A thick fog has descended over Dunkerque now that the holidays are here. It came Saturday morning and hasn’t really let up yet, and probably won’t as the weather forecast is for a week of snow on either side of the channel, thus resulting in lots of possible snow, if any of it decides to stick. As long as it doesn’t mess with the trains again I’m okay with it. Though when I walk out to catch a bus and its drizzling I don’t like to get off the bus 20 minutes later to be hit in the face with something that resembles large thick wet white raindrops (it wasn’t quite slush). Either snow or don’t. Stop being so indecisive.
Not often, but sometimes it’s the mornings we don’t want to get out of bed that make for good days. Today won’t go down as epic or amazing, but pleasant. Last night I’d vaguely alluded to going to the market this morning for veggies. This morning I was wishing I had closed the blackout blinds as the clock crept towards noon. Then I remembered that there wasn’t another market nearby until Wednesday and the only vegetable I had left was onions. Yes, I could buy my vegetables at the supermarket, but they are just so much more expensive there. For example: this morning I spent €4.18 ($5.70) on 4 apples, 2 medium carrots, 1 medium courgette (zuchinni), 7 brown mushrooms, 1 large green pepper, and 1 large red pepper. That’s enough veggies to last me by myself a week.
I’d gone to the market with JP (my roommate) and we met another assistant from New York there. The market was almost over for the day, so the smells of it were well and thick in the air. There were a couple vans selling whole roast chickens. Being lunch time, we were all hungry, and so for €6 we bought one and headed back to mine and JP’s. Along with a myriad of fresh vegetables we had chicken, followed by a dessert of fresh apples and tea. It was an enjoyable afternoon talking with people I don’t normally see.
The rest of my afternoon was more low-key (not that the first part was all that riveting). I chatted with my dad on skype and yet again contemplated plan B a.k.a. I don’t get into a graduate program. So far most of my options seem to involve lots and lots of dance, which is definitely a plus. Though for now, I’m waiting, working on a photo book of this year and generally lounging around in my new slouchy hat that I knit.
Seeing as I often don’t have much to do, I’ve taken up knitting. So far in the time I’ve been here I’ve finished knitting, a pair of arm warmers, an elephant, a hat, and an ipod cozy. I’m currently working on a second set of arm warmers, these ones being much more delicate. Once I get some pictures taken and uploaded I’ll come back and fill you in on the projects.
arm warmers
ipod cozy
elephant!
winter hat
It’s been a lazy few days. S came back from her weekend in the UK with a cold. So I’ve been hanging out, making soup, and watching movies mostly. I don’t work again for a week, because my school has mock exams this next week and I’m already finished for this week, and then I have two weeks off, so really, I already feel like I’m on vacation.
We’re off for a short walk on the beach, even though it’s gotten colder again. But really there is only so much sitting around watching movies you can handle even when you’re sick. Though I’m sure if we had a few more board games/card games/video games we could hold out longer before resorting to wandering around.
The only really productive thing I have done (because aside from Monday I haven’t really worked because of canceled classes), is my interview for Goldsmiths. I don’t want to jinx it, but I think it went well. I should be hearing from them in the infamous soon.
Really that’s about it. This week has been about as exciting as watching grass grow.
Here I am in the land of pastries and cheese, right next to the land of chocolates and I’m finding my new addiction to be from none of the above categories. Les Gaufres Sèches (“dry waffles”). They are cookies made out of a type of waffle batter and delicious. See this link for a lovely picture of Les Gaufres de Dunkerque. And if you speak French there is also a recipe. Of course I’ve also found new favorites in everything else I eat here. As for pastries, I love éclairs; cheese, goats cheese, specifically la cœur de chêvre; chocolates, well all of it, but praline or ginger are quite nice. Then there are crêpes. There are gallettes or crêpes salé (savory crêpes) and crêpes sucré (dessert crêpes). Both are quite delicious and my favorite type are les crêpes brettonne, which generally form a square package around the filling. There are also les crêpes normande, which are thicker and do not encase the filling, but more over fold over most of it. Then there are les crêpes flammande (which are from this area) in which the toppings sit on top of the crêpe like a crêpe pizza. And the variations on each of these kinds go on and on.
At home I’m cooking a mix of American and British and French food whilst constantly debating the differences in pronunciation and naming of food between the US and the UK. I’ve introduced the S & C to homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and pancakes, and they’ve introduced me to things like jacket potatoes, and boiled eggs with toast soldiers. Simple comfort foods from home. We’ve also been making our way through various cook books. I think I’ve cooked more varied dishes in the bast four months than I have in the past four years.
Oh, and I’ve introduced the French to Chocolate Chip Cookies (my own variation on the Tollhouse recipe)… and suddenly I’ve been asked for my recipe four times in a couple of days.
p.s. on a distinctly different note, I’ve started a photo blog if you want to follow exactly which photos I’ve taken that I find interesting. As apposed to the picture dump that is flickr, and the incomplete/sporadic posting of photos here.
Last Sunday we woke up to an unexpectedly beautiful day in Dunkerque. The sun was out, there was barely a cloud in the sky, and dare I say it, it was warm(er). After heading down to the Sunday morning marché, S and I decided to ride our bikes to Belgium. She had bought a bike before Christmas, and I borrowed one from the old lady who lives on the first floor of S’s flat. Belgium is only a few towns over, and the bus doesn’t take too long, so quite some time ago we had decided on going. On our way we found some WWII ruins and one of the infamous Carnivals that go throughout this area for three months.
Even though we had consulted a map (briefly) before we left, we didn’t quite find the right road after we left the beach for quite some time. In fact we went well out of our way and through a few small villages. Though I can’t really complain it was a lovely day and we were in the French countryside. I’m really not sure why the locals keep apologizing for it not being pretty here. Yes, the towns aren’t your typical quaint rustic France, but the countryside is nice. Though, it still being winter, by the time we arrived in Belgium it was maybe two hours until sunset. So we merely nipped across the boarder for a drink and road back. It was well dark by the time we got home but we managed to not get lost at all!
As our trip was cut short by starting late and it being winter, we’re definitely going again. And we’re definitely going to go explore the dunes again. Here are some pictures, as always, there are more on flickr.
I always knew that I would miss school when I finally graduated and went off to the supposed real world. [which by the way I think I've finally officially entered. Here's to making my first student loan payment and being annoyed about my W-2s not being posted within 5 minutes of each other] Yet here I am missing class. I miss discussing theory and solutions with intelligent people, having intellectually stimulating work that has to be done. It does show that when left to our own devices only the most disciplined determined people will completely self educate. We feel the need to have pressure from other people in order to do anything. Taking on something by ourselves seems so alien and difficult that failure is subconsciously assumed to be inevitable.
Recently M asked me to start working on a logo design for her company that she’s starting. It was one of those things where it just felt good to be trying to do something again. I keep running across books I want to read (problem: I live in a country where it’s rare to find a book in English). Meals I want to try to cook (problem: not being able to find non-french ingredients because I live in a small town). And all of it is just excuses. Though in my defense, I have been reading books, online newspapers, and listening to podcasts; I’ve been cooking lots of various kinds of food, I think I’ve only cooked 2 or 3 things twice in four months (baking does not count in this). I think what I miss is the tangible proof of learning, the classes, the classmates, the papers and projects.
Yes, call me weird, but at least I knew this would happen.
