It is infinitely important to be thankful for the kindness of others as it is unfortunately quite rare that people go out of their way to give their time and assistance. I guess this is quite a cynical view despite being quite a positive freak.
I have been fortunate enough to experience such wonderful levels of kindness from quite a few people now. Sophie, one of the English teacher has been an absolute star and I am yet to find a means of showing my appreciation.
Dinner with Shannon and Jeff
Shannon, another absolute star is the lovely lady who lent me her sofa for my first two nights in Valenciennes. In addition, she provided invaluable assistance with the hunt for un apartement for Nicole and I and assisted in the arduous process of sorting out a French bank account. Her French skills as much as her understanding of French bureaucracy were invaluable. Similarly, Jeff assisted Nicole at the bank, accompanied us on a hunt for a mobile phone on a hot afternoon and attended the contract signing for the flat to ensure everything was in good order.
Nicole, Jeff and Shannon.
Nicole and I had Jeff and Shannon round for dinner one weekday evening, I cooked for us all and Nicole and I raised a glass of thanks. The meal was based on a one-pot rice dish my Mum makes however due to ingredient differences over here and generally kitchen-incompetence on my behalf, it was a bit of a newbie! Fresh baguette, good butter and a Belgian beer completed it.
I will tweak my recipe for Arrabiata Rice and next time I make it I will post a ‘How-To’ .
Baking for the office girls
The second big thanks goes to the reception staff at mon lycée. They are all lovely, chatty mumsie figures who pretty much run the school. They were the first people I chatted to and Francoise in particular was a massive help with all the forms and documents that the school required and the Acadamie de Lille [the overlooker of all the establishments in the region] required.
On Friday I went down to say have a good weekend, as not only do I feel totally comfortable chatting to them but everyone is ridiculously polite here so it seemed fitting to not be afraid to be polite [if that makes any sense….?!] If a teacher walks past the staff room at lunch time [s]he pops his / her head in and says “Bon ap!” And this was not just a one-time freak occurrence, it really is the norm here and it is just fabulous!
So, again I was thinking food as a treat for the office. Cake, in fact. It’s delicious [hopefully], enjoyable to make and quite personal, I feel. They all had time for me when I needed them to so I definitely have time for them.
Food is a bit of a touchy subject in France so I thought I’d stick to English baking [well, Scandinavian in this case…..] and keep it simple as I am a bit of a terror in the ole’ kitchen. See here for my carrot cake recipe.
Have you had great experiences with people on your year abroad? Or have you got any ideas for showing gratitude, be it food or not?
Pheebs chez les Ch'tis 