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Year Two: A Story of Progress

May 21, 2013 · by Nikki

Last year, I wrote a post reflecting on what my first year in Paris had been like. Though I acknowledged a lot of positive elements from my first year, I also described the sensation of struggling between the person I was inside and the person I was forced to be due to my lack of ability to express myself in French.

Last year it was like trying to understand these singing frogs 🙂

Now I face a whole different kind of struggle. One which I can’t really get into here (yet! but maybe if all you boys and girls are good I’ll save you a nice story for later…;) ), but mostly with money. HOLY HELL Paris is expensive. And the taxes are just, well… that’s a first world problem and I’m just going to go ahead and bite my tongue (can’t hurt any worse than those bills from the government! Ouch!).

However, I am able to happily report that, for the most part, I feel a lot more like myself than I did 365 days ago. There’s a few reasons for that, which include:

Paris is still pretty, even “under” the snow

I’ve kept a lot of the friends I met in year one, and have been able to let go of my insecurities around them. I no longer fear that they’re going to think I’m stupid if I make a mistake in French, and I no longer worry that they’re going to think I’m stupid if I butt into a conversation in English. I think they know me, now, and they’ve decided to stick around. They’re either loyal to a fault, or messy conversation isn’t all that bad.
I’ve improved my French. I mean, let’s hope so, right? Seriously, after being here for 2 years, I’d like to think I can answer my own cell phone and not have a heart attack. Okay, I’m still working on that one, but I can definitely participate in conversations now that I couldn’t before, and people remind me all the time that I’ve come a long way.
I’ve gotten into the rhythm of how life works here. Do I still get frustrated at processes that are painstakingly inefficient? You bet. But do I expect them now, and have a good laugh about it? Most of the time. And it doesn’t hurt that even on its ugliest days, Paris is still pretty.
I made some catastrophic mistakes in 2012. How can that make me feel more like myself, you ask? Well, first of all, I wouldn’t be me without some huge blunders now and then. And second, I forced myself to look at who I was and what I was doing, and realized I was starting to get off track. I have this weird philosophy about myself that I’m always changing, and I still am, but I’d like to at least be changing in positive directions. I was starting to go the other way, and was able to reroute myself.

So there you have it. I spent my Two Year France-iversary watching the rain come down outside of my apartment and watching Saving Private Ryan (for the first time) in light of our recent trip to Normandy. Oh yeah, there was wine in there, too. For what is an anniversary without a toast…

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Perpetual Passenger as an American Woman in France

February 6, 2013 · by Nikki

Recently a good friend asked me to join a networking group that aims to help ready Americans (and others) for a move to France. Read More →

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Three Things I Did to Improve My French

January 16, 2013 · by Nikki

Earlier this year I stumbled upon a video of a guy calling himself Benny the Irish Polyglot that got me realizing that I was making a lot of excuses about my progress with the French language, and wrote about it. Benny was cool enough to repost my blog on his site (which is a great resource for anyone trying to learn another language, so check it out, here), and I figured I owed it to anyone who stopped by to post something about my progress. Read More →

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Bienvenue au Batobus!

December 13, 2012 · by Nikki

So you want to visit the City of Lights. But If metros and buses aren’t for you… Read More →

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Tying the Knot: French Style

October 23, 2012 · by Nikki

This summer I had the pleasure of attending my very first French wedding! It was a beautiful affair from start to finish, despite the threatening rain, and my French getting put to the test. The event was interesting to me on many levels, one of which being the ability for me to observe differences in ceremonies and traditions that exist between French and American weddings.

Two people in love… all you need for any wedding

In no particular order, I present to you the 10 wedding things that French and American couples do differently (in my experience):

Although the United States also asks couples to officially marry in a clerical setting, such as a court house or town hall, very rarely does it happen on the same day as the wedding and reception, with guests piled into some official room. In France, the civic proceedings happen just before any other ceremony or reception is to take place. At this wedding, as many friends and family members as possible were crammed into the tiny room, though I’ve been told that sometimes it’s just the bride, groom, and witnesses, and everyone else joins for the reception.
Speaking of witnesses, that’s what the bridal party is called here. There is no maid of honor, best man, bridesmaids or groomsmen. There is usually one person (sometimes two) for the bride and one (or two) for the groom to act as witnesses to the marriage.
The witnesses do not usually coordinate clothing or colors to match the bride, groom or any wedding theme.
A bouquet is thrown, but a garter is not.
There is no cake or cake-cutting ceremony.
There is no father-daughter or mother-son dance.
I also don’t recall seeing the couple’s first dance, but this may have been around the point where things got hazy. 🙂
Speaking of hazy, the reception (aka when dinner was served) started around 9pm, with drinks and dancing intended to last until around 5am.
Since there is often no outright “ceremony,” there is no rehearsal the night before the wedding (although in this case, there was actually a ceremony at a church that included a choir, who held a rehearsal at the church, which preceded a barbecue).
Instead of a brunch the morning after, there is often an all-day event where food and drinks are served.

So there you have it! And if there are any international brides/grooms or wedding crashers out there, please share some interesting traditions you’ve seen (or missed)! 🙂

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The Road Less Traveled

October 10, 2012 · by Nikki

In all of my rushing around the globe, I forgot to pass along the latest article I’ve written for MyFrenchLife.

Check it out, here, and get a small taste of some of the lesser-known spots I’ve scoped in this crazy country!

A bientôt! 🙂

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Some things to tide you over

September 5, 2012 · by Nikki

Paradise? Kos? What’s the difference?

I have just arrived from a fantastic holiday on the island of Kos in Greece! I am busy adjusting to being back in the real world, and until I have time to actually write some decent posts, here are links to a few things that should provide good reading material in the meantime.

The amazing Mama over at HJ Underway wrote a post echoing my thoughts about speaking a language other than the local one, and the American language debate. Check it out, here.

My latest article for MyFrenchLife, talking about tennis in Paris, was published while I was away. You can read it, here.

Benny the super Irish Polyglot found my blog post about my addiction to excuses, and he posted it on his site, with some of his commentary (and EXCELLENT feedback in the comments for those of you looking to learn another language). Check out his site, here, and the blog where my addiction post makes an appearance, here.

Until next time! 😉

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August 21, 2012 · by Nikki

A post that has inspired me like few others…

Sojourning Abroad

For this Language Monday I want to introduce to you Benny Lewis! Benny Lewis is an Irish guy that speaks an absurd amount of languages. People that speak several languages, like benny, are called polyglots. Benny currently speaks eight languages and is working on three others. But Benny hasn’t always had the ability to speak several languages with ease… Benny discovered something when it comes to language learning: speaking is the best way to learn. He did a TEDxTalk (video below) where he talks about how he began learning languages at a rapid rate.

Now we might not all have the opportunity to learn languages as Benny does, but it gives even the worst language learners among us hope! Check out the TEDxTalk and also check out Benny’s website for more information! He offers help to aspiring Polyglots, and let’s face it… who doesn’t want to know more languages???

–

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Paris Cupcake Wars: Scarlett’s Bakery

July 18, 2012 · by Nikki

Recently, I decided to explore the Parisian world of cupcakes. As a first step, I spent some time browsing the web to see what our old friend Google had to say in terms of where to start. I got the standard map listing of places with the word “cupcake” in the name, and then another outdated website or two pointing me the direction of a few bakeries.

Last weekend, the Frog Prince and I had plans to go out for lunch at a restaurant we really dig in a neighborhood not too far from ours (posts about this place will follow, at some point, too. There is no shortage of good food in Paris, but the trifecta of good food, great service/ambiance and good pricing can be quite the rarity). Fortunately, one of the bakeries whose name came up in my search was located conveniently in between our place and the restaurant.

To start what I hope to be a long and delicious journey, I took the liberty of stopping in at a bakery that is touted for its cupcakes (and it’s tea) in the 11th arrondissement: Scarlett’s Bakery. Here’s my rundown of what Scarlett brings to, and puts on, the table:

At first glance – I was excited by the cute, clean shop. I didn’t take any pictures of the inside because it was small, we were the only ones there (when we arrived), and I didn’t want to be rude. But the décor of the bakery is colorful, warm, welcoming, and a little quirkier than most of the neutral-colored, traditional bakeries I find myself in in Paris.

Scarlett’s Bakery on the outside. Image courtesy of http://www.scarlettsbakery-cupcakes.com

At second glance – I was a bit disappointed. Scarlett seems to focus her cupcake energy on minis, which–although they are delicious and turned out to be the perfect size for splitting and sharing–wasn’t what I was looking for, or expecting. Additionally, although the flavors she had were amazing (wait for it), and typical of those you can find among French desserts (pistachio, tiramisu, etc.), some of the classic cupcake flavors were missing: namely chocolate, vanilla and red velvet.

The box being a bit small and semi-poorly designed caused the minis to mush a bit, but they still looked nice!

At first bite – The first cupcake I went for first was cookies and cream, being that it was the closest I could get to the classic chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, which also happens to be my favorite. The cupcake was sublime. The texture of the cake was not too dense but full of flavor, and the frosting was smooth and creamy. Frog Prince went for tiramisu and told me that “it was amazing,” and a friend went for pistache and was also impressed. Other flavors in our batch included pistache fraise (pistachio cake with strawberry cream), spéculoos (a French cookie of sorts) and caramel au beurre salé (caramel with salted butter). All were top-notch.

Toasting to the tastiness!

Tiramisu and cookies and cream… clearly I can’t handle the flavor

Overall – the shop is sweet, the selection was a bit limited, but the desserts themselves are to die for. I can’t comment on pricing just yet, as I need to try other bakeries to get a feel for the value in this category, but her minis ring up at 1.80 € a piece, with deals if you buy larger quantities.

Keeping my recommendations to a basic “GO” or “DON’T GO” level, I can give the green light to definitely GO to Scarlett’s Bakery!

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Excuse My French!

June 21, 2012 · by Nikki

I love this phrase. I use it liberally as an excuse to swear. I find it especially effective when talking to my mother who, in the not-so-distant past, used to “speak loudly” (yell) to (at) me using my entire name (you know–in that way that only Moms can) for merely mentioning the word “crap” (don’t worry, Mom, I know you’re supposed to do that 🙂 ). I suppose perhaps part of why her disdain for my linguistic shortcomings has subsided over the years stems from the fact that now I’m an adult (or so they say), so swearing has become slightly more acceptable. Even still, I find that a well-placed “excuse my French” after the choice words I had reserved to describe, say, the French postal service, for example, seems to lessen the blow that a vulgarity can deliver.

Not too long ago, I was talking to Frog Prince about some issue or another and a swear accidentally tumbled across my lips. I immediately followed the surprising slip-up with “excuse my French,” which garnered quite the confused look from him. I tried to explain to him what this term means, and how it’s used. The conversation went something like this:

“Well, when a person swears but they don’t want to offend someone, they might say ‘excuse my French,’ or sometimes it’s ‘pardon my French.'”

“Why? S#*% isn’t a French word.”

“Umm… (calling on my skills of balderdash) I think it’s because a long time ago, people thought swears sounded like French words. Or something.”

“???????”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’ll look it up.”

After doing some research on the web, I came across a possible explanation of the origin of the term (though no official citation is included so I’m not sure about the credibility of this account):

In the 19th century, when English people used French expressions in conversation they often apologised for it – presumably because many of their listeners (then as now) wouldn’t be familiar with the language.^[1]

If you think about it, this technically makes my initial attempt at an explanation for the term somewhat correct. People apologized for French expressions, so at some point someone started apologizing for a swear, either thinking it was French or trying to pass it off as such. Either way, I’ll chalk this up as a minor victory. (Side note – can you imagine what the term “excuse my English” might be apologizing for?)

But the funniest part of this little phrase doesn’t come from it’s origin or common use by English speakers. The hilarity, for me, now comes from it’s new use in my life here in France. These days, “excuse my French” is a good way to apologize for the fact that my French still sucks. Go figure. 🙂

Guess I’m not the only one using the phrase this way…
copyright: BBC

“Excuse my French.”1 The Phrase Finder. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/130800.html (11 April, 2012)

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