I've worked for a little while now so I can give you an idea of how it's going. I like the other teachers at the school and the Spanish assistant is really nice. I don't know about this whole 'teaching children' idea, though. It's strange that I have 2nd, 4th and 5th grade but not 3rd, and the difference between the two groups is remarkable. The smallest ones are my favorites because they are more worried about impressing me than their classmates. So far, I've accumulated 5 drawings and one bead. I must say I'll take that over the presents from the cats any day.
The older ones are far more of a challenge. Not only do I have more of them at a time, but they really like to assert themselves in really stupid ways. I won't explain but I'm sure you can imagine.
In one of my classes, I have a young boy from Moldova who arrived here two weeks ago after having lived in Portugal for a while. So he speaks Moldovan fluently, Portugese fairly well, a few full sentences of English, and no French. He's picked up a few words but he's not capable of making full sentences yet. He likes to make his classmates laugh by acting out a lot so despite the fact that he can't really talk to his classmates, he seems to be fitting in well. Let's just say he's hard to know what to do with.
So far at the middle school I had been more of a passive observer than a teacher because the school hadn't bothered to get me a classroom where I could take half the class. But, the other day, the inspector came by to make sure Karen and I were working our full 12 contractual hours, and he saw to it that I would have a classroom for the following day. He was far more effective than my or the teacher's attempts to get them to give me a classroom! Also, I have been assigned another school because the inspector discovered that I only had 10 and 1/2 hours of classes. So, I have to go teach a 4th grade class twice a week across town. I don't really have a right to complain but that doesn't change the fact that I'm grumpy about it. And I got a better deal than the Spanish assistant. She only had 6 hours of work, so she also has to go to another school, not the same as mine where I could give her a ride, but a school even farther away. And even with this other school's hours, it doesn't add up to 12, so she will now have to (or get to, depending on your perspective) spend time with the gym teacher and teach kids to play sports in Spanish.
Fortunately after working almost a whole month three days a week/four hours per day, I finally get a well deserved vacation. Yep, it's Halloween break! I've been taking advantage of my extra free time by making travel arrangements for Uncle Allen and cousin Lauren. I've met all the inn keepers in the neighborhood and I now have a few that I can confindently recommend. I can't wait to have the visitors! However, it must be noted that others wanting to come visit will have accomadations with Laurent and I if you so choose. This is an enthusiastic reminder to all friends and family that I would love to host you here!!!
I recently signed up with the music school in Tarnos, not as a teacher but as a student. I'm taking private voice and piano lessons. I was a little nervous to tell Laurent how much it cost, but his reacation was actually extremely positive. He figures he can now spend the same amount on skiing this winter and I won't be able to give him a guilt trip about it. It works, I guess!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The new school year
After being home in Clinton and successfully getting a new visa, I am back in France. Laurent picked me up from the airport in Toulouse, and instead of coming straight home, he took me on an RV trip to the mountains. Not the most restful trip, but definitely one of the best ways to get over jet lag fast! On Saturday, we went hiking on a trail that was supposed to lead us to a lake. However, in the beginning of the trail we decided to cut through a patch of forest where we saw the trail on the other side. About an hour later we were back at the parking lot very confused. It turns out that by skipping that small portion of the path we also skipped the part where it forks off towards the lake. Oops....so we start again. The trail to the lake was very beautiful but very steep! I pretty much had to drag Laurent up parts of it, but I did let him rest a couple times, I promise!
On the way back down, we stopped at a shepard's outpost and bought some sheep cheese. To get there, you have to walk through his pastures aroung his pigs and cows and I must say that these animals are very, very big in person. None of them tried to stampede us, even though I'm pretty sure they would have if we made any wrong moves.
That night we parked the RV on the Spanish side of the border where there was an old train station. In it's hay day it was a magnificant structure serving as a major tranportation hub for the Pyrenees. Now this station is closed and there is only a tiny one-room cabin to serve the few passengers who still come through.
On Sunday, we decided to take a smaller hike seeing as how we were sore from the previous day. In the gorge carved out by a small mountain river, we saw people going 'canyoning,' where they go up and down the waterways of the mountains. We thought it looked hard, so we took a picture!
Then, this trail was beautiful, but the most interesting thing about it was the hiker's refuge that we found. It is a small but equiped cabin provided to any and all who may come across it in need of protection from the weather or just a place to sleep. There is a cabin like this every 6 hours of hiking along the Pyrenees Trail. I was amazed by how thick the walls were and the woodburning stove that people still use, and also the sack of potatoes on the wall left there as an emergency store of food. This cabin is always open just with signs asking people to leave it as clean as they found it and to shut the door on their way out. Amazingly, the place was clean and the door was shut. Aparently there are still people that can use the honor system reliably!
Now, I'm back on the coast and I have gone to visit the school where I will be working. It turns out that I'll have kids aged 7-12. I don't know a whole lot more than than, and I start next Friday after I'll have had my training session. That's it for now!
On the way back down, we stopped at a shepard's outpost and bought some sheep cheese. To get there, you have to walk through his pastures aroung his pigs and cows and I must say that these animals are very, very big in person. None of them tried to stampede us, even though I'm pretty sure they would have if we made any wrong moves.
That night we parked the RV on the Spanish side of the border where there was an old train station. In it's hay day it was a magnificant structure serving as a major tranportation hub for the Pyrenees. Now this station is closed and there is only a tiny one-room cabin to serve the few passengers who still come through.
On Sunday, we decided to take a smaller hike seeing as how we were sore from the previous day. In the gorge carved out by a small mountain river, we saw people going 'canyoning,' where they go up and down the waterways of the mountains. We thought it looked hard, so we took a picture!
Then, this trail was beautiful, but the most interesting thing about it was the hiker's refuge that we found. It is a small but equiped cabin provided to any and all who may come across it in need of protection from the weather or just a place to sleep. There is a cabin like this every 6 hours of hiking along the Pyrenees Trail. I was amazed by how thick the walls were and the woodburning stove that people still use, and also the sack of potatoes on the wall left there as an emergency store of food. This cabin is always open just with signs asking people to leave it as clean as they found it and to shut the door on their way out. Amazingly, the place was clean and the door was shut. Aparently there are still people that can use the honor system reliably!
Now, I'm back on the coast and I have gone to visit the school where I will be working. It turns out that I'll have kids aged 7-12. I don't know a whole lot more than than, and I start next Friday after I'll have had my training session. That's it for now!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Motocycle touring
Hello everyone, I hope spring is treating you well. Summer is right around the corner and I'm so happy to have everything green and warm, even if it is all a little damp.
On Saturday, Laurent and I went on a motorcycle trip through French Basque country. His
friend Romain organized the outing and there were five motorcycles all together. The idea was to go to the top of a particular mountain on the French-Spanish border. The roads twisted and turned through the mountains and hills spotted with picturesque (read: touristy) Basque villages. Despite the beauty of our surroundings, we couldn't help but worry about one of the members of our group who was particularly daring, which translates to 'particularly dangerous' when on a motorcycle. Every time we stopped, the guys would 'jokingly' tell him he took a turn a little too fast, or passed when he really didn't have enough time, or tell him 'hey man, the road's not a race track!' The day went on like this, we ate a nice pic-nic by a mountain stream and met plenty of other motorcyclists who wanted to chat about their bikes, their experiences, this or that. It was fun!
The five riders Saint Jean Pied de Port
Our pic-nic area at lunch time
A dam with graffitti that reads "we've reintroduced beavers (into the wild)"
Then, five minutes from the summit, BANG!
Julien, the daredevil, passed a car too fast on a curve, hit a rock, and continued in a straight line where he should have curved with the road! He was so far ahead of the rest of us no one saw him fall except the car he passed. When Laurent and I got to the scene, we saw our buddies waving their arms indicating that we should pull over. When we stopped, there were several men with a rope pulling a motorcylce out of the ravine. I didn't understand what was going on, I thought it was someone we didn't know and we were helping out an unlucky stranger. But no, it was our friend who had skidded across the the scenic viewpoint and over the edge! He and his motorcyle only fell about six feet before getting stuck in the mud. He was extremely lucky- he walked away with some scrapes and a broken toe.
Pulling Julien out of his predicament.
Looking up from where the motorcyle and rider landed
The unfortunate state of the bike; post crash
Coasting down the mountain
He was shaken up, as were the rest of us, but we had to do something about the motorcycle. Even with all the damage, they were able to put it into neutral and he rode back down the mountain to the nearest town. Julien's brother-in-law came with a trailer to load up the bike.
Apparently this guy had bought this motorcycle one month earlier after wrecking his last one, and it was his third time falling after having his liscense for only a year! Some people never learn!
After this exitement, we went home, never making it to our destination, just five kilometers past the crash sight. But you just don't leave a man behind!
On Saturday, Laurent and I went on a motorcycle trip through French Basque country. His
friend Romain organized the outing and there were five motorcycles all together. The idea was to go to the top of a particular mountain on the French-Spanish border. The roads twisted and turned through the mountains and hills spotted with picturesque (read: touristy) Basque villages. Despite the beauty of our surroundings, we couldn't help but worry about one of the members of our group who was particularly daring, which translates to 'particularly dangerous' when on a motorcycle. Every time we stopped, the guys would 'jokingly' tell him he took a turn a little too fast, or passed when he really didn't have enough time, or tell him 'hey man, the road's not a race track!' The day went on like this, we ate a nice pic-nic by a mountain stream and met plenty of other motorcyclists who wanted to chat about their bikes, their experiences, this or that. It was fun!
The five riders Saint Jean Pied de Port
Our pic-nic area at lunch time
A dam with graffitti that reads "we've reintroduced beavers (into the wild)"
Then, five minutes from the summit, BANG!
Julien, the daredevil, passed a car too fast on a curve, hit a rock, and continued in a straight line where he should have curved with the road! He was so far ahead of the rest of us no one saw him fall except the car he passed. When Laurent and I got to the scene, we saw our buddies waving their arms indicating that we should pull over. When we stopped, there were several men with a rope pulling a motorcylce out of the ravine. I didn't understand what was going on, I thought it was someone we didn't know and we were helping out an unlucky stranger. But no, it was our friend who had skidded across the the scenic viewpoint and over the edge! He and his motorcyle only fell about six feet before getting stuck in the mud. He was extremely lucky- he walked away with some scrapes and a broken toe.
Pulling Julien out of his predicament.
Looking up from where the motorcyle and rider landed
The unfortunate state of the bike; post crash
Coasting down the mountain
He was shaken up, as were the rest of us, but we had to do something about the motorcycle. Even with all the damage, they were able to put it into neutral and he rode back down the mountain to the nearest town. Julien's brother-in-law came with a trailer to load up the bike.
Apparently this guy had bought this motorcycle one month earlier after wrecking his last one, and it was his third time falling after having his liscense for only a year! Some people never learn!
After this exitement, we went home, never making it to our destination, just five kilometers past the crash sight. But you just don't leave a man behind!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Spring's a commin!
This winter has been rather long and rainy and I am really, really ready to venture back into the world! There have been a few distracting activities to help me get through this difficult time of the year.
For example, we once again went to the mountains last week. This time, I was not plagued with constant pain and 'inexplicable' falling because I opted NOT to lock my feet into a deathboard (snowboard)! I've decided I've been brave enough for one winter and that I'll pick it back up next year. Fortunately for me, we have a friend who has a chalet in one of the ski resorts, so that served as my home base as the others hit the slopes. The temperature was hovering somewhere in the high 60s. I don't know how the snow was still still around but it was beautiful. So, I wandered around and took some pictures and made a snowman and sat down in a pile of snow and read in the sun until about noon. Then, I ate with Laurent and the friend we were visiting before heading out again. This time I went with them and they dropped me off at the high altitude café. This may sound ordinary, but when I say 'dropped me off,' I mean that they hopped on their snowboards and our friend Jeffrey carried me down the mountain piggy-back style as the other skiers thought they were halucinating. It was awesome! It was like being the passenger on a motorcycle but probably less stable. Jeffrey had absolutely no problem with the extra 140 pounds on his back, and on the contrary, I only made him go MUCH faster. Once at the café, I sat in the sun with out my coat and my sleeves rolled up and ended up getting a sunburn.
A few weeks ago, 'The Tempest' blew through and knocked down whole forests, cut electricity for millions of people (we were lucky and got it back after 36 hours while others went with out for more than a week), and even worse, disonnected the internet for several days. Things are back to normal now for us whose livelihoods do not depend on the exploitation of pine forests.
The following weekend, we went to Toulouse where Laurent's sister and I visited museums while Laurent and his brother-in-law went to some motorcycle-climbing-over-obstacle show. I feel like I got the better deal out of it, but I suppose that's just a matter of opinion. We also helped cut down a tree that had crashed into another tree during the wind storm the previous weekend. This ended in an enormous bonfire! This episode was followed up the next week at Laurent's mom's house as we cut and burned the two damaged trees in her yard.
Last night, we had this same friend Jeffrey over with the intention of having dinner and then going bowling just down the street. We prepared a chocolate mouse to be eaten after bowling, and then devoured a delicious meal of macaroni and cheese and duck. It was a wonderful combinatin of cultures. After we had finished, we headed out to the bowling alley where they informed us that the bowling section of the establishment had been closed since September. Oops... So, we had to find something else to do. We decided to walk downtown to play some pool. Once at the smoke free establishment, aka the bar, the only pool table was being monopolized by a group of Englishmen. Between me, Jeffrey (whose father is Canadian and speaks fluent English), and Laurent, we logically sent Laurent over to politely ask the English gentlemen if we could have our turn. They were amicable and seemed as if they were going to comply. However, at the end of their game they racked up the balls and started once again. So this time, I went over to see what was going on. Turns out they were playing a tie breaker game and then the table would be ours. Fair enough. We played one long and horrifically bad game of pool, and then we decided to leave, the bar was getting too crowded anyway! The mousse au chocolat was very yummy and properly chilled by the time we completed the long walk home! Yum!
Yesterday I babysat all day. Today, Laurent and I will be visiting his grandparents in Biarritz and we will be eating dinner with his mother. It is sunny and about 55 degrees. Whew! That's about as up to the minute as I can get!
For example, we once again went to the mountains last week. This time, I was not plagued with constant pain and 'inexplicable' falling because I opted NOT to lock my feet into a deathboard (snowboard)! I've decided I've been brave enough for one winter and that I'll pick it back up next year. Fortunately for me, we have a friend who has a chalet in one of the ski resorts, so that served as my home base as the others hit the slopes. The temperature was hovering somewhere in the high 60s. I don't know how the snow was still still around but it was beautiful. So, I wandered around and took some pictures and made a snowman and sat down in a pile of snow and read in the sun until about noon. Then, I ate with Laurent and the friend we were visiting before heading out again. This time I went with them and they dropped me off at the high altitude café. This may sound ordinary, but when I say 'dropped me off,' I mean that they hopped on their snowboards and our friend Jeffrey carried me down the mountain piggy-back style as the other skiers thought they were halucinating. It was awesome! It was like being the passenger on a motorcycle but probably less stable. Jeffrey had absolutely no problem with the extra 140 pounds on his back, and on the contrary, I only made him go MUCH faster. Once at the café, I sat in the sun with out my coat and my sleeves rolled up and ended up getting a sunburn.
A few weeks ago, 'The Tempest' blew through and knocked down whole forests, cut electricity for millions of people (we were lucky and got it back after 36 hours while others went with out for more than a week), and even worse, disonnected the internet for several days. Things are back to normal now for us whose livelihoods do not depend on the exploitation of pine forests.
The following weekend, we went to Toulouse where Laurent's sister and I visited museums while Laurent and his brother-in-law went to some motorcycle-climbing-over-obstacle show. I feel like I got the better deal out of it, but I suppose that's just a matter of opinion. We also helped cut down a tree that had crashed into another tree during the wind storm the previous weekend. This ended in an enormous bonfire! This episode was followed up the next week at Laurent's mom's house as we cut and burned the two damaged trees in her yard.
Last night, we had this same friend Jeffrey over with the intention of having dinner and then going bowling just down the street. We prepared a chocolate mouse to be eaten after bowling, and then devoured a delicious meal of macaroni and cheese and duck. It was a wonderful combinatin of cultures. After we had finished, we headed out to the bowling alley where they informed us that the bowling section of the establishment had been closed since September. Oops... So, we had to find something else to do. We decided to walk downtown to play some pool. Once at the smoke free establishment, aka the bar, the only pool table was being monopolized by a group of Englishmen. Between me, Jeffrey (whose father is Canadian and speaks fluent English), and Laurent, we logically sent Laurent over to politely ask the English gentlemen if we could have our turn. They were amicable and seemed as if they were going to comply. However, at the end of their game they racked up the balls and started once again. So this time, I went over to see what was going on. Turns out they were playing a tie breaker game and then the table would be ours. Fair enough. We played one long and horrifically bad game of pool, and then we decided to leave, the bar was getting too crowded anyway! The mousse au chocolat was very yummy and properly chilled by the time we completed the long walk home! Yum!
Yesterday I babysat all day. Today, Laurent and I will be visiting his grandparents in Biarritz and we will be eating dinner with his mother. It is sunny and about 55 degrees. Whew! That's about as up to the minute as I can get!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Winter Wonderland
It finally snowed here! This is actually really unexpected and all the residents are talking about how many years it's been, as well as how terrified they are to drive their cars through on inch of snow.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
