Sometimes I wear my mommy's dresses...

     I'm currently teaching my kids clothing. We've already gone through all the vocabulary, so now we're working on using the vocab to describe what you're wearing. At the beginning of the year, I gave all my students an English passport that asks questions like "what's your name", "how old are you", "do you have any pets" etc. They love their passports and are constantly asking me when they'll get to finish them.  Luckily, we're finally working on some vocabulary that they can use to finish another passport page. 

     On the 'clothing page' the kids have to fill in three sentences, what they wear in winter, summer and what they think they look good in. After completing the phrases, I circulate the room to make sure their grammar and spelling are correct especially since they're having a bit of trouble understanding that in English jeans and pants are plural nouns unlike French. Coming around, I made it to one little boy and everything seemed oddly correct until I got to the third sentence. I read, "I look good in my dress." 

    Now, I've had a couple of kids mix up vocabulary; always a possibility, so I went ahead and asked him what dress means. He gave me the correct translation, so I then inquired when HE would wear a dress. With the biggest smile on his face and the cute little lisp this boy has, he told me with all the confidence in the world "sometimes I wear my mommy's dresses!" (Yes this was said to me in French and I'm 100% sure I understood it correctly).

It doesn't get much better than that. I couldn't stop chuckling out loud and all I wanted to say was "yes, I bet you do." It's not for me to judge and frankly, whether its a phase or a future fetish, I can't say. All I know is this eight year old little boy must really feel good and pretty in his mommy's dresses based from the huge smile he gave me in response. 

Yellow Wine on a Sunny Sunday

This past Sunday, I finally attended my first wine festival, a long awaited experience that turned out to be picture perfect. Situated in the country side of the Franche-comte, specifically in the Jura region, this past Sunday celebrated the opening of the vin jaune (yellow wine), a wine very particular in aroma and taste and a speciality of the region I live in.  Vin Jaune, usually bottled in a wider shorter bottle marked with the word JURA on its front is actually prohibited in the U.S. due to the odd size of the bottle.  Once again, another great French product prohibited in the U.S.

     But back to the festival.  I caught a special train early Sunday morning along with what seemed to be all of Montbéliard.  On the train as well, were three Indian assistants, their host father, another American assistant and his Mexican friend, who studies in Montbeliard. I've honestly never been on a train so loud. Normally, even when packed, people don't talk much over a whisper and it's nearly impossible to hear the conversation of anyone sitting around you. Immediately, I knew the day was going to go off with a hit when people started opening up bottles of vin jaune almost immediately after departing. 

     This year the festival took place between two small villages within a 5 minute walking distance of each other.  Since the villages, Vincelle and Sainte Agnès aren't accessible by train, buses were lined up at the station to take us over to the festival.  We all loaded ourselves in and within 15 minutes we were in the middle of the countryside walking the road to enter the villages. Along the road and throughout the villages, speakers were set up playing anything from classic rock, to French pop and even some German punk rock music.  I knew the day would be more than memorable though, when I got off the train and ran into two guys playing the accordion.  Nothing like some good old accordion music to really make you feel like your in France.  

     As soon as we got into the village, we got our tasting glasses, which we excitedly wore around our necks, making sure to keep a special watch on our 10 tasting tickets. Luckily, we had Claude with us, the host father of the two Indian assistants who is more than knowledgeable in wine. He was our guide and connoisseur, giving us tid bits of interesting info about the wines and directing us to his personal favorites to taste. He definitely made the experience much richer, considering most of us swirl the wine in our glasses just to look somewhat cultured and end up spilling most of it half the time. 

     Getting lunch over early, we all grabbed a Franche-comtois sandwich consisting of Morteau sausage and cancoillotte, two great products of the region and then headed straight for our first tasting. We started with a crémant (a sparkling white) and slowly but surely made it to the vin jaune, then the reds, the macvin and back to vin jaune. My personal favorite was the first vin jaune that I tasted. When I say this wine is quite unique, I mean it with every taste bud in my mouth. Just the aroma of vin jaune is different from anything else and I have to say, it's probably one of the most robust white wines that has ever touched my lips. Even better, when paired with comté cheese, you get the true amazing tastes of these two specialties of the region.

     We leisurely walked around at first, but by the time my friend Max joined us, we found ourselves hoofing it trying to keep up with the Indian assistants, who with Claude knew exactly which stands they wanted to go to. Calling them stands though, doesn't quite do the atmosphere justice. Each place serving wine, was a cave or like a little garage within a rustic stone house. The entire town, which doesn't get much action besides this event, was decorated with paper flowers, papier maché chickens and large cardboard cut outs of grapes and wine bottles. 

     Walking around all day, we had great weather making it feel more like spring than winter. Periodically we stopped to munch on some tasty comté cheese or check out some of the largest truffles I've ever seen (about the size of two golf balls) and even though the crowds were a bit intolerable, the bands marching around the street comprised of young and old dressed like monks made the whole atmosphere oddly silly and festive.

     All I can say is, the French really know how to party. By the end of the day we herded ourselves back to the bus where people were chanting and singing some good old French songs from the time they got on the bus to the time we got off the train back in MontB. Did I mention most of these people were in their 50's by the way, demanding anyone who passed with an unopened bottle of vin jaune to pop the cork and give them a glass! What can I say this stuff is like liquid gold and I do hope I'll be able to share it's taste with some of you with whatever I can manage to bring back with me.

     I'll leave you with an image I found highly amusing. While leaving the second village, walking in the mud to get around the crowds we passed a huge band disguised as monks playing "La Bamba." I don't know about you, but the mix of song choice and the band dressed in brown hooded habits tied with rope gave me a good laugh. 

Big City Charm

I realized this past week how much I miss big city life. Since traveling to France, I've said that I prefer the French countryside and small town environment over the Parisian experience. I'm not sure why, but I think I was the only girl on this Earth that wasn't mesmerized by Paris upon my first visit. It's not that I didn't find the city beautiful and historically fascinating, I just never felt a huge rush when in the city as I do when I'm in New York. I also just really like the down to earth nature of small-town France and have found learning French much easier in an environment where English speakers are few and far, forcing you to speak in French, scared or not. 

      Well this past week, I gave Paris a second chance.  I still wouldn't label myself that die hard girl who is obsessed by everything Parisian, dreaming of a honey moon in the city of love nor a girl who feels romance carried by the looming clouds that pass by.  However, I can now say that I really enjoy Paris and it was quite a fresh of breath air from my simple life in the "West Virginia of France" (I've just realized that the Franche-Comte is sort of considered the boonies of France even if it is one of the most beautiful regions of the country). 

I met my PSU friend Luke up in Paris to celebrate his birthday in a city he absolutely loves.  

      After rescheduling my work hours so I could travel more leisurely, I made my way to Paris Tuesday night, a 4 hour trip.  I was greeted by Luke at the gare de l'est and so pleasantly surprised to by guided by him after hosting him for a week and a half back in my neck of the woods.  Within two days Luke had the city down pat, not a surprise if you know Luke. The entire time I had my own little tour guide through all the smaller more rustic streets of Paris. 

Of course I'd done all the sites on my previous visit to Paris two years ago when I arrived in France for the first time. But at that time, I was majorly jet lagged and like most travelers tried to pack centuries of historical visiting into two days of touring. I've realized now, that you should never judge a city on its airport, bad idea. 

    So for two days, Luke and I leisurely walked the winding streets, picking up cafés and crêpes when hungry and visited the major sites staying as long or as little as our hearts desired. One must do in Paris, is to take a couple of hours on your OWN and wander the streets turning at your own volition. Take a map just for safety, but between the signs and the towering monuments, it's quite easy to find your way back from anywhere. I suggest wandering around the Latin Quarter, but that's just my personal favorite. Also don't forget to stop for a refreshment or a nice sobering meal. Try to sit outside and enjoy the national pastime of France, people watching. Paris has to be one of the best places to dine solo. (I can't believe it, but I had the chance to lunch outside in mid-January with what might call the luck of good weather or others may warn as global warming)

    Nonetheless, it felt so great to be back in a city with bustling people, eclectic styles, culture partout (everywhere) and simply the vastness of the city scape around you.  It's always great to get up on the top of a building, whether it's the top of my aunt Ingrid's apartment in Manhattan or the top of Nôtre Dame or the Eiffel Tower and pear down and around at the vast enormity of the city that encapsulates you between its winding streets and towering buildings as you walk its streets. 

Note: Almost all the photos from this trip were taken by Luke since my camera has been MIA since New Years Eve. 

American in MontB

You thought I would title this one, "American in Paris" well can't do that since we're not quite there yet. However, for the last week I have been hosting another dodgy American here in Montbéliard and by dodgy American, I mean my charmingly silly PSU friend, Luke.  

Once again I apologize for being lazy about my blog. After a night or two of recreating this blog on a new site, I haven't had a huge desire to deal with it that much. However, I'm now back in action! So what's been going on in lately. Well I guess I'll begin with the end of the Christmas holidays. 

I was lucky enough to have my good friend Divya come and visit me on Christmas. Divya and I studied abroad here a year and half ago and having her back made it honestly feel like the two of us had never left.  I would love to say we had crazy adventures full of traveling and fantastical characters, but to be honest we kept everything fairly mellow.  We did travel over to Basel for a quick day trip, but we spent most of our time in Besançon with Divya's old host father, one of my most favorite people in Besançon. I like to describe him as the male equivalent to my Aunt Ingrid. I say that simply because he's extremely worldly, open-minded and a character. There could never be another Phillip, he's a one of kind and staying in his house feels like your vacationing between Morocco and Provence. I would have to say that dinner parties chez Phillip truly capture the essence of French life for me. 

Since Divya's departure (a sad 5 am at the train station), I've started work again and have welcomed another American in my little French studio. My good friend Luke has been paling around with me since last Thursday and it's been a blast. With his help, I've now made 4 new French friends who after hearing us speak English in my favorite bar, invited us to join them at a table for further discussion and jolly good French fun. We were even invited to attend a soccer match with the group, which I can't wait for. I've been hoping to see a soccer game here since the stadium is a hop, skip and a jump away from me. Allez Sochaux! 

I'd have to say this month has definitely been the month of making French friends. My rolodex is growing steadily with the aid of my partners in crime, Divya and Luke.  

Other tidbits from this past month. I took Luke to my favorite school and we did a little presentation on life in the U.S. and more specifically life in NYC. We showed the kids a little picture slideshow of NYC and after lots of oohs, ahhs and ooh la las, the kids had a little Q and A with Luke. By the end of the day he was like a celebrity, which to be honest he isn't far from. 

 

I would like to suggest to everyone also, that if you would like have a very French inspired decadent morning, wake up late and treat yourself to a brunch of crêpes and mimosas. If you really want to be decadent go ahead and park yourself on your favorite couch or chair and snuggle up for a good movie. Finally, follow all this relaxation with a good walk with some of your best friends or family.  I started this tradition with some of the girls I studied abroad with on Sundays when we were desperately missing France and needed a break from school work. My latest decadent morning was shared with Luke and my Canadian friends Susie and Rene. Trust me, take the time, it's worth it. 

Well folks, I've rambled on enough for one session. I will hopefully be back with some more news after a short trip to Paris for Luke's birthday. Then I shall hopefully give you an entertaining rendition of my own American in Paris! 

Hodge Podge

A couple of random notes.

1. The kids at my school in Herimoncourt wear slippers inside the school. I find this very odd. When I asked why, the kids didn’t seem to have an explanation, nor did they find it to be a bizarre habit. I know I would have felt a lot more comfortable in class wearing slippers, maybe that’s the reason why they act out more than my other schools do. Who knows.

2. I’ve taken up listening to audio books, while riding the bus since I’m on it at least 6 hours a week. So far I’m working my way through Don Quixote. I use the website librivox.org to download free podcasts of the books. pas mal (not bad).

3. French commercials rock. First and foremost, here you don’t have your tv shows interrupted every 5 minutes resulting in ADD-like effects. Instead, there’s about a 15 minute block of commercials every half hour or so. Plus the commercials are really cute and creative, some a bit odd, but for the most part just as good if not better than the tv shows.

4. I saw a commercial for McDonalds the other day. At first, I had no idea what the commercial was advertising. It was this montage of the American west and then a cowboy, etc. At the bottom it read in small lettering “avoid eating overly fatty and salty foods.” Finally, a huge hamburger appeared topped with bacon and with a voiceover explaining that this was a typical American sandwich. So funny, selling American culture through our most famous/popular icons, McyD’s and the wild west.

5. I gave my kids a test this week and they were ridiculous. I’m not sure what it’s normally like when they take a test, but let’s just say they don’t seem to get the idea of keeping your eyes on your own paper. There was blatant cheating everywhere. It’s funny while they take certain things seriously like underlining the date in red and correcting papers in green, other things a bit more pertinent to me seem to have less importance to them.

6. I had my first taste of foie gras tonight and not too bad. At my favorite store in the world, the produce market by my house, the owner as usual greeted me with a big Hello, la jeune fille américaine! After paying for my lettuce, she gave me my first taste of foie gras explaining “remember this is not pâté, this is the good stuff!”

7. At first I thought that there were some funky trees growing here in France. I then realized that most of the branches had been cut off, leaving just the largest branches with nubs where others should sprout. It results in a very weird effect and eventually, I’ll put up a picture. The only reasoning I’ve cooked up for this is to make putting up Christmas lights easier, but all in all it seems a little extreme. Pauvre arbres (poor trees).

8. Last, but not least. For one of my extra credit questions, I asked the kids the title to the Beatles song I taught them. A lot of kids had trouble figuring out how to spell “goodbye.” In one attempt I got a “goodball.” Thought that was cute.