Welcome to Europe

My schedge could not have played out more perfectly- our teacher training ended on April 22nd and teaching was not to begin until May 18th. So with a near month-long break, I set off for Europe to jump aboard the cruise ship that my sister, Shannon, works on as a musical dance performer. So I took a flight from Bangkok, layover in Malaysia, then direct to Paris, France. This is where my Europe cruise vacation story begins...

I’m standing at the pre-arranged meeting point, inside a tourist information center along the pier at La Rochelle, France. Suddenly, a well-groomed but obviously American accent leaned into my ear with the best, “bonjour” impression I have heard. Turning, I’m thrown off momentarily by the purple, French beret and a dark black jacket that I swear is European. Then the recognition: Shannon!!! What a happy hug we shared! Asking, I found out that Shannon found had actually bought the chic black jacket back home at a Target…such a shopper! We immediately marched to the nearest café for our token French chocolate croissants, then wandered around the city and traded each other the “up and up” of our lives and plans for the future. We returned to the ship in the afternoon and moved me into my own cabin on the second deck—with a window view overlooking the ocean!