Thursday, February 21, 2008
Yet another 8AM encountered for nothing
Today, once again, the teacher was not present and failed to tell me about it. There was one student there who missed the memo. Sigh. On the bright side, I have been awake for the entirety of my unexpected day off, whereas if I had known, I might have slept at least until, oh, I don't know, say, UNTIL THE SUN WAS UP.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
I heart my job.
Last week, my week started at 4 PM on Monday and finished at 4PM the following day. I took the opportunity to get out of dodge and run around in Pau with other assistants as well as the teacher who escorted me around Paris. Cool!
I'm back at school awaiting the end of the week which marks the beginning of a two week vacation. Yay! My official return to the United States is now June 20th. See you then!
Today in one of my classes, my students spent 10 minutes describing the type of odor that comes from one of their classmates. 'He smell of cheese' or, 'Stand at 2 meters and your face become red, white, green, blue,' and, 'He and shower, not friends.' 'We are with him for two years now. We are (insert the French motion for 'had it up to here' which is more like our motion for 'better be quiet, the person you're badmouthing just walked in the room behind you'),' 'At first, we try to explain him, Take a shower!, but he not listen and change nothing.' I told them they were mean, but it was a good oportunity to teach them some expressions, not to mention hilarious to listen to them trying to articulate it in Engligh, so I let them go at it. I suggested maybe it was a medical problem and they should give him a break, but they insisted it was a simple not showering problem. Fortunately, this student was not in the room.
Today, I am going grocery shopping. HOOORAY. Yesterday, I topped my speghetti noodles with an egg.
I'm back at school awaiting the end of the week which marks the beginning of a two week vacation. Yay! My official return to the United States is now June 20th. See you then!
Today in one of my classes, my students spent 10 minutes describing the type of odor that comes from one of their classmates. 'He smell of cheese' or, 'Stand at 2 meters and your face become red, white, green, blue,' and, 'He and shower, not friends.' 'We are with him for two years now. We are (insert the French motion for 'had it up to here' which is more like our motion for 'better be quiet, the person you're badmouthing just walked in the room behind you'),' 'At first, we try to explain him, Take a shower!, but he not listen and change nothing.' I told them they were mean, but it was a good oportunity to teach them some expressions, not to mention hilarious to listen to them trying to articulate it in Engligh, so I let them go at it. I suggested maybe it was a medical problem and they should give him a break, but they insisted it was a simple not showering problem. Fortunately, this student was not in the room.
Today, I am going grocery shopping. HOOORAY. Yesterday, I topped my speghetti noodles with an egg.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Just another weekend.
I ran into the Dorm Nazi today, and I have decided she doesn't hear very well. I had just come in from a jog and I was red in the face and still huffing from the stairs. This is how our conversation went:
Me: 'Bonjour, Madam,'
Dorm Nazi (DM): 'You look hot.'
Me: 'Yes, you're right, I've just come from running a rather long distance.'
DM: 'Actually, I didn't mop up to your door, just in this hallway.'
Me: With bewildered look, 'Ok, thanks.'
She is the only person who can't understand a SINGLE word that I say, EVER. Frequently, she'll engage me in conversation and when I respond, she responds with something completely out of left field. At first, I was a bit distraught and it actually inspired me to visit one of my neighbors and say, 'Just tell me if you can understand me,' and then repeat whatever sentence it was I said to 'La Femme' to see if it was me or her that was somehow causing the communication breakdown. Each time, it was decided that even though I may have made a minor gramatical error, in general the phrase was valid and effectively communicated what I was trying to say! My conclusion is that she is half deaf, and of course she is going to be cranky when the world is spinning around her in half silence. Poor Dorm Nazi.
Hey Mom- could you get Mark to look for my resume on my computer? I really need it. The sooner the better! Thanks!
Me: 'Bonjour, Madam,'
Dorm Nazi (DM): 'You look hot.'
Me: 'Yes, you're right, I've just come from running a rather long distance.'
DM: 'Actually, I didn't mop up to your door, just in this hallway.'
Me: With bewildered look, 'Ok, thanks.'
She is the only person who can't understand a SINGLE word that I say, EVER. Frequently, she'll engage me in conversation and when I respond, she responds with something completely out of left field. At first, I was a bit distraught and it actually inspired me to visit one of my neighbors and say, 'Just tell me if you can understand me,' and then repeat whatever sentence it was I said to 'La Femme' to see if it was me or her that was somehow causing the communication breakdown. Each time, it was decided that even though I may have made a minor gramatical error, in general the phrase was valid and effectively communicated what I was trying to say! My conclusion is that she is half deaf, and of course she is going to be cranky when the world is spinning around her in half silence. Poor Dorm Nazi.
Hey Mom- could you get Mark to look for my resume on my computer? I really need it. The sooner the better! Thanks!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Dorm Nazi
This week, every teacher was where they were supposed to be -- no strikes, no conferences, no 'oops I forgot I had class.' It was a little trying, but I got through it!
The other day I had my first unpleasant run in with 'La Femme,' otherwise known as the Dorm Nazi. She used to love me, but apparently her loyalty is fleeting. One of the gentlemen down the hallway had a big party last Thursday night that lasted until 4AM and someone complained. I had been there for an hour or two at the beginning, but I'm sort of a teacher, so I make it a policy not to stay too long. Well, the woman knocked on my door Tuesday night and asked about this party. She seemed convinced that it had been in my room. (?) After I assured her it was not, she asked me if I had been with them, and since I had been for a little while, I said yes. So, she began what is probably her typical speech about quiet hours starting at 10PM and 'no partying' in the dorm. Ok, fine. As she left, my very quiet neighbor returned home, so I took the opportunity to say 'Désolée Benoît' to apologize if we had bothered him. 'La Femme' heard me say this, or rather heard me say something, and did a 180° turn and came back and went into Phase Two Reprimand Mode. 'I can call the head director to come talk to you if you would like, and if you don't like the rules you can move out. Besides that, you are responsible for these boys.' I honestly could not even begin to explain where this hostility was coming from, or for that matter how it is at all my job to be responsible for the 20 somethings living in my hallway. Then she stormed off and hopefully this is the end of this story!
This weekend I'm going to a tractor festival. Woo!
The other day I had my first unpleasant run in with 'La Femme,' otherwise known as the Dorm Nazi. She used to love me, but apparently her loyalty is fleeting. One of the gentlemen down the hallway had a big party last Thursday night that lasted until 4AM and someone complained. I had been there for an hour or two at the beginning, but I'm sort of a teacher, so I make it a policy not to stay too long. Well, the woman knocked on my door Tuesday night and asked about this party. She seemed convinced that it had been in my room. (?) After I assured her it was not, she asked me if I had been with them, and since I had been for a little while, I said yes. So, she began what is probably her typical speech about quiet hours starting at 10PM and 'no partying' in the dorm. Ok, fine. As she left, my very quiet neighbor returned home, so I took the opportunity to say 'Désolée Benoît' to apologize if we had bothered him. 'La Femme' heard me say this, or rather heard me say something, and did a 180° turn and came back and went into Phase Two Reprimand Mode. 'I can call the head director to come talk to you if you would like, and if you don't like the rules you can move out. Besides that, you are responsible for these boys.' I honestly could not even begin to explain where this hostility was coming from, or for that matter how it is at all my job to be responsible for the 20 somethings living in my hallway. Then she stormed off and hopefully this is the end of this story!
This weekend I'm going to a tractor festival. Woo!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
New Classes
I've got some new classes this semester now, and it is always interesting to see what sort of things they ask me. This time, there was no 'how tall are you?' just 'how old are you?' questions. When I told them 23, they all looked shocked, aparently I look 13 now with my haircut. Huh. That's just great.
Tuesday afternoons are always interesting because the room which was assigned to me by the school is nearly always taken by another teacher. I have to wander around the English hallway and hope to find an empty classroom. Today, no such luck, so I went down to the office where this type of logistical planning is supposed to managed. I had 9 students following me around like ducklings. 20 minutes later, we finally got a room in the basement that seriously resembled a prison. Fortunately, I was holding the keys.
PS- Mom- I went ahead and changed the language to English and changed the security on the comments link so that you do not have to have a gmail account to leave a few words!
Tuesday afternoons are always interesting because the room which was assigned to me by the school is nearly always taken by another teacher. I have to wander around the English hallway and hope to find an empty classroom. Today, no such luck, so I went down to the office where this type of logistical planning is supposed to managed. I had 9 students following me around like ducklings. 20 minutes later, we finally got a room in the basement that seriously resembled a prison. Fortunately, I was holding the keys.
PS- Mom- I went ahead and changed the language to English and changed the security on the comments link so that you do not have to have a gmail account to leave a few words!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Yummy Sushi
Had some good sushi in Biaritz, galavanted around with my friend Danielle from Bordeaux. Not too much. The weather was weird, though. It went from 65 degrees and sunny to 50 degrees and foggy in a time span of maybe 30 seconds. I've never seen the weather change like that! Fortunately, Danielle and I had already gotten in our café by the beach time. It was around 4 on a Sunday, so lots of people were just beginning to come out of their homes to enjoy the day. Imagine everyone's dispointment when the sun went away...permanently. muahahahaha!
Today is the first day of the new semester and I completely forgot about a class. I work 10 hours a week and I can't even be responsable for all of them. How will I ever work 40hrs/week again!?
Today is the first day of the new semester and I completely forgot about a class. I work 10 hours a week and I can't even be responsable for all of them. How will I ever work 40hrs/week again!?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Another early weekend
So, I worked 3 hours this week, finish by 4 PM on Tuesday. This left plently of time to do absolutely nothing. However, I did manage to squeeze a haircut into these prolonged days of nothing. I went from having quite possibly my longest hair ever to putting it comfortably right back around my shoulders.
The reason I'm not working today is because once again, I'm on strike! Yay! This time it's to protest the reduction of the number of teachers in France. The gov't is only replacing one out of every two teachers who retire. This could be fun for classroom size and new teachers looking for jobs!
I've been eating 'regional cuisine' lately, and let me warn you, it's not what you imgine French food to be. In the Southwest, there are a lot of duck parts used VERY creatively. Bofore coming to France, I was kind of a difficult eater, but I was really trying to expand my palate. However now that I'm here, there is no try, only do. There's nothing like an extreme sense of expectation mixed with a linguistic incapability to tactfully decline to coax me into eating things I normally wouldn't TOUCH much less put into my mouth. And, apparently wine made in the earely 90's is fairly common here and not impossibly expensive. Who'd of thunk it?
The reason I'm not working today is because once again, I'm on strike! Yay! This time it's to protest the reduction of the number of teachers in France. The gov't is only replacing one out of every two teachers who retire. This could be fun for classroom size and new teachers looking for jobs!
I've been eating 'regional cuisine' lately, and let me warn you, it's not what you imgine French food to be. In the Southwest, there are a lot of duck parts used VERY creatively. Bofore coming to France, I was kind of a difficult eater, but I was really trying to expand my palate. However now that I'm here, there is no try, only do. There's nothing like an extreme sense of expectation mixed with a linguistic incapability to tactfully decline to coax me into eating things I normally wouldn't TOUCH much less put into my mouth. And, apparently wine made in the earely 90's is fairly common here and not impossibly expensive. Who'd of thunk it?
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