i'm about to be...

this week!

i come to the states for the christmas holiday this week. here are some things for which i'm excited. 

i think they're trying to kill me

i'm excited to see so many people. but for reasons that are obvious, levi gets the top spot. he's so tiny! 

taking a bath

my shower consists of the very common french situation where the shower head is not attached to the wall so you have to hold it  the entire time you shower. great for conserving water, not so great for my right arm not getting exhausted holding the shower head up in the air. i'm sure there's a joke about the french not bathing/smelling bad in there somewhere. 

just kidding.

but seriously.

my "kitchen" is a corner of my studio. i broke my only two mugs and haven't made the trip back out to ikea yet. so for the moment i'm drinking instant coffee out of a bowl. this leads to me craving good, american-style coffee and being severely over-caffeinated. 

i'm really happy here in france, but i'm so excited to come home to the one thing i get truly homesick for: people. i fly in thursday and will be in the states for a little over two weeks and if you're reading this, chances are i want to see you. so let's make that happen! à bientôt, mes chéris! 

no and because i'm dumb.

i love when my students unwittingly insult me with their questions in english. today's gems: do you have any friends? why didn't you go to harvard? 

et quoi d'autre?

some nuggets about teaching:

• i say "soooo" about 43 times in a class. just like i laugh over french people saying "bon" or "doncuhhhhh" as fillers, my students pointed out how i say sooooo whenever filling a silence or connecting thoughts. but being able to stall naturally in a language goes a long way towards sounding like you know what you're saying when really you're racking your brain for a word. 

• i say "what else?" about 26 times in a class. even i'm getting tired of hearing myself say that, so i'm thinking about asking them to please expound upon that point just to add some variety. 

• some of my best classes are when i completely abandon the lesson plan and just let the lesson flow from the conversation. of course, if i were ever to come in not prepared with a lesson plan, they would be dead silent. so i come in prepared, but willing to drop the lesson if a really good conversation is sparked. 

• i hate chalk. it makes my hands itch. it makes horrible squeaking noises. it makes me sneeze. it shatters into a million pieces when i drop it. i hate chalk. 

• i will not give students good marks just because they told me i look like angelina jolie. but it definitely doesn't hurt either. 

isn't he lovely?

the best baby ever in the history of time

finally, he's here! the teeny-tiniest newest addition to our family was born on november 29. 

his name is levi. 

he is perfect. 

it was/is heartbreaking to not be there. knowing i wouldn't be there for his birth was one of the things that made me wonder if i could really do this. but i'm so filled with joy at this new person in the world and so relieved that he and his momma are healthy and happy that i can't spend too much time being sad. plus i get to meet him really soon! 

so welcome to the world, little levi. it can be hard and strange, but it is oh so beautiful and just became much more so with your arrival. i love you! 

reason #76 france is difficult:

2 months in and the paperwork shows no signs of stopping. 

thanksgiving

never again will i take thanksgiving for granted. i never really thought about how much i loved it, but now it's gone and i want it back. 
trying to describe thanksgiving to french people makes me realize what a bizarre and wonderful holiday it is. that you're gathering with your family and/or friends just to be thankful. and maybe to eat a lot and watch football while you're at it. 
the parts of thanksgiving that seem weirdest to them are that the meal is eaten in the late afternoon, and that you make a pie out of pumpkin. "une tarte de citrouille? dégueulasse!"
part of me just wants to skip it and ignore that it's thanksgiving because there's no way to truly recreated the experience here and i'm sad to be missing it. but i'm being oh so brave and making two valiant attempts at thanksgiving dinners, one tonight and one on sunday. 
so be thankful if you get to be with your family today and i'll try to remember that i'm living in the south of france and even if i didn't have a million other reasons, that is most definitely one for which to be thankful.