For your interest and information:
The time difference between Iowa and Besançon is 7 hours. Besançon is 7 hours ahead of Iowa. So as I sit here typing at 10:30 in the morning, it is the wee hour of 3:30am in Iowa.
People of Besançon are known as Bisontins (men) and Bisontines (women).
My region, Franche-Comté, has its own eponymous cheese, which is fairly mild but firm, and tasty.
My address until February 14th (Valentine's day, easy to remember) is:
39 Bis rue Henri Baigue
25000 Besançon, FRANCE
Feel free to write to me, I will be sure to write you back!
Right now as you know I am living with a host family, but after one month I will be moving to another french person's house (I don't know who yet), where I will essentially rent a room and cook my own meals, which is much more economical but still provides plenty of french interaction and cultural exchange.
I have a French cellphone (thanks so much, Amber, it's great!) and the number is 00 33 06 74 69 12 59. The first four numbers, 00 33, are the country code for France, which you must dial before any French number when calling from outside France. However, I don't recommend that you call me, as it is excruciatingly expensive to call a French cellphone, even more than a landline. That being said, text messages only cost about a quarter, I think, so if you know how to text, feel free to surprise me sometime!
Although my host family is most certainly thoroughly French, there are some things that they do and don't do that don't follow what I understand to be French custom. Especially at meals. They do not use their knife and fork in the European style (knife in the right hand, fork in the left, don't set the knife down). Also, they put their hands in their lap during the meal sometimes, which is something I thought the French never did (hands should always be above the table, wrists resting on the edge). So far I have not seen any wine, but maybe my host family just doesn't drink?? Finally, my host family does not do the "kiss on each cheek" greeting, so far as I have seen. Every one has greeted me with a simple handshake, except for the girls, who gave me a kiss on one cheek when I met them and after I gave them presents. Maybe these are just silly, simple stereotypes, but I was surprised by each of them.
Other information of interest: all toilet paper I have seen so far is pink. I couldn't figure out how to shut off the lights in my room, as it is a dimmer dial and apparently you have to press it like a button to shut them off. The biolait, or lait UHF, (ultra-sterilized milk), still sits ominously out on the counter, unrefrigerated, defying all natural laws of spoilage. The streets here are so narrow that most are physically one-ways, with a row of parked compact cars on the side, which makes for an exciting ride on the bus. If you've seen or heard anything about the new ports with rentable bicycles that they have in France, they have quite a few ports here in Besançon but I never see anyone riding them. If you'll look to the right of my blog, I have posted numerous links about the city for your information. The weather link may be of particular interest for you Iowans!
Well that is really all for now but I will be sure to post again as soon as I can. The connection here is kind of slow and it is my host family's computer so I don't want to be on it too much. Next time: a post about all of the French cards I have quickly accrued!
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9 comments:
Yay! Thanks for the mini culture lesson. Perhaps I can use it as part of my task to improve my knowledge about the culture of my language of study for my methods class. Perhaps not. :) I like the stereotype section. Perhaps your family has no manners. Lol just kidding. But that does surprise me about the hands in the lap etc. However, I have not met many a frenchman to prove to me that it is true either. Are you sure it is only a quarter to send a text?? I would tell anyone calling you to check with their phone carrier before doing so. My grandma could call me for free or very cheap. My parents could call for like .7 cents a minute. So it definitely varies. Also do you not love the pink toilet paper? I wish that we had pink toilet paper here. I think that it should come in all sorts of shades that you can pile on the back of your toilet as a decoration of sorts. You know, for when you live on your own, you can buy refrigerated milk. And, you are supposed to put the other kind in the fridge after opening. I discovered that the hard way... :) I didn't drink it but the french woman was like uh... you have to put that in the fridge. :) OOPS!
So anyway, loved your update. Hope you are continuing to have the time of your life.
Am-bear
Fully Competent Amanda, I do not know blog etiquette (actually, I wasn't entirely certain how to spell etiquette, but sounded it out en France), so I don't know whether it would be rude of me to give out your blog address. I have not yet done so. However, I have a colleague, who speaks French, has visited France, and who would be interested to read about spreadable cheeses, etc. She is quite pleasant and may be able to help you decode various cultural mysteries. May I share ou non?? Cuz Tam p.s. I am not fully fledged. I think I have only one tiny feather, but that might be enough for sending you notes. I'm sure you did well on your"competency" test.
Amanda Panda~
Thanks for the time difference info, you would think I could look it up, but it was easier to have you tell me! :-)
Glad the testing went well!
That lunch makes me realize why the French are thin.....I would have to stick to the bread!! I know you are shocked :-)
Sounds like things are going well and you continue to be highly adventurous!
You didn't even send me a LOL about my toiletries comments!!
Tillie sends you a hug and hello!
Keep blogging!
Love you~
Rene'
After talking with Jon about your blog and giving him the address, he said that if you ever have the opportunity to try "torchon of frois gras"---a pate'---he would highly recommend that you do. The spelling of the afore mentioned item may leave something to be desired, but hopefully you can get the idea. We were going to go to Iowa City yesterday but decided the weather was just too bad. I'm glad we made that decision because today when I took the interstate to Cedar Falls, there were still 5 or 6 cars in the ditches and tracks where others had been in the ditch. We received about 5 inches more snow while Iowa City got only 1-2 inches. I have to say though that it is very pretty.Love and hugs, dw
oops, I meant to say "en francaise". pardon. i guess you realized i did not actually travel to France to sound out a word. if i had, i'd like to think i would have stopped by to say "how dee". t.
Haha, the kissing thing...I had heard rumours that certain places in France aren't very generous with their kisses. Only one bisou! I can't imagine. Looove the toilet paper comment...I buy the orange stuff for my apartment. It smells of clementines. No joke!
Rene, LOL on the lunch comment, and also the toiletries comment, which I simply didn't understand the first time I read it! Bonjour and a hug to Tillie!
Tam, your comments always make me smile, somehow they are funny without trying :)
Kate! Bienvenue to my blog. Clementines, vraiment? I must find some of this and try it for myself. And yes, it is terribly triste, this lack of bisous. :( Tu me manques!!
Amanda, All of the following text is from the colleague I mentioned earlier.
I am stumped by the failure to kiss as every French person I have ever met in every region and from every region has insisted on bussing me on both sides. I will refer this to Anna for insight and get back to you.
Seriously though, Anna has always noted that as one moves that far east in France the German-inflected accent gets quite noticeable and presumably that eastern influence extends to folkways as well as just language. I have noticed that the personal names on both sides of the border in that area reflect this--Pierre's on the German side and Hans and Franz on the French side, for instance.
The lack of wine could be an individual family predilection (as Amanda noted) or a reflection of regional agriculture. For instance where Anna lived, Brittany, they don't drink wine as much, either, because they are an apple growing region so they drink more cidre and calvados.
P.S. Anna loves the Franche-Comte fromage as well!
Amanda, The following text is a continuation of the speculative, yet explanatory comments from a colleague's friend, who lived in France:
Re: Besancon, Anna has some insights for us:
1. Kissing customs in la douce France: the number of cheek kisses varies by region and Anna said in many regions they will warn you that they do it differently than the standard "once on either cheek." In Brittany, for instance, they kiss not once, not twice, not thrice, BUT FOUR TIMES--twice on each cheek. Anna relayed that when she first moved there she was frequently warned about the practice. Anna spent almost every weekend during the 12 months she lived there travelling all over France and experienced the regional variations in kissing--she also was taken off guard by it at first!
2. Silverware use, hand positions, and dining etiquette in general: Very very context specific, i.e., at home the etiquette is frequently more relaxed with less attention paid to the formal rules. In Brittany when dining out with her French colleagues the dining formalities noted by Amanda were generally observed but when dining in her colleagues' homes everyone relaxed. For instance, Anna said no one she worked with would ever have dreamed of mopping up their plate with their bread while in a restaurant but that when dining in home, everyone did this.
3. Anna and I both want to go to Besancon now--
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