À table: my French school lunches

When the bell rings at 11:00 a.m. and it is time for lunch, the students in my class and other classes flood into the indoor courtyard at school. There is one door that serves as the gate to get food. Four days a week I eat at my school's canteen. Wednesdays all of the students in France go home for lunch. In America, I usually would bring a lunch to school every day from home because the lunches were not to my liking, but here it is not all that bad. The picture to the right is my point of view as a short girl crammed between many french students in line. One by one we scan our hand and receive a lunch ticket. First, we go through the line with our tray and silverware and have options to grab yogurt, cheese, different types of salads, dessert, and fruit. To my surprise there is always something different in the first section of the line with some kind of new milkshake or smoothie flavor that I have never heard of. Second, we get to the hot food section and grab a plate of the of food that we prefer. At first, I was really scared to ask the canteen chef to put something in particular on my plate like more vegetables or rice, but now I know how to ask in French.

Here are two examples of typical "American school lunches" (photos submitted by Niksa Poleksic and Amanda Friis) that are currently in my school. I have found the differences to be in the quality and the amount of food you have to choose from.

This first plate was something that was served last week. I was very confused by the concept with the hard boiled eggs to bechamel sauce, but it tasted better than it looks. The orange really saved my taste buds. I also have found that in France, people consider fruit as a dessert! I think this is really cool.

The peas on this plate were the best part. The crepe however, was not. It was filled with bechamel sauce as well and kind of congealed itself together by the time I got to my table. Every day I eat the bowl of salad and it is consistently really nice and simple.

Lastly, this plate was very "comfort food" aimed for me. The country style potatoes almost made me feel like I was at a "Village Inn" chain restaurant in America. Again, the quality of the food at my school here is so much better than at any of the school lunches I have had in America. It might be because I go to a private school, but I am always surprised when someone tells me they think their school lunches are bad here.

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LIFE UPDATES

This is a picture from the back of an english classroom at my school with 13-year-olds that I am helping the teacher out in one day of the week! I also started French classes with the same age group a couple times a week as well as private French lessons 2 hours a week. I think that this will further help me strengthen my french speaking and grammar.

I love to spend time in cafes (especially during winter) and after school on Tuesday this week I went to a really cute cafe with my friend and played Connect Four (Puissance 4 in French.)

last week I went with my theater class to see the production of Hippolyte by Robert Garnier and Christian Schiaretti at the TNP theater in Villerbane. It was a really interesting performance with minimal props/scenery, but amazing costumes styled from the 16th century. It was about two and a half hours long and was difficult for me to understand with the performers speaking in the 16th century old French language. Despite that, it was interesting and I am glad that I got to experience it. Next week we are seeing another production!

These photos are from a Thanksgiving dinner I had with some other American exchange students + one Australian and one Canadian exchange student. It was really fun to cook together and attempt to recreate Thanksgiving in another country. We made mashed potatoes, a chicken (that was undercooked so we had to cook it twice--whoops,) biscuits, stuffing, an apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies. Of course I missed the cranberry sauce and the brussel sprouts my dad always makes, but I found it fun to learn other traditions from other states in America. For example: Joey from Missouri always puts garlic powder seasonings and chip seasoning in her mashed potatoes.

This last photo was from a mini concert that my host dad, my little host brother, our friend Pierre, and I put on at a "Marché Gourmand" for my host Rotary club. There were vendors who sold food and other hand-made/gourmet goods. I sang as my host father played electric guitar, my host brother played drums, and Pierre played acoustic guitar. It was a fun experience. We have been practicing for about a month and actually sounded great! I also played my ukulele that I brought all the way from Iowa. The 7 songs we played ranged from "I Will Survive" to "La Vie en Rose." We still continue to practice since this concert happened and want to have a performance at the end of my exchange. I am so lucky to be in a musical host family.