Sunday, November 14, 2010

Japanese food, French style!

On Friday afternoon, I went to the town center to meet up with a new English-speaking (hooray!) French friend named Oré...

Sidenote: Several people have told me since I've been here that the summer is the time of year to be in Le Mans--not November. (Sadly, the weather has been especially crummy this November.) But Oré told me that during the summer, the cathedral--the building behind us in the photo--was under construction.

So this is why it's a good thing that I'm here this time of year: to get a good picture of the cathedral! In that case...

Let me get another shot of it. ;)

Anyway...

I met Oré through the CouchSurfing Web site, which has turned out to be a great way to meet new friends my age! Through this site, I was also able to meet a few Americans who are students in Le Mans, and I hung out with them on Thursday at the university. I enjoyed making pizza with them and feeling kind of like a college student again. :)

With Oré on Friday evening, I had a lot of fun making sushi! She went to Japan over the summer and has a love of Japanese food & culture, just like me. It was so surreal to me to be making sushi in France while speaking a little Japanese.

Japanese rice + a French baguette = an interesting combination.

Our new fried Luyun (who's Chinese, studying French in Le Mans) joined us, too...

Making some sushi rolls...yummy...

The finished product! (Notice the apple tart for dessert baking in the oven behind me)

Aaaand the other finished product. :)

Even though we had Japanese food (plus French bread and a French dessert), the meal was definitely French style...

#1. We didn't eat until about 8 p.m. I've had to adjust to this since I've been in France--I don't normally eat dinner so late.

#2. Dinner was a two-hour ordeal, including apéritifs (pre-dinner drinks) and appetizers.

Oré's dad took this picture for us. Her parents made us feel special by getting out the special (super cool!) glasses for the champagne...which of course, is a very French drink!

#3. Instead of using chopsticks, we ate dinner with a knife and fork--one in each hand at the same time, which is how it's done here.

After dinner, we played Guitar Hero and Mario Kart on the Wii. I had a great time hanging out with these gals + Oré's parents, and I loved the combination of cultures!

Goodbye/au revoir/sayonara for now... :)

2 comments:

Lauren said...

Daaayna,

This is an upbeat blog and looks like you had a great time! I think when you come home we should make sushi together!!!

Unknown said...

I love your blog! I miss France. I was there for a summer before FC and it was great! Have fun!