Lille Weather

It got cold…not terrible cold, just winter cold. We had a huge snow on Sunday that was a lot of fun but they say it doesn’t snow much here. Also the ground is pretty much always wet from the daily rain…no big deal until it got cold and now in the morning when I walk to the train station its all ice! Should be familiar to me I know but its kind of hard to maneuver without blades!! People are falling down everywhere and it’s pretty funny until you eat it on the steps! The biggest difference in the whether is that in France, I have to be tough and deal with it more. If it’s cold in NC, I only have to endure it for the 5 min. walk to and from the car. Here, my only means of transportation is walking so I’m outside in the elements weather it rains, snows, or hails (which I have been caught in a few times)! I’ve learned to live with wet toes…apparently my southern boots aren’t waterproof enough for Lille!

Christmas

Ever since I got old, maybe around 17, Christmas hasn’t been the same as it was when I was a kid. That is…until I moved to Lille! They turned the lights on about a week ago and the whole city is Christmas crazy! There are lights and garland EVERYWHERE, all the storefronts are Christmas themed, and they play Christmas music in the center. Also, there is a huge ferris wheel in the center surrounded by fake snow and Christmas trees…it’s awesome! In another of the big squares there is a Christmas market where the booths are little log cabins. They sell all kinds of crafts and gifts along with sugar waffles, crepes, cider, French style pizzas, and hot wine (haven’t tried it…I’m a little scared). Sometimes I like to just walk around the streets at night b/c it’s so pretty and festive!

"Cook Out"

On the day that the grill arrived, we had all the girls over for a cookout. I was expecting some big gas grill that sat out on the balcony but instead it’s the cutest electric grill I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even know electric grills existed! We cooked ‘out’ kebabs and sausages in the kitchen and my friend Abby got to come meet everyone too!

Life here just kind of revolves around food and coffee. Whenever we get together, everyone is cooking all night and we eat forever…meals are so long it’s great! I’m reading this book my friend Laura in NC gave me before I left and it’s about the French people’s obsession with food. There are so many festivals and celebrations of food around France at different times throughout the year. Each area has a specialty dish, cheese, and wine. Like I said, lunch is the big meal and it’s really making sense to me. A long lunch gives you a nice break in the middle of the work day and then you are less hungry for dinner. After all, you just go to sleep after dinner while all the food sits in your body. After lunch you walk around, work, shop, and work off all of the food you just ate. Speaking of walking I walk A LOT! If all I do is go to work and then sit for the rest of the day, its still 2 hours of walking…not including shopping or visiting friends!

I’m also cooking…like real cooking, making my own sauces and everything! It’s crazy how little we learn to cook in the US. We are doing a Thanksgiving with all of the assistants but nobody knows how to make anything!! All of the young French people I’ve met know how to make all kinds of things! Donc, I’m learning! Groceries are the one thing that is cheaper in France than in America I think. Vegetables especially are so cheap; it just makes more sense to cook here! Also, restaurants are more expensive in France and there are less fast food options.

Coralie's Birthday Party

I didn’t have too much time to be sad because on Friday we left for Coralie’s birthday party! Her friend Jeanne and Coralie were having a big birthday party in Dominois (about 2hr. drive from Lille) at Jeanne’s parent’s country house. Friday night there were about 15 people and we cooked a huge dinner and had fun all night. Something different here is that we always cook for parties whereas at home we would get pizza or go out to a restaurant. Most of their friends spoke good English so it was easy to talk to them and both sides got some language practice. The house was so cute with a kitchen, living room, and then 2 rooms of nothing but beds so everyone could stay there! Saturday night the girls rented a little event house down the road to have the big party. We spent all day cooking the food and cakes and decorating the room. It was so nice and everyone pitched in to help. Its funny b/c when you walk down the country roads here you have to wear a fluorescent vest so people were all dressed up with fluorescent vests!! There were about 40 people at the party and everyone had a great time! Coralie’s girlfriends all went in together and bought her a grill and a plant for the house! Parties go late here and we didn’t go back till 6am!

Romaric Came : )

Romaric came to visit me!!!! Cedric and I got up at 4:30 to drive to Brussels and pick him up and it was soooo good to see him! I had a 2 week vacation from school so we had lots of time together! The first weekend we had a party with the entire NG crowd which was really fun and he got to meet all of my new friends. Romaric and Cedric hit it off so Hono and I teased them about being boyfriends. They didn’t stop talking from the time we left the airport!

Hono’s parents were in town too so it was a full house and a lot of fun! Monday and Tuesday all of us went to the Ardennes where Romaric is from to see his Grandparents. Thilay, where they live is a tiny town in the NE of France and it was so beautiful, a nice change from the flatness of NG and Lille. All the leaves were in fall colors too. We went to the restaurant in Belgium where Romaric’s Aunt and cousin work for a 4 hour lunch! I ate some local wild boar and it was delicious. Lunch is the big meal here and it usually lasts a few hours but this was my longest to date. The restaurant is right beside a little stream with swans. We had a huge table with so many family members and it was so much fun!! For dinner later that night (they eat around 8 or 9 here) we had escargot pizza…delicious! Romaric, Hono, Cedric and I stayed up really late playing an UNO tournament where the girls of course won and the boys were caught cheating on more than one occasion! For lunch the next day, Romaric’s grandma roasted a rabbit over a real fire and again….AMAZING! I can’t get over how good the food is here! Romaric’s grandpa ate the rabbit head and then made the skull look like an eagle…see the picture included! We had to leave too soon as with all good family visits but it was a really great trip.

The eagle made out of rabbit skull.

Thilay

My delicious lunch of wild boar!

Cedric and Romaric's Grandfather

We got home from Thilay that night and left for London the next morning. It really is amazing that I can walk out of my apartment and from my door its about 2 hours until I’m in London. We walked to the station, hopped on a train, and got off an hour and a half later in Kings Cross. Our hotel was really cute and right beside the station! The first day Romaric had an appointment with Credit Suisse (his company) to see the office and do some kissing up so he can get transferred there. We decided to walk from Kings Cross to the financial district and it literally took all day to get there! It was really fun and we got to see London on the way and we stopped for a big English breakfast…yum…but we really walked for at least 3 hours straight! After lunch with his colleagues, we needed a nap and took the metro back to the hotel. We made some quality speakers for Romaric’s Zune out of paper cups while we got ready to go out. Then we met up with Morgan, one of Romaric’s friends and went out in London. What a great city! I really, really love it, there is so much to do and so many different people and most importantly everyone is so nice! The next day we went to the British Museum to see some mummies and then we got some starbucks (British people LOVE starbucks). I LOVE LONDON!!
Romaric and Morgan in front of a park
london at night

the full english breakfast!

ghetto speakers we made in the hotel out of paper cups!

I was supposed to work Thursday and Friday but due to a train strike I didn’t have to go to work and we got to hang out in Lille!!! Friday we left for Paris and met up with Romaric’s friend Damien and his girlfriend/our friend Marie. They have the coolest apartment in Montmartre really close to Sacre Couer. I’ve always been to Paris as a tourist but this time was really different. We did Parisian things like sleep in late on the weekend and have a huge brunch on Sunday. Saturday night we went to an ‘ice bar’ in Paris. There are only 20 people allowed in at one time and they give you huge coats and gloves to wear b/c its so cold. Everything is made of ice…the chairs, the cups, the bar, the decorations. It was so cool…literally! You are only allowed in for 30 minutes. They change the colors of the lights and it was so pretty you didn’t mind the cold! I worked Monday and then we had the family over for dinner at the apartment. Romaric made some quiche and then I taught everyone how to play spoons and it was a huge hit! Romaric left Tuesday morning and then I was sad : ( Its better now that I’ve gotten back into the swing of things here but after he left I realized how much I miss everyone from home!!! Just a little longer until I come back for Chrismas!!!

Marie and Damien

INTERNET!

Great news...I finally have internet in my apartment!!!! Lots of information all at once...here it goes!

The Little Things

Sorry about the lack of blogging recently...I will try to do better.
Just a quick comment about how the French (and Europeans in general) take care in the design of the little things. For example, streetlights and glasses.
The streetlights here all have interesting, modern designs. Highways included. Each little town has a different style of streetlights, some colored, some very sleek. I never realized how careless the streetlights are in the US, and how much it makes a difference. Its the little details that effect the overall impression. I wish I could include some photos but its a little hard to snap a picture from the car.
Next....Europeans know how to wear glasses. I kindof wish I had to wear glasses b/c they are so pretty here. Lots of different colors, interesting designs. Also, old people's glasses are just as cool as the young peoples!
Quick life update: I'm on vacation and Romaric comes Thursday...(many pics to come). We went on a short trip to Cedric's sister's house. I helped my new roomate move into the apartment. I move to the apartment on Nov. 1st!!!!
Check out my old roomate's blog (on the right) she is awesome!
Also...Cristal is the coolest girl in France!!!!

Tarama

Very strange but very delicous food encounter:

First you take a very small pancake (not a crepe, a true american, bisquick pancake). Then put tarama on it which is like caviar but from a different type of fish...basically pink fish eggs. Then put drops of lemon juice on top and eat!! DELICIOUS!

Pizza Party

After we got home from Brugge, Abby came to Noyelles-G with me. We went to someone's house for a pizza party. There were little ovens in the middle of the table and little mini pizza crusts. Each person made thier own pizza with the toppings and cheeses and then cooked them in the ovens. SO cool and delicious!!! There was also kareoke which was hillarious.

What is cool about France is that there is so much popular French music. Everyone can't beleive that we have never heard of the French stars. Of course there is the popular American music that is all over the world but even the radio stations are required to play a certain percentage of French music. I like it.

It was really cool for Abby to get to hang out with a group of French ppl. Also everyone is SO nice here. All of thier friends really make an effort to help us understand and to talk to us...they are really awesome. I am soooo lucky! They say that the people in the north are much nicer than anywhere else in France and I believe it. None of the French 'snob' steryotypes hold true here. The saying goes that the south has the sun in the sky but the north has the sun in thier hearts....cheezy but cute!

Here are some pictures of my freinds at the pizza party:

R.I.P and Brugge

Tragic news...the anenome died this weekend! Nemo has no home so we hope he will survive the shock.
This weekend my friend Abby (from Ch. Hill) and I went on a day trip to Brugge, Belgium. It only took an hour and a half to get to another country and the ticket was only 20euro...LOVE Europe!! It was so bizzarre because half way through the trip, all the digital signs switched languages from French to Flemish and the people who got on the train weren't speaking French. Its so cool how close and accessable everything is! We walked around the cute cobblestone streets and ate delicious foods. We even climbed the Belfrois tower through the narrowest staircase I've ever been on...it was practically a ladder! There were horse-drawn carriages and it was so warm and sunny we could wear T-shirts!!!!!! Here are some photos:

Aquarium Update!

Getting ready for the move...it pulled off of the rock on Oct. 7















You can see it in the upper left of the picture here. Oct. 7














On Oct. 9th, it moved down the rock in the morning.















In the evening of Oct. 9th it had moved toward the back of the aquarium.

Pizza

Cool Pizzas we had last night:

• potatoe slices, ham, and onion...instead of tomatoe sauce, a white cream-cheese/creme fraiche mix sauce
• ground beef and mushroom
• 'supreme' style pizza with egg as a topping
• 3 cheese-very strong cheeses

The best part about the pizza was that the cheese portion was 3x thicker than the toppings or crust!

School

I finished my first week of 'work.' For the first two weeks I'm just observing in the classes. Overall it was good, the teachers are all really nice and young and I only had to go 3 hours for 3 days. There are 4 English teachers and the kids range from age 11-15. They take English 3 times a week and some also take German. Interesting (at least I think) things about French 'college' (middle school in the US).
1. School starts and ends at different times each day for each class. For example: the class I was in today had school Monday 8-5:30, Tuesday 8-4:30, Wednesday 8-11, Thursday 9-5:30, etc.
2. The kids get 1.5 hours for lunch since lunch is the biggest meal and most of the kids go home for lunch. Also, kids go to school until 5:30 but don't eat dinner until 9-10pm.
3. Inbetween classes, the kids line up outside and wait for thier teacher. The teacher goes outside and gets thier class and then leads them to the classroom.
4. Classroom doors are locked all the time.
5. Every kid has an ID book that has thier schedule, picture, dicipline record, absences, and test grades in it. The parents have to sign off on everything in the book.
6. Most of the kids write with blue fountain pens.
7. They call grades out loud in front of the whole class. In one of my classes they had just gotten a test back and passed around a sheet with everyone's grade beside thier name. In another class, when the kid finished thier presentation, the teacher called the grade out loud.
8. I have seen 5-10 little girls (age 11-13) with thier lips and noses pierced.
9. You aren't allowed to wear coats, scarves, or hats in the classroom and sometimes its cold.
10. I have only had one black student all week long.
I think thats all for now....school is really different here but I like it. Most of the kids are really eager and excited in class. If anything they are a little roudy...but seem nice and want to learn English!

Groceries

Tonight we are having a party at the house (its a Monday!). We just went grocery shopping for the party and the grocery store was soooo great. There was an entire aisle for chocolate and 2 aisles for cheese!!! For the party we are having a chocolate fountain for dessert with fruit and marshmallows. For dinner there are these small 'ovens' on the table where you heat up chese and then you pour it on your potatoes and meat. Its going to be great...there are 12 people all together for dinner. The only bad part is I have work at 8 tomorow! Warning: I may be a little heavier when I come home for Christmas.

Orientation

I had orietation for the program on Wednesday at 9am. Hono and I left at 7:30 because traffic is bad in the morning in Lille. We didn't get there until 10!!! It took us 2.5 hours to make a 15min. drive!!! That is how great my roommates are...they will drive me 2.5 hours in the car so I don't get lost on the train!
At our orientaton were about 10 boys and 200 girls! There were sooo many of us and we could speak English!!!! The group is almost half Americans that have just graduated college and don't know what they want to do and half British students studying French at "uni." Brittish foreign language majors are required to spend a year abroad working/studying before they can graduate.
It was really great to meet some other confused Americans and speak English for a little. Also, everyone is in the same boat going through the same things. I met some cool girls that live in Lille as well!
Thursday was training where we had a crash course in education. We learned lots of fun games to play with the kids and how to speak to them. They taught us how to deal with festivities too. In the US, schools respect religion by recognizing 'all' religions...where as here they respect it by celebrating no religions. If you are Muslim, you cannot cover your head at school. If you are a Christian, you cannot wear a cross on your T shirt...they are completely neutral at school. Also, we are not allowed to bring food for the children to eat.
Its going to be a little harder than I thought because we have to use only simple words that they will know. We can't just speak naturally. Also, we have to use the British vocabulary that they are taughts. Some examples:
Lift instead of Elevator
to Ring someone on the phone instead of Call them
Toillet instead of Bathroom
Flat instead of Apartment
Its really interested hanging out with the British students because its so different for them here. One of the girls teaching in Calais can get on a ferry and be home in 30min! All the others are at most 2 hours from home. They are all of course going home for Christmas...where as the Americans aren't (except me). Also, I never noticed just HOW different the language is! Its not just the slang and the accent, there is so much that is different! The cadence of their speach is very different and the speed. Its cool!!!

Champaigne Region

I appologize for the delay in info...but it has gotten busy over here! Monday and Tuesday Honorine and I went to the tiny village where her sister and mom live. It was a 3 hour drive south through flat wheat fields. The town has 2 streets and a population of less than 50. Her sister lives in a huge old farm house with her husband and 3 young boys (soooo cute!). The youngest one has just started walking! They have a cocker spaniel that just had 2 puppies, hens, a donkey, and sheep. The boys ride around on the donkey like its a horse! Everything was so cute and exactly how you would imagine a small rural French village.




On Monday we went to meet her mom and then went searching through the vineyards to find the rest of the family. They were all there for a week doing the 'vendange' or wine harvest. We finally found them after driving 2 hours through the beautiful hills and small villages, getting lost a few times.









Then we spent the afternoon with her sister's family. The oldest boy (5) Francois said his numbers for me in English! We finished with a big dinner (we have dinner around 9 or 10) at Hono's mom's house...delicous!




The next day we took the 2 older boys to the bus stop where they wait in a little wodden 'house' for the bus with all the neighborhood kids. We did some shopping until the hunt for the family in the vineyards began again! Since it was the last day, there is a tradition to decorate the van with wildflowers and then parade around the town honking the horn. They decorated our car too and we all drove around to celebrate the end of the harvest!



Hono with some champaigne grapes!





Hono's sister picking flowers for the cars.





The Van decorated.

After the parade, everyone had some coffee (it was cold out there) and took home some champaigne from the vineyard. If you see this bottle (first picture) in a store somewhere I am very interested at how much it costs state-side. At the harvest the bottles were only 12euro!

It was such a great trip and I got to see an entire different region of France, and experience a bit of the country life. I also got a chance to be with a big family here which was the best part...everyone was so nice and happy and we had a lot of fun!

Interesting TV note: Cedric and Hono LOVE Grey's Anatomy so we watched the "new" season premier which is actually 1 or 2 seasons behind the US (for translating and dubbing). The greatest part is that they show it with only one commercial break in the middle AND they show 3 new episodes in a row. Its so cool because you don't have to wait a whole week for the next show!

Titune naps in the sun. (left)












Mona naps on the couch.


I took both of these on my walk home from the train station. Pretty fields next to the house in Noyelles-Gadault.

Lucky Me!

Bonjour everyone!
First some backround: There is another assistant here from Raleigh (Abby)!! We met for coffee before the trip...cool girl.
Ok, so Abby got in on Friday and gave me a call. We decided to hang out in Lille on Saturday since Honorine had work all day. I took the train in and we had a lovely day walking around in the sunshine. She is staying in a hostel until she finds a place to stay and while we were having coffee she got a call from someone offering her an apartment. So we decided to go check it out. It was the smallest room I've ever seen and about a 40min. walk from the center of Lille!! Apparently finding an apartment is not such an easy thing here. I am really the luckiest person ever to already have a place to stay!!! THANKS BEAUCOUP to everyone that helped me out with that!!!
In other news...the weather continues to be awesome (knock on wood). Who would have thought I'd need sunglasses and not a coat here : )

Easy quiche recipe:
Cover a deep dish pizza pan with parchment paper (bottom and sides)
Lay one roll of puff pastry down
Cover the puff pastry with a layer of creme fraiche
In a bowl, mix 3-4 eggs with thinly sliced sausage
-pour the contents over the creme fraiche to make a layer of egg/sausage mixture
Bake at 200 degrees celsius (392 farenheight) until done
ENJOY!

NEW FEATURE!

So in the house that I live in there is a giant salt water aquarium. There are many plants and crabs and 3 fish. The biggest plant of all is a huge anenome that is home to the 2 Nemo clown fish. The crazy thing is...it moves very slowly all over the aquarium. So I'm going to start the anenome tracker.

25 September 2008. 15:28h

Some Fotos

Our trip to the zoo and fair. Mom, Honorine, Charlotte, and Cedric

The lady at the delicious balls-of-funnel-cake stand.

The whole group eating sweets!

The ferris wheel

Le Premiere Semaine

Bonjour tout le monde!!! I am finally settled in and will start informing you about the happenings of my life (well, most of them ; ). I got back from Paris yesterday and the French immersion has truly begun. My roomate can only speak a little English and the only person I have met that is fluent in English refuses to speak it to me! (the French way of course) Its great though because now I will definitely learn.

I am living with Romaric's cousin Hono, her boyfriend Cedric, the black lab Titune, the grey cat Mona, and two "Nemo" clown fish. We are in a small town so they have a big house and it is very comfortable. I am so lucky to be living with such nice people!!! They drive me all the time wherever I need to go and are so so nice!! Already they have taken me to the fair, zoo, Belgium, Ikea, McDonalds, and 4 pet stores!
side note: the McDonalds here is AMAZING...well designed, beautiful interior, and delicious desserts!

The food is unbelievable!! All of the steryotypes are indeed true...coffee, cheese, and lots of bread. We have dessert and coffee in the middle of the day...today was a strawberry tartlette. Yesterday, hot chocolate and brownie. Everyone has been really nice (as far as I can tell...can't really understand much) and I have met lots of Hono's friends!!

Ok, enough for now...time to watch Star Academie (the coolest show in Fr.). Stay tuned!!