Banana Pancakes

The day started early, 7:30. I prepped the tables for breakfast while Roger drive to the boulangerie (bakery) to get fresh croissants, pan au chocolat, and baguettes for breakfast. I set up the dishes as well as the juices, condiments, and cereals. Because of my love of breakfast food, if I owned a B&B, I would not offer dinner but would make the most delicious breakfasts instead. French toast, waffles, eggs, PANCAKES, etc.

I emphasize the pancakes because today I made tiger an Elise pancakes. They've never had the American kind, and they were very confused about hat they are. They were both very excited and not disappointed. We ate twelve pancakes between the three of us. I made half regular and half banana, my favorite. Epic success.

Roget also requested a milkshake so I made him a raspberry one. It also was a success. Roger had had a bad, bad toothache all day so it kind of hurt him to drink it, but he still liked it.

I cleaned windows and flower pots/boxes/beds today. I liked working outside for a change. It's supposed to rain every day this next week :(

We served six guests dinner tonight. Two came at six and two can't at seven. All are French. Two of them are lesbians. Elise and Roger were absolutely appalled, and sadly, I am so used to it that it didn't phase me for more than a second. Even good old Salt Lake City, UT is crazier than the French countryside.

Dinner was good. I get to eat what's leftover which has been more than enough. I like the multiple courses, and I think I will treat my family to a three course + cheese plate meal sometime next month. We'll have Italian night and French night!

Cleaning up dinner sucked, especially since Roger's toothache had left him. bedridden at this point leaving me TI do it all myself. At least it was done right ;). I am absolutely disgusted by the amounts of coffee and tea the people over here drink. Two or three cups in the morning, who knows how many during the day, and two cups at night. It's disgusting. At least they stay hydrated. :/

By request of my mother, I will now tell you some things I've noticed from conversations about America with people here in Europe. First of all, the things we talk about most are words. For example, today I taught both Roger and Elise about zucchini. Even Roger who is English, has never heard that word. Zucchini=courgette in French. The other day, I taught Elise the word "lid." I've learned more English words than French, German, or Italian...probably because they're more familiar to me so they're easier to remember. I now call the dog leash a lead, a shopping cart a trolley, and the trunk of a car the boot. Language is fascinating, and I hope I get the opportunity to really learn a couple some day.

The next thing most common thing we talk about is food. When we eat, where we eat, what we eat, etc. Pancakes are a dessert in France and England. Lunch is the biggest meal in France and everything (except restaurants) is closed from 12-2. Roger considers spaghetti and Sheperd's pie to be good for lunch (even before a big dinner) whereas I think they're good dinners and cold sandwiches, soup, and/or salad are good lunches.

Now, going along with food, another thing that is almost always brought up is obesity. This is all my opinion and certainly not the opinion of every European, but I get the impression that they think Americans eat nothing but fast food and sit in front of the telly (another English word I've picked up) all day. They think we consider McDonalds to be the biggest and best food group. They are shocked when I tell them I have not eaten there in years (before my midnight run in Rome). They blame fast food for America's obesity, but as I've experienced a little bit of the European lifestyle, I actually think it is the when and why we eat and less what we eat. People don't snack over here. Granted, they drink tea/coffee instead so there's a health benefit of that, but they just eat at breakfast time, lunch time, and dinner time. There is no afternoon snack. There are no munchies. Just three meals a day and lots of coffee/tea. They also don't have seconds (unless you're Roger-it's a wonder that he's not obese...). Their desserts are more formal and less accessible. In America, we have cookies, cake, or ice cream. It's easy to have as much/however many your taste buds desire. Here, dessert is over when your piece is gone. They enjoy every minute of the dessert instead of hurrying so that you're sure you get seconds. There are a few things I have picked up and compared my own lifestyle to (certainly not everyone in America).

They also ask about the size of America. It's over 24 hours from SLC to Houston, and it's less than half the time from Prague to Paris, halfway across the continent. The states in America are absolutely huge. I never realized how big the US is until I looked at travel times there vs here. We have a lot of land back home!

They ask about school. Elise is 22 or 24 and has a master's degree. I explained to them that people in America do not graduate with a bachelor's degree until about age 21 or 22 and they definitely do not have a Master's before 25. They were shocked by that! I also think it's stupid that the US does not push language education, but I understand how much more important it is over here with all the different languages so close together.

So, other than America's obesity, they do not really think much about Americans. They don't dream of visiting the US the way most Americans dream of visiting Europe. They don't know much about the states beyond what they learn in school which seems to be very little. Several people have actually asked me about Indians.

There you go...A summary of some of my conversations about my homeland. I wish I could write down every little factoid I've learned about the countries and people in Europe, but it's just impossible. I'm constantly learning and understanding that everyone is different. One French person is completely different from the next just as I'm extremely different from any other American so it's hard to say what exactly any culture is like. I will say that my favorite things are consistent things...for example, laughing is the same in every language. It's sort of a shame that my laugh doesn't change from American when I leave America because it carries even more than usual when I'm in a quiet French restaurant. It's so loud! Roger and Elise have both commented on it. How embarrassing..

I'm really enjoying France and the work I'm doing here. I'm so sick of cooking for Roger, I could DIE! But I just remind myself I'm in France instantly feel much better. :D