Christmas with the Levillains

I last wrote to you on Thursday before PA and I visited the Christmas market one last time and took in the sights and sounds of the Mayor's office illuminaton! Here is a phot I captured for you at the risk of freezing my fingers off! (I'll post the video once youtube uploads it.)

Friday was a great day of French Christmas activities. PA and I made a batch of date balls to bring to the party that night. At 7pm, we metroed to meet his mom to drive to his aunt Therese's house. It was the Levillain side of the family with three of PA's aunts, a cousin, her two kids, and then PA's immediate family.

We were a bit late, having gotten lost on the way to the small town outside Rennes. The kids were eating already so we just chilled. When they went to the kitchen for their desserts, Pere Noël or Father Christmas dropped off their presents! The kids scrambled back out and went crazy! PA and I then spent a good a good amount of time assembling a parking garage for little Loic.

Dinner was seafood, the preference of the hostess Therese. We started with platters of raw oysters, shrimp, whelks, and winkles, all served with mayo. The main course was salmon and rice with a yummy red sauce. Then was a huge cheese course of six or seven varieties. Dessert was a sampling of my date balls (which went over very well), pistachio cakes with white chocolate on top, and a chocolate mousse log covered in ladyfingers. All soooooo delicious! And after that was a coffee and tea course with more chocolates... Phew!

The party lasted late into the night, so PA and I were dropped off at my apartment around 2am. It was officially Christmas, so I didn't feel too weird about opening gifts at night. The family sent me warm socks, sweaters, a new dress, and crafty things like knitting to keep me occupied. PA got me a French press, an awesome black vest, and another gift that hasn't arrived yet. For PA, my parents sent a bunch of Lakers gear, and I got him personalized M&Ms, cologne, and a meerkat shirt!

No sleep for the weary--we had to get to a lunch party on Christmas day at Aunt Beatrice's house in Rennes. We took the bus at noon and were the first to arrive. There was an aperatif of champagne, bread with meat and crab spreads, nuts, different purées to try. Lunch was the same crowd as the night before minus the kids, Nathalie, and Samuel who were with the other side of the family.

On to the food: a real Christmas food tradition is fois gras, which we ate on toast with fig jam and ham and beef strips kind of like prochutto. Sweet white wine was served with that. Christmas day lunch was a chapon, a nurtured chicken the size of a turkey. This was served with farce, a delicious mix of sausage, raisins, and onion; cooked chesnuts; and potatos gratin with cream and cheese. I was so full, but we had to power through more cheeses with red wine and dessert--all of the leftovers of the night before, plus a chocolate cake! I ate so much: it was delicious!

PA and I went to his apartment for awhile so that he could check things online and I could nap. We bussed back to the same place for a dinner of leftovers, which were still good but I was still full from lunch. After some last conversation and some playing with Clémentine and Martin and their new toys, PA's immediate family and I returned to Vitré to see if Santa had passed by there too ;)

He had, in fact, and he even left some cute things for me--placemats, a bath towel, a soap dispensing girl, a French dessert cookbook, and a bracelet with a dog charm! Samuel and I put together Clé's vanity, and we all danced along with the "Jingle Bell Rock" Santa in the living room a few last times before bed.

PA and I then had the Lakers v. Heat game to watch (sadly lost). The next morning Nathalie's family left for Nancy and we spent a quiet day in Vitré. That was nice after a whirlwind Christmas!

Now it's time to try out some French desserts!

Gingerbread, or pain d'épice!

Despite my illness, I trekked out to Vitré Monday afternoon to hang out with Caitlin before she left for her Christmas in Norway adventure. We made good spicy chili and cookies! First, her creation of oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip, and walnut! Mmmm! Then we found a gingerbread recipe online and tested it out. Caitlin wasn't a fan, but I was! We also had no cookie cutters, so we had to freehand a gingerbread man, horse, tree, star, heart, santa hat, present, etc. I also kept half the dough to make later.

Oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip, and walnut cookies! Phew!

Hand cutting the gingerbread shapes!

There was also a shopping run sometime in there so I could find a a last Christmas gift. Apparently, Vitré also blasts music through speakers on every corner, so I was serenaded by Lady Gaga's "Telephone," lol! I stopped by PA's mom's house to say hi to the whole family and share cookies. PA also tried to talk me into going to the doctor the next day... :/ I took the train home to Rennes for a good night's sleep.

I did feel kind of better the next morning, so I did laundry and cleaned up... Then, I noticed my ear hurting, so I went to the doctor that afternoon. Lucky me, I had a sinus infection that had spread to my ear! Tsss... I got five medicines to cure me and felt better by that evening. PA also came back to hang out with me, so it was a cozy evening of watching ninja movies and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

That brings us to Wednesday, which was PA's mom's birthday. We stopped in Leonidas for white Belgian chocolates for her. We took a bus to Saint Gregoire to meet PA's sister Nathalie, Samuel, and the kids for a ride back to Vitré for the birthday evening. I finished off the gingerbread cookie making there using shape ideas from PA and Clémentine, so we ended up with flowers, a star, a man, a sheep, a scooter (Clé's special request), a basketball, a heart, a cat, and some others I can't remember now. Everyone liked them :) We had a lovely veal and potato dinner capped off with gingerbread, a chocolate-strawberry birthday cake, and the white chocolates I had bought! Mmm!

Now, PA and I are back in Rennes to run errands. I'm going to take him to the Mairie (Mayor's building) for the lights show tonight! I'll try to film some of it to share as well! Tomorrow night is a Christmas dinner at one of his aunt's houses in Rennes, and Friday is another at another aunt's house! Lots of presents to come too!

Let me share some of my apartment Christmas decor with you:

Christmas tree surrounded by gifts!

Stockings on the "mantle."

My ornament wall says it all!

Christmas at home

I didn't even realize what I loved about the holidays and my family before I came here:

How my dad offers to bring us slices of pie.
How my mom gives us news updates on the most random things.
Everyone in their pjs in the parents room to watch tv.
Nick's jokes.
Copper shaking so that his collar jingles and his toenails scratch the floor.
Or going to Chicago and actually having to wear boots and gloves to go outside.
Seeing snow.
Eating delicious meals at Cathy's or out.
Kids running up and down the basement stairs.
Apples to Apples and other games played around the kitchen table after dinner.
Catching up with the aunts.
Home videos being pulled out.
Family gift exchanges as people drop by.
Going downtown to a play or for shopping or for eating somewhere wonderful.
Aunt Chris's delicious food as the Oschman brothers are reunited for an afternoon-long comedy sketch.
Gretchen chatting and laughing.
Old stories told again and again and again, especially if a newcomer is present.

Christmas is almost the worst part because then the anticipation is gone, then people leave again...
Until next year!

Adventures in Copenhagen with Lily and EBrown

Thursday through Sunday I was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit two of my Africa study abroad buddies, EBrown and Lily (who lives and studies there now).

Getting there was ok--bus to Rennes airport, plane to Paris, delay in Paris because of the previous day's snow, arrive in Copenhagen around 11pm. Lily picked me up there and we metroed to her place to drop off my stuff. It was cold, windy, snowy, snowing! We metroed to meet her boyfriend Martin at a main square and found a bar. Danes have an intense drinking culture, especially at "Christmas Parties" this season--even your work party is a drinking party from lunchtime until night! Tried the Christmas beer and chatted with Lily and Martin until a drunk Dane named Reuben came to hit on me. All Danes learn English from elementary school and speak pretty fluently. It was pretty easy to talk to people in shops, cafes, drunken bar settings ;)

Between metroing at night and walking back in the freezing cold, Lily and I weren't in bed until 3:30am that night, and we had to get up at 8am so that she could go to class. I got off to explore the shopping streets and the Christmas market on a canal for a few hours.

Lily and I finally got to meet EBrown at noon! We all headed to eat Chinese takeout and met up with EBrown's sister Brittany and her friend Caitlin to roam the streets. See photos in the Copenhagen album for an illustration of those chilly hours. Actually, the sun was out pretty much all weekend, and we had decent weather in general but for a few bouts of snow/rain/sleet. It's just always below freezing and the sun sets around 3pm.

Me, Lily, and EBrown

Lily headed to work at a restaurant, so EBrown and I went to Brittany's host family's home for dinner. The house was cool and the parents interesting world travelers. We helped make the delicious home-cooked meal of vegetable quiche/tart, salad, hamburgers with egg on top, potato salad, and South African wine. We also had these delicious ginger/honey cakes with chocolate on top that are a Danish Christmas treat. So good!

They lived about an hour outside the city between a train and walking in the cold. Around 10pm, we headed back downtown for a taste of nightlife. Brittany went with friends, and EBrown and I went to Lily's restaurant where we got free cocktails--mango for me and lemonade mojito for EBrown. When Lily was off, it was a quick Christmas beer before EBrown had to head back with her sister and Lily and I had to metro/walk home.

Slept in a bit before meeting up for walking and a long cafe break where plenty of girltalk ensued. That afternoon we met up with Martin. Firstly, I grabbed an authentic Danish hot dog with mustard, ketchup, fried onions, We climbed up this church spire for a scary but lovely view of Copenhagen, which is actually some islands off of the Denmark peninsula. You could even see Sweden and the bridge to get there--only 30 minutes away!

View of the city from the spire.

The power of the wind and the cold had us down before too long, and we headed to Freetown Christiania. This place used to be a military base that fell into disuse, so hippie-squatters moved in and made it a mini-society with its own hippie laws, common property, and lots of pot. The police come to clean out the weed every once and awhile, but the people of Copenhagen cherish it and consider it an important city landmark. It has a "downtown" area with an art gallery, cafes, pot stands, etc., and then there are really neat houses built of odds and ends where people actually live around the lakes--they just have permission to do so rather than actually owning it. Martin showed us around, and then we warmed up with coffee at a cafe there.

It was nearing 6pm when we left again, Lily to work and EBrown and me to Brittany's host home for a candy making party. First of all, the 20 minute walk after the train ride took about an hour because we got lost. Imagine forty or so Danes, adults and children, plus five American girls in a marzipan and nougat sculpting/candy-making competition! I just made myself one little treat to eat, but EBrown made a bunch of grapes and there were animals and traditional candies too. Towards the end, there was a big pot of soup, bread, and cheese to eat. I headed to Lily's alone and made it back safely.

Sunday I really slept in while Lily went to church. EBrown and I met at 11 and went hunting for those honey-ginger cakes which we ate with tea at Lily's apartment while we chatted. All three of us gathered at the metro at one to take me to the airport. So fun to see them, the first old, friendly faces I've seen since September!

I got to Paris just fine, but then my flight to Rennes was cancelled. AirFrance bused us all to the train station and someone went to get our tickets. We waited as a group for half an hour--the train was going to leave in five minutes and we still didn't have tickets in our hand. A search for the AirFrance official failed, and we headed down to the platform where the train was sitting. Some people just got on and said they would get reimboursed by the company for the tickets later... but I was afraid of getting a fine! With only two minutes before departure, the AirFrance lady shows up with a stack of tickets--I grabbed one from her hand and jumped on! So instead of getting back around 9:30, I wasn't in my apartment until 12:30! Oh, well...

It was back to work today for a Taboo-esque game of describing random people, places, and things in English for the other students to guess. Seems to be going pretty well! I also finished Pierre-Antoine's Christmas gifts, so I'm on to some for his family.

Please, check out all of my Copenhagen pictures in the album too!

Still alive :)

Hello all!

This has been a rather productive week so far. All Christmas cards mailed, lessons finished for this and next week, and the last grad school applications submitted to Columbia and Tufts! I'm just trying to get everything in order since I will be in Copenhagen from Thursday to late Sunday night.

This week I'm doing a lesson on music from Tennessee because even our state quarter celebrates it! The kids listen to blues, Elvis, Paramore, country, rap, and Justin Timberlake--all from TN. We do a fill-in-the-missing-words game with "Blue Suede Shoes" and then play a game where they listen for certain words in Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and grab the card of the word when they hear it--the winner is the one with the most cards at the end. The latter gets rather competitive/violent!

TN state quarter

Othewise, it's life as usual here in Rennes. The snow has turned back into rain, but it is still super cold. I still have two paperwork snafus to sort out before the holidays, but life is good :)