Laughing so hard it hurts the belly
That's when you know dinner was a success!
I had seven people over for dinner last night and we had a blast. I invited Lara and Charles, Libby and Dan, their friends Laura and Greg, and Rafael. I followed a great suggestion from my dad for the meal: I made two large pots of stew, with lots of winter veggies, one vegetarian with chickpeas, and one with lamb. When everything was slowly cooking on the stove, I saw myself eating this for the next week, I thought I'd have lots of leftovers. No such thing, people went for second servings, even after I ran out of pasta.
I had promised Rafael that we would not spend the evening speaking in French. And we didn't. But we spoke Montreal English, which is another language all together. Montreal English is sprinkled with unique expressions and lots of French words. And English Montrealers also understand Quebec French, which sometimes made its way into the conversation. What do ex-Montrealers talk about when they get together? Winter, driving, winter driving, bagels, movies, politics, and eventually, les Têtes à claques (this is also my test to see what Blogger will do with French accents). The site was brought up by Laura and Greg, who are English Montrealers but have a really good grasp of Quebec French. I had heard about it through Annie and Marc-Antoine during my last visit back East. This has been such an Internet phenomenon, an unexpected success story that took the province by storm in 2006 (and continues to do so). Some of the clips on the site have been viewed over 5 million times! I remember a Radio Canada news broadcast about some politician in parliament making a reference to one of their most popular clips, Le Willi Waller, while in session. Now that's integration into popular culture! Some schools and government offices have also included the site in banned list.
I discovered something last night: Charles is a storyteller. I always saw Charles as a great speaker and someone who would instantly start chatting up people, wherever we are. Last night, throughout our conversations, I could see him telling stories. And when he told stories, people would listen, laugh, chime in. Maybe that's what also makes him a good teacher. It's all about delivery, pace, and intonation.
I had seven people over for dinner last night and we had a blast. I invited Lara and Charles, Libby and Dan, their friends Laura and Greg, and Rafael. I followed a great suggestion from my dad for the meal: I made two large pots of stew, with lots of winter veggies, one vegetarian with chickpeas, and one with lamb. When everything was slowly cooking on the stove, I saw myself eating this for the next week, I thought I'd have lots of leftovers. No such thing, people went for second servings, even after I ran out of pasta.
I had promised Rafael that we would not spend the evening speaking in French. And we didn't. But we spoke Montreal English, which is another language all together. Montreal English is sprinkled with unique expressions and lots of French words. And English Montrealers also understand Quebec French, which sometimes made its way into the conversation. What do ex-Montrealers talk about when they get together? Winter, driving, winter driving, bagels, movies, politics, and eventually, les Têtes à claques (this is also my test to see what Blogger will do with French accents). The site was brought up by Laura and Greg, who are English Montrealers but have a really good grasp of Quebec French. I had heard about it through Annie and Marc-Antoine during my last visit back East. This has been such an Internet phenomenon, an unexpected success story that took the province by storm in 2006 (and continues to do so). Some of the clips on the site have been viewed over 5 million times! I remember a Radio Canada news broadcast about some politician in parliament making a reference to one of their most popular clips, Le Willi Waller, while in session. Now that's integration into popular culture! Some schools and government offices have also included the site in banned list.
I discovered something last night: Charles is a storyteller. I always saw Charles as a great speaker and someone who would instantly start chatting up people, wherever we are. Last night, throughout our conversations, I could see him telling stories. And when he told stories, people would listen, laugh, chime in. Maybe that's what also makes him a good teacher. It's all about delivery, pace, and intonation.
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