Martine called today.
And I then spent 4 hours nervously planning what I would say when i called her back.
Why so freaked out, I hear you ask? Well, I had to talk to her in French as she doesn't speak English, and I *used* to be fluent in French... and she's my French 'mother' so i knew I was in for a telling off for not having been in touch recently...
But I'm getting ahead of myself - this has been a weird week that has forced me to think in French nearly every day, and i wasn't sure why! It started on Tuesday when "Excuse My French" started airing on BBC Two - Esther Rantzen, Ron Atkinson and Marcus Bridgestocke stuck in a villa in France for a month trying to learn the lingo - the show is hilarious, although I could do without Ron - he really doesn't seem to be trying and bringing his wife along? Spoilsport!
Then on Thursday I was playing around on Amazon and I started transferring all the stuff that I've been holding in my basket into a wishlist instead - since i can't afford it myself, maybe some wonderful person will buy some of it for me one of those days. I was totally convinced that I hadn't used the wishlist function before, but apparently I had - there was a bunch of French stuff in there that I remember looking for years ago - while I managed to get my hands on the Manau album, I never had the cash for the Louise Attaque one - but maybe now is the time?? I used to own all this stuff on tape, but if i even still have it, I have no way of listening to it!!
I've also been reading a lot of stuff lately about people's experiences in France:
On Rue Tatin
A year in the merde
Merde Actually
Sixty Million French People Can't Be Wrong
And then finally on Friday I read an article about "la petite anglaise" getting canned because of her blog... i really symapthise with her - instead of just reading the last couple of posts like some journalists, I started reading her blog from the beginning - and it's sweet and funny, so i really hope that she a) gets a book deal or somthing out of this, and b) takes her employer for all he's worth for being an a**h*le!!
So basically all this cumulated in Martine calling. I called her back this evening, and it reall
y didn't go as badly as I thought it would, we chatted for 45 mins or so, and even though I struggled over some phrases and words (somehow the accent isn't so bad...), she's the best person in the world for working out what I'm trying to say and helping me along with it (without being too critical!). She told me that Janine and Anne have quit smoking, and since I have too (although I could have murdered a ciggie during the phone call!!!!!) that means that she's the only one left.... it's a massive change from 8 years ago when I lived over there, but "Plus ça change, plus c’est pareil"... except for one thing...
Martine unfortunately had to tell me that her cat, Marius, disappeared last December. I'm allergic to cats, and usually hate them 'cos my nose runs and they make me feel miserable... but Marius was pretty special! My first night in France, I didn't close the door to my room properly, so he decided to investigate the stranger by jumping on my face... after that we came to "an understanding" and he was the only cat that i knew that would walk into the room, give me a huge berth and then swing back in towards someone else to be petted. He seemed to instinctively know that it was better to watch me from afar, and I will miss him a lot....
And I then spent 4 hours nervously planning what I would say when i called her back.
Why so freaked out, I hear you ask? Well, I had to talk to her in French as she doesn't speak English, and I *used* to be fluent in French... and she's my French 'mother' so i knew I was in for a telling off for not having been in touch recently...
But I'm getting ahead of myself - this has been a weird week that has forced me to think in French nearly every day, and i wasn't sure why! It started on Tuesday when "Excuse My French" started airing on BBC Two - Esther Rantzen, Ron Atkinson and Marcus Bridgestocke stuck in a villa in France for a month trying to learn the lingo - the show is hilarious, although I could do without Ron - he really doesn't seem to be trying and bringing his wife along? Spoilsport!
Then on Thursday I was playing around on Amazon and I started transferring all the stuff that I've been holding in my basket into a wishlist instead - since i can't afford it myself, maybe some wonderful person will buy some of it for me one of those days. I was totally convinced that I hadn't used the wishlist function before, but apparently I had - there was a bunch of French stuff in there that I remember looking for years ago - while I managed to get my hands on the Manau album, I never had the cash for the Louise Attaque one - but maybe now is the time?? I used to own all this stuff on tape, but if i even still have it, I have no way of listening to it!!
I've also been reading a lot of stuff lately about people's experiences in France:
On Rue Tatin
A year in the merde
Merde Actually
Sixty Million French People Can't Be Wrong
And then finally on Friday I read an article about "la petite anglaise" getting canned because of her blog... i really symapthise with her - instead of just reading the last couple of posts like some journalists, I started reading her blog from the beginning - and it's sweet and funny, so i really hope that she a) gets a book deal or somthing out of this, and b) takes her employer for all he's worth for being an a**h*le!!
So basically all this cumulated in Martine calling. I called her back this evening, and it reall
y didn't go as badly as I thought it would, we chatted for 45 mins or so, and even though I struggled over some phrases and words (somehow the accent isn't so bad...), she's the best person in the world for working out what I'm trying to say and helping me along with it (without being too critical!). She told me that Janine and Anne have quit smoking, and since I have too (although I could have murdered a ciggie during the phone call!!!!!) that means that she's the only one left.... it's a massive change from 8 years ago when I lived over there, but "Plus ça change, plus c’est pareil"... except for one thing...
Martine unfortunately had to tell me that her cat, Marius, disappeared last December. I'm allergic to cats, and usually hate them 'cos my nose runs and they make me feel miserable... but Marius was pretty special! My first night in France, I didn't close the door to my room properly, so he decided to investigate the stranger by jumping on my face... after that we came to "an understanding" and he was the only cat that i knew that would walk into the room, give me a huge berth and then swing back in towards someone else to be petted. He seemed to instinctively know that it was better to watch me from afar, and I will miss him a lot....
posted by ellybabes at 7/22/2006 09:56:00 pm
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