The Proverbial Twiggy - Beached Whale Comparison

Well, folks...I must admit that I have been doing a poor job keeping you all updated on the happenings here in France. I must say, however, that the last two weeks or so here have been generally unpleasant, stressful and towards the depressing side of the scale. There were a few bright spots here and there, but this is to be expected I supposed as the adrenaline and newness of the situation has worn off. So I guess you can say that I'm in one of the varying stages of culture shock. Its been somewhat magnified recently as as I moved into my new appartment and...the heat doesn't work properly, I have no furnishings, no bed, no table, a couple borrowed pots and pans, OH, and did I mention no internet or phone. The later probably being the most difficult to deal with as I can't communicate with any friends and family. But alas, this time too will pass and there's always hope of a better tomorrow. I often use those rosy little lines and in doing so annoy my pesimistic counterparts, but sometimes the hope of a normal life with new friends and a comfortable home is enough to make the challanges a bit more bearable.

Ok, to some of the more positive happenings around here. I went to a co-worker's house and had an absolutely wonderful French meal. Now when I say French meal I mean the 4-5 course works that is usually no shorter than 4-5 hours. Another great plus was that my French was in rare form that evening - possibly a product of the anxiety reducing grape beverage - but nonetheless it goes to show that the French language is inside me. I just need to relax a bit more at work and on the phone. But it was a wonderful evening starting around 7 and lasting into the early hours of the morning. There was another couple there from Portugal that immigrated here a number of years ago. It was great to be able to talk to them about life in a different part of the world. She also had a practically perfect French accent after a few years here. There is hope that I may eventually sound local.

Also, after many attempted phone calls, I got ahold of the president of the Compiègne cycling club. And in fact, they had the first meeting of the year on Saturday. So I tagged along to check out the racing scene. Unfortunately, I found myself in a typical French meeting. This thing took the good part three hours or more! They brought in the mayor to talk about who knows what, along with other "important" political figures. Its a bike meeting for crying out loud! Show us what the jerseys look like for the season, who won what last year, and how much it costs! It could have taken 45 minutes but like all things French, it didn't.... They also were amazed they had a "true" American in their presence and asked me to stand up and say a few things to the 70 or so people assembled. I tried to duck out of it, but they were having none of that. They also kept saying somethinng about me being in the Lance Armstrong mold...oh no!... I'm sure I'll disappoint the American cycling image, but at least I'm clean...haha. So apparently, training begins in two weeks! I don't even have any of my gear here. It should arrive by boat in the Netherlands on the 5th of December and then take 3-4 weeks to make it to my place. (Insert frustrated sigh here...) But a few people from the club have offered to let me borrow some items until that time. There's some very friendly folks here once you get past that initial barrier.

Oh by the way, my form is terrible right now. Thus the training has begun in earnest. I rode a few hill climbs yesterday in freezing rain and snow. It was probably the most miserable ride of my life - oh and the weather was bad too :) Oh how I hate climbing! I'm not exactly your chicken-legged montain goat. My climbing skills on the bike are more apt to be compared to a the strainings of a beached whale than the two-wheeled grace of a masculine Twiggy reincarnation.

Well, it is time for me to get back to my interpretations of what I think my boss is telling me to do. Until the next...

J

Meet Zac and Wes

Today was a national holiday here in France. The signing of the Armistice for World War I actually took place in Compiègne. So it was kinda cool to have the site of the national holiday take place nearby. But to enjoy my day off, I hung out at the McAuley's house and played baseball with their two boys in the park nearby. I kinda felt like Uncle Mike most of the day when he used to hang out with me when I was younger. Check out the video clip above. In a funny way, Zac is like a miniture version of me: baseball, cycling, guitar, the book "How Things Work", and just like me he has to have all the right sporting equipment...I tell his parents to beware...haha

*Now to the mothers out there: Don't get too concerned about the stick fight. I was keeping things under control despite what may appear in the video...They felt they had to show off bit for the camera and I quickly shut it down...I can hear you saying "yeah right!" sarcastically.

I ended the day by cooking myself a nice meal. I finally got my favorite spices purchased today and now feel like I can get creative with my two stove tops and microwave oven (they have this one called Quatre Epices and has like ginger and cinnimon in it - I don't know if they have it in the US - but its wonderful). But it'll be nice to move into my new appartment (I just signed the lease!) as it has a full kitchen and is mostly equipped already. Unfortunately, I found out that my shippment of personal items will not arrive for about another month and half! What is up with that?!? So the McAuleys are letting me borrow an air mattress and other household items until he rest of my goods arrive. They have been such a great help here. God bless them! If you want to check out their ministry here in Compiègne, check out http://www.mcauleysinfrance.com/ and you can even support them on the website if you feel so led.

Video of my new place on the way!

Cheers

A View from the Handlebars

Bonjour à tous! Well, I had this great idea as I was riding my bike on Sunday afternoon. I thought I should take some video as I was riding to Pierrfonds to see the huge chateau. So I was all excited to post the video on my blog for all of you as the commentary and video went quite well while riding. I forgot, however, to factor in the wind noise. Thus, you can't really hear anything that I am saying. So to preface the video, I am riding on a Sunday afternoon to visit a local fortress castle. The forest is beautiful this time of year and so my bike ride included about 26 miles of paved paths through the Compiègne forest. So, wind noise aside, jump on my bike pegs for a brief ride through the forest in Franceland!

Video 2 is the arrival into Pierrfonds with the chateau. Once again, sorry about the wind noise. I'll see what I can do to arrange for better audio next time. Anyways, Cheers from France!

Claustrophobic Duchesses and Other Interesting Things...

No animals were harmed in its filming...

Shaken, Not Stirred

Imagine this scenario :

You’re taking your time in the bathroom this morning because you were out too late with your friends last night, when suddenly you realize that that super important meeting with all the company directors starts at 8:30 and not 9:00. Suddenly the morning pace picks up a bit – or a lot… You scramble for clothes hoping no one notices that you are wearing grey socks with a brown outfit because you didn’t realize last night that “jetton” referred to a washing machine token and not normal Euro coins. Knot your Christian Dior tie around your neck and you’re out the door. You’re not exactly sure of the local traffic laws but you push what you think are the limits in your 65 horsepower roller skate-sized car as you drive to work, fighting traffic the whole way. You can’t find where the meeting room is and by the time you do, you are 7 minutes late with all the department heads waiting for you and your boss who doesn’t show up till 9:00 because he forgot as well. Now the real test comes. The meeting that you are sitting in, trying to fake professionalism as best you can, lasts not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 hours - with no breaks. That life-giving café you drink all day – everyday - is unavailable. Oh, and the best part…4 hours without a peep of English.

The name is Skyrm. James Skyrm. Welcome to October 24th…

Recently Seen on the Compiègne Marlins Baseball Homepage

http://www.cbbc.fr/index.php?news=138

Fin de saison 2008
Pour conclure la saison outdoor 2008, les Marlins 2 ont reçu les Webs de Noisy-le-Grand ce samedi 18 octobre.Ils s'imposent 11-7 en 7 manches. Du côté des lanceurs compiègnois, on a pu voir A. Couillet (3manches), R. Plusch (2 manches) et S. Ferry (2 manches).Les Webs avaient pris l'avantage mais pour peu de temps. Les Compiègnois marquent rapidement 3 points pour reprendre la tête et ne plus la lâcher.On a pu voir aussi les débuts de T. Mega, qui fait son 1er RBI, et J. Guiar.L'équipe était renforcé par J. Skrym, un américain récemment installé à Compiègne.Une coupe a été remise à l'équipe de Compiègne par les Webs. Ce trophée sera remis en jeu à chaque rencontre des 2 équipes.Merci aussi à JF. Labouze pour avoir arbitré cette rencontre.

Translation:

End of 2008 Season

To conclude the 2008 outdoor season, the Marlins 2 hosted the Webs of Noisy-le-Grand on Saturday 18 October. The score was 11-7 through 7 innings as Compiégne's pitchers were able to seal the deal. Couillet (pitched 3 innings ), R. Plüsch (2 innings) and S. Ferry (2 innings). The Webs had the advantage, but only for a short time. Compiégne quickly put up 3 points to take the lead and never looked back. The game also saw the beginnings of T. Mega, who made his 1st RBI, and J. Guiar. The team was strengthened by J. Skrym, an American who recently moved to Compiègne. A cup was awarded to Compiegne by the Webs. This trophy will be held by the Marlins untill the next match between these two teams when its ownership will again be decided . Also thank you to JF. Labouze who organized this meeting.

*Note: I didn't make it into the picture. It is from earlier in the year

Lack of Pixels

My camera seems to have died. Thus why you haven't seen any pictures of me recently. With these prices over here, it may be a bit till I buckle down and purchase one again. In case you were wondering...

Compiègne Sporting News

On the sporting side of things. I had my first match with the Compiègne Marlins baseball team on Saturday. This was with their B team and I was pretty impressed at how they so quickly they made accomidations for me. After arriving and talking briefly with the players they moved their regular shortstop around so that I could play. A little embarrased at first, I soon found out why. I would say that the skill level of the team we played against was comparable to a pretty bad JV high school team. We are a bit better. But as you can probably imagine, it didn't take too much to really shine. The look on peoples faces when I would make a play, mostly routine in my opinion, was of awe. I don't want to give myself too much credit, but it was fun. We even won a trophy for our efforts. I still haven't quite made the throwing adjustment from slowpitch softball back to baseball after being away for two years. They probably weren't too impressed with my arm accuracy - I know I wasn't. But from what I hear it sounds like the jump up to the next level (team A) is a huge one. I'm not sure I can quite play at that level. Let's just say that the infield is primarily made up of Cubans refugees. I used to dream of being as smooth as a Latino middle infielder. I think there's something in the water down there in Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Maybe that's why we were forbidden to drink it when I played in the DR! I smell conspiracy...

I also went to watch my newfound Rugby friends play today. What a fun time! The fans get way into the games similar to how they support football (soccer just sounds funny now) with the cheering and taunting. I'm begining to understand it a bit more which makes the games much more interesting too. It made me smile today too, every time the scrum made its way to the near side of the field toward the bleachers. Suddenly, the smell of sportscream and bengay would waft over the stands. Those guys are crazy! It sometimes looks like a serious match of Smear the Queer (what we used to call it but now probably politically incorrect) with huge guys in short shorts.

I also found out that there are a number English speaking people in the area. They primarily congretgate at such events. So I hunted down the English cheers from the stands and made some more friends - mainly Welsh this time. The Anglophones are almost always so excited to find each other that you have instant friends when you do. In doing so I found out that there is supposably a large American contingent in a town nearby. I'll have to check it out.

Salut mes amis!

Cultural Integration

I'm sorry to say that I finally said it. Without thinking, I uttered the 4 words my friends in the US were hoping I would never say. While around town I suddenly had a chill and stated, "I need a scarf!" I know, I know...I can currently hear the groans coming from State College, Oak Creek, and Erie. Gillespie, I think you want one too. Haha...no man purse (murse) as of yet. I haven't sunk to that level - but I don't make any promises.

In other news, I set my alarm incorrectly again for church. So I walked into church like 45 minutes late. But like many things French, they started about 15 mintues late. It just takes awhile for everyone to get their handshakes and kisses in before things get rolling. And once again, I continue to chuckle at the cultural differences. The church I go to is associated with the Baptist demomination. Although the concept of a denomination doesn't really hold much weight here. You're just Protestant - which I think is pretty cool. But either way, by name, our church is a Baptist one. And proving that there are some similarites the world over, we had a potluck after the service (I think they were given the gift of food fellowship...haha). But what made me chuckle, was that at the potluck, the churchgoers had their choice of alcholic cider, wine, or coca cola. I can't remember those options at First Baptist. Church was a good time. I met some people my age. Hopefully I can get plugged in a bit more.

I determined that my internet connection is too slow to make any Skype phone calls. I tried for about an hour and a half last night with my family and the upload speeds just aren't there on my end. I ended up typing my responses back to them while I could here them on the phone....I know...weird

Thanks again for all your support! It makes a difference.

Love,

J

The Friendly Bruisers

Well, I didn't have a whole lot to do last night. So instead of watching Gilmore Girls like the night before (I know now...) I decided to check out the the rugby game at the local Irish pub as they have more than the 5 channels I have in my appartment. I could quickly tell one of the guys working there was not from around there. My guess was that he spoke English really well. So I surprised him with an English comment and he gladly struck up a conversation. Ben is an Australian guy that is here playing rugby (and actually making some money doing it), working, and just getting some international experience. His French is not good but he introduced me to a group of guys at another table that were all French and play rugby as well. I must say that the rugby stereotype definately held true in this situation. The guys were great and they quickly introduced me to a bunch of people and showed me a time with the Compiègnoise (locals) and some university students nearby. The problem is, (Unlce Mike, you're going to love this...) they want me to join the rugby club with them! Haha...I don't even know all the rules - only enough to watch a game on TV and impress my other American friends. Should I add that two of the guys that I met last night were on crutches - OF COURSE unrelated to the sport...ahem...wink wink... But anyways, it provided me a good opportunity to get to know some people in the community - especially my age - even though their idea of a good time is a bit different than mine. It can get kinda lonely without friends...
Oh yeah...tommorrow is my first shot with the Compiègne Marlins baseball club. I'm playing in a friendly match with B team. Hopefully, I can shake off two years worth of rust quickly. I'm really looking forward to it!