It is Thursady 9 July. Tony and Francoise left for France this morning. We have had a leisurly get up and go, and have been to the supermarket and back with no harm done to anyone.
Our house is two stories situated between and connected to similar houses on each side. Tony and Francoise live here, an older retired couple live to our right-we haven't met them yet-and a younger Indian family lives to our left. Jeshah and her husband, Stan (the anesthiologist) have two children. Their older son suffered brain damage at birth-he is now 9 and total care. They have a 4yo daughter named Abigail, and another baby on the way. We met Jeshah this morning. They are resourses for us, and Jeshah is home most of the time.
Our other significant resource is Mark. Mark is the 26yo son of Tony and Francoise. He is also a bona fide British Bobby. He has dropped by several times between work and meeting friends at the pub. He has a flat of his own, but will check in with us from time to time. He is very knowledgable of the goings on about town, as you might imagine. He also has wonderful ideas for us, like a magnetic sticker for the car that is perfectly legal for anyone to have, and it cautions other drivers that I have just gotten my license. I was thinking that we should have a big magnetic sign saying, "Mind the American driver", but Mark's solution seems even better. We are told that British drivers are much more polite and patient than those in France, and we haven't been honked at yet. Tony tells us that his GB plates get a better response for his driving in France.
The Wilsons have a daughter as well. She was married two years ago, and lives in London with her husband. They both have career jobs.
Tony is a civil servant working in the tax assessors office. Francoise is the head of the Modern Languages and Latin department in a posh Quaker school. It is a sister school to the one the Obama girls go to in DC.
We have found the Wilsons to be very helpful and considerate of our needs and, perhaps even more important, really interesting and comfortable people to be with. Francoise has introduced us to several very French meals and has piled the dining table full of books and maps of things that we should see and do (hence we are reading in Reading).
Our house is two stories situated between and connected to similar houses on each side. Tony and Francoise live here, an older retired couple live to our right-we haven't met them yet-and a younger Indian family lives to our left. Jeshah and her husband, Stan (the anesthiologist) have two children. Their older son suffered brain damage at birth-he is now 9 and total care. They have a 4yo daughter named Abigail, and another baby on the way. We met Jeshah this morning. They are resourses for us, and Jeshah is home most of the time.
Our other significant resource is Mark. Mark is the 26yo son of Tony and Francoise. He is also a bona fide British Bobby. He has dropped by several times between work and meeting friends at the pub. He has a flat of his own, but will check in with us from time to time. He is very knowledgable of the goings on about town, as you might imagine. He also has wonderful ideas for us, like a magnetic sticker for the car that is perfectly legal for anyone to have, and it cautions other drivers that I have just gotten my license. I was thinking that we should have a big magnetic sign saying, "Mind the American driver", but Mark's solution seems even better. We are told that British drivers are much more polite and patient than those in France, and we haven't been honked at yet. Tony tells us that his GB plates get a better response for his driving in France.
The Wilsons have a daughter as well. She was married two years ago, and lives in London with her husband. They both have career jobs.
Tony is a civil servant working in the tax assessors office. Francoise is the head of the Modern Languages and Latin department in a posh Quaker school. It is a sister school to the one the Obama girls go to in DC.
We have found the Wilsons to be very helpful and considerate of our needs and, perhaps even more important, really interesting and comfortable people to be with. Francoise has introduced us to several very French meals and has piled the dining table full of books and maps of things that we should see and do (hence we are reading in Reading).
Tony gives us instruction on working all the home equipment (and some people will be interested to know that the Wilsons have 5 remotes on their living room table top-we get French satelite TV as well as Skye).
Currently I have a load of wash on the outside dryer-the swivel around kind with clothes pins. I am watching it like a hawk, as the sky goes from sunny to rain quite fast. I have a second load in the washer which I intend to hang in the garage, where the washer lives, provided it doesn,t start pouring.
The driving lesson went fairly easily yesterday, and I haven't yet stripped the gears. I have gone to the passenger side of the car to get in, and I have banged my right hand on the door searching for the shift. Switching to left handed shifting was not all that hard actually. I do have to really pay attention to where I am on the road, and we circled the roundabouts a couple of times before positioning the car in the correct lane for getting off. I just accept that I must look both ways for cars when driving or crossing the street and pay attention. As I get more comfortable, the risk goes up that I will go on automatic and that would be dangerous.
We are tired and need some down time. One indication that we are tired is that we did not savor every aisle of the supermarket. We managed to fill our trolly with some basics and food for several meals and get out. We are also hungry. I am unaccountably hungry. Even after a full meal, I am hungry shortly thereafter. I am thinking that it may not actually be hunger, but thirst, so I am downing water. A little headache would also suggest I might just be a bit dehydrated. Beyond that, Marcia is filling the house with spagetti sauce smells, and there are meatballs in the making as I type. I've rung up Mark on my mo-bile to see if he will join us for dinner.
Yesterday we were squired around Reading and the surrounding area. I cannot tell you exactly where we were, but Marcia was following our routes on the ordinance survey and making marks and taking notes. She is the official navigator so that I can pay attention to the driving. We did see the Thames from several places and spotted several pubs worth checking out. Mark has sent us web links to several restaurants as well.
At first I thought we would be taking the train often, but as I get more confidence driving, it seems more likely that we will drive to some things nearby. There are actually lots of things nearby including Oxford and Windsor Castle.
Currently I have a load of wash on the outside dryer-the swivel around kind with clothes pins. I am watching it like a hawk, as the sky goes from sunny to rain quite fast. I have a second load in the washer which I intend to hang in the garage, where the washer lives, provided it doesn,t start pouring.
The driving lesson went fairly easily yesterday, and I haven't yet stripped the gears. I have gone to the passenger side of the car to get in, and I have banged my right hand on the door searching for the shift. Switching to left handed shifting was not all that hard actually. I do have to really pay attention to where I am on the road, and we circled the roundabouts a couple of times before positioning the car in the correct lane for getting off. I just accept that I must look both ways for cars when driving or crossing the street and pay attention. As I get more comfortable, the risk goes up that I will go on automatic and that would be dangerous.
We are tired and need some down time. One indication that we are tired is that we did not savor every aisle of the supermarket. We managed to fill our trolly with some basics and food for several meals and get out. We are also hungry. I am unaccountably hungry. Even after a full meal, I am hungry shortly thereafter. I am thinking that it may not actually be hunger, but thirst, so I am downing water. A little headache would also suggest I might just be a bit dehydrated. Beyond that, Marcia is filling the house with spagetti sauce smells, and there are meatballs in the making as I type. I've rung up Mark on my mo-bile to see if he will join us for dinner.
Yesterday we were squired around Reading and the surrounding area. I cannot tell you exactly where we were, but Marcia was following our routes on the ordinance survey and making marks and taking notes. She is the official navigator so that I can pay attention to the driving. We did see the Thames from several places and spotted several pubs worth checking out. Mark has sent us web links to several restaurants as well. At first I thought we would be taking the train often, but as I get more confidence driving, it seems more likely that we will drive to some things nearby. There are actually lots of things nearby including Oxford and Windsor Castle.
Oh yes, we drove through Headly yesterday. Headly was home to the late George Harrison and is now the home of his widow. Apparently there are several famous people living there.
A note for Helen and Ed: Francoise is Helen's double. Same body type and same movements. Loves to head for the gym first thing in the morning (no espresso machine, but a coffee press). The Wilson's daughter is Helene (pronounce it in French with the silent H and emphasis on the lene), and they live on the way to Newbury.
KG
KG
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