Mouse = Mousse au Chocolat

Oh my goodness.
I collected my CE2's (3rd grade) English Notebooks to correct over the weekend. They love this because when I give them a grade, I also put a cool little sticker with the word in English. (There is something with kids and stickers that I don't completely understand). Anyways, I was half way through when I came to Enzo's. Enzo asks a ton of questions, is never sitting correctly in his chair, and draws well.

Apparently, he is also hilarious. On a worksheet that we did on "Pets"- under the picture of the mouse he wrote - "Mousse au chocolat"- which of course means Chocolate Mousse.

I love the fact that this kid is so French that he hears the word mouse and instantly thinks of this dessert so much to the point that he writes it down instead.

Random Facts #4

1. I am in a phase right now where I want to put honey on everything.
2. There is a cobbler in town and he is a JERK. First time I went in with a pair of boots for him to resole- he responded with "La Poubelle!!" (Garbage can). I was OFFENDED. Now, he has another pair of my boots (he is the only one in walking distance!) and it's going to cost me 40 euro when I pick them up... Jerk. Jerk. Jerk.
3. I was very productive today in my classes and I was also very funny! I don't know what it was but I was- on. point.
4. I showed a picture of one of my cats in class today and said that her name was Bojangles and someone said they didn't like her name. Ummm. So very not cool but I let it go.
5. (Totally unrelated to France but completely relevant to my love of hollywood)-- Does anyone else realize how many famous people are pregnant right now? GGEEZ. Alicia Silverstone, Selma Blair, Kate Hudson, Mariah Carey, Natalie Portman, Victoria Beckham, Ivanka Trump, Jewel, Marion Cotillard, Rachel Zoe & Pink.

Dub Station

This past weekend I ventured south (slightly) to Crépy-en-Valois, Cecilia's town!
I finished up with the kiddies at 4:15 on Friday, packed my bags, and got on a train. At the station, I saw Mélanie, who works downstairs in my building. So, instead of reading my book, we chatted away in French. Although this was much less relaxing than my book, it was great because she is very cool.

I got to Crépy at about 8ish and Cess met me. We made some raviolis and talked about a billion different things going on in our bizarre bubbles in Northern France.
We stayed up talking like we always do, which was grand. The next day, I got up earlier than her and drank the most delicious coffee with some soy milk in it.
That reminds me that I think I want to buy some soy milk. Why is it so good?
...
Saturday during the day, we just hung out because it was gross outside. At one point, I chatted with Pierre Yves, a man living in Cecilia's building who also teaches English. What a gentleman but what a talker. Wow. He was asking what we did the night before and I said talked and he said about what and I said France and Europe and where we want to see still. Then before I knew it he was getting into all the details of some French poet who has a "warm" voice.

Well, the juicy part of my weekend was Saturday night.
I saw a completely different Paris. It consisted of electronic reggae music, dreadlocks, and a big venue called "Trabendo" in the 19th arrondisement.

It's called "Dub Station" and it is an all night reggae dance party that happens once a month.
So, yes. We danced a ton, which I love. The bass was unreal and I came to the conclusion that it was impossible to think of anything else in the world because the music was taking up every inch of your brain.
I met Cecilia's French friends who were all cool and we had a blast.

Plus, I wore my favorite dress!
Even though it probably should have been thrown away years ago, it's great.

Random Facts #3

1. My nearby supermarket doesn't sell skim milk, so I have begrudgingly & temporarily switched to 2%.
2. I sing karaoke on Wii with Emma, who I speak English with/ babysit on Wednesdays. She does French songs and I do English ones. Today I got a good score with Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" but my favorite is "Jai Ho" by the Pussycat Dolls.
3. The big sales started in France last Wednesday and I got a beautiful gray scarf and a comfy purple sweater, each for 5 euro.
4. My best friend Erin's little sister, Anna, just turned 8. It BLOWS my mind, because I remember when she was in the little baby basket when we were in high school. I also miss having handstand contests with her in the living room.
5. I am going to a night of reggae in Paris called Dub Station this weekend with Cecilia and her French friends who I have yet to meet. :o)
6. I am almost always disappointed by the avocados here but I continue to buy them??
7. I can have the absolute best lighting in my room whenever I want. It is the blind down, a small orange desk lamp, and a lit vanilla candle.

Dear France,

Ok. so.

I just really gotta get a few things off of my chest here. I've been here for almost four months and I'm getting just a little homesick for my America.
I love you. I do. I am nearly obsessed with speaking your language and getting better all the time. I like my students here. I like your food, your history, etc.

But there are things I could do without.

- The "bise" cheek kiss that everyone does. It's pretty cute and different, yeah- but seriously for an American it is not comfortable. I don't ever actually kiss kiss the cheek- am i supposed to? I don't know. I just go in that direction and make the noise of a kiss and hope for the best.

- Saying hello to strangers. Sometimes, I just want to cruise through the day and just kind of fly under the radar. Sometimes, I just want to say hi to the people that I actually know- is that so ridiculous?

- Having it be an absolute obscene problem when you pay for something with a fifty. It is the definite end of the world. The cashiers love to ask if you "don't at all" have any change. It's like- no. Otherwise, I would of used that. Geezzz.

- The fact that people can hardly believe that it is possible to be American and speak something other than English and even more so, why one of those people would live in Beauvais. I WAS PUT HERE and YES I KNOW THAT PARIS IS BETTER. I've been. Actually, I lived there for 6 months. Thanks.

- I'm not even going to start on the fact that I have yet to receive my official social security card from you even though I got here in September or that when I want to cancel my cellphone contract that I have to WRITE a letter to an address. Oh sure, let me get out my quill pen and ink well.

That is all my ranting.
France, I'm sorry. You know I love you.

Practicing the Numbers

I forgot to mention this.

The other day in one of my classes, I was going around and checking up on their work. I came to one little girl and she looked at me. She then proceeded to practice her English numbers.



...


She counted how many ear piercings I have.

The answer was 7.

Then I pointed to my nose and she said Oh!, 8.

"It's Grandfather!"

I just got back from having 3 classes this morning. We started "The Family" this week. I made some pretty funny (and actually kind of good) flashcards with pictures of sister, brother, mother, father, grandmother & grandfather.

With my 8 year olds, we started off with the standard flashcard drill and then we played a memory game, which they LOVE. We say "Close your eyes" and then "Open your eyes" and then "What is missing!?!?".

At the end of that there was a little more than 5 minutes left. I whipped out a book to read but they all quickly shouted out that we had already read it. CRAP, I thought. So, I came up with a little game on the spot.

I wrote "Who is it?" on the board and then "It's...". I picked on someone to help me show what we were going to do. First I told the student to knock on the blackboard. Then I said "Hello!" And they say it back. Then I say "Who is it!?" and they respond with "It's..." and whatever person I gave them. It started out normal. Then, I picked up the Grandfather flashcard and said... "Ok, who can be the Grandfather?" Almost everyone raised their hand. But, then I did a classic Grandpa voice (kind of crackly and really slow) and I said "But, actually- the Grandfather talkssss likKkkee Thiiiiis because he is vvveeerryy olllLLLlllld". They all laughed so hard and there was one daring student in the back who kept his hand up. He is pretty outgoing and I knew he would go for it.

He gets up and goes ALL OUT. It was the best thing and we were all cracking up with him afterwards. Even the teacher, who is usually very serious, was smiling and giggling.

It was fantastic.