Today was so much better than the typical Monday! There was a lot to do at work; primarily, the vice-dean, Céline Blondeau, is speaking at a conference tomorrow in Berlin and since she doesn’t speak German, she will be giving her PowerPoint in English. She is one of the few people in the department who speaks well yet she doesn’t feel confident. I went through her PowerPoint and corrected her grammar and helped her clarify things and I think she will present herself quite well. She is an incredibly accomplished woman with so much to offer, it’s a shame she’s never had the chance to get married. Later today, Stephanie Lecocq, a colleague offered Kami and me two tickets to Disneyland-Paris saying she wouldn’t be ab
le to use them! They expire on Wednesday so we got online, got train tickets, and we leave in 48 hours! Haha… This evening I met Marie Van Peteghem at her office and we picked up her kids and went to Cédric and Véronique Lepoutre’s home. They had asked me if I would give a small English lesson to their two oldest children, Mannon and Charles, both 14 (see photo-no one was quite ready when it was taken). We spoke for two hours or so and I enjoyed it but I am absolutely exhausted! It’s unbelievable the amount of brain power it takes to translate every sentence you say twice. I would say, “First I would like you to present yourselves.” “D’abord, je veux que vous vous presentiez.” (Repeat the sentence in both languages) … “Describe your dream vacation to me: where, when, with whom?” “Décrivez les vacances de vos rêves: où, quand, et avec qui?” (Repeat again) I frantically copied down the words that were unfamiliar to them and their translations. It became easier to tell when they didn’t understand me: they would look at each other and start whispering in French and I would have them try and ask at least the part of the question they could. Charles spoke quickly but without enunciation and intonation so he will need to work on reading aloud to become more understandable, however, he did quite well for only a third year student. Manon understood well but needs to learn to put aside her perfectionist personality, dare make mistakes and learn more vocabulary, but she too did quite well for her level. They were very polite though I could tell
when they were tired of trying. Luckily, we soon after sat down for dinner and it was delicious! Véronique had prepared a salad with apples and a type of bean that I didn’t recognize but tasted similar to a kidney bean. For the main course she made a ratatouille tart and a quiche tart. I am still in awe at how approachable the dean, Didier, is. He has a great presence and is so knowledgeable yet so genuine. Now that I know him I no longer feel intimidated by him and the same goes for Cédric. These two influential men and their wives kindly take as much interest in me as if I was an old family friend. It is flattering and I thoroughly enjoy their company! I’m absolutely exhausted…Bonne nuit xo
Today was so much better than the typical Monday! There was a lot to do at work; primarily, the vice-dean, Céline Blondeau, is speaking at a conference tomorrow in Berlin and since she doesn’t speak German, she will be giving her PowerPoint in English. She is one of the few people in the department who speaks well yet she doesn’t feel confident. I went through her PowerPoint and corrected her grammar and helped her clarify things and I think she will present herself quite well. She is an incredibly accomplished woman with so much to offer, it’s a shame she’s never had the chance to get married. Later today, Stephanie Lecocq, a colleague offered Kami and me two tickets to Disneyland-Paris saying she wouldn’t be ab
le to use them! They expire on Wednesday so we got online, got train tickets, and we leave in 48 hours! Haha… This evening I met Marie Van Peteghem at her office and we picked up her kids and went to Cédric and Véronique Lepoutre’s home. They had asked me if I would give a small English lesson to their two oldest children, Mannon and Charles, both 14 (see photo-no one was quite ready when it was taken). We spoke for two hours or so and I enjoyed it but I am absolutely exhausted! It’s unbelievable the amount of brain power it takes to translate every sentence you say twice. I would say, “First I would like you to present yourselves.” “D’abord, je veux que vous vous presentiez.” (Repeat the sentence in both languages) … “Describe your dream vacation to me: where, when, with whom?” “Décrivez les vacances de vos rêves: où, quand, et avec qui?” (Repeat again) I frantically copied down the words that were unfamiliar to them and their translations. It became easier to tell when they didn’t understand me: they would look at each other and start whispering in French and I would have them try and ask at least the part of the question they could. Charles spoke quickly but without enunciation and intonation so he will need to work on reading aloud to become more understandable, however, he did quite well for only a third year student. Manon understood well but needs to learn to put aside her perfectionist personality, dare make mistakes and learn more vocabulary, but she too did quite well for her level. They were very polite though I could tell 
when they were tired of trying. Luckily, we soon after sat down for dinner and it was delicious! Véronique had prepared a salad with apples and a type of bean that I didn’t recognize but tasted similar to a kidney bean. For the main course she made a ratatouille tart and a quiche tart. I am still in awe at how approachable the dean, Didier, is. He has a great presence and is so knowledgeable yet so genuine. Now that I know him I no longer feel intimidated by him and the same goes for Cédric. These two influential men and their wives kindly take as much interest in me as if I was an old family friend. It is flattering and I thoroughly enjoy their company! I’m absolutely exhausted…Bonne nuit xo
3 comments:
I was so excited to hear through Natalie that you are keeping a blog about your adventures in Europe. I am going to live vicariously through you because it was something I always wanted to do but never got the chance. How long are you going to be there and you have to remind me of when the wedding date is?
I love to hear your stories.
the food looks delicious! The people seem wonderful!
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