Sunday:
A few friends and I met up at the Tuileries Gardens and went to Colette Carnaval. Colette is a French department store and they decided to celebrate their 15th birthday by throwing a party under an enormous tent. There were games, a dance floor, and a bunch of food stands. I was very excited to see a Manhattan Hot Dog cart, so I decided to have a good ol' American hot dog for lunch. The American experience was kind of diminished when I had to say "Un 'ot dog avec ketch-oop, s'il vous plaît", but it was tasty just the same. An hour was about all we could stand of the lack of personal space. Living here has made me realize how much Americans value their own personal bubble. It's a totally foreign concept to the French. I guess they don't mind getting bumped and shoved everywhere they go, but it drives me nuts. Madame invited me to have dinner with the family, which was très sympa of her, since our program fees technically don't include weekend dinners. We had croque monsieurs, the French version of grilled ham and cheese.Monday:
The weather was absolutely magnifique today. I was a little wary of the "65 and sunny forecast" because Parisian weathermen are 10x worse than their Michigan counterparts. The other day it was supposed to be 60 and sunny and ended up being 40, windy, and cloudy. Luckily, today they were correct and by 11am I didn't even need a light jacket. It's supposed to get in the high sixties by Friday, so hopefully today set a precedent for the rest of the week.
It was a long day of classes. Luckily, they went by quickly. In Paris by Site, we spent most of the time talking about Notre Dame and its innovative architectural structure: the flying buttresses. I had to stifle my laughter every time the teacher said "flying buttress". She mentioned that when she gives walking tours to American families, the 5 year olds always laugh at that part. Well, I'm almost 20 and I still think it's funny. No shame. I had a dream last night that I got a fabulous pastry from a pastry shop that I pass by when walking back from the University every day. I've never actually been in this pastry shop, so I interpreted my dream as a sign that God wanted me to indulge in a treat. On my break between French and Paris by Site, I stopped in and searched for the pastry that closest resembled the made-up one in my dream. It ended up being a Charlotte aux Framboises and it exceeded all expectations. It was made up of these sweet ladyfinger-type things, with raspberry jam and raspberry mousse on the inside, topped with none other than raspberries. Oh yeah, it was out of this world.
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| Perfection. |
Today was the first official 'Merican Monday or, as I call it in French, Lundi L'Anglais. Madame et Monsieur didn't eat with us because they're going out with friends tonight, but it was fantastic. I felt like the kids really got to know me and not the American student with the vocabulary of a five year old who has to think for 5-10 seconds before each sentence about how to correctly form it. Obviously, conversation flowed much smoother and we talked a lot about the differences between French/American schools. Their school day runs from 8:30-5pm and they get an hour and a half for lunch. They're allowed to leave school for lunch, but their headmaster forbade them from going to McDonald's or anything like that because he doesn't want them "getting into trouble"... at McDonald's. You're only allowed to go home or to another family member's house for lunch. When I asked how the principal would ever know if they went elsewhere, Inès said that he hired someone to camp out at McDonald's and tattle on any students who went there. Last year, a girl got suspended for two days just for getting Mickey D's for lunch. How crazy is that!? (Thair, I know what you're thinking: "That's garbage"). We also talked about the American music and movies they like. I had such a good time with the kids at dinner- Mondays just might be my new favorite day of the week
Affectueusement,
Katie
Good to hear how you're easing in and becoming much more comfortable with the family. Thanks for the shoutout by the way. Legit, that's exactly what I was thinking. That's straight up garbage. You know I'd be all over McDonalds if they had open lunch...hello...drive thru. what a bunch of uftys.
ReplyDeletelmaooo flying buttress. hehehehe