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Memories of Paris

Written on September 28, 2009 – 7:28 am by admin

When I was around 11 (which seems like a lifetime ago in some ways and just yesterday in others) I experienced my very first trip abroad. Back then there were not the modern options of travel from the UK to France such as the channel tunnel and unless you were rich flying was out of the question for a family and so we went by car.

I have always loved traveling by car – even back then – so for me it was quite an adventure. Having driven to Dover (well, my father did anyway lol) we went on a car ferry to Calais and then the adventure started in earnest.

We were on the opposite side of the road of course (the UK drives on the left) so that was very different. Everything seemed so different, which is quite amazing when you think about it as France is only a few miles from the UK, but different it was. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Childhood, Travel | Tags: , , , , , | No Responses

Icelandic Proverb: Anyone else know more?

Written on September 15, 2009 – 8:32 am by Charis

I’ve heard a bit about Iceland and what it’s like to live there. It’s my understanding that the landscape there has a stark beauty, that the people there are very kind, friendly, and in many ways extremely open-minded.

I’ve also been told that they have the most incredible fireworks of perhaps anywhere else in the world, on New Year’s Day. Families spend hundreds of dollars on fireworks for the occasion!

and I’m offering the following proverb from Iceland which I just ran across:

It is difficult to steal when the boss is a thief.

Funny thing is, it’s really applicable to business in the USA, too, no?

Categories: Travel | Tags: | No Responses

An American Ex-Pat in France: The After by Nicole Miller

Written on August 8, 2009 – 9:35 am by Charis

This is a guest post written by one of my favorite bloggers, Nicole Miller.  It is always interesting to read her thoughts and to see what her day-to-day life is like in France.  Thank you for sharing, Nicole. Enjoy!

The After

Living in a second language and a foreign culture is an endless approximation.  A mathematical formula I can’t quite get right, despite years of trying.  I have navigated, negotiated, and narrated my life through the structured flow chart of French, la forme, for the past 11 years.  Le fond, the depth – the guts – all of that remains American.

The good news is, on a daily basis, I fit in.  I am not identified on the street as American and my accent is rarely heard.  The bad (or is it?) news is, I am still foreign here, other.  There are moments, both for them and for me, when it is clear, on the surface at least, that we simply cannot understand each other, despite accurate syntax and appropriate vocabulary. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Adulthood, Everything Else, Memories, Travel | Tags: , | No Responses

Memories Of New Mexico

Written on July 17, 2009 – 2:38 pm by admin
Rancho de Chimayo

Rancho de Chimayo

Many years ago (1973 to be exact) I was temporarily living in the US with my parents while my father was working over here. I was 18 and we had the opportunity that summer to travel around a little. We were living in Oklahoma City at the time so our trip basically included exploring Texas and New Mexico. Although I enjoyed Texas it was New Mexico that really stuck in my mind as I think it did with all of us.

On one of those days around lunchtime we happened to chance upon a restaurant in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We’d been taking back roads as they’re always more interesting than highways. We decided to stop for lunch. The name of the restaurant was the Rancho de Chimayo. The food was excellent and after lunch we went on our way.

I didn’t realize at the time that this would be the last family trip I would ever take with my father as I left home and married not much later and he died at the age of 50 not long after my first son was born. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Adulthood, Family, Restaurants, Teens, Travel | Tags: , , , , | No Responses