Tea time with Eric

Quick up date.

2012-02-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

This will be just a quick overview of my January.

Just after the vacation I returned to Alliance Français (professional french school) for 4 weeks... all I can afford. Now I'm finished and not very disappointed about being finished because I find that the course didn't move forward very fast.

This past month I've been noticing how many english people I'm hanging out with (with out language or culture barriers the english seem to stick together) , and I think my new goal will be to spend more time with my french buddies.

For christmas, I received fine french cuisine courses from the parents. So christine and I found and booked a 'How to make macarons' workshop which I thoroughly profited from... Macarons are the 'in' dessert at the moment, and for a good reason... they are full of colour, and the most delicious things that could ever touch your taste pallets. Christine and I have made them twice now... (it's a two person job) and exhausted our creative energies in trying to figure out why they look soo terrible! They haven't turned out yet... but at least they still taste like the real thing, so we will persevere.

I've hit the half way point here, and I can't say its really affecting me. I feel like I've really learn't the culture, and this next 5 months will be way to fast considering all the big events that are to come. In 10 days my best friend Claudia will be here to experience this wonderful city with me, a month after that I will be in Italy with my family, after that my friend Julie will be spending some time here in Paris and I'll take a trip to england to see her too, then before I know it, its July! The last month! Maybe this is beginning to hit me...

Pictures: -The inside of the café from the famous french film "Amélie Poulain"

- Honorine trying to grab the red spot from my camera on the wall, showing off her hair-doo

-The first snow fall! I didn't think it was coming this year... my friend and I ran out-side in our pyjamas to see the light snowfall.

-An english carrot cake I felt was necessary.

-What macarons are supposed to look like...

Bonne Nouvelle Année!

2012-01-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

So, here is my holiday post.

Christmas eve was pretty interesting. The family and I went to the catholic church here in town, which is much much different traditionally than what I am accustomed to. Lots of monotone chanting and smoke blessings. A good christmas church band (with too many flutes)that doesn't really sound like they practiced brought back some good memories though.

Christmas day was great! Different traditionally again.. but great. Christmas started at lunch when we went to the grandparents. Christine's brother and sister and their families came shortly after. We opened presents all together, then sat down to a nice meal of Foie Gras. Foie Gras is a liver meat type thing that is really fatty.. It's made by shoving food down a goose or a ducks throat until it is about to explode. Then its liver become extra tender. This is a traditional meal for the holidays in France.. so I had participate. I wont lie, it was delicious.. but my conscience tells me never again. The lack of christmas music was starting to drive me crazy.. so the grandparents put on a old record of french christmas hymns for me! I only knew like three songs.

(Boxing day doesn't exist)

The next day I left with the grandparents for Stella Plage where they have a second vacation house on the sea. The sea was soo beautiful. The whole town was on sand, and there were lots of dunes to go hiking through! The grandparents took me to the town of Montreuil which is incredibly old and charming. There is a wall that was built all around the town (for protection from the english) and the grandparents and I took a nice stroll along the border which was always a beautiful view.

The week consisted of relaxing by the fire, knitting, practicing french, visiting surrounding towns, and going to France's largest Aquarium. It was a great holiday.

New years I went to a party with some friends. New years in France is pretty cool, because everybody says happy new year to every one for the month of January.. and people call distant family members to reconnect and say happy new year. They don't send christmas cards but they send new years cards.

Now we are back to work and today I went to re-register at Alliance français.

Sad to see the grand vacation over.

I hope all of you had good holidays too!

The coming of a new season.

2011-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

I am just realizing that it's been a month since I've last updated... Sorry guys. I feel like I just updated last week! This scares me to think about how fast time is flying.

Well the french has come along quite nicely, even with out the Thursday course. I think after Christmas I will start up again at Alliance Francaise, and take professional courses there for 3 or 4 months on top of my course here in my town. I am still meeting too many people who speak english though..

How have I been keeping myself busy? The family and I have been to the theatre a few times, and we saw one really bizarre show that was very difficult to decipher, and a typical french mime show which was really hilarious. I've been to the Cinema a few times with some friends. I waaaas planning a trip to Vienna for New Years with a friend who I was going to met there... but I was to late to reserve train seats during this christmas season. So for the christmas holidays, I'll be here in Houilles. Which is still great! December season with rain is still weirding me out.. especially when I see christmas lights and fake snow on decorated buildings.

Planning/research on Universities for next year has been taking up a big chuck of my time. It's between Montreal and Manitoba at the moment...

On November 11, 2011 at 11:11:11 pm The family had a few friends over for a very nice evening of chit chat. Because I expressed how important this time was to me, they offered to pull out the champaign. btw's this date and time happens every century.. so if you miss it, time will never lead up to anything this brilliant again (unless you are lucky enough to live past one century). I tried taking a picture of the time ...I was a second early. AND on top of the amazing time, it was also 11 degrees outside. Too prefect.

Christine showed me these two really decked out places called "Printemps" and "Galleries Lafayette" which are apparently really worshiped in the fashion industry. The buildings were absolutely incredible, and everything was really expensive. I had to take pictures... I couldn't believe the prices. Here are some photos from that!

I went to the Louvre to finish up the left wing, here are a few photos from that too!

I will try to write again during the holidays.

Joyeux Noel!

2011-11-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

Salut!

So basically the rest of my week off was great, I did everything that was on my to do list. I went to the neighbours to offer my working services (during a holiday...), but was declined and was invited over for supper instead! I thanked Karma, for that delicious meal.

My french course here in Houilles has been an adventure. I go to these classes two times per week. On the monday, the "teacher" is decent, but on the thursday I have a different "teacher" who is horrible. Us foreigners in the class of approx. 7, (who all have similarities and major cultural differences) have become a learning unit. We generally don't learn constructive french with the teacher on thursday, because of the material, the way she speaks and her teaching style. I think an obvious regulation for a french teacher is that you have to be able to speak french correctly. Those of us who can understand the type of material we are learning, are not happy. Philibert who is 9 years old can not understand what we are learning, and he is fluent in French. One of the ladies in my course is Portuguese, and communicates with very little french (in a hilarious accent) and with a lot of expression... Some of us in the class had talked on monday about how we need to change the material of the thursday course, and the plan was to talk to the thursday prof about it on thursday. On thursday, this old portuguese woman, reamed out the teacher which was not the plan.... "Trrrrop Difficilee!!!!!! Pas biieen!!"And this teacher who is very defensive retaliated "Tu peux met tes papiers dans la poubelle, avec moi!". It was half hilarious, half incredibly uncomfortable. I probably laughed more than I should have with out making any eye contact. She's a volunteer.. so we did feel a little bad for critiquing her when she didn't want to be critiqued. Well, I'm not going to the thursday course anymore, it's a waste of time.

Home life is wonderful as always. I hit a patch of sickness recently, with tonsil, fever, and headache issues.. but I'm feeling better now. Christine has a lot of knowledge on organic medication, so I haven't had a need to see a doctor yet!

This is the first remembrance day, (that I can remember) where I haven't been at a remembrance day service. I've been reading a french kids book about World War 2, it just feels necessary.

The pictures are from the Chateau de Versailles and the Musee de Quai Barly (museum of the first arts). The picture of the shutters with the yellow flowers; that is where Van Gogh lived with his brother for 4 years or so. It was a period in his life when he painted the most. Maybe he painted the "sunflowers in a vase" when he was there...

Busy bUSY BUSY and I like it.

2011-10-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to the few faithful readers that I have for the lack of posts! I've been meaning to write something for a long time now, lots has happened.

I'll start with a few weeks ago... I've been meeting some people in town which means actually having somewhat of a social life, and practicing my french in a different setting which is great!

Then last week Christine Agustin and I went to take a sunday stroll around the Cathedral de Notre Dame. The sunday before, Christine the boys and I relaxed in the

garden in front of the Louvre, along with visiting the Musee de l'Orangerie. Very interesting stuff it was, but both of those times we didn't have time to go in.

Now my family is away on vacation with extended family in Spain, so I have a holiday here with a house to myself! They left early in the morning on the day of my birthday, so we celebrated before. This last friday, the kids were sent to the grandparents, then Christine and Nicolas took me to this beautiful Brasserie/Restaurant in Paris. The entire interior decor is made of ceramics, and the restaurant was built between the first and second world wars. I ate escargot for the entrée, and duck with french fries for the plate principale! It was really typical french..

The next morning the kids came home and sang "Bonne Anniversaire" continually, which was really cute. They all made me little crafts, except for Honorine who gave me a painted cup which was a gift that she gave to her father last year... Nicolas told me he would like to keep that. For supper, I went to the Creperie with some friends who made me feel special also. In the evening I went to a birthday party for someone I've never met... so when mid-night hit, and they all said happy birthday to me... I felt a little guilty. On the day of my actual birthday, I went to church! But not just any church... Notre Dame! And I sat in on the very traditional service with French and Latin hymns. I would say this is probably the most unique birthday I've ever had...

With the family being in Spain, I now have holidays also! And I've found lots of things to do to keep myself busy. Yesterday I spent the day in the Louvre and really enjoyed myself. I think I got through 2/3 of it! I'm proud of that. Today, I went on an english walking tour through the Marais which is an old historic central area in Paris. The guide was very knowledgable, and we toured and learn't a lot about the history of the buildings and churches. I will admit, after living in the french culture for two months, it felt a little uncomfortable being within a group of 60 year old american tourists, but it was worth participating in. I will being going on another tour tomorrow morning.

For the rest of the week, here are some plans that I have:

-Spend a day in Versaille

-Get my tragus pierced

-Chill with some new friends

-possibly finish my Louvre adventures.

-Musee d'Orsay

This is considering I don't spend a few days filling in for the neighbours sick nanny... I'm crossing my fingers!

La Braderie de Houilles 2011

2011-10-10T05:02:00.001-07:00

It's been two weeks since the last post, but I probably only have half a weeks worth of things to say... so I'll talk about one of these days!

Last week-end, I witnessed the most incredible steroid injected garage sale EVER. Well, not ever, it's the second biggest in France. It's called a Braderie, which is a day where people can buy spots on the side of the road from the town, to display all their old toys or treasures for sale. So, within a 1 or 2 km rage, the streets were blocked and filled with bargainers of all sorts. There were stands that sold Hibou candy, posters, hand bags, crepes, and expensive watches. Some of the stands were actual businesses and others were people who go around to other Braderies, search for cool cheap treasures, and then they form a super stand that makes more money than others. The majority of the stands were just everyday people getting rid of old junk. The Braderie is a one day event, and because this one is soooo popular in france, the streets were packed with people. I didn't know what to expect when Christine and Nicolas were explaining it to me, but when I saw in the morning that our street had cars parking on the sidewalks, and then when I walked to the end of the road where all the madness began, I realized that there was no way I could have imagined what it would be like. I ended up buying a nice old bag for 2 euros, some candy and a crepe. Not much, but I didn't have much in mind that I wanted. ooh, and I didn't take any pictures... but these are from google images of Houilles Braderie 2011!

2011-09-27T11:42:00.001-07:00

It's been over a month and that means I only have 9 more months to learn french!

Recent happenings:

-This is the fourth and final week that I am to take french courses at Alliance Francaise. It's too expensive for me, and I'm taking much more personal, though less professional courses here in Houilles.
-I went to visit the basilica de Sacré Coeur. The church is on top of this huge hill that over looks most of the city... it was beautiful. While touring that beautiful district called Montmartre, I also came across the Moulin Rouge! I hope to go see a show there one day. This end of Paris is a lot more lively, and full of character, ... one of my favourite parts of Paris so far.
-Original plan: Spend a unusually hot sunday after noon in the Chateau de Versille gardens, play soccer, relax. Changed plan: Spent and hour finding a parking spot, boiled in the sun, decided against seeing the gardens in the blistering heat, I snapped a few pictures, and then we spent the evening at the cousins house who live in the town of Versaille.

Great week once again. Insanely busy week once again.

Museums!

2011-09-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

Time for another update!

Two weeks of french class has gone by, and I am really enjoying them! Most of the others in the class are over 30, and falling asleep.. but thats okay, because I get extra help! There is always homework, and Christine is always willing to help me with it, so french has been on my mind a lot lately. After four weeks (which is what I've payed for) I might stop and take up some other classes that Christine has found here in town. The options that the town offers are run by volunteers and are much cheaper. I'm told everyone gets a lot of individual attention, so it sounds very progressive. I will decide once I start these other classes where I want to stay.

I went to see the Eiffel tower not too long after my last update! It was nice.

This past week has been very busy with the starting of all the kids activities, so I haven't had much free time, and today is Philiberts birthday, so there has been party planning, and family visits! This weekend was a weekend where most museums and exhibits are free. It is not prime touristy season, so the free weekend is geared towards the residents of france. The family and I (minus Honorine) went to see the House and Garden of Claude Monet. He's the one who painted those famous water lilies with the bridge. The pond, was probably my favourite part of the yard. There were not many flowers in bloom, with it being fall and all... but it was all still very enjoyable. The museum of his house had everything just as it was when he was living there, and it was filled with replicas of his paintings.

Yesterday, we had Christines brothers family over, along with the Grandparents to celebrate Philibert's birthday. After the cake and some macarons, we went to the town next to us to visit the Carriers sur Seine (tunnels under the Seine), which was also once again very interesting! These were caves that had been mined for the stone. With the stone, they built many popular touristy churches in Paris, like the Sacré Coeur basilica. This place was privately owned, so Christine and I were surprised when we found out that the driveway that we drive by on bike, and where I've ran by, lead to tunnels!

Guess what Honorines first English words are! "Oh my God"... I can explain... the boys asked me what Oh mon Dieu was in English, so I told them. Naturally Honorine, copies everything the boys do. Oh mon Dieu is not used in any negative religious context here in France, even the priests will say this. Nicolas tells me it comes from a "God save" expression, that isn't, and never has been offensive. I explained to them that if the 2 and a half year old Honorine were to walk around Altona yelling OH MY GOD, a large number of people would stop in their tracks.

Nicolas is gone to India for the week on a business trip, and so with Honorine having caught a cold, this could be another busy week. No big deal, Christine and I have this house under control!

Never a dull moment,

Au Revoir

I'll do it eventually...

2011-09-06T04:48:00.000-07:00

Week two is here, and it's hard to believe that the real routine has only started yesterday, because I feel like I've beed here for months. I still haven't seen Chateau de Versaille, the Louvre, Notre Damn, and sadly ...the Eiffel tower up close.. I have a good excuse for the last one though! I was going to see it yesterday after my FIRST french class, because there is a stop close to it on the metro that takes me home. It was a solid plan until... I sat by this Middle Eastern 22 year old hairdresser in class. I can't remember her name.. and she doesn't speak english, so we have to manage in French which is great. After class she was on the same train as me and she didn't care that I was on my way to see the Eiffel tower... she wanted me to follow her because she knew a faster way to get to my town. Great. So I sacrificed a trip to the Eiffel tower for some quality bonding time with my new friend. I know... I don't sound enthused. I think it's the fact that she has never gone to see the tower and she has been living in Paris for 3 years that bothers me about her.

French progress! not very much lately :( Which I why I was so excited to start my french classes. We made a deal (the parents and I) about 4 days ago, that once my first class begins, I will only speak french with the parents, and I will speak only english with the kids. Today, we've done okay with communicating in french, but I can tell it will be a challenge to just stick to French.

BBQ with the Neighbours: Great. All are nice. All speak and understand english

Bike ride to Seine river: Great place to sit down and relax with a book. New getaway destination.

The Nanny next door: Is cool. We have play dates at the park with our kids. I can see us being friends.

There are generally no boring moments here which is nice. Opportunities of discovery and for me to challenge my self with the language are not scarce, but less obvious than they were in Katimavik. On Katimavik, I had a whole team of people with similar motives by my side. Here I am by my self. I am just hoping that the lack of boring moments here won't be an excuse for me to go out and do things. ...I'll work on this.

Time for some French Homework,

Taa Taah!

First day of reign!

2011-08-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day on the job. I woke up early to beat the early riser Honorine, and to make some tea in my new Bodum travel mug.

This week is going to be more busy for me, because I have one of the boys at day-camp, while I have two to take care of at home. When you don't speak the language, the older one isn't always cooperative, there are a few things that become more difficult than they should be. Today was a lot more work than I expected, but at least it's all interesting.

In one week the boys will start school and I will form a more concrete routine, that involves Honorine in the morning, boys during lunch, and free time in the afternoon while Honorine naps :) Life will soon start moving too fast.

Day-caytion

2011-08-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Today, Christine and the boys showed me a bit of Paris.

Soon I will start french lessons and they are in Paris, so Christine thought she would show me how to use the train and how to get there.

Paris is not very far from Houilles, it's just a 10/15 minute train ride. I saw from a distance the eiffel tower for the first time, and then we went to see the Arc de Triumph up close. It's been a long day, but then again every day has been long. ..in a good way. Obviously I'm still adjusting. I must admit though, being in Paris felt great! It was nice to not rush through the city like we always did on the Italy trip. I have time here.

Here are a few photos from today. Enjoy!

Ask me some questions! Let me know your reading :)

Happiness

2011-08-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

I made it. HOLLA!

Soo, the flights went well, and Iceland was beautiful. I arrived in France with all my luggage and I found Christine (my host mother). We drove around the outskirts of Paris to get to the town I am living in. It is called "Houilles", and impossible to pronounce...

Christine and I arrived at the house and there was nobody home. I got the grand tour and almost died from shock, damn this place is beautiful! I took a nap with hopes of trying to rid my jet-leg.. and realized after that I should have set an alarm... haha when I woke up, I walked down stairs (my room is on the third floor) and started meeting people along the way! Which was a lot to take in after a nap.. I then met Nicloas (the father) Philbert, Augustine, and Honorine. There was lots of excitement in the house and then we sat down to a late dinner with french wine. Later in the evening I a gave them a few gifts and then it was time for bed where the kids congregated into my room to help me unpack and to discover all the english kids books that I brought! Hororine went nuts! hah She is so cute. Eventually we all went to bed, and now today another day of this fun has begun.

I'm going to like it here. With time and relationships forming, this house will give me many experiences to remember, I'm sure.

I should go... I hear my name in the jumbled french conversation.

Till next time!

Au revoir

The Toronto Airport

2011-08-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome! Thanks for coming everybody :)

So I'm here sitting in the Toronto airport with a 3.5 hour layover. With this time, I have had a chance to start freaking out, and to colour in the hilarious colouring book that Julie got me!

I haven't started freaking out about leaving... just about flight complications. I don't like American Airlines. The people who work for them are jerks. None of them ever smile, they just bark orders, and they DON'T answer questions very willingly. I'll manage though, ...I hope.

I'll post again once I've actually met my family... maybe weekly? We will see.

Oh yeah... some people around here are saying they felt the earth-quake... I didn't :(

Till next time!

Day before Departure

2011-08-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Lot's of sad good-byes today... I'll miss you all!!! (this is a trial post)...