A Kind Word for the French

So yesterday evening I had dinner again at Magalie's house. Magalie teaches CM2 at Ecole Champagne and she is one of the friendliest and warmest individuals I have met in Besançon. She invited me to dinner about a month ago and I had a wonderful time with her, her two kids, and her niece Charlotte. This time she invited me especially to introduce me to Florian, a friend of hers who used to work at Champagne and is now studying to get his teacher's license (he worked before as an aide). Last time he took the test he failed the English section, and Magalie asked if I would be willing to tutor him. I told her of course, and she suggested we could meet over dinner at her house.

As she promised the last time she made a very traditional Franche-Comptois meal: Morteau sausage, roasted potatoes with regular or garlic cancoillotte cheese, a salad with Dijon vinaigrette and an apple crumble for dessert. Florian brought a bottle of Bourgogne blanc (Chardonnay from Burgundy). We also had Comte, Morbier, and chevre cheese before dessert. Charlotte, Magalie's niece, told me that she found it amusing that her English texts always put the word "cheese" after the names of cheeses (like Feta or Comte or Swiss) -- "why do you need to add the word cheese?" she asked, "what else would it be?"

Magalie also gave me a little tub of cancoillotte cheese to take home. Cancoillotte is different from what we would think of as cheese, it has a texture more like yogurt and you serve it by dipping in a spoon,  winding the cheese around until you have a decent-sized dollop, and then pouring it onto a piece of bread. It's slightly sweet and very filling -- I have no idea how I'm could eat all the whole tub before it goes bad. I'm definitely going to share with Steff and Charly. Magalie also gave me an extra couette (duvet/comforter). The cold weather began on Friday and my mostly-decorative bed cover was not cutting it. I planned to go buy a cuette today, but Magalie offered me one of her spare ones, and this way I won't have to figure out what to do with it when I come home in May.

I got to Magalie's house around 8pm and Florian dropped me off at my apartment at midnight! I was quite tired by the end of the evening, but I had a wonderful time!

Then this morning I had to wake up for my 8am doctor's appointment. I'm not sick -- in order to get my visa confirmed I have to attend a medical examination. I did this in Dijon too; the premise is valid but I think the execution makes the whole thing a bit silly: if I had tuberculosis or something really contagious, I would have infected all of Besançon by now. But, I had to go. I was wowed by how effifcient the appointment was -- there were lots of assistants there and they moved us in and out in less than ten minutes per person.

Next I had to go to the Office of Immigration and Integration to get my visa officially confirmed (with the stamp from the doctor). Normally I would expect to wait a long time there too, but they took me within a minute of my arrival. I thought I had everything which was required, but it turns out I was missing one document with Charly's address on it (since I pay rent to him, none of the utilities or anything are in my name). I expected this to be a huge calamity, but the woman was really understanding and said I could bring it after work on Friday (since I'm finished at noon).

So, while France gets a bad rep for being very bureaucratic and slow, my experience today showed me that the opposite can also be the case. I don't doubt the overall validity of the reputation, but I think it's worth noting what a positive experience I had today. I hope this blog post finds you having a good day as well.

To come: indoor Ultimate tournament in Tongren, Belgium this weekend!!

PS One more thing, because I've been reading fairy tales to the two girls I tutor, I discovered last week via a friend how to say "and they lived happily ever after" in French: Ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d’enfants. Translated: They lived happily and had lots of children. For some reason I found this really hilarious. Hopefully you find it equally amusing.