March 18, 2011

Reflections

My family has been great; they always put their best effort into making me feel comfortable. I have a room to myself and I always sleep well. Sometimes the language barrier can be a bit difficult but they always find a way to keep me in the conversation. My host mom is an excellent cook and I can never help but have seconds. She is also very nice and does whatever she can to help me. For example, she always asks me if I need laundry done. My host dad is also very nice and very funny. He works for the town and is also a volunteer fireman. He never hesitates to take me somewhere and always finds something fun to do. At dinner, he tells me the history of the food that we are eating and tells me how it is the best here in Alsace! The family has three children, including my host brother, Jérémy. Clément is 3 years old and Léopold is only a few months old. They both are very cute and Clément never seems to get tired! I love my host family very much and am very happy to be staying with them. --Taiwo

When Jake, Marilyn and I arrived at our school where we would be doing service, we were immediately separated and taken to classes of energetic kids. It was not until the half hour recess that took place on the black top in front of the school that I met a child who really stood out to me from the rest. I don't remember her approaching me but suddenly her confident, sassy personality was in front of me. She would speak to me in very fast French, in a barely audible voice and when I told her I did not understand or when I asked her to repeat herself, she would yell at me "Vous etes sourd?" (Are you deaf?!) I could tell she was much more intelligent than the other kids and I immediately liked her. Instead of running aruond and shouting aimlessly like the other kids, she preferred to sit down on the wall of the playground and talk. This girl was able to carry on a conversation and not be distracted by anything around her. She always tried to get Jake, Marilyn and me alone so that we could talk with her. However, she never abandoned her smart tone and comments. When I returned to school after our visit to Paris, I actually looked forward to seeing this girl. This kind of anticipation rarely happens with me. --Daniel

The food in France revolves around two staples: bread and cheese. Every meal I've eaten here has included these ingredients. Accompanying the bread and cheese are many different vegetables, meats and often (for breakfast, in my host family) chocolate. Incidentally, I just finished breakfast at my host family's house. We ate toast made from what they say is the best bread in France and pastisseries from the best boulangerie in Guebwiller. It was chocolatey, sweet and generally delicious. Breakfast is usually the sweetest meal of the day, but it is not necessarily the best (though, if you're a chocolate lover like me, it is pretty good). The biggest difference I've noticed between French and American meals is the level of complexity of tastes. French food mixes many flavors to create subtle tastes which are not present in most American food. This even happens in thecafeteria at the lycée where we et lunch. Though cafeteria food is usually the worst representation of a nation's culinary abilities, at the Lycée Alfred Kastler the food is still tasty and the flavors are intriguing.
The French generally eat dinner later than Americans, which makes the stretch between lunch and supper a little difficult for us. Thankfully, Guebwiller is fraught with boulangeries, where we can go after a day of working at our school. The croissants and othre pasteries we buy are tasty and inexpensive, usually costing fewer than 2 Euros. While we were in Paris, we saw and bought from many little shops where they made crepes to order on what essentially was a hot, round surface. A tip for anyone travelling in Paris: order a crepe with Nutella!
My basic impression of the food in France is that it is interesting, complex and simply delicious. I think one would be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that served bad food (though we may have managed to do just that one evening in Paris). In general, anywhere you go you can find some of the best bread you've ever eaten, and it will probably be accompanied by chocolate or cheese. You have to concentrate to notice all the subtlties of French food, but the taste is definitely worth the extra effort. --(author unknown thus far)

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