05 06 2014….May 6 or June 5?

Have you ever taken for granted something as simple as a calendar?  I mean, sure, you look at a  grid calendar and just "know" that the far left space is Sunday, the far right space is Saturday and Wednesday is in the middle.  That's how calendars work, right?

Nope! Here in France that "Sunday slot" is actually Monday.  That can be tragic if you are trying to make plans that involve "no refunds"….you know, airline reservations, hotel accommodations and those kind of things.

The other thing that we as Americans can take for granted is our 12 hour,  am/pm "clock".  When your clock says 8:35 and you've already had dinner, then you know it's 8:35 PM.  Here in Europe, that means that it is 2035 (no colon).  Unless you are in the military, it's an adjustment to "add" or "subtract" 12 hours to determine how you respond to a "what time should we meet" question.

I've also become adept at reading dates.  If you pick up a bottle of milk here in France, you need to know that the "expiration date" will be listed differently.  If it says 05 06 2014 that means June 5th, not May 6th.  If you fill out any kind of forms, you will list the date in a different format… day/month/year.  My date of birth, for instance, is  02/03/1964, not February 3rd, but March 2nd.  Since I've never been in the military, it's caused quite the mind shift for me.

Back to that expiration date.  Do you ALWAYS check?  Do you, like me, reach to the back of the refrigerated section for the "newest" products?  I was at the grocery store yesterday and it occurred to me how short the "shelf life" for things here in Europe is.  I bought some sour cream "sauer rahm" and the expiration date is 12 06.  That's about 2 weeks, which for here is a LONG time.  I can't remember a time that I've picked up a container of sour cream at Kroger and can't find one that is at least 30 days out.  (Far fewer preservatives here in Europe)

Subsequently, the containers/portions are smaller.  That "sauer rahm"?  It's only 7 ounces (200 grams).  That's the largest size offered.  Prepackaged meat?  You might be able to find a one pound package (of course it will be in grams) of ground beef, but you are never going to see a 5 lb LOAF like a Kroger in the U.S.  

Mind shift time again….average Europeans go to the grocery every day, maybe every other day.  After all, most of them are toting home their food on foot, on a bicycle or via tram.  They aren't filling up their car trunk (or boot) and bringing it in through the garage.  When was the last time you carried 20+ lbs of groceries more than 20 feet?

Just some random thoughts for today.  Nothing funny, nothing out of the ordinary.  I'm currently waiting for our luggage to catch up with us from our trip last weekend…..that might offer some hilarity for another post…."How Ryan Air gets Sarah's bag from Spain, through Germany and to Indianapolis before 2015".

Wishing you all a fabulous week!!

How would you respond??

God is in control, God has a plan and I know that all things work together for good to them that love God.  I kept repeating this to myself this morning.  Why, you ask?

I was scheduled to re-take my drivers theory test this morning at 8:00AM.  Sarah and I were in Rome until yesterday evening

Inside the coliseum 

At Trevi Fountain

(we had an AWESOME time, more pics to follow) and we needed to come back a day early because of my test.  Remember, there is only one testing date per month when a translator can be present.  I need to have my license before July 2, so I need to "get 'er done".

I got up at 5:30 to drive David to work.  I drove back into the city and arrived at the testing location at about 7:25.  I sat in the car  reviewing the materials for about 20 minutes, then went inside and waited for my translator (Sheila) to arrive.  (This is my second translator as the first one, Pam, was unavailable for this testing date)

At 7:55 a "harried" woman came in and I offered a "Sheila?".  Yes, it was her.  She then began to explain that she had stayed at a friend's house last evening so that she would be closer to the testing location and wouldn't be late due to morning traffic.  She had left her friend's apartment this morning, armed the security alarm and then realized that she had left her "translators license" inside her friend's apartment.

THAT'S A PROBLEM!!!  I have been here long enough to know that the French bureaucracy would never let her in the testing room without proper documentation….heck, they barely let ME in with a "temporary" visa.  She apologizes profusely and heads into the testing room to talk with the testing official.

NOPE!  No can do.  She feels bad, she says it over and over, she looks like she might be sick.  What can I say?  I mean, who hasn't made a "mistake" that has caused someone else misfortune?  I tell her that it's ok, I use it as an opportunity to let her know that I believe that "all things work together for good".

I send her on her way and wait for another 45 minutes until I can enter the testing room and attempt to take the test in French.  Avant, apres, croisement, à gauche, à droit……what do all of these words mean????  Will I be able to translate enough of them in my mind so that I can pass this test????  Will I even be able to activate my remote without the test proctor giving me a "death glare" because of my inability to understand him?

Have you ever had a test and not been prepared?  I can honestly say that I have NEVER felt totally unprepared for a test before.  I've never felt that "sick to my stomach, I should've studied more" feeling.  I experienced it today when I waited for the test to begin. All I could do was trust God for the outcome….I couldn't change anything, I didn't plan to take the test in French and He wasn't surprised by Sheila forgetting her license.

60 minutes later and it was over.  Did I pass?  Who knows.  I will find out on Monday.  Thankfully,  I could read about 80% of the questions.  (That would be 32 out of 40)  I definitely had to quasi "guess" on what those last 20% said.

I came home and tried to remember words from the questions that I couldn't understand.  I think that my "guesser" was pretty good today.  On maybe 3 or 4 I was able to understand enough of the question context to guess the correct response.  But remember, I can only miss a total of 5.

I sure hope that I pass…..then David can't boast about passing his test in French and that I had to do it with a translator.  But, if I don't then there will always be next month.  Though I'm not sure that "Sheila" will be joining me in June!

We are off to Switzerland for the weekend, hopefully, to tackle a hang gliding experience in the Alps.  (Sorry Pug)  The forecast is showing 25 degrees and 80% chance of snow, so that may not happen.  At least I can count on some cheese fondue for dinner and a beautiful view of the Alps from my warm hotel if it doesn't.

Have a great weekend, and Praise God in all of your circumstances…after all, most of the time we can't change them, we can only control our reaction to them.  I think that's where the phrase "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" comes from :)

Blessings!!

A Travelocity gnome sighting

As I said in my last post, David had the last two days off.  Because of the weather forecast (dismal) we opted to stay near Strasbourg.  Having never been to a public "bath house" before, we decided to give it a try.

First up, research which one would have fully clothed people.  Check.  So we hopped into the car and headed to Baden Baden, Germany.  It was only about a 45 minute drive.

We decided that we would do the 3 hour option.  The nice lady at the desk gave us our little "wristbands" and directed us to the dressing area. We changed clothes and loaded our things into a locker.

No, David is not naked….he's just in his swim trunks.  As we entered the spa area we were faced with many options.  A cold water spa, a hot water spa, a hotter water spa, an outdoor spa, two different saunas, tanning bed room and even a section of chairs that were underneath UV lights.  They also had a snack area (no Marilyn, we didn't get nachos) and a nicer "lounge area".  The only section of the spa that we didn't visit was the Roman sauna….no clothing permitted.  The only "down side" to my experience was that there was no electrical outlets, so I couldn't dry my hair.  We both enjoyed our time and will be happy to take our visitors back if they want to enjoy a spa day.

While walking around the city looking like a damp poodle, we tried to stop for a drink and a small bite to eat.  David was excited to find a Czech restaurant, so we sat down.  We waited about 10 minutes without a server attending to us, so we said FORGET IT and headed out.

White asparagus is in season

Nice view, but lousy service

We toured the Roman bath house ruins and then walked past the no clothing permitted bath house...

No, we didn't venture in.  It started to rain, so we decided to give food another try. It wasn't ideal weather for this German Biere Garden, but it certainly had it's charm.

 I enjoyed an onion soup and David had a bratwurst.  Back to Strasbourg we went.  What a nice day.

Today we had an "errand" to run.  We had to go to the Mairie to renew David's parking pass.  He had been pestering me for several weeks to go by myself and get it done.  I politely refused….my French is not good enough to handle French bureaucracy!  

We took our number

And waited our turn

It turns out I was right!!  Because we pay everything on-line, we didn't have the necessary documents for the parking pass….could we get copies of our electric bill?  How about our telephone?  Is that a separate bill from our cable?  Oh my.  David was fit to be tied.  He was ready to give up and go home, but I suggested we walk to our cable office and try to have them print out our last 3 invoices.  

Well, guess what?  They closed that office!  We turned around and went to the next closest one which was inside our mall.  So, again, we waited in line.

This guy was waiting too…..

The best part of our whole day was that the agent spoke English and not only gave us copies of our bills, but also promised to remedy my inability to use data in other countries….SCORE!

Our next "errand" involved driving to Basel, Switzerland.  You have to have a "vignette" or sticker to pass through.  They cost about $50.  Since we would be driving through with Sarah on a Friday evening, we thought we would take the time to do that today and not be stuck in traffic on a Friday.  After getting our vignette, we headed into the city to have lunch.  We stopped at a cute little cafe along the river and had a delicious lunch.

On our walk back to the car it started to rain….which cut our walk along the river short.  However, I was fascinated to spot this little hut….

Yep, you guessed it.  It is a "men's room" right out on the walking path….no doors.  Does anyone else find this surprising?  I guess it's a better option than just peeing behind a tree (which I see quite a lot of in Europe) but still!!  I mean, c'mon….what about all that time and effort I spent teaching my sons that it was unacceptable to urinate in public??  Maybe they should've been EuroPEAn!

Until next time!  Happy weekend everyone.