Assistant in France

Toothpaste, etc.

2006-06-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

I realized a couple of days ago that I haven't bought any toothpaste since I've been here. And I came with only one tube. This leads me to believe that one or more of several ideas are true.

1. I don't brush my teeth enough.
2. I don't use enough toothpaste. (Is one squirt not enough? Is two too many?)
3. My tube of toothpaste is ENORMOUS.

Ruling out number 3, because I think it's a pretty normal size tube, maybe bigger than some, but still, leaves me with the choice between one and two, or maybe a combination of them both. So I went to the store and bought more toothpaste, not because I needed it, but because it made me feel better, and have now become an active toothbrusher. If I'm standing in my room not doing much, and I catch sight of my toothbrush (which is not so hard because it is out in the open) I'm brushing my teeth. Which really makes me wonder, how much brushing is too much brushing? Because I'm not so much brushing to keep my teeth clean as to use up toothpaste. Some of you may be thinking that if it's that important to be to use up toothpaste, why don't I just squeeze some down the sink? Because that would be wasteful, that's why not. :o)

In other news, I finally got paid for all the afterschool work that I thought I was never going to be paid for, that I had basically written off as volunteer work. But I got paid, 6 weeks after I quit. I'm pretty sure that if I had not stopped going, I would not have gotten paid. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to learn from this. All I know is now I'm rich, whereas about 35 minutes ago before I got my mail, I was not.

In other other news, it's hot here, meaning that in the land of no AC, it's also very hot in my schools. Sometimes it works in my favor and makes the kids sloth-like, but most of the time it just winds them up. Less than 3 weeks of teaching left.

Highlights of my life...

2006-05-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Last week, someone got arrested (I guess for public intoxication, or something similiar) while I was online at the internet cafe.

Yesterday, I saw a guy throw his keys into the gutter by accident, and then watched him fish them out with a friend.

It's sunny and warm today.

3 of my classes are cancelled for the coming week.

We borrowed an oven so now we can bake something, if the mood strikes.

I should be getting paid within the next couple days.

Wow, from the looks of this list I have absolutely nothing exciting going on. I guess that is true, but it makes me feel slightly worse to see it on paper like that. I've been spending a lot of time alone. If anyone knows me at all, you can imagine that it's not really going so hot. It's kind of ironic, because in the States, most people crave "alone time," time to to whatever you need to or want to do without dealing with others. But in the States, everyone is just a phone call away. And here, I've been more or less pushed into the life of a loner, and let me tell you, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I think that humans are social, so this isn't really cutting it. Why are people in Macon to afraid to let an American in? French people in general are very clique-y and I can safetly say that I don't have any French friends that I haven't first met in the States. Oh well, how much time left? 44 days?

this is an old story, but i'm online so i'm finally posting it

2006-05-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I was in my room not doing a whole lot, when I decided to spend some time in front of the mirror. Really, I don’t even remember what I was looking at, nothing much, probably just making some faces and thinking about how dark my hair has been looking since my haircut.

I turn around, and somehow manage to trip over something, either computer or speaker wires that are just kind of hanging out in my room. I think it was the speaker wire, and I clearly remember Svet telling me that I should not plug in my speakers like that because I was going to end up tripping on them.

But on Sunday, the wire wasn’t plugged in, it was just sitting on my floor, so I wasn’t really paying much attention to it. I turned around from my “mirror time” and somehow managed to seriously trip on the speaker wire despite the fact that it was on the ground. My speakers went flying across my room, but that’s not a serious problem. The real problem involved a burning candle and a lot of melted wax. I had a scented candle burning on the table right in front of my speakers, and in sending the speakers flying across the room, I also managed to send the aforementioned candle and wax flying.

There was and still is a lot of green candle wax everywhere. On books. On paper. On lesson plans. On my pencil case. On my rug. And of course, a lot ended up on the floor. So while I was in trip recovery, all the wax managed to rapidly cool down, and hardened all over my room. I guess I should be glad that none of it made it onto my bed, because that would be a real tragedy. The sad and slightly pathetic part of the story is that I actually picked up my speakers and got them back into place before I even noticed the candle catastrophe.

After I realized the entirety of what happened, I walked into the kitchen and explained my situation to a couple of roommates, who collectively handed me a butter knife and wished me good luck. I got to work scraping wax first off the books, then throwing away the waxed paper, then going to work on my floor. After I had a sizeable pile of wax shaving, an unfortunate result of butter knifing the floor, I swept up that mess, and thought about how to go to work on the rug and pencil case.

As the butter knife had no effect on them, I went back to my roommates to get some wax advice. The best I can figure is that I need to buy some kind of crappy towel that I can iron the wax onto and then throw away. That hasn’t been done yet. So besides the green wax that is still hanging out in my room, the most unfortunate side effect of the whole situation is that now my floors are as if they have just been waxed, meaning slippery. That’s just what I need. I already fell on non slippery floors, so all I can really do is just remember not to walk around in socks, and wait for the next fall. And I guess not light anymore candles for more than five minutes. I mean, not that much wax can melt in five minutes, right?

Happy May Day

2006-05-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

So had a party at the high school this past weekend. Was good, kinda crazy...tried to introduce beer pong to the french masses, but just wasn't received that well. I think it's because their plastic cups here are just tiny.

Going back to work tomorrow, should be fine I guess. I haven't actually prepared anything yet, but I'll do my best to throw something together. I think I promised some kind of game. Me and my big mouth. Oh well.

Ummm...I changed rooms, to the other side of the hallway. Now tons of charming high schoolers won't be able to make loud noises before 8am right outside my window. Seemed like a good thing at the time, besides I was able to get rid of a bunch of crap before the giant purge approaching in 2 months. I seriously don't know how I got my stuff here, and am really going to be shocked if everything makes it back. Some people bring back gifts for people...and I should just say now that I am not going to be one of those people. Me being in the States is going to be gift enough. HA.

Went to La Rochelle last weekend to see people, it was awesome. Good to get away. Next Monday is a holiday, might look around for some last minute deals to go somewhere this weekend. Sucks that traveling alone just isn't my cup of tea.

The German and the Spanish assistants have left. They finished teaching mid April. The school is a lot quieter and the fridge is a lot roomier with them gone.

I can't believe that it's May. So it's what, about 70 days until I'm back? Hopefully I'll go by fast, have I mentioned that small towns are just not for me? Maybe when I'm in my 40's. With a family. But I'm not so into living the middle-aged life at 21 years. Oh well. That's the way the cookie crumbles. Or something.

springtime

2006-04-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

okokok i'm updating.

i'm in paris with my parents aunts and brother right now. it's been really good, but i've been feeling a little like i'm leading around the helpless. paris is big, i guess. scary? maybe. before that, they were all in macon, and of course they think it's just as cute as it could be. i tried to set them straight, that it's not on my list of great towns, but they couldn't be convinced.

before that i went to nice with john, we had a good time, but it was way too expensive there. i'm talking 7 euros for a pint of beer expensive. but we made do, did a lot of walking around. we saw a huge demonstration against the new labor laws that were passed recently. the french socialist party was walking right behind the (much larger) french communist party in the parade. we think that was either an oversight, or really lucky that they didn't notice they were walking next to each other.

in other news, i've been skipping way too much school lately, and if i were in the states i think i could definitely see a firing in my future. fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) in france it's really hard to fire people, even foreigners. i'm having really mixed feelings about whether or not i want to stay until the end of my contract. but if i don't stay, then what will i do with myself in the states? i know i'll stay. the weather is getting better, so as least it's not gloomy all the time.

i'm trying to decide where to go for april break. maybe spain, but probably no where for the first weekend because it's easter, and it's a huge travel weekend in europe.

i'm still having a lot of sock issues.

In Sweden

2006-02-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

I'm in Sweden right now visiting Marti, et al. and it's so great to be here. It's also so great that I get two weeks off in February and then two weeks off in April, because you know, my job is so hard and all. But not really.

I got here on Saturday, after fighting through the entire UK population in the Lyon airport to get on my plane, stopping over in Amsterdam. No problems there. The problem, if you want to venture to call it that, was that I pretty much didn't tell anyone that I was going through Amsterdam. I got off the plane and turned on my phone to see if it would work (and it does!) to find a text from my mom saying that Wes was coming to pick my up from the airport. I was kind of weirded out because first of all, why was she telling me that because how did she know and why was she involved? I guess people (in the general sense) tried to look up my flight to make sure it was on time or something and then there was a mini freak when there wasn't a flight from France at the time I told them and all that. Lesson: tell at least one person where I'm going to be when I'm going to be there. I'm all for independence but not when people have to call around to hunt me down.

So yesterday we went to a part of the lake that is frozen over so that Ella could try out ice skating (which so far she doesn't seem to like) so we ended up walking around this walking path (also on the frozen lake). It was nice, but definitely weird to be doing something outside because there is a foot of snow on the ground and it was below freezing. Definitely not something that a person would do in the States. (and we weren't the only ones, there were quite a few people there.)

Today Ella went to school, and Marti, Liam and I walked into town for a while, it really didn't even feel miserably cold, kind of surprising. It is a really pretty day though, because the sun is out.

I'm trying to think if anything monumental happened since my last entry in France. I don't really think so, everything there was going really well. Except I haven't gotten paid for afterschool english lessons since the end of November. I guess I should really look into that, because I'm not sure I'm willing to just put that on my resume as volunteer work. It takes too much out of me for that.

More to come, because they have internet here so I won't have to go hunting down a computer in the Australian bar, like I normally have to do during breaks.

Staying busy...

2006-01-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

I give my blog no attention. A recap of everything from the past month or so: Two British girls came to Macon on a teaching exchange, and somewhere some very important wires were crossed and they were told they didn't need to speak French. The school in Macon was told they have a degree in French. So they don't speak a word of French, and they are trying to survive in a town that doesn't speak much English. I met them, and Svet and I took them out around town and stuff. Fast forward two weeks. One of the girls boyfriends came. He was really nice, Svet and I hung out with them also. The girl whose boyfriend didn't come over decided she hated this program enough to leave two weeks into it. They were only supposed to be here for a month. But she left, and then there was one. The girl that stayed is really awesome, and Svet and I are going to try to go up to England during April break to go see her.

We (Svet and I...btw, Svet is the other primary assistant in town, we both live in the same high school and hang out a lot) met some guys in the internet cafe who took us hiking on a huge rock/mountain in the Macon area. It was cool, it was actually really beautiful from the top of the giant rock. And it was muddy and I fell in the mud. That night we hung out with them again, in some guy's father's winery. It was pretty much hanging out in a cellar next to huge wine vats.

This weekend is the documentary film festival in Macon, so I have four docs lined up.

It's snowing again, and I've been told many many times that this is the worst winter Macon has seen in a very looong time. But I hear the spring is beautiful!

I feel like I'm living in the Arctic

2005-12-30T05:26:00.000-08:00

It's so cold here. And that's coming from my Indiana self, not even my Charleston self. We had a big snow storm a couple of days ago, and now there are six inches on the ground, with temperatures dropping...meaning little hope of melting the "winter wonderland."

I went to Lyon yesterday and did a little bit of shopping at the mall right next to the train station. Unfortunatly, the mall seemed to serve as a haven for those like myself, who did not wish to spend the day wading through the snow. It was crowded. So I didn't stay long, but I got the shoes I had been eyeing (Merry Christmas to me!) and I got some socks, and a shirt.

A funny thing about socks: I seem to be wearing out socks here like it's my job. I have never in my life had to throw away so many pairs of socks because of holes in them. I mean, in the States, my biggest sock problem was losing one of a pair, making it a necessity to get rid of the other. I have probably lost five to seven pairs of socks here, and it's not even January. I'm worried that I'm actually going to end up with no socks. But, more importantly, my socks dictate when I have to do laundry. If I only have 14 pairs, instead of the 21 I started out with, I'm going to have to do laundry a lot more often, and that is neither easy nor cheap. I don't care what anyone says 3.80 euros to wash ONE load, and 1.70 euros to dry for 25 minutes is expensive. And people complain about laundromats in the States.

Anyways...nothing here is really going on besides the socks and weather. I'm kind of ready for school to start back, to at least give me a little more structure.

Oh yeah, and our heat in the high school got shut of last night. It's being worked on, but below freezing temps plus a drafty high school equals me being really cold in there. Not that it's much warmer here in the internet cafe, because I think my feet are still kind of numb from the walk. Oh well, I guess that's life. Or at least, life as I know it.

2005-12-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

I saw Harry Potter in French yesterday. I had really been wanting to hold out and see it in English, but I got tired of waiting and was really bored. So aside from some of the major names changing, and despite the fact that all the voices were (obviously) different, I really liked the movie. I missed some of the parts that the director couldn't include, but I think it was still very true to the book.

Speaking of books, I've been reading a lot of mindless novels lately (in English) and am really starting to miss good reads. I haven't really read a good book since the Kiterunner in October. I guess it's finally time to tackle the French books that I've picked up, because it's not like I don't have tons of free time right now.

My big activity of the day is going to be a feeble attempt at making pancakes from a waffle mix. If it doesn't really turn out (for whatever reason) I'll probably end up making an omelette and calling it a day. One thing that hasn't changed much: I lived on eggs in college, and even in France, they still make a great meal. Add and apple and some break and I'm good to go.

Tomorrow, I think I'm going to go shopping in Lyon. Maybe get some new shoes.

I still see my students ALL the time, and they always say hello. It's nice.

It's Christmas and...

2005-12-25T12:48:00.000-08:00

I am here all alone in the internet cafe/bar. Okay, that was pretty shameless. I am in fact by myself now, but only because my friend Matt from another town just got on the train to head back to his town. He came up last night so that neither of us would spent Christmas by ourselves. We made tacos.

Since my last update (which was not that long ago, despite the harsh comments from emily...) I went to Paris for three days to visit some college friends. It was really good to see them, and it definitely helped to ease some of the normal holiday homesickness.

The biggest problem that I have right now is the fact that I come to this internet cafe practically every single time I am in town. I think I'm becoming a sort of regular in a place that I never really thought I would be a regular. Kind of weird.

And I have to go. More to come. Seriously this time. :o)

Update

2005-12-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, since enough time as passed since my last update for everyone I know to stop reading this, I guess I decided that I would give it another go.

So much has happened since Oct. 20 that I am going to fly through the highlights. I went to La Rochelle and visited Jeremy and his girlfriend. It was there that I went to a housewarming party, then for the first time in my life, to a casino. It was a spur of the moment 4am decision, where I promptly lost one euro playing the slot machine.

I went to Paris to visit Clemence, and there I went to an Arabian cafe and smoked a hooka of flavored tobacco. It was awesome to see her again, and her family accepted me as one of their own.

I went to a bar for Thanksgiving with my friends, and left at 3am, all the while knowing I had to teach at 8:30. While we were in the bar, it snowed like 3 inches. Our first snow here in Macon.

Then some weeks went by, and my dad came to visit me. We ate at a super fancy French restaurant, and went wine tasting in another town.

And the computer lab closes now, so I'll finish tomorrow. Seriously.

My town is small

2005-10-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

...and therefore kind of boring. Some of the other assistants and I tried to go out the other night (on a Wednesday) and there really was no one in town. Ok, so not no one, but only old men. Where are all the young people? Where are the wives of all these men that were in town? So many questions and so few answers.

So I taught a couple of lessons today, and they pretty much both bombed, but I've come to accept the fact that there will be some bad lessons. Unfortunately, those were the first lessons that I actually planned out for my classes. I don't know if I'm actually cut out for this kind of job. How am I supposed to teach kids about Halloween in English if they don't know how to say Hi. I haven't figured that part out yet, but hopefully I will, or else the rest of my time here is going to be pretty much worthless.

I went to Lyon this past weekend, and it was good except I was kind of sick, so that made the walking around for hours part kind of sucky. I did go to Ikea to get some stuff to decorate my room, so it looks slightly better, and feels less like a prison. Although, I do have to unlock three separate doors to get to my room, so it makes me wonder what the school is trying to protect us from. I already no one ever leaves their house here, that really is the big mystery.

I'm glad that I've been able to make friends with some of the other assistants in my town, because apparently, no one in the states is email capable anymore. Oh well, I guess more things changed than I thought would when I came here.

At least the weather has been nicer here. And I started the process to get my residence card, and that seems like it's going to go okay. If I don't go to Germany for part of break, I'm at least going to go to Paris, because it would be nice to see some old friends. Maybe this is what it's like to be homesick, another new experience for me.

As for this weekend, I think I'm just going to be staying around town. We borrowed a soccer ball from the gym, so that should be some good entertainment. Cheap, if nothing else. I think pretty much all the other assistants are laying low just waiting for our paychecks, and since I don't like to do everything by myself, I guess I'll join them and live cheaply for the next couple of weeks. Except, of course, for vacation.

My first week...

2005-10-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know that I said that I would update fraquently, but today is my first day finding internet. Well not really finding it, but being online. And just so you know, I am dying using the french keyboard but that is life.

So, I got here on Thursday night after way too much waiting in airports, but Veronique picked me up and she took me to a hotel for the first night, and I slept. Not very well, because eventhough I was really tired jet lag over ruled me, and my body was convinced that it was the middle of the day. I'm not gonna lie, the getting up in the morning was really rough. But I got up, and Veronique took me to the high school where I live.

Yes, I live at a high school. Advantages: close to the middle of town, and other assistants live there, and we all get along well, and we can eat decent food in the cafeteria for cheap. Disadvantage: there are stupid bells that go off all the time. Really, I do like staying here so far, and the price is definitely right.

Friday my big adventure was getting a cell phone. Yay! so you all can call me when you want, cause incoming calls are free. Of course you can not find the number here, but it will be readily available by email.

Saturday I went to Carrefour, which is like super walmart but so much better. The rest of the day I tried to battle jet lag by going to bed early.

Sunday I went up to Dijon with my other assistants for a giant meeting. That lasted until monday night, and the meeting itself was pretty boring, but it was great to meet people.

I got back to my little town last night, right before the strike started. Ok, so I don't really know what the strike is for, but there seem to be a lot of high school teachers participating, as well as train people. The buses in Macon are running, so I'm not sure. Basically, this is how the strike affects me: the cantine is closed. It's actually pretty sad, and that is the reason that all I've eaten today has been a small peice of bread. The real reason that's all I've eaten today is because I was running late this morning, and hve been lazy since I got back.

This morning I went to one of my schools and met the English teacher there. She's really nice, and I spent three lessons and a coffee break with her. I taught most of the last lesson to the equvilant of third graders, and it went well for the most part. I'm definitely getting more and more excited to start teaching, and it gets better and better here everyday as I get more and more settled in.

My town is cute...it's next to a river, and it's already really cold here. But more on that another time! For now, I have things to do!

First Entry

2005-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm creating this as an easy way to keep people up to date with what's going on with me while I'm in France. The town I'm going to be in is called Macon. I think I'm going to be staying in an apartment with another girl, also from the US, also a primary school assistant. I don't really think I'll have a clear idea of my whole housing situation until I get there.

Speaking of getting there, I'm leaving on September 27th, which seems way too soon most of the time. Packing wise, I actually feel ahead of the game. And for anyone who knows me, that's pretty crazy. Although, I stopped working last week, so I've had a lot more free time than normal too. And I have to fill the time some how.

I keep having nightmares that I can't speak French.