January 3, 2021

Sunday

I woke up full of nerves. One of the teachers from Pont-Chéruy invited me to eat a raclettes lunch with her family that afternoon. I’m always nervous when dining with the French. There are a lot of rules on dining that I feel like I should know, but don’t. So, I tried to make myself at least mildly presentable for the event.

My coworker and her daughter picked me up around 12. The daughter was just starting to learn how to drive. In France, kids can start driving with a parent around 15, but they aren’t allowed to drive by themselves until 18. They were shocked when I told them I started driving school at 14 and even more-so when I told them I still hate driving! I had to laugh. Everyone loves driving here.

When we got to the house, the two daughters gave me a tour. This was the most American house I’ve seen so far in France. I think it was a newer build, which might explain why. The rooms were pretty spacious, there was an open floor plan, and everyone had their own study.

I quickly learned that everyone in the family spoke great English. My coworker insisted that her daughters get in some practice because their English teacher has been out for several weeks with no replacement. She wondered if I would be interested in taking the job, but not only am I wholly unqualified, I think I’d get kicked out of the country if I took another job.

We spent a lot of time at the table talking about America. They girls proudly told me they knew a lot about Michigan because they had heard of Detroit. Sadly, they hadn’t heard good things. They were under the impression that Detroit was some sort of ghost town. That no one was left within the city other than auto-workers. I explained that that wasn’t true and that Detroit was actually recovering from years of underinvestment by companies and the government. I showed pictures of community gardens, wonderful artwork within the city, and some of the protests that I attended there during the summer. Their negative view of Detroit was wholly explained by their textbook (pictured below). While it certainly discusses a lot of the problem that Detroit struggles with, the book fails to mention that many are the result of systematic racism.

Lunch was absolutely delicious. I got to try some new cheeses with the raclettes. Would highly suggest a goat cheese to anyone interested in giving it a spin! The cheese is a lot lighter and more fragrant. During the meal, I got to chat with my coworker and her family about my experiences so far in France. I explained the difficulties I am continuing to have with the bank, my struggle adjusting to the French education system, and my adventures in Lyon. It was nice to be able to talk to folks who understand what’s going on and could offer advice or just commiserate. We discussed some of the students I have in class and my coworker gave me some great strategies for dealing with the more troublesome students. Discipline and classroom decorum are a lot different here. Some level of constant and sassy whispering is pretty normal and many kids have no fear of the teacher whatsoever until they threaten to write home to parents.

When we finally finished the main course, we dug into some galette des roi. This is a pastry eaten to celebrate the Epiphany, the period during which the three kings bestowed gifts on baby Jesus. Before baking the pastry, the chef slips in several glass tiles in different places. When the cake is cut up and distributed, the first person to discover a tile becomes king for the day. Needless to say, you need to be really careful eating this dish or you risk breaking a tooth!

We headed back to my place around 4pm. I always end up hungry again by the time a French meal ends. They last so long! I made myself a little snack and settled in to prepare my lessons for the next day. Four of my classes would be working on New Year’s resolutions and my Euro class would be getting introduced to New York. I was excited to talk about New York, because Broadway is a great piece of American culture to chat about. I put in clips from West Side Story, Hamilton, and Wicked to show the different types of plays and the wide range of issues that are talked about on stage. I got Kristin Chenoweth’s “Popular” stuck in my head haha.