The Christmas Market, or Marché de Noël

On Sunday, Caitlin and I spent most of the day working on our grad school applications since we were still feeling stuffed from Thanksgiving. In the evening, we decided to venture out into the cold to get a little exercise. We window shopped and walked around the old town for photo opportunities. Click here for my Rennes Hiver/Winter album.

We started seeing people in the streets with food and drinks, so we followed the crowd to Place de Parlement where the Marché de Noël (Christmas Market) was up and running! Like you can find in Germany, the stands are little wooden cabins selling Christmas gifts and food. I got a sausage, tomato, and onion sandwich with the spiciest mustard ever (seriously, it felt like eating wasabi!), and Caitlin waited in a super-long line for chichis, basically churros but with only sugar, no cinnamon. Apparently, it will be open during the week too, so it should be less crowded than that grand opening Sunday evening!

Me digging into a sausage sandwich!

Rennes' Christmas Market

And now I'm headed back to the classroom to teach some English texting abbreviations and acronymns...

A Wild Turkey Day

Double meaning in that title!
1) The only whole turkey we could find was an expensive, happy, free-range one for 70 euros (fed 10 people).
2) Last night was one of the wildest and silliest Thanksgivings that I've experienced.

The evening started out when Caitlin arrived, and we headed down to the food section of Galeries Lafayette for fancy foods. I couldn't find celery or sage at my usual grocery store, and Caitlin needed chutney and tobasco sauce from the store's extensive international aisle. We also found some flowers as a hostess gift because my mother trained me so well.

We chilled in my apartment for awhile, putting together my dressing and her spinach and apple salad before we went out the door. Dinner was supposed to start at 8, but the turkey, of course, took longer than expected, so the time was changed to 9. We got there around 8:45, so I could use the oven to back the dressing. In the end, we had nine Americans, one Canadian, and one Guatemalan to celebrate with. We had a long appetizer phase while the foods were being reheated, so dinner started at 10:30. Caitlin and I were the turkey carvers!

Now, the food!
-Appetizers: Bread, pâté, cheese, baked brie with fig jam.
-Main meal: Turkey, mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing and dressing, sweet potatos, brussel sprouts, spinach salad, cranberry sauce.
-Desserts: Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, apple pie, apple brownie goo (didn't cook properly), ice cream.
-Drinks: Ten bottles of wine for eleven people!

After dinner, we were stuffed, so we took a long break to chat, listen to music, drink wine, and play the game Cheers Guv'nah. Dessert was served around 1am. After that, everyone was either falling asleep, taking silly pictures, or doing dishes. I did some dancing and tipsy yoga in an effort to stretch my stomach out (didn't work... I still feel full at 12:20pm the next day). Caitlin and I were the second and third to leave around 2:30am. A good night, even though I felt so full that it hurt to breathe. In France, you have to take advantage of these American moments to get you through all the French times!

I forgot to take photos, but I'll steal some from others when they pop up!

Time and food

Recently, I've really started to feel at home in my apartment and in Rennes. I know where things are, I have 'usual' stores and restaurants I frequent, my apartment is completely set up, I have a regular work schedule, etc. I've also found ways to take up the free time I have, like yoga, running, reading--and thank God for nytimes.com for keeping me in-the-know! Plus, I have exciting travels planned for the next month! Things are looking up this holiday season :)

Since my cultural lessons have been absent awhile, I'd like to share some observations with you on how the French eat. Breakfast when I was in Versailles was last night's leftover baguette with jam, sometimes a croissant. That lasted you until lunch at 1-ish where I usually grabbed a baguette sandwich (ham and cheese, tuna salad, camembert) and sometimes a dessert like pain au chocolat or flan. Now that I have my own place in Rennes, I more commonly eat there or at Pierre-Antoine's place rather than outside. What I have seen a lot here is that the French grab a snack, or gouter, around 4 or 5pm--I see people with little pastry bags on the main squares and shopping streets every day. That works because dinner isn't until 7 or 8pm, a fact that shocked my family the other day when I hadn't eaten before 8!

Thinking about all of these meals has made me rather hungry! I'm going to a Thanksgiving dinner party of assistants tonight to get my fill of turkey and all those sides!

Also, I added some photos to the Rennes Automne album. I'll start a Winter albumn after Thanksgiving tonight!

Oh yeah...

IL FAUT QUE JE DORME !

Forgot to say that I am thankful for skype letting me sit in on Thanksgiving with the Williams/Bodies and with my family too!!

Also, I'm super-thankful for Pierre-Antoine, the silliest kid I know and the French boy version of me :) Je t'aime!

:*

Thanksgiving in Rennes

This is my first Thanksgiving away from family! So sad!

At least, today was a good day of classes--I had them drawing hand turkeys! Then, IT SNOWED/HAILED! A Christmas in France miracle to say the least ;)

So what am I thankful for? Mostly for the box of American foods that Ma sent me! Today, I've munched on Goldfish crackers, drank Sleepytime tea, and made a Jello pumpkin pie dessert.

I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with a more authentic meal on Saturday with some other American assistants, but for tonight I have the pumpkin dessert and a Shepherd's Pie on the menu--something hearty and home-y.

And if anyone wants to FedEx me some leftovers, I would not be opposed! ;)

Happy Turkey Day everyone! :*

Working in France v. the US

I suppose holiday nostalgia is just making me miss all things about home... I've been very reflective this week!

My thought of the day is about American v. French work ethic. I miss the teamwork and striving for excellence that the US encourages. I don't see creativity or passion in the workplace here, or at least not yet. None of the teachers care what I do with their students; only one has even asked me about it! Here in France at my school I feel like no one cares much about their students--maybe that is also related to lack of school spirit and community. I remember Mrs. G from my high school, the kind of teacher who gets to know you and who goes the extra mile to take care of you.

Another issue hs been PA asking his professors here for recommendation letters for US graduate school applications. Professors and students have no personal relationship here--you don't chat with them, you don't have department picnics with them. While I could ask professors who knew me and my dreams, PA has to rely on professors who have just read his masters work and seen him in class. It seems rather cold to me after the experience of my university.

A tangent off of this: the strikes in October made me angry because I felt like it was silly and selfish to be out protesting when children needed to be in class learning. I thought of my high school experience when I wouldn't dare miss a class because I needed every second of learning for the AP exams! And these kids here lost three weeks with no tangible consequences, just their own intellectual losses! Vacation be damned, kids need structure.

And now I'm off to work, hehe!

Plans for this weekend: maybe dancing tonight at an international student party, lunch with Caitlin tomorrow, a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday with the other assistants in Rennes.

School spirit

I think I figured out something that is missing from French schools--school spirit!

While I do admit that I wasn't the biggest sports fan back in my day, there is something to be said for having a school mascot, teams, clubs, pep rallys, etc.; these are all means to fostering communities be it schoolwide or just between students and teachers of mutual interest.

There is definitely not this spirt of community here. I feel like the students and teachers are more at odds because they interact only in a competetive classroom setting--there is no room for getting to know the student or teacher as a person (I'm thinking particularly in the senses of coach/athelete or mentor/club participant). When I think back to high school, I remember most the teachers who had a hand in the clubs I was in--Honor Society, French Club, Band. I also remember beig proud of my school's and fellow students' accomplishments in sports and academic competitions.

The school I work at is just a workplace. Imagine the different experience that a French assistant at a US school would have--a French club, football games, school dances, art performances! I miss the feeling of celebrating school.