So I realize it's only Wednesday and I'm probably about to jinx it, but short of a HUGE natural disaster or MAJOR medical issue, nothing can ruin this week.
Monday I was on my quick 20 minute break when I got a call from a woman at a tutoring company. She wanted to know if I could come for an interview... that day... right after school. So I went. And she wanted to conduct it all in French (which I thought was odd for someone who wanted to hire me to speak English). And I did it! Not only did I do it, but I did it well!! I never once got that look... you know, when you say something in a foreign language and then someone gives you a look like you've grown a third eye. And that's when you know you've made a grammar or pronunciation faute bad enough to make them wish you were dead. But back on track... she asked me to observe/help teach some other classes this week and then she'd make a final decision about hiring me.
Then Monday night I got a phone call from a girl who had seen my tutoring sign up in town and she and three friends want to get lessons! That's 4 people which means meeting a lot more people (and making a lot more money!).
So Tuesday night I went to a lesson with an AMAZING tutor. In both teaching and personality she's one of the most interesting people I've ever met. I really like her. And I loved teaching adults. Having adult conversations and laughing and being laid back and not holding up flashcards. It's amazing.
Then late last night I got paid! One day before the end of the month and I had my paycheck. WHEW!!
So I went to another class this morning to observe another great tutor and student. While I was there the boss gave me a schedule for "my classes" and I start next week!! I got the job!! went After that I went to Carrefour with Danielle to buy groceries for the first time in three weeks. Which was the best thing ever since I'd started to ration food for myself as if I were stranded on a desert island. When I got home from the grocery store I checked online for the CAF (housing welfare) and they've finally worked out my paperwork and I'm getting 30euro more than I had even hoped for!
So all in all... I've been here over more than four months and things are FINALLY starting to work! YAY for me and yay for France!!!
30.1.08
27.1.08
Long Overdue Update
Welcome back. I've been back in France for almost three weeks now and not a lot has happened. Winter is a fairly depressing season in general, and it's quite a bit warmer here than it has been back in Ohio, but sunny days are far and few between and the general wet atmosphere makes curling up under the covers and reading a book sound like a much more preferable option. Despite my lack to drive to go out, I have a few times and the following is an overview of the few exciting things that have happened since I got back:
Last weekend I, and quite a few other assistants in the area, got a very generous invitation from Katherine. She works in Chateaudun, a much smaller village about an hour south of Chartres. She invited us to Chateaudun for a Friday evening for some company and a traditional French meal at a restaurant in town. I arrived in the early evening, so the photos of the town aren't very flattering, but here you go..
A view of the courtyard of said chateau.
A war memorial in town. I believe it was to soldiers of the first World War.
An adorable window in town.
I was, and still am, very jealous of the assistants at the lycee in Chateaudun. A lycee is a high school, and the vast majority of lycee assistants in France are provided housing... even though their contract is shorter than primarie assistants like me. Katherine and Lucia's apartment is in the lycee on the top floor. It has a fabulous foyer, two bedrooms that are each about the size of my entire apartment, a living room that is quite a bit larger than my apartment and has provided internet and cable television, and just to top it off they have a great kitchen with a stove, oven, and (get this) a washing machine. Oh and did I mention that they pay about 40euro per month all utilities included? So I guess it is possible to have this job without living in abject poverty, I just got assigned the wrong age group. :(
But back to the positive, dinner was fabulous!! It was at a great little place in town just filled with ambiance. We all got the three course meal and it may be the best meal I've ever had in France. If you ever happen to be in Chateaudun I highly recommend going to La Licorne in the center of town. Below is a photo of us chatting post- dinner.
Left to right: Deborah (hidden behind Deb are Rachel and Julia), Lucia, Katherine, Molly, Danielle, Cheryl, and Jes.
All in all it was a really nice evening, even if we didn't get much sleep. After that not much happened. The last week has been just teaching and sleeping. Thursday there was a teacher's strike. I usually have six classes on Thursdays, but this week I only had one, which was really nice. I ran into the striking teachers on my way home. They had a parade with a flags and little stickers and such. I was enjoying the ridiculousness of only 100 people protesting when so many teachers in the region had taken the day off "because of the stike"... then the bagpiper came through. Why was there a bagpiper at a protest against the government slashing jobs in the education sector? Because they're French. I decided that was my line, so I left.
Another total random observation: The French put a non-smoking ban into effect the first of the year. It's now illegal to smoke in almost any public building. This is great news for me because I can now buy a newspaper, go to a bar with my friends, or enjoy a meal at a cafe or restaurant without decreasing my lifespan by simply breathing. The only problem is that now everyone steps outside to take massive group smoke breaks. So while everything is great indoors, walking down the street or getting up to the door of an establishment makes me wheeze and cough and wave the clouds of smoke out of the way. So I'm not sure if this was a good law or a misguided one.
There was also a random HUGE tree.
And a slide. We like slides.
That evening we went to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) to see Segolene Royal. She was a presidential candidate in last year's election. She was in town to support a local candidate in the Chartres area. Next Sunday the French have elections (which I find especially hilarious because the French don't do ANYTHING on Sundays... ever!). It was really cool to see her. I even understood the vast majority of her speech. She's like the French Hilary Clinton with better hair, makeup and wardrobe. I was so close to her too. The second picture below is without zoom.
And then finally I went to the cathedral in town to see a free concert. They had advertised it pretty heavily and I thought it was just organ music, but it was also a brass band and choir from local music schools. It was great. The video has nothing to see since the cathedral was dark (and freezing) but you can get a good idea of the music. The acoustics are great. I did giggle that it's the same song NBC uses for the Olympics.
So that's the update on my life. Two more weeks of teaching and I'll be on winter break. Then it's off to southern Spain!! I promise to update before that though. Have a great week everyone!
Last weekend I, and quite a few other assistants in the area, got a very generous invitation from Katherine. She works in Chateaudun, a much smaller village about an hour south of Chartres. She invited us to Chateaudun for a Friday evening for some company and a traditional French meal at a restaurant in town. I arrived in the early evening, so the photos of the town aren't very flattering, but here you go..
The chateau that gives Chateaudun its name.
A view of the courtyard of said chateau.
A war memorial in town. I believe it was to soldiers of the first World War.
An adorable window in town.
I was, and still am, very jealous of the assistants at the lycee in Chateaudun. A lycee is a high school, and the vast majority of lycee assistants in France are provided housing... even though their contract is shorter than primarie assistants like me. Katherine and Lucia's apartment is in the lycee on the top floor. It has a fabulous foyer, two bedrooms that are each about the size of my entire apartment, a living room that is quite a bit larger than my apartment and has provided internet and cable television, and just to top it off they have a great kitchen with a stove, oven, and (get this) a washing machine. Oh and did I mention that they pay about 40euro per month all utilities included? So I guess it is possible to have this job without living in abject poverty, I just got assigned the wrong age group. :(
But back to the positive, dinner was fabulous!! It was at a great little place in town just filled with ambiance. We all got the three course meal and it may be the best meal I've ever had in France. If you ever happen to be in Chateaudun I highly recommend going to La Licorne in the center of town. Below is a photo of us chatting post- dinner.
Left to right: Deborah (hidden behind Deb are Rachel and Julia), Lucia, Katherine, Molly, Danielle, Cheryl, and Jes.
All in all it was a really nice evening, even if we didn't get much sleep. After that not much happened. The last week has been just teaching and sleeping. Thursday there was a teacher's strike. I usually have six classes on Thursdays, but this week I only had one, which was really nice. I ran into the striking teachers on my way home. They had a parade with a flags and little stickers and such. I was enjoying the ridiculousness of only 100 people protesting when so many teachers in the region had taken the day off "because of the stike"... then the bagpiper came through. Why was there a bagpiper at a protest against the government slashing jobs in the education sector? Because they're French. I decided that was my line, so I left.Another total random observation: The French put a non-smoking ban into effect the first of the year. It's now illegal to smoke in almost any public building. This is great news for me because I can now buy a newspaper, go to a bar with my friends, or enjoy a meal at a cafe or restaurant without decreasing my lifespan by simply breathing. The only problem is that now everyone steps outside to take massive group smoke breaks. So while everything is great indoors, walking down the street or getting up to the door of an establishment makes me wheeze and cough and wave the clouds of smoke out of the way. So I'm not sure if this was a good law or a misguided one.
Friday was one of those fabulous sunny days that appears so rarely. I needed to run some errands and so did Danielle so we headed out. Along with getting our errands run we stumbled across a fabulously cute, picturesque, and romantic park. As you tell from the photos below, the view is great, the Eure River runs through the park as do some smaller streams, there's even a little farm with goats and pigs and such, and the entire park is surrounded by cages with various exotic birds. I can't wait to go back with a book and hang out.
There was also a random HUGE tree.
And a slide. We like slides.
That evening we went to the Hotel de Ville (town hall) to see Segolene Royal. She was a presidential candidate in last year's election. She was in town to support a local candidate in the Chartres area. Next Sunday the French have elections (which I find especially hilarious because the French don't do ANYTHING on Sundays... ever!). It was really cool to see her. I even understood the vast majority of her speech. She's like the French Hilary Clinton with better hair, makeup and wardrobe. I was so close to her too. The second picture below is without zoom.
And then finally I went to the cathedral in town to see a free concert. They had advertised it pretty heavily and I thought it was just organ music, but it was also a brass band and choir from local music schools. It was great. The video has nothing to see since the cathedral was dark (and freezing) but you can get a good idea of the music. The acoustics are great. I did giggle that it's the same song NBC uses for the Olympics.
So that's the update on my life. Two more weeks of teaching and I'll be on winter break. Then it's off to southern Spain!! I promise to update before that though. Have a great week everyone!
20.1.08
Another good laugh
So pictures from my sleepover in Chateaudun are coming, but as I was getting those pictures off of my computer I stumbled across this. I had totally forgotten about taking this picture. It was in the Philadelphia airport and I thought it was so funny that I just had to take a picture. Granted, it's completely relevant and true, but I never would have thought it would be a billboard, let alone in an airport and certainly not in one of the least healthy cities in America (according to Self magazine anyway...).
Click on the picture above. It'll make it bigger and easier to read. And really, you must read it.
Click on the picture above. It'll make it bigger and easier to read. And really, you must read it.
17.1.08
Sex and the City...
So I'm currently watching the end of Season 6 of Sex and the City... the part where she arrives in Paris. Can we please discuss the complete irrationality or this scenario? It would take an absolutely unbelievable amount of money to do it the way she does. She DEFINITELY has more than 100 pounds of luggage which would be fantastically expensive. And how on earth does she arrive with perfect hair? 7 hours on a plane (that supposedly left at 9pm) means that she's have a big flat spot on the back from sleeping in a chair. Even a first class seat wouldn't be flattening-free. And then there's her shoes. The only people I see on the airport golf carts are the elderly and those with extensive medical equipment and, last I checked, a pair of 4 inch tall Manolos didn't count as medical attire. So there is no possible way she walked around an airport in those shoes. And finally, she arrives excited and fresh and awake. NO ONE gets off a trans-Atlantic flight and feels ready to go. Flights are exhausting, not to mention the time difference.
So, all in all Sex and the City receives a C- for this episode. For lack of realism in travel. If we're going into the realm of romantic realism the grade goes down even further... but I won't go there.
LMAO
Ok, so two things have really cracked me up this week, and I just wanted to share them with you.
#1 - From The Amazing Race: Season 12, Episode 10.
Nate says (and I'm paraphrasing here): "Oh cool, we're going to Taipei*, Taiwan. I love Thai food."
* He totally butchered the word Taipei... Danielle and I had no idea where they were headed until he said Taiwan.
If this isn't immediately hilarious to you please go to your world map and look up Taiwan and then look up Thailand. Please note the difference, then realize that Thailand was, until recently, essentially a Buddhist monarchy while Taiwan is the more democratic breakoff from the communist mainland China.
#2 - From a speech President Bush made to troops in the Middle East earlier this week.
"I have no doubt in my mind that when history was written, the final page will say..."
Fortunately what the last page says is completely irrelevant. Again, if this is not immediately hilarious do you please take a look at the use of tenses in this sentence. As an English teacher, perhaps I am more aware of it, but it's almost impressive that we went from the past to the future on the same topic in under 10 words. As John Stewart so nicely put it "I believe you just talked about the future of current history in the past tense." But I'll let you see it for yourself.
Anyway... that's just what's making me giggle this week. Hope everyone else found something to laugh at!
#1 - From The Amazing Race: Season 12, Episode 10.
Nate says (and I'm paraphrasing here): "Oh cool, we're going to Taipei*, Taiwan. I love Thai food."
* He totally butchered the word Taipei... Danielle and I had no idea where they were headed until he said Taiwan.
If this isn't immediately hilarious to you please go to your world map and look up Taiwan and then look up Thailand. Please note the difference, then realize that Thailand was, until recently, essentially a Buddhist monarchy while Taiwan is the more democratic breakoff from the communist mainland China.
#2 - From a speech President Bush made to troops in the Middle East earlier this week.
"I have no doubt in my mind that when history was written, the final page will say..."
Fortunately what the last page says is completely irrelevant. Again, if this is not immediately hilarious do you please take a look at the use of tenses in this sentence. As an English teacher, perhaps I am more aware of it, but it's almost impressive that we went from the past to the future on the same topic in under 10 words. As John Stewart so nicely put it "I believe you just talked about the future of current history in the past tense." But I'll let you see it for yourself.
Anyway... that's just what's making me giggle this week. Hope everyone else found something to laugh at!
14.1.08
And I'm Back...
This marks my official first full week of teaching since Christmas break, and let's be honest, I'm not thrilled. So far the kids have been remarkably good, which I'm certainly thankful for, but I'm starting to run out of some lesson plan ideas. Sadly enough, what I'm doing with my youngest kids I can just ever so slightly modify and do with all of my other classes at the school in Lucé because whoever their last teacher was didn't teach them a darn thing. The problem is my school in Chartres; the kids are just too smart. By the time I leave for Spain in a few weeks the two older classes there will have completely finished their government-regulated curriculum for the year. And then what am I supposed to do with them? The oldest kids I think I can really work with, maybe even to conjugate some verbs and have them writing real sentences and such, but we'll see. I'm definitely looking forward to doing things like that with them, it should be a lot more fun than just memorizing flashcards. Even I find that boring.
In other news, well I guess there really isn't any. I have tickets to the theater for tomorrow night and if it's as good as the last performance there I'm in for a treat. Also, France has another strange quirk that I know my mother would just love: they leave their Christmas decorations up. And not just the pretty lights, but the trees and the ornaments and everything. I've been told this really isn't odd at all and that I should expect to see them until about late February. I'm all about the holiday cheer, but this is overkill. If they put up Valentine's stuff on top of Christmas decorations I might have a meltdown. So here's something to consider... which is worse, French-style holding on to a holiday or American Wal-Mart style months in advance holidays?
In other news, well I guess there really isn't any. I have tickets to the theater for tomorrow night and if it's as good as the last performance there I'm in for a treat. Also, France has another strange quirk that I know my mother would just love: they leave their Christmas decorations up. And not just the pretty lights, but the trees and the ornaments and everything. I've been told this really isn't odd at all and that I should expect to see them until about late February. I'm all about the holiday cheer, but this is overkill. If they put up Valentine's stuff on top of Christmas decorations I might have a meltdown. So here's something to consider... which is worse, French-style holding on to a holiday or American Wal-Mart style months in advance holidays?
9.1.08
Les Soldes
So I may be one of 8 people in the entire country who did not go to a store to take part in the sales that are sweeping the country. I did, however, go to the grocery store since my apartment was completely devoid of nourishment. Anywho... there are two HUGE sales that take over France: one is just after New Years' and the other is in the middle of July. I'll be leaving just before the July sales, so this is my time to pounce. Things are usually 50%-75% off their original prices and I really do mean everything. The bigger cities and more popular stores get overwhelmed with people, merchandise ends up on the floor and trampled, queues at the till (that's British for checkout lines) are miles long, and shop workers generally look like they want to slit their wrists with the next hanger they take off a discounted sweater. Luckily Chartres isn't large enough to merit such craziness, but there were a lot of people out and most had the "get out of my way, I'm shopping" look on their faces. Hopefully the sales will still be going on when we get paid later this month so that I can take part in this French tradition. And who knows, by then maybe all the tiny twig people of this country will have taken the ridiculously small clothes so I won't have to be disgusted by them!!
8.1.08
Milles Mercis
Thanks a million for the support everyone! I've made it back to France in one piece (physically anyway). The trip went pretty smoothly. Ironically we were delayed an hour in Philadelphia because the A/C went down and before they could fix it the temp of the cabin went up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. How crazy is that? But customs went smoothly and I even got a stamp in my passport this time! Then I got my luggage and the bus was just sitting there waiting for me and I got to the train station just 15 minutes before the train left. So I got from the airport back to my apartment in record time. I'm just really glad that my apartment is uphill from the train station here in Chartres. While I don't think my back and shoulder will ever be the same from dragging it up just now, at least when I have ALL of my stuff in July I just have to take it downhill.
Other than that not much going on. I need to plan some lessons ASAP and Deborah was nice enough to plan a little get together for us all tonight to catch up so I'm looking forward to that, but right now I think I'm going to take Mother's advice and take a nap!
(Is that all more positive? I'm trying.)
Other than that not much going on. I need to plan some lessons ASAP and Deborah was nice enough to plan a little get together for us all tonight to catch up so I'm looking forward to that, but right now I think I'm going to take Mother's advice and take a nap!
(Is that all more positive? I'm trying.)
7.1.08
Warning: Lots of Negativity Ahead
So I know my New Year's resolution was to be more positive, but I just need to get this out there real quick:
My flight leaves in about four hours and I have never wanted to do anything less than get on that plane. I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach about going back. I don't want to go back to my apartment, I don't want to go back to teaching, I don't want to go back to living in France and feeling totally cut off. There have been a lot of things in my life I didn't want to do, but if I had any kind of work option waiting for me here in the US I would be on the first flight back with all of my stuff. You have no idea how much I DON'T want to go back to France. I know I'm not totally alone in this because the other assistants have said that they don't want to go back either, but I'm just completely dreading the next six months like the plague. Wish me luck that it won't be too completely horrific. :(
My flight leaves in about four hours and I have never wanted to do anything less than get on that plane. I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach about going back. I don't want to go back to my apartment, I don't want to go back to teaching, I don't want to go back to living in France and feeling totally cut off. There have been a lot of things in my life I didn't want to do, but if I had any kind of work option waiting for me here in the US I would be on the first flight back with all of my stuff. You have no idea how much I DON'T want to go back to France. I know I'm not totally alone in this because the other assistants have said that they don't want to go back either, but I'm just completely dreading the next six months like the plague. Wish me luck that it won't be too completely horrific. :(
5.1.08
Have a Laugh
For those of you that don't know him... Rick Steves is a geeky baby boomer with an uncanny knack for knowing the best things in Europe. He's spent about one-third of his adult life in Europe, researching, writing tour books, and taping shows for public television. His company's tag line is "Europe through the back door" and he advocates "cheap" travel and really getting to know a city and it's people. In his spare time he hangs in Washington state with his family and rambunctious staff or fulfills his duties as a member of the NORML Advisory Board.
My Dad got me hooked on the TV shows and after my last stint in Europe, including an extensive backpacking trip, I'm now addicted to his tour books as well.
I realize that it's probably sad for a 22 year old to love all things Rick Steves, but he really does give great advice and guided walks in the books. As a poor 22 year old, I just have to look for alternative (read:cheaper) accommodation options. Anywho... this is all going somewhere, I promise. Rick has a blog where he puts up information about his latest travels and earlier this fall he was in Turkey, so I've been following the blog. Today something came up that may be the funniest thing I've ever seen. If you don't think this is hilarious then try watching this or this to realize how truly dorky this man is. Enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)