"I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional, but you can't have everything."

1. Just saw Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo," which was hilarious and weird and unexpected, in all the right ways. Probably most people are much more enlightened than I am and saw this movie ages ago, but if not, DO IT.


1b. So, about the last post's picture: I am under the table because of FRANCE! There is a tradition here of eating a certain kind of cake, called the "Galette de Roi," in which is hidden a tiny little figurine. Whoever gets the piece of cake with the figurine hidden inside is the king/queen of the feast. BUT if the cutter of the cake hits the figurine with his knife, and thus discovers where it is hidden, then someone has to get out of sight under the table and randomly assign pieces of cake to everyone in the room. Does that sound crazy? It's not crazy. It's French. But the line is not always distinct....

Two details that we willfully ignored: ONE! this is usually a tradition that happens on the first Sunday in January to correspond with Epiphany, which is also called Feast of the Kings, and that's about all I can tell you about its origins. The Wise Men arrive, they give Jesus some loot, and 2,000 years later we eat cake. We jumped the gun by eating it before Christmas holidays had even begun, but we had the excuse that I would still be in Canada on the proper day. Plus the excuse that the cakes were on sale at the super-discounted-end-of-the-line little grocery store down the street and we had empty stomachs when we came upon the display!

TWO! it is actually supposed to be the YOUNGEST who squeezes under the table for the assignment of cake slices, but somehow it ended up being me, the eldest. This is what happens when you are the clueless foreigner among a group of mischievous natives. But at least while I was down there I found my Batman Spinner that I had gotten in a box of Cocoa Puffs two weeks ago and then lost.

2. Students are striking today! Students! Striking!! It's like being in a modern "Les Mis," or maybe the 60s, complete with a precarious, touchingly authentic barrier made from garbage cans and wooden pallets.



The staff room is full of rage and amusement; rage that students will strike the minute they hear the word "reform" without turning over the rock to see what's beneath it, and amusement because classes are mostly cancelled and the coffee machine is on over-time duty.

I just hope that Strike Fever doesn't spread to the train system, which has been having teeny little regional strikes lately, though so far nothing that would keep me from getting to the airport on Thursday. But will I ever feel good when I am properly settled into a jumbo-jet economy seat for nine hours alone with my thoughts and an iPod full of christmas tunes.

3. Lara and Annabelle and I had a jolly little Christmas party last week at Annabelle's apartment, which has an OVEN, which means I made COOKIES and it was glorious. Unfortunately I added baking soda instead of baking powder, so they looked sort of plastic at the end, but whatever, they were cookies so we ate them anyway.


I really need to stop drinking and carrying on several conversations while attempting to follow a recipe...

Annabelle made Foie Gras, which, like the snails, surprised me with its greatness. Snails? Duck liver? What am I becoming!? It's almost like I'm developing tastes beyond pizza and brownies! Weird!!


Final food update: I made pancakes with the Little Dudes, and it was fantastic. It was also the first time I ever drank wine while eating pancakes and I LIKED IT.


Working with the LDs is a, uh, interesting challenge for me. It's hard to find the right balance between making sure they are interested and engaged, and making sure they are learning English. They are too young for drills and too old for classic fun & games. But I've got a new arsenal of teaching material to try out on them in the new year and hopefully they will progress, bit by hilarious bit, towards being confident speakers... at least now they know how to say "Pass me the Nutella"!