American/British

A conversation I had with almost-11-year-old J while we walked to school this morning - we were discussing different countries that speak English, and he said he was glad I was American.  I asked why.


J: The British accent is so *makes international hand symbol for foppy/gay*  Right?

Me: I guess to Americans.

J: American accents are like, *makes fake gang symbol with his hand*  Yeahhh I get a hamburger!

Me, attempting not to laugh at him: Well you know you learn British English in school, right?

J: No I don't!  My teacher is American.

Me: Okay, but you learn British vocabulary and spelling.  I've seen it in your homework.

J is very disappointed to hear this.


On an unrelated note, sometimes when the mother is late to come home she brings me a pastry or other treat.  This is what she bought me today; I haven't tried it yet:

Interesting read

I came across an interesting piece written by an American ex pat, reflecting back on her first year living in Paris.  I think a lot of people follow a similar progression as they integrate into a new country, and I can certainly relate to a lot of it!  In particular her description of Paris in the winter is spot on.

You can read it here.

More real posts coming soon!

Snow

The first snowfall of the Paris winter was this past Friday night.  It didn't get any deeper than this, but it was a very picturesque dusting. 

Today I went outside and and the ground was white, but it was probably less than a centimeter deep.  When I came back from work my little dead end had several sets of human tracks, a couple of paw tracks, and amusing bird tracks that made it look like their originators were staggering drunk.