Here I am doing exactly what I said I would do, living in an
ancient culture with all of its inherent strengths and weaknesses exposing all
of mine, and moving from day to day thinking experiencing, eating
wondering...............I said that I wanted to see what I would think and do
when I had the mental space to think and do ANYTHING, and here I am, uh-oh ~ was it Confucius who said "Be careful what you wish
for" (because you might get it)? No this isn't our house! It's the Jagu Roche Museum in the Northern part of Brittany, gorgeous!
There really isn't a major down side to what we did, other than the fact that we can't just go back to our old lives and pick up just where we left off, as Pierre sometimes says "you can never be what you were," in fact it seems like it would be like moving cultures again and making a huge life change again, or would it? One can never know these things until one does them, and all I know is that having moved 6000 miles East will inform any other big changes we make in the future, but each experience will still be totally different! Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball, but here, with the "Welcome" and "Expert" tents combined I know I will be fine!
It's funny that the French never say "C'est la
vie," but often say "La
vie est comme ça." You might be
wondering what the difference is: the first one has that cute Doris Day che
sera sera sort of upturn at the end of the sentence, and the the second one has
more of a gallic shrug and downturn at the end. C'est la vie tra la la is the American take on it, and La
vie est comme ça has a bit more of the quality of resignation.
Why did I get off on that tangent? Oh, I know, I got my wish now what to do with it? I guess time will tell (tra la
la). Now that the learning curves
have gotten shallower, and I can get around well in French most of the time --
except when I am particularly tired or have had a day of lots of listening
intently to and speaking French -- and we have things to do, friends,
occasional events, outings, and we know where to get everything and what to
make for dinner, normal life begins.
My brain has almost lost the frequent little buzzer that goes off as a warning that something unexpected and tricky is about to happen. It used to buzz frequently, each time I had to do a little reality checkup and regain my footing, now it happens much less. This is the internal barometer that tells me that I am actually aclimated to our new life here. Naturally this is just in time for us to go back to LA for a month, which is exciting and a bit scary too. I am anticipating a bit of a culture (and weather) shock, then relaxing into the familiar, enjoying the things and friends and familiarity I have missed, then leaving again!
If you are reading this and you know me, what do you imagine me doing? What have you always thought I SHOULD do? Spill!
Lisa, great to see you here, thanks for coming! The great thing about my experience here is that I can constantly observe the cultural differences without feeling too impinged on by them, thus is the position of the expat I guess. For P it is so different, as he feels like he should be identifying with "his" people and doesn't always, he is so American. I am more of the Doris Day character here for sure, don't you worry! Thanks for the reminder that Living Life is a great job! Xxx
Posted by: Qwendy | March 21, 2013 at 02:32 AM
G, I remember that story, so glad you put it to paper! It's must be awfully hard to write about personal experiences of political and economic turbulence, but it is all about the point of view, isn't it? I have just begun to think about writing this way, I am such a total novice, probably don't have the focus to really work things out, but you do! I am just about to do a post about the books we have been reading, you will be interested in Pierre's choices! Xxx
Posted by: Qwendy | March 21, 2013 at 02:25 AM
Hahaha, sorry, certainly didn't mean to lame you!
I recently finished writing a semi-autobiographical novel about when my parents and us three sisters were squatters in London in 1975-76, started on one about 1986, when Palme was assassinated and I went to London to write a paper on artist collectives in the ruins of Thatcherism and new age, but it felt so heavy and emotionally turbulent that I moved on to another project that's still rather nebulous. Should be working on it now, but it's like a niggling pain.
We've had a nice few days, with bright sunshine that melts the ice even though it's below zero. Last night the new moon made a road of light across the icy lake outside our window. But spring is moving on all too slowly for my liking. Yes, perhaps we could come and mind your house next winter! And if you have any plans of coming this way, well, you know!
Now off to yoga - very good for creative focus, I've noticed.
xxx
Posted by: Gabriella | March 18, 2013 at 08:12 AM
You are living! LIVING! Relishing and learning and experiencing. And that is how it should be. La vie est comme ça, oui; but with is huge and joyous exclamation mark at the end, rather than a shrug of resignation.
Posted by: Lalisa Derrick | March 18, 2013 at 07:42 AM
Oh please ipad editor, how did you come up with "laming to you" instead of "talking to you"????? Sorry!
Posted by: Qwendy | March 18, 2013 at 07:28 AM
Gabriella, how lovely to see and hear you here, as your comment is just like laming to you, which oddly feels like recently to me too! No need to be crushed by the responsibility, don't you think people freely ignore input of this kind if it suits them? Not me not here not now, I have fantasies of writing more, which is why I have these blogs, but certainly don't do it every day, do you? I don't really know what to write ON or IN, which is silly to admit........but I will come up with a group of notebooks, manual and digital this week, I promise! Thanks for the feedback!
The house is a bit cold at this moment, but winters are mild here in comparison with where you are, and much brighter too! We should talk next winter.........we might leave for a while and maybe you would like to come...........
Get back to that novel, I can't wait to read it! What or who is your subject pray tell??? Xxx
Posted by: Qwendy | March 18, 2013 at 07:27 AM
Hm, it's hard to say what anyone else should be doing, even if you know them really well. I always feel a great sense of responsibility crushing down on me every time I have any opinion of that kind. And I don't even know you that well (although I feel like I do!). But if I were you (which I'm not), I would probably be writing, every day, all the time. You obviously have a knack for it.
On the other hand - I'm writing this now as an excuse for not getting on with my novel...
That house is fabulous (I saw the other pictures)! Cold, I would imagine, but wonderful to look at. Living there would seem to be ideal for opening up all sorts of creative reserves once the acclimatisation and the arduous labour of acquiring fluency in a new language have been dealt with.
Hope you get some more initiated replies from others.
All the best,
Gabriella
Posted by: Gabriella | March 14, 2013 at 12:12 PM