Il neige!!!

The first snow has finally fallen...at the end of January, and after a week of Spring-like weather. I already can tell walking in this now for three months is going to get old quick, but for now its gorgeous sitting on the trees. Even more fell last night making me glad I bought the sale snowshoes last week and went grocery shopping on Monday. I now realize how little I am outside in the winter in the US. Walking from the car into the store or the house you don't really realize how cold it is and you don't think about what it would be like to carry your lesson plans or groceries in the snow, uphill. I think someone said yesterday though that it only snows for about two months here, but I don't believe weather forecasts anymore because someone also told me students come to school on skis and that I know is a lie. I guess the weather is unpredictable anywhere in the world now though after the scary events of last week in the US and Europe. I think its time to create some better public transportation in the US. Renewable energy seems to constantly be on the minds of the French; one of my students even said how she would improve her system of education is by having solar panels at school and recycling bins!

Roanne

Heather, Kirsty, Vicki, and I headed to Roanne on Sunday to visit the "rugby boys" or the English assistants in Roanne who have dedicated their time to playing on their town's team making them local celebrities but having only Mondays off. We didn't expect it to take an hour to get there but there are a million village stops in the countryside, and we also expected to end up in some stone castle village like the brochures. The town was still pretty since its on the Loire river, but it would be really easy to get bored living there when you can walk through then town in under an hour. The buys play cards and rugby and that's about it they said. Being that it was Sunday there was nowhere open but we settled on this nice restaurant called la Taverne Alsacienne where I tried snails for the first time (on tagliatelle pasta) and the restaurant was so cozy even the bathroom was decorated in a Gaudi style with "cygnes" from Alsace. After I saw my first rugby match, amazed when men were hoisted in the air like weightless cheerleaders to catch the ball throw-in. I still prefer football (amer) because they spend too much time huddling together instead of moving with the ball and they often kick it then run after it, but it was interesting to see. Actually the Colts/Patriots game was on France2 that night and I was having culture shock just watching an American game with the plastic cheerleaders and bigbellied players. I'm still going to check if the SuperBowl is playing this weekend, even if it begins at midnight and the commercials are French.

Spring Weather in Lyon

I knew it was supposed to snow this week so when it was about 60degrees on Saturday I headed off with the girls I live with to Lyon. We wandered about the city a bit, being spun on the ferris wheel by carnies till our heads hurt, and then Heather and I headed off to the Parc de la Tete d'Or. We really wish St. Etienne had a sprawling park like that, basically a French version of Central Park. We strolled along the lake past people rollerblading and playing soccer until we came upon the free zoo. It was odd seeing giraffes, flamingoes, bears, and bright pink pelicans with enormous beaks in the middle of France. My favorite was the elephants who kept dancing with each other, and a little French boy said "Maman je pense qu'ils font l'amour!" (Mom I think they're making love). The park even has a mini train and wooden bridges. Then we came back home and went out for a night of kareoke, once again where the French took it really seriously and tried to sing well (but sang odd songs like the Titanic song or men were singing Alicia Keys--really well though!). So I got up the courage to get the party started and rap Eminem to pay homage to Detroit and get people moving after so many slow songs on a Saturday night. The words were miniscule and in red but now the bartender calls me Eminem and this man wouldn't leave me alone trying to give me his number. French men just don't know when to give up, I think its because the culture is more reserved and women play hard to get so they think they have to keep trying. If I hear one more time about how the French came up with French kissing, ugh!

Ici c'est le chaudron!

I finally had my first relaxing weekend since I've been here, spending two days barely leaving my place and getting things like reading, organizing, and rearranging my room done. On Sunday I went to my first soccer match, ASSE (Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne) against Monaco. We're ranked fourth and they 14th/15th so I thought it was "in the bag" but I dunno what happened but there were some disappointed supporteurs yesterday when les verts lost 1 nothing. This ginormously tall man headed in the one goal they recieved. But I still had a good time listening to the supporteurs' chants, many taking the tune from American songs. My favorite was "On chantera les stéphanois" and the one where each standing section of the stadium sang back and forth to each other. Its funny how much solidarity there can be amongst people over sports. I didn't get a picture of the enormous jersey that was held up in the stands at the beginning of the game but I did get everyone waving their scarves. I guess that's why we're the cauldron, the warmth (chaleur) of the fans, their jumping around all game, and their waving of scarves. I dunno my students never gave me an explanation, they just said "On est chaud là-bas" (One's warm there).
I was just happy to be there because it was pure luck; I was waiting for the tram to buy myself a ticket after my friend didn't buy me one thinking I wouldn't want to be in the seated section when I ran into Angus (my friend from Scotland) who was going to meet the others who would be in the standing section. He said that Alex cancelled and there was an extra ticket I could buy, so for 5euros I got in the standing section I wanted and got to be with Mike, Angela, Vicki, Jack, Phil, Angus, Heather, and Laura (see photos). I made a resolution that I would get better at making decisions this year, and I didn't really hold that up yesterday when I awoke Chris to help me decide if I should go to the game, in the end my choice worked out well due to luck/chance/serendipity who knows, but I now know how hard it is going to be for me to keep this resolution and am really going to work on making decisions independantly.

Only in France...

...will I eat a "galette des rois" (King's cake for epiphany) at the cafeteria and happen to pick the slice with the "feve" (the hidden treasure) and think its cheese inside because its white. Will I go to the grocery store named "Les mousquetaires" (the Musketeers) to have a man dressed like one at the checkout talking into a microphone like its some kind of auction and handing out pieces of the galette des rois. Will the mall close its stores for a day to prepare for the after Christmas sales where people become vultures for bargains. And it lasts for six weeks, that's not a sale, that's a season! Will it be 14.5 degrees celsius in January...definitely not in Michigan! Although I think this is due to global warming!
On another note its been nice to meet back up with the other assistants, of course at our pub Le Chantier. Our group just kept growing and growing and as we walked to Dirty Old Town towards the end of the night we noticed that the American Pub next door had nobody, we have even drawn the French crowds to our bars..unless its anti-American sentiment haha!