The French Pace

I finally settle into the slow pace of shuffle-hopping down the hall after only a day with crutches. It seems to go with the territory - everything in France is just a bit slower, more laid-back, less hurry-scurry than Vancouver. The store line-ups that don't move, the drivers that daydream at a light, dining on escargot à la escargot. C'est la vie. Whatever will happen will happen when it will happen.

And now that I'm settled into the snail's-pace - our team project is ramping up ...


We raced through another TP meeting this morning in record time.

We flew through initial research for our Delivery System Group.

We rocketed through an outline to meet the report editor's deadline.

But we still weren't as fast as the French train system.

Click pic for "live" footage.

It's bound to happen ... C'est mathématique!

Reporting live from the trenches, your wounded-in-action reporter,

Renee

The Darwin Award for Multi-tasking

Excellent weekend to start with - nobody worked a full day Friday and half the class played hooky to go on a road trip to Prague. KJ twisted my arm to meet Ziggy and girlfriend at the Cine-star where we saw "Namesake," a Bengali-American film with depth and brilliance. (I was so laid-back about leaving the boat that I just about nailed a duck on the way - heavy foreshadowing here.) I couldn't tell you what I did Saturday, but whatever it was didn't start before noon. After laundry and a little shopping spree in the gourmet section of Monoprix, I rolled by C&B's apartement for a 6-hour Pride and Prejudice marathon, which is worth it for so much more than any literary sense.

So you've probably been waiting on tenderhooks for my progress in French lessons: I just found a new context for the word "noeud" (knot) - "je suis en un noeud avec mon vélo" - a handy phrase when you need to explain why you can't get off the road. I learned beaucoup de nouveaux mots today, including: soutures, radio (x-ray), and fracture, which look marvelously like the English but sound completely posh when spoken in French. Also "Ne bougez pas" (don't move!).

I am loathe to admit the following, so it will be largely en français, which the impatient may translate online.

I'm up to complete sentences that prove very useful in an emergency like: "Monsieur, merçi mais je ne peut pas marcher." oh and when asked "Comment avez-vous tombé avec votre vélo, madame?" with my newly acquired fluency, I could respond confidently "J'ais essayé de faire un message avec mon mobile le même temps que j'etais allé sur mon vélo." At which point they stopped addressing me as "madame." And "Est-ce que vous êtes Canadienne?" "Mais oui, monsieur, mais toutes les canadiens ne sont pas si stupide."


Luckily today was "Foot Day" at the Clinique St. Odile - I was one of 4 consecutive foot injuries in the emergency room, and the guy following me (who was also the only one speaking any English since the accident, or maybe I hit my head harder than I thought) was kind enough to drive me to campus since it was his left foot he sprained.

So here I sit, nursing my broken foot, stitched head and other aches and pains and doing what I finally planned for the day: updating my blog. You will be happy to know that I am taking my plans more seriously from now on and less likely to make a mad dash to catch the train for Baden-Baden next time someone suggests going for a relaxing day at a spa.

whups - just spilled water all over the computer... excuse me while I electrocute myself. Sorry, just a sec while I clean that up ...

Have a nice day, or as the French say, "Poisson d'Avril!" - Renee, candidate for the Darwin Award