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Last weekend we drove up to Blacksburg, VA to visit some of my family for the last time before we move.  My aunt and cousins from NY came down to visit too, so it was a great visit even though it was really short.  Makenna got to see her great grandma and she showed everyone how she learned to clap! Of course, we had to stop at one of the Virginia Tech stores and they had the cutest baby tailgate chair.  Makenna also recently turned 7 months (whatttt?!).

This past week Ryan and I went to a cultural training class at Michelin.  There was only 1 other American in the class and the rest were from France, Japan, Germany and Italy.  The class was to help those moving to the US and us moving to France so we could understand some of the cultural differences and what we may expect during our expatriation.  It was really interesting hearing the other peoples’ experience living in the US so far and hearing some of the questions they asked (such as if it is ok to invite your neighbor inside or invite them to have coffee/dinner, and how to politely say no when someone invites them to their church, which happens a lot down here in the south haha).

Some things we learned:

• French dinners usually start around 8:30 and can go on for a very long time (I think we’ll need to take naps before this since we usually go to bed around 9!).
• Flip flops and sandals are usually only worn to the beach/pool.
• You are seen as “low class” if you wear sneakers and gym clothes in public (I guess I won’t be going straight to the grocery store after the gym anymore)
• When you are sick, you go to the pharmacy first and ask the pharmacist what medicine they recommend for your symptoms.  They don’t fill a prescription, they give you the whole bottle of whatever medicine it is.  If you don’t feel better in a few days, then you go to the doctor.

We talked to some of the people from Clermont and they offered to answer any questions we may have.  One of the ladies is going to help me call the pediatric ophthalmologist over there so I can schedule an appointment, since it can sometimes take several months before they have an opening.  We’ve been so lucky have so much help from other expats and people we’ve met from Clermont!

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We’ve been quite busy the last few weeks!  We put our home up for sale on September 15th and we are selling it through the relocation company so there were several hurdles to jump through before listing.  It has been a pain to keep the house sparkling clean and put up all of Makenna’s things each morning just in case there’s a showing.

In the meantime, we had Makenna’s 6 month appointment and the Dr. saw something wrong with her right eye but wasn’t sure what it was so she sent us to the pediatric ophthalmologist.  He said her vision is not as good in her right eye and she has a “small speck” on her retina which is technically classified as a cataract.  Makenna now has to wear glasses and we don’t really have any answers as to how her vision in that eye will be in the future or if the cataract will get bigger etc.  We are taking her to another Dr. for a second opinion in November and then we’ll consult with the Dr. in France when we move.  Thankfully it’s nothing worse and Makenna has been doing really well with them! We also recently had Ryan’s mom and my mom come to visit which was nice.

Ryan and I went to our friends Dave and Sarah’s wedding and left Makenna with her Nana overnight for the first time and I surprisingly survived haha.  We had a great time at the wedding and it was nice to have some “us” time. Ryan and I have been going to French class and it’s been tough trying to juggle learning French on top of working full time, trying to sell the house and all of the other things we have to do to prepare to move.  Ryan also had a work trip to Germany for a week.  In a couple weeks we have to go to the French consulate in Atlanta to start the immigration process and get Ryan’s visa.

Needless to say, the craziness of our big move has just begun and I’m sure the next few months will be even busier/stressful!  But of course, we couldn’t be more excited 🙂  Fingers crossed our house sells VERY soon!