10th Annual Christmas Carols

Inviting all my Lyonnaise readers to join us for the 10th Annual Christmas Carols in Vieux Lyon this Sunday, November 30. Sing along with us as we kick off the holiday season in style!

After this event is over, I have an early New Year's Resolution: to do more blogging. 

à bientôt!

Apprendre le français!

Everyone agrees that the best way to learn a foreign language is to be immersed in it. Our youngest daughter has that luxury by nature of going to a French public school every weekday; she's definitely progressing faster than the rest of us. Even though we can get by, our ministry is in an English context, so Greg and I find ourselves using our native tongue much more than French. We try to improve our language skills by learning in our spare time.

Sometimes this learning happens on the street, in real-life situations. My favorite phrase when interacting with the French is "J'essaie apprendre le français" -- "I'm trying to learn French." For some reason, this sentence seems to be the key to getting language help. I think it's because it shows humility and a desire to enter their world. Whatever the reason, I usually get special attention when I say this phrase, and I almost always learn something new. For example, the other day we had repair done on our balcony doors. After welcoming the workers, I used the magic sentence, and in a matter of seconds I was getting a vocabulary lesson on construction tools!

Besides these types of daily interactions, I also participate in conversation groups and a language exchange partnership (wherein I help someone with English and she helps me with French). I also use a variety of free language websites. In case some of you are also "d'apprendre le français" I'd like to offer reviews of the tools I've found to be most helpful. And please send me a comment if you have found other great websites!

Coffee Break French - this is an excellent podcast by RadioLingua. In short, 15-20 minute segments, French teacher Mark and his "student" Anna take beginners through the basics of the French language using a thematic, conversational approach. Every 10 lessons, Mark offers a quiz to review the material previously learned. The podcasts are free but extra written materials are available for purchase. I love Mark's teaching style. He mixes grammar and spelling rules in with the lessons, but the focus is becoming comfortable in conversation. He excels at demonstrating how to build on what you already know to be able to succeed even in unfamiliar situations. Some of the more advanced lessons provide realistic "radio-play" conversations that Mark breaks down one sentence at a time, explaining the nuances of the language as he goes. I give this an A+ for explaining "real" French in an entertaining way.

Apprendre le Français avec TV5 Monde  - One of France's TV stations teamed up with French university teachers to create this fun and effective language tool. Learners watch a short clip from a television program, and answer a series of comprehension and grammar questions. There are usually four or five sets of exercises for each clip, which forces you to watch the same clip over and over again. This is not a bad thing; as a matter of fact, I've found that with each subsequent viewing, I understand a little bit more every time. At the end of the lesson I usually watch the clip one final time while reading the transcript provided. The lessons are categorized by level: A1 & A2 for beginners, B1 & B2 for intermediate and advanced. This website gets an A- because while it's fantastic for listening comprehension, it doesn't offer much in the way of explanation.

DuoLingo - A friend told me about this one, and I do use it from time to time but find that it has a lot of problems. On the plus side, it helps you learn to spell French words and introduces new vocabulary. Also, it's game-like approach keeps it fun. However, the sentences they come up with are really stupid. "The small elephant has a red dress." Really? I would never find this to be useful in real life. Another huge problem is the audio. I think they used the google translate voice -- it's very mechanical and hard to understand. In French, correct pronunciation is vital, and this website doesn't help in that area at all. C+.

LiveMocha - This is a social networking website, and it can be a lot of fun. It's necessary to create an account to get started, because the goal is to interact with other language learners around the world. You earn points by providing feedback to English learners, and you redeem your points to "buy" language lessons. Each thematic lesson includes vocabulary, grammar, speaking, writing, and listening. You have the opportunity to record your voice during the speaking lessons and have your submission reviewed by a native French speaker (for enough points, you can even get feedback from a professional French instructor!) I give this a B because the lessons are written by a variety of coaches, and some of the lessons aren't as useful as others. Also, I seem to always get sucked into spending more time reviewing English submissions than working on my French!

So there you have it, a few places to get started on your language adventure. Comment below to suggest additional French resources. Thanks!

My new normal

When our family moved to urban Lyon from suburban North Carolina, everything changed. I usually tell people I come from Charlotte, but due to typical American sprawl, we actually lived in a "small" farming town situated about 25 miles south of the big city. (Small is in quotation marks because the town is so widespread geographically: google tells me its area is about 30 square kilometers. In contrast, Lyon is 48 square kilometers, but has 44 times the population!)

Our former rental home sat on over an acre of woods. In the summertime we couldn't see our nearest neighbors thanks to the thick foliage. Occasionally, the sounds of lawn mowers or barking dogs would disturb the peace, but normally it was quiet.

By contrast, in Lyon we live in an apartment just a few blocks from city center. It's noisy. All the time. But as I've said before in earlier posts, I love my new lifestyle here. It has become my new normal.

It hit me like a ton of bricks the other day as I was walking back from the grocery store, toting my "caddy" behind me and carrying a baguette underneath my arm: "I have a new life." One that I'm actually used to. I don't find it strange anymore to exit the front door and immediately enter a living stream of humanity rushing along the sidewalks. It's no longer foreign to hop on a metro or take out a bike from the "Vélo'V" stands to get from place to place. I'm thankful, SO thankful, that I don't have to get in the car every time I need to run an errand. Everything the city has to offer is literally just outside my door.

I've grown accustomed to the urban noises. Cars, buses, and delivery trucks constantly cruise down our street, but I barely notice the ruckus anymore. Now I'm so used to the French police sirens (which sound like bagpipes to me), when I watch an American action movie I find the high-pitched siren noises strange.

When I need some peace and quiet, I simply head to the park. It's a 15 minute walk, 10 minute jog, or 5 minute bike or bus ride away from our apartment. This enormous and beautiful park has become my surrogate backyard. When I enter its imposing gates, I enter another world. Stress drains away. I commune with nature, and the God who created it. Sometimes I go there to exercise, sometimes I read a book or work a Sudoku puzzle, sometimes I just sit. And breathe. And after a while, I return. I return to the noise, to the chaos, to the energy of urban life.

Usually, I don't even hear it.

A long overdue update

Blogging is like exercising: both are addicting while you're in the rhythm, but once you slack off for a few days it's hard to get started again. Several weeks have passed since my last post, so it's probably best if I work back into it slowly. Perhaps just a snapshot of September events will suffice for today.

La rentrée - School started again for Lindsey on September 3. Although still difficult, things started off much better than last year. She has a good grasp of the basics of both the French language and culture, which helps tremendously. Our high school graduate, Lori, has also been staying busy this month by taking French lessons at a private language school and getting one-on-one art instruction from a friend from church.

Church - The ICCL also had its own rentrée this month, greeting lots of new international families and students from places like India, Japan, Peru, Colombia, England, and Sierra Leone....just to name a few. But we're also sad to be saying goodbye to people returning to their home countries. Such is life at an international church! I'm incredibly thankful to be a part of this dynamic and diverse group of people who are connected by their common faith in Jesus Christ.

Saying "au revoir" to Jennifer and Marcia

Visit from the beau-père - My wonderful father-in-law came for a 2-week visit shortly after school started. We all had a great time showing him around the beautiful city of Lyon, in addition to Geneva and Chamonix in the French Alps. Greg and his Dad journeyed to Normandy by train and visited several WWII beachheads and museums.

La langue française - Improving my French has been one of my focus areas for this month. I'm taking advantage of a couple of free conversation groups and a one-on-one language exchange. Additionally, I'm supplementing my learning with websites such as Live Mocha, DuoLingo, and TV5Monde.

Exercise - Working out is another priority activity for me. I don't go to a gym; I prefer to exercise outdoors or at home on my yoga mat. I stumbled across a great "online trainer" named Sean Vigue, who motivates me with his challenging power yoga, pilates and conditioning workouts. 

And speaking of exercise, to expand on the analogy I used in the beginning of this post, I don't want to pull a brain muscle so I think I'll stop here and pick it back up again another day!

Entering their world....through the TARDIS

My husband and kids freely admit that they are sci-fi nerds. They enjoy watching movies based on superhero comic books, and one of Lindsey's dreams is to attend Comic Con. I'm a nerd in other ways (I enjoy logic puzzles, for example) but I don't get into sci-fi or fantasy fiction. However, to build communication with my teens, I try to "enter their world" from time to time and at least feign interest in the things that they are passionate about. So when they choose a superhero movie for our weekly "pizza/movie" night, I try to stay awake and not roll my eyes too much. Greg shares the nerd gene (I'm sure he's the one that passed it on to the girls), therefore he happily joins them on the couch to watch re-runs of Doctor Who. I admit, I had felt a little left out during conversations centered around Daleks and Regenerations, so I decided to check out this classic TV show for myself.

Before watching my first episode, I got a primer from the girls. In a nutshell, the show is about a "Time Lord" known only as The Doctor, who is able to travel through space and time in a machine called the "TARDIS" (which stands for something, but I can't remember what). The TARDIS looks like a blue police call-box on the outside, but is much bigger once you're inside. Doctor Who has been around on an on-again-off-again schedule since the 1960s, and over time there have been 12 actors who have played The Doctor. Every time a new actor takes over, the Doctor "regenerates" into his new form. He takes human companions (usually beautiful girls) with him on his time-and-space journeys, and together they fight battles against space monsters, solve intergalactic crimes, right injustices, and have fun traveling all over the universe. For those of you who are "non-nerds" like me, sitting through one of these shows probably sounds like hell. Admittedly, some of the episodes are pretty bad. The villains known as Daleks look like they were made with someone's spare kitchen utensils, and they probably were, because I'll bet that the original series had a tiny special-effects budget.

However (this is so hard to admit), I've come to really enjoy many of the modern-era Doctor Who stories. The writing is often brilliant, the actors are witty and likable, and the emotional tugging-at-heartstrings factor is high. If you want to give Doctor Who a try, here are three episodes I recommend:

• Midnight - Doctor #10 (played by David Tennant) gets trapped with strangers in an enclosed vehicle during a sightseeing excursion in this stand-alone episode. The script is tense and tight, and it plays on the universal fear of being stranded. It's a great commentary on interpersonal dynamics during a stressful situation. Fans of Twilight Zone will like this one. 

• Blink - Another David Tennant episode, this is also one that works well as a stand-alone show. Your head will spin trying to figure out the overlapping "timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly" time streams, but it's a lot of fun when the Doctor speaks to complete strangers through a video, reading from a script the listeners created in the future....nevermind. You just have to see it. This episode easily deserves the 9.8 earned on IMDB's viewer ratings due to the way it builds up tension and fear. You'll never look at an angel statue the same way again.

• Vincent and the Doctor - Matt Smith plays the 11th Doctor, and his quirky sense of humor and tender heart makes him my favorite. In this show, the Doctor and his companion, Amy, travel to Arles, France to meet Vincent Van Gogh. This episode is mixed for me. The plot involves a silly monster that is supposed to be scary but looks like a giant chicken. But the sweetness of the friendship formed between Amy, the Doctor, and Vincent is more than enough to make up for it. At one point they're laying in the grass looking at the stars, and you enter into Vincent's imaginative inspiration for Starry Starry Night. At the end, Vincent gets a glimpse of the legacy  he's left behind. Just try to keep a dry eye.

So there you have it, my journey into my kids' world through the TARDIS. I guess I'll have to join the nerd club after all. Comic con, anyone?

Images shamefully ripped from the web. 

Notre petite église

After a month long break, our little church resumed services on August 31. Being an international congregation, we experience a lot of comings and goings as people from different countries move into and out of Lyon. In May, June, and July we shed many tears as we had to say farewell to lots of folks from our church. Thankfully, now it's the season of "hellos" as the beginning of a new school year brings a whole new batch of people.

We didn't know quite what to expect as we reopened the church doors this Sunday. Would everyone still be on vacation? Or too tired from back-to-school shopping to come to church? After we swept away many cobwebs (and the spiders which accompanied them), we waited to see who would show up to worship with us. Our waiting was rewarded. Besides the many familiar smiling faces of the seasoned "regulars," we welcomed:

• A family of 5 from the UK who just moved to Lyon for a short-term job opportunity. Their lovely children included a sweet-natured preschooler with Down's Syndrome, and two shy elementary school aged kids. A game of "Simon Says" in Sunday school broke the ice, helping them to get to know some of the other kids.
• A sharp-dressed university student from Holland who is eager to meet other international students in our "Refuge" university ministry.
• An older lady from Ireland who wanted to go to church while on vacation in Lyon and found our website. After the service she said that Greg's sermon on "working for the Lord" spoke right to her heart, as she's currently dealing with a difficult work situation. 
• A refugee from Sierra Leone whose strong faith is sustaining her while she tries to get assistance and housing from the French social services. Fortunately, we were able to get her connected with two other people from our congregation who have a lot of knowledge in this area.

Sometimes we wonder if our little church is making a difference in Lyon. We long to serve the community, and we see so many needs. The lyrics of a contemporary worship song echo the desires of our hearts: "Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city." But we could tell from the smiling faces on the newcomers as they left our humble building that they were encouraged, refreshed, and renewed. Not because of me, not because of Greg's sermon, not because of the worship music, but simply due to the sweet fellowship of believers gathered together to glorify the name of Jesus Christ. 

Summer breeze

I'm back! Summer is fading fast, and a new season of busy-busy-busy is on the horizon. I'm sad to say goodbye to August -- it was an amazing month of blissful inactivity. For three weeks, we house-sat for friends while they traveled to the U.S. We were less than 30K outside of Lyon but it felt as if we were a million miles away.  The house is nestled in a charming, quiet country village, surrounded by farmland and cornfields. It was so, so quiet.

So what did we do? Not much. We read books by the pool. Lori and I put together a 1000 piece puzzle of the Titanic (actually 992 pieces -- some were missing). We played Rummikub and Catch Phrase. We bundled up in blankets on clear nights and stargazed. Greg and I drank our morning coffee together on the patio each morning. We grilled burgers and eggplant and roasted marshmallows for S'mores. We exercised (Sean Vigue pilates & yoga for me, hard core P90X for Greg). We prayed together. We snuggled on the couch and watched movies. We laughed -- a lot. It was a glorious "reset."

Now we're back in our city apartment, and instead of waking to the soft sounds of birds, we awake to honking horns and sirens. I like and appreciate both lifestyles. I love the energy and "buzz" of a city, the easy access to shopping and amenities, but it's so necessary to escape at times to the peace and tranquility of the countryside. It gives the mind room to think and the soul room to breathe.

I'm refreshed, and ready to tackle "la rentrée" once again.

Too chilly to actually swim very much, but so nice to relax by the pool.

The perfect patio for outdoor living

Our "neighbors," the cornstalks

More neighbors (actual human beings lived here in addition to veggie gardens)