Fall melancholy

I am truly enjoying my life in Grenoble this fall. The courses at CUEF are going great, flamenco, Japanese school, agility, it feels to me that they are at the perfect ripeness. Another thing nice and mature is myself, and a middle aged person had better know moderation in order to avoid falling ill.

Last Saturday, our doggie friends took us to Annecy where we spent a nice afternoon visiting the castle and historic sites. It has been almost exactly a year since we first visited there, and the charm is still in its effect! We will have to miss the fall festival this year, and this thought made me rather upset...

Most likely we will not be in France this time next year :(.

Despite the filthiness of this country, I am truly at home here in France. The next destination had better be an awesome place, as it is pretty hard to beat this one.

Ohana

"Ohana means family. And family means no one gets left behind."

Chana is having some intestinal problems but we still went for a hike in Chartreuse near the Grande Chartreuse Monastery. We thought she needed some rest so Nathan back packed her for 5 minutes.

We drove a smart car for the first time and we enjoyed the semi-automatic transmission!

C'est la rentrée!

It is the back-to-school season in France, and we hear more and more odd screams and roars outside these days. You can do anything when you are young.

Being ambitious, I am back to school to learn some more French. I decided to take a semester course instead of monthly intensive courses. The course consists of 10 hours of language courses (FLE, test taking strategy, and vocabulary) and 4.5 hours of general cultural courses. I am doing this among the youngsters as most of my classmates are university exchange students from the USA. So the battle is on :).

I am also back to teach at the Japanese complementary school on Wednesdays. Instead of the 4th grade I teach the 2nd grade this term, and the first class (today) went really well. I cannot say this out loud, but I use the same technique to teach the kids that I use on Chana. It works! In October, I will start teaching Japanese as a foreign language to the adults, but I am not so keen on it at this point. I guess it will be a good experience teaching in French.

For extra-curricular activities, I will be doing Flamenco again, and of course agility with Chana. Nathan is doing more bouldering now, and I hope to take salsa classes with him. Yoga classes have to wait until January, although I already miss my Yoga teacher.

The Fiddle and the Drum (July and August 2011)

In July 2011, for the first time ever, I...

• offered 1hr/wk "juku" for some kids from the Japanese school even though they were on holidays.
• Unofficially took a break from my French lessons. 
• Joined my friends to visit Toulouse, Carcassonne, Andorra as an official driver.
• Got a picture taken by a speed camera coming back and felt sick to stomach. 
• Flew to Canada using miles and swore I never want to transit in the US.
• Had a Strawberry smoothie from Starbucks.
• Cleaned my luggage covered in mint syrup shuttered by rough luggage handlers at a hotel room.
• Laughed out loud.

In August 2011, for the fist time, I...

• Had Subway for dinner with Kathy in Victoria Park, Kitchener.
• Went to the new property of Linda, a new Aimhi location!
• Slept in the bed which used to be our guest bed, now at Jason's!
• Became a true Japanadian.
• Went to Texas to attend the wedding of Abram and MT.
• Shared a hotel room with Nathan's mom.
• Had breakfast tacos.
• Flew from Houston to Vancouver using wifi in the air thanks to Alaska Airlines.
• Stayed with Cath and David, Elearnor's family.
• Visited the house of Doug and Eleanor without Doug and Eleanor.

I still enjoyed and loved...

• Spending time with the Stewarts at their cottage up in Storney lake.
• Drinking coffee with Maruoka sensei.
• Sharing values with Jason.
• Discussing life with Donna while eating her Indian cuisine.
• Eating delicious homemade Persian meal with Leila.
• Seeing Jen and Scott, a community builder.
• Being inspired by Dr. Ariga, Dr. Shimpo, Dr. Hara, Ken and Hana, full of wisdom.
• Being encouraged by Sormeh and Zahra. I feel like I grew up with them.
• Seeing Aya and Tim with their two powerful kids, a family so tight as a unit.
• Chatting with T, with whom I taught at AEON.
• Having a nice dinner with Sharon and Arthur.
• Discussing life with Aseem, my family doctor.
• Drinking Strawberry smoothie from Starbucks. 8th one?
• Doing agility with Chana.

I hated...

• Being away from Nathan and Chana, especially when Chana was ill.
• Being asked to stand up in support of troops. 

Here is Joni!

Peace

Chanagility: weaves

We bought a set of 12 weave poles early April to practice weaves at home. I did not like the luring technique used in agility classes, so our training imitating Susan Garrett's 2x2 methods began. Well, I modified it greatly, so we ended up having a dog who does 12 poles nicely but has very weak concept of entry... I have to be as creative as possible so that Chana knows what "Go weave" means. 

One of the difficulties I am having is that we are practicing in the public park where Chana is greatly distracted. When she gets frustrated, she is looking for troubles. Another is that I have practiced too much with her sitting before she starts weaving. The result is that Chana has no idea of doing the weaves in the sequence. 

I feel like I am doing everything backwards, but we will work and adjust so that we will have a bright future ahead!

Agility in France No. 3 (The grass is always greener on the other side)

As two months of summer holiday for students began on July 2nd, most of the activities also wrap up for the summer. With my Flamenco class, we had a small performance to celebrate the end of the season, and with yoga, a nice gathering at the teacher's place. At the dog club of CCDU, it seems the same thing is happening and more and more practices are being cancelled. The instructors are on the volunteer basis, so we cannot really complain. The club will be hosting a trial on July 14th (French National Day), and after that, I have no idea if they will organize practices or not.

On the other hand, our agility in St. Nazaire-les-Eymes is HOT (excitement+temperature)! The ground covered with stones is a bummer, but I feel some progresses being made after every class. The coach has been showing more directions these days, and I truly appreciate her advice. After all, I love drills and exercises, and am always amazed how my body movement and positions make a big difference in Chana's run. One great thing about our coach here is that she is punctual, regular with schedule, and organized.

And thanks to her organization skills, we got to see another agility training center in the area which is literally just across the street. We have always envied to see what it was like over there (Question: Do they have rocks?), so we were thrilled to go for a visit for a fun agility match.

The answer to the question is, No! They have no rocks! BUT, they have no agility equipment either!! I have never been so scared of running a course before, as the handmade objects were so dangerous with no grips on the contact objects. It was my first time seeing a set of 5 weave poles as well, and I was surprised to learn that it does exist! Apparently, the teacher there does not do agility himself, but he responded to the requests from his clients. There were many dogs who were afraid of doing things, and I feel truly sorry for them. That was for sure one of the biggest "oh my goodness" moment in my life.

My only hope is that no dogs get hurt over there and no humans get hurt over here.

Joyeux anniversaire Canada!

Chana proudly representing Canada in front of the artwork in Parc Michallon

Happy Canada Day