Overdue

Rather  than apologize for failing to update my blog since returning to France, let’s just say that I’ve been busy. Between loaves of baguettes, layers of quiche, bottles of wine, abundance of foie gras, and hours of work, I haven’t seemed to find a proper occasion for this blog. In all truth, I have been hard at work for the past month and a half. With aspirations of entering business school in the fall, I had been studying for the entrance exam, which I took last Friday. Now I’m onto more important obstacles: like cleaning my toes, and planning my next vacation. With two more weeks of “winter” break starting this weekend, it appears I’ll have a substantial amount of time to plan literally whatever I please within my budget. At the moment it looks like a trip to Chambéry in the Alps for skiing will commence the trip, which could possibly turn into a tour of France and whatever splendid cities I’ve yet to experience.

Now for story time: With America Club just around the corner, I scurry to get my material together before heading to the chateau for some hopefully productive culture discussion. I’ve quickly put together a powerpoint presentation of pictures and videos representing American high school sports. The only problem is that without a usb drive I will have to email them to myself, by first dividing the singular presentation into 5 parts to abide by the maximum file size of 25MB.

I leave for school around 11:45 AM for the 1 PM class, plenty of time to stop at the local boulangerie for a sandwich before heading to work, unlocking the door, heading up to my room downloading all presentations and preparing to discuss American culture with 14 attention deprived, hyperactive 11 and 12 year old students who have trouble putting together a sentence of English, let alone understanding my long-winded babble.

Arriving in the teacher’s lounge, I’m greeted by a grand spread of meat, cheese, bread, wine, juice, dessert, all for the apparent celebration of a teacher’s birthday. Unfortunately, having already eaten, I inform my colleagues that I will not be participating in the feast. Moreover, I have a meeting with the America Club in twenty minutes, which I must get ready for. But, apparently this excuse should not deter me from embracing the moment. As I’ve come to learn, there’s always time for celebration. The birthday boy, Philippe Cartier, greets me with his feebly handshake and insists that I join him for a glass of wine: it’s his birthday after all. Naturally, I question taking a drink before class, as I can’t remember the last time that was okay. But, as I was quickly reminded, in France we play by a different set of guidelines. There’s never a poor occasion for enjoying some vino. We spend the remainder of my time discussing everyone’s favorite topic, the genealogy of the food on the table, before I head off to class. As usual, the hour flies by; my students are happy to learn about how life in America without making too much of a ruckus.

Observations:

Just because it’s your off day doesn’t mean you won’t show up to the office for your daily dose of gossip.

Eating horse meat is perfectly normal.