Wow, it's been a long time

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Monday. I have to start off with some very good news from today. I have a job! I shouldn't get too excited because it's only for two weeks before school starts and only pays $100 a week, but that's beside the point. The job title is International Student Advisor, which is just a fancy way of saying I get to hang with Albion's four international students for two weeks, taking them shopping, to the movies, helping them sign up for classes, and teaching them all the hottest dance moves (hahaha).

So, on to France stuff now. All of the sudden Grenoble has burst in bloom. It's really incredible how fast the landscape has changed from ugly, brown blobs that used to be plants into flowering trees and lush grass. Today I saw a pile of cottonwood fluff and the allergy meds are in my purse and ready to go (just in case).

The other day I was out on the porch trying to get rid of my ghostlike appearance and Mamy (the grandma) came over. We decided to play some Scrabble outside since nothing much was going on. The team selection was going on and no one seemed to want me on their team, which cued me that this was not going to go well. For this family, a game of Scrabble is not a game, it is war. They're bloodthirsty! Yes, they're "those people" who actually have a dictionary, but not just any dictionary, a Scrabble dictionary, on the table. I am horrible at Scrabble in English and there isn't a word to describe my skills in French Scrabble. Two and three letter words were the most I could handle. Mamy didn't even take pity on me! I put down a five-letter word that I was so proud of and according to the Scrabble Bible, it didn't count. Later on I put together some words that I had heard around town. Once I placed them, everyone either burst out laughing or stared at me. One word was "asshole" and the other was a sex position (I didn't know, I swear). That was embarrassing.

The great thing and problem with living with a family is that I learn many slang terms. These words should not be used in everyday language, but I don't know that until I say it to someone and they either tell me right away or they don't tell me and I find out in school or from friends later. Either way, I'm sure I turn bright red.

Anyway, enough of my embarrassing moments. Some interesting things I have noticed about eating habits here:
1. I was telling the fam about eating corn on the cob and their response was "Thats what farm animals eat." In other words, it's uncivilized. They'll eat pig blood and snails but they don't eat corn on a stick. Weird. The sad part of all this is that you can't find corn ANYWHERE unless it's the canned variety.
2. They peel the skin off everything...apples, pears, potatoes. They also cut their fruit before they eat it (it's more elegant to chew on an apple slice then chomp into a whole apple). I'm a convert to this eating technique.
3. They eat around 8 or 9:00 every night. This was hard to adjust to, but I love it now.
4. They always have bread with every meal, duh, this is France for all. Cheese for every lunch and dinner, too.
5. It's rude to have your no-dominant hand on your lap while at the dinner table. I have a really hard time actually doing this.
6. It's rude to cut salad. You use a piece of bread to fold it on the fork.
7. The plate is always wiped clean with a piece of bread after each course. Gotta get all the juicey and saucey goodness!

There's probably more too, but it's 8:30 and time to eat dinner.

Ciao