Japanese Dancing at St. Jean

On Monday morning, a group of Japanese dancers performed for the children. They asked for volunteers but I was the only one who could do it, although they had parents for the afternoon (since I had to go to the dentist). The older kids saw the show later on so Ronnie and Talia got to see it too (the elementary kids don't need parents to help).











These are all very short clips;







This one was fun for the girls since they used the same ribbons they have in rhythmic gymnastics. I'm wondering if the ribbons are really traditionally Japanese or whether they just added them as a modern twist.



The dancers sang a little Pokemon song for the kids at the end.



Then they came down to say hi to the kids;



The dancers complimented my English, so I had to come "clean". Then they wanted to know everything. They were really cute with their questions and glad they could talk to at least one child.

A very busy weekend (snow, Solidarity Day and Thanksgiving)

We had a little surprise Saturday morning. These are all taken by the window.







This is our (tiny) yard in snow. Bird is buried in the upper left near a rosebush;



I dressed up the kids and sent them out but there wasn't enough to make a snowman. They also got very wet and cold quickly.

We went again to Solidarity Day, which is a charity event held at the Consul of Europe every year. AIA sold books and did face painting so the girls took advantage;



This last weekend we also had the AIA Thanksgiving dinner. We hold it on the Sunday before, since Thursday is not a day off here obviously.

I didn't take that many pictures. Just some of the kids playing;

St. Martin's at St. Jean's

Here's from Wikipedia;

St. Martin's Day (or Martinstag or Martinmas) is November 11, the feast day of Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me."

So at St. Jean's Ronnie's class reinacted this story for the preschoolers after they did the lantern gig.

Davina with her lamp and her classmates;





The actual march through the dark was beyond my camera's capacities.



Then it was time for the play. Talia is just hanging out.



The crowd is ready for the show;



Ronnie is actually talking in German but the microphone didn't work too well.







The microphone was working better for the Big Climatic Moment when the coat gets cut. I thought that they were being politically correct having a black girl playing St. Martin and it turns out she won a lottery...







Taking a bow at the end. Check out the soldier who loses his armour. Hear Davina screaming "Mommeeeeee!"

Why the French are so happy...

Daniel was so sure Obama was going to win. He was like the rest of his countrymen, so glib...

Guess who I found in front of the T.V. at 3am after election day??? Honey, it's too early to know...

Well, I had to get up to go to the bathroom at 5:22. There was the T.V., staring at me... I turned it on to see McCain addressing the crowd. I flipped through to see multiple stations airing the same live speech. I though "Oh no..." but then he started talking and I realized quickly that this was no victory celebration.

Going shopping with an American accent has become a bit of an adventure in France. "Are you...? Did you...?" One woman told me what a significant event it is for children of color and mixed backgrounds everywhere. She doesn't speak English and has never been to America but her 5 year old is chanting "Oh-ba-ma!" in front of the T.V.

I had just finished his book so it was terrible to see that his grandmother died the day before the elections. She was prominate in his book and he was raised by his mother and her parents, none of whom saw his victory.

It rained on Halloween, kind of ruining the Trick-or-Treating. I did take Davina (just Davina) to the Consul General's party. Check out the "Sarah Palin" who showed up!



Just some random shots at the party;





This is her new buddy Beatrice (who has an American dad and French mother);





We had visitors over the Toussaint break including the cousins. Here are the kids with Samantha;