Ok everybody, get ready. I have big news. I’ll be staying in France for another year. You know already that I’d been looking for jobs to stay but my family offered me to stay. After crunching the numbers and weighing my options, I found that staying where I am is the best thing for me. Not to worry! You’ll see me before 2012! I plan on being home for August (although just thinking about the heat shock makes me ill) and I refuse to be away for another Christmas. By the end of two years here I hope to be super fluent. Luckily my good friend Sara is staying too. So I’ll have a girlfriend to hang out with. Also I have an interview on Friday for a job as an English tutor. God-willing, the company will see my potential and give me a job to keep me occupied in the limited hours that the kids are at school. We’ll see.
As for everyday life, things are going well. Ever since I arrived I’ve wanted to do the “game” where the family and I speak French MWF and French TTh. In the beginning it wasn’t possible due to my French and the kids English. But all of that has changed now. Both the kids can understand what I say (because I speak to them in English) and Eliott will do a couple of phrases in English but Zoe sticks by her French. So I thought this little game would be good to force some English and hear adult conversation as well. So, I pitched the idea of the “game” Sunday night at dinner. I thought I was going to fall flat on my face:
“So Zoe do you want to play the game?”
“Umm no. Ha. Absolutely not.”
So I asked Eliott. Bless him. I know he makes his parents proud. He loves a good challenge and he excitedly/timidly nodded yes!
“You do want to!?!”
“Mmhmmm”
“Great!”
Mom: “Bravo Eliott”
Yesterday was French day, so for the first time I spoke only in French to the kids. I was nice to speak just one language in a day. Zoe LOVES to correct me. Which is fine because I need the correcting but do you know what it’s like to have an 8 year old think you’re dumb? Over dinner I made a mistake by saying a masculine adjective with a feminine word (THE HORROR!!!!). Zoe corrects me and explains: “We don’t say le sauce est bon (the sauce is good), we say la sauce est bonne (the sauces is good) because sauce is feminine. Ask yourself, would I say la sauce or le sauce and you’ll find which word to use.” So I explained that the reason I get it wrong a lot, and the reason why I can’t simply ask myself “is it this way or that way?” is because it doesn’t exists in English and I have to start from 0 in learning it all. This fact blew their minds and launched us into a game of “le or la” (the masculine and feminine determinants). It goes like this:
Eliott: “Bouteille”
Me: “La”
Zoe: “Four”
Me: “Le”
Eliott: “Television”
Me: “Le?”
Both : “NOOOO!! LA Television. HAHAH Anglophones are ridiculous! Je gagne (I win)”
So today is English day. Zoe reluctantly decided to play. I’m excited but we’ll see if it crashes and burns. I hope not.
Also today is my 23rd Birthday. 23. My heavens. I went out with my girls last weekend and this morning Zoe gave me a bracelet that she made, an old necklace, and a little craft that was a heart. Tonight Caroline is bringing home a cake. When I got back from school today I had a lovely box of flowers from Kimmy and Melissa! Calls and gifts from my parents, too! Not to mention it is absolutely fabulous weather today. What a birthday! There are many other March 15thers so I’d like to wish all the ones I know a Happy Birthday: Melissa Pitcher, Ashby Foltz, Nathan Welch, Ansley Bourn, Tara Gouverdhan, and Dr. Carter (from Wheeler)!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Disney, Les Accents, et Les Rognons (Disney, Accents, and Kidney’s OH MY!)
Thanks to my friend Maxime and his brother-in-law, I enjoyed a free day at Disney Paris. Other than being excited to experience a day of Disney magic, I was excited to compare it to (our) Disney World. First off, Disney Paris has only two parks; Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios.
Maxime: “How many parks are there in America?”
Me: “Psh! We got FOUR!”
We went on a sunny Saturday and of course, it was packed with people. Check. Just like FL. Upon entering the park, the thing that struck me as the most different was that everybody was wearing a big winter coat and scarf. NEVER in FL!
Max: “It’s not cold there? What’s the temperature there now?”
Me: “Like at least the mid 60’s?”
Max: *OMG!*
The Magic Kingdom Paris is almost exactly like Magic Kingldom FL. The front of the park IS the same. It’s all in English, too. There are the same stores on the same Main Street that leads to Cinderella’s castle, Frontierland, Adventureland, etc… There’s even the same Ice Cream shop on the corner. BUT! At the same time, it’s all different. The castle is smaller and (maybe it’s just me but…) less magical. There are still the same rides and attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and the Haunted Mansion but they all are just a bit different than ours. Everything is mainly in French with English secondarily. However, there are people coming from all over Europe so there isn’t one language everyone will understand. Therefore, the small stories before and during the ride are omitted because half the guests wouldn’t understand. Other things are different, too. For example, at the Haunted Mansion, in FL, the main ghost is an old man. Here’s it’s a jilted, dead bride. Also in Paris, the ride is focused more on begin actually scary and less humorous. All-in-all, the day was quite fun.
Afterwards, I went to dinner with my French family. Caroline’s cousins were in town from Bezier, a town in the South of France. Thus, I discovered the French Southern accent. Quite different indeed! It made me think about all of the different Anglophonic accents. I run into a lot of issues with the differences between British and American accents. One day I asked Caroline “what is the word for ‘mop’ in French?” She said “carte (map)” A few seconds to translate--- think of how the British would say “map”. Haha! And already the English teachers at school say that my kids have American accents. Love. That.
Yesterday was Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday! What do the French do for Mardi Gras? Eat crêpes! Don’t they eat crêpes all the time, Christy? No. In fact, two nights ago we ate pork kidneys. See, Alain does the grocery shopping and apparently he was feeling a little adventurous when he went last weekend. He brought home de rognon porc (pork kidneys), blanquette de veau (blanquette ? of veal), and boeuf (beef) for boeuf bourginon. However, it is not he who will cook these things, but I. In fact, I take this as a compliment that he has confidence that I can cook these things and make a good meal. Usually, if it’s something new, we look at the recipe together to ensure that I know what I’m doing. Then I’m on my own unless he’s home (these days –rarely). For kidney’s, you have to cut out the nerves and tubes in the middle and an outer skin, too. In case you ever try this, I’m telling you now, it’s NOT easy. And the kidney’s smell like pee… mmm… now I have an appetite. Yet, after all that it was a delicious success.
So I leave you here. Till next week!
Maxime: “How many parks are there in America?”
Me: “Psh! We got FOUR!”
We went on a sunny Saturday and of course, it was packed with people. Check. Just like FL. Upon entering the park, the thing that struck me as the most different was that everybody was wearing a big winter coat and scarf. NEVER in FL!
Max: “It’s not cold there? What’s the temperature there now?”
Me: “Like at least the mid 60’s?”
Max: *OMG!*
The Magic Kingdom Paris is almost exactly like Magic Kingldom FL. The front of the park IS the same. It’s all in English, too. There are the same stores on the same Main Street that leads to Cinderella’s castle, Frontierland, Adventureland, etc… There’s even the same Ice Cream shop on the corner. BUT! At the same time, it’s all different. The castle is smaller and (maybe it’s just me but…) less magical. There are still the same rides and attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and the Haunted Mansion but they all are just a bit different than ours. Everything is mainly in French with English secondarily. However, there are people coming from all over Europe so there isn’t one language everyone will understand. Therefore, the small stories before and during the ride are omitted because half the guests wouldn’t understand. Other things are different, too. For example, at the Haunted Mansion, in FL, the main ghost is an old man. Here’s it’s a jilted, dead bride. Also in Paris, the ride is focused more on begin actually scary and less humorous. All-in-all, the day was quite fun.
Afterwards, I went to dinner with my French family. Caroline’s cousins were in town from Bezier, a town in the South of France. Thus, I discovered the French Southern accent. Quite different indeed! It made me think about all of the different Anglophonic accents. I run into a lot of issues with the differences between British and American accents. One day I asked Caroline “what is the word for ‘mop’ in French?” She said “carte (map)” A few seconds to translate--- think of how the British would say “map”. Haha! And already the English teachers at school say that my kids have American accents. Love. That.
Yesterday was Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday! What do the French do for Mardi Gras? Eat crêpes! Don’t they eat crêpes all the time, Christy? No. In fact, two nights ago we ate pork kidneys. See, Alain does the grocery shopping and apparently he was feeling a little adventurous when he went last weekend. He brought home de rognon porc (pork kidneys), blanquette de veau (blanquette ? of veal), and boeuf (beef) for boeuf bourginon. However, it is not he who will cook these things, but I. In fact, I take this as a compliment that he has confidence that I can cook these things and make a good meal. Usually, if it’s something new, we look at the recipe together to ensure that I know what I’m doing. Then I’m on my own unless he’s home (these days –rarely). For kidney’s, you have to cut out the nerves and tubes in the middle and an outer skin, too. In case you ever try this, I’m telling you now, it’s NOT easy. And the kidney’s smell like pee… mmm… now I have an appetite. Yet, after all that it was a delicious success.
So I leave you here. Till next week!
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