Wednesday, August 31, 2011

France Movies

I'm in the mood for some good France movies. 


I'm going to watch Funny Face today. I started watching it once and for whatever reason, I never finished it. Granted, it's not actually in French, but at least Paris serves as the setting for most of it.  At least I think it does, right?


I've been feeling a little down and overwhelmed by all of these preparations for leaving and as much as I love la langue francaise, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for the moment when I'll suddenly be inept at complex speech.

That all being said, I feel like I need a good movie to rejuvenate my excitement.
What's your favorite "France" movie? I think my first was Beauty and the Beast, if that counts.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The final countdown...

I can't believe that France is just one more month away. There is so much left to do!

And don't pretend like you don't have "The Final Countdown" stuck in your head right now.
And a strong urge to watch Arrested Development.

Image via weheartit

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Yippee!

Guess who got her visa in the mail yesterday?


This girl!!!

Who would've ever thought that this baby would grow up and move to France for a year...

Anyway, I did a goofy victory dance when I found out about my visa. 
And then my sister asked me not to do that dance in front of any French people. Thank goodness for big sisters -- they keep you in check.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Pourquoi tu parles en anglais maintenant?

Today I started tutoring one of my French students (let's call him Pierre) after a looooong summer break. My French is out of practice and his English is out of practice -- it made for an interesting lesson.

Me: Okay, Pierre, what is on this card?
Pierre: La glace!
Me: Yes, but in English. Do you remember?
Pierre: Urrhhhm, la glace!
Me: Remember, it's ice cream.
Pierre: Ice creeeeeam.
Me: Do you like ice cream?
Pierre: Yes.
Me: What's your favorite kind? Which ice cream do you like?
Pierre: Chocolat! Vanille!
Me: Chocolate and vanilla?
Pierre: Yes.

"Pierre" spent most of the lesson repeating single words after me and saying yes/no, but it is incredible how much he actually understands -- he simply chooses to respond in French, partially because he knows I understand him anyway. What I found most amusing was what he asked me about a half hour into our lesson while we put together a pirate jigsaw puzzle:

Pierre: Pourquoi tu parles en anglais maintenant? (Why are you speaking in English now?)

As if he'd only just noticed that I'd stopped using French.

Words I learned from Pierre today:

Pirate crochet - Captain Hook
le gribouillage - scribble drawings
les serpentes au beurre - snakes in butter

I don't know about the last one, but he insisted that he had "serpentes au beurre" for snack at school today. On second thought, maybe it's legit, because this is what I found upon typing it into google.fr.


Saturday, August 20, 2011

Une liste

Two things I'm looking forward to having en France..

Le pain au chocolat. This is my absolute favorite pastry (the ones on the right, not the croissants) and I can never find one in the US that ever comes close to what I had in Lyon.

Money sized according to worth.


One thing I'm not looking forward to -- not being able to see this guy every day.

I am most definitely not looking forward to being long-distance with Tyler again. 

All images courtesy of weheartit

Friday, August 19, 2011

Katrina, la voyageuse

With the start of my new adventures in France next month, I've decided to start a new blog with a more fitting title. My last blog's name came from one of my favorite show tunes from The King and I ("Hello, Young Lovers"), but other than demonstrating my love for old movies, the url whoeveryouare-katie.blogspot.com didn't do much to actually describe the content of the blog.


So, I present to you katrina-lavoyageuse.blogspot.com. Originally I had created a new blog called "Katrina dans les Alpes," but seeing as how the school I'll be working at did not end up to be anywhere near the French Alps, a few changes were necessary.

For now I will be a long-term substitute until my late-September departure to the tiny town of Bourg-St.-Andeol, a place whose Wikipedia page boasts a single picture of the train station, a 2008 population of 7,324 people, and a national institute of clownery art (aka a clown college). If I happen to see any clowns wandering the streets, I will be sure to let you know.

With just over five weeks left in the US, here's hoping that the days don't pass too slowly or too quickly.