Today at about 12:30 Amy called Daniel to ask something and we found out he was heading to the bank to finalize several of the AIMers accounts and wanted to know if we would like to do the same. Once again slow French systems, we’ve had an account for more than two weeks, and have deposited and withdrawn several times, but it’s not a finalized account yet.

Doing this will also give us our bank card as well. Anyway, that means I have to go to that particular branch because that’s where I started opening the account. This is about a 45-minute trek via tram and bus so I have to quickly throw a shirt, socks, and shoes on and run out the door. Amy gives me quick instructions on how to get there, which is two bus stops past the stop we take to Daniels. So I take the tram to the bus two stops past Daniels. Guess what? There isn’t a bank anywhere. On the bus, I noticed a branch of our bank one stop before Daniels. So I walked a half mile or so in that direction. It was closed and Daniel was definitely not there.

Then I decide that maybe it was farther on the other side of the first place I stopped. So walk another mile or so down the road to no avail. Did I mention it was cold and raining? And I didn’t bring my umbrella. So by this point, I am soaked to the bone, have no idea where the bank is, and am terribly late. I get out my map and a letter from the bank with their address and realize that the branch is in Illkirch while I am in Otswald. I find the right street but it is long and I am in no mood to walk up and down it so I walk to Daniels. Tammy treats me to some hot tea and gives me a towel and a dry shirt. Eventually, she drives me to the bank where I am told the lady I need to see is all booked up for the day so I make an appointment for tomorrow.

Four hours and all I get out of it is an appointment to come back. But now I get to make Amy feel guilty since she told me the wrong stop and guilt her into being nice to me for the evening!

Another French thing I thought of is that they don’t do AM and PM everything is on military time. So in the afternoon, I have to do the math in my head when I look at any clock but my watch.

I thought of some other differences. Banks are more security prone. You can usually walk into an entry way, and then you have to press a button to open another door, here you walk into a small space before you get to another door. That door will not open until the door you just walked into is completely shut. So for a moment you are stuck in a little phone booth sized space. Once the one door is shut the other door will either automatically open or in some place the teller has to press a button to let you in.

The roads are definitely different. I think I have mentioned before that they are very small and twist and turn everywhere. A good example is right out my apartment window. The road below is actually about three lanes wide. However, one lane is designated as a parking area and it is always full. That should leave two lanes for traffic except that the lane on the other side of the road is very often filled with parked cars as well. I mean really it’s a lane of traffic, yet people have no problem pulling over and parking there. So this leaves one lane to drive on. Well, my particular section of road curves a bit into a slight “U” shape. Which makes visibility a little difficult. So traffic will often nearly run into itself before one car has to back up a bit and pull over between two illegally parked cars to let the other car pass.

People park like that all the time though. Just today at the grocery store there was a line of cars parked parallel and then when the spots ran out people just parked beside that line of cars so that the first group would not be able to get out. Then on my way home, a lady stopped her car in the middle of another street so she could run into a store and buy something.

The road signs confuse the heck out of me. They are all little minus signs and triangles and diagonal lines. Sometimes the main road has the right of way sometimes the road intersecting with the main road has the right of way. sometimes the right of way just arbitrarily changes.

A couple of other things I have done of late. I had lunch in Place Kleber which is this giant town square kind of thing right next to Homme de Fare (Literally man of iron) which is where all the trams intersect with each other. Anyway, I’m having my sandwich and watching all of the people walk by when this beggar walks up to the group of women sitting across from me. The beggar puts her cup out for handouts and gets nothing so she walks to the group next to me and again gets nothing. She then walks to me and I just shake my head no. The gypsy goes away quietly. About five minutes later, however, she comes back to the first group this time more aggressively. I don’t know what the heck she said but it was pretty forceful and lasted awhile.

Finally, she gave up and moved to the next group. They tried to ignore her, but she went up to one girl and tapped her on the shoulder and again talked very forcefully and demanded money. They repeatedly said no and she came over to me. She said something and pointed to a sign of which all I could understand was Merci (thank you) but it must have said some other begging things. I again gave her a firm head shake no and ignored her.

Last night we went to an American-friendly pub. The English department where Amy works was meeting with a bunch of English students so they could practice their English. It was very funny because I got into a heated discussion with two Frenchmen, and a very British colleague of Amys over US politics. None of it was anti American or hateful, but it was very lively and quite fun.

Like the man in Pulp Fiction says, we’ve got all the same stuff here as you do in the US but it’s the little differences that make it unique. Also like Pulp Fiction, I have seen the French drown their french fries in mayonnaise.

The French love their bread. You can find regular loaves of bread in the grocery store, but no one buys them except for children. If you want a sandwich you buy a baguette. If you look hard enough you can buy a baguette in the States, but you have to look.

For the uneducated in bread, a baguette is a very long thin piece of French bread. It looks like the bread you get a Subway sandwich on, but usually longer. The funny thing about it is that it pretty much dries out in one day, so you have to buy them every day. Luckily you can find a boulangerie on just about every corner. Those are little bread shops that sell all types of baguettes and lots of breaded pastries and things like doughnuts. It’s such an odd thing for an American to see. Literally, there are these little bread shops everywhere. But that’s the French, they want their baguette and maybe a little dessert all the time. Then there are the patisseries which are just dessert shops. They have some of the same things as the boulangerie but their desserts are much more intricate.

To complete my subject the French are mad about cheese as well. In a typical American grocery store, you will find a small section of cheese. Usually, they carry about four different types of cheese in bricks, sliced or shredded. Here the cheese takes us an entire aisle in most places. They have all kinds of cheeses I have never heard of but am bound to try.

Some other little differences…In the city, you don’t speak to anyone on the street or acknowledge them in any way. In the States, I would often make eye contact with someone walking down the road and say hello or nod my head or smile. Here that doesn’t happen. Yet when you go to a store you have to start the conversation with “bonjour” or “bonsoir” (good day, good night), and when you leave you say “a revoir” or “bonjour-nee” or “Bon soiree” (basically goodbye) It is considered highly rude if you do not.

Cashiers at grocery stores or big Walmart kind of stores all have comfortable chairs. No standing all day on your feet like in the States.

There aren’t bills smaller than a 5. Anything smaller is a coin. So you build a lot of change quickly and it’s not just like nickels and dimes it could be a 2 Euro or 1 Euro piece.

Alright, I tire for now…

We finally got an internet connection. We actually signed up 2 weeks ago and even got the modem and software about a week ago, but we’ve had to wait on the phone company to push the button to get us the DSL connection. so every day Amy and I have tried to sign on with complete disappointment until today.

Unfortunately, I did not keep a manual journal of my adventures so I will have to go from memory, which is routinely bad.

The apartment is pretty nice. It is quite small. There is one main room which is slightly bigger than an average apartment living room. We bought a click clack which is like a nice futon, so it doubles as a couch and bed. We have a coffee table, a nightstand and a desk in it. All of which is not cramped at all. Then there is a very small kitchen. It holds a sink, 2 cabinets, a little pantry, a dorm fridge, and a giant toaster oven. We also have a full bath. It has taken a little getting used to since we were used to a nice two-bedroom house. It is inexpensive for its location in France. We are in the heart of downtown Strasbourg, and only a 5-minute walk from Amy’s school.

I have taken some pictures which I will post in the next day or two.

I am still thoroughly enjoying France. We live in northern France in a part known as Alsace. From what I hear it is a very different part of France than Paris and South France. There is a lot of German influence since it’s so close to the border. Plus Strasbourg is “the capital of Europe” and holds the Parliament for the European Union. So there are lots of different cultures here. So it is nothing to here French, German, English, and other languages while walking around. There are quite a few Jews and Asians living here as well, and a rather large Muslim population.

I am a little sheltered. The majority of the church speaks English and there are several Americans as well. Also, Amy’s department is English so all of them speak my language as well. So it is very much not an immersion into French culture. I think that has made my time here a much better experience.

Yesterday was a good day. I had to go to French class in Ilkirch (a suburb of Strasbourg) and Amy had other things to do. So I navigated my way by myself there and back. I even stopped by Auschan which is like a Walmart on my way back. It’s such a simple thing, and a trip I have made many times with Amy, but it felt empowering to do it on my own! It’s like I am a child in many ways because of the cultural and language differences, so all the little steps are a big deal. Even buying a loaf of bread was huge for me today.

I think I will stop here and write another blog in a minute to break them up a little.

I have officially got the cold that has been going around this house. My head is full of fluid, I’m constantly blowing my nose and my throat hurts from having to breath through my mouth all the time. I know, I know more information than anyone needed.

We are moving out of Daniel and Tammy’s today. We have asked to have DSL at our apartment, but it could take two weeks before we get it. They didn’t have a modem at the telephone company so they are shipping it to us. So my blog may be empty for a little while.

Speaking of DSL, the phone company has a place in the mall of all places so we went to get our phone connected yesterday. They only have two people working there and it was pretty busy. When we finally got waited on we had quite a bit to do (get our phone connected, get set up with DSL and then our friend Ivica needed to get a Sim card for his cell phone. So we took a long time much to the chagrin of the people standing behind us.

Well, something happened and the lady helping us went to the back so the other lady come over to us and helped us out. When our first lady came back she stood behind the second lady who was at the first ladies’ station (got it? Good). So some angry lady waiting behind us comes over to our first lady and starts to ask for help, our first lady said she couldn’t because she had to work at her station.

After a few minutes of arguing and our Lady #2 moved away and let our Lady #1 help us. As soon as Lady #2 starts to help the angry customer, an angry man jumps in saying he needs help. So then our lady #2 starts to argue that the angry customer was first. Several minutes of a heated argument between the angry customer, the angry man, and our Lady #2 pass, and then the angry man gets up and leaves. It was quite a scene. Especially since I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but could figure out a lot just by expressions, gestures, and tone of voice.

I am hoping to write blog thoughts manually while we are without DSL so that I can add them to the real blog once we are online. So look for some dry spell followed by a gigantic posting a little later

Tomorrow we will move into the new apartment. We got the phone set up and tomorrow we will put the electric in our name (it has electricity, but it is in the old renters name). We spend part of the afternoon unpacking most of our bags. I think it will be an ok place to live. Except that it is amazingly hot. They do not have air conditioners in north France because it generally doesn’t get that hot. So they say. Even though it is in the low 50’s outside it was close to 75-80 degrees in the aparment. Its amazing how quickly buying a fan has turned into the highest priority.

Daniel’s landlady is at it again. She sent them a nasty letter basically stating she wants them to plant a whole bunch of flowers and trees that supposedly they have taken out of the property and she wants it done now. I guess Daniel has trimmed a couple of smaller trees because their limbs were dying. They also removed a flower garden that was more weeds than flowers. He says they have put in several hundred dollars worth of landscaping and it really does look nice. But without a visit, she writes a nasty letter demanding they make it like it was. So the rest of the afternoon has been devoted to planting.

We had church Wednesday night at the girl’s (two girl members of the mission team) apartment. We don’t sing anything Wednesday night because the neighbors will complain. We had a study and talked at a normal level. When we left Daniels’s children were a little boisterous and probably got a little loud but it was only about 2 minutes worth.

Well, the girl’s neighbor came over and chewed them out saying they were trying to sleep! It was 8 pm! Tammy told me their neighbor used to come over and complain about everything. Yelled at her girls for swinging on the swing set in the middle of the afternoon. Complained that their gate squeaked. Complained when the telephone would ring at night. They have church in their house, and Tammy said this neighbor would stand in her yard with friends listening to them sing songs and laughing about it and carrying on like it was some kind of cult. You could say it is difficult work here.

Daniel and Tammys landlady is coming over today. Apparently she is a living terror. She is coming over because one of the neighbors told her Daniel tore out one of the trees, which is totally not true. But now we have to clean the whole house because if she comes over and sees anything out of place she will go nuts.

Yesterday I had my second french lesson. We learned occupations and such. I think once I get settled I am going to ask the teacher for some private lessons. Two hours a week just doesn’t seem like enought to allow me to learn much. I might have a genral speaking knowledge by the time I leave, but I would much prefer to be speaking fairly well in a few months.

Today we go see the potential landlord of the apartment we hope to get. Daniel acts like it is never a sure thing here. Where in the states if you have money and your credit isn’t horrible they will take you, here they want lots of paperwork and proof that you won’t skip out. Luckily the lady who is actually renting the apartment (we are subletting) has had the place for awhile and has been a very good renter. Last summer she kept up the rent by herself even though she did not live there. I hope we get it and are able to move in soon. Even though I will miss living here and visiting with Daniel and Tammy, it will do us good to have our own place. So far I have felt like a visitor in France and our own aparmtent will drive home that I am living here for a good while.

The missionaries we are staying with have church services in their house. Service does not begin until 2 in the afternoon, so we were able to sleep in quite a bit. Church lasts anywhere from 2-3 hours. After church everyone stays for desserts and then sits around and talks. There were literally people here until 8 pm last night. I don’t see how Daniel and Tammy do it each week. I told them when Amy and I move out and come to church we will not be staying that long!

Today (Monday) we have virtually nothing to do. I have French class for an hour in the afternoon, but other than that we are free. Tomorrow we have to talk to the landlord and hopefully will sublet the apartment. If all goes well we will move in on Wednesday. It has been really nice living with Daniel and Tammy. The new place will be quite lonely for awhile. But I am sure Daniel will not let us stay alone for long. He will find different things for us to do.

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day. We lounged around the house most of the morning and afternoon. In the late afternoon, Daniel took everyone to Germany for ice cream. It seems kind of funny to go to another country for ice cream for really, it was only about a 10-minute drive, which is shorter than if we had tried to drive through the city. To order the ice cream we had to just point at the picture of the scoop we wanted since we don’t speak a lick of German. I got the one with walnuts, but unfortunately, it had some coffee-tasting sauce and I didn’t like it too much.

The ice cream was located in the downtown section of the German city. It was a very pleasant strip that held lots of little shops and cafes. In the middle of the strip was a little playground that was surrounded by these giant chicken statues all painted different colors. It was quite hilarious.

When we went walking around we ran into this rock band playing in the street. It was quite funny because they were playing American classic rock mainly. So there we were in the middle of some German city listening to songs like “Smoke on the Water” “Let It Be” and “Hotel California” played by a very German rock band, surrounded by a crowd of grooving Germans. The only song any of the crowd lip-synched to was Let It Be. My favorite moment was when they broke into a cover of the early 90’s alt hit “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes. That was a very surreal moment.

If we accomplish two things in a day we feel we have done well. Daniel and Tammy live in Otswald which is kind of a suburb of Strasbourg. Strasbourg is actually made up of a lot of little cities that are as a whole considered Strausborg. Anyway, Amy’s university is located on the other side of the city(ies). Since we don’t have a car it takes us about 45 minutes to reach the university by bus and tram. So our day is taken up mostly in travel time.

Yesterday we had to go to the university to get some paperwork Amy needed for her Residency permit. Then we travelled back to Daniel’s and waited on him to take us to the place in Otswald where Amy applied for her residency permit. She didn’t actually get it yet, but they gave her a piece of paper saying she had applied. It could take two months to actually get it and she has to have it to get paid! There goes some more savings! After that we went with some of the AIMers and passed out their pamphlets. Essentially the way the mission is set up here is they distribute pamphlets in mailboxes inviting everyone to study English through a Bible course. Anyone interested can call or write and set up a study. Some of them do it through correspondence, others actually meet in person. Then I had my first French lesson in the evening. It was a little daunting since I have not had a class of any kind in years. There were four students all together. Two of them have had an intensive French course before so are way ahead of me. It went fairly well, though, and I am anxious to learn the language.