la phrase "d'ici peu"

On Saturday, I was eating lunch in the park with some friends, and some of them were leaving to go Le Festival du Jeu in Valence.  I asked someone when they were going, and he said "DC Peu."

Me: Quoi?

Him: DC Peu.

Me: Comment??  Je ne comprends pas.

Him: D apostrophe ici peu. D'ici peu.

Me: Oh, okay... (still confused...)

Other American: Rebecca, I say that to you all the time.

So!  Apparently, "d'ici peu" means in a little bit, and "d'ici jeudi," for example, means before Thursday.  Like, "between now and Thursday."  I know there's a lot of French words and phrases I don't know, but I'm always really surprised when I learn one like that, that I've apparently heard before but never questioned.  I later verified with a real French person that this is, in fact, something that people say.

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so I opted to stay in the park with a bunch of other people and picnic and play soccer and other field day type games.

And speak English.

It's interesting... you really do call attention to yourself here if you're speaking English.  Which makes sense, because I'm always interested when I hear people speaking French in the United States.  And if they're in a big group, sometimes I may or may not follow them around the Art Institute...

Anyway, we had a group of 20 or so people in the park, and many of us were speaking English.  You could tell that nearby people were talking about us and some were saying not so nice things.

Later, I was walking with an American friend, speaking English, and a guy stopped and basically interviewed me in English.  "Do you speak English?  Do you teach English here? And France, you like it?  You teach English here in Valence? And do you speak French?  Okay, have a good night."  That's probably what I sounded like when I talked to the French family that came to the Millennium Park tent this summer.

So, in conclusion, at times I really enjoy being able to speak English with other people here, but I also appreciate the fact that I'm forced to speak French and I really don't speak any English in Crest, unless I'm on Skype!

la phrase "une grosse demi-heure"

Literally, it means "a fat half-hour," but probably a better translation is "a good thirty minutes."  I got my hair cut yesterday at the same salon I went to back in December.  It's a salon "sans rendez-vous," so you just walk in, and they tell you that's it's better to wait there or you will lose your place in the line.  There were two women working there this time instead of just one, but they were both cutting people's hair, so I asked how long I would have to wait.  That's when she said "une grosse demi-heure."  Later, when I was getting my haircut, a customer came in and asked how long the wait was.  The woman cutting my hair thought about it for awhile and then said, "une grosse demi-heure."  It reminded me of the 30 Rock episode where Matt Damon (the pilot) tells Liz Lemon that if there is a delay, flight attendants always tell passengers it will be a 30-minute delay because it doesn't sound too long.  Or something like that.

Anyway, the same woman who cut my hair last time cut my hair yesterday.  Of course I remembered her, but I was really surprised when I sat down and she was like, "Oh, you came back to France.  How were the holidays?  Did your family enjoy all of the chestnut things you brought back?"

I was really surprised she remembered all of that!

that the French like to shorten words

And in writing this post, I discovered that these types of words are called “apocopes.”

Examples include:

cet aprem = cet après-midi = this afternoon

l'ordi = l'ordinateur = computer

cinq heures du mat = cinq heures du matin = 5 in the morning

le petit déj = le petit déjeuner = breakfast

le déj = le déjeuner = lunch

Je suis dispo à… = Je suis disponible à… = I'm available at...

un prof = un professeur = a teacher

un appart’ = un appartement = an apartment

un ado = un adolescent = a teenager

un coloc = un colocataire = a roommate

comme d’hab = comme d’habitude = as usual

After I learned “l’ordi,” I’ve noticed that pretty much everyone says that instead of the full “l’ordinateur.”  Interesting!

le mot "buvette"

This past weekend was really fun... full of things to do in Crest!  On Thursday, I went to a one-man comedy show called "Le Beurgeois Gentilhomme," is a mix between Molière's "Bourgeis Gentilhomme" and the word "beur," which is slang for "Arab."  Anyway!  It was pretty good.  Well, honestly I didn't understand very much of it, but I did understand the following two jokes.

One, he was talking about one time when he was at the ocean.  He put a shell to his ear, and he said "I heard ma mère," instead of "la mer."  So, he heard his mother instead of the ocean.

Two, he was talking about how confusing recipes can be (I think?), and he said he used "l'huile de Rachid," instead of "l'huile d'arachide."  So, his friend Rachid's oil instead of peanut oil.  Even though I didn't understand most of it, it was fun, and the audience seemed to enjoy it.

On Friday, there was a Concert for Tanzania in Crest.  It ended up being mostly for the high school students, and I felt like a chaperone, and I ran into one of my teachers there and in my opinion it seemed like she was wondering why I was there, BUT it was fun, too.  The high school band at the end played covers of Franz Ferdinand and the Pixies (and sang in English!), and they did a really good job.  It cost 3 Euros to get in, and included "buvette sur place," which must mean "concessions stand."

For International Women's Day on Thursday, March 8, the Crest Office of Tourism gave out 100 Euro gift certificates to the 20th, 40th, 60th and 80th women who visited the office that day.  My friend won!  She had some leftover money to use by the end of the day on Saturday, so she took us out for coffee/pastries on Saturday morning.  I tried my luck on Thursday, but did not win.  They gave out lollipops shaped like flowers to everyone who tried, ha.

The Spanish assistant's friend came to visit this weekend, and she brought her raclette appliance (?).  You put a slice of raclette cheese in the little trays and put them in the appliance.  Once the cheese is melted, you put it on potatoes and/or meat.  Popular in the Rhone-Alpes region.

Raclette!

That night, we went to Valence for a Spanish Cinema night.  You could pay 10 Euros for tapas and one movie, or 15 Euros for tapas and two movies.  We opted for the 10 Euro deal, had tapas, then saw the movie Amador.

that French kids think the word "banana" is hilarious

We're working on food words in several of my classes... it gets a laugh every time!

les mots "chenille" and "cheville"

Today I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to several classes.  In one class, I showed the book to the teacher before we started class, and she said "Ah, oui, la chenille."  And then she said "Oh!  Caterpillar, like the brand of tractors!" (or something like that.)  Then she showed the Special Ed teacher in the room, and she also said, "Oh!  Like Caterpillar, the brand!"  Funny.  Then the teacher wrote "chenille" (caterpillar) and then "cheville" (ankle) on a piece of paper to show me how they are spelled.

Tomorrow, two of my morning classes are canceled tomorrow because most of the 5th graders in Crest are going to Paris for the day!  I think it's amazing that they're able to go there for a day trip considering how far we are from Paris.  According to Google Maps, the drive from the Valence TGV train station to Gare de Lyon in Paris would take five and a half hours!  With the high speed TGV train, they can get there in 2.5 hours.  They're leaving at 7 a.m. and getting back to Valence at 11 p.m.  It's a long day, but remember, they don't have school on Wednesdays!

I took this photo for two reasons.  One, because I recently decided to start taking photos of things I see everyday because I know I'm going to want to have them at the end of this year, and two, there was an almost empty Desperados beer bottle on the table in the teacher's lounge when I walked in at 10:30 a.m.  From what I gathered later on, a teacher had picked it up outside and set it on the table before throwing it out.

le mot "ski de fond"

On Saturday, my fellow crestoises and I did some "ski de fond," or cross-country skiing.  It was a lot of fun and a lot more exhausting than I thought it would be.  For some reason, I thought it would be easier than downhill skiing ("ski de piste").  I had no idea it was even possible to ski uphill!

Look at me go!

Lots of jumping photos.  At one point, the person taking the photos set it on auto (not sure what it's called), so we have a series of photos that look like a flipbook if you go through really fast!

Success!

Also wanted photo evidence of my colorful outfit. :)