Well this is unexpected.

It's funny how while in France I barely wrote at all. Really, I don't see it as a bad thing. I mean, when you're really having fun/ experiencing new things, who has time to sit down, write in English (boringgg) and try to make sense of it all? As I sit at my computer wearing an ugly beige down vest over a sea foam cashmere sweater I've stolen from my mom (sorry I mean new roommate), I realize this is the time to write a blog about my travels and time in France. It is certainly more exciting and glamorous than my current predicament of working an 8:30 to 4:30 where I actually skip my 30 minute lunch break just to get done faster. So I'm going to try this again. Maybe on nights when I've exhausted online TV and my friends are studying or home living in apartments instead of with their mother, I'll add some highlights of a year that allowed me to breathe and wander and smile.

Ok that burst of creative writing energy has just entered and passed through my body in the couple of minutes it took me to write this post. Hopefully it will stay longer next time or I'll become faster at typing. Welp, goodnight!

Roses are Red

Another fulfilling day of teaching. I'm finding that I much prefer working with the Terminale classes which is the equivalent of our Seniors in HS. It seems the older students are more confident and outgoing which makes class more interesting. I love it when they actually ask me questions!


Today we started with an ungraded quiz on USA facts like "who is the current President and Vice President? and "How many times larger than France is the US?" (By the way the answer is 17!). After that we switched subjects to Valentine's Day. Groan groan. Funnily that is the response from most French people. Some of the girls get a little giddy but in general young people view the holiday as commercial. That said, I did see quite a few people out purchasing sweets and flowers on Monday evening. Not to mention that there were special Valentine's Day menus at a lot of the restaurants.

But back to my lesson...I had anticipated that they might not be thrilled to do an entire hour on VDay so I decided to chose one simple activity: Poetry. Even more groaning!! But as I pointed out it was one way to express your feelings without spending money or "buying" into the holiday. Okay okay they still weren't loving it so I started to write a Roses are red, Violets are blue poem on the board. Ahh some recognition from the students. So I ended up writing about 5 different variations on the board. Some romantic (sugar is sweet and so are you), some funny ( I forgot to buy a present but I love you) and some a little negative (Valentine's day is stupid and so are you). Anyway once I started bashing the holiday a little bit they loved it! And once I told them that whatever group came up with the best poem got chocolate they were completely on board.

So here are their responses for your viewing pleasure:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Life is wonderful
Just because of you

Roses are red 
Violets are blue 
I don't care about V.Day
But I love you

Twinkle twinkle
little star
How I wonder What you are
up above world so high
like a dimond in the sky

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Your eyes are mine
And I'm yours

Hard to pick a favorite though the twinkle twinkle is pretty random and great. Especially since they completely ignored the worksheet that had the beginning of the poem started for them. Not to mention I'm impressed they knew the lyrics!





 

January in Crépy

It's 12:45 in the afternoon and I'm in my little bed propped up by pillows. I can hear one of my "roommates" in the kitchen making lunch. My room is next to the kitchen, which means smells easily float in. Today unfortunately it kind of smells like dog food...all though that could just be paté or some other meat substance we don't regularly eat in America.


I'm watching Lie To Me online which is kind of a fun CSI type show. The premise being that you can tell people are lying just by looking at their facial expressions or gestures. Why am I lazing about on a Wednesday afternoon? Because the French never have school on Wednesday afternoons! Though they do have Saturday morning classes so I guess I would hesitate before calling them lucky. 


I'm feeling pretty good. The kids have their BAC blanc tomorrow so I don't have to go to work. Life lately in Crépy has been really fulfilling. Last week Chloe and Gabriele, the British and German Assistants, came over for dinner! Then this weekend Petey came to visit and we went to a reggae concert in Paris on Saturday night. I am also proud to report that I have finally made friends with the locals! I think it took being a little lonely the first two months to make me really put out an effort to make French friends. Turns out there are actually a lot of people my age who live in and around Crépy! I love that no one speaks English because it forces me to improve my French. Talk about total immersion. Though I am still working on losing my somewhat American accent, I think my French is coming along quite nicely. To be honest I'm a bit obsessed with learning all the slang people my age use. I've got two different notebooks going with new phrases scrawled in them. Living here is such a great learning device because when I hear something new in French, I can immediately turn around and try it out on someone who speaks the language! So yes life is pretty good.


Since I haven't been too active on the blog front, I thought I would share a little bit about chez moi. I live in the boarding part of a high school in town. Basically I have my own room and shower but share a kitchen and bathroom with three other teachers who live here during the week. All three happen to be men. Really I don't see very much of them as everyone pretty much stays in their rooms. I'd say I use the kitchen the most and seem to come and go more often as well. Is it odd to live with men? Yes, a bit. They range from about 25, 35 and 60. But honestly they seem more startled by my presence than vice versa.


It's now been about two and a half weeks since Petey and I returned from our trip to Germany and Austria! Phew what a fun fast time. In two weeks we toured Berlin, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. I don't think I have and carbohydrates in my life. Believe it or not we have another 2 week vacation coming up in February. We're thinking of going south this time as neither of us can stand anymore of the cold. Perhaps Greece? Istanbul? It gives my heart flutters to think that I can literally travel anywhere I please (funds permitted of course). 


To sum up this not so short post, I am loving living in Abroad. I'll write more soon about my French social life because there are definite differences to how we hang out in America. Also, sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm trying to figure out how to load them directly from iPhoto. Darn you MacBook I will win!

Foggy Tuesday

Today was my first day teaching a full class of 29 high schoolers all on my own. And guess what? It was extremely satisfying! I prepared a lesson about stereotypes and I think it went over really well. I had forgotten how much teenagers love anything that resembles gossip. They were able to give me a huge list of (not so nice) characteristics about Americans. Funnily and not surprising at all, their list was a lot shorter and nicer for the French.

It's 11:35 a.m. here and the foggiest I've seen in a long time. My walk to and from school was completely white. You couldn't even see big buildings 50 yards away. 

I think I'm also particularly cheery right now because my little fan club spotted me walking home. What I mean is there is a couple 15 year old girls in one of my classes that are completely silly and obsessed with everything American. They love the American accent so much that they get a kick out of everything I say and repeat it back in this crooning imitation. Although it's a bit distracting in class, I have to admit it's also kind of endearing. So yes I was walking home and heard bouts of giggling and then my name. Just goes to show we all want to be loved.

The Art of Not Showing Up i.e France on Strike

Let me start off with a little run down of this past work week.

Monday - off. Tuesday- the teachers were on strike so they told me not to come in. Wednesday - one hour of teaching in afternoon. Thursday - the students were on strike so they told me to go home because only one kid showed up to class. In the afternoon we had a rousing six show so I spent the hour learning the best places to vacation in France. Friday - The teachers and students were on strike. 

I worked a total of four hours...

This week isn't looking that much more productive as I'm only working Tuesday and Wednesday haha. 

The strikes here are actually pretty phenomenal even for France's standards. Usually strikes may last a day or two but the intensity this time seems to be ongoing. I spent the weekend in Beauvais with Petey and on my trip home I got to Paris at 9 a.m. to find that due to the train strikes the next available train to Crépy wasn't until 17.30 (5:30pm for you amuricans). Never fear tho your ever resourceful girl ended up jumping an RER that I hoped was going the right way and finding the only bus traveling to Crépy. 


While waiting for the bus and escaping the cold (note to self DO NOT travel with wet hair), I met this really nice french woman in a café. We chatted about (obviously) the strikes and she wanted to know all about my teaching assignment. In some ways it is so refreshing to be out of Paris because people actually speak french to you!!! So yes Martine ended up giving me her email address and inviting me to stay in St Mard, her very little quaint town of around a thousand inhabitants, any time I want :) 


She also taught me the name for these beautiful weeping willow-esque trees that are all over Northern France:


Saule Pleureur

I think they are also nicknamed "Sol Pleueur," which translates to "Weeping Sun," which is just beautiful.

The weekend in Beauvais was outstanding. We met british "chaps" on Friday night at a pub that played live concerts of Red Hot Chile Peppers and U2. They amused us with their never ending slew of strange english phrases. Turns out they were passing through France shooting a TV commercial for the french equivalent of John Deere. How perfectly random. Saturday night we discovered an awesome Harry Potter themed pub that had drink specials like "vous savez qui" as in "you know who" as in "lord voldermort." -hahahahah everything is funnier in French. Petey and I also found a beautiful artisan market that only comes to Beauvais twice a year. Sadly we found out that the reason they come so infrequently is because it takes half a year for the customers to forget their OUTRAGEOUS prices. I mean really, we put a couple of pieces of dried fruit into a box and the total came out to 11 EUROS. How indecent. 


Phew blogging is tiring! Vacation starts this weekend and we're off to Normandy and Bretagne. More on that soon! 


Oh yea and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! My one task for everyone is that they dress up and celebrate for me!! It is really just so sad that France doesn't understand the awesomeness that is planning a costume for months and eating a lot of candy. I know you all won't disappoint me.

 

New Beginnings

Well here I am writing my very first post on my very first blog. But that's not all that's new with my life. I now live in a small town in Northern France. Lovingly known only by its inhabitants and perhaps those in living in the Picardie region, as Crépy en Valois. 

For this introduction I had planned to post pictures of my new room and surroundings but unfortunately in the mad rush that was moving to France I forgot a couple of things including my camera cable, which allows me to upload photos. So instead I am turning to a beloved artist to portray my current predicament. Alphonse Mucha.

Although telling by the leaves on the ground it is not spring (printemps) in either the States or France, I find this picture sums up my own quest for personal growth. What with her being porcelain skinned and determined.

But enough about that. This weekend Petey and I visited Paris! It was amazingly warm and sunny and all around lovely. We ate on Rue Mouffetarde in a tiny (as in literally closet sized) tarte restaurant and met an American couple. They we're very friendly and it was great to all share our love of Paris! Taking their advice, Petey and I decided to forgo the metro and take a bus around Paris which allowed us to have a (cheap) personal tour all over the city streets!

Now its Monday night and I'm back in C.E.V. ready to start the work week which is Tuesday through Friday for me. But more on that later. Right now cette jeune fille needs her beauty rest.