Not to forget...

I wanted to say, "Thank You" to family and friends at home who've sent emails, cards, & mysterious packages labeled "don't open until Christmas" and who've otherwise been thinking of me. A sincere "Thank You" as well to friends in Saint Brieuc for welcoming me into their homes this Christmas.

Et à vous tous qui allez peut-être lire ce petit message, MERCI du fond de mon cœur pour votre accueil dans vos familles ce Noël. Que le Seigneur vous bénisse sans fin pendant cette nouvelle année.

A Breton Christmas

On Christmas Day I was again welcomed by friends into their home. It really gave me new perspective on things to spend this family holiday with another family other than my own. I've probably said "wow" about a million times but seeing the 4 foot tall Christmas tree was another occasion to say it. What I mean is that when presents (or literally the tree) decrease, family and other good things can increase.

Otherwise, this day like the 24th, was filled with lots of eating, games, and a little bit of singing. On the corner of the coffee table is the renowned "Yule Log" or bûche. By the way, Etienne is talking to his brother who is spending the holidays in Canada with his wife.

Among the things I learned this Christmas was the importance of Christmas Eve to French families. Vincent's, Etienne's and many others' families exchange gifts and enjoy a big family meal on the evening of the 24th instead of on Christmas Day. There's a New Year's Eve quality to this in that many people are staying up late and celebrating in a way that I'm not used to seeing. It was a lot of fun playing games interspersed throughout our 4-ish hours of eating with Vincent, his brother, and parents.

Another noteworthy event was when I cut my finger with a table knife. You might be interested to know that my two thoughts were "Oh, no, we're going to have to go to the hospital" and "Oh, no, we haven't eaten the main course yet!" Thankfully, there was no hospital and my appetite returned within a few minutes.

In a creatively conceived Asian-French bakery & tea room, Rebecca tells Hamilton about a very odd relationship she has with a co-worker where she lives in eastern France. I met Rebecca in Chicago in August when we were both getting our VISA's and hadn't seen her since. She and Hamilton are both teaching English as well. Rebecca's famliy lives about 30-45 minutes from mine in KY and she took them a little something for me. Thanks, Rebecca. :)

This is Agnes and I in the same locale as below. I stayed with her family and the monk when I arrived in September. Remember?? Further info: a former Parisienne said that the lights at the Galleries Lafayette are a must see when it comes to Paris at Christmas. (Tuck that away for your own adventures.)

The lost art of window shopping - At a big shopping center in Paris there are a row of windows decked out with automated toys able to enchant kids for hours and mannequins eating dinner at the North Pole, etc. Side note: There are guys cooking and selling chesnuts on the sidewalk in busy areas like this one. Hmm.

Someone being effectively unoriginal at the Louvre.

I very nerdily made a list of things I wanted to do in Paris. This comes from many family vacations spent in hotel rooms (a.k.a. Grandma's living room - ha ha) saying, "Well, what do you wanna do?..." So included on this list was "flâner in Paris!" This is franglais for "spend time doing nothing." Kind of ironic (I'll let you make the connection), but anyway, We "flan-ayed" in the Louvre for about 3 and 1/2 hours which is where I took this picture by the way.

As soon as Hamilton and I came out of the metro I saw what I'd been waiting for: lights on the Champs Elysees! Hamilton is from South Carolina so together we acted like a couple of hillbillies for a minute and then got on with our lives.

"The Most Wonderful Time" - a little later in France

A friend's manger scene: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and some Bretons.

Hot Gallette on a cold Saturday morning. Wir essen und Das ist gute!

Perhaps the first example of something that appears to be cheaper in France: Christmas trees!

Saint Brieuc at Christmastime Part Deux!!

Some more of the "Champs Elysees" à la Briochine (St. Brieuc)

In front of an old theatre in the Place de la Poste

Santa and his sea-worthy vessel

Mairie / Town hall

Cheese Palace a.k.a. Fromagerie

Saint Brieuc at Christmastime!

Locking up the Christmas Tree

I enjoyed some great moments that I won't soon forget with friends on Saturday night. From four different countries, families, and experiences, some friends and I had round two of Pasta Carbonara. This one was admittedly better than my Thanksgiving version of the same dish. From L to R are Johannes (Germany), Karin (Switzerland), and Vincent (France).

As we're already on the fast track to Christmas we discussed some things that our families usually do during this time. Turns out that among the four of us, I'm the only one who opens gifts on the 25th. I was interested to hear what Johannes shared about Christmas in Germany starting with Kriskind. Please forgive my spelling, German-speaking populas. This angel/child (this is slightly creepy for me) brings gifts instead of Santa Claus.

Equally interesting for me was the "secret room" (cf. Beauty and the Beast's forbidden "West Wing"). The secret or simply locked room contains the necessarily real Christmas tree, decorated with candles and with gifts underneath. I don't want to forget the bell indicating that it's time for kids to come and open gifts on Christmas Eve or the two trips to church with some Frankfurters in between :). Hmm. Sounds great, Johannes.

Merry Christmas!

Weekends are for friends & Meals from Madagascar

Last night ended a great Saturday. I finally made it to the market in Saint Brieuc, learned how to make rice with milk & raspberries (why not?!), ate a traditional Malgache (from Madagascar) meal, failed to understand several jokes in French, and of course, made time for a little walk on the beach. From left to right are Johannes, my roommate Nicolas, Karin, Rija, Vincent (we’re at his house), & Hassina.
----------------------------------
Hier soir était la fin d’un samedi formidable. Enfin j’ai pu aller au marché Briochin. En plus, j’ai appris comment faire le riz au lait avec des framboises surgelées (pourquoi pas?!), j’ai mangé un plat traditionnel Malgache, je n'ai pas compris plusieurs blagues en français (malheureusement), et bien sûr, j’ai eu du temps pour me balader à la plage. De gauche à droite il y a Johannes, mon coloc Nicolas, Karin, Rja, Vincent (on est chez lui), & Hassina.

I got to spend Thanksgiving weekend with about 30 Christian college-age students from around Brittany & Normandy. They’re all part of a GBU (Groupe Universitaire Biblique) which is like Intervarsity or Campus for Christ. With two groups being 4 and 6 (Brest & Lorient) and none being the 60 WGM at Asbury is accustomed to, it was a wonderful opportunity to hang out with a large group of young adults and participate in all kinds of activities. More than that it was an opportunity to hear things like, “the university is letting us use a room for our group” or “we had 10 people one time!” and other things that really humbled me.

Personally, I was really encouraged by one student, Matthias. He's from Argentina and has been in France for 6 months. His confidence in communicating in a less than perfect fashion was really heartening for me.
-------------------------------------------
J’ai pu passé le WE de Thanksgiving avec environ 30 étudiants chrétiens de Bretagne et de Normandie. Ils font tous parti d’un GBU (Groupe Universitaire Biblique). Deux groupes sont peu nombreux ayant 4 et 6 participants – loin du 60 qui fréquentent un tel groupe à mon université aux Etats-Unis. C’était, donc, une super occasion de passer de bons moments avec un grand groupe des jeunes en faisant des activités diverses. Plus que ça, j'ai entendu des choses comme « l'université nous a permis d’utiliser une salle à la fac ! » ou bien « une fois on a eu une dizaine de personnes! » ou d'autres choses qui m’a humilié.

Personnellement, j’étais vachement encouragé par Matthias un étudiant argentin. Ça fait seulement 6 mois qu’il est à Rennes. Sa confiance en soi et son manque de peur quand il s'exprime même si ce n’est pas parfaitement, étaient pour moi des « coups d’encouragement » si je peux dire.

Cutting spaghetti by hand = Superhero

Today I had some free time and asked a teacher if I could observe his cooking class. He's a friendly guy and of course said, "Sure! Whenever you want, you can come."

I think that I really might stay next year as a student at this school (ha ha). As their amazing apple tarts cooked in the oven, these students were getting a workout rolling dough to death with a rolling pin.

Things I learned from observing this class:

1) It takes a lot of flour for a thin layer of dough to stick together.

2) Spaghetti is essentially made of an egg & flour.

3) There are people in the world (notably students at La Closerie) who make spaghetti without buying the noodles in a box but rather cut each noodle with a knife.

4) People that do #3 are my hero.

I was invited back that afternoon but couldn't go. Too bad because they left their apple tarts cooling in the kitchen for later. Oh well, there's always next time!

--------------------------------------------------

Aujourd’hui j’ai eu de temps libre et j’ai demandé à un prof de cuisine si je pourrais observer un de ses cours. Un mec amical, il m’a répondu, « Ben, oui, quand tu veux, tu viens. »

Je pense vraiment que je vais rester encore une année à St. Quay mais cette fois je serai un élève (non, je blague). Alors que leurs tartes aux pommes cuisinaient dans le four, ces élèves bossaient bien leurs pâtes pour qu’elles soient assez minces.

Voici des choses que j’ai apprises grâce à ce cours :

1) Il faut plein de farine pour qu’une pâte mince reste collée pendant que l’on l’aplatit.

2) De base le spaghetti est fait d’un œuf et de la farine.

3) Il y a des gens dans le monde (mes élèves par exemple) qui fabriquent le spaghetti sans acheter des pâtes dans une boîte au supermarché mais qui, par contre, découpent chaque pâte avec un couteau.

4) Ceux qui sont capable de faire le nº3 sont des Zizou de la cuisine.

Ce même prof m’a invité de revenir pour voir la deuxième moitié de son cours mais, hélas, je ne pourrais pas. C’est bien dommage puisque leurs tartes aux pommes attendaient des clients dans la cuisine. Tant pis, la prochaine fois!

A not-so-turkey day

The day of giving thanks has come & gone, but I still have much to be thankful for. I was greeted Thursday morning with "Happy Thanksgiving" from students before I even got to my room. Turns out a colleague told them to say this but I'm not complaining. Later that afternoon I made a little trip to the prefecture where I received my resident permit. I was very thankful and even explained to the lady that gave it to me that it was the day of thanks in America. It's quite possible she was less than interested but she smiled so hey...

It's true that this year I exchanged my turkey and stuffing for chicken carbonara (it's an Italian pasta, chicken, etc. dish - weird in writing but good), yet I still celebrated Thanksgiving quite well I think. Given what was left in the little fridge, my roommate Nicolas had the idea for our dinner and then we went to see a French film called "The Room of the Dead" (not too perky I know) this psychological thriller left me pensive and slightly disturbed yet content - typical for many French films in my experience.

I also talked to my family on Thursday which was nice. As we were talking our dogs began to bark as family members were arriving. From past experiences I had to smile as I envisioned the scene unfolding.

Enjoy your turkey sandwiches this week!

-------------------------------------------------------

Le jour pour donner des remerciements (le Thanksgiving) est parti, mais il reste des choses qui me rendent toujours reconnaissant. Jeudi matin au lycée des élèves m’ont salué avec des souhaits de « Happy Thanksgiving » avant même que je sois entré dans la salle de classe. Un collègue m’a avoué qu’elle leur avait encouragé de me saluer dans une telle manière mais j’ai apprécié leurs souhaits quand même. Plus tard cet après-midi là je suis descendu à la préfecture où j’ai reçu ma carte de séjour. J’en étais super reconnaissant! J’ai même expliqué à la fonctionnaire qui m’a rendu la carte que c’était ce jour-là le jour de reconnaissance aux Etats-Unis. C’est bien possible qu’elle ne s’y soit pas du tout intéressé, mais elle a souri donc je n’avais pas de soucis…

C’est vrai que cette année j’ai échangé la dinde et la farce (des aliments que l’on mange typiquement pour le Thanksgiving) pour les pâtes carbonara mais j’ai bien fêté le Thanksgiving quand même. Ayant vu ce que l’on avait dans le frigo mon colocataire a eu l’idée pour notre dîner italien et puis on est allé voir un film français qui s’appelait « La Chambre des Morts » (pas trop drôle comme titre, je sais). Après le film j’étais pensif et un peu dérangé mais satisfait – c’est normal que des films français me rendent comme ça.

En plus, j’ai pu parlé avec ma famille et c’était bien. Tout en leur parlant j’entendais mes chiens qui aboyaient à cause de l’arrivée de mes cousins, ma grand-mère, etc. ça faisait pas mal de bruit dans l'arrière plan. Puisque j’ai passé plein de Thanksgiving chez moi je voyais clairement dans ma tête la scène même si j’étais pas là.

J’espère que cette semaine ma famille va profiter bien de tous les restes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It may be a bit early to carve the turkey, but I've already taught a couple of my classes about Thanksgiving. Thanks to my family and the US Postal Service I had some nice decorations to use as well. Since some of my students are future servers/waiters, it was cool to watch how much care they put into “setting the table." They also wandered where my silverware and glasses were. One can only bring so many props!

In any case, teaching about Thanksgiving taught me a lot about this holiday that I love so much and provided an opportunity to share about something truly American. In addition it was interesting hearing their reactions to the foods that make up the meal - perhaps the fanciest American meal that exists. By the way, did you know that cranberries got their name from the Pilgrims who thought that the bush looked like a crane?

---------------------------

C’est peut-être encore un peu trop tôt pour couper la dinde mais j’ai déjà enseigné quelques leçons à propos de Thanksgiving. Grâce à ma famille et la poste américaine j’ai eu de bonnes décorations à utiliser. Vu que j’ai des élèves qui seront des serveurs, c’était intéressant de regarder comme ils ont soigneusement mis la table. Ils se demandaient où étaient les couverts et les verres. Maman n’a pas pu tout m’envoyé! En tout cas, enseigner ce qu’est le Thanksgiving m’a apporté l’occasion de comprendre encore mieux cette fête américaine que j’aime tant et en plus, j’ai eu l’occasion de partager quelque chose de vraiment « américain ».

En plus les élèves ont eu des réactions intéressantes quand je leur ai expliqué quels aliments on utilise pour faire le repas de Thanksgiving। C’est peut-être le repas américain le plus chic. Saviez-vous, par hasard, que l’on a donné le nom « cranberry » (canneberge) à la baie rouge puisque des Pilgrims (des pèlerins) ont pensé que le buisson qui pousse ces baies ressemblait aux « cranes » (un oiseau marin)? Bon ! C’est la première traduction que j’ai osé faire. J’espère que quelqu’un va-t-en profiter!

During a recent vacation for the All Saints holiday I made a trip to school to take care of some stuff and tour the little port town of St. Quay. A friend came with me and we did a photo shoot at the school. Wanting to keep my dignity, I had previously chosen to wait until no students were around to do this.

I teach English conversation classes at this high school "La Closerie" where 300 students are going into all that is "restauration" - so it's a school for future chefs, caterers, butchers, bakers, pastry chefs, and other wonderful things as well as people in the service side of restauration like servers, hosts, etc.

We are 4 English teachers in all. I get to be the "fun" one :).

Apartment: Pre-Amazingness...

Kitchen/Living Room (any "Friends" fans?) and part of my bedroom. My sister said, "Take pictures of EVERYTHING!" Hope you like it, Sarah.

I'm actually surprised this worked! This is a slightly turbulent clip from our Pier Party - yeah, I misspelled it before. So all these people gathered for a breezy late afternoon celebration of what some young teens had built and learned. A reporter came so did many friends and family members and these great musicians. One of them loves Bluegrass music.

This is a port in Saint Brieuc called Le Légué. I'm pretty sure that it's called a "goanag" and that's not just because it's written in plain sight. Actually this boat was built by some young guys who benefit from mentor relationships that they have with people like Hervé, the guy who I was living with before I was in my apt.

If you watch the little video you'll see the peer side party that we had. I felt honored to see the culmination of this several-month-long project when the fishing boat number was launched. Country/folk music was played; I felt at home.

What a lovely garage door you have...

Hello people who read my blog. Thankfully, I have the Internet in my apartment now! My roommate who just arrived tonight brought about this amazing new wave of technology. Actually, he figured out how to connect us to proprietor's wireless connection. What next, a radio or could it be... a TV? I don't dare consider it yet.

I have sometimes wanted to tell you fun or profound things, but haven't suceeded either because A) I haven't had the Internet or B) I have had issues with the computer I was using (though I am very grateful for use of my proprietor's computer).

I hope that you will enjoy this pics. I DO HAVE A JOB I want to remind you, but haven't yet had the occasion to take pics at school. I'm trying to look more like a teacher and less like a tourist in a "rale Franch skyool!!!" That's "real French school" in Kantuckie talk if you couldn't decipher. So, as for the pics of school in the words of somebody from a movie I'd be embarassed to admit I'm quoting, "All comes in time."

As your eyes descend from left to right you have: the neighbor's house, my proprietor's, and finally, my humble garage entry mostly covered by the bushes (because it's prettier that way). The two windows on the tile roof above the car are mine and I have a nice view of the back yard as well. A friend referred to my place as "a treehouse" - I didn't invite him back. ( ha ha )

Does this guy ever work?

I got/had to go to Rennes, the capital of Brittany last Thursday. It was a beautiful day and I ended up on the same train as another American English teacher from Saint Brieuc. Both of us were going to the immigrants/foreigners office.

I was able to spend a few hours with Etienne, friend from St. Brieuc, who studies in Rennes. Among other things we saw the Place Sainte Anne which you see a little corner of in this picture. There's an old church in the square along with lots of places to eat and be jolly.

Last Sunday afternoon I was so thankful to be invited to join the group you see in this picture for a little sightseeing in a town I pass everyday on my commute. I'd just moved into my apartment on Friday and was already noticing the lack of people to talk to - other than myself. On the left is Mathieu who visited last weekend for Vincent's baptism and enjoyed his time here so much decided to visit again this past weekend.

Sunday morning at church different people shared what the Bible meant to them. My friend Loti talked about how God's word is as sweet as honey (Ezekiel 3:3) "which I love and eat every day," she added. Karin and some visiting friends from German-speaking Switzerland sang a beautiful song about how God knows us each inside and out (Psalm 139). I didn't understand a single word but it really blessed me.

Some updates...

From left are Vincent, Etienne, and me. This is at their baptism service which took place at a chapel a good distance away from our store front church in St. Brieuc. Friends and family came from all over to support these guys as they shared why they had chosen to live their lives for Jesus. I was honored to be there having just met these guys a couple weeks ago.

Here's a picture of Me, Loti, and Hervé at their home. This couple is so generous and am so grateful to have them as friends. They warmly welcomed me to their town by giving me tours of the city in the car - since I'm directionally challenged - loaning me a bike, including me in family activites, not to mention giving me a place to stay and warm meals every night. YUM!

A bike, a bank, and the beach

Hervé, my current host, fixed the bike I was having trouble with. I had heard there was a nearby beach but hadn't been able to go find it yet. Today I did. I'm told that St. Brieuc is not one of the more beautiful locals in Brittany. Anyone coming from a landlocked state like KY will take any ocean availabe. And I found it quite breath-taking even so. I think this is called something like Beach of the Valleys. I imagine that at high tides the water surrounds all the little huts in the distance which are probably used as fishermen's posts. I've never been to New England but it must be something like this with the rocks and the cool breeze.

• In other news I have taught some classes now and find the students to be similar to students at home. These however are sporting coats and ties. I read their handbook and it said that students must where dark colors; I believe the exact word is "somber." For the most part students dress better than do teachers.
• So as not to leave any loose ends from my title, I officially have a bank account. A great new phenomenon in France is that the post office now functions as a regular bank. I'm told it has had partial bank functions before, but now it's whatever the rest of banks are. Brigitte, who was my intial church contact here, graciously made an appointment for me to get an account and took me there. This is just one of many "you really don't have to do that for me" instances.

Thanks for your emails. Have a great weekend.

Reflections on something unimportant and something interesting

Well it has actually been bothering me for a couple days that I wrote that Sacrè Coeur means Holy Heart b/c it is really better as Sacred Heart. Phew. I feel better.

In other news I have much to say about school but will say only that today I had my first class without another teacher and it was made up of students, male and female, who are all going to be pastry chefs. My high school is a lycèe professionnel of everything that has to do with hotellerie which I am probably mispelling and restauratation. This is quite specatacular. Yesterday I ate a three course lunch served and cooked by students in a restaurant that is attached to the school. Quite a change from any cafeteria.

Blessings to all!

Below are 3 pics from Paris and 1 from St. Brieuc. I arrived in my t-shirt, pants that were slightly damp in places, and windbreaker. Yikes! But a good time was had by all...
Thinking of a certain Chevy Chase movie I asked if we could drive around the Arc de Triomphe. We did. I took a picture and it was raining.

Here is Agnès with her father, Jesus, at Sacré Coeur which means "Holy Heart." I have been told before that this place is called Montmartre or "Mount of the Martyr" because the first martyr in Gaulle/France was in fact martyred here.

This is Leobardo whom I was blessed to spend time with. If you didn't recognize it that's Notre Dame behind us - the one which didn't inspire the movie Rudy.

This is a little Catholic church in my current corner of St. Brieuc. It's surrounded by everything from a vegetable shop to a barber and a bar (which are not in the same building ha ha).

I out there, Jerry, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Pardon the Seinfeld shout out there. I don't even watch that show all that much but it's always on the commerical. Voilà some important first words from France, eh?

I have had so many funny/encouraging moments but this is the first time I am attempting to communicate any of them.

God is so good sums it up but I'd love to tell you that this can look quite crazy.
Here's a quick top 10 to update you (I credit this idea to Nathan, Cydil, and David Letterman):

10 - I met two other English teachers in Philly who are now in their respective parts of France.
9 - I doused my lap with my water on the plane, was given paper towels and told "It'll dry before arrival" - it did.
8 - I met a French friend of mine, Agnès, at the airport in Paris and we took a taxi to her family's apt.
7 - It's a lot colder in the north of France than KY.
6 - I met a Mexican monk named Leobardo who eats once a day and takes heart meds with wine.
5 - I was treated as an honored guest by Agnès' family and her dad's name is Jésus (he's a Spaniard).
4 - I saved about 25 bucks with my young people's discount for my train ticket.
3 - I had my first ever authentic English tea made by a native whose now living in France.
2 - I met a great group of students/young professionals at a seeker Bible study, went out with them and was stared at by a couple of them b/c of my expressive, loud nature. They still like me.
1 - I played volleyball at the beach as the sun was setting in 55° water and was more numb than "used to it".