This past weekend was full of adventures, a couple of things birthday-related. The first event was Friday night when Jacques invited Max and I to his birthday dinner. Jacques is a former resident of the apartment across the hall from me. He works in the primary school and has always warmly welcomed the assistants that come to Morestel. Basically, he called France Telecom to set up my phone and internet services, he wrote an article about Max and I that was published in the local paper, and will
help me out with anything; in short, he's super nice.
We had a wonderful dinner at his friend's house with champagne and cake. Afterward we went to a bar where Jacques said we'd find plenty of people our age. He was right, plenty of 'jeunes' young people; however, we did not approach any of those people nor did anyone approach us, haha. It's safe to say that we both concluded it wasn't realistic to think we'd make friends the very first time we were at a real bar outside of Morestel ;) Next time I'll work up the guts. I also had the opportunity to try the 'Rock' dance that Jacques practices regularly. He and his friends are very good. Luckily, I took 'Steppin' in Milwaukee last spring and remembered how to be led and to keep my count. I'll post a You-Tube link on the right for you to have an idea.
On Saturday I saw my first Hand-Ball game- AWESOME. It is a healthy mix of basketball and soccer, moves really fast and is totally bad-ass! The bottom line is: if you show any disagreement with the ref's calls, you're screwed. At the game Jacques introduced Max and I to an English enthusiast named Céline, who is super sweet! She studies English in Lyon, has never been to the United States but has the best American accent I have heard yet from a native French speaker. She invited us to have dinner at her home where we made savory crêpes: hot dogs, cheese, and spicy mustard wrapped in a crêpe! yay.
Sunday marked the day of my first 5K in France! Actually the event was called 'La Randonée à Morestel' or 'VTT parcours'. VTT is an acronym for 'vélo tout terrain' or 'all terrain bike,' which is very very popular here. Anyway, one could choose to do one of three distances either by bike or walking. I chose to run the walking route which was 9km, 13km, or 18km. I had the intention of completing the 9km route but cut it a bit short due to a nice but misleading hunter with a large gun and an anxious dog. Basically, I followed the arrows and wound up at the top of a hill on what seemed to be an earthy driveway, with no other walkers in sight. I inquired as to whether or not the trail continued and the hunter said 'oh no, it doesn't go by here you must go back down the hill and reconnect with the road over there' and he pointed off in the distance. I said to myself 'Ok, I think I'm going to listen to the man with the gun... see ya!'
To make a long story even longer, when I returned to the start of the event I learned that hunters are not very supportive of events such as 'La Randonée' because it disturbs their turf, so they often mislead idiots like me, lol. I got 'treated'. So I call it my 5k :)
Ahh! I almost forgot my birthday, haha. Other than having a chat with my mom and dad, Sara
and Leilone, and receiving highly 
appreciated birthday messages and emails my birthday was very mellow, which was a good thing. Then I couldn't get too homesick. I made banana bread for my colleagues got lots of 'bisous' from students and colleagues and then I ate dinner with the other American assistant, Max. It was nice to not eat alone on the big 2-4! Then a week later I blew out the candles:
help me out with anything; in short, he's super nice.We had a wonderful dinner at his friend's house with champagne and cake. Afterward we went to a bar where Jacques said we'd find plenty of people our age. He was right, plenty of 'jeunes' young people; however, we did not approach any of those people nor did anyone approach us, haha. It's safe to say that we both concluded it wasn't realistic to think we'd make friends the very first time we were at a real bar outside of Morestel ;) Next time I'll work up the guts. I also had the opportunity to try the 'Rock' dance that Jacques practices regularly. He and his friends are very good. Luckily, I took 'Steppin' in Milwaukee last spring and remembered how to be led and to keep my count. I'll post a You-Tube link on the right for you to have an idea.
On Saturday I saw my first Hand-Ball game- AWESOME. It is a healthy mix of basketball and soccer, moves really fast and is totally bad-ass! The bottom line is: if you show any disagreement with the ref's calls, you're screwed. At the game Jacques introduced Max and I to an English enthusiast named Céline, who is super sweet! She studies English in Lyon, has never been to the United States but has the best American accent I have heard yet from a native French speaker. She invited us to have dinner at her home where we made savory crêpes: hot dogs, cheese, and spicy mustard wrapped in a crêpe! yay.
Sunday marked the day of my first 5K in France! Actually the event was called 'La Randonée à Morestel' or 'VTT parcours'. VTT is an acronym for 'vélo tout terrain' or 'all terrain bike,' which is very very popular here. Anyway, one could choose to do one of three distances either by bike or walking. I chose to run the walking route which was 9km, 13km, or 18km. I had the intention of completing the 9km route but cut it a bit short due to a nice but misleading hunter with a large gun and an anxious dog. Basically, I followed the arrows and wound up at the top of a hill on what seemed to be an earthy driveway, with no other walkers in sight. I inquired as to whether or not the trail continued and the hunter said 'oh no, it doesn't go by here you must go back down the hill and reconnect with the road over there' and he pointed off in the distance. I said to myself 'Ok, I think I'm going to listen to the man with the gun... see ya!'
To make a long story even longer, when I returned to the start of the event I learned that hunters are not very supportive of events such as 'La Randonée' because it disturbs their turf, so they often mislead idiots like me, lol. I got 'treated'. So I call it my 5k :)
Ahh! I almost forgot my birthday, haha. Other than having a chat with my mom and dad, Sara
and Leilone, and receiving highly 
appreciated birthday messages and emails my birthday was very mellow, which was a good thing. Then I couldn't get too homesick. I made banana bread for my colleagues got lots of 'bisous' from students and colleagues and then I ate dinner with the other American assistant, Max. It was nice to not eat alone on the big 2-4! Then a week later I blew out the candles:
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