Every time we see or hear that a Spectacle is occurring I crack up. Refrains of "Spectacular, spectacular, spectacular" run through my head while I conjure up images of some fool making a spectacle of themselves in front of a live audience. The French seem rather fond of their special events, and never more so than during the holidays, so I've had lots of opportunities for a good chuckle of late. Not too surprisingly, Vivi and I have had our chance to "play the fool" as it were, as we enthusiastically participated in the school and church Christmas programs.
Here, Vivi is featured in a maracas solo. But please note, she sings along en francais with the rest of the school. Bo sang along too, but in the safe shelter at my side from the audience. He's no fool and refuses to be made a spectacle I guess.
I had to record this for my mom. This is the only French song I even remotely know, thanks to her singing it to me every Christmas I've ever known. Hearing it sung in the church in the center of Cravant felt a Christmas present delivered just for us. Joyeux Noel, Maman!
There was supposed to be a group of women doing a sacred dance at our church's Christmas program, but the choreographer (me) went and got majorly sick the week beforehand and had to cancel rehearsal. Somehow, they convinced me to do the dance with just Vivi, seeing how she and I could work on it at home, in between my naps and nose-blowing. So, Vivi and I found ourselves serving as the finale of our Christmas service, red-nosed and all:
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Christmas Capital of Europe
Around October I began to realize we would be spending our Christmas tout seul. It hit me when I started hearing of all the travel plans of the families around us. It seems very few of the people here live nearby their extended family. Thus, the holidays mean road trips for people to visit grandparents dans le pays. (Please appreciate the humor in our environment being considered something other than "in the country." I cannot imagine how remote is the housing of the elderly family members of Cravant.) But for us, the holidays normally mean an Advent filled with a varietal feast of visits with friends and family. This year, it was shaping up to be a time of social famine. I couldn't bear the thought.
This was the inspiration for a search on Google for the best place to celebrate Christmas in France, which lead me to Strasbourg in the northeastern corner. Strasbourg is perhaps most famous for being the home of the first Gutenberg press, and thus, where the first Holy Bible was printed. Sadly, while the love of the written word has been woven deeply into this city, the love of the written Word has not. But it was easy to overlook the very secular-humanitarian emphasis amidst all the lights and one of the most glorious cathedrals I've yet to behold. It held very true to it's claim of being a Christmas Capital. I've never set eyes on a more gloriously decorated city.
This tree is located in the center of town - in a huge courtyard next to the town hall. For one of the days while we were there, it was surrounded by an open-air market.
Every street was decorated with rows upon rows of lights - each street was different. I should have taken more pictures of the variety. There were angels, chandeliers, stars, snowflakes...
This is where we had lunch. I had a dish traditional to this area - ham, sauerkraut, and potatoes. It was YUM! David had a traditional soup - which was called something like "3 meats" - but turned out to be a fish stew with potatoes. Not what he expected, but delicious nonetheless. Bo had chicken and french fries (of course), but Vivi tried and loved spaetzle.
We spent our time strolling the markets:
This vendor was selling slabs of a nougat candy. We bought one loaded with almonds and swirls of Nutella and let me tell you - it was AMAZING. Like a Snickers gone gourmet. I'm drooling just remembering it.
We also went ice skating next to the cathedral:
And in Besancon on the way to Strasbourg, we enjoyed an evening ride in a ferris wheel!
The view of the market from the wheel:
I'm so glad we did this. It was so much better making these memories than sitting alone in Cravant just missing home. Merry Christmas everybody!
This was the inspiration for a search on Google for the best place to celebrate Christmas in France, which lead me to Strasbourg in the northeastern corner. Strasbourg is perhaps most famous for being the home of the first Gutenberg press, and thus, where the first Holy Bible was printed. Sadly, while the love of the written word has been woven deeply into this city, the love of the written Word has not. But it was easy to overlook the very secular-humanitarian emphasis amidst all the lights and one of the most glorious cathedrals I've yet to behold. It held very true to it's claim of being a Christmas Capital. I've never set eyes on a more gloriously decorated city.
This tree is located in the center of town - in a huge courtyard next to the town hall. For one of the days while we were there, it was surrounded by an open-air market.
Every street was decorated with rows upon rows of lights - each street was different. I should have taken more pictures of the variety. There were angels, chandeliers, stars, snowflakes...
This is where we had lunch. I had a dish traditional to this area - ham, sauerkraut, and potatoes. It was YUM! David had a traditional soup - which was called something like "3 meats" - but turned out to be a fish stew with potatoes. Not what he expected, but delicious nonetheless. Bo had chicken and french fries (of course), but Vivi tried and loved spaetzle.
We spent our time strolling the markets:
This vendor was selling slabs of a nougat candy. We bought one loaded with almonds and swirls of Nutella and let me tell you - it was AMAZING. Like a Snickers gone gourmet. I'm drooling just remembering it.We also went ice skating next to the cathedral:
And in Besancon on the way to Strasbourg, we enjoyed an evening ride in a ferris wheel!
The view of the market from the wheel:
I'm so glad we did this. It was so much better making these memories than sitting alone in Cravant just missing home. Merry Christmas everybody!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Christmas Commences
School vacation is underway, which means we have made it through the week of special Christmas events without any major catastrophes, not that I expected any, and plenty of surprises, which I did.
Last weekend we got our tree, which we purchased through the kids' school because it is not possible to cut your own here. They don't have tree farms or groves of evergreens, so unless you want to cut and decorate a grape vine, your options are only pre-cut, store-bought. We paid 25euro (roughly $33-) for this:
Yup. It's a Charlie Brown Christmas at the Dauphinais' this year! When we picked up the tree, it was wrapped in that netting stuff and, because it was pre-ordered, it had our name on it, so we bought it sight unseen (again I think this is the norm here). We got it home and fashioned the extremely low-tech stand (a log cut in half lengthwise with a hole bored into it) and got the tree standing upright. With all the pomp and circumstance Vivi could muster (which is quite impressive for a 6 year old), Vivi cut through the netting to release our glorious tree from it's captivity.
I've never before experienced a more anti-climactic moment in real life. All that was missing was the little chimes playing and Snoopy's cackle like in Charlie Brown's Christmas special. Needles softly tinkled to the ground as roughly 20 branches (count yours, I bet it is over 50) "unfurled" in three little clusters, revealing gaping holes where tree should be. There was a frozen moment of awe before David and I, jaws dropped in shock, simultaneously turned to one another and promptly burst into laughter.
We've had to make our own Nativity set, because I simply could not tolerate having a tree and no Jesus. The kids and I colored paper cut-outs from online and before the first spot on the first cow was colored in, I knew we had created an heirloom. I treasure it.
We also had to alter our stocking stuffer assortment this year as the only "stockings" we have are Bohdan's tall but skinny soccer socks. Luckily, he has a practice pair and a game pair, so there is one for each of us, and even more lucky - he doesn't have any soccer between now and Christmas so I can guarantee the *clean* stockings will be hung with care (well actually, the mantel is stone and has no hooks, so they might be placed with care instead). I've learned stockings aren't always done here - often shoes are used or special wooden shoes that remind me of Holland.
Christmas cookie traditions were a bit of a stretch as well, but I did manage to make Grandma Phillip's Chocolate Haystack cookies - with some alterations, Rice Krispie Treats, and Christmas sugar cookies. We shared them at the kids' school Christmas program and the church's Christmas program and they were enjoyed, but not so much so that we couldn't bring home left-overs.
The rest of the week is full with Christmas shows at school and at church, a trip to Strasbourg and, of course, our annual Birthday Party for Jesus on Christmas day. It's been weird and revealing using someone else's decorations to adorn someone else's house in someone else's country this Christmas. I've learned the U.S. doesn't have a clue when it comes to decorating city streets, but that my "sparse" decorating at home is actually quite lavish. I've discovered I really do depend on snow, or at least lack of so much green to get me in the Christmas mood, I love WHOM 94.9 this time of year way more than I thought. Lastly I have grown keenly aware that enjoying special traditions (like making cookies, the Golden's party, going Christmas caroling, and Jesus' Birthday Party) with our family and friends throughout the Advent Season is what I do best and what I miss most.
Last weekend we got our tree, which we purchased through the kids' school because it is not possible to cut your own here. They don't have tree farms or groves of evergreens, so unless you want to cut and decorate a grape vine, your options are only pre-cut, store-bought. We paid 25euro (roughly $33-) for this:
Yup. It's a Charlie Brown Christmas at the Dauphinais' this year! When we picked up the tree, it was wrapped in that netting stuff and, because it was pre-ordered, it had our name on it, so we bought it sight unseen (again I think this is the norm here). We got it home and fashioned the extremely low-tech stand (a log cut in half lengthwise with a hole bored into it) and got the tree standing upright. With all the pomp and circumstance Vivi could muster (which is quite impressive for a 6 year old), Vivi cut through the netting to release our glorious tree from it's captivity.
I've never before experienced a more anti-climactic moment in real life. All that was missing was the little chimes playing and Snoopy's cackle like in Charlie Brown's Christmas special. Needles softly tinkled to the ground as roughly 20 branches (count yours, I bet it is over 50) "unfurled" in three little clusters, revealing gaping holes where tree should be. There was a frozen moment of awe before David and I, jaws dropped in shock, simultaneously turned to one another and promptly burst into laughter.
We've had to make our own Nativity set, because I simply could not tolerate having a tree and no Jesus. The kids and I colored paper cut-outs from online and before the first spot on the first cow was colored in, I knew we had created an heirloom. I treasure it.
We also had to alter our stocking stuffer assortment this year as the only "stockings" we have are Bohdan's tall but skinny soccer socks. Luckily, he has a practice pair and a game pair, so there is one for each of us, and even more lucky - he doesn't have any soccer between now and Christmas so I can guarantee the *clean* stockings will be hung with care (well actually, the mantel is stone and has no hooks, so they might be placed with care instead). I've learned stockings aren't always done here - often shoes are used or special wooden shoes that remind me of Holland.
Christmas cookie traditions were a bit of a stretch as well, but I did manage to make Grandma Phillip's Chocolate Haystack cookies - with some alterations, Rice Krispie Treats, and Christmas sugar cookies. We shared them at the kids' school Christmas program and the church's Christmas program and they were enjoyed, but not so much so that we couldn't bring home left-overs.
The rest of the week is full with Christmas shows at school and at church, a trip to Strasbourg and, of course, our annual Birthday Party for Jesus on Christmas day. It's been weird and revealing using someone else's decorations to adorn someone else's house in someone else's country this Christmas. I've learned the U.S. doesn't have a clue when it comes to decorating city streets, but that my "sparse" decorating at home is actually quite lavish. I've discovered I really do depend on snow, or at least lack of so much green to get me in the Christmas mood, I love WHOM 94.9 this time of year way more than I thought. Lastly I have grown keenly aware that enjoying special traditions (like making cookies, the Golden's party, going Christmas caroling, and Jesus' Birthday Party) with our family and friends throughout the Advent Season is what I do best and what I miss most.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Brief Update
I've got so much blogging to do I don't even know where to start! I have a list of over a dozen posts to write and a period of over two months to cover. Suffice it to say, I find myself boxed in by a major writer's block. I could use tons of excuses about how busy we've been, but what a lame excuse.
For now, I will try to at least provide an update with a list of highlights:
Thanksgiving was good and bad - Everything looked beautiful but I forgot to take pictures! It seemed the guests who didn't know each other got along well. I used salted butter in my apple crisp. The Indian pudding looked like playdough. The buttermilk pie sans buttermilk was delish. The addition of fine French wine made everything taste better. And I have enough left overs to make tons of yummy turkey dishes like Turkey A la King, Turkey Noodle Soup and Turkey Pot Pie.
The kids and I are counting down the days until Christmas break. Which is not to say school isn't going well. But it is to say I am significantly more sold on homeschooling than ever before. We miss each other! The kids say everything about school one would expect them to say - school is "fine," school is "boring," their teachers are "nice," and recess is their favorite.
David and I are attending a French luncheon once a week designed to help non-natives practice speaking with native-speakers. It is helping a lot and we both learn more each time we go. The kids' French is coming along beautifully. Bo's French tutoring was observed by Vivi's teacher (I have no idea why), and she said Bo is doing really, really well. He seems to understand way more than he gives himself credit for. Vivi's accent is impeccable and her vocab just keeps growing. I have no doubt they will be speaking as much, if not more than me by the time we get home.
We've toured tons of great spots which I've yet to blog about. Castles mostly, but also a zoo that was filled with baby animals. We even saw a one day old gorilla. Very cool. I really must get those photos edited so I can post about it all.
We're working hard at preparing for a Christmas service at church. I am in the choir and Vivi and I are in a sacred dance (which I am choreographing). We hope to be able to use this event to invite a lot of Bo & Vivi's classmates to come check out our church. Sunday school is going well, but I am really slacking when it comes to Bible study. It simply doesn't work to procrastinate in a foreign language. I don't recommend it.
Eight months to go. We are all homesick right now - probably because of the holiday season, no doubt. But we have all sorts of things to look forward to - a trip to Strasbourg, France right before Christmas, celebrating St. Vincent's Day in January, friends' and family visits in April. It promises to speed by faster than I can blog about - that's for certain!
Hoping to get back into the swing of things and get photos and stories posted in greater detail soon. Thanks for reading!
For now, I will try to at least provide an update with a list of highlights:
Thanksgiving was good and bad - Everything looked beautiful but I forgot to take pictures! It seemed the guests who didn't know each other got along well. I used salted butter in my apple crisp. The Indian pudding looked like playdough. The buttermilk pie sans buttermilk was delish. The addition of fine French wine made everything taste better. And I have enough left overs to make tons of yummy turkey dishes like Turkey A la King, Turkey Noodle Soup and Turkey Pot Pie.
The kids and I are counting down the days until Christmas break. Which is not to say school isn't going well. But it is to say I am significantly more sold on homeschooling than ever before. We miss each other! The kids say everything about school one would expect them to say - school is "fine," school is "boring," their teachers are "nice," and recess is their favorite.
David and I are attending a French luncheon once a week designed to help non-natives practice speaking with native-speakers. It is helping a lot and we both learn more each time we go. The kids' French is coming along beautifully. Bo's French tutoring was observed by Vivi's teacher (I have no idea why), and she said Bo is doing really, really well. He seems to understand way more than he gives himself credit for. Vivi's accent is impeccable and her vocab just keeps growing. I have no doubt they will be speaking as much, if not more than me by the time we get home.
We've toured tons of great spots which I've yet to blog about. Castles mostly, but also a zoo that was filled with baby animals. We even saw a one day old gorilla. Very cool. I really must get those photos edited so I can post about it all.
We're working hard at preparing for a Christmas service at church. I am in the choir and Vivi and I are in a sacred dance (which I am choreographing). We hope to be able to use this event to invite a lot of Bo & Vivi's classmates to come check out our church. Sunday school is going well, but I am really slacking when it comes to Bible study. It simply doesn't work to procrastinate in a foreign language. I don't recommend it.
Eight months to go. We are all homesick right now - probably because of the holiday season, no doubt. But we have all sorts of things to look forward to - a trip to Strasbourg, France right before Christmas, celebrating St. Vincent's Day in January, friends' and family visits in April. It promises to speed by faster than I can blog about - that's for certain!
Hoping to get back into the swing of things and get photos and stories posted in greater detail soon. Thanks for reading!
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