Atherton Family Notes

[Editor's Note: To understand this post, you need to understand that prior to this incident, we had our phone service cut off for two weeks. The bill for the service was being sent directly to Thomson, and they were delaying payment, just due to normal business processes. France Telecom didn't see it this way and shut off the service when they didn't get their money.]

I was able to get on the internet in the morning and do my daily rounds on the internet. When I had finished, I went on with my other daily tasks of getting myself and the kids dressed.

Around 12:30 I tried to log on and I could not get the internet. I waited thinking something was wrong and figured Ken would be home for lunch, so he could fix it. When he did not show, I thought I would call him but… the phone line was DEAD!!!! AGAIN!!!! I was SO TICKED OFF! I hated France and was ready to call it quits, pack up and go home. I was not about to wait another 2 weeks to get it turned back on and what’s more… could not figure out why it was turned off since we are now paying the bill. I unplugged the phone lines and put them back in. I tried everything I could think of. I spent the rest of the day and most of the evening trying to entertain myself without the computer and internet.
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When Ken came home I asked how many times we were going to get our phone cut off. The shear shock in his face said it all.

We asked our neighbors for help calling the phone service and they thought to try calling our number first. It rang busy. What the (bleep)!!!! So we unplugged the lines again and nothing!

Finally, I put ONE stupid cordless phone back on the charger and low and behold….. dial tone. Apparently, if the cordless phones are off their chargers for long periods of time, they cut off the phone lines.

OOOOPPPPSSS!!! Yeah, I admit.. … we’re stupid!

I had flash backs to our dryer in Germany. I had called on the neighbors to help me figure out why all of a sudden my dryer would not stay on for more than 5 minutes before shutting off. It did not take him but 2 seconds to figure out the problem. Seems that it iscommon knowledge that there are 2 lint traps on every dyer, one obvious and one hidden. As I did not have the book of “common knowledge rules”, I had never cleaned that hidden trap. Pulling the 5 inch pile of lint out fixed the problem.

Both in Germany and here yesterday, I am thankful my embarrassment and stupidity is limited to our neighbors and not the butt of office jokes atthe technical help centers. At this moment, I would pay any price to have a book ofcommon knowledge rules for every country. Who knows, maybe I have found an idea to make my millions!

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From the “They-Name-Things-For-My-Amusement” Department:

I saw this beer in a grocery ad , and I just had to try it:

For those of you not immediately amused by this carton, note that in French, the letter combination ”ch” is always pronounced like the English combination “sh” .

And if that isn’t funny enough, most of my French colleagues agree that the second syllable is accented . So in fact, this is sh’TEE beer. How could I not try it?

It’s even more funny for me, as I heard the human resources manager use the exect same word, including the accent, to describe the contract Thomson has with the unions in Rennes. That’s right, Thomson has a sh’TEE union contract. It seems that non-native English speaking Europeans have a special affection for this word.

As for the beer, it doesn’t taste nearly so bad as its name would suggest.  :)

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The next few months will be a bizarre combination of busy and lazy that brings me to near paralysis. There is so much to do and with time flying by at an alarming speed, I worry about getting everything done. What’s my response?

Procrastinate!

Brilliant, isn’t it? There are vacations to plan, hotels to book, guests to prepare for, French to study, and a quilt to stitch, which at this rate will take me 3 years to finish. With the amount of time I have on my hands, I could have finished all those things and then some. Maybe I could have even finished a toothpick replica of the Eiffel Tower. (Hmm…. There’s a craft idea to look into) However, other things keep pulling me away. (OK, I go willingly.)

We have recently had two families working their way to an expat life here in Rennes. We have talked with both families on several occasions helping them with the preparations of their move. I am totally amazed bytheir excitement.

Beyond the headache and rush of the move, they only talk of the traveling and the life that they imagine they will lead. The daily trips to the bakery, always wanting to learn a second language, and the quaint little towns are the only things on their minds. On one hand, I remember that feeling, and on the other hand, I know the harsh reality. Ah, the expat cycle of love and hate. When someone first arrives, they are idealistic. Within a few weeks, reality sets in, they “hit the wall”, and become depressed. Common thoughts running through their minds are: “What have I done? Do I really have to live like this? How long do I have to be here? How am I going to eat this nasty food?”

The first 6 months are brutal getting adjusted. Living in a compact European city where you do not speak the language is hard. (Umm, DUH!) The next year is a blur and once a week you take time to count the days until you return home. Sometimes you find it hard not to complain about everything and become openly bitter. You dream about the things you will eat and do when you return home and how unbelievably easy everything will be. True or not, pure survival instinct tells you that you must believe this. As a defense mechanism, you block out the fact that you have become used to a lifestyle that you will not be able to have when you return home. Nowhere in America can you get6 weeks of paid vacation and several different countries within a days drive.

Unless they have lived it, people think living as an expat is a continuous cycle of thrills and excitement. Your life is pictured as non-stop travel. Nowhere in that image is the true reality pictured. Cleaning, household shopping, studying, surviving, coping, and adjusting are the real truths. I once read a quote from a fellow expat that said “I am glad I did it, and I will never do it again.” I think that sums it up pretty clearly.

So, this leads me to a quandary. In the name of saving those families from an earth shattering fall, to keep them from “hitting the wall”, do I destroy their honeymoon phase? Do I tell them all the bad news, all the frustrations they will encounter, and about the feelings of just wanting to go back home? Or, is it such that no matter how much I try to prepare them, they will “hit the wall” anyway? Is everyone entitled to that unrealistic honeymoon phase? And what’s more, is it essential to help soften the blow of the wall?

I have chosen to take a middle ground. I plan to warn them of the major obstacles, give them a list of the “must have” items from America, and keep a very close eye on the approach of that wall. Maybe I can be there to help pick themselves back up and get on their feet again. It seems like the right thing todo.

In the meantime, I will continue to procrastinate on my list of things to do, and enjoy helping them get ready for their new life abroad. After all, I have the next 592 days here in France to do the quilting and studying. Hopefully soon, I will have good company and wonderful conversation to do them by.

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We went sight seeing today and took some shots of the kids. They had a great time playing in the water and I had fun with the pictures. The town is on the Treauray river, near the coast of Brittany, about an hour away from us. It was a wonderful quaint resort town. The hydrangea bushes are everywhere here in France and I love all the different colors you can get. I can’t wait to get home and plant yard full of them!

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The bad news about Brittany is that it rains. A lot. There’s statistically a 55% chance that it is going to rain on any given day of the year. In the winter the odds are higher, in the summer the odds are lower, but even now it still can really interfere with our weekend exploring.

Last Sunday, we were bored and decided to go out anyway.

We visited a nearby town called Vitre. It has a lot of medieval achitecture, including a very complex city wall, a large
portion of which still stands.

Unfortunately, almost from the time we opened the car door after arriving, it began to rain. It was a light rain at first, but within 45 minutes, it was developing into a downpour. So we didn’t get to see as much ofthe town as we hoped. We’ll probably go back sometime when the weather is better.

We did get some interesting photos, though, even in the short time we were there.

A view along part of the pedestrian area in Vitre.

A view of one of the, shall we say, less well-maintained areas of the city wall. There is a sign along this part of the wall warning people not to climb it. I wonder why? They just don’t make 15th century wooden structures like they used to.

I had trouble making a single picture that could capture all of this church– I couldn’t get very far away from it with out introducing major obstacles, so I built a vertical panorama. This church is representative of one the major styles we have seen in this area. By the way, flowers like the ones in the foreground can be seen throughout the city in public areas, which contributes to the town’s charm.

To be perfectly honest, even though Sandi and I weren’t enjoying the rainy weather, the kids probably had as much fun on this trip as they have had on any other that we have taken in a while. Sadie has discovered it’s fun to carry an umbrella, just like her sisters.

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In the name of keeping myself busy (OK, you got me. The Internet was down and I was VERY bored) I decided to get to work on our guest room. With Ken’s parents arriving the first part of October, something had to be done soon.

Here are the facts:
A: The guestroom will see only a very limited amount of visitors.
B: We have NO MONEY due to the fact that we have not been getting paid here. All our money was being paid in the states and our bank account here has dwindled to down right “po”!!
C: The room needed a bit more life in it than just an air mattress and a plastic table for a night stand.
D: I had a basement full of cardboard boxes that I had absolutely no idea how to get rid of.

Do you see where this is going yet?

Yep, you guessed it. I got down right creative. With a few supplies from Office Depot ( yeah, we have one of those here) and a week’s worth of energy I created a bedroom. I started with the bed and moved onto the nightstands. After completing those, I dug out my old fabric that covered our couch in Germany and cut out pillows, duvet covers, and curtains. I began HAND SEWING them together. Whatever made me think I could live 4 years without a sewing machine? After an entire afternoon, half of one duvet cover, and 3 bloody, numb fingers later, I gave up and ran to the neighbors begging for a sewing machine.

Imagine my joy when my neighbor across the street said she thought she had one in the basement but it had not been (and I quote) ” fired up in a century.” I thought she was joking and was excited to take the dusty wooden box she retrieved from the basement home. Now, imagine my shear excitement and fear when discovering she had meant what she said earlier. The machine was from the 1920′s and was a hand crank sewing machine. I was so excited to be using an antique and the musty smell of the old user’s guide was heaven to my nose. On the other hand, this had to be a family heirloom and what if I broke it? I thought of returning it and changed my mind when faced with the alternative of hand sewing again. (Took me all of 30 seconds to wage that battle of my senses)

I cleaned it up a bit, oiled various parts, and began cautiously sewing. The machine was a dream! It was in perfect working order.

I spent the next 2 days working on the machine and sewing everything I needed to complete my guestroom, I
returned the sewing rnachine in better shape than it was given to me so I felt good. I also learned that it was not a family treasure, but that it belonged to a friend who had left it there 12 years ago. I threw the idea out that I would love to buy it. We shall see what comes of that.

Back to my room. I know you are either sitting on the edge of your chair wondering what a person could possibly do with all this or just looking forward to a good laugh. I will not keep you in suspense much longer (assuming you are not one of those people who sneaks peaks at Christmas gifts and have not already scrolled down to see the pictures) but I wanted to give you the lowdown. This room was completed on 36 Euro plus change and I have a wide array of office supplies still left. I did not count the fabric into the budget
because its former life was our couch cover. I had to work around a lot of stains and holes to make this possible.

So, here are the results:

And just so you know, I do not make cheap, useless cardboard furniture! The night stand even holds up Sadie without buckling!

No room is complete without framed artwork on the walls! Thankfully, Carissa had just received a new box of crayons in the mail from Nana. (thanks mom!)

So, the plastic table has made it’s way up to our bedroom where I am sure it will live a long life in that spot. I have enough cardboard left to wall paper my bedroom or the guest bathroom if I get bored in the near future.

But somehow, I think having two cardboard bedrooms crosses the line of creative and just becomes tacky.

Then again, as sad as it is, curently this room is nicer looking than mine, so maybe I will just sleep in here.

In the meantime, I have found my calling and will be working on many more cardboard designs to sell at rock bottom prices. Start saving your pennies (that’s all it will take) for your favorite design and send that “domestic goddess’ crown to me here in France.

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