Sunday, September 21, 2008

Samuel - Les Hiboux D'Aubagne





On the first week of September we drove to Aubagne to see if I could play hockey with Les Hiboux D'Aubagne. The first thing I realized is that the Aubagne Arena is located in beautiful surroundings. The picture above is the view right outside the "patinoire." Once we got there, we met the people in charge of the league and they were all very nice. The President of the Aubagne Hockey Association played all over France and even played in Quebec with l'Universite de Laval. Even though I can only play until I leave on December 1st, everyone welcomed me to their team.



It was very nice to put on the goalie equipment once again. It felt great. Once I got on the ice, I realized that my teammates were good. In fact, it turned out that they are actually very good skaters and skilled hockey players.



There is another goalie on the team, his name is Leonardo. We also have a goalie coach. He is teaching me how to stay up more and how to cover the puck without going down. There aren't many differences between Skelly and my goalie coach here except that Skelly tells me to go all out and my goalie coach wants me to stay back a bit.






I will be the goalie for the team in my age group as well as for the older team. I am going to play six or seven games with the teams before I go back to Canada. Our first game is on September 28th in Nice.

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Gabrielle - Vivian

For two weeks including my birthday Vivian was in France to visit us. We arranged the trip for her and everything. When we picked her up at the airport in Marignane I was so excited to see her. I had been counting down the days until she came. When I finally saw Vivian in the flesh it seemed unreal.

Once we were at the house we showed Vivian everything.I didn't let go of her in case she was going to leave. She saw how Sophie had grown. Something that no one was expecting happened. Sophie remembered Vivian! It took 5 minutes max. Vivian surprised us then with a box of Canadian goodies when she arrived. Starbucks coffee, Goldfish, Movies, Lipton noodle soup, sports cards for Samuel,sticker books for Sophie, and Kraft Dinner. I want to thank Vivian again for all of the treats and let her know that we haven't finished them yet. We are using them sparingly. She gave us Canadian food so we made Vivian try Baguette and all the french breads that we like. We went to many new towns and places we like with her too.

One of the places was Nimes. It is a regular place except it has a huge, old Roman Amphitheater. We took an Audioguided tour of it. I found the whole thing amazing. When we finished the tour we were looking for a place to eat because it was 2:30 in the afternoon and we found a SUBWAY sandwich shop. We ate with joy. I found it so good to have a sub again.

Nimes wasn't the only place we went to. We took Vivian to Aix en Provence and Salon too. No one could forget Paris. That was something to remember.

When we took Vivian to Paris it was remarkable. We saw the Louvre, the gardens, Notre Dame, L'Arc de Triomphe, and the river Seine. I was so happy to have Vivian there to experience it with me. It was perfect. I loved it. I am sure she had a great time and thank her for coming. I had an amazing time from staying up and watching Herbie Fully Loaded to the Eiffel Tower.

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Friday, September 5, 2008

Andre - L'Ecole de Surville




It was with excitement and trepidation that we experienced La Rentree. This was no ordinary "Back to School Day" - it was Gabrielle and Samuel's first day of school in France. This is not our usual neighborhood school - it is a school in the south of France where every kid speaks French, every teacher speaks French and where everything is done in French. Undaunted, my two courageous little kids walked down the street to meet the challenge.


We met their respective teachers - Gabrielle's teacher is a very nice lady while Samuel has two teachers, one of whom is the directrice of the school. We quickly learned a few things about school in France. First, some kids get kissed on the cheeks by their teachers to welcome them. I think Samuel got kissed twice that morning. I had to duck at least once... Second, kids get two full hours for lunch. Third, there is no school on Wednesdays. Fourth, Gabrielle and Samuel can look forward to a 2-week break at the end of October. Fifth, looks like teachers throw chalk at unruly kids in class. And there are lots of holidays, some expected and some not.


The first week was a good example of what can happen. It went really well for my kids; Monday was a holiday; Tuesday was the first day; Wednesday was off; Thursday there was no school because four kids vandalized the premisses the night before; and Friday was a full day. In all, only two days of school in the first week - Not a bad start.


It took a lot of courage for Gabrielle and Samuel to walk in a new school, let alone one in a new country and in a different language. But Gabrielle and Samuel did it. I think they realized they know more French than they think and that it is now a matter of using those skills. This will no doubt be the highlight of my trip. I am very proud of them.













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