Everything is 'bon'...literally

Hello!

So yesterday as I was drinking a glass of mulled wine after an afternoon of cross-country skiing, I thought about how everything on my year abroad in 2014 has been pretty great so far, and also how in France it seems that the word 'bon' or 'bonne' can be put in front of almost anything. I will now try and sum up both of those thoughts...

A list of the uses of 'bon' and 'bonne'*

Bonjour - used as the common greeting until around 6pm or until it is dark, unless you are foreign and you were not born with the magic capability to somehow always know the perfect time to stop saying bonjour and change to bonsoir and therefore avoid the bemused or dirty looks that everyone will give you if you greet them in the wrong way

Bonsoir - used as the common greeting after around 6pm or when it is dark, unless you are foreign and you were not born with the magic capability to somehow always know the perfect time to stop saying bonjour and change to bonsoir and therefore avoid the bemused or dirty looks that everyone will give you if you greet them in the wrong way

Bon après-midi - not used as a greeting like in English, but as a goodbye wish to somebody in the afternoon. Again, the rules of when it is afternoon / evening are vague and it's easy to wish someone a good afternoon when in their mind it is clearly the evening and you should be saying bonne soirée

Bonne soirée - not used as a greeting like in English, but as a goodbye wish to somebody in the evening. Again, the rules of when it is afternoon / evening are vague and it's easy to wish someone a good evening when in their mind it is clearly the afternoon and you should be saying Bon après-midi

Bonne nuit - used to wish someone 'goodnight' as you would in English 

Bon appétit -  used in restaurants when your food is served, as you would imagine, but also said amongst friends/family/colleagues as you sit down to eat. I have also found that this can be used as a general midday goodbye wish, even if you have no idea whether the person you are talking to has already eaten lunch or not

Bonne chance / Bon courage - both mean 'good luck', but in my experience people use bon courage more often than bonne chance and more often than in the UK

Bon anniversaire - happy birthday

Bonne année - happy new year, my first attempt of 'joyeux nouvel an' didn't go down too well

Bon voyage / Bon retour - have a good trip / a safe journey home

Bon match - this has been said to me as I've been walking into the stadium about to watch a football match

Bonne séance / Bon film - used by the man at the cinema box office as you pay for your tickets

Bonne balade - this has been said to me as a goodbye wish after chatting with fellow cross country skiiers

Bon - if you're in France and you don't know what to say, just say bon. Adding in an 'ah bah ouais' can also do no harm

Ben - when French people don't want to say bon, then say ben... of course

*this list is by no means extensive and is just what I've experienced. You can basically just put bon in front of anything and use it as a greeting / goodbye wish. Please comment if you've come across any more!

As for the first thought, this second term of my assistantship has been great because I've been taking advantage of every opportunity I've been given and I've also been spending a lot of time in Lyon thanks to the amazing hospitality of my friends who live there. Here are some photos of what I've been up to...

me and gonzalo at my first olympique lyonnais match

me and paula repping the tartan on burns night

the free haggis neeps and tatties

paula's first ever football match

my first time cross-country skiing

taking 'un selfie' with sophia and yvon

skiing through narnia

This weekend I'm off to Courchevel for a day of skiing on the saturday and then next week I have my first theatre class, where I'll be helping out with a class of 17 year olds at the other local lycée. In other exciting news, my family are coming out to visit in a month and then I'm jetting off to Berlin and Amsterdam for the two week school holiday!

à bientôt

Hit the Ground Running

Happy new year!

After a busy end of term and an amazing two weeks back in the UK, I've finally had the time to make a new video. I have been back in Oyonnax for just over a week and as the title suggests I definitely feel that I've hit the ground running. One of my new year's resolutions was simply to 'do more' here in France and look for even more opportunities and so far I have visited Geneva, been to Les Gets for an amazing day of skiing, potentially joined some sort of theatre club and tomorrow I'm going to Lyon to watch (apparently a very important) football match against Marseille.

The video shows my trip to Turin in December, as well as my two recent trips to Geneva and Les Gets. Being a language assistant and earning money is definitely the reason for all of the travelling I've been able to do, and so I still definitely think that I chose the right option.

For those who are interested, I am still really enjoying the work. I'm taking advantage of the fact that I work in a school so close the the French Alps, and so last week I prepared activities on ski safety and this week we're working on the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

To finish on some funny classroom stories at the expense of my pupils, yesterday a boy in my class thought that the word for an 'avocado' was 'lawyer'. Although I found it hard not to laugh at the idea of making guacamole with a lawyer, it is actually an easy mistake to make seeing as the word 'avocat' in French means both 'avocado' and 'lawyer'. Finally, today a girl in my class didn't quite get the hang of the name game when you say your name and then something you like or don't like beginning with the same letter, eg. 'my name is Nick and I don't like nuts'. After everyone else had said their name and a corresponding noun she proudly announced, "my name is Gwendoline and I don't like tomatoes"... maybe it is one of those 'you had to be there' moments but it was definitely the most I have ever laughed in class, and luckily she saw the funny side too.

à bientôt!