One last thing

Oh, and the rental car I have - is a bigger SUV than the one I drive at home. This is Europe, home of the SmartCar. I feel like SUCH an Ugly American driving this thing!

End of Day 1

French time 9:15 PM

So I just posted several things in a row, but I finally figured out how to get internet access in my hotel room, so I am catching up.

All in all today went mostly well. The flights and getting to the hotel went off without a hitch. I couldn't fall asleep this morning (though almost did this afternoon) and so I'm pretty tired right now. Work was fairly non-stressful - had a tour of the factory, met lots of people whose names I do not remember, met with the Quality Director/Manager, entertained some guys with my inability to work a car. Everyone seems very nice so far.

Dinner was on my own tonight, which was okay because I am close to dead tired and didn't want to be out late. I'm staying in a B&B that serves dinner as well. It is run by a husband and wife, and she does the cooking. Oh. My. God. I am in heaven. Three course dinner, and that's only because I was too stuffed to have dessert. Pea soup (at least, I think that's what it was). Salad with some type of zesty oil dressing. Pork tenderloin with wild French mushrooms in demi-glace, risotto, stewed celery (sounds weird, tastes like applesauce), and a cooked artichoke heart. And of course, French baguette, with a local red wine to wash it all down. Delicious delicious delicious!

HOWEVER. There is definitely a language barrier here. My high school French is not just rusty, it's a big ol' pile of corrosion. I can understand maybe 1 word out of 10 or 12 (and they're not useful words, just "with" and "now" and "how's it going") and while I can mostly plan out a sentence in my head for what I want to say, somehow I can't get it out in French and just stick with the English. So I have a long way to go on that.

But over all, today was good! And now, I am heading off to sleep. Aahhh, sleep.

Bonne nuit!

La voiture automatique

French time 5:05 PM

How the hell do I put this thing in gear? Or even get the parking brake off??


This is not a great picture, and I will try to get a better one tomorrow, but I had lots of fun trying to start my rental car today. There were 3 guys out front of the building smoking and I practically had them in hysterics. (One of them did help me!) So this is what we learned today about starting an automatic transmission car in Europe.

1. The car will not turn over unless your foot is on the brake.

2. The lever on the right hand side of the steering column that is the same size as a gear shift in the US? Yeah, that's the wipers/windshield wash. Repeatedly trying to shift with this will only make the onlookers laugh harder.

3. The little lever at the top of the steering column that looks like an out-of-place turn signal lever? Yeah, that's what you shift with.
3a. R = reverse. At least this is intuitive.
3b. N = neutral. Also intuitive. But important to know, the car will not turn over unless it is in neutral, nor will it allow the parking brake to be set (more on this later).
3c. A = automatic shift. Revs a bit much when it does so, but at least it does not involve Kate trying to get out of first without stalling.
3d. M = manual shift. No, there is no clutch. Yes, I can manually shift the gears with the short levers on either side of the steering column. I will be trying this once I'm slightly more comfortable with the whole driving in a foreign country thing, because it seems like all the fun of manually shifting without all the mucking about with clutching and stalling. Win-win for everyone.

4. There is no release lever for the parking brake. Do not bother looking for one. Just put your foot on the gas and the brake will release.

5. So you made it through 5 roundabouts and 2 small villages without killing yourself, the car, or any innocent French citizens. What, now you want to park the car? Use foot brake to stop, put car in neutral, and hit big "P" button in center of dash console to set parking brake. Do not absentmindedly hit red button directly below "P", unless you feel the need to turn the hazards on.

Arrival

11:45 AM French time

I am in France!

The trip over went well with no problems. The flight from Newark to Geneva was only about 2/3 full. There was a woman seated next to me when we boarded, but she switched seats before takeoff, so I had the row (2 seats) to myself and was able to have a little more room. Managed to sleep for about 3.5 hours. We took off late, but had a great tailwind and landed at 7:05, 20 minutes early.

For 7 AM on a Monday morning, the Geneva airport was empty. I waited about 5 minutes to get though customs and then maybe another 10 for my luggage. Got picked up at the airport and dropped off at my hotel. I was able to check in and get my room, which was great. I am unpacked already. Tried to take a nap but am still too keyed up from arrival, so I gave up and showered instead. Getting ready to go into the factory for the afternoon.

My room is very nice with a country ski chalet motif. A little on the small side, but then again, this is Europe, everything is on the small side. The shower is awesome, and I might decide to stay just for that!

This is the room, looking from the door.

And the rest of the room (I told you it was small!)

And the view from the window.

France!

I still can't believe I am going. TOMORROW. Crazy! T-minus not very many hours and I will be out of here.

Things left to do:
pay a couple of bills
grab addresses to send people postcards
oh yeah, PACK!

Reviving the Blog

There have been a lot of life changes around here lately, and I think there are more coming. I'd like to have some sort of record of them, so I am going to try to get myself back into the habit of journaling more regularly. I started this particular blog to share things with my family; I might as well actually write something here occasionally!

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10

10 Random things about me
1. I have a pirate rubber duckie in my bathroom. He's black with an eyepatch and a skull-and-crossbones on him.
2. I hated going to summer camp as a kid.
3. And yet I still kept signing up for it. 3 years at overnight camp and 2 years of daycamp.
4. On the other hand, I loved loved loved ski camp during Feb. vacation.
5. I volunteered to be a Girl Scout leader this year.
6. I like it, but am a little overwhelmed, and am scared of being the "boring leader".
7. I would really like to learn how to shoot a gun but I have no idea who to ask to show me.
8. Which is odd, given the fact that I come from a family of hunter and the only person who doesn't have multiple guns in their house is my aunt in Florida.
9. I fantasize about winning the lottery so I can quit my job.
10. I miss being involved in theatre.

9 Ways to win my heart
1. Read
2. Recommend books to me
3. Read aloud to me when I am sick.
4. Meet my family.
5. Introduce me to yours.
6. Bring toys for my cats.
7. Cook dinner with me.
8. Dance with me.
9. Have a killer smile and a voice that makes me all quivery inside.

8 Of my favorite TV shows
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. Alias
3. NCIS
4. M*A*S*H
5. Jeopardy
6. Monarch of the Glen (before all the original cast left)
7. The Amazing Race
8. Friday Night Lights

7 Things that annoy me
1. Stepping in water puddles from snow melting off shoes and winding up with wet socks. There's a doormat there for a reason, people.
2. Wet socks and cold feet in general.
3. When the cats wake me up 75 minutes before my alarm goes off. Way too early to get up, not enough time to get any more quality sleep in.
4. My own lack of motivation and tendency to procrastinate.
5. Over protective parents. Your daughter is 10 and this is the Girl Scouts for heaven's sake. We've all been background checked and have safety training up the wazoo. You can let her spend the night away from home. Really.
6. People who automatically say "Oh, that explains it" when they find out I'm an only child. As if the fact that my parents didn't provide me with siblings means I'm completely incapable of relating to people.
7. The lack of "left turn on green after yielding" left turn lanes around here. Actually, the majority of the traffic lights around here. I'm half convinced they were programmed by ferrets on acid.

6 Things I want to do before I die
1. Have a better understanding of my own faith and a better relationship with God.
2. Get at least one more degree in something that has nothing to do with engineering.
3. Be a wife.
4. Travel more outside the US.
5. Trace my family history.
6. Run a marathon.

5 Things I am afraid of
1. Fire
2. Spiders and other crawly buggy things.
3. Alarms and other unexpected loud noises. Waking up to an alarm clock every morning is hell, but if I don't have the alarm, I won't wake up until 9:30.
4. That I've become too selective and too comfortable with my own independence and thus will never find anyone I even want to date, let alone marry.
5. Losing my family.

4 Of my favorite items in this room
I am in the guest room/office
1. Penobscot
2. Books!
3. Digital camera
4. The antique ladies' toiletry kit we found when cleaning out my Grammie's house.

3 Things I do every day
1. Check email
2. Read something, even if it's just the back of the cereal box.
3. Eat

2 Things I want to do right now
1. Write up this week's meal plan and then go have dinner.
2. Email my parents and Sandra the pictures from last weekend.

1 Person I want to see right now
I have no idea....