Francegiving

This year I celebrated my third Thanksgiving away from my family and country. It was also the second Thanksgiving in a row that I was abroad and away from real turkey and cranberry sauce, so I'm fairly used to accepting the fact that sometimes you just have to let go of your traditions and know you will have another "real" holiday someday.

But, this time, we decided to say "no way France, we are having our Thanksgiving!"

Chelsea and I scoured all of the grocery stores in Valenciennes, went MacGyver on poultry and cooked up an awesome Thanksgiving dinner for Chelsea's French family, the Bisiaux family.

And I must say, it was a huge success. I concocted, from scratch, the best-ever green bean casserole, Chelsea made her grandmother's southern dressing (kind of like stuffing) and her family's coca-cola salad (sounds crazy, I know, but it was delicious and served as a perfect substitute to our missing cranberry sauce). We found smoked chickens to be the turkey replacements, and add a bunch of French wines and aperitifs, and you get the best Francegiving one could have.

The night was perfect, and as we streamed a recording of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we almost felt like we were home.

Check out these pics of our feast! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and am so grateful to have you in my life!

There is a cat garden by my apartment

One of the hardest things about living abroad for me is being away from my pets. The love and affection one can get from their animals is irreplaceable and unlike anything else. I envy those who took on the challenge of bringing their furry pals overseas (Jamie, if you are reading this, I am thoroughly jealous).

I miss my kitty Gracie so much and want more than anything to just snuggle her nose and babytalk her all night long. Come on, you know you would do it too.

So, to my very delight, I discovered a small patch of gated grass on my way home from school a few weeks ago that was covered with kitties! Black, white, gray, white and gray. They were all kittens the first time I saw them and have since grown.

But how cool is that?! A freaking garden of cats! There were at least 10 of them (though I was only able to capture a few on film).

As I was walking home today I noticed an old man putting around the garden distributing water and food to his feline friends (he must be the leader of the pride). I tried approaching one of the resting kittens and she looked quite curious and interested in who I was, but then got this manic look in the eye and the thought of french cat rabies quickly entered my mind.

I am going to monitor this cat garden phenomenon during my time here, but maybe I'll just keep my distance...

Success! I have a library card!

Yes! Something went very well today: I succeeded in signing up for a library card at the library here in Valenciennes.

It is a rather nice library actually: 3 stories and a great collection of French as well as American, British and even Swedish literature.

First borrowed books: Anais Nin's Henry and June en francais, and the Life of Pi for Jordan and a collection of Keats' poems for Chelsea.

I think I found my new hang-out in this town :)

Neness...yes it rhymes with p****

This is Neness. He has a picture of himself tattooed on his arm.

For weeks now Chelsea has been saying we need to check out this bar in town called American Graffiti.

"I hear they play good music and stuff. One of my teachers recommended it and her husband is a musician, so it must be good."

Well we went, and yes my friends, it was good.

This place, American Graffiti, is a haven for any American wandering, lost and alone in Europe and in need of a good friend, who is totally obsessed with all things Americana.

We stumbled in last Friday night, and once Chelsea opened her mouth and that Southern drawl came out, the owner of the joint, Neness, nearly peed his pants with excitement.

"Nashville?! Comme Johnny Cash?! Yes?"

We were instant celebrities, were offered free beer (and cherry beer) all night long and coaxed into taking pictures with the band of the night (they wanted us to hold their guitars, which were apparently replicas of the one Marilyn Manson has. How cool....).

I don't quite know what else I can say about this place. Really only pictures can convey the absolute awesomeness of it. Though yes, I have to say it again, Neness has a tattoo of himself, on his arm. And a statue of Elvis in his kitchen.

I love this place.

Elvis, Native American, Marilyn Monroe. That's America

There's our guy


Just like Marilyn Manson....

I'm a Teacher and a Tour Manager

One of the classrooms at one of my schools: Plaine de Mons

Quick update to everyone, just to lay down some news and an overview of life so far here in the North.

I went back and read a few of my past posts and I must apologize--I sound rather cynical and ungrateful for the experience I am getting to live now.

In all honesty, I am having a blast. Yeah, France can be pretty ridiculous and I never will understand how this country works, Valenciennes is the quirkiest town next to Tucson in my book and I swear I sometimes feel like I am in an episode of the Twilight Zone, but other than that, people here are nothing but warm and welcoming, I laugh everyday and I am able to talk to the ones I love whenever I want (except Bea and Allison, I need to work on that one--sorry loves!).

So I have taught two classes so far, on Thanksgiving. I think they went well. I am discovering that even though I am only teaching 12 hours a week, I am definitely going to be working a lot more. Prep time for lessons takes a while, plus I have 12 different classes a week, and even if I repeat lessons, I need to tailor them to the individual classes since language levels vary greatly between classes and schools (I teach at three schools).

But I am enjoying it nonetheless, and also have started tutoring Louise, the 13 year old daughter of the Inspector of my school district, so that is a little extra cash.

I also am the European Tour Manager of my roommate, Chelsea Lovitt, singer-songwriter from Nashville. It started out as nothing serious, but we've been here about 2 weeks and already have her booked at two gigs.

Yup, we are just hanging out in the cold North of France, playing guitars, sipping wine and just trying to soak it all in.

Chelsea on the streets of Valenciennes, guitar in hand


Lez Assistantes
(Laura (from Miami), Chelsea (from Nashville), Me, Rose (from Alaska!))


One of the schools I teach at is for handicapped children. This just looks like some weird torture device from the 1940s. I don't even want to know...

Ma Tres Chic Vie en France

Chez Moi

Ma Chambre

La Cuisine

I am now finally settled into what will be my home for the next few months. My 2-room apartment is on a quiet street, down the road from the Musee des Beaux-Arts of Valenciennes and, as I have just discovered, right across the street from the French version of Gossip Girl.

Juste en face of my large, living room windows is the private Lycee (high school) Notre Dame and today I have learned that my front doorstep is the hot-spot before and after school and at midi (lunch time).

Five minutes ago the immense green doors of the gated school opened and out strode the throng of highly well-dressed tweens and teens complete with their Longchamp totes, heeled boots, neck scarves, and, of course, that signature cigarette hanging from the lip.

I've decided it is best to either stay hoarded up in my apartment during these specific hours or just stay away, otherwise I end up fumbling through the tangled mess of intimidating French girls who look way more sophisticated than I, a girl almost 10 years their senior.

While this could end up being rather a nuissance, I will revel in it for now. Nothing goes better with my lunch of rice and lentils than a little French teen gossip and galavanting around.

And yes, I am eating rice and lentils because that was all I could afford from the discount supermarket as I now only have 2,50€ in my bank account.

Yup, I am living the dream people. The dream of the glamorous, tres chic life in France.