What a Metz!

Happily, I'm on vacance from school for a week and a half.  Teaching children on the cusp of a vacation is a great task, and now I've had the sobering experience of trying to capture the imaginations and minds of young ones when all they can think of is being free of the vigorous workload of elementary school.  I resorted to some measures that I'm not proud to confess; I retained classroom authority with silly Halloween words, coloring pages, and candy.  I doubt the children learned anything, and I probably left all the teachers with the dilemma of permitting their pupils to eat candy mid-day and ruin what little attention span they had.  Alas, what is being a child all about if you don't daydream about spooky goblins and perfect the fine art of turning perfectly healthy teeth into expensive dental bills.  I was sad to learn that the Trick-or-Treating tradition in France subsided just a few years ago; no particular reason~just no longer in style.

If trick-or-treating in France was anything like Charlie Brown's experience, no wonder it's not cool...

On the church front, Kyle and I didn't visit any of the other protestant churches.  We've been back to Temple Neuf and were happy to meet a couple from Madagascar who speak English.  Our head pastor is also an English speaker; I mentioned before he is a French-speaking Anglican preacher at our reformed, Calvin-loving church.  It's a very interesting dynamic.  Jack proposed that we start an English speaking small group together; we are pumped and hopeful that this will be a great time to grow in fellowship with others here.  This past Sunday, the associate minister Christiane and Jack  carried on a discussion about what submission to God's authority means.  They incorporated tons of scripture as well as the traditions of their respective denominations.  I'm sure I missed more opportunities to learn because I am deterred by the French language a bit too much.

After church, we took a family photo in a park

Today is the day my parents arrive in France; for my mom it is the first time ever.  Kyle and I have been preparing by pretending to be tourists each time we venture downtown.  After church we did some sight-seeing and even managed to snag free concert tickets for an orchestral performance in a couple of weeks.  We've naturally had to check out a bunch of restaurants to find some good local flavor.  We even explored the shopping district to find good places to visit.  I'll have a summary of how things go in a few days along with pictures.

Highlight from this week~last night Kyle & I got invited over for dinner at some of our friends' kitchen.  In other dorms, students have to share a hall kitchen which honestly creates a very strong family dynamic among students.  They get together and prepare meals daily.  Last night we enjoyed an authentic raclette meal.  There is a contraption~a grill-like machine~ where you melt cheese in a little tray and cook meat and vegetables on a top surface.  Since it's a challenge to describe, I'm going to add a picture.  We had meat, potatoes, and raclette cheese with our pals and got to know some folks better.  It's always a delight to have a chill evening with good friends and good food.

Yum!  Meat & melted cheese is a good idea!

Prayer requests~Kyle has started exam season.  He had his first one and it went alright.  He has a very challenging test next week, and we are hoping it goes very well.  I'm planning for school and determining my curriculum until Christmas break.  Hopefully it'll be a fun and good process.  Also we would love continued prayers for good health.  We hope you are well & would love to hear from you either at kylebhamilton@gmail.com or leah.e.hamilton@gmail.com.  A plus!

Rechnung bitte!

Yesterday Kyle and I embarked on our first journey to an exotic and industrial destination~Saarbrucken, Germany.  We were able to rock the budget with this trip; we used our 12-25 cards to get half-priced train tickets to Forbach, France and took the intercity bus across national lines to Saarland.  Boy, were we surprised when we alighted from the bus.  It was as if we were magically transported back to the United States.  Instantly, we could try on Nikes at the FootLocker, eat a whopper with the Burger King, follow lunch with a Starbucks mocha, and then browse for video games at Game Stop. The people even looked like me. And then we discovered that many people spoke neither English nor French....from that point on, we had an authentically German experience.

Now that we know you are here, we'll be back Starbrucken...

We began with Starbucks (because we can't help ourselves), and then moved forward with sightseeing.  It was located on Bahnhofstrasse (trainstation street) which appears to be the shopping district for pedestrians.  Our first visit was at the Rathaus (townhall) which conveniently housed the tourist office as well.  With our handy dandy map, we discovered Basilica St Johann (with doors made entirely of bronze), the Alte Brucke (old bridge), the Schlossplatz (castle square), Ludwigskirche (church), the Saarkran (crane), and St. Johanner Markt (market).  Many of the lovely historical locations seemed to be tainted with a bit too much modernity.  For instance, the Alte Brucke has modern railings painted in a bright blue that diminish its 16th century appeal.   Though the castle has seen reconstruction due to the devastation of war, the surrounding castle wall remained intact until recently it was moved 16 meters away from the Saar river to make way for an urban motorway to be situated between the two Saarbrucken icons.  Thankfully, landmarks are lovely and the nearby markets allowed us to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of Saarland.

The view from Castle Wall: Alte Brucke & Saar River

Favorite Moment #1:  We found a playgroud where we swung on probably the most well-crafted swingset ever.  Kyle managed to set up the time on his camera to catch a few choice pictures.  It  was fun to play outside; I don't think we've ever swung together before... We've got to it again because it is too much fun.

Kyle & me having fun being kids

Favorite Moment #2:  While wandering around town, we stumbled across a funky shop that sold unique items.  These unique items were completely familiar to me~ so much so that I'm willing to bet that their handcarved cats were crafted in Indonesia.  It made me feel as if I were at Go Fish in Marietta.

I'd rather shop at Go Fish...

Favorite Moment #3:  Our tourist book led us to a wonderful location for lunch.  Stiefel Brau is known for preparing Saarland specialities as well as brewing beer on-site.  We were in for a treat; we tried a tasty beer and split the Lyoner dish.  It was a grilled sausage served with mustard and a side of fried potatoes and bacon bits. We even met a couple sitting next to us that spoke English very well and offered to show us around if we were ever in Dusseldorf.  Also while we were eating, we miraculously dodged a sudden hail storm.  Hail and rain were definitely not on the forcast so we were happy that we were inside.

We finally escaped French-sized beers

Favorite Moment #4:  Kyle befriended an older chap at the bus stop.  He spoke German and French and was very difficult to understand.  For whatever reason, this man told the bus driver that we were with him, and we weren't charged for the ride back to France ( a whopping 5 euros and 20 cents!)  Kyle needs to become friends with the barista at what we are calling the Starbrucken (starbucks in Saarbrucken).

It was a fun adventure, and it was the first time that Metz really felt like home.  We felt like we were coming home after traveling, and I think that's a good sign.  I'll be posting more pictures on Facebook if you'd like to see more!   Auf wiedersehen!

Half way through October?

Many say time flies when you are having fun.  I think time just flies.  Sorry to those who have checked for updates the last few weeks only to find that I have been MIA.  I'll update you on how life in Metz is.

Kyle's has been in school a little over a month now.  It's been a big challenge so far; we anticipated that the language would give him trouble, but never guessed that the material would be tricky.  Thankfully his class is full of lots of friendly and smart students who record the course material like scribes.  His classmates have become our friends.  They've been nice enough to invite us over for dinner, play SingStar, have coffee (with a Senseo none the less!), go downtown for an evening, and watch Gossip Girl.  They are just a lot fun to be around, and we hope to get to know them better this year.

Kyle & me downtown one evening

I started my job October 2nd.  It was nice to finally have an occupation; I was feeling a little useless after a while.  I had a lot of unanswered questions about what my job would be all about especially since I have had no training as an educator.  Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to worry the French government too much if you aren't a teacher.  If your mother tongue is English, you are clearly endowed with the gift to instruct others in its spoken form.  So I dove in headfirst at the elementary schools.  I prepared a couple of classes focused on introducing yourself.  It has been a delight as well as a struggle in each class--the children often look at me as if I have 3 heads when I speak.  Occasionally, I'll want to throw in the towel when the class erupts in French murmurs and won't quiet down.  Without a set curriculum provided by the school district or even a text book, I am coming up with it as I go and praying that the children will have learned something by the end of the school year.  Thankfully I still have 8 months to get it right.  I'm even more grateful that at the end of this week I get a 2 week vacation where I can create my game plan with each of my 7 classes in mind.

Introduction Worksheet for school

Now for the fun stuff...Kyle and I have been enjoying our little dorm a bunch.  We recently conquered the conversion of the Nestle Tollhouse cookie into mL & Celsius.  It was also tricky tracking down authentic brown sugar.  Everyone will try to tell you that they know what brown sugar is...in truth they are trying to give you raw or cane sugar--not the same thing.  Baking powder is also hard to come by.  After many google searches, we were able to complete our homemade cookies.  They were even a hit among the Supeleciens (supelec students).  We will likely continue baking them as it is nice to have a treat that reminds us of home.

Highly coveted brown sugar (Vergeoise) and baking powder (Poudre a Lever)

Last week our internet went down for a day.   It turns out that while we were cut off from the outside world, the weather decided to pull a 180 on us.  We ventured to the grocery store for some much needed essentials.  It was too cold to take our bikes, and we just kept commenting on how cold it was.  When we were able to check the weather online, we were astonished to find that autumn had ducked out early and winter filled its place eagerly.  Anybody who has lived in Europe knows to dread the highs under 10C and the negative lows. With the dawning of our six month winter, we are now actively shopping for a new coat and scarf for Kyle... preferably a plaid scarf.

Goodbye Fall!

We are really grateful for our American friends.  I got to spend some time with one friend this week who is married.  It was nice being able to talk about how your relationship is affected by this big move and adjusting to life abroad.  Kyle and I also are getting more acquainted with Georgia Tech students here; everyone is so nice.  We believe we are very fortunate. 

Lastly, I have some prayer request.  At some point during our move, I think I injured my neck.  I've had neck and back problems for some time, but a new symptom has popped up.  I am getting headaches that start in my neck and work there way up to only one side of my head.  Sometimes it's the left side and sometimes it's the right.  The right side headaches are really really bad.  It hasn't occurred (thankfully) on a workday yet, and we're hoping it stays that way.  We are just praying that they go away.  If it gets worse, we are praying for a good doctor as well. We are also praying for better understanding with French, good health for both of us, and good friendships.

I'll be updating again very shortly on Kyle & my trip to Saarbrucken, Deutschland.  Stay tuned!