Typical French Dinner and a Quiet Evening

While I usually choose to write posts which revolve around big events, I thought the other day was a nice enough day to write about.

I awoke a little late but started the day out well. Cleaning the apartment, my roommate and I settled a few things, dividing up the kitchen and the like. I found a toaster and a blender in a previously-unseen closet in the kitchen and both worked so that had me excited!

The landlord came by and talked a little more about the apartment. A nice man, who has spent a lot of time in many other countries (although we didn't get much of a chance to talk about that), he told us all about any of the issues he has had in the past, and helped us with any questions we had. 

Later in the day, his sister arrived as she had invited my roommate, myself, and two other students out to her house for dinner. A short car ride was all that was needed, and I couldn't help but think of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's house from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

An odd angle of the house and vinyard

Not as rural as his, still their house was very beautiful with a wine cellar and small vinyard. There was an outdoor barbeque and the table was set. We were eating tartes flammes which looked like pizzas but had amazingly fresh toppings and one even had goat cheese. Wine and beer, the one French, the other German, were served, along with water and juice. It was a lovely dinner, and I enjoyed the food, company, and atmosphere.

The one thing I am enjoying about Strasbourg above all else so far is the mélange of languages. French, German, English, all combining, changing, and mixing. It has been wonderful hearing all of them and flexing a part of my brain unused in some time. While French is Canada's second language, it is not as common outside the province of Québec. But I have been reviewing it, and the people here are lovely, supportive, and have really been helping me to learn. I am able to understand almost anything anyone says in French, almost, but to respond, it's a little slow and error-prone. The main problem is that I love creating elaborate, intricate, and wonderfully descriptive sentences in my head, but at this moment, it's a little tough to transmit those verbally. Still, French lessons continue and every day brings me closer.

I am also working to learn German and, thanks to my roommate, a little Hindi. I can now say a few things, spelled phonetically for your convenience:

Namastay! (Hello)

Guten taug! (or simply taug, also means hello)

Thom-estay-hoo? (How are you?)

Gut. Veegetzia? (How are you?)

And well, that's the limit of my knowledge so far. After dinner, we came back to our flat, and I wrote this and a few other blogs, and then later talked with my roommate and a colleague about my friends. The only things left to organize in my room are my pictures, certificates, and other memorabilia. However, I do not know if the French have sticky tack, or anything other than tape to use to put my pictures up on the walls. I will be glad when paper LEDs are as common as e-readers and I can just put my pictures up on display on that. Of course, I could just buy a screen but as technology becomes easier and more accessible, the real becomes that much more precious. Anyway...

It was a nice night, and as I watched movies and drifted off to sleep, I could hear the rain begin to patter against my window.