Une nouvelle langue est une nouvelle vie.
(A new language is a new life.)

Are we crazy to move to a country where we have to struggle to carry on a simple conversation, ask for directions, or even call for help? Probably. But we did it anyway. We’ve traveled enough to know how to get food ordered, ask where the bathrooms are, or how much something costs, in several languages. We are confident that we’ll be able to manage with our rudimentary French for a long while and happily will continue stumbling over our words and embarrassing ourselves with reckless abandon.

However, care must be taken when jumping into a new language. I recently told a friend what I thought said that I was excited for our French adventure, “Nous sommes très excités pour notre aventure française!” Well, she kindly pointed out that I had basically just told her we were sexually aroused about our French adventure. Oops. We have sooooo much to learn.

Fortunately, most of our language-testing experiences have gone smoother. I managed to communicate with the lady at the flower shop that we live here full-time now, that we bought a house not far from her shop, and that we are renting a house nearby in the short-term. Just that little exchange with her was an effort, but I got through it and left the shop smiling. Success!

We’ve enjoyed a few dinners at the local bar/restaurant and the proprietress, who speaks English quite well, now makes us place our orders in French. She’s very patient with us and so far we’ve managed to get our meals ordered without too much trauma.

And last night we ordered dinner from the mobile pizza oven that shows up on Thursdays. After placing our order, I sputtered out a couple of basic sentences in French to the man. I told him we were from California. He thought for a minute, and said, “Californie…est-ce dans les états-unis?” (Is that in the United States?) It was a good reminder that the world is an awfully big place, and the USA isn’t the center of it all.

By the way, I know you are probably eager to see photos of our house under renovation. Me too. But our builder is on vacation and won’t be able to get started until mid-May. So stay tuned — you can be sure I will be posting lots of photos once things start happening.