- No car – no stocking up on bulk items and no once -a week grocery shopping trips. Josh does the grocery shopping 2-3 times a week, by foot or on his bicycle.
- Lots of French bread – we eat it with almost every meal.
- We haven’t participated in corporate worship in our heart language (English) in 6 months. It motivates us to learn French so we can understand and worship from our hearts! The French Evangelical church is exceptionally small, but a positive thing is that practically everyone who attends church regularly is a committed follower of Jesus, as opposed to many of our churches in the States who would be classified as “cultural Christians.”
- No greeting people when we walk by. Unlike in the Southern part of the United States, where, at the very least, most people smile at strangers, French culture does not require greetings or smiles to strangers. If you see someone you know, you are expected to greet with “Bonjour,” but if you see the same person later in the day, you aren’t supposed to say anything!
- Going out to eat usually means McDonalds, which we never did in the States! Most restaurants do not open until 7pm, which is when we are starting bedtime routine with the boys. For the first 6 months we never made it out for dinner – it’s good for the waste-line and the pocketbook!
- Laundry. We do our laundry on scheduled days each week, taking turns with other families who live on campus. The school has three washers, one dryer. One load of laundry = $5. So, yes, we re-wear our clothes. A lot.
- Our evenings no longer consist of curling up with a good book or watching a movie. Instead, we eat dinner, play with the kids, put them to bed, and…..STUDY!!! French verb conjugations, grammar, vocabulary, listening exercises, etc. It’s really exciting, I promise.
- Living in community. We live in the building with the same people we go to class with, attend church with, and share a common area outside with. Our children play together every day all day at nursery, go to church together, and play outside together after school. When we hear a child cry, we all guess who it might be, and Isaac will confirm if it is the correct child.
- Surrounded by BIG, beautiful mountains. When language learning gets difficult, the Alps have a way of reminding us who has the power to move the mountains!
- Josh helps wash dishes by hand!
We don’t have a dishwasher, and since Josh and Kimberly are both in language school full time, the household duties have become more shared these days.
