June 2014 Shannon finished residency, took written OB/GYN
board exam
July 2014 Ryan finished work at Wash U in the biomedical lab.
Lots of travel to see family and friends, ending with a time of hiking in
Colorado
August 2014 Samaritan’s Purse orientation, packing, and
departure for France
September 2014 Start of French classes, lots of adjustments
culturally, lots of frustration talking like an infant, all in present tense,
Ryan skipped ahead a class to challenge himself. Shannon delivered a baby
(surprise!) in the hallway of the apartment just below as the parents couldn’t
make it to the hospital in time. Got language partners to practice French with.
Shannon started playing volleyball and Ryan started practicing with the local
soccer team.
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| The torch from the Albertville Olympics 1992 |
October 2014 Settled on a church home, learned French past
tense in class. Shannon’s parents came to visit! Sydney turned 1 year old. All
school field trip to a cheese factory and a watch factory. Two week school
vacation was spent with team members Tim, Kathy, and Nancy Rice in Germany,
Austria, and Switzerland, all within a 9 hr drive. Ryan had lots of frustration
trying to get proper forms signed to play in the soccer games.
November 2014 Felt a bit more at home, learned another form
of the past tense and a future tense, tried to memorize the gender of French nouns.
The leaves turned colors and fell. With cooler temps, biking to get groceries
became more of a chore. Shannon started learning and playing mandolin with the
worship team. Ryan played in his first soccer game and scored a goal from the
defense!
December 2014 First set of French final exams, consisting of
a week devoted to separate tests for written comprehension, oral comprehension,
written expression, oral expression, grammar, biblical vocabulary,
pronunciation, and ability to reproduce word for word, accent for accent, a
passage read by the professor. Ryan got a significant injury playing soccer on
Dec 6. Two week school vacation was spent in assistance with another home birth
(planned one this time), Sydney was sick with RSV in the hospital for 3 days
right after Christmas, and a trip to Paris was cancelled. Helped new students
move in and start to adjust before the restart of classes.
January 2015 Restarted classes. Learned another form of the
future tense, and subjunctive tense. Went skiing for the first time in an
almost blizzard. Had to hitchhike to get back to the free bus stop. Tried again
and had a better time.
February 2015 All-school field trip to go skiing with
beautiful weather this time. Another two week school vacation was spent with a
couple of dear friends from our St. Louis home church. Went to Paris for the
first time since being in France, also travelled to Switzerland and learned
that there is such a thing as the ability to sled down a mountain for 7 km
without stopping! Learned the present perfect tense in French.
March 2015 Second set of French exams. Shannon’s brother
Tyson and his wife Lisa came to visit! Went biking and skiing in the same
weekend. Learned passive voice in French. Was able to enjoy a French movie and
understand most of it! Got travel immunizations at the travel clinic.
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| Mont Blanc in the background. So beautiful! |
April 2015 Had a significant cultural misunderstanding which
caused lots of consternation. (thankfully this has been resolved). Learned a
new depth of forgiveness. Ryan’s mom came to visit! Spent two week school vacation
with her in Lyon and Albertville, France and a few days in Florence and Rome,
Italy. Learned the past perfect tense.
May 2015 The month of long weekends for the French. Ryan
finished up his soccer season in style. Went to Cassis to see the Calanques with
Shannon’s professor over a long weekend and managed to speak French only for 3
days, even to Sydney. Learned another form of past tense. Skipped a week of school
to go to the US for a wedding of Ryan’s best friend from high school. Spent a
wonderful week with Shannon’s immediate family in Tulsa and another wonderful
week with Ryan’s immediate family in San Antonio. Solidified plans for malaria
prophylaxis and bought meds for the next year.
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| A selfie with my professor in Marseille |
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| Fearless Sydney enjoying the boat ride |
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| Beautiful Calanques |
June 2015 Weather turned warmer for some good hiking in the
midst of busyness. Spent a lot of time studying French in preparation for our
final set of final exams. Went to IKEA to get things for Congo. Went to
farewell dinners. Met up with a LeTourneau University professor, Dr. Gonzalez,
in Lyon while he was at a conference. Graduated and abruptly (it felt) said
goodbye to a lot of great people. Packed and repacked and finally said goodbye
to Albertville.
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| With Dr. Gonzalez in Lyon |
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| Prayer and goodbyes from the families who lived in our building this year |
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| Carcassonne!! |
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| Together in Switzerland! |
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