Wrapping it all up

I now have two jobs. One with Acadomia, and another with the foreign language firm I interviewed with on Thursday. I think they were desperate to get people who were willing to go to Castres two times a week because my interview was mediocre. Castres is a little more than an hour away, and not my first choice for a commute, but it pays better than Acadomia and I will be a good addition to my resumé. And after June I might teach in the offices here in Toulouse.

Thursday night I went to my AVF "jeunes actifs" meeting where we drank some cidre and discussed which game we should play. We ended up playing "Citadelle", which is a card game involving characters such as the king, a merchant, a magician, and a bishop, and the goal is to earn gold coins and build a nice city (the buildings of the city being cards and the gold coins being plastic). I've tried so many more card games using some kind of role playing here in France than I ever did in the States. I watched a game of Tarot once (not fortune telling tarot, the complicated game) and I've seen lots of other sets for sale.

Friday I went back to my old préfecture and picked up my carte de séjour. It's finally in my hands! It seems like forever since I applied for it the second week of December. I even bought two baguettes from my old boulangerie and brought them back in the train with me. It's strange to take the train for an hour and 15 minutes and arrive somewhere I know intimately. Even though our old town was small and there were no young people and we had to move, it still has a special place in my heart.

Friday evening B and I went to our second community band rehearsal. The musicians are fairly talented, but do they like to chat! I'm surprised they gave as good a concert as they did in February now that I see how much time is wasted in rehearsal. They don't have a social hour afterwards (like the band in Montpellier did), and people make the rehearsal happy hour. People will crack jokes while we're playing and get half the band laughing. The conductor keeps going and I can't complain too much about the music, so oh well.

And this afternoon I met up with some fellow AVF group members to discover a "Salon de Thé". I already knew of one café that served really thick hot chocolates that you have to eat with a spoon (it's almost pudding), but this salon de thé did as well. Maybe it's a Toulousain specialty? I had a chocolat chaud épais last weekend, so I chose tea and a piece of pecan pie instead. The pecan pie was very very good, but last weekend's banana cake with whipped cream and caramel sauce might have been a tad bit yummier. I'll have to go back and try some more just to be sure.

I've been meaning to comment on a few things of life in France, but forgot when I went to write a post or our internet wasn't working when I did remember. Here are a few of my observations:

Why are French houses almost always square? Nine houses out of ten have the same floor plan upstairs as down. Don't people find that boring and ugly?

What's with the new fashion trend among teenage girls to wear pea coats with only two buttons and look like maternity styles? I don't have anything against pregnant women or maternity clothes, but what fashion designer was inspired to create the same look for 16 year old girls?
That's all I see on the high schoolers these days when I take the metro.

And lastly, on a positive note, I always thought the British were the only ones serious about tea, but I've met quite a few French who are real fans. I've even become more serious myself, and I have three tea pots (okay, two are in the shape of cats and that's why I bought them) and use loose tea in a little ball or a filter. Seeing the expertise of some French in regards to coffee and tea, I've realized that my Starbucks and Nestea drinking friends back home have no idea what a good cup should taste like. And what a shame, because I've discovered tons of delicious teas here in France. Chin-chin!