French Chat

Have now experienced a night out French-stylee. And it’s mental. Much more so than England… Had flaming shots, TNT (tabasco and tequila) and when they go to a club they buy an 80E bottle of whisky to drink between the group!! I have learnt new phrases:

c’est quoi ce bordel = what the fuck

je suis pas pede du culle = i am not gay/do not take it up the bum i think

LOL.

Also have found out that I know no English grammar rules, so when Auxane asked for help with her English hwk, I found it pretty tricky to explain the rules. Great.

But so far, so good. Still missing home though :(

Much much better today…

Firstly, I now know 2 more names: 16 yr old daughter is called Ermine and the other Total intern living in this house is called Elias. Much easier.

Secondly, I have regained confidence and actually asked questions and SPOKEN relatively well for once!

Finallly, I have had brilliant food. Discovered Sophie’s homemade rhubarb tarte which is delicieux. Eaten vast quantities of cheese also. Obesity, here I come.

Did more exploring and starting to know my way around. Not happy about price of bevvies around here… 4E50 for desperados (beer)!!! quel horreur! Although, prelash is pretty good. Wine is cheap. Yay.

Also, got my boxes so have more clothes which is a relief. And spoke to Cristophe :)

anyway… more to come!

bisous

Some notes on my life thus far:

la bise:

This is the french cheek kissing scenario (in Pau, it is merely 2 which is a relief) when you meet someone. Normally the French person comes at you stating their name and then proceeds with said ritual. Very intimidating when you get approximately 10 one after the other as I did when I met my family! Total tally of: 15

the family:

Absolutely lovely, if a bit crazy especially considering the amount of us living together. I will try and remember the names…

• Sophie (mum)
• Amaury (dad)
• Raoul (boy, 23 yrs old)
• Victoire (girl, 20 yrs old)
• Foulks (sp?) (boy, 18 yrs old) - pronounced fook (!)
• Eponine (girl, 10 yrs old)
• Auxane (girl, 12 yrs old)

then 2 I don’t know the names of (keep forgetting)

Auxane said I was her new big sister and elle m’a dit “je t’aime bien” :)

Also, we have Jerome and another French guy who are interns living with us but who will leave soon and an Indian guy called Gitaine (again, sp.?) who is nicknamed Gitou.

So loads of us, you see!

p.s. English is forbidden ARGH!

Food

Loads of it, being fed by the family so all homemade too. Lunch was fried chicken with sauteed cubed potatoes and onions, washed down with vin rouge of course, followed by a selection of cheeses (including brie and goat cheese yum yum) and fresh baguette, followed by icecream, followed by black coffee!!!

Dinner was a similar affair - cold pasta salad (pasta, mayo, mustard, tomatoes, ham, egg) with bread, followed by cheeses again and then yoghurts for dessert! And every mealtime is accompanied by half the table lighting up!

Interns

There are quite a few of us which is great.

Turbomeca: Sam, me (and Charlotte who hasnt arrived yet)

Messier Dowty: Helen

Total: Gemma and Abi

ESC: Sophie H, Sophie C and Kaya

Went out for drinks last night, got lots of looks because we were English. Hmm…

Pau

Was taken on a tour by Sophie, Eponine and Auxane who got me a new French SIM, helped me apply for CAF (housing allowance) and got me a rendez-vous at the bank! They also quickly showed me where things are and saw the Pyrennees which are AMAZING! Really lovely town :)

So I think that’s it for now! Am going into Pau later for dejeuner with some of the interns and some mooching.

A bientot,

Bisous

Most people who will follow this will know me, but for those who randomly found this: I am Grace! I am writing this because as part of my degree, the University has declared it absolutely necessary that I must be shipped off to France for a year to try and improve my dubious French. The amount of threats we have received, should we not complete our obligatory 32 weeks, are unbelievable, trust me. How I have managed to get through 2 years of degree level French is beyond me, but here I am, approximately 10 weeks away from departing rainy England to enjoy a year in the South of France working! The hilarious part is the fact that I am in charge of teaching French people the English language when my own mastery of my mother tongue is questionable itself. But, I am very excited at the prospect of sunshine… when you have lived in Manchester for 2 years, sunshine for more than 6 consecutive hours is considered a heat wave. I am living with a Catholic French family who have 8 children, take in 3 interns (French and/or English) and speak no English. I guarantee that somehow I will put my foot in it at least once in the first week… watch this space. Anyway… this blog is for my friends and family to see what I am upto and what inevitable embarrassing situations I shall find myself in and also so that I can gloat and post pictures of mountains, palm trees and beaches. The next 10 weeks won’t be particularly interesting as this is the time I need to try and “organise” myself but you never know, I may have some fun stories to tell! Bisous x P.S. Flight is officially booked! I am leaving England on 2nd September at 6.30am from Bristol (£25 - have to love Ryanair!)