Pick your language and let's eat à la française

It is a night to speak any language you choose. It is a night to meet people from all over the world.

The language coffee, A La Bonne franquette, is a place to meet international students and learn about their culture while enjoying some traditional French food like pain, vin, fromage and saucisson.

The international club, Oh My Globe, from the School of Management (IÉSEG) organized this event with over 50 international students in attendance. They picked a table based on their flags or drapeaux to speak the language of that country.

Needless to say, there was a lot of chatter, wine and cheese in the air!

Meet these international students in the video, who like me, are doing a foreign exchange in Lille. Some are staying for six months and others for one year.

Meet my French "buddy"

(Camille and I eating quiche Lorraine for dinner at her apartment)

Camille is French.

She is my buddy or marraine.

She is my facilitator during my foreign exchange in Lille.

Tonight at her apartment, we had a scrumptious dinner of tomato salad with vinaigrette, squash with corn and cheese, quiche Lorraine and crumble aux pommes. Camille cooked the quiche and crumble with her roommate, Charlotte, and I cooked squash with corn and cheese.

I arrived with a plastic bag in hand ready to cook a side dish for the entrée. I did squash with corn and cheese. Camille and Charlotte had never tasted the legumes together like that, and they liked it.

More than just an invitation to her apartment to dîner together, it was an invitation to me, to my background, to my culture, to my person. I was very ecstatic to speak with her en français and get to know her.

How she became my buddy? Simple. I took initiative to become a part of an international student group "Oh My Globe" through Facebook.

This club is originally for IESEG (School of Management) students, but I sent an email to the secretary (Camille--surprise!) explaining how I wanted to immerse myself more as an international student even though I study at La Catho.

Et voilà Camille emailed me and told me she was available to be my marraine. I am so happy that I have met such an open-minded, intelligent, belle and nice person like my buddy!

Merci Camille :]

(Crumbles aux pommes)