A New Day

A new day begins- my first morning here in France, and what a beautiful one it is. Over Lake Geneva, across the thin 2-mile strip of Switzerland and just past the border into France, the sun pours into the optimally tidy living room in which I now sit. Books and papers neatly stacked, matching red furniture against the bright white walls, but with revealing signs of life- an uncapped pen and memo pad with scribbles of an uncompleted task, stacked vegetable crates housing hi-tech gadgets, and a well-worn slate desk displaying the menu of some past dinner party in white chalk. I know my visceral lust for this moment and place will quickly develop into a meaningful and long-lasting love.

After a long day of travel, I was picked up by family friend, host and fast-growing personal friend, hero and confidante: Faith McLellan. Spurting off tips, translations, customs and must-know bits of information like kernels flying from a haywire popcorn machine, I QUICKLY learn to always have pen and paper at hand when I am lucky enough to be in her company. This fact was later explicitly confirmed at dinner, over fresh pizza and LOTS of red wine (a result of a small miscommunication of which size carafe we wanted to replace the first carafe of wine). From Faith I have also become aware of my primary role as taskmaster of odd jobs- already fixing the Wi-Fi (thank you Gerrault & Alain), changing the oven clock, and figuring out the world's most complicated mattress cover. I am still weeks behind my ever-expanding to-do list. ( =

Though I leave behind friends and family I love, I am confident this adventure upon which I have embarked will be incredibly enjoyable, educational and exciting. I don't know much of what is to come, but I'll make sure I keep you posted as life happens.

You can certainly comment here if you so choose. Also feel free to email me at -mrcarlnelson@gmail.com- if you want to hear more details or open up more of a dialogue...the blogging experience is new and still a little weird to me. You can also find me on Skype at the same username: mrcarlnelson.

That's it for now. Au revoir!
-CARL