Tour de France (July 7)

Living within 10 miles of the French border offers some unique day trip experiences!

John discovered that the Tour de France was coming to a point about 1 1/2 hours away from us this summer, so we decided to check it out. So glad we did - though ironically, it's an all day event to watch about 10 minutes of racers passing you.  10 minutes is probably a generous estimate....

We didn't know how it would all work since neither of us could read the French website.  John had discovered some explanations from other people's experiences, but we set off for the adventure of it.  We drove to a little town near the first big hill climb of the Tour. We knew we wouldn't be able to get super close, but the town was several km from the race route and the part where we wanted to watch.

We started to walk and then noticed these big free shuttle buses driving back and forth.  Thinking it more enjoyable, we headed back to the car, drove further down the road to these fields all marked off for parking and climbed onto one of about 20 or 30 shuttle buses that took us the the base of the last six km of the stage - a steep incline. Good choice.  It was hot, and quite a lot longer walk than we realized.

After walking one or two km up the hill, we picked a shady spot on the side of the road to wait.  I think it was about two hours of sitting and waiting before the publicity 'parade' came up the road, tossing out all kinds of free stuff (anybody need a key chain?).  I was all set to read while we waited, but it was just too much fun people watching! Everybody was just having such a good time.  People had radios on all over listening to the race (again, in French so of no benefit to us), and there's this tradition of riding the stage on bike before the Tour riders come through.  So many bicycle clubs and families came riding through.  Dads get serious superstar points, riding up that steep hill, pushing their kiddos up, pulling trolleys behind....

Note the SPECTATOR in the full body red unitard - face and hands included.

I think it was less than an hour after the publicity parade that the riders came through.  My favorite moment was just before they came.  We were sitting partway up a straight stretch, so we could look down and see these cars with roof racks coming.  Then the media helicopters started flying overhead, and this sort of electric anticipation took over the whole crowd as we all peered down the road for the first riders.

And then it just went so fast!  I didn't really believe John that we'd seen all the riders once they were past us.  They were so close...they looked so "normal" (what do I expect, anyway?), and I don't know enough about cycling to recognize any of them.  :)

All the bikes, all the cars with their roof racks full of bikes, all the media and police people - when they were all gone, we headed back to the shuttle bus.  There was this huge line that seemed like we might be waiting for hours, but it clipped along and we were on our way in no time.

We stopped for dinner in a town on the way home where the teams were spending the night.  As we walked down one pathway, it took us past the buses and crews.  They were washing all the bikes.  Their vans were full of hanging tires and bike parts, and each bike had the name of the rider painted on the crossbar.  The guys let John pick one up - crazy lightweight.  I think my bike weighs about triple....

Good adventure.

Spring!!!!!

**** DISCLAIMER - apparently I started this in about April and never finished/posted it.*****

No real excuse for the long absence from our blog... and I'm not giving up on it just yet!

The sun has come out again this month and I'm thrilled!  I've been working from home on the big project I'm involved in, and so I sit in our living room with the light streaming in.  So great!

Usually just about the time I'm ready for a break and a cup of tea mid morning, the kids are out on the Spielplatz (playground) for recess.  It's seriously the best entertainment.  I have to say though, I have a great deal of compassion for any German child who has had to move to the US and adapt to school there and vice versa.  Playground rules are NOT the same.  There is a very different level of acceptable aggression when playing.  The kids on the Spielplatz hit, kick, shove, drag, spit...all while everyone is laughing and smiling.  If someone actually gets hurt, whoever made the painful blow usually stops, checks out the injury, puts their arm around the other kid and they walk off friends.  I actually saw a kid truly getting "picked on" the other day.  A smaller boy was standing, backed up to the wall by two other boys.  Suddenly, the biggest kid in the class comes running up, chews the two boys out and pulls the small boy away from the wall.  The really funny moment was watching the small boy walk away taunting the two boys as he went, figuring he was safe now.  Kind of made me speculate as to how he'd gotten himself in trouble with the two boys in the first place....

So I'm guessing a German child who moves to the US runs the risk of getting suspended and being completely baffled as to why.  And an American child who lands in the middle of a German playground walks away convinced that "they're all mean" and "don't like me."  We've drilled into American children, "Use your words, not your hands." "It's not nice to hit/kick/spit/shove."  How do you un-learn what that kind of behavior means?

Really, its just a one classic and visible example of clashing cultural values.  Behavior just doesn't have universal meaning.  Changing contexts is all about trying to unlearn all kinds of things, and I think some of them you never really do. I can sit there and experience direct criticism, for example, that's extremely normal in a German context and functions a little bit like the hitting and kicking on the playground (all part of the fun, right?) and mentally know it's not intended to hurt or reject, but I can't seem to actually erase that gut level emotional response that surfaces from all my years of training.  Its like the best I'll ever be able to do is to sort of "console" my feelings back into place with accurate knowledge.  But maybe I'm wrong.  We'll see. :)

But I was talking about spring...