ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

Again I’m going to have to take you back a week or so to bring you up to date. On Thursday the 3rd, I celebrated Chinese New Year with Qunxing, her friend Chung, one of Chung’s professors and Sam. We had Chinese fondue, which was more of a stew than anything, composed of a spicy red pepper broth with beef, pork, two types of tofu (I never knew there was a stringy kind), carrots, cabbage and mushrooms. We also had “ravioli” or what we Westerners call “dumplings” filled with pork, cabbage, garlic and ginger, as well as tea and a starter of Chinese sausage and peppers. My neighbors brought over their pet rabbit Nanar for good luck since it’s the Year of the Rabbit. He was a huge hit with Chung and her teacher. Speaking of rabbits, I’m sure this part will incite an “awwwwww” from my Mom; I ate rabbit for the first time this past week. Honestly, it has to be one of the tastiest meats I’ve ever had; tied for my favorite with lamb (I must have a thing for eating all the loveable animals). It was tender and flaky and delicious, although a bit boney. Now I would never cook it for myself, it’s everywhere in the supermarkets here, but one of my teachers at the collège had made it and saved some for me. To make it, she slow cooked the rabbit in cidre with potatoes, leeks, mushrooms and cloves. I put it over rice so it’d be more filling and c’était si bon.

On Saturday the 5th I went to the 6 Nations Rugby match between France and Scotland with Fiona, Alex, Sarah and her friend Matt from Belfast. After being out on Friday night, I didn’t have time to make it back to Louviers to grab my camera before heading into Paris, but I nicked Sarah’s photos to show you.

The tickets.

Stade de France.

Final Score: France, 34 : Scotland, 21.

Fiona and I knew nothing about rugby, but thanks to the patient teachings of Sarah, I was really able to get into and understand the game. It was exciting not only being in the Stade de France watching the match, but also being a part of the crowd and the stadium-wide wave. I really need to learn the national anthem because that, along with “Allez les Bleus!” and “Olé!” seem to be their cheering staples (along with oh la la la la, but that’s a given).

For the past couple weeks I’ve been working with some new classes on Tuesdays, and together we’ve been talking about American food. Each time I get a new group, I ask them what they think of when they hear “American food.” Responses include everything off of McDonald’s and KFC’s menu, with the occasional all-star throwing doughnuts and pancakes into the mix. Next question, “What do you think of when you hear ‘American?’” Every class said short and fat. Unfortunately, I can’t disagree with them when 70% of the population is overweight or obese. I probably didn’t help their word-association any because I showed them the intro of “Supersize Me” and we discussed what they saw in heard in the five minute clip.

At collège I did lessons on American middle school, Groundhog Day and the Super Bowl. I shared some of this year’s commercials with them; their favorites were the Dorito’s pug, the Darth Vader kid, and the Bud Light dogs. I also showed them my middle school yearbook, and one of them asked me if I was famous because I had this book with all these signatures and pictures of me in it. Ha!

Friday night I went out to dinner in Rouen with Françoise and her son Alexandre, Qunxing and another one of my teachers, Sandrine. We ate in a fondue restaurant that in my opinion was grossly overpriced for what we got, but it was fun spending time with Françoise and Sandrine outside of the classroom. Saturday I went into Paris to make the most of the last weekend of the winter “Soldes.” I got a couple of sweaters and some CDs, and justified it by telling myself that I wouldn’t be able to find any of them in the US.

Two final things to bring you completely up to speed: 1) My trip next week to Madrid and the Canary Islands is booked. I’ll be heading there for six days before returning home to meet my brother in Paris and then we’ll continue on to the French Alps to go skiing for a week. 2) I inadvertently got two students a hour of detention after a teacher turned them in for this hallway banter: “Oh la la! Regarde ses fesses! Magnifique!” I’ll leave it to you to do the translating.