Surfing in January?

Having always been told that the French for snowboarding is snowboarding, it would seem that all the cool kids (and fellow teachers, bemused shop assistants etc.) now use surf.

So for the first weekend of term I went surfing in the Alps. (Kind of.) Being friends with the assistants in the school across the road I managed to invite myself to their Amicale's ski weekend in Les Contamines Montjoie. The Amicale is basically an group in each school which organised social evenings and weekends for the teachers. For skiing this worked out brilliantly, as transport was in the form of car-share and the kind people who drove us wouldn't hear about petrol reimbursement. We got a huge group discount on ski-passes, accommodation and food, so the whole weekend cost under €50.

The weekend's activities included snowboarding, a picturesque sunny/snowy walk, drinking, night-time tobogganing and tonnes of cheese.

The next weekend all of the girls went on my school's equivalent of the same trip, in Les Plans d'Hotonnes. A teacher said they could lend me ski equipment in my size for free, so I decided to ski, for the first time in four years. After a shaky first button lift, it turned out - like everyone said - to be just like riding a bike.

Courtesy of my very talented (and pretty)  friends Andrea and Karolina

Much more fun than my thoroughly intermediate 'red-slope' skiing was teaching my friends some of whom had barely seen snow before, never mind snow-sports. All in all, plenty of laughter, falling over and recovery vin chaud gave us a second successful weekend. The only question is: when next?

L'Esprit de l'Escalier

avoir l'esprit de l'escalier: to think of a great response after the moment has passed.

This great expression doesn't really have a direct translation into English, but we all know too well the frustration of winning an argument in your mind after everyone's gone home. Somewhat ironically (or fittingly?), this happens to me a lot more in French than English, usually from taking a few seconds too long to understand or find a piece of vocabulary. Most embarrassing is when you're passing someone in the corridor: in the few seconds you have to exchange pleasantries I tend to come out with something a bit awkward, even in English:

But in French this all becomes ten times worse when you realise seconds too late that the person you just spoke to in fact said 'bonne année' (happy new year), rendering my hurried reply of 'oui, merci' (yes, thanks) entirely inappropriate and just a little odd. 

More frustrating are the moments when words as simple as Tuesday seem to have fled the mind, in favour of my inner idiot dancing around and shouting 'Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! It's Jeudi!' (which definitely means Thursday). I'm sure these things are part and parcel of starting back at school after two weeks in the UK, but I'm also sure they'll never entirely go away, which is possibly the most frustrating part of language learning.

Afterthought: Speaking of my two weeks in the UK, they were lovely (thank you for asking), and filled with mince pies, Terry's chocolate oranges, friends, family and all kinds of homely, Christmassy wonderfulness. That said, other than the usual 'back to work' blues, I'm not entirely put out at being back. Ever the optimist, I'm looking forward to the Winter term, which I'm sure you'll hear all about in due course. 

Alsace at Christmas

I'm a little late writing this post as the last week before leaving has been a little hectic (!) with extra working hours, 'Christmas' meals and very last-minute packing.

We rearranged Friday's lessons to leave Lyon at 5pm. After a few hours' delay, down snowy roads impassable by coach, we arrived in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines at some ungodly hour in the morning. Through the dark, rain and sleep-deprivation we didn't quite get to appreciate our location, but waiting for us in the morning was a kind of Winter Wonderland:

After a deservedly lazy morning we made our way to Strasbourg, but with only 1½ hours to spend there we sped around the city taking in the main sights: a typical Alsatian meal, the Cathedral, 'la Petite France', and the Christmas market:

 

Later in the evening we went to Obernai, a small historical town with a traditional, artisan market. The evening light wasn't great for photos, but the place was fabulously festive, with tiny, winding streets, old-fashioned houses and a really authentic market.

After a long day we were treated to a traditional 'raclette' dinner: four different types of melted raclette cheese (including 'white wine' and 'smoked' varities), dried cured meats, potatoes, bread and lettuce.

In the morning we went to Colmar, a town taken over by six separate Christmas markets spread across the streets. This wasn't all Colmar had to offer, though. It was a lovely small town with a 'petite Venise' rather like the 'petite France' of Strasbourg, but on a canal.

Far too soon we returned to Lyon, to arrive before the last metro. Unfortunately, by this hour, our train back to Bourg en Bresse had long gone so we had to stay in Lyon for the night in an unusually clean hostel. I'd easily recommend Cool&Beds to anyone looking to stay in Lyon - three of us stayed in a private room for four, which worked out cheaper than the dorms at €20 each.

In spite of the delays, all thanks goes to Erasmus-Lyon for a festive weekend, and for taking us to places we'd never have thought to visit ourselves.