Funny Stories

A couple of funny stories for you!

1. I like this story. I was teaching the other day, and we were doing clothing and fashion. It was already into a questionable arena when I had to explain the difference between boxers and briefs, and also when a student said something about men wearing panties. Later on, we were playing a game “I'm going to a wedding, and I'm going to wear ___________” with an adjective and a noun. There were 9 women in class and one very shy man, Thomas, who is a friend of mine. So, all the girls went around and said, “I'm going to a wedding and I'm going to wear a green skirt, or a purple scarf, or a big hat”. And then it gets to Thomas, and he says, “I'm going to a wedding, and I'm going to wear kangaroo briefs”. And I said, 'what are kangaroo briefs?'. And my students all started saying, 'you know, kangaroo briefs, for men.' And I asked if that was the brand of the briefs. They said no. And then I asked why there were called that. And one of the girls said, “because they have a little pouch”, and then another girl looked at Thomas, and back at me and said “or a big pouch”, and poor Thomas turned about the color of ketchup. I think I learned my lesson about teaching students about underwear!

2. Story number two also comes from a student. We were talking about schools, and I asked them to share a strong memory from their school days. There were a lot of stories about broken wrists and cracked-open heads and mean games. And then one girl told the story of her classroom pet, a little bunny. During the summer, no one in the class could take the bunny, so the teacher gave it to a school neighbor to take care of it during the summer. This older gentlemen, according to my student, 'he kill the bunny and he eat it!'. I thought I was never going to stop laughing. It seems like the most 'French' story I could ever hear!

I hope you're doing well and enjoying your own funny surroundings!

Rebecca's Top-Five List of the Most Dangerous Things To Do in Carcassonne

5. Go to the gym (Rugbymen)

4. Cross the street without looking (crazy drivers)

3. Go to la cité on a sunny Sunday (tourists)

2. Go to the Irish pub on a Saturday night (military)

And the Number One Most Dangerous thing to do in Carcassonne...

1. Walk down the street with your eyes closed (dog poop)

Stay safe!! :)

Why is Dating so Confusing in France?

Maybe because dating doesn't exist. I know this, I have lots of friends with whom I discuss the differences between French relationships and American relationships, I have seen the differences and am fully aware of them, but I have never before been single in France. Single in France. It sounds like a fabulous opportunity, doesn't it? Like all my girl friends back home should be jealous of my situation. The reality, though, is a far cry from the romantic images the idea conjures. Why? See below.

First of all, the relations between men and women are very different. Men and women are not typically friends. As you all know, I have lots of male friends, and that's really important to me. But here, usually, men and women only go out together if they're lovers. This means that anytime I meet a guy and think that he would be a great friend, I can never see him again. Because if I ask if he wants to do something sometime, he of course thinks I am after him, and if he wants to see me again, I must assume that he wants to be my boyfriend. This makes things very confusing for Rebecca, who just wants guy friends, but can't seem to manage it.

It's not that French men aren't attractive and nice and interesting people, but the act of going out several times to get to know someone and then deciding if there could maybe be more than that doesn't really happen here. If someone finds you attractive, and asks you to go out or do something and you agree, that means you are his girlfriend. So, when I was given three different phone numbers the other evening, I really didn't feel inclined to dial any of them.

Here's another thing- they work in pairs, sometimes even teams. This has happened to me twice recently. There will be two good friends, one who actually talks to me and maybe who I think is interesting, and the other who kind of observes. But then it's the observer who I find out later is the one who is interested in me. So, now I clearly can't go out with the first friend (because then the observer will be upset), and I can't go out with the observer (cause who wants to do that?), so we all just say goodbye and the team moves on the next player.

Still, in terms of cultural lessons, I am learning a great deal! :)

New Year, New Journal!

Hi! Welcome to my new journal! Thanks for making the change, and sorry if it's confusing!

I realize it's been over a month, and no, I haven't forgotten about my journal project, just been a bit preoccupied. So, a quick fill in since I last wrote...I went home to the states for the winter break and saw friends and family. It was really wonderful to be home for a couple of days, and though it short and pretty exhausting, I'm glad I got to go home and spend some time in beautiful Oregon with the people I love! When I got back to France, I had a busy work week (also jetlagged and with some sort of stomach bug), and eventually got myself settled back into normalcy. My first weekend back was my birthday, so we went out. And then I had a writing workshop all day on Saturday, which didn't exactly work out as planned, but was still a good day of writing. The next week, I got caught up with friends. One of my friends had a sad family thing happen, so I spent a lot of time talking with her. I went to a writing workshop in French, which was really fun, but difficult. I went to a dinner party, and then went out to the pub (see post: dating in France), worked the next day, and then on Friday afternoon, I went with Michaela to our friend Sarah's parent's house in Albi for the weekend.

Albi is a lovely city with a river flowing through it. Its buildings are red brick and colombage (timber house- much like in Germany), and is known for its famous artist Toulouse-Lautrec. The cathedrale is immense, fortress-like on the outside, and incredibly detailed on the inside, with every surface painted in really very modern motifs. The neighboring museum holds works of Toulouse-Lautrec, from his earliest drawings all the way through his career, thus tracing the evolution of his style, themes, and even specific pieces. It's a wonderful museum for its simplicity and direct handling of the art (there's no abstract explanation or theorized installations, it's more of a gallery, just showing the work), and even though I've been there before, I could spend a lot more time there than I did on this visit.

The weekend was really nice. Sarah's parents are great. They've been traveling all over the world for decades, and are selling their house in April to start traveling again. They are full of stories and questions, and made us very at home with delicious meals and photo albums. It was fun to spend time with a French family, as I haven't done that for quite awhile. Here, I'm back into almost college mode, where you forget that other generations and lifestyles exist other than that of the young adult. Of course, I have lots of friends here of my parent's age, but they are all single adults, not families. And I don't think I've talked to a kid since August, when I left PFS. That's odd.

It's back to work tomorrow, with a dinner on Monday and on Tuesday, a play on Wednesday (Pygmalion- My Fair Lady), and then a huge party that we're throwing on Saturday night.

I'm going to try to be much better about posting regularly, for anyone who actually reads this thing regularly (which I think really is only a few relatives).