There are phrases and words that are unique to my family for several different reasons. One reason? My mother was born and raised in France. Not the south of France but the north, meaning we have unique french vocabulary, and traditions, that get carried over into our lives at home in the US.
For example, my family has participated in what we call Aperitif ever since I can remember. Aperitif is a before dinner drink, kind of like appetizers. For us, aperitif was always when we drink Porto (a type of red wine) and "Hollande" which is a type of cheese from Holland. It is actually called Guiyere, but we call it "Hollande" because Holland is where we smuggle it out of to bring over here. It is very hard to find in the US, and also very expensive, so we always stuff our suitcases with cheese and chocolates and other things that are culturally mandatory for us. We drink our "Porto" as we call it, and eat Hollande and we enjoy our company before eating dinner. We also eat hese mini yogurt things called "Petites Suisses" which I find interesting only because it's in a portion size for a Barbie doll, and you have to sweeten it yourself. And, there is paper on the inside of the packaging, so you can't eat it out of the little cup it came in. You have to take it out, unwrap it, and add sugar. But, it is heaven in your mouth. I'm drooling just thinking about it. I've written out the words again to make it easier to understand:
Aperitif- appetizer kind of idea with wine and cheese
Porto- Port wine, which is strong red wine
Holland- also called Guiyere, a hard strong cheese from Holland.
Petites Suisses- yogurts that come individually wrapped and must be sweetened.
Strange, I know. But it's normal in my family. We use "Franglis" which is our French and English mixed together, similar to Spanglish. And these are very important words for us.
5 comments:
I think it is really cool that you drink Porto, eat Hollande, and just sort of chill before dinner. We never really did that in my family (hanging out before dinner) except before big meals on holidays. Even then we didn't plan the down time before dinner, it came as a direct result of the cook under-estimating the time needed to cook the food, but it was still good to hang out with fam before diving into a huge meal.
Yo yo Shawnee what's happenin. It's great that food plays such a big role in your family, and that food is a direct representation of your culture and heritage. To bring some of that culture back to the states from France is like your mom taking a bit of home with her; you guys carry on the tradition of the before-dinner drink (nice wine, too -- I think Port is so good once you get used to the powerful flavor) and eat the foods that the French eat. The language that your family continues to use shows your need to stay connected with that culture. Sweet. See ya in class.
I like how you smuggle a bunch of cheese and chocolate. The language is definitely unique to your family. While many families just mix up English a bit to form their own language, you get the unique opportunity to be familiar enough with two languages to make your own blend. It is harder for another family to replicate your mixing of two cultures in words and activities. Really cool.
I really liked this blog. You did an excellent job of integrating the terms and expressions used by your family, allowing the story to read more fluidly. The re-cap at the end was also very helpful. I love the image of your family stuffing their suitcases with cheese and chocolates and other things because, and this a new favorite prhase of mine, they are "culturally mandatory." I also wish I knew how to speak "Franglish." You really bring your family's culture and language together as one incomparable to any other.
This reminds me a lot of my own family. Because both of my parents are English we do a lot of things sort of as a ritual as well. My aunt and uncle still live in England and my parents always have them send us tea because the tea here isn't the same as over there. My parents always have a drink before dinner as well. I hope I have something cool to pass onto my children like your parents did.
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