EE I EE I O

Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of the new vocabulary I've picked up deals with discipline. The teachers here do not mess around when they yell at their students. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I don't think I was ever sent to the corner and told to face the wall. Nor was I sent into the hallway only to be told to move away from the door because the teacher didn't want to see my face. Again, it's entirely possible that I'm just blocking this from memory. "Tu te calme!" is one of the phrases I hear multiple times throughout the day. I tried this on my sister while she was here. She didn't like it, per se. On some days, I feel bad for the kids, but on others, not so much. Yesterday was a complete and total circus: 2 of my little kids got pushed down the stairs (by the same kid - a new guy who already told me he knows a "gros mot en anglais." Yup, a 7 year old dropped the f-bomb on me!), many tears were spilled, recess was more like a general wrestling hour, and one of my older kids got BIT. The offender even drew blood! I hope he's not rabid...I'll let you know if anyone starts foaming at the mouth during Sports Day.

The good news is, with all the crazy energy pumping through my students, I was able to turn English class into calisthenics hour. If you didn't think Old MacDonald could be choreographed into a makeshift step aerobics routine, you were mistaken. Throwing a "moo" here or there and "moo moos" everywhere is exhausting stuff. The kids think it's funny when I jump around, but I don't really know what the teacher makes of it. It's really too late at this point to start worrying about that stuff, though.

Joyeuses Fetes!

My family arrived in Le Havre early Christmas morning. I went and met them at the train station and then we continued on to my apartment. I spent the whole day cooking while they napped (they deserved it, but still. Transatlantic zing!). I made boeuf bourguignon, mashed potatoes, and carrots and parsnips sauteed with honey and rosemary. This was, of course, after the foie gras, boudin blanc, and charcouterie. It was a really lovely day filled with pretty good food (if I can just toot my own horn for a little bit).

The next day, we headed to Rouen to walk around and eat a fancy meal at La Couronne, the oldest inn in France. The ambiance was pretty over the top and hilarious, with a clear hierarchy of waitstaff and menus without prices for the delicate ladyfolk. I also introduced my family to vin chaud, which I think they appreciated. Later, when we got back to Le Havre, my parents taught me how to play Hearts, which I got addicted to. Nora refused to play because she "doesn't like competitive games." Sorry, Nora, I had to include that.

We spent Monday in Le Havre, walking along the beach and checking out the art museum. Then we headed to Paris, where we had arranged an apartment swap. The apartment was super cool, filled with lots of found objects and art. It was also HUGE. In Paris, we saw family, went to a bunch of museums, and walked and ate a lot. We went to Arts et Metiers, La Maison de Nissim Comondo, the Cluny, the Orangerie, etc. A pretty busy week!

On New Years Eve, we invited our English family friends over (hello, if you are reading this!), and the two "older dudes," as I imagine Andrew and my dad would like me to refer to them, spent the whole day shopping and cooking up a feast. My roommate Heidi joined us as well. There was a ton of delicious food, but the highlight of the night was definitely the post-dinner game of charades, particularly Andrew's interpretation of Avatar.

For posterity's sake, I'll post my New Year's resolutions:
1) Run in the Paris Half-Marathon
2) Stay positive!

It was a really great, but REALLY tiring vacation. I felt like I needed another week after I got back. No such luck.

Until next time...

7 courses in 7 hours

Happy holidays everyone! I hope you all had a nice and relaxing Christmas and a very happy start to 2011. I spent my holidays in France; first in Strasbourg, then in Le Havre and Paris with my parents and my sister.

After getting back from Strasbourg, I headed straight to Le Havre to start preparing for Christmas dinner with my family, which I was going to be cooking. I had to make sure to get all shopping and chopping done ahead of time, since things tend to shut down around here at the first possible moment where it might be considered legitimate. As in the afternoon of the 24^th. To be fair, Christmas Eve is the big celebration here, not the 25^th. But still. It shouldn’t be this hard to find food on a Sunday. By some good fortune, I was invited to a real French Christmas Eve, which was incredibly fun, and a pretty crazy culinary experience. Disclaimer: the rest of this post will be about food.

I got to the house in the late afternoon and helped set the table (for 18! Unheard of in the Mullman residence) and milled around awkwardly while the family argued and fought. I probably should have expected this, since it’s pretty normal behavior for anyone who is about to entertain his or her family, but I still felt super out of place. Luckily, things calmed down when people actually started showing up and cocktails were poured and hors d’oeuvres served. They had prepared various canapés with tomatoes, smoked salmon, crème fraiche, etc. on them. Then we sat down and were served 2 different types of foie gras with a special type of wine. I think it may have been ice wine? I only just learned what this is (thanks, Mom and Dad!), so I can’t be sure. After the foie gras was cleared, smoked salmon was brought out, followed by a course of three different types of local oysters, which the host had cleaned and opened himself. So fresh! Every course lasted an extremely long time, as plates were not cleared until after a long digestion period to socialize. Or, in my case, to get convinced to dance to island music from Réunion with an uncle in front of the whole room. Normally, I probably would have said no, since I barely knew most of the people there, but I’m trying to rep America, so I went for it. Score one point for Team USA?

Moving onto the main courses: the first was a salmon tartare with a cucumber mango salad and an avocado relish-y thing. Very fresh and full of flavors you don’t expect to find on a French dinner table. After the customary digestion period, skewers of scallops were brought out. They were served with more cucumber/mango-y goodness. Apparently, eating seafood on Christmas is very in style in Normandy since there is such easy access to it.

Next was, of course, CHEESE. Lots of odors ensued, some good and some...different. The hosts busted out a 20 year old Bordeaux for this part of the meal, officially making this a completely unique and French experience. Dessert was just ice cream, and I can’t really say that I blame them for buying this course. What a delicious and ridiculous night.

I would be lying if I said that experiencing things like this were not part of the reason I decided to come to France this year.

A la prochaine, with tales from the rest of the break!