Everybody picked English as first or second foreign language. Most picked Spanish as second language, the best students (or kids from solidly middle-class families) picked German as a first language, to get into the “good” group. Latin was an elective for nerds, Geek for Über-nerds.

My middle school had English, German, Spanish, Latin, Ancient Greek.

I’m so not getting the joke, I’m wondering if I’m a spoon or a person.

France : I’d call cubed potatoes in mayonnaise a salad. A proper potato salad would have sliced pickles and diced ham, but still.

Food preservation! Canning, fermenting, dehydrating.
Canning is a bit daunting at first, and you need some space in your kitchen. But fermenting is literally salt + water in a jar, uses no energy (unlike freezing or boiling), and you can do just one small jar with the half-onion that would otherwise die a slow death in your fridge, or three gallons with the squash that was on sale.