I was looking over my much-neglected blog tonight and realized that two years ago Harriet and I left the US for the Netherlands.

WOW have our lives ever changed…we, as in Harriet and I are now living in France (still have the flat in Amsterdam tho) and we are now married to M (well I am married to M and Harriet the Golden Retriever is very happy about that!).

I guess it is time to start blogging about France and our world-wide adventures instead of just Amsterdam. Harriet is no longer just an Amsterdam dog but is now officially a French resident (like me). We live in Provence, in the South of France near Cannes. It has been a bit of an adjustment switching from Dutch culture to French. Just the switch in driving cultures has been a challenge. The French drive like crap but that is its own story. I am learning French as a means of survival. Learning Dutch has been a necessity in order to understand what is going on when in the company of my new family and friends as they forget to speak English (they actually “think” they are speaking English sometimes when they are not and wonder why I look confused). Most Dutch speak English and so learning Dutch has been slow as most Dutch speak English….French on the other hand is becoming a crash course out of necessity. Man, I really wish I had paid more attention in High School French I and II now haha. Most French people do not understand English! In some ways they are as bad as Americans in not knowing a second language.

Anyway, I will be taking French courses very soon and am actually looking forward to it.

Laters…