One for the Language Learners

I had a moment of panic last night which has now become the motivation for this post.  You see, one of my students last year drew an amazing picture at the end of the year, full of detail and humour and I thought I had downloaded it and so I deleted it off my camera. But then I couldn't find it anywhere on my computer.  Thankfully, my external hard drive saved the day and I can share this gem with the world. 

My students were reflecting on how God had helped them in the past year and this is what this little guy had to say.

Note the towering stack of paper, the rubbish bin full of scrunched up attempts and the one about to hit the trash.  Clearly it was hard work learning to write in Korean! 

This little guy is Italian.  He came into my classroom with no English at all.  He had already begun to learn French so I could communicate with him through that.  I have to say I have never seen a student learn a language like this guy did. 

Katye, Krispy Kreme & a Card

Katye and I were both Atlanta girls but we actually met while learning French in Quebec.  Katye has a special gift for telling stories so when she posted a storytelling event on facebook in which she was participating, I jumped at the chance to go and hear her in person again. 

Storytelling is a unique cultural event, one which is not as celebrated in our culture as it might have once been.  With that disclaimer, I asked my friend Jen if she wanted to go with me.  She agreed and then later confessed that since I had gone to the opera with her, she thought she could try something different with me.  I had kind of forgotten I was as cultured as the opera!  Do I have to confess my true feelings about the opera?  Let's just say that storytelling ranks higher up my list of enjoyable activities.  In fact, I would highly recommend a storytelling festival to anyone.  In a world where it is difficult to find books, tv shows or movies that are excellent and free of swearing, innuendo and violence, these storytellers stood out.  Their stories were clean, interesting and many made me laugh out loud!

 

Katye in mid-story. 

 

After the storytelling and a visit with Katye and her new husband at Chic-fil-A, Jen suggested a spontaneous trip to Krispy Kreme.  Using her handy dandy little Krispy Kreme phone app she could actually tell that the donuts were "Hot Now."  What is the world coming to?

 

 

 

Watching the donuts roll off the line...this one's for our friend Amy, a true donut enthusiast.

 

Last up in this little line up is a cheerful little card that one lucky reader will be receiving any day now to pass on to someone they know who needs a little encouragement.

 

 

And thus ends the post that was brought to you by the sound of /k/.



 

 





A Favorite

Here's my favorite pic from our return to Quebec. Grand Falls, the horseshoe falls east of Niagara, are in the background. And now I'm back in Quebec, my mom and dad helped me clean my apartment all day Saturday. It was a big job and I was thankful for their helpful.

Today it was back to class to face none other than the -a word that could strike fear in the heart of any French language learner! Of all the possible things, we had to end with this? So I got up and studied for about 20 minutes and wonder of wonders when I got to class, it didn't seem half as hard as it did before! Thank you, Jesus!

So that's what it's like!

Yesterday, I got a taste of what it's like to grow up in a family with lots of teenage girls and honestly, it cracked me up! We had a holiday so I headed out with the Litseys to Montreal to visit the Biodome, an indoor zooish type environment where the animals are not all enclosed.

On the ride there, it happened. Fatu spotted a cute boy driving the car that was in the middle of passing us. Only one problem, he had by this time passed all the rest of the teenage girls who were, naturally, very interested in seeing said cute boy. So that's when it started, "Drive faster, Dad! We can catch up. We want to see the cute boy, too." But my favorite part happened after Cute Boy was long gone and there was no hope of catching up to him. There was a dramatic sigh from the seat behind me, "There are so many cute boys in the world and I haven't even seen them all!" Is that classic or what?

I was highly entertained to say the least and inspired to draw another little picture. :) Here are some real pics of the fun. Cleaning day at the Biodome - You eat my fleas and I'll eat yours. Might as well check out the alligator since there aren't any cute boys around.

Myth busted: I learned that porcupines don't shoot their quills out...didn't know that and I also didn't know that they could climb trees! Proof that I actually made it to Montreal...standing in front of the Olympic Stade.

Grounded!

Losing your wallet is kind of like being grounded and it ain't fun, folks! So this is my lost wallet update...Monday afternoon after my class I went to the mall information office. The good news was that a lady had found it and called the mall to see if anyone had come looking for their wallet. The bad news is that they didn't take down her phone number. But she did mention the wallet was from an American and that she planned on sending it to the address on the driver's license. So all this week I've been patiently waiting, praying and hoping that she would send it on its way quickly to Georgia. However, my friend Betty said nothing had arrived yet so I guess it's taking its time and enjoying the sights along the way!

I finally decided tonight to order a replacement license since it only costs $5. Way to go Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles for not charging the pants off of people in desperate situations! (Desperate might be a bit of an overstatement in my case but it sounds so much more dramatic.)

However, I cannot say the same for my lovely bank. I won't mention any names. I happened to have an extra debit card for what used to be my primary bank. My salary no longer gets put into this bank account so I still don't really have access to my income - just my savings. Anyway, I decided to activate this card but I can hardly justify using it because it will charge me a $5 atm international withdrawal fee + plus 3% of whatever I withdraw. So let's just say I took out $300. I would have to pay $5 (atm) + $9 (3%) which equals a grand total of $14 for the privilege of withdrawing my money in Canada. That seems mighty steep! I think I need to find a place to put my money that's a little more conducive to the life of a dual citizen.

In the mean time, everyone from my teacher to my neighbors have offered to lend me some money for which I've been very thankful. It's just sad to see my little white car sitting in the driveway begging to be driven - especially on this long weekend! Feels a lot like being grounded...

Perdu

I lost my wallet today. I'm not 100% sure but I think it may have fallen out of my pocket as I ran from the mall to my car in the rain. I tried to go back and check if someone may have turned it in but the mall administration office is only open during the week. So what to do...can't exactly sit and wait watching my accounts to see if someone decides to buy a few things on me...(I guess they can always use my cash for that if they want to). :) So I cancelled them which is a bit of a bummer in that I have to wait for new ones to make it all the way up here from the U.S. Still hoping and praying that someone will turn it in to the office and it will be there on Monday.

Incidentally, I checked on getting a replacement license....it says it could take up to 30 days. So my question is what do people do while they are waiting for their replacement license to come? Get someone to chauffer them? I guess most people could just go to the DMV and get their new one the day they needed it. I, on the other hand, am a gazillion miles away from the DMV office.

Is it ironic that I happened to be looking at these just before losing my wallet? They are way out of my price range but they sure are cute. I think these ones are my favorite. Ahh well, that's the story for today.

I feel old!

Yep, that's right. I feel old!

Tonight I went to "Une soirée de louange", otherwise known as an evening of worship, put on by the students of the Bible school. They are trying to raise money for the missions trips they will be taking in just a couple of months. Anyway, the way the whole thing played out just made me laugh. Until tonight, I've considered myself to be pretty open when it comes to music...I'll admit it, I love to blast my music and sing at the top of my longs. But clearly it's not the same type of music that these students like to blast. I decided to draw a little sketch to give you a picture of how it went down.

The first thing that went down was the separation of the young and the old...the young went to front and the old stayed in the back near the safety of their seats and to their great joy, as far away from the blasting music as possible. Yep, that's right, you can see me there at the back.

Then the jumping started. This being in the Pavilion, a building meant to be a meeting place for summer campers, it's floor was not exactly made to last for the next 100 years. In fact, it's made of plywood of some sort. So what we had was about 50 young people jumping in the "Praise Pit". This created the teeter totter effect. I didn't even have to jump. I just got thrown up in the air on the rebound. It was great (except for the part where I began to wonder if the floor could actually survive 50 jumping teenagers)! Just about that point my french teacher came by and together we threw in a little extra bounce - you know, just checking if the floor could handle two more!

Well, although it was loud and more than I could handle in parts, they did slow it down for the old people...plus they sang a lot of English songs too. Oddly enough, I knew more of the French songs than I did the English.

So there it is, I understand how my parents sometimes had a hard time with my music back in the day! Thank goodness, God can hear the intention of hearts and that's probably the music He's really listening to.

The Prescription

Last Friday, I had the privilege of talking to the Bible School Girls about being single and some of the things that God has taught me during this time in my life. I shared in French - always a challenge - so I'm glad for a teacher like Kathleen, willing to correct things at the last minute. But anyway, there was another woman there who was a former Bible School student who is now a pharmacist. She was amazing! I appreciated her honesty with the girls...very "franche" as they say in French. (frank) Plus, she had her own little pharmacist spin to it. At the end, she gave them all a little pill bottle with their name on it, as though they were receiving a prescription. It was filled with Jelly Bellies...but she included a little sheet just like you do with any prescription and here's what it said....

Mr/Miss
Order: 0235977: Blessed years of singleness
__________________________________________
WHY:

• That you may benefit from this blessed time (1 Tim 6:6)
• To allow you more time to serve the Lord (1 Cor 7:34)
• Because God loves you and knows what's best for you (Rom 8:28, Jer 29:11, 1 Thess 5:18)

HOW:

• Take with a smile (Phil 4:4, 1 Thess 5:16), one day at a time, one year after the other, for God's glory
• Take at the same time each day
• If this medication upsets your stomach, take it with a quiet time with the Lord in the morning

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Important!! Do not awaken love until it pleases (Song of Solomon 2:7 and 3:5)
• Seek the company of people who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim 2:22, 1 Tim 6:11)
• Avoid idealizing marriage (major interaction with this medication!!)

IF YOU FORGET:

• If you miss a dose, take it as soon as possible
• If it is almost time for a the next dose, you can take both doses, this medication is not dangerous when a double dose is taken

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS:

• Most people experience few or no side effects with this medication, but the following effects have been reported: nostalgia, anxiety (if so, read Ps 94:19, Jer 29:11), eagerness to date or get married (if so, read 1 Cor 7:8)
• You may also feel blue as you see all your friends get married
• If you feel that your soul is cast down then read these verses(Ps 42:5, 42:11, 43:5)

PRECAUTIONS TO CONSIDER:

• Do not let your thoughts wander (Phil 4:8)
• Inform your doctor (God!!) if you think that you have been taking this medication long enough (or for too long!)

The great Pharmacist, in Heaven...always open, always available
tel: Just pray
Wow! Great advice and creative to boot...I walked away from the time, thankful for all the things that God has taught me and continues to teach me during this time in my life!

Translation as per my loyal reader's request!

Once upon a time in a castle not far from here a little prince grew up. It was an exciting life with lots of dungeons and moats to explore. But there was a big problem with the little prince. He was very small - smaller than all of his friends...

and all of the princesses in the land. No princess wanted to marry him because everyone knew that a king needed to be tall and impressive. The little prince was depressed. Life without a princess was no life at all. What should he do?
One day he received "The Parchment." It was a newspaper from a country far away from his castle. In a corner of "The Parchment" there was a little wanted ad: "Wanted - a little prince to lead a little people. We will give you a little castle and a little princess." Without hesitation, the little prince decided to leave his land in search of the kingdom of the little people.

His family gave him their blessing. Before his leaving, his father gave him a gift.

It was a compass, a useful gift for someone who was going to find his destiny - the kingdom of the little people.
It was a difficult journey where he encountered wild and ferocious animals like Vinnie the vulture, who was hunted him looking for an occasion to make the Little Prince his dinner. If his friend, Three Feathers, hadn't helped him he would not have survived. Each time that Vinnie was close, Three Feathers would warn the Little Prince.
Finally, he arrived in the kingdom of the Little People. Everyone was happy. They ate fruit to celebrate the arrival of their new king who was tall and impressive in his new kingdom. Right away he married the princess and they lived happily ever after and had many children who were tall and impressive.

The End

Story Hour brought to you by Beth

This week our teacher gave us a set of pics and we had to write a children's story in French using the pictures...so just for fun, I thought I would share mine with you.

Il était une fois dans un château pas loin d'ici qu'un petit prince grandit. C'était une vie excitante avec beaucoup de cachots et de douves à explorer. Mais il y avait un grand problème avec le petit prince. Il était trop petit, plus petit que tous ses amis...

et que toutes les princesses dans le pays. Aucune princesse ne voulait l'épouser parce que tout le monde savait qu'un roi devait être grand et impressionnant. Le petit prince avait le cafard. La vie sans princesse ce n'était pas du tout possible. Qu'est-ce qu'il devait faire?

Un jour il reçut "Le Parchemin". C'était le journal d'un pays trop loin de son château. Dans un coin de "Le Parchemin" il y avait une petite annonce: Vouloir un petit prince pour diriger un petit peuple. On va vous donner un petit château avec une petite princesse. Sans hésitation le petit prince décida de quitta son pays pour allait chercher les royaume des petits gens.

Sa famille lui donna sa bénédiction. Avant de quitter, son père lui donna un cadeau. C'était une boussole, un cadeau très utile pour quelqu'un qui allait chercher son destin, le royaume des petits gens.

C'étatit un voyage dur où il rencontrait des animaux féroces et sauvages comme Vinnie le vatour qui le chassait pour trouver une occasion de le tuer. Si son ami, Trois Plume ne l'avait pas aidé il náurait pas survécu. Chaque fois que Vinnie était proche, Trois Plume le prévenait. Finalement, il arriva dans le royaume des petits gens. Tout le monde était content. Ils mangèrent des fruits pour célébrer l'arrivée de leur nouveau roi qui était grand et impressionant dans son nouveau royaume. Toute de suite il épousa la princesse et ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants grands et impressionants.

The Sugar Shack

Last Friday we took a little visit to the Cabane à Sucre otherwise known as the Sugar Shack. This was an interesting experience for me having never been to one before. I think I was expecting a little more of a tour than we received but as my French teacher pointed out, I guess there isn't really a whole lot of explaining to do. So here are the pics of us indulging our sweet tooths and taking a romp through the forest. This Sortie was made more fun by Katye who came to visit for the week. smoothing out the ice

pouring the candy me and my french teacher posing together

Katye inspecting the buckets

hiding out

having fun in the woods

When a "Ralentir" might be a good idea?

Ralentir - to slow down, to decelerate

Driving back to Sherbrooke today, I was passed by a car with it's hazard lights blinking away. It was probably going about 75 to 80 miles/hour. Upon being passed, I got a good view of the muffler which was twisted quite abnormally and was, in fact, being dragged along the ground. Call me crazy! But I think that might have called for a slow down. Perhaps the driver was hoping to remove the muffler by the application of speed and friction???

Another Beautiful Day in Quebec

I heard a little knock on my door this afternoon - the Wegner Family invited me to come out for a skate. Now here at Parole de Vie that really doesn't just mean that you throw on your skates and hit the rink. It means you shovel the snow off to the side first and then you can go skating! So after clearing a bit of ice we threw on the skates and skated a bit...then the Litsey Family and Emily Schellhase arrived which means 9 more people to have fun with. The entire ice rink actually got cleared and a little game of tag ensued which I somehow managed to avoid being a part of. Five of us were skating while everyone else was tubing. After taking off my skates, I got talked into being a part of a group of tubes going down the hill. The grouping was unsuccessful as half of the group ended up going over the bank into the run next to us. So that led to the highly successful idea of a line. The hill was a killer to climb. I got a huge stitch in my side on my second climb up so I decided two runs was good enough for me and I went and got my camera to take some pictures of the fun. This is what the fun looked like!

The Hike

The Descent

And the Killer Climb Again

And me at the end of a day of fun in the snow with friends.

Carnaval de Quebec

I've heard so much about Carnaval in Quebec City...I thought it would be pretty fun to go and so I jumped at the chance when the Litseys invited me to go along. When we first started driving the roads weren't very good but it really turned out to be an awesome day...a little bit warmer, although very windy. We got to see some amazing ice sculptures. This one had great detail and I loved the little bear playing around in front. This guy was my second favorite...can't resist a polar bear and he was resting on the world.

What could be cuter? My number one favorite was this one...you could see incredible detail which is hard to see in this picture. I thought the movement in it was amazing.This little lumber jack act was definitely entertaining. This was a big castle made out of ice....once inside you could definitely feel the temperature drop!Here I am in front of the Ice Castle with Fatu Litsey.

We ended the day with dinner at La Roy Jucep in Drummondville. They are the inventors of Poutine, a Quebecois specialty. Fries and squeeky cheese covered in gravy. Here in Quebec Poutine is kind of like pizza - you can get a variety of different toppings under that gravy. Poutine tastes much better than it looks...however, I wasn't a big fan of the "original" poutine. The gravy tasted a little bit like ketchup!