A bijou by any other name...

Caution: this post may induce flashbacks of the 1970's.

Beginning in my early teens and lasting through age 37, I would find myself doodling my first name followed by the last name of my current heart's fancy. Girls think that this practice will bring some sort of luck. Positive thinking. I like my last name and the family that comes with it and have thought about how my mother's maiden name is not carried on by her and her sister because they have each taken their husbands' names. But nonetheless, I always assumed I would take my husband's name when I got married. I was always reassured by the fact that I have a brother and a lot of male cousins on my father's side of the family to carry on the name, because, of course, all of us girls will get married and change our names.

So then I got married. As you know, my current heart's fancy is Bo. Having reached "a certain age," or a certain point in American culture, many people asked me "so--are you keeping your own name or are you taking your husband's name?" We received many cards and gifts and checks with all the permutations of "Bo + Bijou" possible. One check simply said Bo + Bijou. My American acquaintances didn't seem to know what to expect. Out of a dozen close female friends of my generation who are married, only two of them kept their last names. Bo actually has fantasies about becoming a famous writer and using my last name as his nom de plume.

As you also know, Bo is from the province of Quebec. In Quebec there is a civil law dictating both parties in a marriage shall keep their own last name. It's in here somewhere, article 393 to be exact. It was actually stated during the civil ceremony. So I am the same Bijou I have been since the day I was born and Bo is Bo.

Interestingly, the tradition of marriage is rapidly fading in Quebec. Couples form and stay together without getting married. Or they form and split up without the messy divorces so common in the US.

What about the children of these modern couples? Whose name gets carried on? There are generally two answers: they either have the father's last name or they have two last names, mom's and dad's, sometimes hyphenated, sometimes not. In my class of 16 students, seven have their father's last name, eight have two last names and one has her mother's last name.

So what happens when these kids start having kids? This tradition has been going on long enough that we know the answer. The two-named people who get together with other two-named people, married or not, have some choices to make when it comes to naming their children. They can do what they want within a limit to the number of last names a person can have (2, I think). They can even create a totally different name (although the only people I've actually ever known who have done this are all Americans).

Actually, my friend from junior high school is the first person I've known personally who had to face this choice. She grew up with a hyphenated combination of her mother's and her father's names. Now she's a mom and her kids have a triple hyphenated last name. Fortunately the names are short and in its entirety, it has five syllables. Just imagine if Rafaela Gabriela-Sarsaparilla decided to complicate her simple relationship with her aardvark and have a baby with Albert Andreas-Amardillo!? PHEW! All those names over and over can really wear you down. (Forgive me Schoolhouse Rock, I'm actually teaching pronouns to my students right now and I can't get this episode out of my head...I added the hyphens for effect.)

Thanks to my in-laws for giving Bo a nice (and simple) name. Thanks mom and dad for giving me a nice (and simple) name. Thanks Quebec for making the decision for us to keep them.

Busted!

I got a traffic ticket today! How so, you might ask, being that I use public transportation? The answer is JAYWALKING! That's right freakin' jaywalking! Apparently the police are on a campaign this week to protect the safety of the "piéton" (pedestrian)...Nobody informed ME!

By the way, out of the half a dozen or so people to whom I mentioned this news, all locals, NONE of them has EVER known anyone who got a ticket for jaywalking!


These law-abiding citizens shown crossing le chemin Queen Mary last November waited for the little white man to light up before they crossed.

Alas, tomorrow, I shall do the same.

Signs of Spring

Yes, seriously...here are a few reasons that I know spring is here despite the massive amounts of snow that remain (melting more and more everyday!):

First of all, there's Poisson d'avril:

In French this means April fish and it is the equivalent of April Fool's day. April 1st was a Tuesday this year, and therefore a regular school day. In the five minutes I had in my classroom before my students arrived I managed to:
1) turn a few of their desks around facing the back of the room. Most of them noticed but one went to nonchalantly put a book away and it fell to the floor because the closed front was where the open back usually is.
2) turned a painting of a fern upside-down. One by one during the day someone would spontaneously say "Hey the picture's upside-down." One of the extremely rare times when their inability to pay attention when their classmates speak paid off.
3) switched the drinking cups to the shelf where the bowls go and vice versa...this one was pretty effective and we haven't switched them back yet for some reason.
4) switched the chairs of the tallest student in the class and the smallest (who was away on a trip). This one was the best--she sat down with a thud and then, laughing, said "Hey Madaaaaame!"

The actual tradition of "poisson d'avril" involves making a fish out of paper and sticking it on someone's back without them noticing (often after having written a silly little "kick me" or "I pick my nose" type comment on it). It was a rainy day so recess was indoors and my students got pretty riled up by this particular activity, as you can imagine.


Otherwise, their jokes were along the lines of "look over there Madame, there's someone at the door...(pause while I obligingly look...), poisson d'avril!" Kind of like a "made-ya-look" gag. Found this info on a "geocites" webpage:

...dating back to the 16th century when Charles IX, following the Gregorian Calendar, decreed Jan 1st as New Year's Day, rather than April 1st, (Solstice). Those who didn't follow the new calendar were called "fools" and sent invitations to fake parties and the like. French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs--when discovered, the child (who taped the fish) cries

"Poisson d'avril!"

Why the connection to fish? Some believe that it's because the sun is leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces at this time. Some think it's because it was not permitted to fish at this time of the year. Others say it's because some fish are pretty dumb and easy to catch!"

Hmm don't know about that last reason...Bo says it's actually the most likely true explanation and that in French someone who is gullible is sometimes referred to as a "poisson."

***

Secondly, asphalt. I never thought I'd be so happy just to see asphalt. It's been a long time my dirty gray friend. FYI, potholes in French are called nids de poule, which means "chicken nests" and is pronounced "needapool." Apparently Montreal is known for having lots of nids de poule and for not being so great about fixing them.

Thirdly, birds. Lots of them, they're springy and they sing. Except for the seagulls. They screech and they're garbage pickers.

Fourthly, flowers. Yesterday I saw little yellow crocuses, just like these, peeking out of the earth in a very sunny spot. I've also seen the beginnings of tulip leaves and other spring perennials fighting their way through the debris left behind by the snow melt.

Fifthly, water. Up until recently the only liquid water I had seen for quite a while was the water coming from a faucet or in a toilet bowl. All the rest of the water was in its frozen solid, slippery state. Now, there's water everywhere. Snow is melting, creating lakes, oops, I mean puddles, everywhere, dripping from awnings and rooftops, falling from the sky, and most importantly flowing down the river in front of chez nous (our balcony has no more snow on it--anyone want to stop by for a margarita?).

Finally, fashion. Today I wore shoes other than boots to work for the first time since November. It was wonderful! I even wore a skirt! (I strategically only wore skirts on the rare days when I had to take my car to school all winter long, otherwise...brrr.) The kids at school have switched from snow pants to rain pants to play in the snow, and they now sport rubber puddle boots instead of their big clunky snow boots. The colors are brighter too. I observed two different girls today that actually looked like little flowers.

No leaves in sight on any of the trees, but buds, lots of buds. Lots of spring still waiting to happen. I'll keep you posted.