To the last day of my teaching at the Little School that is!! I have two more classes to teach there. Next week they are 1 hour 30 minutes and the following week they are both 3 hours. That makes for a long class, but I am so excited I think I already know what I am going to do. At least I will leave them on a good note. My last few classes I think will be the best I have done so far. And no letting these suckers out early either...no way buddy.
As you might be able to tell, I feel human again! I am still coughing a little bit but I am not gasping for air and having to take steroids to clear my lungs. I'm off today to buy a few things for a dinner party we are having tonight. A few folks are coming over for Raclette!! Reflecting on my past entries I see that I have not been as good as I should have with the promise of pictures, but this time I have my camera read for the event and will do my best to document the "Easy-Bake Oven For Adults" type meal that Raclette is. Nothing like a meal consisting mostly of melted cheese to kick off a healthy start eh? Apologies to my arteries...but I'll drink red wine with it and plan to poach pears in a sweet red wine sauce for a light desert. Fruit and anti-oxidants, that evens things out? Right?
Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis!
I saw my first French movie in a French theater with no subtitles!!
Remember when Titanic was in the theaters and it was as if everyone in the nation had seen the film? Really, I don't recall if anyone didn't voluntarily go or get dragged by someone to see Leo freeze to death. Well there is a similar happening right now in France with what was thought to be a small film called Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis! The one major difference is that everyone wants to see this movie, it's not just women dragging boyfriends/husbands/brothers to see it. The film has been out since February 28th and we still had to stand in line on Saturday at 2pm to get into the theater. They even had to cut the line off because it was blocking the entrance to the escalator!
We have two theaters here and they both show films in their original format, so I can see American movies in English, but I really wanted Cyr to see this film because it's about the north of France. "Nord-pas-de-Calais" for those of you that know or have read my past blogs. Background: fiance is from this area and actually speaks "Ch'ti". It's an interesting sound, sort of Flemish. Lots of open mouths and "AHH"ing going on. I can't understand a word of it.
To prep myself we went and had two Leffe Brunes prior to the viewing. Beer may not actually help me understand French, but it makes me care less if I do or don't. It also helps me to believe that I have this innate ability to read body language and just "get" what people are trying to say. Sort of my super power (if I had one). Cyr had to lean over a few times, but for the most part I actually got it!! AND I loved it. It was funny and sad and actually pretty spot on from what I know about the North. Ok, that isn't much, but I can say that I moved here as an outsider and the people have been really nice for the most part. I felt cool because I knew there was Maroilles in the breakfast scene before it was even announced. I felt like I was part of a club or something. Instead of a secret handshake it's a special smelly cheese that people here eat. I actually love it. Maroilles with escargot was the first thing I ate after Cyr picked me up from the airport when I moved here. If you click on the title above and read the article it looks like Hollywood bought the rights and there will be a US version in the works. I would recommend the French version if it goes out on Netflix though.
Today was a beautiful day here in Lille. I actually did a little suntanning. The sun was coming through our windows so brightly I couldn't resist opening our two balcony doors and laying half in our apartment and half on the balcony while reading a book. I think I actually got some color too! I read for like 3 hours, well, I laid there for about that long. It was so nice to feel the sun on my face and arms. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we would go to Lake Travis for Easter. It was never really warm enough to swim, but I would put on my bathing suit and pretend I wasn't in pain and try it. Sometimes the sun would hit you for a few minutes and you could briefly remember what it was like to be hot. Mmmm...
This week will be spent dealing with what will hopefully be the last visit from Auchan for a while to fix our dryer. I'm cringing already about having to try to get through that one. I'm having lunch with a friend and also packing for my trip back the US. Looks like I might be gone until the end of May. Cyr is traveling the last part of May and it doesn't make sense to me to leave friends and family to come back to an empty apartment.
Remember when Titanic was in the theaters and it was as if everyone in the nation had seen the film? Really, I don't recall if anyone didn't voluntarily go or get dragged by someone to see Leo freeze to death. Well there is a similar happening right now in France with what was thought to be a small film called Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis! The one major difference is that everyone wants to see this movie, it's not just women dragging boyfriends/husbands/brothers to see it. The film has been out since February 28th and we still had to stand in line on Saturday at 2pm to get into the theater. They even had to cut the line off because it was blocking the entrance to the escalator!
We have two theaters here and they both show films in their original format, so I can see American movies in English, but I really wanted Cyr to see this film because it's about the north of France. "Nord-pas-de-Calais" for those of you that know or have read my past blogs. Background: fiance is from this area and actually speaks "Ch'ti". It's an interesting sound, sort of Flemish. Lots of open mouths and "AHH"ing going on. I can't understand a word of it.
To prep myself we went and had two Leffe Brunes prior to the viewing. Beer may not actually help me understand French, but it makes me care less if I do or don't. It also helps me to believe that I have this innate ability to read body language and just "get" what people are trying to say. Sort of my super power (if I had one). Cyr had to lean over a few times, but for the most part I actually got it!! AND I loved it. It was funny and sad and actually pretty spot on from what I know about the North. Ok, that isn't much, but I can say that I moved here as an outsider and the people have been really nice for the most part. I felt cool because I knew there was Maroilles in the breakfast scene before it was even announced. I felt like I was part of a club or something. Instead of a secret handshake it's a special smelly cheese that people here eat. I actually love it. Maroilles with escargot was the first thing I ate after Cyr picked me up from the airport when I moved here. If you click on the title above and read the article it looks like Hollywood bought the rights and there will be a US version in the works. I would recommend the French version if it goes out on Netflix though.
Today was a beautiful day here in Lille. I actually did a little suntanning. The sun was coming through our windows so brightly I couldn't resist opening our two balcony doors and laying half in our apartment and half on the balcony while reading a book. I think I actually got some color too! I read for like 3 hours, well, I laid there for about that long. It was so nice to feel the sun on my face and arms. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we would go to Lake Travis for Easter. It was never really warm enough to swim, but I would put on my bathing suit and pretend I wasn't in pain and try it. Sometimes the sun would hit you for a few minutes and you could briefly remember what it was like to be hot. Mmmm...
This week will be spent dealing with what will hopefully be the last visit from Auchan for a while to fix our dryer. I'm cringing already about having to try to get through that one. I'm having lunch with a friend and also packing for my trip back the US. Looks like I might be gone until the end of May. Cyr is traveling the last part of May and it doesn't make sense to me to leave friends and family to come back to an empty apartment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
