Long Overdue Updates

So this week in called “La Semaine des Arts.”  In other words, Art Week.  It has been quite a cool week if you ask me.  On Monday there was a photo expo that Jose did a lot of work for.  Tuesday there were some student performances…playing instruments and also some acting/storytelling and it was also a dress-up day with a Spanish theme.  I don’t think anything happened on Wednesday but if it did, I totally missed it.  Today there was a short film made by four students, one of which is my student.  Apparently in October they won some kind of competition with it.  I was pretty impressed with the filming and acting.  Then, Jose made a slideshow with music of a trip to Spain he went on with some of the students.  Basically I am a slacker assistant.  No, not really, but this week it seems like it.  This week was pretty cool considering that it has been around 70 degrees every day and the Art Week is pretty cool too.  AND 3 classes were cancelled this week.  Woohoo.

In other news, last weekend I went to Bordeaux to visit a girl I studied abroad with in Avignon.  

 When stepping outside the train station I could already tell that I was going to like the city. And I did.  It is the perfect size city, not too big and not too small…just right.  The first night, Friday, we went out for dinner, drinks, and then went to a club.  Well technically, it was an Eramus party.  (Erasmus is the program that Europeans go through to study abroad).  It was really fun and I got to know some of Lauren’s friends.  Plus, I don’t go out very often so it was a nice treat.  We didn’t get home until 5:30AM!  WAY past my bed time! 

  We eventually got to bed and woke up around 11 and got ready and went shopping.  I got 2 pairs of shoes and a purse.  All of the shopping was on 1 road…and it was PACKED with people.  

 Apparently it is the longest pedestrian street in the world (at least that’s what Wikipedia says).  Saturday we were pretty tired so we met up with some friends and called it an early night.  Sunday I went home on the train with no complications.  I had a really good weekend.

As for teaching, I really enjoyed this week.  I am learning more of my students names and forming connections with them week by week.  Some of my students are finally realizing that I am not quite so bad after all and some even said they will miss me.  My middle school students are the cutest.  They literally cheer when they see me and never want to leave my lesson and go back to their teacher.  The way it works is that I see half the class for 25 minutes and then I get the other half of the class for the next 25 minutes.  It is so cute when they are like please, don’t make us go…let us stay…PLEASE!!!!  On a side note, today I was showing a PowerPoint with pictures of Niagara Falls, Buffalo, and my house and one picture was of Beaver Island Beach.  One student says “The word bitch is written on a desk in the German classroom.”  The rest of the students were like “SHHHH, don’t say that.  That’s a different word.”  In general, French people have a very difficult time with the difference between beach and bitch.  They sound very similar…so I made it a teaching lesson, explained the difference in meanings and pronunciation.  And then made them promise not to tell their teacher.  Last week I also explained to a class of Terminal AKA Seniors the difference between being pissed off and being pissed on.  Very subtle difference, but very important as well.  They thought that was funny. 

 I am going to miss some of my students but at the same time I am ready to go home.  I am glad I came to France for the past 7 months but I am ready to get back to ‘normal’ life.

Sorry I have been sucking at writing in my Blog lately, at least I wrote a long post today!  Enjoy and see you soon!  23 days!!!!

The End is Near...

So my time here is slowly running out.  5 weeks left.  17 days of teaching left.  It is crazy how time flies.  In October and November I felt like this time was never going to come. 

I have an exciting 4 weekends ahead of me.  This coming weekend I am going to Bordeaux (as in Bordeaux wine, the region where it is made) to visit an American friend that I studied abroad with and now is an assistant as well.  Bordeaux is the sixth biggest city in France and from what I hear, it is a pretty cool city.  The weekend after that is my birthday and I hope to go to the beach (about 3.5 hours from here by train) and get a tan…but the weather isn’t very predictable so maybe that won’t happen.  If not, I’d like to go to Dordogne, an area I can go kayaking in and while kayaking, there are apparently some castles you can see.  I hear it is a beautiful area.  The weekend after that (The first weekend of April), Easter, I am going to visit a friend in London!  I will be staying at her flat and she can be my guide.  I also have a couple friends from college that are studying abroad there that I would really like to see as well!  So now, this brings me to my next weekend in France…I will be going to Versailles.  You know, the castle that was stormed by the French peasants during the French Revolution.  There is some fountain show that is paired with music and lights so I am told.  This is a place that I have wanted to go for a while but haven’t had the time.  It is near Paris, but not in Paris and when only in Paris for a few days, I never wanted to waste a day not enjoying the Paris city center.  So here is my time, the only part that I don’t like is that we are taking a bus…probably a 4 hour ride and I sometimes have the problem of getting motion sick.  Hopefully I will be ok though!

So as excited I am to go to all of these places, I am equally excited to come home.  7 months in a long time to not come home…I am ready for my ‘normal’ life again.  USA, here I come. 

Happy

 

So I remember the last time in France (2 years ago when I studied abroad) I just got confident in French, used to life in France and really started enjoying my time and then it was time to go home.  This time around I started really enjoying France a month or two ago and am enjoying my time here.  I no longer resent my small town I live in but actually really like it.  I am involved in my town and have met some really nice people.  On the weekends I visit friends or explore new cities or occasionally even stay here and relax.  I am really glad that this program was 7 months long and not just 4 (like abroad).  It gave me time to learn to despise my town and now time to really appreciate all it’s worth.  I am now busy three days during the week and before, the reason why I didn’t like my town is because I felt lonely, trapped, and bored.  Now, I don’t feel any of those things.  And I love it.  Don’t get me wrong, I am more than excited to go home, but I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed parts of my time here.

Middle Schoolers...oh là là!

So this past week was the closest "full week" of work that I have had in a long time (even though 2 classes were cancelled, well not really cancelled, more like I wanted a few minutes, no one showed up, and I had to go to the office just to find out the students were with other teachers or just didn't show up).  Regardless...lets get back to my story about middle schoolers.

I had a great activity planned out for my students, we were going to play a modified version of Pictionary but they had to write full (ERROR FREE) sentences about what the person in the figure was doing.  (Harder than it sounds for them).  Given the age of the students and the excitement that this game would bring, I asked my teacher if she would warn them to behave.  She gladly did so and even added her own twist saying "If you do not behave, I have these slips in my desk called detentions (students GASP) and that means 2 hours of your Wednesday afternoon will be spent at school."  The students put on their serious faces and promised they'd behave.  Well, one student must have thought that she was joking (or that I am too nice to actually give him a detention).  He decided it was acceptable to yell "putain de merde"...TRANSLATION: F***KING SH*T!  That is the exact moment I said "Leave, go back to the classroom with your teacher and you can't play the game."  I am not sure why he thought it was acceptable to yell that...it must be because either 1.)He thinks I don't understand French 2.) He thinks I am too nice to discipline him or maybe even that because I am not a real teacher, I wouldn't do anything.  I am thinking it was more #1!  He should know better, not only that you don't say that in class but also that swear words are the first words anyone learns in a language (besides hello and thank you).

After the class was over I went and spoke to the teacher and told her what happened.  Apparently he had no idea why he was sent back to the classroom AND when he came back to her classroom he opened the door and proceeded to kick his backpack all the way to the back of the classroom!  

Pretty sure I made an enemy, if the teacher allows him to come with me next time (because it truly is a privilege for the students), I guess I will see if he tries to give me crap again!  Hopefully he (as well as the rest of their class) learned their lesson.

I did the same lesson 2 times with 2 different groups. 

Life as a Language Assistant

Yesterday there was no buses as I said meaning that I had to wake up at 7:45, throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and peek my head through the window to see if any of my students were there.  Nope, of course not meaning that I could go back to bed.  Yesterday I didn’t do very much.  Lounged around, made lunch, read my book, and went to taiso (an exercise class I joined last week)!

As for today, I normally have 2 classes.  My favorite class is at 9AM and then I am going to meet another group for the first time at 11AM.  Let’s start with the 9AM class.  These students are very nice and also very good at English (this does not happen ever).  It just so happens that this is also the class that stands me up the most often.  For example, this morning I got up early to make sure I got all of my copying done (sometimes there are lines) and went to my class.  There were no students so I walked my butt over to the office and told them, they informed me that the students had “devoir de maths,” to me meaning math homework.  I said alright and she told me to talk to their English teacher so that the Math teacher warns her so that I can then be told that they don’t have class.  When I was walking back to my room, I saw one of my students who is Scottish and took the opportunity to ask him what “devoirs de maths” actually means.  He told me that it is a math test and explained to me that “devoirs” can mean either homework or test.  Supposedly “devoirs de maths” is during a free period like study hall normally. Apparently they consider time with the English Assistant a free period.  Cool.  It is reasons like this that my job feels useless.  I am always put on the back burner and am considered at the bottom of the totem pole.  What makes me even more frustrated is that this is the THIRD (maybe fourth?) time that I have been stood up by this class.  And for them I always go out of my way to make their class more fun/interesting because they understand more than “I am 16 years old and I have one sister” for example.  So now I am going to hang around until 11 until my next class (this could be quality sleeping time, not anymore though)! 

How to NOT deal with snow

Two weeks ago from today the weather forecast predicted snow.  Woohoo--- snow for the first time this winter.  (Previous to that weekend, the temperature was hovering around 40 or 45.  Warm enough where I can still go running).  That Monday it was supposed to snow in the evening.  So, around 2 o’clock the students and the teachers were dismissed early to go home.  My first class is at 2:30 on Mondays so I didn’t even have to work.  Yay.  It only snowed about 2 inches and the buses didn’t run again until THURSDAY.  To clarify, when the buses don’t run, it does NOT mean that school is closed.  It means that any student who can get to school can still come and the teachers are still scheduled to come too.  Also the boarding school students are expected to come (there are around 50).  So, every morning, I’d wake up throw on a hoodie, check if any students were waiting for me (none of which were) and I’d go back to bed.  In all honesty, I have no desire to teach only 3 students!  Not worth it.  So as I said, the buses started running again on Thursday.  I have 4 classes on Thursday that I taught and then Friday is my day off so I only worked 4 hours that week! 

Friday I headed to my friend Stefanie’s apartment in Montmorillon and was planning to stay until Sunday.  But then in snowed…this time maybe 4” of snow or so.  At 6PM it was announced that the school buses weren’t running for the following day so I stayed over on Sunday night too and headed back on Monday.

Now, 4” of snow really isn’t much at all but in Bellac, it is.  This time the buses didn’t start running until Friday.  And what do you know, I am off on Friday so I didn’t work at all last week!  The main reason that the buses didn’t run is because although the streets in Bellac are clear, students from the countryside come to my school.  Apparently the roads in the countryside are very dangerous because they don’t get plowed until the important roads get done (and we are near some small mountains).  And then by that time, after the snow has been sitting there for a few days and melted from the sun only to re-freeze at night, the roads become an icy, slippery mess.  Thus, no buses.  And the best part of all this is that I GOT PAID as if I worked the entire 2 weeks!   So I figured it out and the 4 hours that I worked the previous week ended up being 100€/hour if I average it.  Not too shabby if you ask me.

So, you may ask…well what do they do with the snow?  The answer you’ve all been waiting for: NOTHING.  They look at it and say “I can’t go out in that” and “Oh, it’s so pretty.”  They also have NO CLUE how to drive in the snow and only a small portion own snow tires.  In their benefit, they are not equipped to deal with the snow.  For example, I saw a tractor with a bucket driving down the road.  Not even a plow!  The following week I saw a tractor with a plow, at least they are getting somewhere.  But I am not complaining, I will take (another) 2 week paid vacation only 2 weeks before my next 2 week paid vacation. 

Now we are caught up until today…tomorrow it is supposed to snow.  It hasn’t yet but you know what, the buses are already cancelled for tomorrow.  Of course I have a class tomorrow at 8 I will have to get up for and check for students but oh well.  I was already told I don’t have to do my 2 hours at the middle school.  So I’m only working 1 hour (at the most) tomorrow! 

I will keep you updated as to the bus situation this week, it all depends on how much snow we get!

Lists.

Thing I Could Get Used To:

1.)    Doing my hair à la française…meaning-not doing my hair at all.  I rock the roll out of bed look on a daily basis. 

2.)    Eating nutella for breakfast and not feel unhealthy.  It’s kind of normal for the young people (I think). 

3.)    My Non-Existent Work Schedule- This has been my week so far…

Monday- Students had a half day because it was supposed to snow and I only have class in the afternoon.  Awesome, no classes for me.

Tuesday- Buses were cancelled the night before for the students so the only students that were here were the ones who lived in the boarding school.  There was also a grève (AKA strike) for the teachers.  Because the students weren’t coming to school, many of the teachers decided not to either.  MEANING- no classes for me.

Wednesday- I have one class in the morning and my students were no where to be found.  When I told the attendance office, they went looking for the students and told me they have a “BAC blanc” which would be similar to a Practice SAT (except more subjects and harder).  MEANING- no class for me

Thursday- I should have my 4 classes tomorrow

Friday- My Day Off

I will get paid for 12 hours even though I only worked 4.  Awesome.

4.)    Not having to leave a tip in a restaurant!

5.)    Eating an appératif (AKA pre-dinner drink and snack), a main course, cheese/bread, and especially DESSERT!  All of that, every day, at both lunch and dinner!

Things that I will NEVER get used to:

1.)    The ‘I don’t care/I am lazy mentality” meaning Delee waits in line at the post office or grocery store forever.

2.)    Having to ask 3 or 4 times to get something done.

3.)    The French Education System (learning should be fun and not taught straight from a book)

4.)    Being STARED at while I go running.  “What?  Why is she running outside?  That’s so weird!  I will just give her the stare down until she passes my house.  At that point I may even stop the car and still watch her.”  AWKWARD…and I don’t like it, all I can do is laugh though

5.)    Not having a car and having to rely on my feeties or the train for transportation.

6.)    Not having a gym/pool/exercise facility in my town

7.)    Missing my family and friends

8.)    Feeling weird when I wear bright colors

9.)    The unacceptableness of wearing sweatpants in public (not that I brought any with me).

10.) Walking to the grocery store, even worse, walking home from the grocery store with 2 heavy bags because I bought too much junk.

I think that’s all for now.