In other news I swallowed my pride and called l'americaine last week to invite her for coffee which she finally agreed too, but she cancelled on me at the last minute, just as I was mixing the banana bread to put in the oven, boo hiss. She did tell me on our chat on the phone though that she has three english speaking friends here, shock! Right here! They're Irish, Scottish and apparently there's an American who owns a bakery in town, Two are moms with kids our ages. My heart went all aflutter and I really want to connect with them but she'd mentioned them in a kind of "don't worry about me I have plenty of English speaking friends" kind of way rather than a "hey you should come have coffee with us sometime" kind of way. I'm getting a little tired of prostituting myself so I'm going to stubbornly wait for her to call me to reschedule and she can make the banana bread this time. At the same time--three years without visiting home is starting to wear on me and I could use that linguistic oasis I mentioned. I may have to swallow my foolish pride.
I didn't dare ask her about the incident in town but as we were talking about living here she made a comment along the lines of "there's no way I'm staying in this godforsaken ****hole of a place" and I understood that she hates France (peanut butter prices anyone?) and I'd be getting pulled down that drain. I consoled myself that rather than listen to the stereotypical grass is greener rant maybe I'd be better off listening to my french mom friend's reminders that Charlotte really needs to wear a hat on cold days. There are lots of places where you can complain in the world and I'd agree wholeheartedly, but here...how can you complain about living here? Last night as I was walking the dog I actually forgot about her and she went off in the woods because I was too busy staring at the scenery, the sky was a beautiful pink mist with all the snowy mountains behind like stage props. It was amazingly beautiful. I imagine it's the peanut butter though and the people; the important little things that block out the bigger picture. Why is that?
5 comments:
Whoa, so bizarre about the American chick! I say forget her and try to reach out to the other ones - I mean, there can't be a million different bakeries in your town can there?
Like Ksam said. Better to hook up with one of the other English speakers that appreciates their surroundings and is more likely to be around for a longer time.
The American does sound a bit self-absorbed. At the same time, different people enjoy different places, and that's just the way it is. The fact that she doesn't see the same beauty that you see doesn't mean that it's all the peanut butter. I live in a place that is very beautiful, and I do acknowledge that, but it's beautiful in a mountain way, and I happen to prefer ocean beauty, and while I can appreciate the beauty here, I don't feel it in my heart the way that some people do. And I think that's OK. They're not better people than me. They're just in the right place for them.
I'm glad that you're in the right place for you.
Yeah I guess that is a bit self absorbed on my part. It was just a bit strange and sudden that she brought it up in her first ten minutes of conversation with me. I would have preferred to ease into that one a little later. I bet you not liking the mountains isn't the first thing out of your mouth when you meet new people! If it was people would be like "What the heck is HER problem!" lol. But I get the whole expat thing and dealing with the first few years. It's a very large speedbump that you gradually get over. I also know the profile of the person who changes countries and can't see anything but the difficulties and the differences, all the time 24/7. That can be a tough person to be around. I just wondered aloud if that was her case.
It's great to be reading your blog again. I missed checking it for a couple of months, but now it will be a regular respite from the daily grind.
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