In the home:
People don't really have freezers here. They refrigerate everything and don't stock pile things.
The French do not waste a thing. At each meal they practically lick their plates clean.
Breakfast is very light, usually just bread and jelly. Lunch is pretty heavy and dinner is in the middle.
Instead of window blinds, they have like shutter things, that they open every day and close every night.
At church this morning:
(This one really stuck out for me) The priest was wearing jeans under his alb. And the deacon who was at the First Communion party with us was wearing shorts and a tshirt. No black clothes or white collar thing.
Regarding school:
Class starts right away, no dillydallying. I tried to explain this to Pauline but I couldn't think of a word for dillydallying.
The kids who live pretty far away, like Pauline, live at the school in dorms.
Everything is done in pen.
They don't really use computers like we do. The teachers' computers are inside the desk, underneath a glass pane. Strange. One guy told me that of the 30 something countries in Europe, France ranks like 22 in computer usage in schools. He didn't believe us when we told him that our schools have several computer labs with 20 to 30 computers in each one.
The teenagers:
Not much difference. For every different type of person I know, I have met a French version.
So, that just some things. I will make a list of everything and post later, probably after I return, in 5 days (bittersweet moment.)
And here are some pics.
The district of Jura, wine country
The view of Salins from Mount Poupet
Me at Mount Poupet (take 1)
(Take 2)
Matt and Maureen discovered the second fastest way down Mount Poupet, (the fastest being walking.)
The view from a spot where people take off for hang gliding.
On Saturday I ate breakfast, then took a shower, then helped Pauline and her mom chop veggies for lunch, then watched Harry Potter with Pauline, then ate lunch (Ratatouille, so good! and cruelty free), then watched some more Harry Potter. Sometime in the morning I helped Pauline's dad trim the rose bushes and met the mayor and got a tour of the tiny church of Malans.
On Saturday afternoon, I went to JJ's house. He took us Americans to Jura, wine country. I saw a bunch of vineyards and toured a winery place. Sorry, I didn't buy any wine. I can't bring it in my suitcase and it costs too much to ship just one bottle, more than the bottle itself. We also visited Mount Poupet on the way home, which we were really excited about. Mount POUpet. Mount PouPET. Mount POUPET. Can you see why?On Saturday evening, I went to a party with Pauline. Everybody was really nice there and spoke a lot of English.I played a little bit of basketball and laughed at the boys who were playing. Basketball just isn't a regular thing here, so all the boys are really bad at it. We talked (I didn't talk much) and danced. It was a late night but I had fun.
On Sunday, we got up early and went to church. Aimé and Hermance and like twenty other kids were having their First Communion. The church was very beautiful and they sang a lot and I was able to follow along pretty well. After church, we went to a first communion party for Aimé and his cousin (I think) Clara. It was at Clara's house which was so beautiful. We ate a fancy dinner and had lots of fun. I watched the french movie LOL in french (no English subtitles available) and understood most of it. Clara and some of the children were practicing their English vocab with me. So cute! I also played with this little girl named Constance. She is Clara's sister. When we were leaving, Constance was crying because she didn't want me to leave.
So that was Saturday and Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment