les mots "noire," "blanche," et "ronde"

Time flies!  I followed Resolution #10 and found a place to play piano!  I talked to the music teacher, and he said I can borrow the key from the front desk whenever the music room is free.  I am really excited about this and have already been there twice.

I went to talk to the woman at the front desk to borrow the key, then I went out to run some errand, and when I came back, she goes, "Rebecca, do you teach piano lessons at all?"  Finally figured out she was asking for herself, so I said yes.  She had her first piano lesson today, and I feel like I'm going to learn as much as her with this process.  Today, I already learned that quarter notes are called black notes (noires), half notes are called white notes (blanches), and whole notes are called round notes (rondes).  Also, she had no clue what I was talking about with A, B, C, D, E, F, and G because in France (and Europe?), they use Do, Re, Mi, etc.  Going to be a little hard to get used to.  Anyway, she wants to have lessons twice a week, and she wants to pay me 5 Euros a lesson...Okay! Why not?  I was going to do it for free!

Tonight, I went to a play that my 5th grade class put on.  I went by myself, but soon my 2nd grade fan club was seated next to me, all six of them.  Ha.  Several of the kids tapped their parents on their shoulders and said, "Mom, it's Rebecca!"  Felt like a celebrity.  Also, It was so funny to hear how they reacted to the play.  ("C'est trop bon!"/It's too good!)

Regarding the play... One of the 5th graders in the program mouthed the words of every word that was spoken in the play.  Every word!  He had memorized the entire script!  What else...It seemed like a late show for elementary students.  It started at 8:30 p.m., and there was a 30 minute intermission, so it ended at 10:30 p.m.  I understood about half of what was going on, but it seemed like there were a few jokes that seemed a little mature for their age.. (Scene with a boyfriend/girlfriend: Her: "We've been kissing a lot."  Him: "Yes, we've been kissing so much that our first-born child is probably on the way.")

Because I teach all the kids in that school (grades 1-5), it was fun to make connections and see who are siblings.  Also, the play was really helpful for me because before the play, they showed photos and names of all the kids, and then at the end, each kid said his or her name.  So, now I'm pretty sure I know all of the students' names in that class!

la phrase "C'est moi!"

I followed Resolution #4 recently, and bought something at the grocery store that I had never seen before: a tube of Creme de Marrons.

Only 58 cents!

Kind of unappetizing coming from a sort of toothpaste tube, but it still tastes like Creme de Marrons!  Among other chestnut-related items, this is the stuff that they were selling at the Chestnut Festival in Privas back in October.  Wish I had seen this before going home for Christmas!

I've heard the phrase "C'est moi!" when buying something at a store or cafe.  Literally, it means "It's me!"  Usually the exchange goes like this:

Shop owner gives you the chestnut spread/cafe au lait/Vietnamese salad you just bought.

Customer: "Merci!"

Shop owner: "C'est moi!"

As in, "It's me!  The pleasure is mine!  I should be the one thanking you!"

Last night, I went to a show called Banjofolies, which is part of the Culture in Crest series where they bring different acts to the stage at the movie theater.  There's usually a good turnout, and I see several students there.

If you've seen the movie A Mighty Wind, these guys were like the French version of the Folksmen.  Three guys, three instruments, corny jokes.  They played Barbie Girl, We Are the World, and Auld Lang Syne, as well as YMCA, complete with Village People hats.

The BanjoManiacs

It was a fun show, and even more fun that something like this came to Crest!

l'expression "pas mal de + noun"

Wow.  I haven't written anything for 41 days!  I'm planning to write a major "catch up" post tomorrow night, but for now, I'll write about an expression I hear all the time and my New Year's resolutions.


First of all, I had never noticed the expression "pas mal de + noun" in French before this year, but I feel like I hear it at least three times a day here.  Translated word by word, it means "not bad of + noun."  Some examples of how it is used...

Tu es allée à la médiathèque de Crest?  Il y a pas mal de DVDs.

(Have you been to the médiathèque in Crest? There’s not a bad selection of DVDs.)

Il y a pas mal de place dans le frigo.

(There’s quite a bit of space in the fridge.)

J’ai apporté  pas mal de choses des Etats-Unis.

(I brought quite a few things from the U.S.)

Now for the resolutions.  I'll do 12 for 2012:

1. Meet more locals.

2. Take more pictures.

3. Visit as many shops/restaurants in Crest as possible and as is interesting, even the ones on the other side of the river! (Let's be honest, I'm probably not going to go to the moto store, and I probably shouldn't eat too many kebabs).

4. Buy something new/different/that I've never seen before at the grocery store every week. (Finally tried Speculoos this week.)

5. Go to the médiathèque more often to check out DVDs, books and music.

6. Go to the big city (Valence) more often.

7. Set aside a few specific hours each week to actually sit down and study French.  (Might sound weird since I'm in France, but I feel like I've hit a language plateau.)

8. Finish my lesson planning for the following week by Thursday afternoon (instead of Sunday night at 11:59 p.m.)

9. Find a tutoring/private English lesson job. (Applied to a job, and waiting to set up an interview).
10. Find a place to practice piano.

All of these resolutions will hopefully lead me to:

11. Write at least three blog posts per week

and

12. Learn more French words and expressions!

As you can see, I have pas mal de New Year's resolutions.

Happy New Year!!

View from my window of the "Christmas Pyromusical" a few weeks ago.