October 14 - The true joy of France and the surprising joy of teaching

So - I have a cold. A rather mild one, but the kind that makes you lose your voice if you talk too much. And since I’m a teacher now - surprise surprise - I have no voice. Well, I’m not a real teacher, but I do have 12 different classes to keep track of (all at different levels, might I add) and they all call me “Madame” which just makes it all the more official. Although, they only use Madame when they want something or when they think they might be in trouble. My favorite thing that they say is, “euh, Madame, may I go to zee, euh, toilettes? euh, please?” I don’t know why, but I just love this phrase! Especially because they always say toilettes the french way (like, twa-let). The other thing that I just love about teaching is that the kids crack me up! They say the funniest things! For example: Today I met a new class for the first time, I think they were Terminal - which equals our high school seniors, and I got asked on a date by 4 guys at once! HA! This is the first time that this has happened (believe it or not!). So they are all asking me questions ... well, a better way to put it would be that the extreme silence was occasionally punctuated with a half mumbled question ... anyway, so one guy asks me, “did you go to the Paris?” which translates to, “have you ever been to Paris?” Which I answer, “I visited Paris 4 years ago, but I have not been since being here.” Immediately 4 guys go, “euh, would you go le weekend?” translation, “um, would you like to come with me this weekend?” It was SO SMOOTH! I tried my best to stifle a laugh, but I failed. So funny! They are harmless, of course, I just thought it was so brave to ask a new teacher on a date! Oh the French.

Anyway, so I have a cold... and to make myself feel better I made homemade vegetable soup yesterday. There were a ton of leftovers, so on the way home tonight I stopped and bought a fresh baguette. All I can say is, wow! French bread, really and truly, is the very best thing. I was so hungry when I got home that I tore a piece off while waiting for the microwave - simply phenomenal. I don’t know what it is, but the bread here just tastes amazing! I had forgotten that. Danielle and I have been buying baguettes at the grocery store, and they’re good, but this one was just amazing. Needless to say, there’s less than a third of the loaf left. And I’m thinking of going and eating the rest before it gets cold... French bread, as of right now, officially rounds out my top 5 favorite foods. The list goes like this: 1. Roast Chicken; 2. Moules frittes; 3. Enchiladas; 4. Mom’s spaghetti; 5. Real, Fresh, French Bread

Also, more exciting news ... I successfully taught 4 classes on my own! The first class of the day was conducted in the hallway - apparently the key that I was given doesn’t work on the room I was assigned, but we made the best of it. I think the students thought I was crazy, but that’s just a bit of the American way for them - don’t waste time, make the best of the situation. After we finally were let in - by a janitor who lectured me on the not having a key (she ate her words though after I pulled out my key and demonstrated that it wasn’t my fault - then she simply told me to get a key before next time) - we had a lovely time with some very educational games. The next class was the same age and went much better (mostly because we didn’t have to sit in the hallway). I played a game where the kids had to describe a picture that I gave them while I tried to draw it on the board. Funniest thing! One group had a man sitting on a bed - so at first they told me that the man was on the bed - so I drew him standing up. Then they told me that I was wrong and that he was lying on the bed. But that was wrong too. Finally one student goes, he is half on the bed and half off the bed -- so my little stick figure got to be half on the bed and half off the bed. Then -- and this is the funniest -- a girl goes, “no madame, ees head is on the back of the bed” --- that poor man! (for those of you playing along at home: he was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headrest) My last two classes of the day were with my youngest group - their level of English is surprisingly good (though they are hesitant to speak, well, English at least- they say a whole lot in French) and they are really enthusiastic. We played a game kinda like musical chairs, except you have to make a statement describing people in the room and if they statement applies to you then you have to stand up and change chairs. The last person left standing has to make a new statement. For example, you could say, “I know someone who is wearing blue jeans,” and then 7/8th of the class gets up and scrambles for a new seat. This game was hilarious! One student, who was going for the same chair as me actually sat on me! And then she jumped up and goes, “désolee madame!” So cute! Another student shoved me and then promptly apologized and offered me her chair! I love it!

Tomorrow I get to meet 3 new classes, which is always exciting. Although, when I meet these groups they ask so many things. It’s exhausting to think so much about obscure things that I like. I have never answered so many random questions in my life as I have in the past two weeks! The things the kids ask me just crack me up --the younger ones especially, they will ask you anything! I’ve been asked about more movies, TV shows, bands and all around pop culture than you can shake a stick at! They are especially curious about what TV shows I like to watch. A lot of American shows are dubbed into French and broadcast about 3 years behind -- the most popular seem to be Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Bones, NCIS and CSI. Unfortunately for the kids, I only watch CSI. They always look so sad when I tell them I don’t watch Prison Break (is it even on in the US anymore?) and “Desperate” as they call it. The answer I usually get is, “you not like Eva Longoria? She, euh, loves Tony Parker ... he ees French!” which means, “don’t you like Eva Longoria? She is married to Tony Parker who is French.” To which I always respond, “I like Eva, but I especially love the French!”

And, in case you were wondering: Yes. I am the most ridiculous teacher ever.

oh! and P.S. today while getting a hot chocolate and an apricot croissant I was complimented on my accent! Amazing! I may not be able to say much, but I least I sound good!

A big update

So I realized this morning that it’s been way too long since I’ve added to this blog! A lot has happened in this past week - I’ve started teaching, made some new friends, and I’ve been on a few adventures! I’ve both gained and lost confidence in my French speaking ability as well as acquired a cold (awesome!)

Teaching is quite the experience. So far I’ve been limited to introducing myself and answering and asking a lot of questions. Most of my students know my age, that I’m single and that I love food. They know that my favorite actor is Johnny Depp and that I don’t like professional wrestling. The questions they ask sometimes just blow my mind! Last week was a short week for me - I only worked for a few hours on Monday and then a full day on Tuesday. I was supposed to teach / observe on Wednesday but the teacher was giving a test that couldn’t be rescheduled. Thursday we had an assistants training and then on Friday I was told that I didn’t need to come in to work at all. So not much work for week 1! I have yet to meet all of my classes - but for the most part I feel comfortable in this job. I don’t get nervous in front of the students - and they seem to understand me very well. There is only one class where I’m a bit nervous - they’re my last class of the day on Tuesdays and they’re my youngest group (around 15 and 16). They are like wild animals, but on the positive side they talk a lot (just not always in English).

One of my students gave me a very nice tour of Orléans last week -- it was cool because it was more a tour of her life. She took me to her favorite sandwich place for Shwarma and showed me where all the kids go to make out (I’ll be sure to avoid that place!). She also showed me her old high school and where she used to live. It was really neat to see Orléans from a local’s perspective. I got to meet a lot of kids - all of whom were excited to meet a “real American.”

I’ve become very close with two assisants, Seamus from Northern Ireland and Caitlin from Canada. We are all very goofy and have lots of fun doing silly things (we seem to have a weekly tradition of sitting on the pedestal of the Joan of Ark statue). This past weekend we decided to do something fun - but we really couldn’t think of what to do. So Caitlin proposed the brilliant idea of meeting at the train station at 8:45 am and taking the next train. The rules were: the train ride had to be more than one hour and less than 2 hours; there had to be a return train available; and we had to make the absolute best of whereever we ended up. So Saturday morning rolls around and Danielle and I meet Seamus and Caitlin at the station and ended up in Bourges! It turned out to be a really lovely city and we visited their Cathedral and Palais Jacques Couer (the elaborate home of M. Couer who turned out to be the Finance minister of France in the 1440s). After we returned home we went grocery shopping so that we could have a picnic on the Loire - and while in the grocery store we discovered some AMAZING masks and ran into another American assistant - so we all picniced on the Loire with our masks.

As of today I have a rather unpleasant cold, but fortunately I never teach on Mondays - so I was able to rest and prepare my lessons for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a very long day - however I think the lessons will be fun - hopefully my students agree with me!

October 3 - The skies may be grey, but all I see is blue!

Yesterday was an absolutely fantastic day.  We had our language assistants orientation which included all language assistants from all of the Orléans-Tours region.  The orientation itself wasn’t super useful - although we did get a nice presentation on our region (we make wine and cheese and grow a lot of wheat) but we did get a chance to meet all the other assistants.  We got a lovely tour of Orléans, which was in French (i.e. I learned a lot, but probably won’t be able to repeat it) in a group of about 10.  In my super cool group there were two N. Irishmen, a Canadian, 3 Americans and a handful of British people.  Well the Canadian is just the sweetest person in the world and the two Irishmen were absolutely hillarious.  After the orientation we went out to a bar in a group of about 20 or so.  I got to meet all kinds of people - several of whom live in Orléans itself!  We stayed out until about midnight and got to meet some German language assistants as well as some random French people.  I got to practice my French - and it’s improved!  I can now carry on a very broken, but understandable conversation!  AMAZING!  A man from Madagascar told Danielle and I about something going on in Paris tonight - people are going to stay up all night to look at contemporary art from around the world.  It sounds really interesting, but I think I’m going to pass because one of the assistants is throwing a party tonight in her flat.  I think it’s more important for me to meet the other people living in my town than go to a giant First Friday - but that’s just my opinion.  

I am just loving being here and meeting people.  I haven’t met many French people yet, but that will come.  I’m planning on joining some clubs and taking some cooking classes -- so maybe I’ll meet them there.  I also want to join an outdoor club, because they are always going on adventures and it’s a great way to meet the locals!

Orléans is just amazing!  I’m on a big adventure and I love it!

I live here!

Holy crap - I officially live in France!

I have an address, I have a bank account, I have a job!

I can't believe this is really happening!  And I love it here!

September 29th - An apartment!

As of this morning I have spent exactly 16 hours in my new home -- and I love it!  I live in a three bedroom, 1 bathroom (+ bidet!) apartment with a giant living room and a very incomplete kitchen.  So many teachers from Danielle’s school are loaning us items.  We have one bed frame, 2 mattresses, a lot of mismatched sheets, some chairs, a table - and so many plates that I don’t know what do with them all.

Today we’re running around to get more things - like a mirror and dressers and storage units. I love it!  So amazing!

September 27th - Festival du Loire and discovering Orléans

Yesterday I woke up, once again, at 5 am.  I didn’t feel very well - too many milk products the day before.  I ate some dry cereal and tried to go back to sleep - which I finally did around 9.  Today I needed to hang around the flat, because Alain’s mother was having a dishwasher delivered at 1.  I didn’t know what time she’d be here - and I didn’t want Razu to freak out and try to run away.  By 1:30 the whole operation was finished (and Razu was thoroughly freaked out and hiding under the bed) and Alain offered to take me to the school and then drive me to the city center (I wanted to go the Festival du Loire).  The school is really cool.  It’s a very modern looking building with a lot of glass and these very interesting shapes and structures inside.  I’m excited to get to work in such a cool building!

The festival du Loire was a lot of fun - there were all kinds of vendors and restaurants set up as well as live music and a ton of boats on the river.  I walked around for a while and then decided to go and find some water and more minutes for my cell phone.  Just at that moment my mom called and we talked for a long time.  I had been feeling a little overwhelmed and a bit lonely - but afterwards I felt 100 times better.  During our conversation she looked up some internet cafe’s for me - and found one located in a mexican restaurant - which I happened to be standing very near to.  So after our phone conversation I headed out to find it - turns out it’s on the coolest street in the city!  This little street was just full of cool restaurants, shops and bars.  There were all kinds of people out and about and I immediately felt the magic happen.  Before I didn’t know anything about this city - just the commercial areas and the suburbs -- I was starting to wonder if there was anywhere young people hung out -- but there it was!  An adorable little street that felt like France with all kinds of people happy to be alive!  

Afterwards, I went back to the Festival to get some dinner.  I had spied a place earlier that served moules frittes, but it was too late to get lunch.  They weren’t serving the food yet, so I walked around for a while and listened to some music.  I bought a CD for 4 euro - the guy told me that he had made too many and needed to get rid of them.  He even drew me a picture that says “Viva America!”  By the time I got back to the moules frittes place, I noticed that they had hung a sign that they were full for dinner - apparently you needed a reservation (who knew?  a reservation for a restaurant at a festival?).  I decided to settle for a crepe and catch the bus home.  While in line, I met a very nice lady.  She started talking to me after someone had tried to cut in line - except I couldn’t understand her at all (she talked too fast).  I told her that I was American and spoke a little bit of French - and we had a nice conversation in half english and half french.  She told me that she thought the Orléanais were a bit rough and much preferred Paris!  She understood my French and I understood her English, and I felt a lot better about my speaking skills.  When she left she wished me goodluck and her little daughter came and said - after much hesitation - “goodbye” with a very sweet smile.  

I’m liking Orléans more and more by the minute!