All the little things.

Well another week has gone by, and while not much has happened I will try to share what has.

Monday-
Went to school(there was snow).

•  Arrived to my class and big surprise there was only three other people there.

Happy Marthin Luther King day (for everyone in the United States)!

Tuesday-
Went to school,saw a dead dog on the way back. Yuck..

Wednesday-
Had no school like usual:

• Woke up around 9:30 to get ready for synchronized swimming.
• Came back from the pool did some stretches/abs while watching television for nearly four hours.
• Decided to get moving again and went for a walk around town.

Thursday-
School..

• Started French Boxing during PE.

Which I so far I like a lot better than vollyball :) I mean me boxing = at least slightly hilarious.
Anyways we will be having six more classes during the next few weeks so I will keep you all updated on this new sport.


Friday-
Thats today! So far:

• Woke up to go to English class. Found nobody there.
• THERE was NO English CLASS ( and nobody thought to tell me about it)

Due to not having had the innformation passed down by my class mates I am now sitting in the computer lab for the next to hours until French class.
Guess I got some extra time to write to everyone.. and I might just get started on my presentation that I am voluntarily doing about Colombia for the students that have Spanish class with me.


As you might see I am getting into a rather ordinary routine. This is why I have decided for this next week to come to try to live by the following quote.

“There is an anaesthetic of familiarity, a sedative of ordinariness which dulls the senses and hides the wonder of existence. For those of us not gifted in poetry, it is at least worth while from time to time making an effort to shake off the anaesthetic. What is the best way of countering the sluggish habitutation brought about by our gradual crawl from babyhood? We can't actually fly to another planet. But we can recapture that sense of having just tumbled out to life on a new world by looking at our own world in unfamiliar ways.”
― Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

Who knows maybe by looking at things in a different way I might have something slightly more substantial to share next Friday.

A la prochaine
-Juli

Exchange students and snow

Today Sunday the 20th of January, it snowed in not only La Ferte Bernard but just about everywhere in the North-West of France.

As you can see I am placed right in the eye of the "storm".

Actually it is a bit funny you see because even in Albany, Oregon 8cm of snow will not get national coverage.

Luckily for me this means that I get a little break from school ( hopefully) tomorrow.

Not to add the opportunity to take lots of pretty pictures of our serine white dusted wonderland of a town.

Also today I just got back from a weekend with the current exchange students in France, the French students that will be leaving elsewhere for 2013-2014 school year and the returning out-bounds.

Now like most Rotary weekends not much was planned but I still had an exceptional time.

This was mainly thanks to for the first time having not only the current exchange students but also the others. Something that made things much more interesting, as I find that I am able to sympathize and relate to them more..

To finish of here are some pictures of the weekend
Hope everyone is staying nice and cozy
-juliana

Lycée Polyvalent Robert Garnier

As you might now I am currently a student at Lycée Robert Garnier.
What you might not know is who it was founded after.
Soooo get ready to learn.

Robert Garnier (1544-1590) was a French tragic poet.

 In his early plays he was a close follower of the school of dramatists who were inspired by the study of Seneca. He then began writing tragedies around 1570s and 80s. These include Marc- Antoine, La Troade and Antigone.

Then in 1582 and 1583 he produced his two masterpieces Bradamante and Les Juives.

 In Bradamante, he cut himself adrift from Senecan models, and sought his subject in Ariosto, the result being what came to be known later as a tragicomedy. The dramatic and romantic story becomes a real drama in Garnier's hands, though even there the lovers, Bradamante and Roger, never meet on the stage.

Les Juives is the moving story of the barbarous vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar on the Jewish king Zedekiah and his children. The Jewish women lamenting the fate of their children take a principal part in this tragedy.

Considering his published works, Gamier could be regarded as one of the greatest French tragic poets of the Renaissance or as precursor of the baroque theater of the 17th century. And from what I have read about him he also exercised a major influence on the development of Elizabethan tragedy.

Hope you now know a little more about my school.

And now for some current information on the same topic: 

Due to the current downpour of snow there is no interns* present today. Instead they have all been sent back to their warm little houses.

To top it off there is also no buses. This means that everyone that lives in the surrounding little towns are also nice and cozy at home. Leaving only the incredibly diminute amount of student who actually live at La Fèrte Berndard with the chance to attend school. An opportunity that most do not take advantage of.

This is why last Friday and today there are only three other students and I present from my class.

Pfff.. I would much rather be sleeping at this moment ( especially after the exhausting weekend) but oh well only 7 more hours left.

*Interns are the students that from Monday morning to Friday evening are (normally) here and sleep at the school in rooms of four to six students.They also eat their meals here and are forced to live acordingly to a certain schedule.

Now dear readers, do not feel scared to leave a comment to share how the weather is where you are and how things are going in general.

Hugs

-juliana

Gallet De Rois

During the month of January if you are in France you will surely notice the blossoming of galettes des rois in the window of every bakery and pastry shop. This puff pastry it is the traditional confection with which Epiphany is celebrated.

Epiphany while theoretically celebrated on January sixth is extended to the whole month of January.

All the better for me I tell you, as I am lucky enough to have been given the chance to eat this delicious creation twice at home, once at school and yet again once at a Rotary meeting.

And while there are a certain number of filling variations to this dessert, such as apple butter, chocolate apple or chocolate pear filling my favorite (also highest selling) galette is the kind filled with frangipane.

Frangipane a filling that is normally made of butter, sugar, eggs and ground almonds. Or in other words pure deliciousness.

Then there is also the detail of the all important figurine, la fève, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character and is hidden in the cake.

The person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day J

Originally, la fève was literally a broad bean (fève), but it was replaced in 1870 by a variety of figurines out of porcelain.

Yes porcelain! Lawsuits and suing are less common practices here. Although this does make it so that otherwise fast eaters (like my host brother) take there time so not to accidentally break a tooth or two.  I have noticed that these figurines have become popular collectibles.

I mean I even saw that one of the local bakeries offered a specialized line of fèves depicting great works of art and yet another that offered popular cartoon characters. 

Lastly the last thing that is always included is a paper crown. This crown is meant to crown the "king" who finds the fève in their piece of cake.

But let’s not forget that to ensure a random distribution of the cake shares, it is traditional for the youngest person to place themselves under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person in charge of the service.

This is what makes me laugh because my host brother Adonis is always anxious during the length of the meal because he takes his role as cake namer seriously.

Because I know if you are reading this I sadly cant offer you a piece I will leave you with

a recipe that looked simple enough so maybe (if you are feeling inspired) you can try to make your own.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/galette-des-rois/

* just a side note this recipe is an American recipe using American ingredients therefore it wont be exactly the same thing.

(It is also is more complicated and expensive L

Assorted Pictures

Voila, here are some pictures from the past few weeks

Christmas eve:

•  We went to the children's mass.Up front was the living manger.

•  This is why not to give a camera to a seven year old during church..

•  MMMMMM... dessert!!

 New years 2012-2013
You will see that I appear on the left on the first and third pictures and in the middle for the second.
The others in the pictures are some of the student of Premier L and SE of Lycee Robert Garnier.










 I can honestly say that I is spent an amazing new years.
However, just to let you all know in France it is not common at all to have personal fireworks and even rare to see public ones. They do like to drink though..


And lastly a sneak peek of what I will be writing about next time..

A tout
- juli

Top Ten

It is evident if you know me well enough that I am not always the most positive person.
Due to this, I decided to start out my first real post of 2013 with a fresh breeze of positivism.
The result of this a simple list of the top ten things I adore about France that I hope you as well will enjoy reading.

Lets get started with number one  ( by the way these are in no particular order in terms of preference)


1. Pastries and desserts
What can I say the French really do have this down to an art. Personally I was lucky enough to have my first host mother who enjoyed cooking and the desserts where no exception. Now with my change of host family I still get a tasty treat from time to time but in any case I can always walk to any of the six or so pastrie shops in a matter of minutes.

2.Traditions
While many of the traditons revolve around eating you can also find a variety of unique details that are involved with the holidays.
For example while it was a  miniscule detail, I enjoyed on Christmas Eve placing a boot in front of the Christmas tree so that " le père Noël " will know where to place my presents.

3.Interest in other countries
One thing that I find fascinating is the average level of knowledge that a French person will have of countries outside of France. This makes for individuals who will speak of politics as a light hearted lunch or dinner subject. It also makes you feel like you are in a society that while maybe not any less centered about their own country has a bit more concerned on world wide events and news.

4.Importance of being a citizen
This concept dates back to the French revolution in which the right to universal suffrage was a heavily prioratized subject( or more specificaly to the constitution of June 24th of 1793)  Today you will find that over 70 percent of French citizens eagerly vote. This interests me because this in terms means that a great part of the population actually feels like their vote counts and will not hesitate to act upon this.

5. Wednesdays
For nearly all students in France (below univesity level) Wednesday is composed of only half a day of school. The second half of the day is often devoted to the usuall culprits: homework, sports and rest.
In my case a combination of all the above.

6. The baguette
An essential in all French meals, this indispensable ingredient can make for an excellent way to finish of the sauce of your meal,transport cheese into your mouth or fill up an empty belly. With the added plus of being cheap to top it all off.

7.Cheese
If you are easily insulted I would not recommend talking about cheese to a French person as the reply may be " do you even have cheese in America" or possibly "your cheese is not real cheese as it is pasturized" ( both true life examples). However, as I am not easily insulted I take these remarks as a reflection of how proud one can be for something that is truly special to ones country.
- I must also add that so far I have discovered that one of my favorites is goat cheese ;)

8. Laguage options available at school.
Had I had all these choices I might have been a polyglot by now..

9.Architecture
It is everywhere even the smallest towns have a history and a monument.

10. Paris
The capital of France this amazing city has an unimaginable amount of things to offer.


Well that wraps it up for this post. Yes I am sort of ashamed that food made up nearly half the list.. but we will get over it won't we.


Until next time
-juli

Vacation

Today is the next to last day of Christmas vacations.

Which means that starting this Monday I will have to get used to the daily schedule, something I am not really looking forwards to :(

Hopefully it wont be too hard though and on the bright side I will have a certain level of things to do; keeping me a little more occupied than I am now.

I positive change as these vacations have really consisted of very little.

And on that train of thought if anybody is reading this (that I am acquainted with) in France please do not hesitate to pay a visit or better yet pick me up for a weekend.

That is it for today. Sorry that I don't have much to write about (as nothing much has happened) and I look forward to writing a more interesting post next time

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

-juliana