Its true. Sadly, Fall is not as fun here. Kids get like 2 weeks off of school, so there should be the aroma of celebration in the air! (Although this tends to make au pairs around the country grimace and hide in fear, so I can get that. I am one of the Lucky Ones - as the two older children are gone spending the week at their uncle's. It is currently just me and the baby. Which I actually very much enjoy).
The leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp and biting, and when the sun shines, it still shines with that bright, early fall intensity.
But there are no pumpkins anywhere. Nobody is setting out displays of whole frozen turkeys. There are no "fall flavors" of ANYTHING, no scents of cinnamon. No leaves-and-apples decorations up anywhere. Not a haystack in sight. Nor have I seen the abundance of squash that normally accompanies the season.
To combat this lack of fall joy I have taken certain steps:
1. Making applesauce. As it turns out, the father is allergic to cinnamon. That's OK. I get the compote de pomme to myself.
2. My daily tea intake has nearly doubled since my first month.
3. Watching holiday episodes of "Friends" in my spare time.
4. Looking forward to Christmas
5. Thinking of ways I can teach/do crafts with the girls about Halloween/Thanksgiving. We have already made hand turkeys. (A bit premature, I will admit).
6. Planning my upcoming Paris weekend with friends. This is GOING to include buying canned pumpkin in the America/Canada section of the Grande Epicerie de Paris (the only place I have heard of that carries it) and helping Mia take her three kids to Disneyland Paris on October 31st.
Also. Currently my biggest fear is that I will ruin the washing machine. They got new detergent which is in tablets instead of powder. I really needed to wash some of my clothes. I am currently checking the machine every 7-9 minutes to make sure suds don't come bursting forth from the door.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Toussaint
(meaning "all saints", as in all saints day)
So the French don't really celebrate Halloween. I see no pumpkins anywhere. They don't have fall-flavored coffee drinks. Nor is there really any reason to celebrate in the Fall, with no harvest festivals, hay rides, or Thanksgivings.
They do, however, give kids ten days off of school. (I get time off school as well!)
On another note:
This weekend in Rennes with my Whitworth peeps was just what I needed. I feel rejuvenated and just all around happier. It was great.
So the French don't really celebrate Halloween. I see no pumpkins anywhere. They don't have fall-flavored coffee drinks. Nor is there really any reason to celebrate in the Fall, with no harvest festivals, hay rides, or Thanksgivings.
They do, however, give kids ten days off of school. (I get time off school as well!)
On another note:
This weekend in Rennes with my Whitworth peeps was just what I needed. I feel rejuvenated and just all around happier. It was great.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Mid October Update or : Where does France hide all the Pumpkins???
Hullo everyone.
Here is just a little random update about my life.
(A MONTH AND A HALF IN!!*)
*(almost)
Sometime this week it seemed like things started to get better with the girls. I think this is a good sign: a sign that we might be headed in the right direction. Wednesdays are still nearly impossible but the promise of a Kinder surprise (and goodness they just LOVE their kinder) if they are good at bath time all week DOES make them behave better (exception: tonight. SO we are going to start over and try for the kinder Friday instead of Monday).
Since the weather has been turning cold (the fall turn always makes me home-nostalgic) I have been trying to make the most of what little time we have left to play outside. This means
- climbing up giant red rope structures (I did it too. It was super fun. Although I was out of practice and Lu beat me in our race. But it made me proud of Sa who was scared to climb onto the first rope at first and then went just as high as we did!).
- Lu jumping rope all the time
- Having our "gouter" (snack) outside in this public "place" by our house. Oh yeah. We sit and play on some old ruins.
Oh yeah. Those old ruins happen the be the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the steak. No big. Just, you know, ate my apple and was totally cool about it (on the outside).
Classes are going well. This is mostly due to the people in them, as the material hasn't been particularly compelling as of yet.
Last weekend, I went into Paris (again) to visit Mia, experience again the marche aux puces (gigantic multiple-mile flea market - albeit with a worse scarf selection than before), and then visit Giverny. I also witnessed MULTIPLE examples of how ENGLISH is Europe's common language. Which poses all kinds of questions and gives a lot of explanations.
Giverny was so so so lovely. It is Where Monet lived, his house and gardens. There was also a museum nearby. We stopped for a light lunch at the coziest place I have yet to experience in France. It made me think of Grandparent hugs. It was a tiny, picturesque house with a warm wood burning stove cooking various meat selections, wall-china, and a chatty cook on the inside.
We almost wanted to stay there the whole day. But we didn't, don't worry. The museum was small and I enjoyed it, as I did Monet's house and gardens. It was so nice to be out in the country. However, we forgot that out in the country there are fewer Sunday options than in Paris or Rouen (things in France close down Sundays and Mondays). Luckily we found a boulangerie just about the close and bought some sandwiches to eat at the train station.
I leave for Rennes to visit Julia (and Mia and I think Spencer too) in less than 24 hours. Which is great.
But the BEST NEWS of my entire time here is that I will probably be able to go home for Christmas. :) :) :)
Parents are awesome, aren't they? I was just having a conversation with my friend about this...
Here is just a little random update about my life.
(A MONTH AND A HALF IN!!*)
*(almost)
Sometime this week it seemed like things started to get better with the girls. I think this is a good sign: a sign that we might be headed in the right direction. Wednesdays are still nearly impossible but the promise of a Kinder surprise (and goodness they just LOVE their kinder) if they are good at bath time all week DOES make them behave better (exception: tonight. SO we are going to start over and try for the kinder Friday instead of Monday).
Since the weather has been turning cold (the fall turn always makes me home-nostalgic) I have been trying to make the most of what little time we have left to play outside. This means
- climbing up giant red rope structures (I did it too. It was super fun. Although I was out of practice and Lu beat me in our race. But it made me proud of Sa who was scared to climb onto the first rope at first and then went just as high as we did!).
- Lu jumping rope all the time
- Having our "gouter" (snack) outside in this public "place" by our house. Oh yeah. We sit and play on some old ruins.
Classes are going well. This is mostly due to the people in them, as the material hasn't been particularly compelling as of yet.
Last weekend, I went into Paris (again) to visit Mia, experience again the marche aux puces (gigantic multiple-mile flea market - albeit with a worse scarf selection than before), and then visit Giverny. I also witnessed MULTIPLE examples of how ENGLISH is Europe's common language. Which poses all kinds of questions and gives a lot of explanations.
Giverny was so so so lovely. It is Where Monet lived, his house and gardens. There was also a museum nearby. We stopped for a light lunch at the coziest place I have yet to experience in France. It made me think of Grandparent hugs. It was a tiny, picturesque house with a warm wood burning stove cooking various meat selections, wall-china, and a chatty cook on the inside.
I leave for Rennes to visit Julia (and Mia and I think Spencer too) in less than 24 hours. Which is great.
But the BEST NEWS of my entire time here is that I will probably be able to go home for Christmas. :) :) :)
Parents are awesome, aren't they? I was just having a conversation with my friend about this...
Monday, October 10, 2011
School
Hello blogosphere
This blog entry will focus on my university experience so far. And actually, more on the other students than anything we have learned (which hasn't been all that incredible yet. Apparently America does a good job teaching (at least me) how to write outlines, prepare for essays, etc. Because some people didn't understand sub-points...)
Anyway!
I am (finally) registered as a student at the Universite de Rouen, in the DELF/DUAF program for non native speakers. My schedule has 10 hours of class a week, however due to my work schedule which is entirely inflexible I am only able to attend about 6 hours a week. There are anywhere between 12-20 people in my class at one time, tending toward about 15 on a normal day. I have never been in such a vastly diverse group of people. Here are some of the other students I have met:
Marjea is a 41 year old mom from Brazil (who looks like she is about 20). She is here because her husband works here, and has been in Rouen for about 2 years so far, I think. Her accent is incredibly strong but she is really sweet.
Julianna is also from Brazil here with her husband. She is 27 and used to be a lawyer. As you can imagine, its impossible to find a job as a lawyer in a country where you cant speak the language very well.
Katrina (or Katherine, I didn't catch it) is from Alaska! She has been here for three years with her husband, who is French Canadian and plays for Rouen's ice hockey team. She and I had a great conversation about how frustrating the whole French system can be for Americans.
Charisse is from Texas and is here studying art history. She has already been to University in Paris and then obtained her masters in Scotland.
Nazar is from Baghdad and has been here for a couple years. He is studying chemistry and wants to be some sort of chemical engineer.
Nicolai is a 37 year old man from Bulgaria. Like me, he hasn't been here all that long. He and Nazar chat a lot because Nicolai is some sort of chemical engineer too.
Naha is a young woman from London, who wears some sort of headscarf, I assume for religious reasons. I have not yet been able to talk with her all that much.
Hilzam and Patrezeus are both 19 and from Indonesia. I have had a couple of good conversations with Hilzam, revolving mainly around how French people cannot handle spicy food AT ALL. He seems to be quick to laugh and smile, like me, so I think we will get along well.
Ioanna (yo-anna) is from Romania. She is 24 and has been in Rouen for 4 years. She came to university and met her boyfriend, Omar, with whom she currently lives. She is nice and we have had lunch together a couple times. She shared her cookies with me and I gave her an American dollar, which she said she had never actually seen before.
Tao is a nice guy from China, who has also been here a couple of years, and has a friend from Ohio.
Tu is from Vietnam and speaks in short, quipped sentences.
There is a woman from Japan, who works in a boulangerie/patissrie (bakery/pastry shop).
Elizabeth is from Mexico and needs to be able to give a dissertation or some sort of presentation in French. She is friendly and seems to be running around a lot whenever I see her.
Adela is from Spain, and is here with her family. Her husband now works here, and she used to be a lawyer.
I am really enjoying my class time, even though it means no naps. While the material hasn't been exactly stimulating so far, we did get to play a poor man's version of taboo, and have been able to talk with one another, which is nice. It also feels like I am doing something for myself during the day, something not centered on taking are of the kids, and this feels good. One needs to be able to care for oneself, in addition to caring for others.
This blog entry will focus on my university experience so far. And actually, more on the other students than anything we have learned (which hasn't been all that incredible yet. Apparently America does a good job teaching (at least me) how to write outlines, prepare for essays, etc. Because some people didn't understand sub-points...)
Anyway!
I am (finally) registered as a student at the Universite de Rouen, in the DELF/DUAF program for non native speakers. My schedule has 10 hours of class a week, however due to my work schedule which is entirely inflexible I am only able to attend about 6 hours a week. There are anywhere between 12-20 people in my class at one time, tending toward about 15 on a normal day. I have never been in such a vastly diverse group of people. Here are some of the other students I have met:
Marjea is a 41 year old mom from Brazil (who looks like she is about 20). She is here because her husband works here, and has been in Rouen for about 2 years so far, I think. Her accent is incredibly strong but she is really sweet.
Julianna is also from Brazil here with her husband. She is 27 and used to be a lawyer. As you can imagine, its impossible to find a job as a lawyer in a country where you cant speak the language very well.
Katrina (or Katherine, I didn't catch it) is from Alaska! She has been here for three years with her husband, who is French Canadian and plays for Rouen's ice hockey team. She and I had a great conversation about how frustrating the whole French system can be for Americans.
Charisse is from Texas and is here studying art history. She has already been to University in Paris and then obtained her masters in Scotland.
Nazar is from Baghdad and has been here for a couple years. He is studying chemistry and wants to be some sort of chemical engineer.
Nicolai is a 37 year old man from Bulgaria. Like me, he hasn't been here all that long. He and Nazar chat a lot because Nicolai is some sort of chemical engineer too.
Naha is a young woman from London, who wears some sort of headscarf, I assume for religious reasons. I have not yet been able to talk with her all that much.
Hilzam and Patrezeus are both 19 and from Indonesia. I have had a couple of good conversations with Hilzam, revolving mainly around how French people cannot handle spicy food AT ALL. He seems to be quick to laugh and smile, like me, so I think we will get along well.
Ioanna (yo-anna) is from Romania. She is 24 and has been in Rouen for 4 years. She came to university and met her boyfriend, Omar, with whom she currently lives. She is nice and we have had lunch together a couple times. She shared her cookies with me and I gave her an American dollar, which she said she had never actually seen before.
Tao is a nice guy from China, who has also been here a couple of years, and has a friend from Ohio.
Tu is from Vietnam and speaks in short, quipped sentences.
There is a woman from Japan, who works in a boulangerie/patissrie (bakery/pastry shop).
Elizabeth is from Mexico and needs to be able to give a dissertation or some sort of presentation in French. She is friendly and seems to be running around a lot whenever I see her.
Adela is from Spain, and is here with her family. Her husband now works here, and she used to be a lawyer.
I am really enjoying my class time, even though it means no naps. While the material hasn't been exactly stimulating so far, we did get to play a poor man's version of taboo, and have been able to talk with one another, which is nice. It also feels like I am doing something for myself during the day, something not centered on taking are of the kids, and this feels good. One needs to be able to care for oneself, in addition to caring for others.
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