Day 124

The appliances of life and linguistic perfection.

My day would be spent in appliance shopping hell.  Our hopes for a Refrigerateur Americaine fell along the wayside with the discovery that the new house was not equiped with a waterline to feed the upscale appliance.  Instead we opted for a dandy French style fridge with a self serve water reservoir.  The concerning part of this purchase was that it was from a retailer by the name of Mister Good Deal.  Life lessons have taught me that any time a business uses the term "Good Deal" in their title, it usually isn't one.  You throw a "Mister" in front and you have a recipe for disaster.  In fact, I heard that not long ago Mrs. Good Deal filed for divorce because she caught him cheating with the retailer next door.  Despite my reservations, the promise of "super savings" had me salivating like Pavlov's dog.  The truth of the matter is, it is hard to take any retail purchase terribly seriously when you know that its longevity is limited by the duration of your stay.  Presuming the potentially stolen goods I just purchased are in fact what they claim to be, I have high hopes.  I opted for the same brand in refrigerator as I have in a television set.  So far, the television has held up its end of the bargain, and "life is good".  I went for a safer route with the washer and dryer.  Made that purchase from a major retailer that promises free delivery.  If strapping a refrigerator to the top of the 206 is a bad idea,  adding the additional weight of a washer and dryer will certainly lead to an untimely death . . . for me and the 206.  I do have some concerns regarding the delivery as it would appear that we now reside at a mythical address.  Not a problem for the postman who is likely well familiar with the noble estates of the French countryside, but bound to be a cause for concern for the townie in the delivery van.  Apparently our address has no number.  Strange, but why ask questions you don't have the mental capacity to understand the answers to.

News came across the wire today that my wife's colleague that we had hosted over the weekend was quite impressed with my proficiency in French.  I just about fell out of my chair.  I would hardly consider my meager control of my mother tongue proficient, much less the stuttering mockery I make of the French language.  It did bolster my confidence, which is always in question when it comes to the still difficult task of communicating here in our new home.  Perhaps I am getting it after all, or at least I make it look good.  I still get that deer in the headlights moment anytime a conversation starts, but I do seem to be adapting to some of the commonly used vocabulary and I think my accent is getting better.  I do feel a sense of urgency about it, however, in that pride will not allow me into a situation in which my children can make fun of me without me understanding a word they say.  One thing is certain, I have learned ALOT over the past few months and certainly with a year or two of practice under my belt anything is possible.

Wanting to avoid an uncomfortable conversation at the mobile phone retailer in which I would stumble hopelessly trying to explain the problem with my phone, I hit the information super highway in search of answers.  The web is indeed a wonderful tool.  In addition to the copious amounts and variety of porn (reason enough for its existence), there are also some wonderful tech forums that will help you out of most any computer driven jam.  I did in fact stumble across the problem and it was an easy fix.  Fighting my way out of radio darkness, I realized I was still not off the hook with the mobile retailer.  We are, after all, moving and since my internet, fixed phone and mobile are all in one package, it would require a visit to the store to get things sorted out.  We were able to find an attendant that spoke a bit of English to help us with this rather technical discussion.  Even though our language skills are improving, I find that when things get technical, the basics just aren't enough to get you by.  It turns out that we are going to have to change carriers and that should be a hoot.  I will stay with the current carrier for mobile, but internet, television and fixed phone must go elsewhere.  I am hopeful that this change will bring about a better set of television programming than we currently have.  Most of our current channel selection is actually German, which does nothing for developing our language skills.  Plus, the programming on Germany's Discovery Channel leaves something to be desired. There are only so many times I can watch how bratwurst is made.

That about sums up our day overseas.  I will catch you up again tomorrow with another fresh installment.  Good night and take care.