Quite Étrange Indeed...

Walking back from class today I got to thinking...

Isn't it kind of weird/funny/ironic that the French use the same word (étrange/étranger) for "strange" and "foreign"? In general, though I am "étrangère," most people don't give me a, "Oh, you're strange," vibe. Different yes, but at least in English "strange" can have a bit of a negative connotation. But my being "étrangère" doesn't usually affect how people treat me; if anything it actually helps. In general, in my little town of Troyes does not get American visitors/temporary residents every day, and people I randomly encounter A) first assume that I'm English (since it is much more likely that an anglophone in Troyes is from nearby Britain rather than far away America) and B) when they find out I'm American, they are enthralled. Far from the stereotypical Parisian attitude of, "Oh, another American slaughtering our language," Troyens are just amazed: WOW! A real American, right here in Troyes! Added bonus being from California (though said bonus reduces dramatically once they find out I'm not from LA, I'm not in a gang, I don't live next door to celebrities and I am not friends with Paris Hilton), it seems many French view California as a whole separate place from the rest of the US. I think I got this more in Le Mans, but the Troyens are definitely infatuated with the California dreamin' thing as well.

My first class tomorrow is cancelled due to an all-day volleyball tournament or something. My responsable offered to go watch for a bit with me. We'll see. So all I have is my BTS class, a group of four girls who meet me in a café and we chat for an hour over hot chocolates and gauffres. Last time I saw them (it's been a few weeks as they've had some kind of stage or something & missed my class), I brought an American Cosmo in and they LOVED it. Although it definitely made for some interesting vocab lessons ("What is, 'bloated'? 'arousal'?" yeah you get the point). But making fun of bad fashion and celebrity gossip is apparently the universal language between American and French 20-somethings.

My responsable asked me about my plans for the vacances. I'm leaving for Spain and Portugal on the 13th with the assistant from Romilly, I told him. He offered for me to spend this weekend with him & his family at his home about 50km (I think?) from here. A very sweet offer, but I don't know how I feel about going away for a weekend right before I go on a week-long vacation. Will I be bored? What will his family think of an American houseguest with mediocre French? Will they try to push andouillette on me?! Of course I'd never be rude & refuse to eat a homecooked meal while a guest in someone's home but... picky-eater me still hasn't quite grown to love ALL French delicacies. And as ridiculous as this sounds... I don't want to be away from the internet for 2-3 days knowing I won't have regular access for a week right afterwards. How will I talk to my honey?! How will I keep up with my obsessive-compulsive wedding planning?! I can be such a lametard sometimes, I know. Plus Mere and I have tenative plans for a museum day, either here in Troyes or a day trip to Paris. So I don't know yet.

It isn't uncommon to hear the air raid signals blast off at noon 3-4 times a week. But Rich was just over and we heard one (noon on the dot) that happened to be exceptionally loud. We got to talking about the whole, "boy who cried wolf," thing, and that if France ever were under attack (again) no one would know it b/c they've just kind of tuned out the air raid signals. But then it went off again at 12:10, just as loud as the first one. Weird. Maybe they're celebrating the good news of Super Tuesday? By the way: Go Hillary!

OK, it's cold and I'm hungry. Later, étrangers.