Laura and Benoît Take a Trip to the Beach

Lately, I often find myself thinking about my childhood memories and pondering the famous question we all ask ourselves at one point or another : Where the heck did the time go?  I can recall my Dad frequently asking this question and my Mom responding with, of course, a very logical response.  "Well if you think that one second goes like 'that' (here she would snap her fingers) and there are sixty of these in a minute and there are sixty minutes in an hour and twenty-four hours in a day..."  If you think about, it all makes sense, but you cannot help having the impression that time is flashing before your eyes.  

While looking at recent pictures that I've taken here in France and doing a bit of brainstorming for this blog, I giggle to myself when I came up with the title, "Laura and Benoît Take a Trip to the Beach."  It's like a Berenstain Bears book!  I think between Aaron and I, we have completed most of The Berenstain Bears collection, which is somewhere in the basement holding on to its "sentimental value" underneath all of the dust.  Here are some of the titles I particularly remember:

    

And now here is my own version :

Laura and Benoît Take a Trip to the Beach

After having passed all of her final exams, Laura decided to surprise her fiancé, Benoît, and join him at the beach.  Benoît is a stone mason and works hard on a beautiful stone mansion on the seaside. 

Benoît, the stone mason

When Laura finally arrived, she called Benoît on the telephone to tell him that there was a surprise for him waiting on the shore.  

And all of a sudden there was Laura, jumping joyfully into the arms of her future beloved husband.  

Because they are young and in love, they sometimes act rather silly!

 They spent the entire afternoon playing in the sun and looking at bridal magazines that Laura's Mom and Dad and their friend Molly had sent to her all the way from the United States! (of course Benoît was thrilled...)

They stayed until sunset, when they knew it was time to go home.  They were sad to leave such a beautiful place, but knew they would be leaving together to go back to their provencal home in Northern France where they would live happily ever after.

THE END 

(but not really...it's just the beginning!)

"I'm A Big Girl Now"

So here I am at the office, half way through my hour and half lunch break.  Since my last blog, I have finished my classes and final exams, which leaves me here with one project, a 6 month internship, and a memoire to go before getting that masters degree!  As most of you already know, I have been accepted as an intern in a small translation company in Nantes and up until now, I have been working here one day a week.  However now, I am a full time intern.

I find it rather amusing that ever since I was young, I made a promise to myself that I would never have "a 9 to 5 desk job."  After having gone to work with my parents many a time, I just could not figure out the allure of a sedentary lifestyle, in front of a computer screen...all day long.  Well, here I am! 8:30 at my desk, in front of the computer screen waiting for my clock to tell me 5 o'clock and time to go home.

Unfortunately, for the moment I am not doing too much translating.  I am learning more along the lines of management technics, dealing with clients and free-lance translators (Yes, Elizabeth I am working with your "fellow colleagues"), converting formatted documents into Microsoft Word, creating estimates, and organizing information in the database.  I don't really mind it so much, for I know that these are skills that I need to learn for any kind of desk job in addition to a possible future career in free-lancing. 

Despite the French urge to socialize and discretely procrastinate, I am much like my Mom in the fact that I just want to be left alone in my office (or open cubicle in my case) so I CAN DO MY JOB!  For me, working hours should be spent working (or occasionally sending personal e-mails to your mother haha), so that when the clock strikes 5, you can LEAVE at 5.  Maybe I will be able to teach the French a thing or two about "American work ethic" lol.

I am training/working with another intern, with whom I will be working during the duration of my internship ending September 28th.  Her name is Maria Gonzolaz and she is Spanish (of course, especially with a name like that).  We call her by the name "Chus" (don't ask me why lol).

I am trying to learn and more importantly remember everything during my training because my supervisor is leaving soon (possibly at the end of this week) to go on maternity leave until the end of September.  As a working French woman, she is allowed to take up to 18 weeks of PAID maternity leave.  All the more reason to have a baby in France (haha just kidding, Benoit and I have agreed to wait awhile before having a baby--thought maybe that we would get married first lol).

Two weeks ago, Benoit and I had our first "marriage class" at St. Donatien Church with 8 other couples.  Surprisingly, we were not the youngest couple getting married.  There was one couple at 21 and 22.  Everyone seemed to be fascinated by our engagement/commitment to get married and asked so many questions like, "How do you guys communicate??" My response, "Well, you know, I do speak French."  "Where will you get married?!  Where will you live?!" It's funny because for Benoit and I, we consider ourselves as any ordinary couple, in love, looking to get married and share/spend the rest of our lives together.  However, everyone else seemed rather astonished that we agreed to such a thing given our respective cultures.  For Benoit and I, that makes our love even bigger and more beautiful!

During the 3 hour class, on a Saturday morning, where Benoit had to unwillingly give up his playdate to play rugby with the guys (poor thing), we talked about the typical things: Why marriage? Why a Catholic marriage?  What does marriage mean to you as a couple?  While at first these questions seemed rather simple and obvious, Benoit and I both agreed after the session was over, that these simple questions were never really openly addressed before and it was nice to hear how the other repsonded.  When having to discribe marriage between a man and a woman in one word, excluding the word "love", Benoit chose the word "sharing" while I chose the word "friendship." I think we are off the great start :)

I wanted that thank everyone for all of their words of congratulations, cards, bride magazines, and multiple expressions of joy concerning Benoit and I's engagement.  It means so much to me that even though we are living on opposite sides of the ocean, you have welcomed Benoit into the family with open arms and are equally excited about the engagement/wedding as we are.  I love you so much and although so far away, I have never felt closer to the people that I love.  Thank you :)

Well, my hour and a half lunch break are up!  Gotta get crackin' on those translation estimates!

Love you :)

Gros bisous (Big kiss),
Laura