I'm Going On An Adventure!

"Où est mon passeport? Voici la discothèque."

“I’m going to take French class because isn’t it the language of loo-oo-ove?” 14-year old me asked as my fellow freshman friends paged through the course catalog for our upcoming class registration period. Language courses were part of the required high school curriculum.

“But isn’t Spanish like, way easier?” One friend asked.

“I agree with Dustin. I think more girls are going to be impressed with French.” Another quickly retorts.

An inspired episode of the TV show Futurama titled I Dated A Robot points out in a public service video designed to scare kids into maintaining human to human relationships:

Science, Sports, Technology, War, Crime; All civilization was just an effort to impress the opposite sex

Us signing up for the French class pathway in high school validated this.

I made it through all four full years of high school French classes with only really three things that managed to stick with me to this very day. One, I still can (and will) loudly sing all of the lyrics to Les Champs-Elysees.

Two, my vocabulary is limited to what you would expect from a teenager who has only ever taken high school French.

And three, speaking high school French never secured any of us with a single date. (I did however land many dates with guitar playing skills. Take note teens.)

A few years after high school I served a volunteer mission which took me to Santiago, Chile for two years. I was assigned the location and had no say in the matter, but I did make sure to indicate my French “expertise” on the application. Being fully immersed in Chilean culture for years completely flushed all of the French out of my brain as it made room for my new Spanish proficiency. (Another side note; I discovered it is actually second language fluency that gets you dates. Take note teens.)

Two years after my wife Riley and I were married, I began working as an Account Manager for a French owned biotech company. I was drawn to the position because of the scientific elements it provided. I had a molecular and microbiology education and I was going to be able to work from home and do a lot of travel around the U.S. The French element was not really a draw for me, but the slightest prospect of possibly being able to visit the headquarters in France one day seemed pretty cool.

I worked for the company for a good 8 or 9 years before I was ever able to make it out to France for the first time. On a subsequent work related trip, our youngest daughter was able to tag along with us despite being only a few months old.

Riley and Darcy doing as the French do

Fast forward to roughly 5 months ago. An opportunity came across my desk to help my company out with a temporary assignment at our primary headquarters in Lyon, France. Throughout our marriage Riley and I have often talked about how amazing it would be to have an experience living and working abroad, especially if it could involve the kids. We’ve always felt there is something truly healthy about getting outside of your comfort zone and culture bubble. So, when this opportunity was presented to me, the decision was simple and quick. I would come to work in France for a period with my family being fully invited to join me. Due to the logistics of some very big events in our kids’ lives right now (like our oldest heading out on a volunteer mission of his own and our second son graduating high school) we made the decision for me to come out first for a few months and the rest of the family will come out in the summer. The assignment would then wrap up by the end of August.

So there you have it. Walker Family Adventure 2025! I’ve been in Lyon for a week already and properly set up in a flat downtown.

Looking at my building

And what’s it like working and interacting with only French colleagues so far? Well, I’ve exhausted my high school vocabulary already, but my co-workers are all very eager and happy to help fine tune my accent and conversation skills. The cafe at our office is incredible and full of a variety of amazing dishes and cheeses.

And yes, I have already initiated a group sing along of Les Champs-Elysees. Everyone happily joined in.

Très magnifique.

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