin – this is definitely a Latin country in weather, style, habits and attitude
• Sculpture and art – everywhere, layers of it


EPIPHANIES
LANGUAGE LEARNING
I’ve been struggling with learning French. When I examine “why” it’s so tough, I realize I’m not satisfied with paring my conversation down to a couple of present tense simple sentences that could be spoken and understood by a preschooler, or a French poodle. My thoughts are not simple so I don’t get satisfaction communicating that way. At the same time, I’m not an audio learner and I’m half deaf. I’m not looking for excuses. I still have to learn it, whatever the barriers. It’s funny that for someone who loves language so much and who is a compulsive writer, that I have not been inspired to write while I’ve been here. My inclinations are to paint, to wander through the Alps breathing deeply, to celebrate every festival that the Isere region and its mountain people have to offer. It is to experience with all my senses this profoundly traditional and yet cutting edge of technology producing culture we’ve found ourselves in. I think the writing will come later.

The other funny thing about learning French is that when I get a chance to speak in English I find I can blather on and on about nothing. A friend of mine who’s an author pointed this out to me. There is such a joy in being understood that it’s hard to close the floodgates of conversation.

I find French grammar difficult to remember. When I teach English I try to incorporate people’s different learning styles. I’m not so lucky with my French classes. I’ll have to study in ways that allow me to assimilate the grammar through experiential learning. I think that’s why I excel in accumulating vocabulary, and why I can get around France with not much problem even though I speak like a twat. I remember words through seeing and experiencing them in context.

A friend of mine, Jesse, presented me with an awesome book called, “Talk Dirty French”. It examines the origins of words and the process by which they’ve morphed into how they’re said and what they mean today. It also looks at how words are formally used and written down, as opposed to how they’re spoken. It shows the influence of street speak, texting and slang. It’s a brilliant book. Reading about the context helps me to remember the words and to phrase my speech in a manner that is current to the culture and genuinely understood.

MISSING THE WILD IN WILDERNESS
I love wandering through the Alps here (call me Heidi) but I do miss the wilderness. It’s so manicured here. What’s cool about it is the integration of human culture, including mountain architecture, with the natural features of the land. There are few predators here, but there is a communion of creatures, humans and earth that has been symbiotic for centuries.

LETTERS FROM MY MOM
My mom sends Callum a letter almost every week. He insists I read them at bedtime. We do the challenges from the coffee chat cut-outs that she sends, and I read him the stories that she writes. He puts the stickers she sends onto his table or the fridge, and he sleeps with the little lizards she manages to smuggle through the mail. Although I miss her terribly, I feel like I’m getting to know a whole new side of her as she loves my son from afar.

YOGURT, GRENOBLE and NUTELLA DOUGHNUTS
(Carly, Bob and Owen come to visit)
Highlights of the visit:
• General Itinerary: Annecy, La Bastille, Grenoble, the local lake, Southern France, Carcassonne and the Mediterranean Sea, Pont du Gard and back to Annecy.
• Nutella Doughnuts – Carly bought them so frequently from our local boulangerie/patisserie (bread and pastry shop) that the bakers began to increase their daily output in anticipation of her morning visits.
• Conversation about fish – Callum and Owen had many in-depth philosophical conversations. One of them was about the mortality of fish.
• Cheese platters – we bought a cheese platter and invited some friends who are transplanted here from Canada. Yum. This is something the French do REALLY well.
• En route to the lake there was construction and a subsequent change to the bus schedule. Though my French language skills are sketchy, in about seven minutes I was able to figure out where the bus should be, ask the right questions, get us to where the bus ACTUALLY would be, and we ran several blocks in the process (Carly and I with our two five-year-olds). That I could compute the changes that fast showed me that I have indeed acclimatized to the French culture. Kudos to me.
• Les Chevaliers de Carcassonne – Grand Tournoi de Chevalerie: This was a spectacular jousting show. The horsemanship, the acting, the aesthetics of the presentation from costumes to attitude to body posture: it was an exceptional experience. It harkened the honor of old and the communion between person and horse, hawk and handler.
• Carly and I played Carcassonne in Carcassonne. How could we not!
• Different rhythms of families – It was interesting to live in such a small space (2 bedroom flat) and co-exist harmoniously, especially since we have such different rhythms. The P-K clan is early to rise and early to bed. The Bucknell clan … well, we’re not: we’re the opposite. Also, I suffer from FOMO: fear of missing out, whereas their family is more along the lines of – we don’t have to see everything on the first visit. We’d rather do a few things well and not feel rushed. There’s something to learn from that for sure.
• “Pilgrimage” – Carly put it perfectly. Carcassonne, even though some people might find it touristy, has a powerful effect on me. I feel reverence. She said, “It’s a pilgrimage.” Immediately a piece of intuitive knowledge plunked into place. I’ve always been a doer, not an observer. Here, I often want to “go see”. And it has to do with the pilgrimage: the spiritual adventure. It brings deep satisfaction. Peace.
• At the hotel swimming pool I had a terrible fall. I slipped while turning and banged my left shin on a marble edge. I didn’t have feeling in it for over 6 weeks. I was worried the impact would throw my hips out. Missing three discs makes me a tad more cautious.
• Famous Owen quote: “Callum and I are going to wreck havoc in the city.”
• Annecy – what a wondrous place. It won over Carly and Bob and it’s a place we’d take every visitor without ever tiring of it. Check out the slide show! We particularly had fun renting a pedal boat with a slide on it, and wandering around the medieval part of the city. Magic.


SASSENAGE CAVES
Went to the Sassenage Caves with Sam and Mark. Very cool. At one point we were more than two kilometers under the rock. Also, these caves fill with water for part of the year. They are crucial to the fresh-water supply of the region. All around are walking trails and a river with waterfalls that people enjoy canyoning.

HAIR
I haven’t cut or coloured my hair in five months. When I told Callum I was going to colour it he said, “But mom, you’re beautiful the way you are.”

SOFTENER STORY
Sometimes, despite our best attempts to understand French, we fail. That’s why we have two large bottles of softener. Col went to buy laundry soap, and came back with softener. I returned his bottle, and came back with yet another bottle of softener. Good grief.

TRAVEL vs. LIVING HERE
If we had decided to take a sabbatical and travel for two to six months (like we were originally planning) we would have been better off financially than moving here. I know we are experiencing entirely different things by being “part of the community”, living through the political riots, the strikes, the football celebrations, the seasons, the festivals, the weather, etc. than if we simply travelled here, but financially and emotionally it would have made much more sense to hunker down in Victoria and come PLAY here. One family we met from Vancouver did a house swap for eight weeks – three weeks in Grenoble, two weeks in Paris and three weeks in the south of France. They swapped everything – houses, vehicles, bicycles, maid service, toys, etc. And they were smart enough to rent out a room in their home to a student for eight months during the year, which paid for their flights. They saw and did more in their three weeks in this region than I had done in the previous three months (and I don’t sit on my laurels). The difference was that they had a car at their disposal and they didn’t have to deal with work or the day to day hassles that come with setting up a life here. All they needed to do was ENJOY. In addition to this, I have to add that a friend of ours who moved here for a year and then moved back to Victoria calculated the financial consequences and concluded it equaled taking an ENTIRE YEAR off from work. Imagine that.

LIKE THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES – NOT SEEN, NOT NEEDED
When Colin and I were travelling through Australia I noted with dismay that the Australian Aborigines were often not even acknowledged by white-skinned locals. It was almost as if they were ghosts from another time, or in a strange time warp that allowed them to co-exist in the same space but not be seen. I asked one woman the time, and she looked at me as if I had just materialized out of the ether zone. Sometimes in France I feel the same way: I am not seen, I am not needed, I don’t belong. When we first came here I was determined to live in a French neighbourhood, make French friends, to truly integrate (while maintaining my Canadian identity and integrity of course). I thought, “I’m not going to be one of those people who spend time with English-speakers while living in France. I’m going to take FULL advantage of the cultural experience.” Well, ha ha ha. Whatever made me think that the French would care whether I integrate or not? Raised as a Mennonite who desires to live a life of service, having the personal issues of not wanting to put anyone out or ask for help, and recognizing (with the help of Aunt Josie and others) that it will be at least four years before I can have a full-on philosophical/political/spiritual conversation – in other words, talk about anything with substance and meaning beyond the niceties of how to squeeze fresh produce – all these things mean I have come to accept that my neighbourhood, Callum’s school, my work colleagues and my students will be French, but my community will be international.

JOB
I need to find a job here. I need a job that’s flexible – so I can drop off and pick up Callum from school and at least sometimes pick him up for lunch (due to his food sensitivities – they serve bread and cheese at every meal). I can’t work Wednesdays. And in this economy, there is a hiring freeze on in many of the international companies yet I need a position where I do not need to speak French. Minimum wage here is 8 Euros an hour. Babysitting pays 8 – 10, but it’s during the same hours as I have Callum. What kind of job am I going to get? How will I go about hunting for one? Stay tuned.

PHYSICAL GOALS
I am most motivated to get physically fit when I have an event to look forward to as well as a fitness level. Two events I would like to attend in the next year are an Olympic length triathlon (Paris or Annecy) and a March (the one in the Netherlands which occurs over four days and you can choose to march 20, 30, 40, or 50 km per day. I would choose 50 a day.) The Olympic length triathlon is 1.5 km swimming, 40 km biking and 10 km running … though I would walk. I simply need to be fast enough in the first two events to keep from getting disqualified time-wise when walking the third. The Annecy Triathlon would be cool because the lake is stunning, Col and Callum could accompany me there, and the biking part would likely be on some of the same terrain as the Tour de France. Too cool.

COL – NEW BOSS and BUILDING
Colin is unhappy about the move of buildings, longer commute, increased cost of food in the cafeteria and the fact that the air conditioning is broken in his ‘new’ building. Also, there are many communication mess-ups with computers and electrical meters as the building changes residents. However, his new/old boss Melanie is amazing at getting things done and smoothing things out. And Colin is going to Hungary/Budapest on the 13th so he's pretty stoked about that.

CALLUM
Callum is having anxiety about school and his behaviour reflects it. Impulsive behaviour, toilet language, wiggliness, inability to listen, lack of awareness of what his body is doing, increased agitation and vocal volume as well as verbal self-abuse (ie. I'm stupid) have cropped up again in full force. Why did my intelligent, compassionate, socially savvy, witty and physically coordinated boy turn a corner? Owen and Lucas’s visits made a huge difference. Callum looked forward to them for months; the thought soothed him when he felt lonely. But now the visits from friends are done for the year. Overall I think it's a combination of loneliness/depression (the words seem too strong but they capture my meaning), anxiety regarding school and me not being as strict regarding food and Omegas. I know school is stressful for Callum but we met three kids from his class last week and they all greeted him joyously. I know it'll settle down in a few weeks. We just need to get into the routine and learn this French language (damn it)! I had no idea we would find it so difficult.

WEEKEND HIKE
This weekend was awesome. Did a hike that included two mountain peaks on Saturday (with two of our English friends, Samantha and Mark). Callum and Colin joined us for the second peak. It felt great to get out into the wilderness, to explore, to be so physically active. It's very grounding for all of us and wonderful to explore the Alps on our doorstep. On Sunday I planned a secret event to celebrate our anniversary. We took a bus to Bourg d'Oisans (which is at the base of the steep road involving the 21 bends up to Les Deux Alpes that are a compulsory event for the Tour de France). The trip was about 1.5 hours through the magnificent Belledonne Mountain Range. Besides being a beautiful town, Bourg d'Oisans was sponsoring a free Moto Cross event for the day. It was awesome to breathe in 2 stroke oil and dust for an afternoon!

DAY IN EVIAN
Spent an unexpected and delicious day doing a road trip to and exploration of Evian with Melanie. While we were there we drank Evian of course, which you can get free flowing and which many people did – collecting it in Coke and Perrier bottles. While we were there we participated in a typical French conversation. It went something like this:
“Do you have a toilet here?”
“Yes.”
Needing to use the facilities, we chose to buy gelato at this establishment.
“Can we use the toilet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not for customers.”
Funny that where wonderful water is free, the toilets are not.

This week Callum starts school, I revise my CV and start looking for a job, I'm back on the right exercise track and we celebrate our anniversary. Colin's boss leaves for a month to get married and go on her honeymoon in Iceland. Colin gets ready for his trip to Hungary. And we get all our financial goals under control. Also, my sister is undergoing exploratory surgery. My mom is getting her check-up. And Ang and George get ever-closer to meeting and adopting Murron.

That's enough for now. Life is full.

Bises,

Ramona