Greetings from the Thalys high speed train from Paris to Brussels

We are currently en route to Brussels.  Paris has been a lot of fun and we've enjoyed our time there, but I think most of us are ready to move on to the next part of our trip.  I was somewhat surprised to find that the track number for the train is not printed on the ticket, and isn't even displayed in the train station until about 5 minutes before the train is due to leave.  Suddenly the track number shows up on a large board and everyone starts scrambling to get to the correct train.  Our train also turned out to be the second train on the track from the station, which was a bit confusing, but we followed the crowds and made it OK. 

The train is very smooth and very quiet.  I'm quite impressed.  I've ridden the Metrolink a lot in Los Angeles, and this definitely doesn't compare.  For one thing, passing trains whiz by in a matter of 2-3 seconds, and for another, the people on the train tend to speak in quiet voices or work independently.  I'm a fan a quiet, so this is a definite benefit in my mind.

I am the main French speaker in the group.  Daniella has had a year of French, which gets her a long way, and when she's with a group of students she translates for them, but when I'm around everyone tends to look to me to translate.  While I am definitely not fluent I can read a novel in French fairly easily and can understand and speak to someone to get basic information.  Unfortunately for the group, I am also partly deaf.  This means that in a noisy setting I usually can catch very little of an announcement, whether it's in French or English.  It also means that I rely partly on lip reading, so if someone isn't looking directly at me it's also quite difficult to understand them.  We've gotten along fine so far, but often people switch to English when it's clear I can talk with them but not always understand them.  There was quite a lovely, helpful ticket agent at the Gare du Nord this afternoon, and she was very pleasant to deal with.  At times when someone is harassing me on the street for money or trying to communicate something I just can't understand (either in English or in French), I resort to signing "Sorry, I am deaf."  This doesn't always work perfectly, but because American sign language is a direct derivative of French sign language, anyone who knows either has a chance of getting it (and anyone who is at all aware will get that I'm signing).  Interestingly, although spoken American English is most closely related to British English, American Sign Language is closer to French Sign Language than British Sign Language.  The American Deaf Community tends to find it easier to communicate with the French Deaf Community and the two have a common heritage and history.  I did not have a chance to connect with the French Deaf Community while we were in Paris (teaching a class and leading a group of students is plenty to do at one time), but at some point I'd like to do that.