le mot "bouchon d'oreille"

For the past 5 or 6 weeks, a fellow assistant here had been trying to get people to go to a Stromae concert with her, either on Nov. 30 or April 28.  Honestly, from the clip I saw of his music, I didn't think I'd like it (it looked really depressing!), but I told her I'd like to go because it would be fun to go to a concert here.  Up until last week, we were planning on the April 28 concert because the Nov. 30 concert was too expensive at 30 Euros a ticket.  But then!  She found two tickets for half price on leboncoin.fr (basically the French craigslist).

So, we chanced it, and took the train to Lyon, and went to the bus stop near where the woman selling the tickets works.  She said she would be in a white car near the bus stop.  This is what we saw:

And actually, she was in the white car parked in front of these ones!  Anyway, it all worked out.  She was selling them because she had been given them by a radio or TV station or something.

We walked in and exchanged the radio/TV vouchers for our tickets.  Right when we walked in, we were approached by volunteers looking for donations for World Aids Day in exchange for red ribbons.  Then, we were given bouchons d'oreille (ear plugs) and asked to complete a survey about hearing loss prevention.

Then, finally, the music!  Mariama (a German who sang in English and introduced the songs in French) was the opener.  And then....

Stromae!

(Photo credit to fellow American assistant)

The concert was a lot of fun.  He's famous for Alors On Danse.  I'd never heard it before, but now I can't get it out of my head!  Apparently the song is at least two years old.  I wonder if he's gotten sick of it at all... he played three versions of it last night!  Including this slower version.  He had a video of an orchestra playing, but it was still cool!

A short clip of the intro to Alors On Danse at the concert....

le mot "muscade"

Tonight I went to yoga with an American friend in Crest who has lived here for several years.  I mentioned that I promised to make a pumpkin pie for my 3rd grade class tomorrow.  She said that cans of pumpkin are among the American foods she stockpiles, and she's picking up some more when she goes home for Christmas, so she gave me a can of pumpkin!  Which led to....

My dilemma:

Save time and be sure that's it's going to taste like pumpkin pie and be something I'm not embarrassed to serve?

Or chance it with this mysterious wedge of "le courge" that I bought three days ago and save the can of pumpkin for myself and others who would truly appreciate it?

I went with le courge.

Wow, this looks like pumpkin puree!

Can of pumpkin looking on in disgust.  Muscade (nutmeg) passing judgment as well.

Finished!

Well, they've never had pumpkin pie before, so I guess they can't really judge this no-brown-sugar-or-cloves-or-ginger-or-cardamom-probably-butternut-squash-rectangular-pie.

.....Right? :)

I was stressed out about making this, but now I'm more stressed out that my two other classes at this school are going to find out that I didn't make "pumpkin" pie for them.  That's okay.  They laughed at my Barney song.

It's 12:30 a.m. now. I just personified a can of pumpkin and some nutmeg, so I'm going to take that as a sign that I should probably go to bed soon.  Bonne nuit!

that I'm making a pumpkin pie for 22 French 2nd and 3rd graders

Yesterday and today, I talked about Thanksgiving in English/French for the last 10 minutes in some of my classes.  I showed images like the Mayflower, turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, the Macy's parade, a football game and the classic Norman Rockwell painting of the grandparents serving their family.

Today after the presentation, the teacher said "Oh, maybe Rebecca could make a pumpkin pie and bring it next Tuesday, that would be nice!"  So....... I am!

About 30 language assistants from the area are getting together for Thanksgiving this weekend.  I'd say more than half are not American, so it will be fun to see what they think of the food and traditions.  When Thursday rolls around, I'm really going to miss my family, but hopefully this Thanksgiving with friends will help.  Anyway, another American is making a couple of pumpkin pies WITHOUT CANNED PUMPKIN, so hopefully I'll get some pumpkin pie advice before next Tuesday rolls around.

Also, I taught some verbs in three of my classes today. Skate, swim, read, listen, eat, drink, etc.  I had the students act out a verb, another student would guess, and then they would come up to the front of the class and act out the next one.  I feel like I and fellow Americans would generally mime "eat" as a person shoveling food into their mouth.  A ten-year-old boy came up to the front of the class and mimed using a knife and fork.

Classe.

le mot "théine"

A few short stories today....


I drink a fair amount of coffee and tea, so I thought I was pretty familiar with what they contain and their respective effects.  A few weeks ago, someone said that they didn't want to have any tea after dinner because of the théine in it, and they didn't want to stay awake.  I had never heard of this before, but it makes sense.  Actually, it almost makes more sense in French than English.  There is caféine in café, there is théine in thé, and there used to be cocaïne in Coca (Cola).


Another interesting term is "classe."  I'm not exactly sure if that's how it's spelled for this meaning, but I'm interpreting it as "classy."  Last week, I told someone I came from Chicago, and they said "Classe."  Today, I presented Thanksgiving to my 8-year-old class....what we eat and what we do to celebrate.  After I presented all the food, a boy raised his hand and said, "Ah, c'est la classe chez toi?"  Which I can only imagine means, "Oh, it's pretty nice there in America, huh?"


Also, in that same class today, a girl raised her and and told on the boy sitting next to her.  "Rebecca, il a dit 'Rebecca, Rebe-caca.' C'est pas bon de dire ca."  (He called you caca.  It's not good to say that.) I laughed... probably not the best response.


The 5-year-olds make me feel like a celebrity.  They see me in the school courtyard during their recess sometimes and run up to me.  It's so cute, because you can tell they want to stay stuff to me, but they can't really say anything in English, so they just run up and say my name and touch me, which is a little strange but really cute.


I think French children have trouble hearing words that are almost the same in French and English.  We played Bingo with colors today in the 5-year-old class.  I would say a color, and there was a little boy who thought every color was orange.  Here is how similar these two words are.  The word is orange in English, and the word is orange in French.  They are pronounce differently, but they are still really close.  Anyway, it was funny because the exchange went like this (French in italics):
Me calling out Bingo colors: Red!
Boy to his friend: Oh, it's orange! Orange!
Me: No.  That's orange.  Next, green!
Boy to his friend: Orange!
Me: No.  It's... you... orange is orange!

l'expression "chanter en yaourt"

Have you ever tried to sing along to a song in a language you don't speak?  Think about how you just sing whatever sounds you think you hear.  Now imagine if 66.7% of the songs you listened to on the radio were in a language you didn't speak.  That's how it is in France.. I have heard from several people that it has gotten to the point where there is a law that at least every third song has to be in French, so that English doesn't take over the airwaves.  There is A LOT of English on the radio, and obviously, French people are going to try to sing along.

Anyway, when you don't speak the language of the song you're singing, you tend to sing the sounds that you hear, even if it doesn't make sense.  The French call that "chanter en yaourt," or singing in yogurt.

I googled it and found a great example.  (It seems to be in Bulgarian, and not French, but you get the idea!)
For a more literal example, click here!

Last week, I went to the town of Romans-sur-Isère for an afternoon of visiting the outlet mall, the International Shoe Museum and a specialty pasta store called Saint Jean.

A board game available in the gift shop of the International Shoe Museum.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Different animal skins used for shoemaking, including manta ray, toad and crocodile

Which part of the shoe comes from which part of the cow

Specialty pasta store

Close up of some of the products sold at Saint Jean.  Note that the Drôme ravioles is "Bio," or organic.  The Drôme is the largest producer of organic food in France.

I always thought ravioli came from Italy, but no fewer than five (and possibly even more) different people have told me that ravioles come from the Drôme department here in France.  They are small ravioli sold in the sheets pictured above.  Another specialty is the quenelle, which I would describe as a big gnocchi that is made without potatoes.

One of the eleven classrooms where I teach.

This week's lessons were about colors, animals, sports/actions you can and can't do, weather, months and food.

that I must appear to look like I have all of the answers

At least when I'm standing near the Valence train station.  A couple of weeks ago, I was waiting for a friend's bus to arrive.  A 16-year-old boy came up to me and I'm pretty sure he asked me for money because the bus was 4 Euros, and he didn't have enough.  Then a 10-year-old girl came up to me and said could she please use my phone because the train was running late.  I feel bad, but I said no to both of these children and walked away.

Yesterday, a woman asked me if I knew where the sheet protectors were in the paper aisle.  Then, I was back at the Valence train station, and a woman asked me where a certain bus was.  And then, an Asian man came up and asked if I spoke English (finally, a question I could answer yes to!), and he needed help finding the buses.  I actually knew the answer and pointed him in the right direction.

In other news, there is a chance I pronounce the word "white" incorrectly, but I can't hear it!  I was teaching four new colors (brown, white, black and pink) to the 5-year-old class, and I held up a flashcard and said "white."

The teacher stopped me and said, "You say 'white'?  Oh, we say 'white.' I guess we've been pronouncing it wrong!  Okay, 'white.' 'White'....

Weird.

le mot "trait d'union"

On Sunday, I invited language assistants from the area to eat lunch/hors d'oeuvres and then watch a rugby game here in Crest.  It worked out pretty well, and quite a few people showed up.  (However, four people missed the bus/train to Crest, and weren't able to make it!).  I made goat cheese stuffed dates (sans bacon... haven't been able to find that here.)

Anyway, it all started a couple weeks ago. I was walking around Crest, and I noticed the Stade Municipal.  Then, I read the poster and noticed there was a rugby game on November 6.  Then I looked up Crest rugby online and emailed the representative of the team.  Then, that person emailed me back and verified that yes, there would be a game on November 6 at 15h00, and it's free (!) and open to the public.  So, naturally, I invited everyone I know in France to come watch the rugby game in Crest.  A couple people came all the way from Lyon.  We showed up at the Stade Municipal at 14h45.

There was no rugby game.

Actually, there weren't any bleachers or anything either!  So, after several apologies in English and French (on my part), we started walking back and saw two French guys by the stadium.  Someone walked over to ask them about the rugby game, and the French guy pulls out his phone to start calling someone... one of the players!  Ha.  In the end, the game had been canceled because of the weather, but it wasn't even raining!

These people were promised a rugby game.

Okay, so I asked them to look sad for the photo. So, pretty much all of the stores/restaurants in Crest (and, really, most of France) are closed on Sundays, and the Tour of Crest is closed until winter vacation, so we went to look at Crest's second tourist attraction: Le Pont en Bois.  Then, we found a cafe that opened at 4 p.m.  It ended up being pretty busy... it turns out there are other people in Crest looking for something to do on a Sunday!  It ended up being a fun day, and now I know that I have somewhere to go and play baby-foot (a.k.a. foosball) on a Sunday evening.

Yesterday I taught five classes.  Today I taught six classes and a workshop for English teachers in the evening.  Well, I was present for the workshop for English teachers.  My boss prepared everything for it, and I just pronounced things.  But it was fun, and that's where I learned that trait d'union means hyphen in French because the teachers were practicing spelling their names with the English alphabet, and one teacher's name had a hyphen in it.

Highlights of teaching this week (French in italics):

• "C'est quoi, cette lettre?"  (When I wrote purple on the board, I tried to write in French cursive, and they thought I had written gurgle.)
• "Is the Statue of Liberty alive?"
• "Is the U.S. in France?"
• "What is your favorite day?" "I like Mondays the best because Rebecca comes to our class."
• Running out of activities in a 5th grade class and playing a Barney song about the days of the week, and realizing these kids are much to old for this right when I pushed the play button.  And then singing along enthusiastically.

that American kids are more creative than French ones when it comes to Halloween costumes

Okay, I might have already known that.  It may be a big generalization, but I saw A LOT of witches here in France on Halloween!

Today, I received letters from the penpal exchange in Utah!  I'm really excited about this, and I hope it works out!  The kids are in 4th grade.  They wrote where they live, how old they are, how many brothers/sisters they have, how many pets they have, and what they were for Halloween.

And then they drew pictures of their Halloween costumes:

"For Halloween, I am a whoopie cushion." - Pierce

(Thank you, Pierce.  Now I have to explain what a whoopie cushion is.)

"For Halloween I am going to be Martin Luther King Jr." - Tess

(And the award for most original goes to...)

"For Halloween I'm going to be a bike wreck.  If you don't know what a bike wreck is, it's a person who got in a bike crash." -Zane

(Oh! Now it makes sense.)

I've heard a lot of talk about the cafeteria here, and I finally bought a card today.  There are two options.  You can go to normal cafeteria, or you can go to the Lycée Professionnel cafeteria.  The high school (lycée) where I live is a "professional" high school, so some of the students are learning skills that they will use in their future careers.  There are a group of students who are working toward working in the restaurant industry, and they run the Lycée Professionnel cafeteria.  Every day, they post the following day's menu in the main entrance of the high school, and you have to sign up a day in advance.  It was good, especially for the price!  The regular cafeteria looked good, too (salad, fish, green beans).

French school lunch for €2.15

Also included a yogurt for dessert and coffee!

that my favorite French TV show so far is called "A chacun son histoire"

One of the many highlights of this trip was that we had TV's in our hotel rooms!  Working TV's!  So, on the first night in Marseille we watched a couple episodes of "A chacun son histoire" (To each his own story).  The subject of one of the episodes was "Je m'aime trop et j'assume" (I like myself too much and I admit it.)  Too funny.  Hoping this show is available online because obviously I have quite a few to catch up on.

More highlights from Marseille and Nimes...

Marseille - Salade de Poivrons

Wanted to try authentic bouillabaisse, but we were all informed by a waitress that for the real stuff you have to make a reservation days in advance, and the bouillabaisse near the Vieux Port area is not the real stuff and it's too expensive.  So!  Opted for this salad.  Not before having a Dumb and Dumber moment (watch 0:15-0:30) with the waiter.

Me [in French]: What's the fish soup?

Waiter [in French]: It's soup... with... fish....

(I wanted to know what TYPE of fish, but anyway...)

Marseille - Cathedral

Marseille - Walking up the hill to Notre Dame de la Garde

Marseille - View of the islands we would be going to by boat an hour later from Notre Dame de la Garde

Marseille - Notre Dame de la Garde

Marseille - Inside Notre Dame de la Garde!

Marseille - View of Notre Dame de la Garde from the boat that we took an hour later

Marseille - A bay on the Ile du Frioul

Later that night, on the French national news, there was a story about how nice the weather was in Marseille that day, and they showed this exact spot!

Marseille - Vieux Port

Planning to print this one and hang it up in Chicago!

Nîmes - The water was dyed pink (?) for Halloween (?)

Nîmes - Me and the Maison Carrée

Nîmes - Tour Magne

les mots "blingenzee links" and "blingenzee reichsts" (spelling?)

Fall break ended yesterday (I hadn't even been here a month and already got to go on vacation!), and I went on a road trip with three fellow language assistants.  The driver and owner of the car is German, so the GPS (le navigateur) spoke to us in German.  I heard "turn left" and "turn right" quite a few times.  We went to Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and Nîmes.  It was great to see some more French cities, and splitting the gas/hotel bills between four people really cut down on costs!

Dashboard of a European road trip!

Avignon - Inside the Grand Chapel at the Palais des Papes

Avignon - At the top of the Palais des Papes

Avignon - Le Pont d'Avignon

Avignon - View from the bridge

And then I started taking diagonal pictures to keep things interesting.

Avignon - Look out!!  Lavender is BLOOMING!!!

that the name of the Ardèche newspaper is "L'Avenir Agricole de l'Ardèche"

Because I made it into the local newspaper!

[Translation:
Erin and Rebecca, Americans, in Ardèche for the school year

Erin and Rebecca are English assistants in the Ardèche school system.  Both enthusiastically discovered the concept of the promotion of local products.  Interviewed in front of the stands of “Tour of flavors,” Erin said “We just tasted horse meat.  It’s the first time, for both of us, that we’ve ever eaten it.  It’s good!  Also, the hot wine, I’d never heard of it!”  At her side, Rebecca, from Chicago, explained that in the U.S., “A trend is developing for local products.” “But, at farmers markets, the price is pretty expensive so people usually go to supermarkets.  Let’s not forget, all of the businesses are open on Sundays, which explains why markets and events like the one today work less well.”]

First of all, I only WISH I spoke French that well!  I think a sign that it's a paraphrased quote is the fact that I had to look up a couple of the phrases that were part of my quote!  I remember saying that I like the markets in France because the produce is cheaper than the supermarket, but in the U.S., farmer's markets tend to be more expensive, so I tend to buy fruits and vegetables at the grocery store.  I don't remember saying anything about businesses being open on Sundays, and I definitely didn't say "une légère tendance developpe aussi..."  Erin, the other assistant pictured here, said that the reporter left out the part where she said it was weird to be petting a horse across the street and then eating it.  But, anyway, I'm still happy I made the local paper!

I think the more interesting story here is that the two of us went to the same high school, and ended up teaching English in French towns 40 minutes from each other!

le mot "gones"

Went to Lyon today!  One of the teachers I work with offered to take me and a couple fellow assistants for the day.

In French, "les enfants" means "the children."  You can also say "les gamins."  People from Lyon say "les gones."  Weird.  After looking up the correct spelling of "gones" I found this: How to Speak Lyonnais.  Apparently, they use a lot of different words.

Amphitheatre in Lyon

New statue of Pope Jean-Paul II

Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière

Had a Salade Lyonnaise (lettuce, lardons, poached egg, croutons) for lunch.

A lot of the restaurants have "Bouchon" in the name in Lyon.

My attempt at "playing with perspective."

le mot "châtaigne"

I went to a chestnut festival today in Privas.  There were many variations of chestnuts for sale: roasted chestnuts, jars of chestnut butter, crepes with chestnut butter, chestnut jam, chocolate-covered chestnut paté, raw chestnuts, jars of chestnuts (plain or soaked in cognac), chestnut flour, little cakes made from chestnut flour... Oh, and of course, there was a booth where you could taste test horse meat.

So, a fellow assistant and I walked up to try it.  It was good... I don't think I could tell the difference if you gave me beef or cheval (horse).  So then, a journalist walked up and started interviewing us about horse meat and then the market.  I'm not exactly sure what I said... something about fruits and vegetables being cheaper here in France.  Then she asked us to try another piece of horse meat and she took our picture.  Long story short, I'm pretty sure we're going to be in the Privas newspaper next week.  She said she's going to mail us each a copy!

A picture of a journalist taking a picture of me.

Along with some horse meat grilling in the background.

This was across from the horse meat stand.

This was the activity for kids...making little characters out of vegetables!

le mot "babacool"

This morning, I went to the weekly market, and what did I find??

Kakis!!

I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it is, in fact, a type of persimmon.  I hope they are in season for a few more weeks!

I had mentioned to a teacher I work with that I was looking for a guitar to buy/borrow while I'm here in France.  She emailed me last week to say that her husband is a luthier, and they had a guitar for me to borrow.  She also mentioned that her daughter was coming home for fall break and wanted to practice English with a native speaker.

So, today I met up with her daughter at a cafe.  She goes to college in Lyon, and I'm going to Lyon for the day soon, so I picked up some travel tips.  She also mentioned that the Drôme department is known for being "babacool."  Babacool means hippie, laid-back, there are a lot of music events, it's the first department to go organic, etc.  You know, babacool.

She also told me about the different French TV stations.  I looked up the channel TF1 online when I got home and watched part of an episode of MasterChef.  It was pretty easy to understand, and it was kind of funny to watch the contestants get upset in French.  They also have several versions of Les Experts (a.k.a. CSI, dubbed in French), as well as Danse Avec Les Stars.  I plan on watching the entire season of MasterChef.

Anyway, today was a very productive day.  Finally got some kakis and a guitar!

le mot "boîte de nuit"

I recently learned the term "boîte de nuit," which means nightclub.  Today, I stopped by H&M.  I was looking around, and a mom and a teenage daughter walked by.  The mom pointed at some of the clothing and said, "Je ne l'aime pas trop.  C'est trop boîte de nuit."  (That's too nightclubby).

Went to a restaurant in town tonight that was highly recommended by one of the teachers here.  It just so happens to be across the street from where I live.  I went with the three other language assistants here.  When you open the menu there are three pages of different types of "Criques."  None of us new what that was, but we asked the waiter, and then everyone understood it except me.  Ha.  The waiter said it was a galette/crepe with potatoes plus the ingredients that you choose.  I almost chose the Lily (ham, pineapple and cheese), but instead opted for the Polo (ratatouille and an egg).  The other assistants chose the Oliver Twist and the Croquette.

So, it turns out, a "crique" is hashbrowns with whatever ingredients you chose on top of it.  There are about 50 variations on this theme, and it was good!  I will probably be back..... as it is across the street.

My next project is to get access to French TV (that works).  There's a TV in the shared kitchen.  The DVD player works, but the TV doesn't pick up any channels.  Honestly, I was looking forward to watching French TV... I feel like it would be a good way to pick up common conversation words.  Will keep you posted!

le mot "téléphérique"

Just got back from a five-day trip!  Friday through Tuesday in Valence, then Grenoble, then Autrans.

Our second (and final) teaching orientation was on Monday and Tuesday, so several other Drôme assistants and I decided to go a couple days early to visit Grenoble.  I'm hoping to visit again soon because it's only 1.5 hours away by train.

On Saturday, a couple of us rented bikes and explored the city.  Their bike system is AMAZING!  It was only 3€ for 24 hours.  If you live there, it looked like it was only 15€ per month.

Grenoble seemed to have a lot of Asian restaurants.  On Saturday night, I went to a Chinese/Vietnamese/Thai restaurant with an Italian, a German and a Spaniard.  At one point, we started naming everything in our languages and also in French.

Me: Fork, Spoon, Knife, Chopsticks

Spaniard: Tenedor, Cuchara, Cuchillo, etc...

(By the way, French for chopsticks is "les baguettes.")

The next day, we rode bikes again and went to an outdoor market to get food for the picnic planned for later that day.  I saw an orange fruit that looked like a tomato called "kaki" and decided to buy some.  I'd never heard of it before, and unfortunately they all got smushed into "kakisauce" before the picnic, so I still have no idea what it is!  Maybe next time.

Bike ride courtesy of Métrovélo!

(I believe the aforementioned kakis are in the process of being smashed in that green bag.)

Later that day, we returned the bikes and took le téléphérique to the Bastille above Grenoble.  It was a little scary, but definitely worth it!  Once you get to the top, there's a great view of Grenoble, and then you can take a tunnel and walk through the mountain.

Before...

During!  Trying to stay busy to forget where I am at this moment.

At the top! with my fellow villagers.

Path to the mountain

Looking Up

Looking Down

Not exactly sure where this tunnel is going; luckily there was a light at the end of it.

Went to a pizza restaurant for dinner, and met the other table of people there who happened to be assistants in nearby towns (Montélimar and Pierrelatte), and got drinks with them after.  Ended up being a group of about 18 people!

Now the part about orientation.  Usually, the orientation takes place right when the assistants arrive in France.  This year, it should have been on October 3 and 4, but the rumor going around was that the meeting space wasn't available, so they scheduled it two weeks later on October 17 and 18.  On Monday, the first day, all of the assistants in the Académie de Grenoble (approximately 275 of us) gathered in the auditorium of the district office and listened to various administrative details.  Some of it was useful, but honestly, most of it was not because we've all been here for two weeks and have already opened a bank account, applied for social security and sent in our OFII papers (I'm still not exactly sure what that last thing is.... but I know I've done it!)  The speaker also went through the organization of the French educational system.  On one of the slides, he even went through a list of all of the people who work at a school (nurse, janitor, secretary, etc.  I suppose it was a good French vocab lesson!)

Anyway, at 4 p.m., we all boarded buses to go to Autrans, a small town in the mountains.  It was a 50 minute ride, and they dropped us off at a summer camp.  Six people to a room.  No locks on the doors.  If you need more water at the dinner table, get it from the nearby bathroom sinks.

This photo doesn't really do it justice, but they dropped us off at the camp, and we had free time until dinner at 7:30.  I would say more than half of the 275 language assistants walked into town where practically everything was closed at 5:30.

Taking over Autrans

The next day, we had our education sessions.  I was in the Drôme/Ardèche primary group led by two French teachers.  They gave us a lot of tips, and since we're primary school assistants we got to go outside a lot and play games.  We also practiced techniques for leading workshops of French English teachers, since several of us will be leading conversation groups as part of our work contracts.

Overall, it was a fun trip!