The other day I was sitting in the station and had one of those pinch-yourself-to-see-if-it’s-real moments. This occasionally happens here. I was watching the world go by waiting for my train and had to remind myself that yes, I was sitting in a French station and yes, I’d managed to set up home in France for several months and yes, I was off to teach in a school. It felt so normal yet so surreal. I had sudden feeling of dauntedness, but then proceeded to remind myself that I needed to shed that feeling because I’m used to my job and am capable of the role.
I’ve had a very busy time since Anne and Liz’s visit. In fact, this last week I’ve hardly eaten on my own which has been great, though does show I’ve been doing a lot (probably too much, but I wanted to make the most of what came my way). On Wednesday evening I went out for dinner with the English teachers from Armentières and we went to a lovely little crêperie in Vieux Lille. It had a really homely atmosphere, though we were quite squashed in and behind us was a rather loud bunch of men, which didn’t help my comprehension. There is a famous cheese in this region which is called Maroilles, and the teachers made me try some Maroilles sauce to see if I liked it. I’m not a lover of strong cheeses, and this one’s quite strong. I was happy to try it as I’d heard about it and seen it around, but unfortunately I didn’t like it, so with the expectant eyes of five French people on me, I wrinkled up my nose at the taste! They chuckled and one of them said ‘Once English, always English!’ I’m sure there are some English people who would love it, it’s just my cheese palate isn’t that advanced.
On Friday evening, I met up with Marie, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother (Marie is my friend who currently lives in Bordeaux who comes to see her boyfriend now and again). We had a raclette meal (potatoes with melted cheese and assorted cold meats) round at her boyfriend’s brother’s flat and then went bowling. Here came a cultural shock, because we only started eating around 9.15/30pm and when we finished it was around 11.10pm and they said ‘So are we going bowling then?’ I was convinced the bowling alley would be shut or shutting, and the others weren’t sure either, but we walked in at around 11.30pm and everything was still in full swing! We had one game and then another which were very enjoyable, but suffice to say, I had a late night…and the bowling alley is open to a very late hour!
On Saturday evening I went out to a restaurant followed by hanging out at someone’s house to celebrate the birthday of a friend from Christ Church (The English-speaking one), which was a lot of fun and good conversations were had.
Since the New Year, I’ve started helping out at Christ Church’s youth group which takes place on a Sunday afternoon. There are two other leaders, James and Anne-Marie, and so far I’ve met seven young people who attend. It’s a really nice group and we spend around an hour playing games and then around an hour focusing on a topic looking at the Bible and doing activities related to it.
I have a lot of things to think about at the moment. My year abroad project (which I’m not sure I’ve mentioned yet), the summer, and housing for next year are all important things to sort out and potentially quite stressful, so I’d appreciate prayer for those if you can.
Fiona x
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
My weekend with Anne and Liz
Arrival
Anne and Liz arrived at 10pm on Friday and I’d made it onto the platform in time to see their train pull in, but only then did I realise it was highly unlikely I was going to find them on the platform, as the train was so long I couldn’t see both ends, and there was more than one exit off the platform. As well as this, the announcement came over “this train is stopping for two minutes”…I thought ‘they’d better get off!’…I managed to find them upstairs looking a bit lost (and they weren’t the only ones) but all was well when the relief kicked in that we had found each other. Then they told me they had been lucky to get off the train cos they had to ask someone if it was Lille or not due to the dodgy train announcement which had announced ‘Lille Europe’ inaudibly! So my thoughts of hoping they’d get off hadn’t been that silly after all! We went straight to my flat and had a piece of apple pie, a drink and a nice chat before heading to bed.
Saturday
On Saturday we got up and took our time, heading to the boulangerie round the corner to buy some pastries for breakfast. We chose three and split them between us…delicious! Later that morning we went out to have a look around the market and buy a roast chicken for lunch. At this point the weather had turned and it was raining and very cold so we didn’t venture much further and came back to have lunch. After lunch the plan had been to head into the main city centre to show the pair of them the sights and shops and have a coffee, but the weather wasn’t improving so we checked the weather forecast for Sunday and it was better, so we decided to stay in. We played a card game called Irish snap, which was great fun and lasted an hour or so! Then we watched a film. After that we got ready to go out for the evening and walked round to my friend Laurence’s to join her and her boyfriend and another couple for soup, bread, ham and cheese before going in their car to a French folk dancing evening.
Folk dancing
I think Anne and Liz were very brave for taking this on as they do not speak much French. I was also very nervous and glad of their company because we didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for! The evening was running from 9pm until around 2am…hard core (for those of you a bit older, that means ‘serious stuff’)! It was in a school hall and when we walked in at about 9.50pm it was packed! We were a bit squashed when we joined in at the beginning, but later it improved. The first one we joined in with was thankfully a straightforward group dance, but we hadn’t heard all the instructions so still managed to mess up occasionally!
The second dance was a couple’s dance and so Liz said she was happy to sit out while Anne and I danced it together. However, two French men came over and suggested that we split up and dance with them. We obliged as we were encouraged by my friends next to us and they were fairly insistent. I think the look on my face was quite a picture, as I was bothered about being able to hear the instructions, watch what the French were doing in response to the instructions, check Anne had understood and now I had the pressure of dancing with a French man! It turned out to be my least favourite dance of the night as you had to wander round the middle and choose a new partner to dance with or be left on the edge and be chosen by a partner at numerous points in the dance. Liz was taking photos and killing herself laughing, very glad she’d sat out!
There were a lot of dances that followed and we joined in or sat out as we felt like it. We got asked at varying points to dance with men (of varying types!). Anne ‘took one for the team’ when there was a certain French man who we’d already refused earlier in the evening being very insistent…Liz suddenly (and conveniently) disappeared and at the same time I was being approached by two men we’d previously danced with who wanted to join the pair of us. I spotted this as a solution and gratefully accepted on behalf of the pair of us but at the same time Anne was being pulled off by the other man. He was happy to try out his English too, explaining the instructions to Anne ahead of the man on the mic!
There was a lovely selection of cakes, crêpes and drinks there and we all enjoyed one as a nice break. We left around 1am when it was mainly the crowd-that-knew-what-they-were-doing dancing. I think the girls would agree that the evening was great fun.
Sunday
On Sunday we had pancakes for breakfast, a prayer time, a pack up and went off to see the city centre and grab some lunch on the way to the station. I love those girls... thanks again for coming :)
Fiona x
Anne and Liz arrived at 10pm on Friday and I’d made it onto the platform in time to see their train pull in, but only then did I realise it was highly unlikely I was going to find them on the platform, as the train was so long I couldn’t see both ends, and there was more than one exit off the platform. As well as this, the announcement came over “this train is stopping for two minutes”…I thought ‘they’d better get off!’…I managed to find them upstairs looking a bit lost (and they weren’t the only ones) but all was well when the relief kicked in that we had found each other. Then they told me they had been lucky to get off the train cos they had to ask someone if it was Lille or not due to the dodgy train announcement which had announced ‘Lille Europe’ inaudibly! So my thoughts of hoping they’d get off hadn’t been that silly after all! We went straight to my flat and had a piece of apple pie, a drink and a nice chat before heading to bed.
Saturday
On Saturday we got up and took our time, heading to the boulangerie round the corner to buy some pastries for breakfast. We chose three and split them between us…delicious! Later that morning we went out to have a look around the market and buy a roast chicken for lunch. At this point the weather had turned and it was raining and very cold so we didn’t venture much further and came back to have lunch. After lunch the plan had been to head into the main city centre to show the pair of them the sights and shops and have a coffee, but the weather wasn’t improving so we checked the weather forecast for Sunday and it was better, so we decided to stay in. We played a card game called Irish snap, which was great fun and lasted an hour or so! Then we watched a film. After that we got ready to go out for the evening and walked round to my friend Laurence’s to join her and her boyfriend and another couple for soup, bread, ham and cheese before going in their car to a French folk dancing evening.
Folk dancing
I think Anne and Liz were very brave for taking this on as they do not speak much French. I was also very nervous and glad of their company because we didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for! The evening was running from 9pm until around 2am…hard core (for those of you a bit older, that means ‘serious stuff’)! It was in a school hall and when we walked in at about 9.50pm it was packed! We were a bit squashed when we joined in at the beginning, but later it improved. The first one we joined in with was thankfully a straightforward group dance, but we hadn’t heard all the instructions so still managed to mess up occasionally!
The second dance was a couple’s dance and so Liz said she was happy to sit out while Anne and I danced it together. However, two French men came over and suggested that we split up and dance with them. We obliged as we were encouraged by my friends next to us and they were fairly insistent. I think the look on my face was quite a picture, as I was bothered about being able to hear the instructions, watch what the French were doing in response to the instructions, check Anne had understood and now I had the pressure of dancing with a French man! It turned out to be my least favourite dance of the night as you had to wander round the middle and choose a new partner to dance with or be left on the edge and be chosen by a partner at numerous points in the dance. Liz was taking photos and killing herself laughing, very glad she’d sat out!
There were a lot of dances that followed and we joined in or sat out as we felt like it. We got asked at varying points to dance with men (of varying types!). Anne ‘took one for the team’ when there was a certain French man who we’d already refused earlier in the evening being very insistent…Liz suddenly (and conveniently) disappeared and at the same time I was being approached by two men we’d previously danced with who wanted to join the pair of us. I spotted this as a solution and gratefully accepted on behalf of the pair of us but at the same time Anne was being pulled off by the other man. He was happy to try out his English too, explaining the instructions to Anne ahead of the man on the mic!
There was a lovely selection of cakes, crêpes and drinks there and we all enjoyed one as a nice break. We left around 1am when it was mainly the crowd-that-knew-what-they-were-doing dancing. I think the girls would agree that the evening was great fun.
Sunday
On Sunday we had pancakes for breakfast, a prayer time, a pack up and went off to see the city centre and grab some lunch on the way to the station. I love those girls... thanks again for coming :)
Fiona x
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Mid-January
Galette des rois
The French have a tradition with something called a ‘galette des rois’ to celebrate epiphany. It’s a round, flat-ish pie which is filled with almond paste or apple. Hidden inside the pie is a ‘fève’, a tiny porcelain figure (but I think it can be other things). Some people hold to the tradition that the youngest person present goes under the table to decide who gets which part of the pie so there’s no cheating! When the pie is eaten, someone will come across the fève and they become the king/queen and have to wear a golden paper crown and keep the fève. I’ve been able to join in 3 times with different people and it’s very enjoyable. I even got the fève once!
Emilie’s visit
Saturday morning came around, and with it the visit of my favourite French person. Emilie and I had a brilliant time together. This year we’re mainly speaking French to each other, last year we mainly spoke English. Things always seem to take longer than usual when the pair of us are together, because our talking slows us down. It’s either because of my constant French language stumbling or the fact that we frequently bounce off each other in conversation! Maybe a mixture of the two. She’s very patient with me when I start a sentence to realise that I don’t know most of the vocabulary to finish the sentence! Thankfully she’s seen an improvement in my language since October when we last saw each other.
We went for a walk and chilled out on Saturday, and on Sunday Emilie came to both my churches and we didn’t do a lot in between. After church in the evening we talked to Melanie and Emily (two university friends in Southampton) on Skype with webcams, which was lovely…as if the four of us were in one room again (almost)! Then on Monday we had a relaxed morning before I went off to work and Emilie had a very long walk around Lille, discovering the city (and the sales!). In the evening again we took things fairly easy. On Tuesday we went to the supermarket to get a few bits and bobs, I showed Emilie how to make drop scones, and later on hosted the GBU (Christian Union) at my flat. I’m sure we did other things that I can’t remember too. She left yesterday morning and is safely back in Besançon, with smelly cheese from the ‘nord’ region!! (Each region in France has its specialities so Emilie wanted to take back some cheese and stuff for her family, and at least one of the cheeses was very pungent and I teased her about it staying in my fridge for a night…still winding her up about it right now in fact, when she reads this!)
Snow
Here are some belated pictures of snowy Lille which were taken in December, except the little snowman, who sat just outside my window yesterday morning. I invited him in, but he declined for fear that his life would be shortened.
Fiona x
The French have a tradition with something called a ‘galette des rois’ to celebrate epiphany. It’s a round, flat-ish pie which is filled with almond paste or apple. Hidden inside the pie is a ‘fève’, a tiny porcelain figure (but I think it can be other things). Some people hold to the tradition that the youngest person present goes under the table to decide who gets which part of the pie so there’s no cheating! When the pie is eaten, someone will come across the fève and they become the king/queen and have to wear a golden paper crown and keep the fève. I’ve been able to join in 3 times with different people and it’s very enjoyable. I even got the fève once!
Emilie’s visit
Saturday morning came around, and with it the visit of my favourite French person. Emilie and I had a brilliant time together. This year we’re mainly speaking French to each other, last year we mainly spoke English. Things always seem to take longer than usual when the pair of us are together, because our talking slows us down. It’s either because of my constant French language stumbling or the fact that we frequently bounce off each other in conversation! Maybe a mixture of the two. She’s very patient with me when I start a sentence to realise that I don’t know most of the vocabulary to finish the sentence! Thankfully she’s seen an improvement in my language since October when we last saw each other.
We went for a walk and chilled out on Saturday, and on Sunday Emilie came to both my churches and we didn’t do a lot in between. After church in the evening we talked to Melanie and Emily (two university friends in Southampton) on Skype with webcams, which was lovely…as if the four of us were in one room again (almost)! Then on Monday we had a relaxed morning before I went off to work and Emilie had a very long walk around Lille, discovering the city (and the sales!). In the evening again we took things fairly easy. On Tuesday we went to the supermarket to get a few bits and bobs, I showed Emilie how to make drop scones, and later on hosted the GBU (Christian Union) at my flat. I’m sure we did other things that I can’t remember too. She left yesterday morning and is safely back in Besançon, with smelly cheese from the ‘nord’ region!! (Each region in France has its specialities so Emilie wanted to take back some cheese and stuff for her family, and at least one of the cheeses was very pungent and I teased her about it staying in my fridge for a night…still winding her up about it right now in fact, when she reads this!)
Snow
Here are some belated pictures of snowy Lille which were taken in December, except the little snowman, who sat just outside my window yesterday morning. I invited him in, but he declined for fear that his life would be shortened.
Fiona x
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Bonne Année 2010!
I had a really good Christmas break after recovering from the initial stress of getting home. It definitely went too quickly in my opinion though! Over the holidays I caught up with some lovely friends in the local area and in London and appreciated the time spent at home with my family and browsing British shops!
I’m cracking into my British food supplies quite a bit this week. Missing home a lot but I think that’s only natural after enjoying twelve days at home in my family and with familiar friends. But going back to school has gone well. I was really pleased to see some eager 11 year-olds accosting me in the canteen earlier to ask me if they were with me today! I had to tell them they weren’t and they protested but soon bounced back and didn’t seem too bothered!
I saw something very strange as I was walking home today – someone had written in the snow on a car bonnet ‘snow sucks’ with a couple of love hearts for good measure! I had to think twice to realise that was a very English phrase on very French soil! I have noticed a LOT of English words about, in speech and in writing, and the French listen to many English songs, but this still surprised me. Was it written by a Frenchman or a native English speaker? I will never know, but these things intrigue me!
Two things that I’ve remembered afresh now I’m back here: 1: The French park anywhere! 2: They cycle in the most impractical clothes/shoes, carrying all manner of objects, come rain, shine or snow!
My friend Emilie is coming to stay from Saturday to Wednesday, and following that two friends from university, Anne and Liz, are coming for the weekend. I can’t wait to see them! Please pray the weather doesn’t stop them all from travelling safely to and from Lille.
Fiona x
I’m cracking into my British food supplies quite a bit this week. Missing home a lot but I think that’s only natural after enjoying twelve days at home in my family and with familiar friends. But going back to school has gone well. I was really pleased to see some eager 11 year-olds accosting me in the canteen earlier to ask me if they were with me today! I had to tell them they weren’t and they protested but soon bounced back and didn’t seem too bothered!
I saw something very strange as I was walking home today – someone had written in the snow on a car bonnet ‘snow sucks’ with a couple of love hearts for good measure! I had to think twice to realise that was a very English phrase on very French soil! I have noticed a LOT of English words about, in speech and in writing, and the French listen to many English songs, but this still surprised me. Was it written by a Frenchman or a native English speaker? I will never know, but these things intrigue me!
Two things that I’ve remembered afresh now I’m back here: 1: The French park anywhere! 2: They cycle in the most impractical clothes/shoes, carrying all manner of objects, come rain, shine or snow!
My friend Emilie is coming to stay from Saturday to Wednesday, and following that two friends from university, Anne and Liz, are coming for the weekend. I can’t wait to see them! Please pray the weather doesn’t stop them all from travelling safely to and from Lille.
Fiona x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)