Boomer Sooner.........observations from across the pond

Congrats to the Aggies. From across the pond, I have tried as best possible to watch the games via livestreaming. It has been tough, because a lot our games have been late games which puts the games on here around midnight and later.

I decided that in honor of my Aggie friends at UBC, and me not being there to go to the game, that I would join in and watch. I have always told my aggie friends, and for that matter any of my college football friends, that I am proud of OU but it is always a reality that anyone can and will get beat.

I have decided that a good coach recognizes that the quarterback is no longer performing, a great coach actually pulls them out. It is time for Stoops to realize that Jones is not the answer. In baseball if the pitcher isn't hacking it, they pull them and may do that 3 or 4 times in a game. It was clear last year that Jones was probably not what was needed. It is time for this program to realize that it has been in 4 National Championship positions (winning 1) in the last 10 years. To most programs, that is great; OU has a more of a tradition of winning championships, not coming up short.

To me, I love watching football, but I don't get emotional. Now when I say emotional, I don't stomp and scream and call for the head of the coach on a silver platter. Do I sometimes yell at the TV or the game; yes, that is a natural progression of watching college football. So taking the emotion out and viewing college football and seeing it for what it is, a business. Now at OU, football is not all it is famous for; with the incredible leadership of President Boren, it is the go to university of academics. It has world class facilities; Journalism, Meteorology, Law, Music, Medical, Engineering and one of the largest collection of Natural Science Museums. But football gets your university on TV and in the spotlight for recruiting both for sports and academics.

So, let's do the right thing, enjoy the game, but it's time for a change; bring in the relief quarterback.

Paris.....The 2 Hour Lunch

Now, this has 2 different meanings. Here in Paris, most working people come to work around 9-10am and then leave around 7-8pm Some would say, "but I thought the french take it easy." Well, after coming to work, they will take 3-4 coffee breaks and then they will take a 2 hour lunch. Some in the US would say that 2 hours lunches aren't uncommon, but they are for 95% of americans which is the opposite here in Paris. Parisians work hard, but they also take their time in leisure during the day. Stereotypes run amuck? Not trying to stereotype, but point out observation. Now this is not what the focus of my ramblings.

While the working world is taking their 2 hour lunch, the rest of us try and get things done, grocery shop, cleaners, shopping, going to Nicolas (http://www.nicolas.com/index.php/en/178.htm) for your daily selection. This is where cultural difference become evidently clear. It seems from the observer that the french culture works just hard enough to eek out a living and capitalism or entrepreneurialism (is that even a word). They have no need for amassing large amounts of money. It is for that reason that most of the shops close from 1pm-3pm. If you want to shop for a purse, not now; if you want to get some wine, not then either; how about plan a vacation with a travel agent...no way. So for those of us not working we must take a forced nap everyday and wait for the shops to open back up in order to complete the day.

I am not one to complain about a forced nap everyday, but 2 hours? Can't we at least do an hour? Well, for 10 hours a week, I must find something else to do other than take care of the business I need to conduct. Maybe I will take up crocheting, basket weaving or maybe I will learn to drink coffee or espresso.

See you later (just not from 1pm-3pm)

More water Por Favor!!!

I lived in Houston for 18 years. In 7th grade I took French class and then only thing I remember is how to count to 10. But amazingly once I arrive here it is though I have mastered the art of Spanish (which is crazy considering I never took a Spanish class). Now wherever I go here in Paris, I seem to only be able to speak spanish.

We found a mexican restaurant here in Paris (good if you are desperate for mexican) and the waiter asked what I wanted to drink. Now my mind knew I had to answer in a language other than english, so I answered, "una cerveza por favor!" The waiter just looked at me, my wife starred with this, "did you really just say that?" look on her face, but I didn't realize what I had said until he said, "Pardon?" At that time, I realized that living in Houston for 18 years, I picked up way more Spanish than I had intended purposely.

Now, you would think that this would have been a 1 time incident, but NOOOOO!!! I do that everywhere. I flip on the Spanish like I am Ricky Ricardo (babaloo). Frequently when asked if I would like anything else, I respond, "Si!" If I didn't already get strange looks for speaking english, I up the ante by responding to people in Spanish which would be okay if we weren't in a country that spoke French.

Con el fin de que termine este blog, es lógico que terminan en un idioma que yo no sabía que yo sabía realmente. Mais aussi je pouvais y mettre un terme à une fin surprenante de dire au revoir et bonne nuit en français

bonne journee

I want a big one....yes, I have Scooter envy!

I told myself I would only blog once a week, but this week I just have to have 2. One of the most common forms of transportation is a 2 wheeled device. They can range from a little electric bike up to a large Harley or Rice Rocket. Somewhere in between are different sizes of scooters. My favorite (which I will desperately try to get if we ever start seeing some income) is the BMW Executive C-1. It really is a cool, awesome scooter. It's not that I care that it is a BMW (cause if someone else made it I would still want it). It's like a little one seater Jeep, you know the kind everyone unzips the doors or takes them off.

Now, I am not sure I will drive it like Parisians do. Of course if I lived in California or New York, maybe I would. See here they drive between vehicles no matter what the size. You will see these little scooters come flying by (on highways and city streets) and you are just supposed to know they are there. These flying Wallenda's have no fear. They have no care of getting hurt or dying. The little devil-may-cares just go where they want. I saw a scooter squeeze by a truck and car by going around the mirrors of the vehicles just to get up to the stop light. They fear no death. No, after not just driving in Houston and in Paris, I would just do what a car does, wait my turn and not push the timeline of me meeting Jesus.

Maybe I will start a Scooters for Jesus club. Maybe then they will take driving aimlessly and erratically more seriously and wait to meet Jesus another day. Until then, I will only dream of my scooter and the scooters for Jesus club and continue to walk, take the bus and the Metro. I will have to wait to have a Big One!

Pairs - Home of La Bag....

On any normal day, I would walk into Walmart, pick out what it is I want, as much as I want, go to the register, have my items scanned and bagged and then out to the car to head home. Well as we know this is no longer the "norm" in our lives. Here, you buy just what you can either carry home or put in your little old lady wheeled cart (photo to come later). But it does not stop there. In Paris, bags cost money, so if you don't bring your own they charge you for what you need and you have to bag up your own items. This goes for anything that you buy, not just groceries. Want to buy an blouse, or shoes or school supplies, you have to have your own bags or buy a bag or bags from the clerk.

Now you must realize there is a method to the Parisian madness. This is a city that is big on recycling or being environmentally friendly. So to force you to think about bringing bags with you, they charge you for them. So everyone here is basically a "bag lady." You have a bag stuffed somewhere so in case on your way home from work you want to stop in and buy something, you have a bag for your purchase. I like the idea, it forces you to really think about the impact of just getting a plastic bag and then possibly throwing it away into a landfill somewhere. If we in America adapted such a simple principle, we might have less plastic bags in our landfills.

So the next time you buy groceries, or kids clothes, or school supplies, think about if the store made you purchase bags from them to put the items in you just bought, would you think about keeping some bags in your car just for those times when you needed to shop and had to have a bag? I recommend getting the bag that is either canvas or already made of recycled materials rather than having a hoard of plastic Walmart sacks in your trunk.

Remember it's not "paper or plastic" but rather reusables.....

Au revoir

Look out Paris, all that Houston driving is going to pay off!!!

We have no furniture for the new house, so we needed to get some so it could be delivered. We wanted to go to IKEA here, but it is 25 minutes outside of paris (weird). Problem is, that there is no bus service or train that goes out there...how to get there. Liz called work and got a rent car, a Renault 4 door diesel standard. Now, I google mapped where IKEA was and where we were and put together a driving direction plan to get there. Now, I have no clue what most of the signs say, nor do I understand that pedestrians just stroll across whenever they want. But, we need to go, so I put on my brave face and got in the car.

My co-pilot Liz with my hand written directions in her hand, we headed off. Can I tell you, I love driving a stick, not only that the diesel engine is quite and fast. So with the family in the car, we entered traffic in the general direction we were supposed to start in. 30 minutes and all the right turns, success.....IKEA found. There are round red and white signs on the road that tell you the speed limit. Now, it is weird to look down and see you are doing 130....then you remember that is 130KMH, not MPH. IKEA was packed, wall to wall, parisians/french people with no code of order. you could be standing in a line of 10 people waiting for something and someone will just walk up and cut everyone off without a care. Now, this redneck just bit his lip and was strangle holding his wife to keep from looking and sounding like the ugly americans buy saying, "Hey we are all in line, can't you see?" No we just stayed in line, bid our due and finally paid our bill.

Now the drive back was a little more eventful as we missed our turn and ended up accidentally being able to find our house and the school (we could so win Amazing Race). We pulled out a map in a paris book and navigated back to our house after a full day at IKEA. So now our airship is still in limbo (not sure when it is coming) and the stuff we bought won't be delivered till Sept 6th (another 10 days in this "little parisian hotel."

So this redneck's observance is this, if you can drive in Houston, you can drive anywhere with the best of them, if you don't have anywhere to go in a hurry, paris is for you and if you don't want to wait, just cut.

Love, Life, Church

Today, was our last sunday in church. All the students were so incredible, hugs just kept coming. As we made this decision to go, church was a big issue for me. I love UBC. But more over, I am going to miss my "kids," especially my Senior boys. This group of guys has the potential to make this world a better place. They have come so far in what will be 4 years and I will miss them. Matt P, Matt B, Austin, Brandon, Lawrence, Derek, Robert, Grant, Tyler (taco), Adam, Will and Ryan (I know I have left someone out..sorry).

I have cherished watching them go from goofy 9th graders to more mature (still a little goofy) men. They are the leaders of tomorrow. When these guys enter a room, people notice, and it isn't because they are good looking (like me) and are built (like me), but it is the confidence they exude. Their confidence makes them the men of tomorrow; leaders of industry, doctors, lawyers, engineers or whatever road God takes them.

As they enter their Senior year, they will be faced with even more challenges than in previous years. The achievement of maximizing their grades, excelling at sports and maintaining friendships are all the areas of opportunity where they will face pressures to go outside of their belief. Pressures to do things that go against what God has in store for them and what is in their best interest.

I have seen them make good choices and not so good choices and they are learning every day. I pray that God keeps them safe, holds them in his Grace and guides them down a path that honors him.

Anxiety and Stress......3 weeks to go

As my wife is describing the 2 houses that she like (thankfully she found houses instead of an apartment). Oone is really posh, but outside of where we would like so that kids might have other kids around and the other is only 1/2 mile from the school they will be attending though still nice, just not as nice. I start trying to think about these houses, I start to freak out knowing I know nothing about the city. I can close my eyes envision where everything is from Galveston to Huntsville and Beaumont to Victoria, but I am afraid I won't know where everything is. Then my wife describes how a piece of steak the size of my palm in the grocery store was 45 Euro ($50) for a single piece of meat (she said all meat was expensive). Is the entire country vegetarians?

As I continue to digest this, I now am officially unemployed (well at least in 2 more weeks). Everyone I tell (that didn't know or just found out) thinks it is the coolest thing? Is it wrong to think that here in America we do it in such a way that things are easy and accessible? Am I making to much of this and it is actually going to be a breeze? I have gotten some great advise from Jennifer Reeves (currently in Singapore) and she is on her 2nd overseas assignment and has managed to do this and have a kid while in Singapore. I feel like I am going to be this American Redneck Idiot that doesn't know nothin'.

On a side note, Liz visited the American School in Paris and found out that the cafeteria offers sushi (katherine was sold on that alone). She said the school is incredible and the kids will absolutely love it. Well, as we move to the final stages of leaving, I need to suck it up and make it work. I don't know how else I can accomplish it any other way.

Look out Paris.....Bubba is comin'

Stuff and more stuff.....

They say that your stuff defines who you are.... If that is true, I am junk. We have moved a few times, but all those times we just moved everything with us. Now we are actually going through stuff, having to make inventories and log everything. So the theme right now in our life is "purge." How much unused, worthless junk can one family amass? Sad thing is that I haven't even started in the attic or garage or shed. I love all the people that invited us to the latest "party" to buy stuff, but I have an attic of scrapbooking, southern living stuff that has never been opened. Why do people do that? Buy stuff they never use. I found our wedding silverware that we never opened. Who does that? I have decided we are a society of "collecting." Just filing up spaces because there is space, or getting something because you might need it in the future.

What I have liked about this upcoming move is understanding that we need much less stuff and to be way more streamlined. This move is going to be humbling from the standpoint of living with less and being happy at the same time. To know that we as Amercian's tend to have more "stuff" than most other people in other countries.

New Kreuger mantra....Live with Less and be happy.

A redneck beginning

Okay, here we are, 44 days from take-off and I have no idea where we are. As I think about the enormity of what it takes to move our family, I get lost in all the uncertainty. See, you have to fit your life into a 6'x6'x6' box (each person) and that is all you get to take. You are going to take it from a 3200sf house to a 3 bedroom 900sf apartment, or if you are lucky, you might find a 1000+sf house, but all only have 1 bathroom. Amercian's seem to be the only ones who seem to pay homage to having 2 bathrooms. Now, that may sound snobbish, but it is more what has become a way of life and what you are used to. Some would say that there are those in this world who don't even have one bathroom and with that, it brings me back to the real world, that we will survive with just one bathroom. Bathroms aside, my kids attitude toward moving have changed. Katherine, who was psyched about living in the home of Gucci, Prada, Chanel etc decided to have a meltdown today. After spending a lot of time with her friends this summer, she got upset that she was leaving such great friends. Now Jackson, who what initially my meltdown child, has been walking around the house saying, "more mac-n-cheese sil vous plait!" So, as I drink my American Beer, driving my Amercian Car (not at the same time), I can't wait for the adventure that awaits, learning about a culture whose buildings can be more than 800 years old, free from WiFi, and steeped in tradition.

Au revoir Texas, Bonjour Paris'