As mentioned previously, we’re going to spend a few weeks in Spain with Sarah, followed by a few days in Paris on the way home. Lots of prep work before going – Cindy has handled most of the trip planning logistics this time, while I tried to get stuff settled at work, as well as put together work to take along with me to help reduce the impact of being out of the office for a month, as well as the trip cost!
It turns out that U.S. Government restrictions make it problematic (if not actually illegal) to “export” any government software without who-knows-what process and approval, so instead I decided to just use my personal laptop, and work on a couple of things not directly involving the project source code – One is to work on tools and processes (build automation, code formatting and analysis tools, etc.), the other being to learn about Web Services and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). The project I’m working on is moving towards an SOA implemented with Web Services, all based on open-source software such as Linux, JBoss, PostgreSQL, etc, so there’s no export restrictions to worry about. More than a few weeks of work there!
To become aware of some of the cultural differences we might run into, I read a couple of the Culture Shock! series of books, covering France and Spain. I highly recommend them to anyone heading abroad. For example in Spain, having your hands in your lap at the table is bad manners – keep them visible on the table. And in France, don’t smile walking down the street – the French do not trust a smile – they will think you are an idiot. And a couple tips on understanding what comes across to Americans as French rudeness: “The French are quick to criticize everybody and everything, but that is often only to make an opportunity for discussion, to ‘break the ice’, so to speak.” “…showing discourtesy is a Parisian way of paying a compliment…the ruder you are to people, the greater value you give to their existence.” And French fashion: “The French are not frivolous about their street clothes.” “The Parisians do nothing so well as dress…” Good stuff!
I also looked around for a way to refresh the Spanish I took in school years ago, of which I remember how to count to 100 and ask “Where is the bathroom?” (“¿Dónde está el baño?”, of course!). I looked at a bunch of online options, and decided to try Coffee Break Spanish from the Radio Lingua Network. Their podcasts were perfect for my commute, since I had a 20 minute walk from my vanpool to my office, and no one in the neighborhood really noticed me walking along at 6:30 in the morning mumbling to myself in Spanish! The host of the podcast, Mark, and his “learner”, Kara, make a great team. The show is produced in Scotland, so I loved listening to their accents. I really enjoyed when they imitated an American accent to make a particular pronunciation point – what a kick!
As to learning a bit of French for our time in Paris, I defaulted to Cindy, both because Cindy had been to Paris before with her friends, and because I managed to drop-out of French in college after a week – I couldn’t make the sounds correctly, and couldn’t stand talking to myself in the Language Lab! C’est la vie! Having said that, I did spend a few times while out running listening to Mark and his French learner Anna on the first few lessons of Coffee Break French, which is every bit as good as Coffee Break Spanish, though Anna already has (what sounds like to my ear) excellent pronunciation. Mark needs someone like me on the show to be his “learner” – If he could teach me how to get my French pronunciation right, it would be miraculous!
