This title makes a lot of sense if you were able to experience the last two Wednesdays that I had. For the entire story, you'll have to read a past post about the whole class becoming animals and so on. Today was a little different. Our teacher had every intention of giving us a sheet of paper for us to reformulate and talk about, but we somehow managed to distract her. We started talking about Christmas. I learned so many things. First of all, Columbia doesn't really believe that Santa gives gifts, so instead of children writing letters to St. Nicholas, they write letters to Baby Jesus. That surprised me... The guy from the Netherlands was convinced that Father Christmas/Santa was an American thing, but turns out, he really is world-wide. In France, children write letters to a certain address and there's an organization that answers the letters! I know! Incredible. I want to be a worker that answers children's letters to Santa! How cute would that be? Seriously! Then, when the guy from the Netherlands was talking about his family Christmas traditions, he said they go to church on Christmas Eve and the guy next to him (who's from Belgium) asked, "What do you do at church? Why would you go there?" It was really funny, but sad at the same time.
Then, we (meaning the Americans) started talking about when Christmas begins, which led to a grand explanation of Black Friday. My teacher was astonished and couldn't get enough... She asked us so many questions and couldn't seem to wrap her head around the fact that we get up at 4am in the morning to wait in line in the freezing cold OUTSIDE of the store in order to run in and get the items that we want. That was fun to explain. The Chinese girl sitting next to me asked me what Thanksgiving was, so then we explained the holiday, yet again, and another American girl pulled out stickers. We passed the stickers around the class and when they reached the Belgian boy, he asked, "What's 'gobble gobble'?" To that, they tried explaining the sound a turkey makes and then I piped up and said that I could make that sound. My teacher then asked me to do it in front of the class... So, I cleared my throat and hoped to God that I could still do it after not making that noise for at least 3 months... and I made the turkey noise. I even got a standing ovation from the Americans. Made my day.
Next, after the Japanese girl explained the Christmas traditions in her country, which are very similar to Valentine's Day, by the way, we started talking about relationships. My prof went around to each person and asked us specifics about our significant other. While I was happy to tell people about my story, I was a little envious of those single people who didn't face the interrogation. So, next Wednesday, we have to bring pictures. Ha. This story has an awkward ending though. My prof asked the nice Korean lady (who shyly said a couple weeks ago when Madame asked our ages that she's "more than 30") said she would rather not say. Madame poked and prodded, even though many of us students piped us and reiterated that the lady didn't want to talk about it. We all felt badly for her and it was kind of a sad way to end the class.
What have I learned from this Wednesday? Well, I have learned that other Christmas traditions are really fun to learn about and I love it. I also was able to talk about Black Friday in French. That was a fun feat. Also, I learned that hearing about other people's relationships only makes me more sappy and desirous to to be home. At the same time, I am content and loving the rainy afternoon where I can sit inside, write a blog and ponder the things that have happened here in France. It seems a little early to be so nostalgic, but I am. Oh France. This December is going to go quickly, isn't it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment