#1 - Nick Webster

9. La Vie En France

            The first thing I noticed when we arrived in France was that I now had no clue what anything said. Nikki wasn't kidding. It was an entirely new language, and I knew none of it. The second thing I noticed was even worse. Nikki had trouble figuring out what the signs said on our way out of the airport. Nikki learned some of the basic language before we left but not nearly enough to comfortably navigate the airport. And to make matters worse, I now had to be dependent on her again. What was I thinking getting myself into this mess?

This language barrier was certainly going to be difficult for the short term for both of us. Nikki taught me a lot of what she knew on the airplane ride to France, but I had limited time to learn the language since I just started to learn it, and I had only learned how to hear and say the words. That wouldn't help me read any signs or billboards. Let's hope the people were nice and would help us navigate.

Nikki and I were on the same page. She said exactly what I was thinking, "We need to learn the language here," she said only a few minutes after we had exited the plane.

Nikki first had us exchange our Russian currency for French currency. There was an exchange center in the airport where they gave us what's called a "Euro" in return for the Russian currency. However, we received a lot less Euros than Russian dollars. I wasn't sure if they stole from us or what, but Nikki wasn't too concerned about it. I didn't question it either. Right after we finished exchanging currency, Nikki emphasized, "We don't have much money, so we'll have to learn the language along the way," she said.

We exited the airport, and I asked my favorite question. "What's the game plan?"

Nikki turned to me and blurted out, "You just never live life one moment at a time, do you?"

I wasn't expecting such an assertive response. We were still speaking in Russian, and I don't think anyone around here spoke in Russian. That could work to our advantage. Several people were giving us odd looks, but that was nothing new for us.

I didn't respond directly to her question, but I did point out what I had noticed. "How are we going to communicate around here without either of us knowing much of the language?"

"The only thing I need is access to a computer, and all our worries will be gone," she said very proud of herself.

"Well, we don't have access to one right now," I pointed out.

"Silly Nolan, there are libraries scattered throughout many countries including this one. I won't be able to search for anything too risky because the French government cound find out. Also, there are likely going to be cameras in the libraries, so they'll be alerted to video evidence of who searched. That's why we're going to learn the language at the public library today. We need to make it easier to communicate and navigate around this country as soon as possible," she stated. She started cheerfully skipping as she finished her last sentence.

"Where's the public library?" I asked.

"You'll see," she said. We kept heading down the same street in the same direction.

Our flight was only a few hours, and by now, it was around lunch time. I was hungry and starting to become impatient. "Do we have to right now? I'm hungry."

"What did I tell you?" she said. "I knew you'd be hungry! God. I feel like your mother," she said that last sentence while rolling her eyes yet still giving a little smile.

It didn't take us too long before we stopped. It looked like a bus stop. "How far away is the library?" I asked.

"Far enough away to where you're not going to want to walk. And I don't want to drag you after you collapse from starvation," she said with a slight smile.