La Poste

Today we went to the post office to mail a gift. The hours of the post office are from 9am-12pm, so you have to make sure you get there on time because otherwise you have to wait until the following day. As is everything in our village, the office is tiny. There were about 5 people ahead of us and it was packed!! What I found interesting however, was that every single person that came in after us said hello to the whole line of people that were waiting. I felt bad that we entered like Americans, completely consumed in ourselves and silent. Oh well, I will know next time to tell everyone hello! :)

The first french lesson

On Thursday I went to the American Women's Club in Geneva to have my first beginner French lesson. I was excited but weary, as I wasn't sure what to expect. You don't have to register for the class, there's no start or end date, so it made me wonder how they were going to handle a number of people in different stages of advancement.

Apparently, the don't really have a plan for that. There were two gals in my class who had been taking the class for over a year. The other three of us were pretty new. The instructor had been out for several weeks for surgery and was just back. I think she's about 70 and is from Switzerland. She couldn't tell as we went around the room reading exercises from a book if we were saying "il" or "elle" and kept correcting us, even if we had gotten it right. And, I was sitting right next to her and she told me twice she couldn't hear me.

She couldn't remember what she had taught before her leave, so she started at the beginning of the book. We learned how to change words from masculine to feminine and how to count the primary numbers and say thank you. This was extremely elementary for me, but I can't imagine how the girls that had been taking the class for a year felt? -Yikes!

She also kept getting lost in her train of thought and would tell us about parts of Switzerland (that speak German...not sure of the relevance for a class full of women who are desperate to learn French as quickly as possible?) and about William the Conquerer.

As I was leaving, I walked out with one of the new ladies and she said she wasn't sure if she would be back. This instructor also teaches the Advanced Class! I plan to stick with it though, maybe I will learn a few things and reinforce the others that I already know. And who knows, maybe I will make a friend that speaks English - so it won't matter if I know more about ole William than I do about my new country's language? :)

Cities we have visited and their proximity

The town of Nyon, Switzerland - 30 minutes away by car

The mountains in Nyon, Suisse

The town of Evian (where the water comes from) - 20 minutes away by car

The town of Thonon - 10 minutes by car

Another look at Thonon

At a cafe in Thonon

Geneva, Switzerland (across from Israel's dad's restaurant)

Geneva, Switzerland (across the lake) - 30 minutes away by car

The city of Annecy, France - 1 hour by car

Park in Annecy, France

Annecy Canals

Paris from Eiffel Tower - 8 hours by car, 4 hours by train

Paris, Seine River

Paris, 15th arrondisement

Montmartre, in Paris

Geography 101

Here are a couple of maps to tell you where in the world we are. Many people have been confused that we live in France, but also near Geneva. You can see that the two are neighbors in this first photo. The second one is a closer look at our region. We are located between Evian and Sciez.

Welcome!

As I am just beginning my venture to establish myself and my new family in a new country, with a new language ahead of me to learn, it was suggested to me that a blog might be a great forum to describe to up and coming life and times of The Benyair Trifecta. Welcome to what I am sure will be many funny accounts of how I go about figuring out this new stage of my life!