Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Excursions, Gardens, Woolly Mammoths
1) Hilary (my friend and roommate) and I somehow got onto the topic of marshmallows at dinner with our host family. Apparently they're called "shmamalows"(absolutely no clue if that's spelled correctly) here! And no one has tried smores here! Graham crackers don't really exist, but we found these little chocolate on a cookie things that will have to suffice.
2) It's a lot easier for me to meet international (especially Asian) students, because all of my classes are with international students, not French students. Most of my classes are around 70% Asian. It's funny because almost all of them speak English really well, so if we don't know a word in French, we'll say it in English and try to figure it out. I've realized too how much easier it is to speak French coming from an English native tongue, since so many of the words and alphabet overlap and many people speak English here (in my host family, for example, we speak only French, but if I don't know a French word, sometimes my French mom will know what I'm trying to say in English). One girl I met from China came to France all by herself two years ago knowing only how to say "bonjour" and "merci." She's staying here for EIGHT YEARS trying to learn French fluently.I can't imagine being plunged into a completely different culture like that for so long, but to each his own I guess.
3) I love going to mass here. It's hard not to see at least one church from any point in the city. One thing I've been reflecting on while in France is the use of bread as a religious symbol. As a Catholic, I'm used to this analogy: Jesus as the bread of life, etc. But it has taken on a new meaning here. Bread is something almost sacred in itself here in France: there are bread competitions, there are bread laws regarding the price and content of baguettes, bread is something that everyone buys daily--you never eat day-old bread. It literally sustains the entire country. In the US, I eat bread maybe once a week. I'm not a big sandwich person and the bread there is nothing like it is here (excluding the Bread Oven :). But for Jesus to be something that I need daily to sustain myself is another dimension. Food for thought, if you will.
3) In several of my classes, we have talked about French stereotypes, including: they have cold personalities, they have a million etiquette rules, they're dirty, they're very stylish, they love their dogs more than their neighbors (that was the literal translation!), they eat weird things, they love to eat, they love wine and cheese, they smoke a ton, they're bad at national defense, they hate to work and are always on strike. We had to say whether we thought they were true or false in my class.
I discussed this with my family later, and the consensus was: french people are not dirty, they are for the most part a lot better dressed than americans, they DO love their dogs more than their neighbors, they don't eat weird things, at least not all the time (like frog legs and escargot), they love to eat cheese and bread and drink wine and have leisure time and smoke, they are kind of bad at defending La Patrie (but as my host mother said, "the US would be in the same shape if it was next to Germany!"), and they don't necessarily hate or love work, but more often than not see it as a "work to live" rather than a "live to work."
We also talked about American stereotypes: Americans are fat (or in the words of my French family "not fat, OBESE!", they have no real culture, they do not have fine taste, they are aggressive and do whatever they want without regard for others, loud, and rude, Americans have "dollar signs in their eyes", and Americans don't take care of their poor people. I was most surprised, and offended, at the last one. Europeans have many more social welfare programs than Americans do, and they can't understand why we wouldn't sacrifice higher taxes for ensuring that everyone gets at least minimal coverage (at lunch on Friday, I was trying to explain it to a German friend of mine--she was so confused and kept asking lots of questions about it). I hadn't really realized that America was giving off this impression to the rest of the world. Something to think about.
4) It's been raining constantly in Angers, unfortunately.
5) My host mother is becoming a grandmother to twins, and I have NEVER seen someone dote on their future grandkids this much. For the past few weeks, she has slowly been building a doll wardrode (I kid you not, it's practically more clothes than I have!) and sewing everything herself. It's incredible.
6) Sometimes I'm really frustrated by French language. For example, they don't really have a word for "cheap." You have to either say "bon marche", which means a good buy, or "pas chere", which means not expensive. Numbers, too, are incredibly stupid. Instead of just having one word for every number, you sometimes have to multiply or add numbers to say the number you want. For example, there is no one word for seventy, you have to say "soixante-dix", or "60 plus 10". Eighty is "quatre- vingt", or "four-twenties" and ninety is even worse, "quatre-vingt dix", or "four twenties plus ten." When those numbers are coming at you quickly, it's pretty difficult.
7) There are lots of strikes going on. In my French socio-cultural studies class, we learned that there are about 20 million fonctionnaires (state employees), out of a population of about 60 million, so 1/3 of the country is a state employee. It's impossible to lose your job unless you basically commit a felony, you have generous vacation and retirement, and you work 35 hours per week. They're called the "protectorat" in France because their jobs are so protected. Politicians can't change anything because no fonctionnaire wants to change their benefits and won't vote for anyone who considers it. The system is really intractable--any politician who tries to change anything regarding this situation would be extremely unpopular (as Villepin tried to do a few years back).
8) I'm going to Turkey and the Greek Islands for sure over spring break, but I don't know where else yet.
9) We went on a trip to St. Malo and Mt. St. Michel, in the north-west part of France (Brittany). St. Malo (a fortified city right on the coast) was GORGEOUS but a little windy. The beaches were beautiful and I really wished I could have gone swimming there. Maybe I'll go back this summer. We got to drive through the French countryside on our way there, and it was simply beautiful. Cows, horses, goats, and sheep were being raised; vegetable farms were a frequent sight, windmills and old stone houses. I'd love to bike around and stop in all the little sleepy towns sometime. Mt. St. Michel is an old monastery on top of a big rock in the atlantic. You climb up the winding city to the monastery at the top, and you can see for miles and miles. Kind of a tourist trap, but it was still cool. I'm going to some French chateaux this Saturday!
10)My host mom had a cooking class for some of us (a little ironic since Hilary and I aren't allowed to use the kitchen here). We made a ham and cheese torte, a fish/creme fraiche/gruyere tarte, and a salad. We also made the best chocolate cake I've ever had--it's only ingredients were dark chocolate, sugar, butter, and eggs. No wonder...
11) Hilary and I went exploring on our bikes this past weekend, and we discovered some woolly mammoths. Ok, not real woolly mammoths, but weird and endangered species of donkeys and cows. You could go up to them and pet them and they'd eat out of your hand. Pretty cool.
12) I got a bike! The city of Angers lends out bikes for 9 months at a time for free (you make a refundable deposit). Students ride them everywhere.
13) If anyone is interested in skyping, I'm usually free somewhere between 2-5 pm US time on Sundays. Just look up my name--I'm the only one of me.
claire
2) It's a lot easier for me to meet international (especially Asian) students, because all of my classes are with international students, not French students. Most of my classes are around 70% Asian. It's funny because almost all of them speak English really well, so if we don't know a word in French, we'll say it in English and try to figure it out. I've realized too how much easier it is to speak French coming from an English native tongue, since so many of the words and alphabet overlap and many people speak English here (in my host family, for example, we speak only French, but if I don't know a French word, sometimes my French mom will know what I'm trying to say in English). One girl I met from China came to France all by herself two years ago knowing only how to say "bonjour" and "merci." She's staying here for EIGHT YEARS trying to learn French fluently.I can't imagine being plunged into a completely different culture like that for so long, but to each his own I guess.
3) I love going to mass here. It's hard not to see at least one church from any point in the city. One thing I've been reflecting on while in France is the use of bread as a religious symbol. As a Catholic, I'm used to this analogy: Jesus as the bread of life, etc. But it has taken on a new meaning here. Bread is something almost sacred in itself here in France: there are bread competitions, there are bread laws regarding the price and content of baguettes, bread is something that everyone buys daily--you never eat day-old bread. It literally sustains the entire country. In the US, I eat bread maybe once a week. I'm not a big sandwich person and the bread there is nothing like it is here (excluding the Bread Oven :). But for Jesus to be something that I need daily to sustain myself is another dimension. Food for thought, if you will.
3) In several of my classes, we have talked about French stereotypes, including: they have cold personalities, they have a million etiquette rules, they're dirty, they're very stylish, they love their dogs more than their neighbors (that was the literal translation!), they eat weird things, they love to eat, they love wine and cheese, they smoke a ton, they're bad at national defense, they hate to work and are always on strike. We had to say whether we thought they were true or false in my class.
I discussed this with my family later, and the consensus was: french people are not dirty, they are for the most part a lot better dressed than americans, they DO love their dogs more than their neighbors, they don't eat weird things, at least not all the time (like frog legs and escargot), they love to eat cheese and bread and drink wine and have leisure time and smoke, they are kind of bad at defending La Patrie (but as my host mother said, "the US would be in the same shape if it was next to Germany!"), and they don't necessarily hate or love work, but more often than not see it as a "work to live" rather than a "live to work."
We also talked about American stereotypes: Americans are fat (or in the words of my French family "not fat, OBESE!", they have no real culture, they do not have fine taste, they are aggressive and do whatever they want without regard for others, loud, and rude, Americans have "dollar signs in their eyes", and Americans don't take care of their poor people. I was most surprised, and offended, at the last one. Europeans have many more social welfare programs than Americans do, and they can't understand why we wouldn't sacrifice higher taxes for ensuring that everyone gets at least minimal coverage (at lunch on Friday, I was trying to explain it to a German friend of mine--she was so confused and kept asking lots of questions about it). I hadn't really realized that America was giving off this impression to the rest of the world. Something to think about.
4) It's been raining constantly in Angers, unfortunately.
5) My host mother is becoming a grandmother to twins, and I have NEVER seen someone dote on their future grandkids this much. For the past few weeks, she has slowly been building a doll wardrode (I kid you not, it's practically more clothes than I have!) and sewing everything herself. It's incredible.
6) Sometimes I'm really frustrated by French language. For example, they don't really have a word for "cheap." You have to either say "bon marche", which means a good buy, or "pas chere", which means not expensive. Numbers, too, are incredibly stupid. Instead of just having one word for every number, you sometimes have to multiply or add numbers to say the number you want. For example, there is no one word for seventy, you have to say "soixante-dix", or "60 plus 10". Eighty is "quatre- vingt", or "four-twenties" and ninety is even worse, "quatre-vingt dix", or "four twenties plus ten." When those numbers are coming at you quickly, it's pretty difficult.
7) There are lots of strikes going on. In my French socio-cultural studies class, we learned that there are about 20 million fonctionnaires (state employees), out of a population of about 60 million, so 1/3 of the country is a state employee. It's impossible to lose your job unless you basically commit a felony, you have generous vacation and retirement, and you work 35 hours per week. They're called the "protectorat" in France because their jobs are so protected. Politicians can't change anything because no fonctionnaire wants to change their benefits and won't vote for anyone who considers it. The system is really intractable--any politician who tries to change anything regarding this situation would be extremely unpopular (as Villepin tried to do a few years back).
8) I'm going to Turkey and the Greek Islands for sure over spring break, but I don't know where else yet.
9) We went on a trip to St. Malo and Mt. St. Michel, in the north-west part of France (Brittany). St. Malo (a fortified city right on the coast) was GORGEOUS but a little windy. The beaches were beautiful and I really wished I could have gone swimming there. Maybe I'll go back this summer. We got to drive through the French countryside on our way there, and it was simply beautiful. Cows, horses, goats, and sheep were being raised; vegetable farms were a frequent sight, windmills and old stone houses. I'd love to bike around and stop in all the little sleepy towns sometime. Mt. St. Michel is an old monastery on top of a big rock in the atlantic. You climb up the winding city to the monastery at the top, and you can see for miles and miles. Kind of a tourist trap, but it was still cool. I'm going to some French chateaux this Saturday!
10)My host mom had a cooking class for some of us (a little ironic since Hilary and I aren't allowed to use the kitchen here). We made a ham and cheese torte, a fish/creme fraiche/gruyere tarte, and a salad. We also made the best chocolate cake I've ever had--it's only ingredients were dark chocolate, sugar, butter, and eggs. No wonder...
11) Hilary and I went exploring on our bikes this past weekend, and we discovered some woolly mammoths. Ok, not real woolly mammoths, but weird and endangered species of donkeys and cows. You could go up to them and pet them and they'd eat out of your hand. Pretty cool.
12) I got a bike! The city of Angers lends out bikes for 9 months at a time for free (you make a refundable deposit). Students ride them everywhere.
13) If anyone is interested in skyping, I'm usually free somewhere between 2-5 pm US time on Sundays. Just look up my name--I'm the only one of me.
claire
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Macarena Reminds Me of...France?
I'm just having the greatest time here! More discoveries and adventures. The plans to go to Paris this weekend didn't work out :( but I've still been enjoying myself immensely, and we have a couple Paris trips planned soon.
1) The first week of classes is over. I'm going to be taking Grammar, Oral Expression, Language, Socio-cultural studies of France, French history, and European Political Systems. The last class is definitely the most challenging--it's meant for students who are almost fluent. It's once a week for three and a half hours, and the reading is really tough. The others aren't too bad though, and I'm learning a lot.
2)A couple days ago, my French mother warned Hilary and I about being careful when going out at night, especially around French guys. In my French mother's words, "It is my perception that American men have higher morals than French men do." hahahaa
3) Apparently baby showers don't exist in France. My French mother's daughter (who lives in Houston) is expecting twins, and her daughter was absolutely stunned at the whole process of people throwing a party for the babies and getting gifts for them. We all had a good laugh because apparently some American hospitals give the husband a sheet of things to say when the wife is in labor, and some of the recommendations were "You're number one" "I love you" "You are truly amazing."
4) I'm officially going to spend Easter in Rome! Just booked the tickets and everything yesterday! The price just about killed me, but I'm really excited!
5) Whenever we go to bars/clubs here, they ALWAYS play the macarena, and everyone dances. I'm not sure why France missed the fact that the Macarena came out in the 90s....? But it's a lot of fun and now the Macarena will remind of France.
6)I talked about the mixing of English and French in a previous post, but I think it's hilarious that the stop signs here actually say "STOP." Not "arrete", the French word for stop, but "stop" itself. Maybe the government is trying to save money with less letters or something?
7)I need to learn to resist the allure of French chocolate shops. I can't seem to go past one without buying just...one....thing....
8)I'm still getting used to military time in French. It's tricky because I have to first convert the time into English ("vingt heures" into "20 hours") and then into non-military time (20 hours=8 pm).
9)I went to the HUGE farmers market yesterday. unbelievable. They have a huge section for vegetables, one for fruits, one for cheese, one for meat/sausages, one for spices and dried fruits, one huge section for seafood (especially oysters), one for bread, and one for a flea market. It would take about an hour or so just to walk through it all without even buying anything. The prices were good and it was a great atmosphere. The market is all-year round, even though it was really cold this past week (it's been around 0 celsius/32 Fahrenheit...but no snow :). What I like about France is that most people choose quality over just price. You buy produce at the farmer's market, even it's a little bit more expensive than the store. You buy one really good pair of shoes that will last forever from the shoe store down the street once a year rather than buying five pairs from Payless that fall apart within a couple months.
10) I had my first scary encounter with a French person yesterday, at the market. I was trying to buy some strawberries, which I reallyyy wanted but weren't very good because they're out of season, and the vendor said how much they cost very, very quickly. I had to ask him to repeat it a few times (in French), and he got really angry at me, yelling, "You don't speak French? You're in France! Why can't you understand French? Are you Arab?" I was about 2 seconds away from crying/running away/throwing the strawberries at him/etc. when my friend Justine, who was in France last semester, came up and quickly sorted it out. So if you're ever in Angers and have a craving for not-in-season strawberries at the market, you better know your French. and not be Arab, I guess? Since I'm so tan and everything...
11) I went to my first French movie in a French cinema. It was actually not that great of a movie (It was called something like "Protegir et Servir", or Protect and Serve--a comedy about two French cops), but it was fun trying to keep up with all the French. It's also hilarious to me how the titles of American movies are translated into strange things here. For example, the movie "The Hangover" was "The Very Bad Trip" here.
12) My second mass experience here was wonderful. From what I had heard about European secularism, I assumed that I would be one of about 10 people going to mass in a giant church. What I found was something completely different. I've gone to two different churches for mass, and both were quite crowded with elderly people, families, and youth (and both were churches about the size of Cathedral in Omaha). There were two babies being baptized after mass, and three more were being baptized during the week. People crowd to be in the front, sit close together, and really get into the mass. EVERYONE sings. Even at Cathedral in Omaha, you usually have a whole pew to yourself unless you're with your family, and about half the people sing. It was great, and I reallyyy had to pay attention so I could understand the French. Today was especially great. I went by myself to 11:15 mass because my dear housemate was still asleep. I went to a different church, St. Madeleine. All French churches are FAH-REE-ZING. I'm talking see-your-breath-inside-the-church, don't-even-think-about-taking-your-coat-off cold. I felt bad for the altar boys, they were shivering in their little white robes. But anyways, I met this super super nice French lady who sat next to me. She gave me two mass guides (one for february and one for march) so I can follow along. Afterwards, she asked if I wanted to meet some French college students, so she introduced me to a few of them and we all talked for awhile. I looked up from where I was in the pew, and directly above me was an image of the Sacred Heart--I went to Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, and it's very dear to me. In the back of the church, there was a statue of St. Therese, the same statue that my Mom has in our house back in Omaha. I just felt an incredibly powerful feeling, as if I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be at this point in my life. One of the things I love about being Catholic is that I have many homes all across the world. I walked into a church I had never set foot in, and I instantly felt at home. They said some of the Latin prayers at the mass, and I knew them. But then again, "catholic" does mean "universal"...
13)Almost everything is closed on Sunday. There's ONE pharmacie in the town that stays open (it rotates every week from pharmacie to pharmacie), a handful of bread shops stay open in the morning so people can get their necessary bread for Sunday dinners, and I know of ONE little crepe place in the whole town that's open for lunch hour. Otherwise, the town is deserted because everyone is spending time with family and friends. It's a really great thing, in my opinion.
14)I'm going to be living in Dublin this summer through the Keough-Naughton Irish studies department at Notre Dame!! I'll most likely be working at a non-profit--either Oxfam Ireland or at one of two Irish non-profits that do peace-building work between Northern Ireland and Ireland, as well as conflict resolution and research into war/violence related problems. One of them does a sort-of summer camp/conference with Northern Irish, Irish, Palestinian, and Israeli youth. I'll be living with four or five other ND going-to-be-seniors (!!!!). Pretty excited. So book your tickets to Dublin now, ladies and gentlemen.
15) Life is incredibly, incredibly good right now. I miss everyone from home (friends and family!) a lot, but every day here is an adventure. From the moment I wake up to the instant I fall asleep, I'm excited. I want to bottle this sensation and keep it for a rainy day when the wine, cheese, bread, and chocolate aren't so plentiful :)
La vie est belle.
Claire
1) The first week of classes is over. I'm going to be taking Grammar, Oral Expression, Language, Socio-cultural studies of France, French history, and European Political Systems. The last class is definitely the most challenging--it's meant for students who are almost fluent. It's once a week for three and a half hours, and the reading is really tough. The others aren't too bad though, and I'm learning a lot.
2)A couple days ago, my French mother warned Hilary and I about being careful when going out at night, especially around French guys. In my French mother's words, "It is my perception that American men have higher morals than French men do." hahahaa
3) Apparently baby showers don't exist in France. My French mother's daughter (who lives in Houston) is expecting twins, and her daughter was absolutely stunned at the whole process of people throwing a party for the babies and getting gifts for them. We all had a good laugh because apparently some American hospitals give the husband a sheet of things to say when the wife is in labor, and some of the recommendations were "You're number one" "I love you" "You are truly amazing."
4) I'm officially going to spend Easter in Rome! Just booked the tickets and everything yesterday! The price just about killed me, but I'm really excited!
5) Whenever we go to bars/clubs here, they ALWAYS play the macarena, and everyone dances. I'm not sure why France missed the fact that the Macarena came out in the 90s....? But it's a lot of fun and now the Macarena will remind of France.
6)I talked about the mixing of English and French in a previous post, but I think it's hilarious that the stop signs here actually say "STOP." Not "arrete", the French word for stop, but "stop" itself. Maybe the government is trying to save money with less letters or something?
7)I need to learn to resist the allure of French chocolate shops. I can't seem to go past one without buying just...one....thing....
8)I'm still getting used to military time in French. It's tricky because I have to first convert the time into English ("vingt heures" into "20 hours") and then into non-military time (20 hours=8 pm).
9)I went to the HUGE farmers market yesterday. unbelievable. They have a huge section for vegetables, one for fruits, one for cheese, one for meat/sausages, one for spices and dried fruits, one huge section for seafood (especially oysters), one for bread, and one for a flea market. It would take about an hour or so just to walk through it all without even buying anything. The prices were good and it was a great atmosphere. The market is all-year round, even though it was really cold this past week (it's been around 0 celsius/32 Fahrenheit...but no snow :). What I like about France is that most people choose quality over just price. You buy produce at the farmer's market, even it's a little bit more expensive than the store. You buy one really good pair of shoes that will last forever from the shoe store down the street once a year rather than buying five pairs from Payless that fall apart within a couple months.
10) I had my first scary encounter with a French person yesterday, at the market. I was trying to buy some strawberries, which I reallyyy wanted but weren't very good because they're out of season, and the vendor said how much they cost very, very quickly. I had to ask him to repeat it a few times (in French), and he got really angry at me, yelling, "You don't speak French? You're in France! Why can't you understand French? Are you Arab?" I was about 2 seconds away from crying/running away/throwing the strawberries at him/etc. when my friend Justine, who was in France last semester, came up and quickly sorted it out. So if you're ever in Angers and have a craving for not-in-season strawberries at the market, you better know your French. and not be Arab, I guess? Since I'm so tan and everything...
11) I went to my first French movie in a French cinema. It was actually not that great of a movie (It was called something like "Protegir et Servir", or Protect and Serve--a comedy about two French cops), but it was fun trying to keep up with all the French. It's also hilarious to me how the titles of American movies are translated into strange things here. For example, the movie "The Hangover" was "The Very Bad Trip" here.
12) My second mass experience here was wonderful. From what I had heard about European secularism, I assumed that I would be one of about 10 people going to mass in a giant church. What I found was something completely different. I've gone to two different churches for mass, and both were quite crowded with elderly people, families, and youth (and both were churches about the size of Cathedral in Omaha). There were two babies being baptized after mass, and three more were being baptized during the week. People crowd to be in the front, sit close together, and really get into the mass. EVERYONE sings. Even at Cathedral in Omaha, you usually have a whole pew to yourself unless you're with your family, and about half the people sing. It was great, and I reallyyy had to pay attention so I could understand the French. Today was especially great. I went by myself to 11:15 mass because my dear housemate was still asleep. I went to a different church, St. Madeleine. All French churches are FAH-REE-ZING. I'm talking see-your-breath-inside-the-church, don't-even-think-about-taking-your-coat-off cold. I felt bad for the altar boys, they were shivering in their little white robes. But anyways, I met this super super nice French lady who sat next to me. She gave me two mass guides (one for february and one for march) so I can follow along. Afterwards, she asked if I wanted to meet some French college students, so she introduced me to a few of them and we all talked for awhile. I looked up from where I was in the pew, and directly above me was an image of the Sacred Heart--I went to Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, and it's very dear to me. In the back of the church, there was a statue of St. Therese, the same statue that my Mom has in our house back in Omaha. I just felt an incredibly powerful feeling, as if I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be at this point in my life. One of the things I love about being Catholic is that I have many homes all across the world. I walked into a church I had never set foot in, and I instantly felt at home. They said some of the Latin prayers at the mass, and I knew them. But then again, "catholic" does mean "universal"...
13)Almost everything is closed on Sunday. There's ONE pharmacie in the town that stays open (it rotates every week from pharmacie to pharmacie), a handful of bread shops stay open in the morning so people can get their necessary bread for Sunday dinners, and I know of ONE little crepe place in the whole town that's open for lunch hour. Otherwise, the town is deserted because everyone is spending time with family and friends. It's a really great thing, in my opinion.
14)I'm going to be living in Dublin this summer through the Keough-Naughton Irish studies department at Notre Dame!! I'll most likely be working at a non-profit--either Oxfam Ireland or at one of two Irish non-profits that do peace-building work between Northern Ireland and Ireland, as well as conflict resolution and research into war/violence related problems. One of them does a sort-of summer camp/conference with Northern Irish, Irish, Palestinian, and Israeli youth. I'll be living with four or five other ND going-to-be-seniors (!!!!). Pretty excited. So book your tickets to Dublin now, ladies and gentlemen.
15) Life is incredibly, incredibly good right now. I miss everyone from home (friends and family!) a lot, but every day here is an adventure. From the moment I wake up to the instant I fall asleep, I'm excited. I want to bottle this sensation and keep it for a rainy day when the wine, cheese, bread, and chocolate aren't so plentiful :)
La vie est belle.
Claire
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
I've decided to quit college....
and open up a business either making baby carrots for the deprived citizens of France, or making proper paper-folders for them.
Sérieusement, des carottes des bebes n'existent pas! (yes I know that's not proper French, but that's what I would call them. I've got a name, my business plan is next...)
And their folders are all weird! I can't really describe what they're like, but we can't find any "normal" (and in my opinion, FAR superior) ones here.
They just don't know what they're missing. I consider baby carrots and good paper-folders to be two essential ingredients to a good life.
Paris this weekend!!!
bises
claire
Sérieusement, des carottes des bebes n'existent pas! (yes I know that's not proper French, but that's what I would call them. I've got a name, my business plan is next...)
And their folders are all weird! I can't really describe what they're like, but we can't find any "normal" (and in my opinion, FAR superior) ones here.
They just don't know what they're missing. I consider baby carrots and good paper-folders to be two essential ingredients to a good life.
Paris this weekend!!!
bises
claire
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Parlez-vous Franglais?
One week in France!
A really fun week (no classes or any obligations, which was a great break from my usual Notre Dame schedule haha). It was great getting to know everyone in my group (called "SUNDEF 44"--Notre Dame's program here in Angers that is in its 44th year!). There are 16 of us for spring semester and 7 or 8 who are here the whole year. We had a lot of late-night bonding and it was a lot of fun, learning more about everyone and finding that many of my initial stereotypes were totally wrong. People are so complex and interesting--a valuable lesson in not believing first impressions.
I really like the number thing I've been doing, so I'm just going to keep on doing it even though there's really no rhyme or reason; more discoveries and adventures!
1)There's an odd mix of English and French in written and spoken language. For example, in many magazines and advertisements, English phrases will be used, without quotations, interspersed with French. It's quite bizarre, and I think I would be kinda pissed off if, for example, I was reading an English newspaper and random Italian or Spanish phrases were in it. It's like French people are EXPECTED to know English. And French youth here know some American music better than I do--learning the lyrics to songs even if they have no clue what it means. It's kind of funny because sometimes I don't even know what the words are to lots of rap songs, and I'll have some of the French people I met asking me what the lyrics to some Lil Wayne songs mean. When I meet other French college students, we often speak a mix of the two languages--they want to practice their English and I want to practice my French. I find it a little bit annoying, however, when I try to speak French and the person won't even attempt to humor me. I'm waiting for the day when they won't be able to tell :)
2) This week is going to be "classes shopping week." We get a week to go to as many classes we want and try them out, and then make our final class selections next monday. Kind cool if you ask me.
3) It's hard remembering to talk French to my fellow Domers. Sometimes we'll start out speaking French and then you'll have something exciting to say and the native tongue returns. BUT I did have a dream in French a couple nights ago...progress!
4) I LOVE discovering cool words in French. It's really just a fun language. Two of my favorites are pamplemousse (grapefruit) and hippopotame (take a wild guess...and it's pronounced "ee-po-po-tahm"). (side note: if you want to see the CUTEST YOUTUBE VIDEO EVERRRRR, GO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miv-ZEmwtVg) The French language is funny in that sometimes they borrow English and turn it into something French-esque, sometimes they use English words (all the youth say "cool"), and sometimes they completely make up a new word, for various reasons (there is no "computer" because part of it is a French swear word, so they use "ordinateur" instead).
5) My group is deciding where to go for our 2 week long spring break in the middle of april. Suggestions welcome. Right now we're thinking austria, croatia, greece, and turkey.
6) Energy is really expensive in France, so my family keeps the house pretty chilly, and we shut the doors to our bedrooms to keep warm air in. The cold hallways are one way of waking yourself up in the morning. Lights are NEVER kept on when not in use, and appliances are unplugged. All of this makes me realize how wasteful we are in the U.S. This is going to sound weird, but I wish our dirty energy sources would be taxed more to make people conserve more, and then the government could use the money to invest in clean and renewable energy. ok sorry for that, back to French-related stuff now :)
7)I had a French doctor appointment because I had hurt my left foot in NYC a bit. It was quite different than in the U.S. The doctor's office was in a residential apartment. His name was Dr. English, even though HE DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH. sorry. rant. Anyways, he checked out my foot, and gave me a couple prescriptions and I was out the door. When I came in, they didn't need any of my info. no forms to fill out at all. The whole appointment took 10 minutes. I paid 20 euro for it. French citizens carry a "health card" that digitally carries all of their information on it--which prescriptions you're taking and who it's prescribed by, your insurance info, health history, etc. I think it's a really great idea--no arriving 15 minutes early to fill out all your info, and it would be a lot harder for people to shop around for prescription painkillers and the like because it would show on your card. Which brings me to number 8:
8) I finally talked politics/world events with my family, which I found to be incredibly fascinating (I AM a polisci/european studies major...). I asked what they thought about Obama: they mostly liked him, they disliked Bush, but they aren't obsessed with Obama like literally all Europeans are...I'm not kidding. Lots of people ask me about Obama, and there were Obama t-shirts at some of the stores here! My host mother did share with me that she found Mr. Obama to be very, very, very attractive haha. Alain and Chantal (my host parents) labelled themselves as right-wing--Sarkozy is ehh, they didn't really like Chirac that much, they would never vote for LePen, an extremist right wing politician. Alain, who owns his own shipping business, didn't like the constraints of the socialist system (French people are limited to a 35 hour work week and copious vacation time)and the very high taxes. Alain dislikes the U.S. financial system for the recession, and both are worried about China's dominance in the world.
The political dialogue is very very different in France--things that are important in American politics ("moral issues" like abortion, gay marriage, or even religion itself are almost never present in politics. Religion is a private thing, and one would never use religious arguments in the public square). France has a multi-party system with a complete political spectrum (everywhere from politicians advocating a communist uprising to LePen, who advocated throwing out of France anyone who wasn't of basically pure-French blood and having very high tariffs to protect the French identity). Both Alain and Chantal agreed that American politicians weren't at all that different. I asked them what they thought of their healthcare system, and they like it and said they think Americans are stupid for not having universal healthcare, which I thought was interesting since they said they both consider themselves right-wing. Chantal said that doctors are "very, very well paid" and that their quality of care is good.
9)The family is VERY well-travelled and it's really interesting to hear their stories. One of their sons took a year and biked around the world with a friend and made a movie/documentary about it. He biked across Europe, then Turkey, then through Iran, and THE HIMALAYAS (!!!), Nepal, Pakistan, India, Thailand, China, then to South America, and on and on. Apparently they would just knock on doors and ask if they could sleep at people's houses! Incredible. It makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life ;)
10) The farmer's markets are unbelievable--every single day there's one, all year round. The biggest was on Saturday, and we got there towards the end of it but the farmer's market was about as big as entire city block; you could find every kind of food there (4 different stands for just honey!). The French place such importance on fresh, unprocessed food(don't even think about day-old bread!). It gives farmers a better price for their goods too. Another, related, thing about Angers is its uniqueness. There are a few chain grocery stores, but the most part, independent business abound--stylish little boutiques, bookstores, tons of bread stores, on and on. So refreshing compared to the big-box stores in America.
11) There is an absurd ratio of pastry shops and chocolateries to people in Angers. For a population of 150,000, there are like 10 exclusively chocolate shops I've seen, in addition to COUNTLESS pastry shops, bread stores, and cheese shops. Is this heaven? No, it's France.
Tomorrow's the first day of class, so bon soiree!
Bisous,
Claire
A really fun week (no classes or any obligations, which was a great break from my usual Notre Dame schedule haha). It was great getting to know everyone in my group (called "SUNDEF 44"--Notre Dame's program here in Angers that is in its 44th year!). There are 16 of us for spring semester and 7 or 8 who are here the whole year. We had a lot of late-night bonding and it was a lot of fun, learning more about everyone and finding that many of my initial stereotypes were totally wrong. People are so complex and interesting--a valuable lesson in not believing first impressions.
I really like the number thing I've been doing, so I'm just going to keep on doing it even though there's really no rhyme or reason; more discoveries and adventures!
1)There's an odd mix of English and French in written and spoken language. For example, in many magazines and advertisements, English phrases will be used, without quotations, interspersed with French. It's quite bizarre, and I think I would be kinda pissed off if, for example, I was reading an English newspaper and random Italian or Spanish phrases were in it. It's like French people are EXPECTED to know English. And French youth here know some American music better than I do--learning the lyrics to songs even if they have no clue what it means. It's kind of funny because sometimes I don't even know what the words are to lots of rap songs, and I'll have some of the French people I met asking me what the lyrics to some Lil Wayne songs mean. When I meet other French college students, we often speak a mix of the two languages--they want to practice their English and I want to practice my French. I find it a little bit annoying, however, when I try to speak French and the person won't even attempt to humor me. I'm waiting for the day when they won't be able to tell :)
2) This week is going to be "classes shopping week." We get a week to go to as many classes we want and try them out, and then make our final class selections next monday. Kind cool if you ask me.
3) It's hard remembering to talk French to my fellow Domers. Sometimes we'll start out speaking French and then you'll have something exciting to say and the native tongue returns. BUT I did have a dream in French a couple nights ago...progress!
4) I LOVE discovering cool words in French. It's really just a fun language. Two of my favorites are pamplemousse (grapefruit) and hippopotame (take a wild guess...and it's pronounced "ee-po-po-tahm"). (side note: if you want to see the CUTEST YOUTUBE VIDEO EVERRRRR, GO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miv-ZEmwtVg) The French language is funny in that sometimes they borrow English and turn it into something French-esque, sometimes they use English words (all the youth say "cool"), and sometimes they completely make up a new word, for various reasons (there is no "computer" because part of it is a French swear word, so they use "ordinateur" instead).
5) My group is deciding where to go for our 2 week long spring break in the middle of april. Suggestions welcome. Right now we're thinking austria, croatia, greece, and turkey.
6) Energy is really expensive in France, so my family keeps the house pretty chilly, and we shut the doors to our bedrooms to keep warm air in. The cold hallways are one way of waking yourself up in the morning. Lights are NEVER kept on when not in use, and appliances are unplugged. All of this makes me realize how wasteful we are in the U.S. This is going to sound weird, but I wish our dirty energy sources would be taxed more to make people conserve more, and then the government could use the money to invest in clean and renewable energy. ok sorry for that, back to French-related stuff now :)
7)I had a French doctor appointment because I had hurt my left foot in NYC a bit. It was quite different than in the U.S. The doctor's office was in a residential apartment. His name was Dr. English, even though HE DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH. sorry. rant. Anyways, he checked out my foot, and gave me a couple prescriptions and I was out the door. When I came in, they didn't need any of my info. no forms to fill out at all. The whole appointment took 10 minutes. I paid 20 euro for it. French citizens carry a "health card" that digitally carries all of their information on it--which prescriptions you're taking and who it's prescribed by, your insurance info, health history, etc. I think it's a really great idea--no arriving 15 minutes early to fill out all your info, and it would be a lot harder for people to shop around for prescription painkillers and the like because it would show on your card. Which brings me to number 8:
8) I finally talked politics/world events with my family, which I found to be incredibly fascinating (I AM a polisci/european studies major...). I asked what they thought about Obama: they mostly liked him, they disliked Bush, but they aren't obsessed with Obama like literally all Europeans are...I'm not kidding. Lots of people ask me about Obama, and there were Obama t-shirts at some of the stores here! My host mother did share with me that she found Mr. Obama to be very, very, very attractive haha. Alain and Chantal (my host parents) labelled themselves as right-wing--Sarkozy is ehh, they didn't really like Chirac that much, they would never vote for LePen, an extremist right wing politician. Alain, who owns his own shipping business, didn't like the constraints of the socialist system (French people are limited to a 35 hour work week and copious vacation time)and the very high taxes. Alain dislikes the U.S. financial system for the recession, and both are worried about China's dominance in the world.
The political dialogue is very very different in France--things that are important in American politics ("moral issues" like abortion, gay marriage, or even religion itself are almost never present in politics. Religion is a private thing, and one would never use religious arguments in the public square). France has a multi-party system with a complete political spectrum (everywhere from politicians advocating a communist uprising to LePen, who advocated throwing out of France anyone who wasn't of basically pure-French blood and having very high tariffs to protect the French identity). Both Alain and Chantal agreed that American politicians weren't at all that different. I asked them what they thought of their healthcare system, and they like it and said they think Americans are stupid for not having universal healthcare, which I thought was interesting since they said they both consider themselves right-wing. Chantal said that doctors are "very, very well paid" and that their quality of care is good.
9)The family is VERY well-travelled and it's really interesting to hear their stories. One of their sons took a year and biked around the world with a friend and made a movie/documentary about it. He biked across Europe, then Turkey, then through Iran, and THE HIMALAYAS (!!!), Nepal, Pakistan, India, Thailand, China, then to South America, and on and on. Apparently they would just knock on doors and ask if they could sleep at people's houses! Incredible. It makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life ;)
10) The farmer's markets are unbelievable--every single day there's one, all year round. The biggest was on Saturday, and we got there towards the end of it but the farmer's market was about as big as entire city block; you could find every kind of food there (4 different stands for just honey!). The French place such importance on fresh, unprocessed food(don't even think about day-old bread!). It gives farmers a better price for their goods too. Another, related, thing about Angers is its uniqueness. There are a few chain grocery stores, but the most part, independent business abound--stylish little boutiques, bookstores, tons of bread stores, on and on. So refreshing compared to the big-box stores in America.
11) There is an absurd ratio of pastry shops and chocolateries to people in Angers. For a population of 150,000, there are like 10 exclusively chocolate shops I've seen, in addition to COUNTLESS pastry shops, bread stores, and cheese shops. Is this heaven? No, it's France.
Tomorrow's the first day of class, so bon soiree!
Bisous,
Claire
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Exchange Rate is Killing Me...and Other Tales
A very full couple of days, involving the following discoveries/adventures:
1) I bought a phone. It was the most expensive purchase I've made thus far. There are really only four phone/telecom companies in France, which means not very much competition and thus higher prices. It was 39 euro to buy the phone and 20 euro per month for unlimited texting and 40 minutes of call time. blargggggg. Did I mention that phones in France are nowhere near the quality (even cheap ones) of phones in the US? This was a consensus among our group.
2) Ads. They don't exist very much at all in Angers (not the visual type; radio and tv ads definitely occur). It's quite beautiful actually (sorry Advertising majors), not to have billboards everywhere (I'm talking to you, Indiana Toll Road!).
3)The French have perfected the art of staring, at people or at things going on around them. Men more so than women. There's quite a bit of construction going on in Angers (they're putting in a train/trolley system), and you'll randomly see a couple old men pausing and staring at all of the construction work.
4) The French dress, in general, much nicer than Americans do, especially men. No one ever wears tennis shoes or sweatpants (our house mom explained that she would consider someone who wear sweats in public to be badly raised or rude...!)I'm obsessed with French shoes--there are several shoe places in Angers, but again, the exchange rate is not in my favor, so for now I'll just have to admire. Most people don't wear lots of color (just one or two flashes of color on a handbag or shoes), sticking to neutrals like brown, gray, and black, but having LOTS of layers. Even girls in high school will wear high heels on a daily basis.
5) Grocery stores. I (and my roommate and friend Hilary) have an inexplicable love of seeing grocery stores in other countries, and even other places (we loved going into NYC grovery stores too). It's so much fun seeing the artful arrangements, comparing prices (avocados aren't terribly expensive in France...who knew?!), seeing the different cultural products (even in the equivalent of Walmarts, the bread section is still huge and prominent and there is absolutely no such thing as wonderbread or the crap that Americans eat). I can spend ridiculous amounts of time in French grocery stores, just wandering the aisles and thinking about how cool it all is.
6) Approach to exercise. Most French people don't "exercise" in the sense that Americans do or attempt to. Everyone walks or bikes to other places, but you don't go running or do jazzercise. There aren't any remotely overweight people. I'm not kidding. And apparently French people who do go running often don't wear running shoes or exercise wear, but wear normal clothes and shoes instead. I'm still looking for a yoga place...le sigh. As much as a love a good workout, I have to admit the idea of "eat what you really want, in small portions, and walk everywhere" seems to be working very well.
7) Snacking doesn't really happen, and tv ads for "snack foods" are required to have a sort of surgeon general's warning that says "snacking is bad for your health." Can you imagine ever having that in America?
8) Cats. Lots of shops have a cat, and you'll sometimes see them on doorsteps or walking down the sidewalk. Lots of people have dogs too, and it shows on the sidewalks occasionally.
9) LOTS of people smoke, men and women. You'll see it outside the high schools and my university. Anti-smoking laws are often disregarded. My family, luckily, doesn't smoke.
10) Parking--people totally disregard any parking laws. Cars parked on sidewalks are a frequent sight on my way to school.
11) The city of Angers has really interesting street names. I live on the street "Jean Commere", who was a 20th century painter who committed suicide in Angers. There are two streets named after Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy in Angers. Rue Anne Frank is a block away. Poets, philosophers, artists, politicians of many nationalities have streets named after them here. It puts "Mayor Mike Fahey Street" in Omaha to shaaaame.
12) We visited Angers' 13th century castle yesterday(I love being able to say that I live in a city with a castle!). It's right above the river, and its moat is now full of flowers and shrubs. It was really a cool experience--you can see most of the town from the upper level. And we were all a bit surprised about how little it was "preserved", in the sense that you could walk freely through everything and that some people had even carved their names into the slate stones on top. And I think it signifies a different legal system when the walls on the top of the castle (if you're standing up there) are only mid-thigh and there's no railing. Here's a photo:
In addition to seeing the castle, there is a really famous tapestry from the 14th century (I think) that's like 2 football fields long about the book of Revelation. It's called the Tapestry of the Apocalypse. It was really beautiful but also really hard to understand the French guide. The upside was that there were really cool signs saying "the Apocalypse this way." (photo from my friend Lindsay):
Bisous,
Claire
1) I bought a phone. It was the most expensive purchase I've made thus far. There are really only four phone/telecom companies in France, which means not very much competition and thus higher prices. It was 39 euro to buy the phone and 20 euro per month for unlimited texting and 40 minutes of call time. blargggggg. Did I mention that phones in France are nowhere near the quality (even cheap ones) of phones in the US? This was a consensus among our group.
2) Ads. They don't exist very much at all in Angers (not the visual type; radio and tv ads definitely occur). It's quite beautiful actually (sorry Advertising majors), not to have billboards everywhere (I'm talking to you, Indiana Toll Road!).
3)The French have perfected the art of staring, at people or at things going on around them. Men more so than women. There's quite a bit of construction going on in Angers (they're putting in a train/trolley system), and you'll randomly see a couple old men pausing and staring at all of the construction work.
4) The French dress, in general, much nicer than Americans do, especially men. No one ever wears tennis shoes or sweatpants (our house mom explained that she would consider someone who wear sweats in public to be badly raised or rude...!)I'm obsessed with French shoes--there are several shoe places in Angers, but again, the exchange rate is not in my favor, so for now I'll just have to admire. Most people don't wear lots of color (just one or two flashes of color on a handbag or shoes), sticking to neutrals like brown, gray, and black, but having LOTS of layers. Even girls in high school will wear high heels on a daily basis.
5) Grocery stores. I (and my roommate and friend Hilary) have an inexplicable love of seeing grocery stores in other countries, and even other places (we loved going into NYC grovery stores too). It's so much fun seeing the artful arrangements, comparing prices (avocados aren't terribly expensive in France...who knew?!), seeing the different cultural products (even in the equivalent of Walmarts, the bread section is still huge and prominent and there is absolutely no such thing as wonderbread or the crap that Americans eat). I can spend ridiculous amounts of time in French grocery stores, just wandering the aisles and thinking about how cool it all is.
6) Approach to exercise. Most French people don't "exercise" in the sense that Americans do or attempt to. Everyone walks or bikes to other places, but you don't go running or do jazzercise. There aren't any remotely overweight people. I'm not kidding. And apparently French people who do go running often don't wear running shoes or exercise wear, but wear normal clothes and shoes instead. I'm still looking for a yoga place...le sigh. As much as a love a good workout, I have to admit the idea of "eat what you really want, in small portions, and walk everywhere" seems to be working very well.
7) Snacking doesn't really happen, and tv ads for "snack foods" are required to have a sort of surgeon general's warning that says "snacking is bad for your health." Can you imagine ever having that in America?
8) Cats. Lots of shops have a cat, and you'll sometimes see them on doorsteps or walking down the sidewalk. Lots of people have dogs too, and it shows on the sidewalks occasionally.
9) LOTS of people smoke, men and women. You'll see it outside the high schools and my university. Anti-smoking laws are often disregarded. My family, luckily, doesn't smoke.
10) Parking--people totally disregard any parking laws. Cars parked on sidewalks are a frequent sight on my way to school.
11) The city of Angers has really interesting street names. I live on the street "Jean Commere", who was a 20th century painter who committed suicide in Angers. There are two streets named after Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy in Angers. Rue Anne Frank is a block away. Poets, philosophers, artists, politicians of many nationalities have streets named after them here. It puts "Mayor Mike Fahey Street" in Omaha to shaaaame.
12) We visited Angers' 13th century castle yesterday(I love being able to say that I live in a city with a castle!). It's right above the river, and its moat is now full of flowers and shrubs. It was really a cool experience--you can see most of the town from the upper level. And we were all a bit surprised about how little it was "preserved", in the sense that you could walk freely through everything and that some people had even carved their names into the slate stones on top. And I think it signifies a different legal system when the walls on the top of the castle (if you're standing up there) are only mid-thigh and there's no railing. Here's a photo:
In addition to seeing the castle, there is a really famous tapestry from the 14th century (I think) that's like 2 football fields long about the book of Revelation. It's called the Tapestry of the Apocalypse. It was really beautiful but also really hard to understand the French guide. The upside was that there were really cool signs saying "the Apocalypse this way." (photo from my friend Lindsay):
Bisous,
Claire
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
"Les Cupcakes? C'est un muffin?"
My First Two Days and a "Top 10" Experiences/Lessons so far"
I'm in France! It's "incroyable"! So many new experiences.
I had seen the house I'm staying in on Google Streetmap, a miraculous phenomenon that lets you see satellite images of basically anything up close, but I thought it was a different house because there are HUGE hedges in front of mine. The house is absolutely GORGEOUS (I'll post pictures later!), very chic and modern. My host family ("familly d'accueil") is amazing. Chantal and Alain are probably late 50s or early 60s and have four grown children, the youngest of whom I met. They even asked us to use the "tu" form of you rather than the more proper "vous" form, and to call them by their first names, which isn't very common. I have a house-mate, Hilary, who is a really good friend of mine from Notre Dame (she was one of the first people I met after transferring to Notre Dame). We each have our own beautiful rooms and a shared bathroom, and we have the entire upstairs to ourselves. It's really a nice arrangement. It's getting a bit late here so I'll post my top 10 experiences/discoveries of France so far:
1) The French have no clue what cupcakes are. They don't exist in France. Hilary and I attempted to describe them (like cakes, but smaller, no, they aren't "moofans" but close etc. etc.). We finally showed them a photo on google image (le google eemaj") and convinced their son Adrien to visit a cupcake shop when he goes to NYC next month.
2) Snuggies have arrived in France. Except they are not called snuggies. They are called, mysteriously, "TV fleece-plaid." And no, they are NOT plaid. They are also available for 8 euro, instead of like 25 dollars in the US. I have no clue why a) snuggie doesn't translate, it seems so universal and b) why the French are confused about what plaid is.
3) FOOD. La nourriture en France is amazing, although it's VERY hard to be lactose intolerant and vegetarian. I have to take lactose pills twice a day to be safe. But our mother Chantal is an excellent cook. There are several courses served at EVERY lunch and dinner (soup, then a cheese tarte, then salad, then amazinggggg cheese (at least two varieties, I like camembert and I didn't even mind le bleu, although I've detested it all the other times I tried it) and bread, then some time of dessert, like rum ice cream or fruit. Wine is served at every meal, and we discovered that only the man of the house is allowed to pour the wine. It's all delicious, but it's not served in very large portions a les Americaines. You get a nice sampling of everything. Pleasantly full, but not stuffed.
4) Everything is ancient. 14th century? Don't bat an eyelash. Apparently they were renovating a parking garage downtown and found some bones from the 2nd century. No big deal.
5) It's hard to find anything without a map because square blocks and well-organized cities don't exist. there are triangle-shaped blocks, circle-shaped blocks, frequent dead-ends, etc, etc. So I guess I just have to look like a tourist for now.
6) French cashiers at grocery stores don't weigh your produce for you at the register. and get mad if you are a silly American who doesn't understand this simple fact.
7) I'm overcoming my stereotypes about French people. The vast majority of people have been incredibly kind and helpful (we had one old man do a U-turn on his bike and ask if we needed directions
8) It rains. a lot.
9) Wine takes up two HUGE aisles at the grocery store, and chocolate is about 3/4 of an aisle. Priorities, people.
10) It's incredible how little French people waste. Things are more expensive, so lights are NEVER left on, and rooms are dim. It's a little cold in the house. At meals, Chantal makes PERFECT portions. There's almost never leftovers. Even looking at French garbage bags lining the sidewalk before trash day, there's very little, maybe a small garbage bag per week for an entire household. Environmentally conscious AND it makes economic sense!
and a bonus:
11) IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE. I bought a bag of almonds, some prunes, a tiny bag of oatmeal, and a few crackers at the French equivalent of a Walmart and it cost be nearly 20 euro (like 35 dollars). A beer at the bar tonight was 3 euro, which wouldn't be that bad except a) the small portion sizes and b) the exchange rate is killing me.
a bientot mes amis!
claire
sidenote: I'm going to try to update this every couple of days, but I want it to be something that I want to do rather than an obligation, so no promises :)
I'm in France! It's "incroyable"! So many new experiences.
I had seen the house I'm staying in on Google Streetmap, a miraculous phenomenon that lets you see satellite images of basically anything up close, but I thought it was a different house because there are HUGE hedges in front of mine. The house is absolutely GORGEOUS (I'll post pictures later!), very chic and modern. My host family ("familly d'accueil") is amazing. Chantal and Alain are probably late 50s or early 60s and have four grown children, the youngest of whom I met. They even asked us to use the "tu" form of you rather than the more proper "vous" form, and to call them by their first names, which isn't very common. I have a house-mate, Hilary, who is a really good friend of mine from Notre Dame (she was one of the first people I met after transferring to Notre Dame). We each have our own beautiful rooms and a shared bathroom, and we have the entire upstairs to ourselves. It's really a nice arrangement. It's getting a bit late here so I'll post my top 10 experiences/discoveries of France so far:
1) The French have no clue what cupcakes are. They don't exist in France. Hilary and I attempted to describe them (like cakes, but smaller, no, they aren't "moofans" but close etc. etc.). We finally showed them a photo on google image (le google eemaj") and convinced their son Adrien to visit a cupcake shop when he goes to NYC next month.
2) Snuggies have arrived in France. Except they are not called snuggies. They are called, mysteriously, "TV fleece-plaid." And no, they are NOT plaid. They are also available for 8 euro, instead of like 25 dollars in the US. I have no clue why a) snuggie doesn't translate, it seems so universal and b) why the French are confused about what plaid is.
3) FOOD. La nourriture en France is amazing, although it's VERY hard to be lactose intolerant and vegetarian. I have to take lactose pills twice a day to be safe. But our mother Chantal is an excellent cook. There are several courses served at EVERY lunch and dinner (soup, then a cheese tarte, then salad, then amazinggggg cheese (at least two varieties, I like camembert and I didn't even mind le bleu, although I've detested it all the other times I tried it) and bread, then some time of dessert, like rum ice cream or fruit. Wine is served at every meal, and we discovered that only the man of the house is allowed to pour the wine. It's all delicious, but it's not served in very large portions a les Americaines. You get a nice sampling of everything. Pleasantly full, but not stuffed.
4) Everything is ancient. 14th century? Don't bat an eyelash. Apparently they were renovating a parking garage downtown and found some bones from the 2nd century. No big deal.
5) It's hard to find anything without a map because square blocks and well-organized cities don't exist. there are triangle-shaped blocks, circle-shaped blocks, frequent dead-ends, etc, etc. So I guess I just have to look like a tourist for now.
6) French cashiers at grocery stores don't weigh your produce for you at the register. and get mad if you are a silly American who doesn't understand this simple fact.
7) I'm overcoming my stereotypes about French people. The vast majority of people have been incredibly kind and helpful (we had one old man do a U-turn on his bike and ask if we needed directions
8) It rains. a lot.
9) Wine takes up two HUGE aisles at the grocery store, and chocolate is about 3/4 of an aisle. Priorities, people.
10) It's incredible how little French people waste. Things are more expensive, so lights are NEVER left on, and rooms are dim. It's a little cold in the house. At meals, Chantal makes PERFECT portions. There's almost never leftovers. Even looking at French garbage bags lining the sidewalk before trash day, there's very little, maybe a small garbage bag per week for an entire household. Environmentally conscious AND it makes economic sense!
and a bonus:
11) IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE. I bought a bag of almonds, some prunes, a tiny bag of oatmeal, and a few crackers at the French equivalent of a Walmart and it cost be nearly 20 euro (like 35 dollars). A beer at the bar tonight was 3 euro, which wouldn't be that bad except a) the small portion sizes and b) the exchange rate is killing me.
a bientot mes amis!
claire
sidenote: I'm going to try to update this every couple of days, but I want it to be something that I want to do rather than an obligation, so no promises :)
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