Agility in France!

(This is a preliminary report to our friends from Aimhi.)

Thanks to our friends, Chana and us got to do some agility last Saturday in a neighbouring city: Saint Nazaire. We humans are doing perfectly fine without a car here in Grenoble, but getting to an agility field in the mountain wouldn't be possible without one. Mind you, the place is not any further than the former Aimhi location from our home in Waterloo, but we really need a car if we start training...

We have so far seen two agility training places. The first one is an official canine club of Saint Martin Le Vinoux. They offer obedience, agility, and ring (shutzhunt) classes. They would hold an official agility competition as well, and they only welcome people who are gearing up for competitions which suits our mentality. BUT their facility was awful... Apparently, it often gets flooded, and they cannot invest in putting a better system as they may have to move. Hmmm... What to do? I am sorry that I did not take any photos to share.

The second one we went to was better than the first. Can'idee is run by a young lady who has two Aussies (with tails!) and one Border Collie. She is very welcoming and spoke some English. Facility-wise, the field is covered with rocks and stones, but she had all the contact equipments with the sand-paper (?) surface. I explained what we have learned so far briefly, and she told us to do a short circuit which contained: two jumps, tire, weaves, back to two jumps, and a tunnel. I could hear Linda's voice, "Weaves?" but we went ahead and did some practice. After having some difficulty finding the entrance, Chana went "through" the weaves as the poles are fenced with chicken wires. To my surprise, I somehow said "Poles!" to Chana, and I blame Kathy for that. The instructor kind of kept quiet and let us do what we were doing, which was again different... We are used to Linda catching me doing something silly from faraway in the field and approach me like a ninja.

The second circuit contained two jumps. tunnel, serpentine (yes, I remembered the term, and I remembered seeing them, and somehow I imitated what Theresa showed us one time in her workshop), a dog walk, a teeter, and a jump. I am not going to report on the tee-tar as I can see Linda covering her mouth and saying "Misato!" but Chana managed the dog walk. The trainer was quite interested when I said "Touch it" at the end of the walk, and she asked us how we trained Chana to do that.

Overall experience was positive, and I am happy we did it. Most importantly I was happy that what Linda has showed us for the past two years was ingrained in my head. I planned where I place myself in the course, and where I use my arms and voice. I even had an eye contact with Chana when she was doing the serpentine. We were using Holly's food frisbee for the reward, and Chana had a ball. She misses getting cheese sticks for rewards, but such a thing does not exist in France! We cannot find quality dog treats either. It seems that treats are rarely used to train dogs.

I think I would go check out a few more and see what kind of training they offer. So please stay tuned for our agility report from France.

Half a year in France

It has been exactly six months today since we have moved to Grenoble. We are truly enjoying this little city in the French Alps, but regretting a bit that we have not traveled around as much as we wanted to. From Grenoble, Geneva is 1.5 hours, Milan 4 hours, and Barcelona 6 hours away... It is sinful that we don't visit, especially Nathan now has every second Monday off.

On the other hand, we are getting some more local traveling done, thanks to our friends, with special spice added to it.

The first weekend of February, we were together with a friend who I met through Open House Grenoble, an international support group. She is accompanying her husband (mathematician!) on his sabbatical together with their dog. We instantaneously became friends for having so many things in common. On Saturday, the journey began in their leased vehicle; 4 humans and 2 dogs. We drove up to Autrans in the Vercors, where we headed out for a nice afternoon walk in the forest. It was great until their dog (half the size of Chana) decided to go hunting deers for 4 hours. The sun had set, the missing had been reported to the Gendarmerie (cf. RCMP), some tears had been shed, and we were at a loss. Luckily or almost miraculously, the dog appeared in front of the restaurant we had eaten earlier that day. They said that was the last day of freedom for their dog... Chana? we were lucky that she was after the treats I had in my pocket.

The second weekend of February, we were together with three ladies who we met in October during hiking in Lans-en-Vercors. We kept in touch via email, and finally this weekend we got reunited. We spent a day in Lyon visiting places, eating Lyonnaise food, and chatting incessantly. On the following day, they took us to Perouges for an excursion and hosted us at one of the lady's apartment (a 1/4 of an old castle!). How this friendship emerged is truly amazing. We happened to be at the same mountain on the same day around the same time, and they went through all this effort to host us, almost strangers, for the entire weekend.

So even though we are staying close to home in Grenoble, our experiences are rich and deep. Most importantly, we are meeting some great people. Half a year in France so far, Nathan, Chana and I are going strong, happy as always!

Return of FLE

I am back to FLE (Français Langue Étrangère) courses again. In fact, this time it is obligatory that I take 105 hours of classes and pass an exam called DELF A1 (Diplômes d'études en langue française) in order to renew my Carte de Sejour. The courses are provided for free by the government and offered by Alliance française in Grenoble.

Back in November, when Nathan and I went to the OFII (Office Français de l'immigration et l'integration), I was asked if I spoke French. Of course I said Non, and I was sent to write an assessment test at IFRA which determined the number of hours of obligatory French courses, either 240 hours or 105 hours. Now I look back, the test was not to examine one's French ability but one's literacy. So those who can write Roman alphabets and connect the pictures to the letters are in the same class, all in one. My teachers told me that I could possibly switch to a higher level class offered for those who have completed the initial exam, but my contract with the government did not allow me to do so due to the scheduling which affects the number of hours I need to complete.

So I am doing my own thing in the class: participant observation. I am entertaining myself being a former language teacher learning a language, and observing the fellow students making progress and the fellow teacher facilitating the class full of eager beavers! One great thing in this class is that everyone is willing to learn as it is strictly related to our survival. I cannot be a hare falling asleep, or they will soon catch up with me.