Perpetual Change

Coming to Backroads

also titled: French Fried Random Thoughts
(This entry is a bit dated. It chronicles my views about coming to work for Backroads at the beginning of May.)

A journal in three parts: travel, adjustment and France, and training for work

Travel
They tried to throw a bunch of Ukrainians off the train at the Slovakian border. The people in my cabin even tried a bribe, but to no avail. Then we had work being done on the tracks somewhere in the middle of the night. So we arrived 2 hours and 10 minutes late. Which shouldn't have been a problem, but I was at the wrong station; and that day there happened to be the Viennese Marathon between me and the station that I needed. So when I got there, I was told that I could use all the same tickets. I immediately disbelieved this and went to the information counter.They said the same, and they were right...all except for the last train which stranded me in Geneva (only 2 hours from my destination) at midnight, with no trains (or waiting area!) until 6am. So in this process, I lost the last, very expensive reservation, had to get a single room (in Switzerland! not the land of the cheap); make some very expensive calls, late at night (that people laughed about later. I know I sounded so desperate. I had been travelling for like 36 hours.)

There was another (actually a couple) of much better ways out of these situations, but I didn't have enough information at the time to know it. One interesting thing is that there was a guy that just happened to take the same train, same car as me, and sit across the isle. He saw me eating my packed Ukrainian lunch, and asked where I had gotten a can of "Kilka" (a type of sardine) in Russian (or German?). I said that I didn't understand in some language, and he asked if I spoke English. In this way, I found out that he was British, teaching in Moscow and going to Zurich, and had all the same train problems coming from Russia through Slovakia and Vienna that I did. He too was moving most of his earthly possessions. And so we train hopped 5 trains together for the next 6 hours. Luckily, through Austrian and Swiss efficiency, although our connections were each less than 10 minutes, the connecting train was always just across the platform.

The big, clean picture windows in Austria and Switzerland are amazing on a beautiful day. And better yet, if I open them, no one has a problem with the draft.I also was struck by how people were generally thicker, but healthier looking. And by the fact, that even in Western Europe, don't trust anyone; no one has the right answers.people thicker, but healthier

Adjustment
My arrival in Provence was warm. I was given a bike to use for our three weeks, and a country club apartment that I shared with 4 other guys for training.

Adjusting caused about as many problems as I expected: I still followed Ukrainian customs like never leaving an empty bottles on the table or not taking trash out after dark.

I also discovered some things that I have learned: all people are selfish, unequivocally; everything is a natural continuation of some other cause; are only limitation in seeing this continuation is our understanding of the relationships; good leaders are extremely important; it is not just what the people want in a democracy; the impact of leadership on our country at its beginning was very beneficial; and maybe because of all this, but certainly most importantly, for me: life is in the process.

I also discovered that I knew, and know more strongly now: relationships are what matter. They are what defines the present, and the present creates history.

I think that I've become much more cynical, but I don't think that it shows, so maybe that makes me more average.

One of my French co-trainees thought for the first two weeks, that I was in fact Ukrainian, but my English proficiency was due to the fact that I had been to university in Florida.

France...
...is full of Plane trees planted by Napoleon in straight lines to offer shade to troops, but no cover to enemies.
...has spawned a surprising amount of native speakers that are decidedly not French.
...'s Plane trees often lead to beautiful, perched villages surrounded by fields of sunflowers (apparently the state flower of Kansas)
...showed me the most intense rainbow I've ever seen. It was as complete as Lucky's charms
...taught me that oaks must be grown for 10-12 years before you MIGHT find truffles, which used to be peasant food 20 years ago, but now sell for $1200 per kilogram.
...actually has wild Bichon Frise's running the hillsides!

Training for work
The training group was quite diverse. We spoke French, Italian, Spanish, English, and Polish amongst us; but we also speak Czech, Ukrainian, Basque, and Japanese.

While training, I was struck with an idea: have I come home? Am I destined to always live semi-guest like? Will I ever have my own bed?

Here is a culture I don't want to embrace, but people who think and act like I do. They:
- wander off
- discreetly carve out alone time
- are passionate and determined
- live "an interpretive talk" (a 5-10 minute talk about a cultural, historical, culinary topic relating to the area)
- are insecure but confident. (I see these qualities much more often in people; am I this way too?)

Things they did say in training about me is that I am a good speaker and rather obsessed with details; I am a bit of a worrier, but patient and absorbing. Not too much new there, I don't think.

I learned A LOT about bicycles. And I learn more almost everyday.I don't like driving, and although I got the clutch (with van and trailer) pretty quickly, this job involves more driving than I like. Maybe I should have clued into this earlier as someone who has never owned a car.

A few snippets:
In one talk, a middle aged French trainee, Frederiqua, told a story about the Panama Canal in her refined French accented English. She made a comment about how it took the American businessmen to finish the job after the French started. I got a good laugh out of it (more than others) and she asked me why, later. I said that I had imagined her telling it to our guests (most of whom are American Businessmen) and them thinking her quite serious. I thought the irony was hilarious (and that it might earn her a good tip.)

Although I lived with 4 guys (from Seattle, New Orleans, Canada and Switzerland), everyone really loved food. We would have big long meals every night with good French wine, and always finish with a big cheese plate. Our neighboring trainees started to catch on. One night, Will, who is really in to a nascent foraging movement as well as being particularly interested in salt (he worked in a salt store, Sheetz's!), taught some folks how to make some of the best French fries ever.

But alas (or maybe good, it was stressful) the training came to an end. Most went their separate ways, and most I doubt that I will ever see again, which carries some irony because I generally think that I will meet everyone again at some point or another. The question is if we remember. Anyway, I had no where to go yet, so I stayed and worked a bit in the warehouse there, and let me just say, I LOVE 35 hour work weeks and hour lunch breaks!

posted by jjs @ 2:18 PM