Bienvenue chez nous!

Today was Anaëlle's final exam. She has been with us for 12 days now, speaking less and less French and more and more English every day. By the way, there have been several times with Anaëlle where I have unknowingly spoken English, French and German in one sentence (as my husband and kids have been quick to point out). Poor Anaëlle must have been very confused at times.

Her final exam involved accompanying Micaela on her day at the international school, where she would be expected to speak English the entire time. Reports are that Anaëlle passed and she enjoyed herself, with some of the French-speaking students taking her under their wing a bit. What she did comment on later was how everyone shook hands when greeting each other -- even the girls! In France, girls would have kissed each other on both cheeks. "You know, Anaëlle," I told her, "when little Becca arrives at the Kindergarten in the morning, the first thing she does is shake her teacher's hand, and it's the last thing she does before leaving." Not very French.

And who was waiting for us when we arrived home from school? Anaëlle's parents and brother Tangi. The whole family will spend a few days with us.

For dinner, I wanted to make something very American, something you don't see readily in Europe, like you do hamburgers. I decided to make chili and was lucky that a friend with commissary privileges was kind enough to buy some cornbread mix for me to make the meal as authentic as possible. And authentic as chili made by a Yankee in Germany can be.

We told everyone to ladle chili into their bowls and the fixings were on the table. We all sat down and everyone just sat there for a few seconds, frozen. It took a second for me to realize that la famille Quiquet did not know what to do with said fixings. What was this white stuff? (Sour cream.) What is sour cream exactly? (It's similar to crème fraiche.) What does one do with these crackers? (Crumble them up.) How much of this orange cheese (cheddar) should we put in? (As much as you'd like.) And we mix it all together? (Yes.) It was nice to be on the other side of the "Now how do I do this?" thing for once. I feel frozen like that so often here.

And I think the chili was a hit.

Maud et moi.

After dinner, it was present time. Doritos!

French wine and cake!

A French soccer jersey! (Please excuse James' lack of enthusiasm. He had a fever and wasn't feeling well.)

An Astérix book!

Astérix figurines!

My Astérix can beat up your Obélix!

A beautiful Longchamp foldable purse! Très chic! You unsnap it to make a bigger purse. Very à la mode in France. I got a purse and backpack as well.

And the gifts kept coming: Breton butter cookies or galettes, which James discovered are delicious when dipped in hot chocolate; souvenirs from Brittany (playing cards, special card sticker, caramel, hats); French cosmetics; and the one thing I asked Maud to bring me -- reusable shopping bags from a French supermarket that I'll be able to use back in the U.S.

We were overwhelmed. I just hope their stay with us justifies such generosity.