i think i forgot to go to bed again tonight

Hello
A lot of people ask me “How is Orléans?” and usually I answer by saying that its boring and I do nothing all the time. “But at least you’re becoming awesome at French”. Actually no, I’m not. I’ve had this conversation many times now, and I’m getting bored with it so I’ve decided to elaborate and say that Orléans is not just boring, but also awkward, weird and French. Here are the most awkward, weird and French things that have happened to me lately.

Awkward: You know when you show up to the weekly uni party in the sweaty basement of the Polytech building expecting a lot of dancing and rum but after you pay the entry you discover it’s the end of a sit down dinner with live band? What do you do in this situation? Drink the rest of the punch, then sit there looking like an idiot, only getting up to retrieve your shoe when friend throws it towards another table. Then you steal 3 rocks from the Christmas-related decorative place settings and leave.

Weird: This week the aerobics instructor slash security guard kissed me on the cheek and then slapped me in the face. As a greeting. Yes, cheek kissing is the done thing, but usually I only tend to do it with reasonably close non-Anglophone friends, or at least people who aren’t THE AEROBICS INSTRUCTOR SLASH SECURITY GUARD. What’s more, I tend to reserve face slaps for people who know me really well and can justify doing it.

French: We were in the local bakery. One of my friends was holding a punnet of strawberries she’d just bought. The baker said in French something along the lines of “Oh you brought me strawberries, that’s so nice”, then took them out of her hand. He then went over to his fridge to get a can of whipped cream which he brought back with the strawberries saying (in English this time) “that’s a French touch.” Our other friend later ate the cream.