Vive La Chine.

I've been getting a lot better. More sleep at night, more attentive ears, and lack of eye contact so as to only focus on the words is making my French comprehension immensely better (and perhaps my English worst, I've been substituting words). As the days go by, I find myself stopping less to stare off, googley-eyed, only to say, "désolée, je n'ai rien compris." But the patience of the men at the bakery continue to surprise me as we struggle to understand each other. I spent the afternoon with Bérenger and we talked about different things. I don't know how we got on the subject, but we started talking about why I hate men. He then lectured me. I didn't know quite all of what he was saying, but it made me sad. It was at though it didn't matter what he was saying, I just heard and felt that sadness. Language is bizarre, even unnecessary sometimes.

My baking skills are getting a lot better too -- not that I do much, really, but Adrien pulled me aside yesterday and said to me that my cuts on the ficelles were very impressive. He said it was a cut that not many apprentices grasp immediately. Then he brought over 2 of the ficelles and I smiled and gave myself a mental pat on the back. Adrien's been baking for over 10 years! To receive such a compliment is either a fat lie or sincerely appreciative comment. I hope it's the latter. Fréd's been letting me do a lot more now, which is good news, because I'm less bored. He actually lets me pipe, rather than stand and watch. Though I can never understand why his creations always look like crap, but then when I make a tiny error, he gets enervated and tells me to start over. Perfection is a standard he has on others, it seems. But oh well.

After work yesterday I stumbled upon a purse store nearby, in the same commercial center. Mounds and mounds of purses that were clearly imported from China or something. Normally I wouldn't have bothered to stop and look around, but there was this one bag that caught my attention, so I ventured in. I began browsing and heard the saleswoman speaking in a mix of Canto/Taiwanese and my heart softened. After I decided to get the bags, I asked the woman in French what language she was speaking on the phone, and she replied (also in French), Chinese. It was then that we began conversing in Mandarin. She was a nice lady. She reminded me of my mom, telling me to be careful on the streets, to watch my purse, etc. etc. She gave me a discount too. 2 purses for 20 euro, and a change purse for 2 euro (originally 38) :)

Perhaps I'll bring my French Chinese purse mama some croissants on Monday.