New Acquaintance

While in the airport grabbing some grub I passed by this younger gentlman.  He was tall and thin, about  six feet three or four.  He was wearing business clothing - shirt and slacks but had a light blue sweater tied around his neck.  This caught my attention as it is so reminiscent of the 80's prep style dress.

The plane was an MD88 with three rows on the left(A,B,C) and two on the right(D,E) as you face towards the cockpit.  Our seats consisted of B, C, D, and E thus dividing us two by two.  Ryder and Jane Anna took the two sided with Ryder choosing the window seat.  Carson sat in B and I in C.  In seat A was the younger gentleman I had noticed from the airport.  His legs so long his knees were pressed against the seat in front of us.  He was mannerly and worked on his laptop throughout the first leg of the flight.  The Flight Attendants made their journey dishing out drinks, peanuts, etc.  The gentleman in seat A asked for Cranberry juice then struggled somewhat to request only a few pieces of ice be added to his drink.  He definitely had an accent but I was unsure what type.  I then proceeded to inquire as to where he was from.  France, he replied.  Then being more specific, Northern France.  A city called Lille, France.  It is located 2 hours NNW of Paris near the Belgium border.  He's been in the U.S. for 2-3 months working for a company in France that produces instruments for medical procedures.  His job is to review the technical drawings of the parts and instruments then meet with Sales Reps and review.  He said his job was really demanding right now as he was learning English and his job.

Carson had the opportunity to ask several questions on the first half of the journey as did Ryder on the latter half as did I.  We asked about school and how it was laid out compared to U.S.  He said similar but the wording was different for example "College" begins at age 12 thru 16 or 18 then you go to a University.  His degree was in Science, taking 5 years he stated.

Spanish, English, and of course French were the languages he studied in school.  Spanish he said he stopped practicing thus loosing the ability to speak it.  English he had continued to study but was struggling somewhat with all the different terms like "ratchet" for example and the constant abbreviations in email and text for U.S. terms.

Several times during our conversations we almost just stared as I struggled to think of how to ask a question a certain way to make it easier.  He was very bright but the slangs of English always seem to get in the way.  Ryder was on a roll at one point asking questions and asked if he knew what tap dancing was.  I have no idea why he asked that but we were unable to communicate that question as apparently that is not a term translatable to French maybe.  Who knows.  We moved on.  He asked Ryder about his favorite foods and favorites things to do.  He showed us a picture his brother, still in France, sent him while biking.  It was a beautiful picture of a farm on a rolling hill with trees in the backdrop with sheep grazing in the pasture near the road.

The boys said he was real nice and we all enjoyed the conversation.  It would be very interesting to spend more time talking with someone like Nicholas from another country and discovering the differences in our cultures.

Home Sweet Home! 9:30pm CST

On the ground and now in the car in Memphis

Sent from Jeff's iPhone

Boarded and ready. Liftoff in 6 mins.

They are really workin on some kinda drawing.

Near miss

We arrived back at the Polynesian around 2:15. Purchased a few snacks from Captain Cook's to finish off those remaining on our dining plan. Made a last min pit stop in which Ryder looked toward the large stall and said he didn't think there was a toilet so he was gonna check it. He opened the door and let me know it was a good so he thought he'd go. 15 mins later he's still there and I fear our bus to the airport has arrived. JA and Carson await outside. After several words back and forth and some tension Ryder completes his mission, rushes, to wash and we sprint to the front entrance. Thank goodness the bus is heading our way and not away.

Made it the airport safely. No issues going thru security except they pulled one of our backpacks due to me failing to realize a partially filled water bottle slid to the bottom. JA and Ryder grabbed a snack at Burger King while Carson and I split a cheeseburger from Outback. Made to gate 76 and now awaiting our 5:46pm EST departure to Memphis Int Airport.