in case you're wondering how my thanksgiving was - it was great! my roommates and i were all invited to a friend's apartment about 5 minutes away to celebrate. megan made green beans with slivered almonds, lisa made a pear crumble with ice cream à la mode and i made the cranberry sauce. except i forgot the raisins!! oops, nobody knew. a spanish and a chinese assistant joined us as sacrificial thanksgiving virgins (they're also kinzie's roommates) as well as another american assistant, darcy, and kinzie's mom, grandma and brother who were in town visiting. we had SO MUCH FOOD. it was amazing, especially considering most of the cooking was done at kinzie's and all she had was 2 hot plates, a toaster oven and a microwave to cook with. there was corn bread, vegetarian stuffing, banana bread, creamed corn, lentils with goat cheese, sautéed mushrooms and zucchini, toast points with carmelized onions and brie, steamed carrots with butter, a little chicken and i think more that i've since forgotten due to the food coma i was in. plus, there was tons of beaujolais as this is its peak saison and we had some benedictine as an apéritif. yum and fun! we seriously laughed and joked the whole time (in french and in english since not everyone knew both). kinzie's family was wonderful and made us feel like we were in their own home for a traditional thanksgiving meal. we even went around and said what we were thankful for...awww.
thanksgiving is not one of my favorite holidays for many reasons, especially since i don't eat turkey or like football, but this year made me realize how much i take the day for granted. i really enjoyed my french thanksgiving but i would've given anything to be with my family. here's a picture my dad sent me (this year was at todd and kelley's condo). lovin' that shirt, sam! and how come there ain't more wine in them glasses?! fill 'er up, kath!!
- tardiness. as lisa likes to say, "the french have a fluid sense of time." it is perfectly acceptable to be late by up to 10 minutes to virtually ANY appointment (maybe not job interviews and surgeries). and the french often are. hey, that works great for me!! except when i get impatient and leave after 5 minutes thinking they're not coming. hop-là!
- talking to themselves. THEY LOVE to do this. it made me so uncomfortable at first to be in the computer lab with one other person and all of a sudden they start talking in full voice and i'm thinking 1) were they talking to me? 2) what did they just say? 3) how do i respond? and 4) do i care? so to be polite, i kind of just slowly turn and give 'em a closed-mouth smile and then when they keep talking i say something like "oooh." or "c'est vrai?" and feel even more uncomfortable. then they start to slap me across the face and i don't know why! haha no, but really this scenario took place a couple of times before i realized you don't look for an answer to a rhetorical question. so i just let 'em be. lil' cuties.
- lines. they don't exist in france. seriously, they don't. ok except maybe in a store or a post office where they have little ropes that FORCE you to form a line but other than that, not really. try walking down a school hallway during passing periods! YAH RIGHT! in france, everyone fends for themself and just kind of places their body close to the front of whatever they're trying to get to. it's also something they make fun of the british for: always "queuing".
- walk of shame. although a fashionable bunch, the french do not find it taboo to wear the same outfit 2 days in a row. depending on what you did on day 1, you might not want to wear your outfit on day 2, but you could, if you were in france. this makes walks of shame a lot less...shameful. not that i know personally!! this habit might also cause one to smell, let's just say, not quite as fresh as they did on day 1. GRAB YOUR BAGUETTES AND DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!
- along the same lines, the french are a lot more laidback than their american step-cousins. there is no sense of urgency among the french. things get done when they get done, and it doesn't matter who it's inconveniencing or who's paying for it. nothing is so important. this is not surprising in a country that places just as much importance on leisure time as it does work time. they have 5 weeks of vacation every summer, not to mention state holidays and school vacations (if you're a teacher or a student). WOW! i could get used to living in a place like this. BOI-OI-OI-OING!!!!!!!!!
k, i'm sick of typing. read this, i wrote it yesterday:
à votre santé! *Lauryn
ahhh p.s. i taught my 3è and 4è euro the cha cha slide today. they LOVED it!!
