I started receiving a newsletter for Mark's company and learned that they are offering French classes to spouses of ITER employees at L'Institute des Etudes Francaises pour les Etudiantes Estranges (IEFEE), which means I started taking French classes last week. The classes include 10 hours per week of French language/conversation... a great review for me about a lot of what I have forgotten over the past 7 years. I am also taking an elective class on the Mythology in Art - all of which is taught in French. Hopefully my skills will be back in full force soon. In the meantime, I'm already sensing some improvement. Plus, I've met a few people through Mark's friends at work who will help me practice conversation when we're out.
Last week and this weekend proved to be quite festive.
On Tuesday I attended a "Tastevin" with members of AAGP, one of the groups I joined in Aix. A Tastevin is basically a wine tasting. Someone from the group hosts it each month. Since it was a "school night", Mark was not able to join me, but he was missed. Several of the members work with Mark, which is actually how I heard about the group. We tasted wines from a vineyard in the northeast region of France. I wasn't too impressed with the reds (too oaky for me), but I did buy a bottle of the Chardonnay. The charcuterie and cheese served with the wines were actually my favorite part of the night, including chevre (goat cheese). That and getting to know the members of the group better was a true highlight. I'm excited because Mark and I will be hosting the Tastevin in April!
Friday night was an Aperitif Dinatoire, hosted by IFIP, the other group I joined. Many of the members are the same people who are involved in AAGP which is nice because I get the opportunity to do a lot with them. Mark's boss and his wife were the ones hosting Friday's event, and it was an absolute blast! An Aperitif Dinatoire is like the evening version of a brunch. Normally it should start around 6:00 pm, but since it was a Friday we had to wait for people to get settled in after work and started at 7:00 pm. Rather than a sit-down dinner, it was just a buffet of appetizers, and delicious appetizers at that, plus a lot of great wine! After a few hours of eating and socializing, we teamed up to play a game about idioms. Some members of IFIP are Americans/English and some are French. So we each had to write an idiom in our native language, put it in a hat and then draw a new one. We teamed up into groups mixed with French and English speakers to continue the game. Once we drew a new idiom we had to come up with 3 definitions for it, 2 false and 1 true. If you read an idiom in English, the French speakers had to choose which definition they thought was the true one and vice versa. It was a little tough for Mark since he couldn't understand what was being said during the French idioms, but one of his team members was helping to translate for him. In addition, Mark's idiom of choice was the hit of the night: "Up shit creek without a paddle." The French thought it was hilarious! The French woman on my team turned to me and asked, "What's a creek?" Overall we had a great time with our wonderful company.
Saturday was the crazy party night. After enjoying a beautiful 60-degree day in February (sorry to all you Chicagoans stuck in 2 feet of snow), we headed to Mark's co-worker Mike's house for the start of our Poker Run party. Mike had bought quite a few bottles of white and rose champagne for the evening, along with several delicious cheeses, foie gras (which I liked) and caviar (which I did not like). At 10:00 pm we ventured to our apartment (since Mike's building has a noise ordinance) to continue the evening's festivities. Of course, our dear friend Phil has this obsession with a pink and purple wig known as the Tina Turner wig. I made the big mistake my very first weekend in Aix of putting the wig on while at O'Sullivan's and dancing around the bar to Tina Turner's hit "What's Love Got to do With It". Ever since then the wig has followed Phil during every night out. I like to think of the wig now as Bud Light - a sure sign of a good time. Needless to say, the wig made it atop my head on Saturday night while we blasted Tina's classic hit. At least I was not the only person to sport the wig that night. I have photographic evidence that quite a few people were enthralled with the wig as well. Since the champagne also accompanied us from Mike's apartment to ours, it made for an evening of sing-along, dancing and even our friend Tanja being hoisted into the air by two guys, Gregory and Mike, and then Gregory dancing around the room with Tanja on his shoulders. I'm pretty sure the party went until 3am, but we don't have a clock in our living room, so I can't be sure. Regardless, Mark and I received several texts on Sunday (afternoon) thanking us for a wonderful night. Looks like we'll have to do it again soon.
Once Mark and I finished cleaning the apartment on Sunday, we decided yet again to take advantage of the gorgeous weather in Aix. The Argonautes were playing at 2:00 pm, so we moseyed over to the Stade Georges Carcassonne to see what an American football game would be like in France. Yes, Aix has its own American football team. Surprisingly, there were a few hundred people at the opening day game. It was kind of like a high school football game, I guess. Still some very odd differences. First of all, the announcer was quite energetic and slightly more informative than most. In the States we are used to them saying the name of the person making the play and the stat of the play once it has been completed. In France, the announcer gives the audience (which is situated only on one side of the football field) a full play-by-play throughout the game. And as I said, a very energetic play-by-play. What was funny was that he would even describe what the penalties meant over the megaphone so that the fans could understand the technicalities of everything taking place. At half time Mark and I walked over to concessions, just a little "booster" table selling t-shirts, sodas and chips. Definitely reminicent of a high school game. I still want a t-shirt next time we go, though. The most intersting aspects of half time were the following two things: 1. The teams didn't have locker rooms. The players just sat on a bench next to the stands and rested there. 2. One of the refs came into the stands to say hello to his girlfriend and friends and to take a cigarette break. Something else to add to my list of "Things that make you go Hmmm..." What threw me off the most was the dance team that came out at the beginning of the second half. To preface, this game was obviously NOT being held at an "NFL-stadium"... think high school again. It was a field that was used for both soccer and football, and the dance team performed on the track surrounding the field. Back to my point, they began dancing at the start of the second half... while the game was being played. So the announcer would be talking about the game plays and then all of a sudden shout "Soul Force!" - the name of the dance team. Mark and I were like, "Shouldn't they have been performing during half time?" At least we got to see real football on Superbowl Sunday, regardless of the quality of play. Plus, the Argonautes won 28-0! Oh, and did I mention that the head coach of the Argonautes used to be a punter for the Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah, that's right. Go Argonautes!
No comments:
Post a Comment