A Whim-Win Situation.

So far, one of the things I’ve learned about France is how easily one can indulge in whims here. One day coming home from school I looked out the bus window and saw how pretty the day was and how nice the walk along the river looked, so I got off the bus and walked it. I was with a new friend talking about how much we liked gnocchi, so we made some. Four of us were talking about what to do over the break, decided to go to Dijon on Saturday, and that we should also go to Geneva soon, so we went and bought our tickets. All decisions made just like that.

Obviously the close proximity of these places and the train stations make traveling to Geneva easier here than back home, but I do think the lifestyle here encourages whims. From the way they do their shopping to the way they make friends, the French, and I suppose most Europeans, seem entirely whimsical to me. Not in the Disney or fairy-tale way, but the capricious and impulsive way (thank you, right-click-thesaurus). For example, the French enjoy eating seasonally and buying only what they want to eat that night or for the next few days, not a huge, twice-monthly haul at Sam’s. This allows them to indulge in their whims, depending on what looks good or their cravings.

However, I’ve always thought the word capricious tends to bring negative connotations. Like indecisive? Fickle? Sporadic? (Thanks again, thesaurus.) I’m a Capricorn so I assume that’s related, root-word wise. (I’ve never put much stock in astrology. Except, I share a birthday with Mary Tyler Moore, so I’ll believe anything that can make us more alike.) But even if the stars conspired for me to be capricious, this whimsy thing, like the language and the food, is foreign to me. I’ve gotten to like structure and limitations and I know how to effectively work with them. Here, I have to operate a little differently, because my new schedule and lifestyle opens up more options. Time to ditch the At-a-Glance Day Minder I’ve used since eighth grade and hop on a train. So, for the first vacation break, let the whims take me where they will!

FOOD.

Finally, the entry that you have been waiting for! (Or at least Nupe has.) Once again, I preferred to think in an outline organized by the most important topics.

Cheese:

• Luckily for me, the Franche-Comté region houses makes of its own artisan cheeses. So far, the Mont D’Or is my fav. It has a “sens” like a Camembert but a different soft… kind of granular? I don’t know, but it’s good and I served it at our first little apartment party on really stale bread I revived in the microwave. A seasonal cheese, it’s best to eat all you can right now! I’ve heard it makes GREAT fondue for bread and potatoes; you just bake it in its little wooden box. This might be the prompt I need to actually buy the required oven. The taste of the Swiss-like Comté becomes stronger as it ages and you choose from 8-, 10-, 12-, or 18-month old batches in the stores. I’ve also tried L’Edel de Cleron, a brie relative, and the wonderfully gooey Cancoillote on pizzas and galettes.

Beverages

• Bars are not the smoke and rap music-filled dens of uncomfortableness they can sometimes be back home. Think Chelsea’s or the Bulldog (when there’s not 1000 people there).
• I like wine, I know nothing about it, and am therefore quite easy to please. Preferring red, I’ve had my share of cheap Rhone-Alps and Bordeauxs here but the only local-ish wine I’ve gotten to try is one of the Jura whites. (FYI: French wine is named by the region in which it was made and not by the grapes like Italian wines.) I found it way more heady and nutty than the fruity and light white wines I’m used to (haha, listen to me pretending I can talk about wine…) and I can’t quite decide if I like it. I think I’ll wait to try the famed Vin Jaune of the region when Mom comes to visit because she can afford the 22€ a bottle.
• 
  Beer is good. They do serve it cold. (Daddy, we now know that it’s safe for you to come to France.) They also serve each type of beer in its own branded glasses that make very nice souvenirs if your purse is big enough. Last summer I accidently asked for a liter of Stella that cost 10€. My reluctance to try to order creatively and end up with something else ridiculous led me to try the easy-to-say demi-sirops. If you successfully ask the bartender for one, he mixes a pint of the cheaper beer with any of the variety of flavored syrups (peach, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, mint, etc.). All I have to remember is the fruit vocab I hopefully learned in French II at SJA. Totally appealing, but they border on being too sweet, so I’ve moved on to the demi-blanches or demi-blondes (whichever the bartender thinks I’ve said). Plus, one is called Edelweiss, a glass I definitely took home, with Kelly’s help. A genius invention, the giraffe, is like getting a mini-keg for your table, and turns out to be cheaper for everyone involved.

Everything Else

• Street stands sell cheap and quick sandwiches, you just have to find your own place to eat them. Church steps and benches near the river work nicely. Half a baguette stuffed with ham and cornichons, goat cheese and tomatoes (and sometimes salmon if you unknowingly ask for it), or chicken and boiled eggs. For about 3 euros. I’m a fan. Especially the ones with the local cheeses, and have I told you about French mayonnaise? It’s about a 100 times more delicious than Helman’s or Kraft or, God forbid, Miracle Whip.
• A kabob here is a Lebanese gyro. I like it even better than the ones from restaurants at home (sorry, Serop’s). You know that cucumber dressing that you can taste for days? The French have replaced it with the wonderful sauce blanche. Plus, they give you these tiny forks to eat with it. Fun!
• The hamburgers are as big as your face and they eat their fries with mayonnaise (just like we learned in Pulp Fiction). Seriously, given my past brushes with food poisoning, I never though I would be so pro-mayonnaise. But as far as I know they refrigerate it, unlike their eggs, which I know they don’t.
• Almost ordered stomach the other day at a restaurant (you think I would have learned after the andouille affair*) but I got a nice pork ribs plate instead. And the other day for lunch in centreville I got a beef roast/stew thing that was delicious. They know their meat… and their innards, apparently.
• The only thing that outnumbers the pizza places here are the lingerie stores, and the best one we’ve found so far is Macadam (for pizza, not lingerie). At lunchtime, the pizzas are half price and you can taste the fresh toppings and the crust lives up to being a French bread product. Plus, pizza=cheese so I’m happy.
• For some reason I’ve been oddly slow at trying pastries, but I’ve hit the basics: pain au chocolat (like a square croissant with chocolate down the middle), apple tart, and a crazy-difficult-to-eat crepe filled with bananas and Nutella. Three-for-three yummy.

As far as my own forays into French food, I’ve enjoyed being a semi-regular customer at the nearby bakery (where there’s like 6 kinds of baguettes) and have hit up the markets downtown and the one by my school. Every Tuesday during my numerous class breaks (I swear, these children only go four days a week and get two ½ hour recesses and a two-hour lunch break), I can go to the market and stock up. It's a really interesting one too, very multicultural because of the neighborhood and selling food, clothes, bolts of materials, all kinds of things. My first time I bought some tomatoes ( not that bad, they didn't have the supermarket taste for sure, but didn't have much other taste either, definitely not as good as Louisiana) and… artichokes!

A total impulse buy, they were huge and cheap. It wasn't until after I bought he artichokes that I realized I didn't really know how to cook them, or might not have a pot large enough. But I’ve cooked them twice in a little soup pot filled halfway with water with a plate weighted down by a book on top. And have I told you about the greatness of French mayonnaise? Perfect artichoke dip.

If you need some more visuals, please consult the photo album entirely devoted to food. Bon Appétit!

*The “andouille affair” refers to an unfortunate galette incident where I mistook (and led poor Christine with me) the French andouille of pork colon for the delicious, and typically internal organ-free, andouille sausage of South Louisiana. Same name, very different experience, though the etymology of the Cajun word makes sense...

"Hello Teacher!"

I am officially a teacher in France. Yesterday I “taught” (using that term quite loosely) five classes with varying degrees of success. All in all, it went better than I expected. I’m glad that I have a better idea of my work, and I’m ever gladder that I actually think I’m going to like it.

Quick lesson on French school system terminology (because I had to learn it too). Elementary (primaire) starts with CP (first), CE1 (second), CE2 (third), CM1 (fourth), and CM2 (fifth). Kindergarten is typically not part of école primaire, but housed with the pre-k aged children in an école maternelle. I teach about two classes of every grade, CP-CM2. 45 minutes twice a week for CE2-CM2 and half an hour twice a week for CP and CE1. So far, I’ve taught mostly the littlest ones and I think they’re going to be difficult, since they can’t read yet and all. Everyone was warning me about the CMs because of discipline problems but as a whole the older kids seem to be more responsive, either because the novelty of having an American there hasn’t worn off, or they’ve had a little bit of English before. Les petits are just hopeless, I see many songs and coloring sheets in their futures. But who knows, once I’ve had all my classes they could be my favorites BECAUSE of all the songs and coloring sheets.

The other teachers are generally nice and easy to work with. I spend my breaks at school in the teacher’s lounge trying to follow their conversations (not too much luck) but I’m learning some new school-specific vocab. They don’t seem to expect too much from my lessons, so that’s good, and they handle some of the discipline, which is even better. I’m totally going to take advantage of the “only speak English in English class” rule, that way the kids never have to know how bad my French is…

ALL French people have the exact same handwriting. Kind of creepy. I’ve watched the teachers have lessons on this and the students get really confused when they see mine, especially my numbers. I meet them halfway by putting the little lines through my sevens but I’m not changing my ones at all, and my twos apparently look like sixes, but I’m there to expose them to other cultures, right? They’ll have to get used to my loopy twos.

Another cultural difference, this one unexpected: Since most Europeans learn British English, (completely understandable due to proximity), my teaching materials are all frustratingly British and have lessons about lorries, Yorkshire puddings, and Guy Fawkes (thankfully I know of a few translators). Obviously, I’m not going to teach any of this “King’s English.” I feel as though I’d be less of an American if I didn’t take advantage of the little influence I have. Manifest Destiny! And what better way to start than giving all the French children American names? (I’m not just on a power trip, we were told that giving children English names is a enriching exercise as well as teaching them English sounds and pronunciations. Example: ever heard a French kid try to say “Heather?” “Th” doesn’t really appear in French.) My name inspirations came from friends and family, as well as pop culture (and by pop culture I mean the Babysitter’s Club, American Girl Dolls, the Gosselin sextuplets and Disney Channel stars). In hindsight, Felicity, Dawn and Stuart might have been too difficult, but Hank, Madison, Aidan, Jennifer, Tracy, Zach and Wendy were big hits. I have no intention of learning their French names but have little hope they can remember their own English names. Next week, we’ll have to play a game or something so Brittney, Sean, Katie, Connor, Kevin and their classmates won’t have identity crises. As for me, French students typically call their teachers “maîtresse” instead of "Madame Whoever." This just translates into “teacher” so that’s what they’re calling me. They shout "Hello Teacher!" when they see me in the halls. It’s cute and makes me feel like Annie Sullivan. However, I couldn’t even teach them “my name is” so I’m certainly not working any miracles. Halloween will take up a whole lesson next week (enter the coloring sheets) and then the week after is our first vacation. Pretty sweet gig, right?

p.s. I haven’t taken any pictures of the school yet, and I’m sure there’s some sort of law that prevents me from sharing pictures of children online so you’ll just have to use your imaginations! If you really need a visual, just substitute the kids from School of Rock (the diversity is actually pretty similar) except make them European and change the uniforms. I plan on teaching them songs, so who knows about their musical ability?

Misc. #1

Because stream-of-consciousness is easier to read in lists:

New things I’ve learned:

• How a radiator works (sort of).
• What an “electric kettle” is. It’s like a teapot with it’s own built-in stove. Do people own these in the US? Because it was total news to me.
• French children point their fingers in the air instead of raising their hands. Kind of adorable. They also use wheely-booksacks way more than American kids.
• Bises. The little kisses the French do on either cheek? Yeah, well they do that alot. I saw a newspaper article on how people should stop doing the bises to prevent the spread of the flu (la grippe!) and I’d totally be on board. I know I’m here is to learn and acclimate myself in a new culture, but there are some things about which I am decidedly American. Plus the cheek-to-cheek contact can’t be good for your complexion.
• Sephora’s “Beauty Insider” card cannot be used internationally.
• The weather’s been nice (sunny and cool), but it’s not all that less humid that back home. My smooth hair dreams have been crushed.
• I like hand-washing clothes. It’s kind of satisfying in a look-how-productive-I’ve-been kind of way. And machine-washing costs 4€ a load, which I’ll have to do eventually because it’s kind of hard to hand-wash towels and jeans.
• Turns out I don’t miss ice at all.
• Television however, whole other story. Hulu and Netflix don’t work in Europe and I haven’t really tapped into my collection of corny movies and SATC yet (want to make it last the whole seven months) so out of desperation, I have replaced television with websites that post funny pictures. THIS one is a favorite, as well as THIS, and oh, ONE MORE. Please don’t think less of me. Some other assistants watched French TV and though it sounds interesting, “Friends” in French just wouldn’t be the same.

This weekend Besançon hosted the Sonorama music festival. Some assistants came in from out of town and we made a little party out of it. The performance Friday night, a British brass band, with quite the varied repertoire, first playing “Thriller” and then “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” The conductor was dancing and trying to rile up the crowd like, I don’t know, David Bowie or someone… It was kind of funny considering they were just a glorified seated marching band, but everyone loved them and started dancing. I just kept thinking that this could only happen in Europe…

Saturday night was another huge dance party in the one of the big squares in centreville. They hung a giant disco ball from a crane and had a DJ playing some interesting music, some sort of techno/electronic/”drum and bass”/euro whatever, but it was still fun. Another “only in Europe” moment. Plus I got a plastic souvenir cup that I’m going to use to hold my toothbrush. Exciting!

Other than the festival, I’ve had a few lazy days… guess I’m storing up my energy for teaching? I’ll be observing at the beginning of this week and then start teaching Thursday. Should have more interesting things to talk about then.

P.S. New site for posting all my pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/connie.boudreaux

On a mission.

Encouraged by the growing number of contacts in my little French phone, my mission lately has been to meet as many people as I can. Even more encouraging, I’ve met a handful of former assistants who have renewed their positions or found some other way to stay in Besançon for 2, even 3 years. If they liked this place enough to come back to, then I must be in for a decent year, right? And they couldn’t have been sweeter: showing us their favorite haunts, explaining the circus of French paperwork, giving teaching tips (which I heartedly welcomed), and introducing us to their real French friends.

I went on a little hike with a group of some of these newfound friends a few days ago. Less than 2 km and taking only about thirty minutes, the path didn’t get impossibly steep but was steep enough to feel like you’re really hiking, you know? Basically, it was a perfect Sunday afternoon outing; picnics would only ameliorate the situation. We got to the top and received our reward: a fantastic view of the whole town, even better than the one from the Citadelle (in fact, this view included the Citadelle). Click here to see a few pictures from the hike! (I’m using a new photo-sharing site so I’ll be able to put up more pics soon and will try to organize them a little better.) Also at the top near the Fort (forgot the name… Chauban?) stood a monument to a regiment of American soldiers that fought on the hill during World War II. Given the topic of my French senior seminar class, this was waayyy cool and also gave another mood to the hike. Imagining soldiers on their own missions, running around with guns, avoiding enemy fire, where we were just enjoying the trees... Favorite thing I’ve done so far and I hope to revisit it often, especially once the seasons start changing (but my goodness, it’s October, I’m sure they’ll be changing soon).

Good of an intro as any for a weather report: We’ve really lucked out because it has been GORGEOUS. In the sixties, clear blue skies, just perfect. However the nights have been cold and we couldn’t get our heater working. Turns out it wasn’t broken, we were just being Americans. Thankfully a more knowledgeable ami helped us out and we now have heat! So far I’ve heard that it doesn’t snow all that much in Besançon but hopefully some connections with assistants in smaller towns outside the city will get me to some real, real, snow. Not like the “snow” in Baton Rouge over finals week last December, but SNOW. Skiing may also be in my future, once my French health insurance kicks in.

OK, now about my teaching. Which is, as far as the French government is concerned, the reason I’m here. The department held a large meeting of all the assistants Monday, which basically consisted of eight hours of information and paperwork. Up until now, I’ve been so preoccupied with the move that I haven’t thought much about the actual job. I officially started my elementary school post last Thursday. I’m teaching all the classes, ages 6-10, and pretty much have all the lesson planning and teaching responsibility. The other teachers have warned me that discipline is a big problem, and since the children can already tell that I don’t speak awesome French (they laugh at my accent) I’m thinking commanding respect and attention is going to be difficult… but I’m just observing the first two weeks and I’ll be getting some help from the school and from a few workshops with the department so I’ll be able to put on a better game face soon. I find the French government a little crazy to give me this much responsibility with absolutely no experience. Teaching will definitely present a challenge, but it’s a mission I accepted and from which I now I’ll learn a ton about myself, and the language, and working in general. Hopefully, it will be a small price to pay for the experience of living in France.