Finally a moment to write! I’ve settled in with my new family here, but in the free time I have, I try not to spend too much of it on the computer but rather with my host family. Which means that I’m getting a nice break from the Internet but also means that you guys end up with fewer exciting new stories about the strange foods I’ve tried (escargot since that last time I’ve written, which was delicious, and my school cafeteria’s take on chili which was… mysterious. But I still give them props for trying to cook something Mexican, even the French version of American texmex).
I spent the second week of break after Christmas doing practically nothing besides getting to know my new family and relaxing. I managed to make best friends with the family dog, Youpi (French for ‘yippie’, as in the exclamation of excitement). With was done by taking him for a good hour and a half long walk. Of course, I had originally only wanted to find the bus stop, but, it being my second day in the neighborhood the route ended up being longer than intended. I am now able to find the bus stop with ease, which is good because it’s still my main method of transportation to school and home.
My host dad is a fan of the cinema, and my host sister enjoys numerous American TV shows and bands. While I certainly like movies, TV shows and music, these two easily outrank my level of cultural/pop culture knowledge- both French and American. So break was also pleasantly spent by filling in gaps in my education, everything from the Ellen Degeneres show to the band Queen to Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer. We also bought tickets for Dracula, a French musical which is touring this year, and which I’m very excited about getting to go see.
For New Year’s Eve, I went to Tours with a group of exchange students. Even Dora, my Icelandic friend, came along though she isn’t with the Rotary program. We took the train, dropped our things off and then found a restaurant for dinner where we had the best crepes, both savory and sweet, which I’ve tasted so far. Just look at those empty plates!
By that time it was already fairly late into the evening (we ate around 9:00) and since the streets of the central area of Tours were full of people celebrating the New Year, we stayed out so that we were in one of the main squares when the clock struck midnight. There were no public fireworks, but the city Christmas lights were still up and 12:00 the crowd in the square sent up a cry with accompanied by flying champagne corks and bises (kisses on the cheek) from everyone we were standing next to! This is a picture of us at midnight…
After we made our way back to the apartment we were staying at for the night we got a few hours of sleep before waking up early to catch the train. We had to be sure to take a morning train since the French rail system was right in form, starting 2012 off with a strike at noon.
All in all, the rest of my vacation was nice and relaxing. After all, it’s a tough job to finish all the left-over foie gras, chocolates and Yule logs, but, then again, I’ve always been one to pitch in for the team in times of need. Needless to say, when both school and sports started up again last week, I was more than ready to get moving after the holidays. But it would appear that my eagerness, in conjunction with loss of ankle strength (four months without ballet and I’m beginning to feel it), I sprained my ankle. Three days later and it doesn’t hurt anymore, but it’s still slightly swollen so it looks like I may have to wait a little bit longer to work off than Christmas dinner.
The school week went well. There is a moment of silent solidarity among high school students waiting together for the bus to school in the rain, on the first day of school after a break. A discontented and wet solidarity, it is true, but a solidarity nonetheless.
Yesterday, on Saturday I had class in the morning, as usual. After having lunch at home I met up with a friend at the library of Bourges where we had agreed to meet to do our schoolwork together. We did succeed at being fairly productive and it was incredibly nice to be working with someone again, I always like having someone to bounce ideas off of. It was also nice to spend the afternoon with this friend who is one of my favorite people I have met through school, and since she is also a book lover the library was the perfect place for us to hang out. She also mentioned on our walk back through town an independent/used book store which she would like to show me, which will be an excellent discovery – I have yet to find a favorite bookstore here in town. Though I’m trying to balance my desire for French language books to enjoy back home with the future weight of suitcases…
After coming home I was picked up by the Rotarian family who I have mentioned staying with several times before. They are such wonderful people; I really think of them as yet another family here, so I try to spend time with them whenever I’m free.
We had dinner together, spaghetti bolognaise (everybody loves Italian food, even in France!) and then went bowling together. It seemed late to me to go bowling since we started at 10:00 but it was a lot of fun, and I even won for the first time ever at bowling during the second game.
This morning, their daughter and I went to the pool (and indoor swimming pool, it’s not yet warm enough for outdoors swimming). We had fun swimming, though our laps were more about enjoying the morning at the pool than about working out.
After lunch, they dropped me back off at home in time to start this entry. I had to leave before finishing it because my host family was having over two of my host dad’s brother and their wives to celebrate his 50th birthday. This however, was not a typical birthday party but rather a galette des rois. This is a traditional January celebration in France, traditionally for the epiphany. A galette, a type of large pastry/cake, often with a marzipan filling, is cut in slices and whoever receives the slice with a little figurine baked into it is crowned the king of the evening and is responsible for hosting the next galette of the season. It was a lot of fun, and now that everyone has left, I’m watching Shrek with my host family as I type this. At first it bothered me that the voice actors I was familiar with had been replaced, I later found that all the big English-speaking actors are actually assigned a French voice actor who actually also dubs their work in animated films. And I have to say that it may not be the real Eddie Murphy playing Donkey but the French voice actors is doings a pretty good job of playing him.
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