Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The First Post: What Should I Even Say?

Well ladies and gentlemen, here it is.  I have decided to begin a blog of my journey through the next seven months of my time in France, working as an English teacher in the towns of Le Grands Lemps, and La Côte Saint-André.   My current plan for this blog, is to try to update it about once per week, so I suppose we can go ahead and call this week one.   All I can say, is that right now, my experience has already provided me with some wonderful experiences, along with some mishaps which, while bearable in the light of future days, were just downright annoying when they happened.  I have now been in Grenoble for almost exactly one week, and have already taken the opportunity to see several of the outlying towns, including one of the ones in which I will be teaching.    Grenoble itself is not terribly spectacular, (it has that sort of every-city feel,) but I the mountains which surround it, (those little things known as the Alps)  are stunning.  I had the great opportunity to ride a cable car up the side of the mountain one rainy afternoon, and all I can say is that the view was absolutely gorgeous, and breathtaking.   That being said, it was really my preliminary visit to one of my "working towns"  (Le Grand Lemps)  which really got me excited.  It is a very small town.  VERY small.  But, upon entering the town center itself, one is immediately struck by a warm feeling of community and togetherness, and based on my experiences with the people on the streets and in the shops, as well as my experience with the people in the school, I can honestly say that I may have found some of the nicest people on earth.  I felt very much at ease in Le Grand Lemps, and although I spent only a short time there, am really looking forward to going back.    I suppose that no first-week blog would be complete without a few wonderful anecdotes regarding mishaps along the way, so here it goes;   Flying in to Amsterdam Shirpol airport on my way to Paris, my flight from Detroit got in just with enough time to get through the unnecessarily extensive security checkpoint for entrance into the country.  Let's be honest, we all just made it through security seven hours ago, were packed into a tube, and shot off on a seven hour flight without blowing anybody up; what could we really have?   In any event, while I was there (perhaps) in time to catch my connection, I was detained by a very eager young security guard who had apparently deemed my bag of coins, (which, by the way, she identified as the problem before even opening the bag,) as a serious threat to the nation.  Therefore, she proceeded to make me open almost every zipper on my computer bag, before finally asking me where the coins were, finding them, and then sending it through again.  Needless to say, I was then ten minutes late for my flight, and was forced to take the next flight into Paris.  This then made me late for my train in Paris, starting off my excursion on a note about as sour as the one sung by Jimmy Stewart at the end of "Its a Wonderful Life."   It all worked out however, and as these things do, I am sure the experience will fade into the rosy mists of yesterday soon enough.   Until next week, this has been an update from The French Connection

1 comment:

  1. Mark - I love it!
    The idea, the title, and the week-one entry are terrific! Am so happy you decided to do this. What a treat it will be to read and enjoy your adventures with you. Love, Mom

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