As the title of this entry suggests, this is my last week in Aire sur l'Adour! I'm gonna miss the guys, but not so much that I want to stick around and teach for free.....
It was really cute when one of my students offered me bisous on the last day of class, something usually not given to teachers (bisous= those little kisses on the cheek French people use to say hello and goodbye).
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
What happens on strike days....
Thursday, the students were on strike to protest this whole teacher reduction measure that Sarkozy has taken. The only class where there weren't enough students to hold class was at 8AM. Funny how that works. However, the highschoolers seemed to take this as an opportunity to be hooligans. They smashed in fire alarms and fflipped off the switch for the electricity trying to get everyone to participate. Sigh. My students are in a post-highschool degree program, so for the most part they did not participate in the strike, and they were very annoyed to be disturbed by the younger kids banging on doors in the hallway. These older students only have a few classes left before they take their big exams that will determine whether or not they will get their diplomas.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Lourdes, HEAVY!
This week, I drove down to Lourdes to visit a friend in the hospital there. Seeing as though he was alternating between states of excrutiating pain and disorientation from morphine, I thought it would be highly inappropriate not to commemorate April Fools Day. So, I kept calling him along the way telling him I was getting more and more hopelessly lost making him explain to me what would be the way back to the right roads. I am thoroughly impressed with his knowledge of the region. Walking down his hospital hallway, I told him I was in Tarbes. It was a relief for him when I walked through the door and he didn't have to give me any more directions. Hahahaha.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Car painting
So, I learned how to repaint a car this weekend. Pretty exciting stuff, let me tell you. Fortunately it was a beautiful day, so it was nice to be outside sanding, priming, painting, you know.
I went to see Angles d'Attaque, I think the English title was Vantage Point, with Forest Whitaker and probably some other famous dudes I should have recognized. It was a good film, but it definately villainized Arabs, as if that's what either of these countries needs!
I went to see Angles d'Attaque, I think the English title was Vantage Point, with Forest Whitaker and probably some other famous dudes I should have recognized. It was a good film, but it definately villainized Arabs, as if that's what either of these countries needs!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The young'uns
Today, I had my first day with the 7th graders. This is a supplementary project in addition to my normal hours that I work. But seeing as how many of my classes get cancelled for various reasons (strikes, tests, personal vacations), it really doesn't hurt to show up a few extra hours.
They are working on short plays in small groups, so the teacher needs help in order to give personal attention to each group. I took two of the plays today. They were supposed to have all their roles memorized, but when we read through the plays, it was obvious they weren't. My favorite 'oops' was a girl who was supposed to say 'I'm not interested' several times, but ended up saying 'I'm not interesting.' So, I sent them to study their lines for 10 minutes, and I was so impressed when they stayed quiet and actually learned them. I then asked the students if they understood what they were saying, and I was surprised to find that while they understood the jist of the story line, the meaning of each sentance was very fuzzy, which says to me they had mostly memorized syllables of sounds, which could NOT have been easy! So, we spent the last half of the hour translating. All in all, the middle schoolers were nice kids!
Tomorrow I go back to the big'uns. It will be a very different environment!
They are working on short plays in small groups, so the teacher needs help in order to give personal attention to each group. I took two of the plays today. They were supposed to have all their roles memorized, but when we read through the plays, it was obvious they weren't. My favorite 'oops' was a girl who was supposed to say 'I'm not interested' several times, but ended up saying 'I'm not interesting.' So, I sent them to study their lines for 10 minutes, and I was so impressed when they stayed quiet and actually learned them. I then asked the students if they understood what they were saying, and I was surprised to find that while they understood the jist of the story line, the meaning of each sentance was very fuzzy, which says to me they had mostly memorized syllables of sounds, which could NOT have been easy! So, we spent the last half of the hour translating. All in all, the middle schoolers were nice kids!
Tomorrow I go back to the big'uns. It will be a very different environment!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Back from break
Break was really fun! My friend and fellow English assistant Danielle and I went to Paris where we met up with one of my friends from home, Hana Katsenes. It was Hana's first time in Paris, so we did the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomph, Sacré Coeur, and the Louvre. The weather on the first day was HORRIBLE, we even got hailed on during our 3 hour walking tour of Paris. If you could mentally get past the wind and celestial vomit, the tour was very interesting. The hostel we stayed in was kind of like 'Little America' where half the staff were native English speakers and about 75% of the guests were from the US. However, the facilities were very clean and very new so the comfort was well worth the 'inauthenticity.' We stayed in Paris for 3 days before heading down to Capbreton where I showed Hana a little of the southwest coast of France.
In Capbreton, after walking along the beach a little, we saw the old Nazi bunkers that have been left to the mercy of the ocean and time. The town seems to have no desire to spend the money to either maintain them or take them out, and the shape of the coast has changed ever so slightly so that high tide washes up past them. They are just now a decrepit peice of history that has become part of the coast. Then, we spent 5 hours in a resaurant sipping our coffees and watching the sun set. After two days in Capbreton, we went to Bordeaux and stayed with Danielle for a night. It was a good thing Danielle and Hana hit it off because I had to leave Sunday evening to get back to my town whereas Hana left Monday morning. Yay for my friends meeting eachother!
My trip back was not a lot of fun because I didn't plan well for it so I had to take a train and then wait 4 hours for a bus and then walk nearly two miles in 40° rain toting a suitcase back up the hill to my place. Next time I will DEFINATELY be talking with potential rides long before leaving Aire sur l'Adour!
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Better late than never, right?
Hana and the Nazi barracks
Me, the Louvre, and the wind
Danielle, probably in some famous garden that is very pretty between the months of April and October.
Me, Danielle, and the German guy in front of Sacré Coeur
At the restaurant where Hana and I spent the whole afternoon, we asked for a wine list. They didn't have one in print so rather than rattling them off to me, he pulled the sign off the wall. We found this hilarious.
In Capbreton, after walking along the beach a little, we saw the old Nazi bunkers that have been left to the mercy of the ocean and time. The town seems to have no desire to spend the money to either maintain them or take them out, and the shape of the coast has changed ever so slightly so that high tide washes up past them. They are just now a decrepit peice of history that has become part of the coast. Then, we spent 5 hours in a resaurant sipping our coffees and watching the sun set. After two days in Capbreton, we went to Bordeaux and stayed with Danielle for a night. It was a good thing Danielle and Hana hit it off because I had to leave Sunday evening to get back to my town whereas Hana left Monday morning. Yay for my friends meeting eachother!
My trip back was not a lot of fun because I didn't plan well for it so I had to take a train and then wait 4 hours for a bus and then walk nearly two miles in 40° rain toting a suitcase back up the hill to my place. Next time I will DEFINATELY be talking with potential rides long before leaving Aire sur l'Adour!
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Better late than never, right?
Hana and the Nazi barracks
Me, the Louvre, and the wind
Danielle, probably in some famous garden that is very pretty between the months of April and October.
Me, Danielle, and the German guy in front of Sacré Coeur
At the restaurant where Hana and I spent the whole afternoon, we asked for a wine list. They didn't have one in print so rather than rattling them off to me, he pulled the sign off the wall. We found this hilarious.
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