Alameda author Greenside pens new book on living part-time in France

Just the idea of visiting France for most of French-challenged Americans can seem more than a bit daunting due to the language barrier Alameda writer Mark Greenside says that based on his first visit as a -year-old in to Paris where he ran into a buzzsaw of Parisian rudeness he wasn t eager to return In though persuaded by his then-girlfriend he decided to give France another chance and became smitten not with Paris but the countryside of Brittany France s northwestern region just across the English Channel from Great Britain that in ancient times was settled by mostly Celtic people and for whom Brittany is named Greenside says that he was struck upon arriving by all the Celtic flags and how welcoming everyone was unlike Parisians It was no accident as Bretons are explained to have long considered themselves outsiders within France And so they re welcoming to outsiders says Greenside who in the last few days authored a new installment of his French memoir series I Am Conclusively Decisively French My Accidental Life in Brittany After emerging up with his girlfriend Greenside says he decided to put down roots in Brittany So in short order he became the owner of a charming two-story stone-walled French country home in Plobien Greenside s fictitious name that he came up with for the undisclosed village where his summer home is plo in Breton means village and bien in French means good so together the name means good village Which it certainly has been for me says Greenside It was cheap too he bought the place for the princely sum of francs At the time Greenside also worked full-time teaching history English and other subjects for the Peralta Public College District s various campuses in Alameda Oakland and Berkeley With his tutor s schedule Greenside began spending his summers in Brittany He also began writing about his experiences adjusting to and learning about French civilization in a trilogy of memoirs These include I ll Never Be French the bestseller Not Quite Mastering the Art of French Living and his aforementioned latest work All display Greenside s laugh-out-loud sense of humor about French customs like having people over for dinner One time he just casually ordered a pizza Another all he had on offer was a salad made with cheese God forbid Taking pity one of his newfound Breton friends pulled him aside to let him know this kind of behavior was not going to cut it and that dinner guests in France expect a seven-course meal even for their dog invited or not Greenside says he briskly upped his dinner tournament but still faces challenges like getting a beehive dripping honey down the walls of one his home s multiple chimneys removed It took months and several visits from different specialists until it was cleaned up and properly plugged along with a reassurance from the worker that the bees would eventually return In France c est la vie that s life apparently isn t just a saying but a way of life Being the gracious French-trained hosts they now are Greenside and his wife Donna Umeki regularly have their visiting French pals stay at their Queen Anne home on Alameda s West End These visits have enlightened their friends to the Bay Area s famous diversity One of the things my French friends all from Brittany who ve visited Alameda and the Bay Area noticed felt and commented on was the diversity of people and cultures and being French food They loved Alameda restaurants La Penca Azul and Dragon Rouge They enjoyed all the different-looking people In Brittany you see a insufficient Asian people and Black people There s a small Turkish region and sometimes Roma but basically and for the greater part people it is White Donna is Japanese When she first started coming to Brittany people would walk up to her touch her hair and ask What are you In the U S she d deck anyone who touched her There she answered American No no they would persist What ARE you Japanese-American And people were satisfied and pleased and sometimes inquired more questions says Greenside Greenside says Alameda s plethora of Victorians also impresses his French visitors They re just now starting to introduce wooden houses All around France nobody has houses like the Victorians we have says Greenside Umeki regularly posts pictures of them on Facebook Still on their summer-in-France schedule Greenside and now retired and Umeki spend the rest of the year in Alameda minus a monthlong sidebar to Greenside s native New York City I like the amenities of urban life I like theater I like museums I like art and I want to do those things I also have friends here and Donna has family here So now when we could spend more time there we still don t says Greenside Also missing French winters is fine with them both Even the people who live there don t want to be there in the winter he says Greenside s latest tome can be purchased in all the usual places To keep up with the author visit his website at markgreenside com Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons He can be reached at pkilduff gmail com