Bowling in Belgium

When Kermesse was finished, my day was far from over! Françoise La Blonde is one of the cleaning ladies at our school and has done a great job taking me in. (There's  also Françoise La Brune, who's another of the cleaning ladies!) Her nephew Fred's 31st birthday is next weekend but she wanted to surprise him with a night out before hand. Though I'd never met him she invited me along to celebrate with her family. Before Fred came over, Françoise, Nadia, Marine and I headed to a retirement home to visit with Marine's ailing mamie, where I was introduced to more of her family as "mon amie américaine". Once back at Françoise's place, Fred picked us up and we headed out to Belgium for the night! 

We went to Thémis Friterie in Mouscron for fries and sandwiches/burgers, where they're regulars. Being so close to Belgium, there are some Frenchies over here who won't order fries unless they're in Belgium. I really don't like french fries but I decided that I was in Belgium and was starving, so I ordered them alongside my chicken burger. I will admit that they're maybe the best I've ever had (and are delicious with sauce Andalouse). Dominique, another co-worker was supposed to meet us at 8:00pm... but didn't show up until after 9:30 when we had just been served our food. Until he arrived, Fred had no clue that we were there to celebrate his birthday. The second Dominique strolled in, he ruined the surprise! Fred was touched that Françoise had arranged it for him.  

Nadia, Marine, and myself  

Françoise and Fred, the birthday boy!

As much as I don't like fries, I did order them in Belgium since they're rumored to be the best. Some rumors are true! With sauce Andalouse, yum! 

Dominique thinks he's pretty suave... except he showed up an hour and a half late and ruined the birthday surprise! And then he left before we started bowling...

Then he wanted a picture with everyone...

We had our lane reserved for 10:30 but had to wait a little while for it to free up. When it came time to bowl, I was a little embarrassed that I had no idea what my shoe size was. Four pairs later, I'm a size 37. And if you're wondering, in French it's called bowling, a strike is un strike, a spare is un spare... des quilles and une boule are pretty important, too. I was first up in the game... well, Kaci was. I normally am terrible at bowling, as shown by my first frame score of 3 pins. But then somehow the American pulled it together and only lost by one. Fred joked that it wasn't fair to beat the birthday boy so he changed the rules for me. According to new regulations, I was only to roll the ball down the gutters and not down the lane. I sucked at following this rule. We joked that it was my scarf giving me the luck, so I shared it with him since I was breaking all the rules. My luck rubbed off. When I  got hot and took my scarf off, my talent slipped down the gutter. 

I'm going to miss Françoise! She's such a great presence at school and always wants to know that I'm doing well.  

Right before my first strike of the night! 

What's it gonna be? 

Françoise, Fred, and I

Fred's score needed a little boost and since I wasn't following the new rules he set for me, I gave him my scarf for added luck (it worked). 

I was first in the line up... and I lost by one point in the last frame! 

The only non-smokers in the group, Fred and I had fun trying to take a decent picture together while we held down the lane during the between game smoke break. We had a ton of fun together; it would have been fun to meet him earlier on. His cousin Margot (Marine's younger sister) kept mentioning that he's célibataire. My luck continued to rub off on him in the second game, which he won. I topped out at 80 points but didn't mind. Didn't want him to get beat twice by the American girl! 

Take 1

Take 2 - not any better but I think it's a cute picture!

Take 3 - put your glasses back on, please!

Margot was an animated bowler!

At the end of the night, Françoise and Fred drove me home even though Marine lives a few blocks from me. When I walked in the door after 1:30am, I was beat! It was an insanely long day but it was great. I had so much fun with Françoise and her family. I'm really glad that she got to see a fun side of me, too. At work, I'm pretty collect and am usually reading if I'm not in the classroom. I was dancing around and totally felt myself last night. It feels good to be me! I've got just a handful of days left before I leave and this will definitely be a memory that sticks. 

Bisous,
-kelse/kaci

Une mamie - a grammie
Mon amie américaine - my American friend
Une quille - a bowling pin
Une boule - a bowling ball
Célibataire - single (not celibate)  

Un dîner avec des amis

I love dinner parties. Honestly, I'd rather attend a casual dinner party with friends than your average "let's get drunk" type of party. What's better than good food shared in the company of friends (new or old)? Luckily, Sébastien and his friends also appreciate this idea and often have dinner parties and are kind enough to invite me to join in the festivities! Hier soir, Séb brought the fixings to prepare le repas at Angel's apartment. 

Le menu du jour

Les pommes de terre au four cuit deux fois

Le mesclun avec des tomates

Salade de fruits aux mangue, kiwi, banane, et ananas

Miam miam! Dinner was delicious! I didn't share with them that the only experience I have making twice-baked potatoes was a complete disaster. Granted, I was like 16 and could barely cook macaroni... But I only helped with coring and restuffing the potatoes. Those of you who know me well will be shocked to hear that, yes, I DID eat pineapple, banana, and tomatoes without anyone telling me to and also without making any interesting faces. The verdict? Still not sure about pineapples or tomatoes (though I keep making myself eat them) and I am definitely growing on bananas - though I still don't want to physically touch them. 

Here's my dilemma - the next dinner is on me. They suggested I make Thanksgiving dinner. Ummm... I've helped the past two years but could never do it on my own. Not to mention, my "oven" is a TOASTER oven and so many of the ingredients I would need aren't easily available in France. Hello pumpkin... I'm not even going to attempt using a real pumpkin to make pie. So, I'm thinking that instead of doing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for them, I'll make something more traditionally American or a special family recipe. Any ideas or suggestions? Aidez-moi! 

Bisous,

-kelse

un dîner - a dinner party or just dinner/supper; as a verb, dîner means to eat dinner. 

avec des amis - with friends

hier soir - last night 

le repas - the meal 

Le menu du jour - menu of the day 

Les pommes de terre au four cuit deux fois - twice baked potatoes

Le mesclun avec des tomates - mixture of salad greens with tomatoes

Salade de fruits aux mangue, kiwi, banane, et ananas - fruit salad with mango, kiwi, banana, and pineapple
Miam miam! - Yum yum!

Aidez-moi! - Help me!

Celebrity Status

Friday was by far, one of the longest days I've had in a long while. I left the house at 7h35 to make sure I had plenty of time to find my school and make my 9h00 appointment with the consillière pedagogique, Véronique. What stressed me out was that I only had her name and the address of the school. Unlike the schools I'm familiar with in Renton, schools here have several gates and the main entrances are not clearly marked. I cautiously walked into a building and the teacher there didn't recognize the Véronique's name but explained how to get to the director's office. Even the director's office isn't marked, so it took me a minute or two to find it but I wound up being exactly on time. 

Not knowing what I was in for, I figured I'd either be there for a brief meeting or it would be a day long gig. Fifteen minutes in, Véronique left and I continued to meet with Nicolas, my (gorgeous, Belgian, but married) director. I think I'll enjoy working with him; he is really friendly and très sympa. He told me I'd be there all day, observing several classes and meeting some other teachers. I was introduced to some teachers and their classes and, oh man, all eyes were on me! I felt a little awkward standing there while they stared and whispered but it's okay, because they were super cute!

I forgot how many recesses there are in elementary schools; holy cow are they LOUD! I haven't been around that much noise in a long, long time. It's exhausting! After la récréation, I was dropped off in a class to observe a history lesson, just to see how the class is run. The little boy sitting in front of me kept turning around to try to impress me by showing me how well he could say "thank you!" and then proudly told his friends that I could speak both French and English. I bounced around a few other classes and was given the chance to speak for myself in two of them. In one, I introduced myself completely in English and was scared when no one responded. Not a word. Then the teacher asked them in French about what I had said and their hands all shot up in the air. Whew! Except I had to kill their excitement that I don't live in Washington D.C. but in Washington state.  

I really enjoyed meeting the other teachers I'd be working with. Everyone seems really friendly and helpful and excited to welcome me into their classrooms. I can tell that I'll get along well with them well. I ate lunch dans la cantine with a few of them and was amazed at what I saw. Not only was the school lunch a balanced meal, but there was a ton of food (plus larger portions offered for the teachers) that is on most days, supposed to be quite tasty. I was surprised to see that the kids kept coming up to ask their teacher if they'd eaten enough of their food to go to recess - usually the answer was no...

After I finished eating, I made a big mistake by going into the bathroom. I was very surprised at the set up: a row of stalls on the side walls and the back wall with a row of urinals, sinks in the middle and a toilet paper dispenser at the entrance (not inside the stalls). So boys, girls, and teachers all use the same bathroom. I don't know about you, but I was quite uncomfortable when I was swarmed by a crowd of students as I was washing my hands. They had a million questions to ask me in French - "you're the new English teacher? Do you speak English? Are you American or British or Canadian? How do you say this...." Their curiosity was cute but I'd have preferred a different location. There were a few little boys especially interested in my weekend plans and they wanted to make sure that I had a good weekend. It was adorable. Once I learn to cope with the noise and fatigue, I think I'll quite like it here! 

At 4h30, school got out and one of the teachers offered to drive me to the metro station to catch my tram. It was really nice of her; she actually said any day that I get off at 4h30 she'd be happy to do so! I met her daughter who's in middle school, so maybe she and I will even practice English/French together! All in all, it was a good day and I'm excited to go back! 

Friday night was a story in itself... let's just say that parties in our apartment are disastrous and will not be permitted in the future. I didn't get to bed until after 3h15 and I was not in the least bit happy about it. : (

Bisous,

-kelse

la consillière pedagogique - the pedagogy liaison or counsellor

très sypma - very nice

la récréation - recess or playtime

dans la cantine - in the cafeteria