Let me start off by apologizing again for how lazy I’ve been with keeping up with the blog. I’ve been a bit busier at school lately, since this past week I gave my kids their first exam aka I had a lot of tests to grade this past week. I’ve also recently acquired a television and fallen back into my bad habit of watching too much tv, which is actually a plus here, since almost all the tv is in French. Hopefully, by watching more tv, my French will improve as well, well that’s the hope.
Nonetheless, I’ve also been keeping quite busy, so here goes a recap of the past couple of weeks. I’ll start off by saying that I’ve made a couple more friends, since another assistant who’s Canadian arrived. We often all hang out together, her, her boyfriend and myself since we live within a five minute walk from one another. Basically, we tend to pop over each other’s places unannounced and spend the evenings or weekends together. It works out nicely, since Susie has a washing machine and I, unlimited internet and telephone; quite a nice trade off as far as I’m concerned.
Besides enjoying the festivities of the Christmas market as much as possible, I also did a bit of traveling last weekend. Christmas markets are very popular here and there is a nice “belt” of them between Germany and Montbéliard. Impressed, by my town’s own market, when my host family invited me to go to the Fribourg market, I jumped at the chance immediately. Saturday, my family came to pick me up to head off to Germany. However, before leaving as always they surprised me with some fun goodies: yummy lefts overs to tide me over for a couple dinners and a tv! Yes my friends, my host family is by far the most generous in the world. Knowing, I have a tv plan included with my Internet, they lent me a tv, which I’m watching as I type.
Road trip here we come. We all jumped in the car for the short hour and half drive to Fribourg, Germany. We walked around all day, shopping here and there; probably the most physical activity I’ve had in a while. (While I live in a walking town, unfortunately I have to take the bus all week to get to work). We started off shmying (yes I had to break out some Yiddish) in a couple of department stores off the main street. It was one of the most amazing, yet bizarre feelings. Walking into the stores, I felt like I had stepped into a Macy’s (with a little less red and a lot more gold decorations). It was nice to get a dose of that highly commercial feeling so close to Christmas and all I could keep saying was “wow, this is exactly like the U.S.” Even if many people don’t like how commercialized Christmas is in the U.S., I have to say I grew up on it and it’s what I’m used to. That being said, after walking around more and seeing my first Starbucks and Subway in quite awhile, it was so nice to know that I could escape this commercialized world and that I have the chance to experience something different.
Overall, Germany, was great for a first visit. When we finally made it to the Christmas market, it was packed! I mean worse than walking down Canal Street in New York on a Saturday afternoon; I’m not embellishing here. We squeezed through and got our yummy goodies: crêpe-like waffles smeared with Nutella and soft pretzels. By 6 o’clock we made our way back to Montbéliard and the Perrots left me more than happily exhausted and content ready to dig into my yummy leftovers.
Note: All along the Fribourg roads run open gutter-ways. Ok gutters is probably not the right word, but basically there are these open trenches carrying water along the sides of the streets. They’re about 2 feet wide and here and there are small coverings acting as little bridges. Something different and keeps you watching where you’re walking. Also, fun to dip your feet into if your eight like my host brother, Mathieu!
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