The ups and downs of language study

       Wow, what a roller coaster ride this is! Sometimes I really comprehend things and feel so positive, like I am actually going to learn French. Other times, I feel defeated, exhausted and like I want to give up. This has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. Way harder than my master's program was! It seems like all I do is study. Last weekend was really tough, because I had studied so hard for my evaluation (nice word for test!). Well, I didn't do very well on it! When I got the graded copy back, and I looked at some of the things I wrote I couldn't believe it. And I completely left one part blank. What the heck??? Well, I guess you can blame it on stress, or maybe it's just the 59 year old brain cells! Anyway, I'm going to just keep trying. I'm also meeting with my teacher tomorrow for a one-on-one tutoring session. Hopefully that will help. Anyway, if you're out there reading this please continue to lift me up to our Father. This was His idea, so I'm completely dependent on Him for getting me through!
       On a positive note, I have mastered the French grocery store, bank, bus, and post office. I'm also looking for a language partner, so keep that in your prayers too. I would love to have someone in the medical field so I can learn some of that terminology. I am making friends and have had 3 gatherings in my little apartment for meals and study partners. I have also been invited to some apartments of students for meals, games, etc. My friend Christy and I watch Downton Abbey every week on her computer. I can't seem to get it on mine. That's my one TV show a week. Oh, and I finally got a phone, so now I can talk to some of you back home! Talk again soon!

Going for walks

I like to go for walks after all day in the classroom. It clears my head from all the French grammar and also refreshes my body and spirit. Today I took an especially long walk, clear out of town, and up part of a mountain. It was amazing; cold, crisp, beautiful mountains surrounding me. I saw some really cute little French houses, some chickens, a neat little canal, and my favorite Bolangerie (of course, I had to run in to buy some bread!). I took some pictures, and have been trying to post them without much success. So I will keep trying. Oh, and I took a picture for my friend, Mathilde, whose family lives in Chambery (look for the road sign). Well, Bon weekend!

Study, Study, Study

I haven't written in a while, because I have been so busy studying. I once heard that language school is like a fire hose of information coming at you all the time. This is so true, and I often feel like I'm drowning in all the verb conjugations and articles. Learning French is taking all my waking moments and some of "supposed to be sleeping" moments. But God is meeting me every day. I cry out to Him many times a day and He is there for me. All of sudden some piece of information I was struggling with just "clicks". Other times, a friend will encourage me. The bible encourages me daily. Letters and cards and videos and pictures from home really encourage me. Just yesterday, I came back to my room after class, again feeling overwhelmed. I decided to go for a long walk to clear my head. On the way to walk I stopped by my mailbox and had a card from a bible study friend. It was the cutest card I've ever seen with a sheep on the front that said "I'm thinking of you today in your current surroundings", then you turn the page, and the little sheep is in a big pair of hands and it says "Jesus' Hands! It is a good place to be! Then off to the side she shared a quote she had heard on the radio. It said "The wisdom of the Shepherd is not dependent on the I.Q. of the sheep"! Amen to that! I'm glad He's got me in His hands, and I'm glad that the success of language learning is not on my I.Q. or I'd be in big trouble. John 10:27 says "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow me... no one can snatch them out of My hand." I am listening Lord! I am overwhelmed with thankfulness and love for You! Please keep praying for my brain to retain, and my physical and emotional strength. Miss and love you all!

Learning Lessons!

       Thought I would take a break from studying and write a post. It's hard to believe how much information they have crammed into our heads in the last 5 days of school. I've learned the alphabet, to count to 100, to say hello and goodbye in about 10 different ways (depending on who you are saying it to, and what time of day it is, and when you might see them again. Yikes!!!). I've also learned all the French vowels, how they are pronounced, and what modifies them, like accent marks or a cedille (that funny squiggly thing on the bottom of a "c"). I've learned that there are three main types of verbs in the French language and about 90% of them end in "er". I've learned about 10 verbs, and how to conjugate them (the verb changes according to who is saying it and to who). I've learned how to say I am not doing whatever the verb is wanting me to do. I've learned the male and female name of about 50 professions (yes, they are different depending on whether they are masculine or feminine). I've learned how to say the countries of the world in French, along with the appropriate adjective (la, le, les, un, une, des, en, au, aux, etc.). The French really like things complicated. Our teacher keeps telling us, don't try to turn these words into English, because a lot of them cannot be translated. We have to put on our "French" heads, and aren't allowed to talk in English unless the teacher talks to us in English, which isn't very often. Anyway, surprising, a lot of this info is sticking, some keeps trying to leak out, and I keep trying to put it back in!
       Beside learning French, I am learning some other important lessons too. After the third class, I came home, laid down on my bed and cried for about 30 minutes. After my little "melt down", I asked the Lord what that was all about. I came to the conclusion that it was a multifactorial meltdown. First; physical fatigue. In the last 7 weeks, I have gone oversees twice on trips, packed up an entire house, moved all the stuff to storage, stopped all my accounts, bills, etc. (lots of hours on the phone!), experienced holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas), flew to France, and dealt with 9 hours of jet lag. Second was the emotional component; I was missing my family, friends, church, house, recliner, and dog! I know I can talk to my family, but I can't hug them or bake cookies with them, or hold them. I miss my comfortable bed and recliner. I miss my dog licking me and wanting to jump in my lap. I miss good friends, who know how you are feeling before you even open your mouth! I do know some people here from my training this summer, and I am meeting new people and starting to establish friendships. I am thankful for that. Third, and probably the most important is the spiritual component. I have not been spending quality time with the Lord. I had been reading my bible and praying, but really not meditating, memorizing, talking to the Lord, like I needed to be. So, needless to say, I had a physical, emotional, mental (just plain tired from all the schooling), and spiritual meltdown. The great thing is that God knew this was coming, and he knew just what I needed. I picked up my bible and started reading, and it seemed like every verse was just for my situation. I put on some Christian music, and a Chris Tomlin song spoke to me so much I started crying again, just praising God for his love and his faithfulness to us. Then a friend knocked on the door and invited me for dinner. She noticed I had been crying, and asked if she could help, so I poured it all out on her. She told me that she had a similar experience about a week after she had gotten here in the fall. (always good to know that what we're experiencing is normal!). That night was the first night I slept all night and didn't wake up at 2 or 3am. In the morning I felt like a new person. God lifts us up with wings like eagles. If we are weary, He gives us strength! I am learning to rely on Him more and more and am so thankful for my God. I am also thankful for those of you at home, that have sent me encouraging words in letters or on Facebook. Love and miss you all, Sandie

Adventures in eating!

      Today marked the 1 week anniversary of my arrival in France, and I thought it would be fun to brave the restaurant scene as a celebration. I invited one of my new friends, Christy, a 30 something single girl who is a teacher, and going to Republic of Central Africa. After strolling the boulevard and looking at menus we decided upon a Creperie. Of course, we couldn't read much on the menu, but we know some basic terms. Anyway, I decided on the American, which I thought was going to be a Cheeseburger (sounded so good!) and a crepe for dessert that has caramel and vanilla ice cream with chopped nuts. My friend ordered the pizza and a nutella crepe for dessert. Well, here is what we actually got; my "cheeseburger was a crepe with a fried egg in the middle, and a hamburger steak off to one side with pizza sauce on it. I ate most of the crepe, none of the egg, and a few bites of the hamburger steak. My friend got a pizza crepe with ham and onions, and leeks, and a few other things on it. They were both pretty weird (especially since we didn't know they would be crepes!). Anyway, the dessert crepes were fantastic and worth all the other weirdness.
      The company was superb. It is so nice to share with like minded people who love the Lord, and just want to serve Him. Christy is much more a novice at French than I am (hard to believe), so she has been very scared in class. She shared that this morning in her devotional time she was reading about Moses and the burning bush. Moses was very scared to do what God had called him to do. God kept reassuring Moses by saying "I am" is sending you. Really, when you think about who it is that has called us to do whatever he has for us, why do we sweat the small stuff, like learning French. He is more than adequate to accomplish that and whatever else it takes if we are just willing. Someone told me once that God doesn't always use the best and brightest, He uses whoever says yes! So I hope that this will also be an encouragement to you who are reading this. We serve the great "I AM"! He is able to equip us for the job at hand. I'm thankful for this. Signing off from France.

French Vowels

Today was our first full day of class. We learned all 15 French vowels, along with the accents that change how they are pronounced! Are you kidding? I can't even pronounce them without the accents! To say the least, French is very different than English. We have what is called a "lazy" mouth; we don't have to use very many mouth or facial muscles to say the words we say. But French uses every mouth and facial muscle known to man. My face is actually tired tonight! With all that aside, this was a great day. I supposedly got in the 'hard' teacher's class. But I think she is amazing. She is such a good teacher. I feel like I am really going to learn from her this year, and am very thankful that God put me in her class. On another high note, I got my foam topper that I ordered from Amazon for my "hard as rock" mattress. So hopefully I will sleep better tonight. I also ordered a rice cooker, and was able to have a delicious dinner of salmon, rice and green beans. Yummo! The bread here is amazing, and if I give in to it, I will come home even fatter than I am. On every corner there is a Boulangier (think that's how it is spelled) with fresh bread, crescents, and other yummy treats. Well, I've got to get my head in the books now and review my vowels. God bless, Sandie

Some of the beauty surrounding me in France (haven't posted these pictures to Facebook, so they are new)

Cultural Adaptation

        As a nurse educator I have taught classes to my students on culture and cultural sensitivity. Last summer when I attended Missionary Training International (MTI) they talked a lot about cultural adaptation. I thought I was prepared for entering a new culture, but today proved me otherwise. The day started with a plan to visit a consignment store nearby before an afternoon of testing for placement at the school. I had noted the store's hours this weekend when out walking and they were supposed to be open Monday from 8:30-4:30. At 9:30 I went there and the door was open, so I went in (there was no open or closed sign anywhere on the building). As I was looking at some items a man came up to me, speaking French, which of course, I couldn't understand. He went and got someone else, and they told me in broken English that the store was closed. I told him the hours posted on the door, to which he replied, "Oh, that's only if we feel like being open then". Okay, I'm definitely not in the U.S. anymore.
      So, I decided to go to the grocery store and get some items. A friend had said it was on this same street, and not down too far. I saw the sign for "Courforre" market with an arrow in the direction that said "3 min". So I started walking, thinking it would be close. Block after block and no market, but I kept seeing signs that said "3 min". I'm not sure what this actually meant because it was really about 30 minutes and about 1- 1 & 1/2 miles. So, eventually I got there, and I knew that you had to have a coin to put in to get the grocery cart disconnected from the others. Their system is that you put a coin in to get in, and when you are done and reconnect the cart, you get your coin back. The problem was that I wasn't sure which coin. A woman came by and I pantomimed my problem, she looked through my coin purse and selected the right one, I said "Merci". She left. The coin would not go in all the way, so I chose a different one, and so this went on for about 5-10 minutes before one actually worked and I got my cart.
      OK, so now I'm in the store with my list and looking up and down the isle and trying to find tomato sauce, not tomatoes, and bread crumbs and other assorted items that do not have the same names as they do back home. I had to pick up numerous boxes and cans and try to decipher what the French ingredients were, and then decide if it was the right thing. Then I made it to the vegetable isle. I noticed people weighing their veggies and fruit and thankfully in Spain I had already been acquainted with this system. You put your item on the scale, then push a button of the picture of the item, and it spits out a price tag that you attach to the bag. The only problem was that there were about 10 people behind me waiting, and I had about 10 bags of veggies/fruits. I took longer than they were expecting, and soon a couple of ladies were at my side trying to help me so I could get out of their way!!! Okay, so I finally got all the items that I needed and headed for the checkout stand. It was then that I remembered my friends telling me that you have to bring your own bags, because they don't supply bags. So, I had to go looking through the store for bags that I could purchase. I tried to pantomime this to a man who was stocking. He finally got it and showed me that they were at each checkout stand. Yikes, I was now very frustrated, and I had to go to the bathroom! Well, come to find out that French grocery stores do not have public bathrooms.
      Anyway, I managed to pay and bag all my stuff and started the long walk home, now carrying 3 bags of heavy groceries, and trying to hold my bladder!!! I have never been so glad to get "home" and I was from that trip. After discussing this with some of the girls here, they told me there is a push basket that you can take with you to the grocery store. They don't bother with trying to get a cart, because it's always difficult. Some said they take the bus to the store, and couldn't believe I had walked all that way carrying bags of groceries.
      Wow, hope my next grocery store experience is easier. I felt that old culture shock hitting me right between the eyes. Tomorrow after class, it will be the post office. This should be fun!! Gotta love it! :)