An American in [insert cliché here]

This is my second day in Paris, and it was just peachy! We went to Sacré Coeur, saw a bunch of sights, ate lunch at an overly touristy restaurant nearby. In the evening, we stopped by the biology laboratories at the University of Paris where Marion, the teacher I'm with, has some friends doing research. They were working on radioactive material and are seriously underfunded and will possibly have babies with three arms some day. 'I went to Paris and all I got was this lousy radiation poisoning.' How's that for a souvenir? Fortunately, I didn't go into the lab, I just stayed in the equivilant of an over crowded TA's office with three desks. After about a half an hour, one of the TA's came in for his desk, but no one introduced him and he didn't say anything; I thought he was just grumpy having his workspace taken over. When he got up and left, I heard him talking in the hallway, and it turns out he is an American who doesn't speak French....couldn't quite figure out why no one thought to introduce us, but I thought it was good that in all that time of being in the same room with him, I didn't let an English word of frustration slip or do anything that would otherwise give away my nationality.

After this visit, we went to the Louvre for way too short of time, and then we went and saw what I had been waiting for- Paris at night. It was fantasically beautiful, with the Champs Elysees lit up, the Eiffel Tour shimmering in the background and the ferris wheel and all of the other great Parisien landmarks all ready for Christmas. Time for bed. Good night!

Christmas time in France

For Christmas, mom sent me a big box of what I had requested- American junk food. I received the package slip in the mail, but I wouldn't have time to pick it up before the post office closed, so I signed the slip over to one of my students to go pick it up. I opened all of this rediculously uniquely American food in his company, and it was this constant 'Qu'est-ce que c'est?' 'C'est quoi, ça?' 'Et ça?' (What is is it? What's that? And this?) I explained that the cake mix was for cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting was for the cupcakes. And he goes 'Frommage? Sur un gâteau?' Cheese, on cake? I had a difficult time explaining that the cream CHEESE frosting was in fact just sugar, so I opened the container and let him taste it. And then with the popcorn, he was SHOCKED that it could be made in the microwave, but after I showed him a package and explained a little bit, he said that it clarified a lot about some American movies that he just couldn't understand where this popcorn was coming from. And then with the macaroni and cheese, he was absolutely DISCUSTED by the idea that this orange powder could possibly be considered cheese, being in France where not only is their cheese of legendary quality but almost entirely white. I made up a box and let him pour the powder as I stirred. It was like letting him catch up on 12 years of lost American childhood. He'd never heard of oatmeal. He liked the Triscuits, which again are flavored by powder, but I didn't point that out. It was pretty great, and I was like a kid in a candy store.

Oh, and of course, thanks mom for the jewelry, even if it isn't edible!

Return from oblithion

As usually happens to travelers trying to maintain a blog, I have strayed in my dedication durning tha past few weeks. I will try to come back to faithful updates of Franceland!

Things have been going well, lots of things to do with students and teachers around the holiday season. My schedule is going to change a little bit and I'm going to miss my students! I guess that's what every teacher goes through every semester/year, so I should just suck it up. One of my classes were so cute, they said they would miss me and they sulked all the way back to their classroom (these are adults). Origionally I had a difficult time with because they didn't understand a word I said. But over the semester they got used to my accent and I settled into a level of English expression more suitable to their comprehension so it got to be rather fun. And the class that likes to take me bowling are no longer my students either. I'm going to miss them, too!

On Wednesday I have my official medical exam in Bordeaux which will mark the last piece of documentation I need before I can get my finalized Carte de Sejour. Whew!!! I am very happy about that. From Bordeaux, I will go to Paris until the 24th with a young teacher and her husband. I will spend Christmas with assistants in Bordeaux, New Years with former students in Bayonne (a coastal town) and possibly Spain (yay for knowing real French people with cars), and then I might finish up my vacation in Pau with other assistants and possibly meet back up with Marion, the teacher I'm going to Paris with. Just in case you were wondering!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, JOYEUX NOËL! I miss all of you and I can wait until I can see you again!!!

Do you like fish?

Last night was great! I was minding my own business in my room when I got a knock on my door. I love it when that happens and it is not accomanied by giggling and scurrying feet. It was a neighbor (Benoît) from across the hall over to chat. Always lovely! Later, I got yet another knock on the door and it was the two other girls who live in the dorm. They invited me to dinner, and I succeeded at existing in French for about 6 hours! Whew! It was very nice to have contact with people other than squirrely boys for a change!

Also, I have been working on my Christmas list. I didn't realize how much I missed the highly processed American junk food until I watched an episode of Heros that had boxed macaroni and cheese, cup cakes with frosting, and microwave popcorn, and mini marshmallows in it! yummmmm! If anyone would like to send me any of these delicacies for Christmas, please feel free!

Simmered

Fortuneately, things have simmered down since my last post. They gave me a 3 month extension on my visa! yay! More later when I've got more time....

B is for Beauracracy

I've been having some administrative problems lately, and I'm really looking forward to the day when I am no longer sitting on hold with various offices and traveling across the department to do in person what the office was incapable of doing by mail three months ago. And now my visa is about to expire while the people in said offices have done nothing with my file. And, in Bordeaux the medical office has yet to schedule me an appointment so I can get my Titre de Sejour (which is to replace my visa by Dec 16th). ARG! And, I'm glad that my return ticket has been uncancelled afterall (thanks British Airways, you suck). And, I'm a little angry with the exchange rate because after you convert my salary into dollars, the loan people thing I'm making enough money, even though all of my expenses are in EUROS.

On the bright side, the Department of Transportation people were very accomodating in getting an extension on my drivers license renewal (which would have expired on my birthday two weeks ago). Who would have thought the drivers license people would be the easiest to work with?

Today I'm off to the prefecture to try to get a little assistance with my housing with a file full of things I sent them a long time ago. They asked me if I had a particular document to bring, but I only have a copy because THEY have for the ORIGIONAL from first time I sent this in. ARGH!!

Thanksgiving

Yesterday, I went from thinking I was going to have a Thanksgiving dinner in Pau with other assistants to thinking I was not going to Pau at all, to going to Pau with French people in a matter of a few short hours. I got news that the assistants changed the night of the meal to tonight, and I couldn't find a ride back to Aire in time for my class this morning. So, I cancelled my ride to Pau. Then I got invited to a party here, so I accepted. But then, I ran into one of the students from the same class I went bowling with about a month ago who was going to Pau and coming back the same night, so then I cancelled my other invitation and went! Whew!

We ate at a flippin' expensive Chinese buffet- 15€! It included frog legs- it it always interesting to see how the cuisine of the host country influences the visiting cuisine! We went and played pool at the bowling alley, and then we went and found one of the American assistants. One of them is going to teach me how to drive a stick....super excited about that. It's something I have been passively pursuing for quite a few years now. As of next Thursday, I should have my first manual driving experience!

THANKSGIVING

Last night I made 6 dozen knock-off chocolate chip cookies. Whew! What work!

Bordeaux Pics

These are pictures of us playing twister/falling over after losing at twister/being at the establishment we visited after twister!

Daddy's inspiration

So, my nickname among my neighbors in the dorms is "Une petite fleur fanée" (a little faded flower). I am a 'petite fleur' because way back when I moved in, that is how I explained why I can't/won't drink huge volumes of alcohol, i.e. 'I am a delicate flower who wants to be in good health!' Thursday, when I became a seriously old lady, they added the 'fanée.' (Oh, I love my boys!) Upon hearing this, Dad pointed me to this verse, and I thought it was worth mentioning!

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our GOD stands forever." Isaiah 40:7-8

When in France, do as the French.

Last night, this petite fleur fanée (little faded flower, because I'm 23 now) was sulking a little bit in her room. Because of the strike today, the students were all out enjoying themselves as if it were a Friday, but I was all by myself in my room! Twice already I had received two different visits from drunk students who crept up to my door, banged on it, and they ran away giggling. *Sigh.* I watched Goodwill Hunting by myself on TV until about 11PM and then I almost put on my pyjamas and went to bed. However, I wanted to watch the movie following Goodwill Hunting, House on Haunted Hill, but seriously needed company to make it through it this scary film. So, I worked up some courage to go out into the hallway to find someone to watch it with me.

Luckily for me, my neighbor across the hall was just retourning home. He didn't seem too interested in watching the movie, but we did talk for about 20 minutes. Ok, fine, that's better than nothing. But, about five minutes later after I returned to my room, he knocked on my door and told me some of his classmates had come over to watch the movie in his room and that I should join them. Sweet!

After the movie at around 1AM, I was fairly convinced that this would be the end of my night. I got into my pjs and washed my face and brushed my teeth. Mais alors, around 1:30, I got another knock on my door. It was some of my other students from across the courtyard who saw my light and thought that I shouldn't be up all alone. So, I changed back into my clothes and went with them. There, I actually met the two other fabled GIRLS who actually live in the residence!!!! WOW! Pretty soon 2AM turned into 4AM which turned into 6AM. How quickly my crappy, lonely evening turned into a lively all-nighter!

Twist and shout!

One of my classes knew it was my birthday on Thursday, so they sang for me a little bit, helping to make the day special even though I'm far from home! That night, there was a student in my hallway celebrating his 21st birthday. We got together in his dorm with five or six of his friends for a little celebration. It was quite nice to have people to be with! To really celebrate my birthday (that is, with English speakers), I caught a ride to Bordeaux where I stayed one night with Laurent's family and one night in Bordeaux center with the assistants. During the day, I went shopping where I aquired two pairs of boots and a free 'string.' I couldn't quite understand what this free string was supposed to be until the merchant pointed to a huge bin of thong underwear and told me that I could have a pair. French men are so sweet! That night several assistants and I stayed up playing games - twister and cards mostly. The twister board was makeshift out of telephone book pages folded into different shapes. You've got to give us points for creativity! There are some grand pictures that I will have to borrow from Facebook as I have lost my camera. Oops, I think it's maybe in Lyon...

Oh, Hear My Grievences

I am on strike.

I am not well enough paid.
I study five years in school
To work for mere centimes.
What do you think I am, a fool?

I am on strike.

My collegues in Paris,
they work more with police
than their students.
The state, it does nothing!

I am on strike.

The age of retirement
gets later and later.
In fifty years time,
I'll be the age of their great grandmothers.

I am on strike.

My classes are too big,
and I have no supplies.
With my piddly payment,
how do I buy markers?

I am on strike.

Only 1 of 2 teachers
will be replaced when they retire.
Young teachers will not
find a place to be hired!

I am on strike.

It's a little too damp for the rally.
The coffee's on,
I think I'll stay in
and read La Liberation.

I am on strike.

This is France, et alors!

Once in a lifetime experience

Something happened today that I never thought would ever happen in my life. Let me set up the scene. On Tuesdays I assist a particular class of BTS (20-year-old future papermakers or computer programmers, I forget which field) which has two hours of English per week with Professor Batina. For the first hour of their session, I have half the class. Today, as usual, the bell rang signaling the five minute break after which they would return to their regular class. Here's the stunning part: Not only were they not packing up early, my students opted, nay, REQUESTED, to forgo their smoke break and finish the lesson with me. HUH???? What educator has ever experienced a class of students ASKING to stay past the bell? (OK, probably Jo Anne.) I feel a little sorry for the Professor Batina as I think some of them might get a little testy towards the end of the session without their nicotine fix. Sorry!

I'm going on strike again

Last night as I was watching the news, the strike schedule for the coming week appeared. This week, it's students in Paris. Thursday, public transportation workers. Tuesday, teachers (that's me) and public works empoyees. What sort of place has a strike schedule that reads like a 'Who's bringing treats to soccer practice?' schedule??? At least I don't have to face 8AM next week.

Not a lot shaking otherwise, I think I'll go to Bordeaux this weekend, depending on if I can get a ride. However, one of my classes told me there will be a white power rally there this Saturday afternoon. Kinda makes me want to not be there. But then I asked another class about it and they hadn't heard a thing about it, so then I asked a teacher and she said that these rallies typically aren't permitted in France. It is sort of looking like the first class was possibly just messing with me, but what a strange to make up! We'll see...

There and back again

I've finally made it back to Aire! After 13 days of squatting on other people's couches I can finally take a shower without first asking permission! Lyon was great, if a little long. I ended up meeting some assistants who are very fun, so I think I might go back there for the Festival of Lights in December.

I took the night train on Monday back to Pau where there was a screaming baby. I could tell that I have majorly improved in the patience category as I was dealing with it better than many of the other passengers. A big thank you to my students for teaching me this new found skill.

Today I was actually very excited to return to class after about two weeks of not working. We played 20 Questions which is actually a very useful game for making them construct full sentences, and it turned the tables; normally it's them who only give 'yes' or 'no' responses! My class had 3 native English speakers in it, which makes for interesting dynamics. It's like half of what the French students say is an inside joke for the rest of us. However, I did have to ask the English girls not to laugh at some the errors or put on fake French accents to mimic the other students. It may be funny in private, but in class it stifles the others' confidence, which is not something I need!

Musician Land

So, my friend that I've been staying with is an actual, real life, professional musician. All of his friends are musicians, too. I've been hanging out with the first violin for the National Orchestra in Lorraine, the featured cello soloist for a the Elysée Parisian Concert hall, instructors from the Music Conservatory in Lyon, etc. I feel a little out of my league!!! Meanwhile, my friend (Charles) has been practicing for the opera he plays piano for in Saint Etienne. He memorized his pieces after practicing for two hours....

Last night Charles and I were invited to the home of one of his students for dinner. They are American ex-pats who have been here for 10 years. It was kind of like being in a movie with those ivy league families who wear turtlenecks and offer you scotch, brandy, or cognac in front of their marble fireplace before serving you a 5 course meal. Oh, wait, that's exactly what it was. They were wonderful people with a love for music, and they were so welcoming! After they put the two youngest children to bed, the dad said to me, "If you ever wanted to be a nanny, Clemence (the 7 year old daughter) wants you to be her nanny really badly!" I think he was kidding, but it did kind of make me start thinking about what I'm going to do come May when I'm unemployed...

Tonight I'm meeting up with some English assistants in Lyon as Charles rehearses with the opera, so this will be the first night where I'll have to navigate the bus system...I'm a little nervous!!! If you don't hear from me again, you can assume I'm riding endless circles on the public transportation system in Lyon!

I'm in Lyon

Happy All Saints everybody! For a secular country, they sure do like to take long religious vacations! Right now, I'm in the middle of a 12 day break so I've taken off to my old stomping grounds in Lyon. I'm staying with a friend I've kept in contact with, but I'll probably be meeting up with some other assistants in the area and possibly seeing one of my SAI sisters who is living in SE Germany. Yay!

Thursday night, I went bowling with one of my classes, and it turns out I'm bad at it here, too. I got a 58 I think.....

This is Bordeaux! Isn't it pretty? The guy in the picture is Laurent, his family was nice enough to let me stay with them for free this weekend. No cause for alarm Mom, I'm not finding a French husband, please don't ask. And Sheryl, I promise he is not sinister! The fountain has been tainted pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the other things are a small sampling of how Bordeaux looks EVERYWHERE, and the last picture is of two other language assistants, Shannon and Ciera, who I hung out with for most of the weekend.

Bordeaux again

This weekend I got toted to Bordeaux and I stayed with a French family. It is so nice! the dinner was yummy as usual, and I got to meet up with other assistants in the city. I went around taking pictures yesterday, I'll get them up one of these days. At night, we watched the Rugby World Cup Final. It is a game I really do not understand, but French people sure do love it in the Southwest!

My friend who brought me here has a hockey game today, so I'll go to that today, which is another game I will not understand!

More teaching

Yesterday, I had my first classes that didn't go so well. They were a group of gentlmen who really, really did not understand a single word I said. I must admit it was a little discouraging, and it made for a long hour!

Fortunately, today went much better as my class was very responsive and it was a good time again! Today, they gave me all their nicknames...some were perhaps better left to themselves...I don't think they realized certain terms were nearly the same in English.

There is a foreign exchange student here from Arizona, and I have heard that she is very discouraged because she barely speaks any French. I had a class with her the other day, so it was nice to have a default person who could speak when the rest of the class didn't understand something, and I think she appreciated having an American around, too!

Pictures!

The house belongs to Christine, the English teacher who takes care of me. The picture with the sky is over looking the town of Aire sur L'Adour, and the building on the right side of this photo is where I live. You can see the big wooden doors that open into a courtyard which is the next picture, taken from my room.

Above is a picture of the Corses Landaises (not sure of this spelling, I've only heard it pronounced) that I saw on Saturday. It is NOT bullfighting, but rather a sport where the bulls charge one man at a time, and he gets points for letting the bull come as close as possible. To the right, is a picture of me in my new barret that one of the English teachers gave me on Saturday!

Teach, teach, teach

Yesterday I had my first time in front of the classroom by myself. It was a class entirely composed of 20ish year old boys who don't care at all about English, so you could say I was nervous! I had a lesson plan, but my biggest strategy was simply to not let them smell my fear! It actually went well and I had a lot of fun with them.

I am really loving this job, as I'm getting paid to talk my 'peers' (even though I'm their teacher) in France. How much better can it get?

Last night one of my neighbors came over for a chat. He wanted to speak English, so a conversation that would have lasted about an hour between native speakers turned into about 3 hours. You could say I'm learning patience. It was nice to have a visitor.

All evening long, there was a lot of ruckus in the hallway, being Thursday night and all. But around midnight, there was a commotion outside my door, and I could hear "Don't wake up Caroline!" I wasn't sleeping, so I went out to see what was going on, and apparently one of my neighbors from the floor below had decided to return to his room by pushing himself on his back down the hallway and had bumped his head on my door frame. He had a couple of his friends kinda kicking at him trying to get him to stand up. Ahhhh, college.

Today the students asked me how my Thursday night was, so I'm guessing they've heard about it. *sigh*

Oh, those crazy French!

This weekend included the town prostitute, being homeless, and being transported to a 3rd world country. Ask me about it if you want to know more...

Hard labor in France

Right now, I'm scheduled for 9 hours of work per week. I've got it tough.

I love socialism

On Monday, a nice teacher gave me a tv. This was great, but what was probably the most exciting thing about this was that he told me about free French as a Second Language classes, and they meet right across from where I live. Parfait! Since I don't have a roomate to speak with, this will really help me. Just think, I spent thousands of dollars to learn French at school, and it seems all I had to do was move to France and they'd teach it to me for free!

I have also been thinking about how good to me people have been to me so far. I realized that since I've been here, I haven't spent more than two consecutive nights in one place. This is because there have been various people putting me up and feeding me. This is how it's been so far:
Sept 20: Crappy hotel which had torn out the hotel listings in the yellow pagers in burb of Bordeaux
Sept 21-22: Hotel IBIS in Bordeaux Centre
Sept 23: Stay for free with one of the assistants in Bordeaux, he feeds me
Sept 24-25: Stay for free with Christine, one of the English teachers. She feeds me.
Sept 26-27: Move in with the boys at the dorm. I feed me. Poorly.
Sept 28-29: Stay with Christine again. She feeds me and takes me for an afternoon in Pau
Sept 30-Oct 1: Stay in my cell (which I rather like)
Oct 2-3: Stay with a teacher named Lucrèce in Pau so I could go to Dax for orientation on Wednesay
October: Today. Wow, that was nearly two weeks heavily sprinkled with free lodging and French cooking. Happy, happy, happy!

Going to Dax was nice. The meetings were boring, but we got our universay healthcare taken care of :-) and I got to meet a lot of the other assistants in the area. However, for the way back, the SNCF (trains) went on a surprise strike. Welcome to France. But, once again, I was fortunate to benefit from the benevolence of another assistant. This time it was the Portuguese language assistant who is French but of Portuguese heritage who was conveniently driving back to Pau. So, despite France's best effort to keep me stranded in Dax, I got a ride home(ish)!

Hopefully pretty soon my housing allowance will go through. Ahhh, welcome to France.

Life at the zoo...

This last weekend was quite a pleasant one. I spent it with Christine who is kind of in charge of me. On Saturday we went down to Pau where the Pyrenees seem to be a stone throw's away. Christine's got two boys of her own- one is 11 and the other is 19, and then she's got a gentleman friend who has twin 6 year old daughters. I must say, the twins were so cute! They would babble on in French (of course) and at first I couldn't make out half of what they said, but I would say "ohhhh," or "ah ha" and smile and nod and that was enough for them!

One observation I made is that 6 year old girls are kind of like squirrels. They run around with no apparent destination and jump out in front of cars. The main difference is that little girls have adults who keep them safe, where as squirrels have really reached the end of the line.

Yesterday I went for a run around the soccer fields near my dorm, and a young boy decided it would be fun to take occasional breaks from the skate park and ride his bike alongside me and yell, "Allez! Allez! Vite, vite!" (Let's go, let's go! Faster, faster!) Thanks Pierre, like I need someone telling me I run slowly! I already know that!

Rugby rules!

So, this is a day where the whole school talks about everything rugby, even all the students ahve put together rugby teams and are playing eachother this afternoon. There was a lecture about the Argentinian rugby where the woman just read off of a sheet about it's history. After this hour of blah, the school had brought in some former professional rugby players to encourage the young boys to concentrate on their studies no matter how certain they are of their future rugby fame. I don't know anything about rugby, even in English. Fortunately, there were some French girls who feel the same way, so I went with a group of about 10 and their teacher and I conducted their English class instead of attending the assembly. They were fairly good with their English and were curious about American tv, politics, and music. They asked me who I thought the Democratic candidate would be. I said I wasn't sure, but I guessed Hilary Clinton.

Since all the borders in my dorm go home on the weekends, the woman who hosted me my first two nights is having me stay with her tonight so I wont be by myself. This should be good, because as much as I like peace and quiet, without a radio or tv or computer, 3 days of silence might be a little much.

Oh, guess what?! I have my address:
Mlle Carolyn Hagglund
Residence Felix Despagnet
29 rue Felix Despagnet
#47
40800 AIRE-SUR-L'ADOUR
FRANCE

Off to class!

Inside the lair....

What's that smell? Qui sait? You mean the garbage goes in the dumpster, not the hallway? Ohhhhhhh.

Yeah, that's great. And I get to teach them.

I will be teaching post-high school boys. It's not that no girls are allowed, it's just that not a lot of girls in France want to be electricians and paper makers. There are 3 girls. Around 80 gentleman. Yay!

6th graders are way cuter than I remember them.

Aren't 6th graders supposed to be little pre-teens with attitude? Well, these 11 year olds reminded me more of 8 year olds and they are TINY! Maybe I've never been as short as them, ever. But they did ask me how tall I am, and when I told them 178 centimeters, their jaws dropped and their eyes got big. I guess 5'10'' is a little extreme for them... It's true I do tower over just about everyone here, even the male teachers. On the street in Bordeaux, some guy came up to me and said 'Quel taille!' (What size!) So Emily, I feel your pain. Now we can both tell stories of how we creatures of northern Europe inspire a sense of shock and awe amongst the inhabitants of southern Europe.