Farewell Dinner

On the 9th, we had our program Farewell Dinner at a Moroccan restaurant where we ate Couscous and other delicious dishes, and we also passed out our "secret Santa" gifts. I got a mug with chocolate and a spoon to make hot chocolate! My gift-receiver was this very, very, nice girl (one of our business school students) named Lisa - I got her chocolate on a spoon (for hot chocolate) and candied fruit. Everyone had an enormously great time.

Shawn, Me, Carrie & Allison

Emma & I

The People who Work at this University/The People from whom I've Learned

My teachers here have been quite interesting, and usually very entertaining. Most of them are quite eccentric, each having their own crazy little quirks. It's inevitable. I'll describe them to you, and also how their finals went (though I've yet to take the last one which is today). 

Well my morning grammar teacher is just... crazy. She kinda looks like a bird, but that's not the main point. She has really, really, incredibly short bronze (dyed) hair. She wears crazy outfits: one time black and white striped pants (think Beettlejuice), sometimes an orange metallic coat, sometimes a black (blue?) metallic shirt with an Elizabethan neck ruffle under that orange coat. She gets crazy unconvincing happy voice too, and sometimes talks to us like we're babies. All in all she aint bad! The final for grammar is the same for everyone in B1: oral comprehension (not too shabby), written comprehension (not bad either - I usually do well here), and written expression (passable).

My art history teacher is probably approaching his 50s. Blue camo pants. Penguin/winter themed sweaters. No top lip. Bottom lip. Absolutely no top lip. And maybe a lisp... I haven't been 100% on that. I really can't concentrate sometimes because I'm willing him to have a top lip. He seems very interested in what he's teaching, but frankly the class doesn't keep everyone's attention 100% of the time. That final... everyone walked out of laughing because it was so difficult. There's no way any of us could have done superbly. Nothing to do but laugh and move on!

Vocabulary teacher (who's also my culture and society teacher) looks like a prettier version of Rachel Dratch (from SNL... google if you don't know). She's quite nice, very personable, I like her a lot. Vocab final wen't pretty well, I think. There was even a mistake on the test in a sentence that we actually had to copy and while writing my sentence I had this inner battle to correct it or not, mainly because it confused me. Here: 'Il nous a rencontré,' was her sentence (if you speak French you should see the mistake already), and we had to change everything in the paragraph to be feminine, but the problem is that there should be an S on that last verb there because of the 'nous,' which... nevermind, in the end, my sentence read 'Elle nous a rencontrés.' I hope to get full points on that one. I'm taking the Culture and Society final today.

My History of France teacher is cool. His profile wouldn't end with his nose, but his lips. They stick out. Maybe his nose... The best part about this guy: sometimes he sounds just like Giacomo from the movie Thumbelina. He's cool too, and gets really into the stories. One time, for some reason, to explain something... I don't know, he put his leg on the chair and lifted up his pant leg to show us his leg or calf or to make some point, anyway, I did that sexy whistle and erryone laughed. It was perfect. He's cool.


 

Thanksgiving and Strasbourg

That's not even all of us!

Thanksgiving was the best. The best. At home, Thanksgiving is fun, and we do the usual eating, but because it's just my immediate family in Washington, it's not a big shin-dig. However, this Thanksgiving, in a country that doesn't even celebrate it (why would they?) will stick out in my mind for the rest of time. First of all, there were more than twenty of us, everyone brought a dish (thanks again, Aunt Cathy, for the stuffing recipe!), everything was delicious, and we were all so unified. Also, in all of the pictures my face is red because my skin is so light that one drop of alcohol (wine, of course) turns my head into an apple.

Strasbourg

In Colmar!

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we all got on a bus at 10 am and headed to Strasbourg, which is right on the border between France and Germany. The city itself has gone through about four changes of nationality. The ride there was about six or more hours, and before we got there we stopped at the museum of Compté cheese. My favorite French cheese so far. We had a tasting and everything. Very informational. The type of grass and flowers the cows eat determines the cheese's taste! In Strasbourg, during late November and all through December there are the Marchés de Noël, which are Christmas Markets, and the town is decorated perfectly. Picture time!

Allison and I

La Neige Dans Ma Bouche

Well before I write a post about my wonderful weekend, I'll take this time to post some photos. Just for kicks. No, mainly because it's snowing a lot and I'm cozy inside. Coffee and chocolate? Yes, please! I went to class today (late) and my teacher and most of the class wasn't there so after an hour we left. Who says there are no snow days in France?

The view from my room.

The view from upstairs.

A warning? Dead bug on my desk.

Catchik!

I killed it. They're all after me.