Always Talk to Strangers

It's my new motto. The best things come out of it. Also, possibly the worst things such as death. But the risk is a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things - we're all gonna die anyways one way or another. Let me explain.

My Korean friend, Bo-Hyun and I were walking down Rue Bretonneau today after classes. She was complaining about her arm fat and i yelled at her in Korean to stop her nonsense. This man must have overhead me, because he stopped us and asked if we could help him write a letter to Korea. We could meet up in an hour at the cafe, he said, and he would buy us coffee and we could help him write the letter.

Now I know this sounds mad shady, and I'm sure many of you would shake your heads at my seemingly dismal use of common sense, but after having spent a year in the shadiest places of Philly with the dodgiest people, I felt like I had a pretty good shady-radar and the friendly looking French man who stood before us seemed harmless. So we agreed.

And what a good decision it was! He is this super cool chef who has a restaurant in Montpelier and was in Tours to take care of his sick mother. He worked in Korea for 3 years, also in Egypt, Argentina, Cuba, Japan, and Thailand. We had a lovely time talking about local cuisine and how his connaisance in Korea was basically like family. Then we started talking about Korean food and Bo-Hyun and I described how we missed it so much. But there is a good asian grocery store in Tours Nord, he told us. I will take you there.

So, despite all my elementary schooling, complete with videos illustrating what happens to children who get into strangers' cars, we got into Jimmy's car. On the way, we told him that we were planning to bike to Amboise, but he refused to let us go explaining how French drivers are crazy, especially on Saturday b/c everyone's drunk for the weekend and insisted on taking us there.

And then we went to the Asian store and bought lots of delicious things. While we were there, Jimmy explained to us several interesting thoughts about different types of Asian cuisine. And then we decided to have a picnic in Amboise. Bo-hyun and I would make the Korean sushi, he would bring the salmon, bread, cheese, and wine. Yay.

Then we headed into the banlieus (countryside) of Tours. I was very unfamiliar with the place and there weren't that many pedestrians. It occurred to me at that point in time that he could very easily kill the both of us, cast us off along the bank, and get away in time to make dinner for sick mother. Just as my imagination was getting the best of me, and thus making me regret my foolishness, he began shuffling in his glove compartment to put away a paper, and while reorganizing it, pulled out a small knife. Oh my, I thought. I didn't see this coming. Terror gripped Bo-Hyun's face. Jimmy looked up - "Oh, ca c'est pour mon champinions" ~ "Oh, this is for my wild mushrooms." Whew.


He ended up taking us to this really cool wine cave near Vouvray called MontLouis. He buys most of the wine for his restaurant from this cave, so he knew about the grapes and fermentation process very well and gave us a private tour followed by a superb wine tasting. And the white wine there, the carbonated one especially, was sooooo delicious. The best I've ever had. He bought a bottle of our favorite bubbly and then we drove to Amboise , next to the castle, and parked across the river. It started raining cords, "Il pleut comme les cords," which describes heavy rain, similiar to the american idiomatic expression "raining cats and dogs." So we sat in the car in the midst of the storm listening to Aretha Franklin and drinking the bubbly, which spilled over his car when we first opened it. After spending an hour there talking in French about movies, cuisine, French-American relations, Korea, eating donkeys, Rabbit, and frogs, we headed back. I got a little tipsy having finished....get this...two whole flutes of wine! Jimminy Crickets- and had to try my hardest not to slur my words and fall asleep immediately.

Back in Tours, we promised to meet up tomorrow at 3 PM after classes, which point in time he will take us to another chateau exploration. Getting out of the car, it started thundering deliciously. And in order to get read of my headache, I went on a run next to the Loire. I think my new favorite pastime is running with the thunder. No one is around and I got the gushing Loire all to myself.

When I returned home, soaked and happy, I looked in the mirror and found something shocking: I have dark circles under my eyes! I am getting old. Old old old. Aging. No really, there are these high school girls at the Institut and I feel ancient next to them. Also, much to my surprise, I realized today something else. I looked in the mirror, double and triple checked : One of my pupils is higher than the other! No really, I think one pupil is set lower in my left eye and my right eye's pupil is set higher!

Strange.

Love
Jean