Samedi matin après une pluie, I overslept again, so was Evelyn. As I pushed the classroom door open at around 9:30am…
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"Hah!"
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Evelyn stormed out behind the door, attempting to scare me. Goodness, this was the last thing I would expect Evelyn to do. "Aiyoh…just woke up in the morning, please don’t do this," I said in Mandarin, as my brain has not tuned to English channel yet, let alone French.
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"Bonjour les retards!" Manu greeted us (me and Evelyn) as he entered the room. The rest were doing some sort of exercise (not physically) on crafting some questions to some given responses. The theme was l’Europe et des études en Europe. After going through the questions we came up with and invariably our grammar mistakes, Manu presented us with his perfect questions. He picked Hui Ping this time to answer the questions and we were supposed to pose questions to her using Manu’s perfect samples.
- Pui San (to Hui Ping): Est-ce que vous avez déjà étudié en Europe?
- Hui Ping: Oui, mais seulement un mois.
- Manu (can’t resist to ask question): Où avez-vous étudié?
- Hui Ping: À Paris.
- Manu (kay poh again): Vous avez rencontré un homme?
- Hui Ping: …(laughs)….
- Pui San (rephrasing): Vous avez rencontré un homme sexy?
- Hui Ping: (laughs again)…oui, j’ai rencontré beaucoup des hommes…
- Manu: Vous avez le photo?
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Suivant, Manu was the one asking most questions (nosy?) and we were just behaving like an observer. From this oral practise, we found out that almost all of us would like to go study in France for 1 year or more, just like Pin Nee realising her dream now. I guess the first step is always the most difficult, i.e. quitting your job or taking 1 year sabbatical. Papa Meng did it again! He quitted. "Je suis au chômage" is once again his line. He has a problem of being institutionalised because it deprives him of his usual 1 month break in December.
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Speaking of December, I am in the midst of organising yet again another Christmas lunch. I can’t believe this will be the 4th Christmas lunch I’d be organizing. After browsing through my old blogs, I confirm this is the 4th time! We have been in Alliançe for 4 years?! It doesn’t feel so long at all. Recollecting the restaurants we’ve been, all three were French restaurants (Sebastian’s in 06, Creperie AR-MEN in 05, Maison de la Fontaine in 04) and two of which have closed down! To avoid killing more French restaurants, perhaps we should try non-French eatery this year? I have send out the email with my proposed venue, please rsvp. Merci!
