Tonight I heard that Zac Hanson (yup, MMMBob) and his wife are expecting their first child. Zac is the youngest of the three Hanson brothers. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Well, okay...he is 22, his wife is 23- it's not completely ridiculous. It's just that Hanson was a Big Deal when I was 15 years old and a freshman in high school in Hong Kong with my cousins. I don't exactly know if they were as huge in the states as in Asia, but my friends and I listened to them ALL the time, knew personal info about each one of the three brothers, went to their concerts, etc. IN FACT, this group was such an inspiration that my younger sister and my four cousins discussed starting our own family band. Our name was going to be the Funky Monkeys. We even held one rehearsal as we sat around our bunk beds.
I haven't listened to Hanson in a while, but I can still recite pretty much all of the lyrics to any one of the group's songs.
All this to say that I will need a little time to adjust to the idea of Zac Hanson, who I can't help but remembering as a 13 year old and singing with a soprano-like voice, having a baby.
26 November 2007
23 November 2007
I played telephone pictionary over hukah with 7 friends last night- SO fun! And one of those friends, by the way, was John Brubaker. For all of you Westmont alums, John is currently living in Perpignan (sort of near Montpellier) and is working as an English teaching assistant. This is his second time coming to Aix on the train to visit Andrea, Kerri, and me...and I hope he can return next weekend for the Christmas Carol concert in the Cathedral!
Turkey Day!
Last night we had 35 people over to our apt. for an American Thanksgiving dinner. It was legit- we cooked two huge turkeys, made our own stuffing, and found something similar to cranberry sauce. We had French friends over, as well as a Kiwi, a few Aussies, some German friends, etc. Someone even baked pumpkin pie! We had left a note on our neighbor's door below inviting her to the dinner, as well.
She's the one who freaks out if we play the guitar too loudly- so we felt like we should preempt her wrath. She didn't come up for food, but at least the cops weren't called.
A lot of my American friends would sneak out of the dinner party for 15 minutes or so to call their families and say hello, including Dom and me. Yay skype!
She's the one who freaks out if we play the guitar too loudly- so we felt like we should preempt her wrath. She didn't come up for food, but at least the cops weren't called.
A lot of my American friends would sneak out of the dinner party for 15 minutes or so to call their families and say hello, including Dom and me. Yay skype!
15 November 2007
Bonjour tout le monde! I am trying this whole blog thing out. I want to find a successful way to let people know what it going on with me over here in Europe. As many of you know, I am ridiculously bad about emailing. And even my aunt has her own webpage!! So I thought I could try it out. (By the way, my aunt is the best author EVER. You should seriously check out www.suzannewoodsfisher.com or www.suzannewoodsfisher.blogspot.com. She was on Amazon's best seller list this summer if you need more convincing.)
Anyway, I will be slowing adding to this page as the days and weeks go by. This is a fun, but busy time of year in Aix right now. No worries- i LOVE being busy =) For those of you who are curious, here's the quick run down of what my week usually looks like...
*I'm the choir director again for the English Christmas Carol Service in the Cathedral. There are rehearsals for the adult choir, and the two children's choirs. Fun facts: Andrea Booth, my friend from Westmont college & from the days of working at Firestone Winery & my current roommate in Aix, is the pianist in the orchestra. My other roommate, Kerri Cole, is one of the people in charge of the entire Christmas Carol Service! (She is on staff with Dom) Kerri is also a Westmont alum and we were in gospel choir together. Who knew the 3 of us would end up living together in the south of France someday! God rocks!
*I'm singing blues, rock, Christmas carols, etc. around town with Dominic and two other friends at local restaurants. SO FUN!
*Every Wednesday morning I am teaching English to a group of French 5 year olds. I am blessed to be in community with these amazing families. I took the group to the zoo last week. We had a lot of fun, but it was a little ridiculous that they didn't end up learning a lot of new animal vocabulary since giraffe is girafe, elephant is elephant, rhineoceros is rhineoceros, lion is lion...you get the gist (and sorry, I haven't figured out the French accents on the keyboard yet).
*I am giving private piano and voice lessons to a few different people- ages ranging from high school on down to 5 years old.
*I'm the musical director for an international bilingual school (IBS= International Bilingual School of Provence). That's sounds intense, huh?! Well, I only work there one day a week. In France, the school system is very different from the states. It's extremely rare to find music, theater, dance, or any other arts offered. This is the first year that IBS has had a music program, so it's exciting and I have a lot of flexibility, which is really nice.
***WINE IN PROVENCE update...Just last night, chez moi, Brian and I led a tasting with 30 students in Aix! There were mainly Americans, some Australians, and a few French people. We went through 6 French wines (white, red, and rose). We talked about how to buy wine in the store, what foods pair well with the wines, etc. AND earlier this week Brian and I met with a German lawyer who is living and working in France. He's one of the many people we are talking with regarding 'getting legal' over here.
If this is the first time you are hearing about Wine in Provence, basically, last year my friend Brian and I started leading some tastings/wine education classes for students. They were a huge hit. Last spring, we tried a few with tourists, as well. It started out as just a word of mouth thing. Now we're working on a website and we've gotten hooked up with a few student organizations here in Aix that are asking us to put on tastings for them. We've had a lot of fun doing it and hope to see this business grow into a MAJOR Provence experience for Anglophones.
Brian is from Portland. He has also worked with a winery, has marketing experience, and is good with website stuff...because I definitely could not handle that aspect of the business. Last year Brian was an English teaching assistant at a French high school. This year he is going to Law school at a French University, is starting this business with me, along with another business endeavor of his own, and is an English tutor on the side.
*I am becoming a chef! Well, not quite yet...but I have been cooking a lot lately. Our apt. has a fully equipped kitchen (hard to find in France) which is great for entertaining. I have found that unless I invite people over for a meal, I won't try new dishes for just myself. So for my cooking debut I made tartiflette for 10 people (yes, I know I'm extreme- of course I invite 10 people over for dinner instead of just one or two!). It was a success...but I learned that you have to offer more than just one thing to eat when you invite people for a meal (I had literally made tartiflette, and that was it). So for Dom's birthday lunch last month, I had many different options. And I cooked for 23 people! Also, Andrea and Kerri and I have roommate dinners every Tuesday night. We rotate who cooks.
-I cooked for a group of Americans visiting from North Carolina.
-I have baked treats for the group of 5 year olds I teach english to on Wednesdays.
-Dom and I have made duck together, breaded fish, tried apricot chicken, pastas with our own French cheese sauce, etc.
-I have even made my own salad dressing!
(And when I first began cooking it would take me hours because I would do one thing at a time =) Now I've figured out how to have a few things going at once so I don't keep guests waiting so long to eat!)
Anyway, I will be slowing adding to this page as the days and weeks go by. This is a fun, but busy time of year in Aix right now. No worries- i LOVE being busy =) For those of you who are curious, here's the quick run down of what my week usually looks like...
*I'm the choir director again for the English Christmas Carol Service in the Cathedral. There are rehearsals for the adult choir, and the two children's choirs. Fun facts: Andrea Booth, my friend from Westmont college & from the days of working at Firestone Winery & my current roommate in Aix, is the pianist in the orchestra. My other roommate, Kerri Cole, is one of the people in charge of the entire Christmas Carol Service! (She is on staff with Dom) Kerri is also a Westmont alum and we were in gospel choir together. Who knew the 3 of us would end up living together in the south of France someday! God rocks!
*I'm singing blues, rock, Christmas carols, etc. around town with Dominic and two other friends at local restaurants. SO FUN!
*Every Wednesday morning I am teaching English to a group of French 5 year olds. I am blessed to be in community with these amazing families. I took the group to the zoo last week. We had a lot of fun, but it was a little ridiculous that they didn't end up learning a lot of new animal vocabulary since giraffe is girafe, elephant is elephant, rhineoceros is rhineoceros, lion is lion...you get the gist (and sorry, I haven't figured out the French accents on the keyboard yet).
*I am giving private piano and voice lessons to a few different people- ages ranging from high school on down to 5 years old.
*I'm the musical director for an international bilingual school (IBS= International Bilingual School of Provence). That's sounds intense, huh?! Well, I only work there one day a week. In France, the school system is very different from the states. It's extremely rare to find music, theater, dance, or any other arts offered. This is the first year that IBS has had a music program, so it's exciting and I have a lot of flexibility, which is really nice.
***WINE IN PROVENCE update...Just last night, chez moi, Brian and I led a tasting with 30 students in Aix! There were mainly Americans, some Australians, and a few French people. We went through 6 French wines (white, red, and rose). We talked about how to buy wine in the store, what foods pair well with the wines, etc. AND earlier this week Brian and I met with a German lawyer who is living and working in France. He's one of the many people we are talking with regarding 'getting legal' over here.
If this is the first time you are hearing about Wine in Provence, basically, last year my friend Brian and I started leading some tastings/wine education classes for students. They were a huge hit. Last spring, we tried a few with tourists, as well. It started out as just a word of mouth thing. Now we're working on a website and we've gotten hooked up with a few student organizations here in Aix that are asking us to put on tastings for them. We've had a lot of fun doing it and hope to see this business grow into a MAJOR Provence experience for Anglophones.
Brian is from Portland. He has also worked with a winery, has marketing experience, and is good with website stuff...because I definitely could not handle that aspect of the business. Last year Brian was an English teaching assistant at a French high school. This year he is going to Law school at a French University, is starting this business with me, along with another business endeavor of his own, and is an English tutor on the side.
*I am becoming a chef! Well, not quite yet...but I have been cooking a lot lately. Our apt. has a fully equipped kitchen (hard to find in France) which is great for entertaining. I have found that unless I invite people over for a meal, I won't try new dishes for just myself. So for my cooking debut I made tartiflette for 10 people (yes, I know I'm extreme- of course I invite 10 people over for dinner instead of just one or two!). It was a success...but I learned that you have to offer more than just one thing to eat when you invite people for a meal (I had literally made tartiflette, and that was it). So for Dom's birthday lunch last month, I had many different options. And I cooked for 23 people! Also, Andrea and Kerri and I have roommate dinners every Tuesday night. We rotate who cooks.
-I cooked for a group of Americans visiting from North Carolina.
-I have baked treats for the group of 5 year olds I teach english to on Wednesdays.
-Dom and I have made duck together, breaded fish, tried apricot chicken, pastas with our own French cheese sauce, etc.
-I have even made my own salad dressing!
(And when I first began cooking it would take me hours because I would do one thing at a time =) Now I've figured out how to have a few things going at once so I don't keep guests waiting so long to eat!)
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