Life in France....

So, really late in the game, here’s the start of a blog. I have so much history to cover in the past few months, that I may just skip it and put up pictures instead.

I love Nancy, and I like my school in Custines. Custines is tiny, but beautiful with rolling hills and shadows cast by fast-moving clouds. Nancy is beautiful, especially right now with all the Christmas decorations. I can’t wait for them to actually turn the lights on! The downtown streets are lined with little stands that look like gingerbread houses, selling Gauffres, Bretzen, Beignets stuffed with nutella and chantilly, hot dogs, vin chaud, (hot spiced wine) and marrons chaud (hot, grilled chestnuts). The streets smell so good, it makes me want to spend all of my 1.5 euros right then and there.

When it’s not raining and incredibly windy, it’s so pleasant just to walk around and look. I never get tired of the turquoise doors and shutters of the old town, ornate balconies, and window shopping in the boulangeries/patisseries. There is a wonderful bakery right underneath me, and the smells are constantly tempting me- as well as the new Christmas croissantsand gingerbread men.

While I am in love with this place, it has been a roller coaster experience, and I think it’s the same with most assistants here. When you’re up, you’re up….but when you’re down it can be bad. Missing people, any semblance of belonging, getting tired of the constant weird looks (especially when running). The beginning was tough- deciding whether to live an isolated, but dirt cheap, life in Custines, or find an apt., pay more, and live in Nancy. I chose the latter. While finding an apt. in 3 days was rough, I am so glad I did it. I have great friends close by, and get to walk around beautiful Nancy whenever I want. I struggled with my decision for the first month, as all my money ran out due to rent and deposit, and my friends got to travel to Switzerland without me. (A lot of assistants have free housing). However, I worked hard to get the CAF (French government aid), and I finally god my CAF card in the mail! Huge relief- let’s hope it works out.

I also cannot complain about lack of travel, although I would like to travel more after I get paid. At the beginning, before our jobs even started, a group of 8 of us went to Munich for Oktoberfest- incredible adventure. We also took a day trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle on the border of Germany and Austria- the castle that Disney bases it’s movies on. I've also taken day trips to Strasbourg and Luxembourg. (Luxembourg)

Running has helped a lot, and it’s amazing that I have Jenna and Janie to run with. Jenna convinced me to sign up for the Paris marathon in April, and we have had some WONDERFUL and horrible runs here. We found a bike path that runs along the canal, taking us from Nancy to green, rolling country with cows, horses, and vegetable gardens. I always wish I could take a camera with me running—maybe in the Spring when the weather is better.

Here are some pictures of Nancy- Faubourg des Trois Maisons is my street.

Teaching was rocky at first, as one of the profs is new and didn’t realize my role as assistant. She would give me the whole class to teach, without much notice, and I would have no idea what to do. Even when she did give me notice, there was a communication barrier and I had no idea how many copies to make, what their English level was, etc. Now, it has gotten a lot better, and I’m starting to feel much more useful in most of my classes. I usually take small groups or individually, and work on something they are having difficulty with or something I have prepared. I also do a “revue de presse” every week, which is a review of big American news. I make them worksheets and fill-in-the-blanks, with plenty of pictures. On Halloween, we played Bingo with American candy, and a few of my students even dressed up!

I am also working on a yearbook with a few students, and help at English Club on Monday afternoons. I’m always back in Nancy by 6 or 7, because that is the last bus out.

November 23, 2009

So today was Monday, one of my longer days of the week. I actually don’t mind long days, because I feel I get the most out of my long bus ride, and I would rather either go to a school for a day or just not. Also, by the end of the day, I feel like my French is a lot better.

I started off today by catching the bus at 6:45, arriving at 7:15, and having the cleaning lady let me in the building and into the computer room J. (It pays to be friendly to the people with the keys, of which I only have one) I didn’t have class until 9, so I had plenty of time to print out my millions of Thanksgiving handouts, vocab words, and “pretend you’re a turkey” games, and make ten million copies. The cleaning lady, whose name I found out at lunch (Madame Kell?) kept popping in with her mop at regular intervals, and giving me a sneaky smile. (Ooh how sneaky, using the only computer and printer that actually works in the building, all before Madame la Principale gets to school! Quel horreur!) I always smiled back, because whatever conspiracy I’m involved in, I obviously need to be in it to use the computers before 8 a.m.

Despite the horrible weather and a few sarcastic preteens, the day actually went surprisingly well. I taught Thanksgiving all day, using a power point/handouts/wordsearches. The kids loved an excuse to make fun of how much Americans eat and look at pictures, and when one boy saw the picture of apple pie, all was lost. “American Pie! Hahahha!” and the whole class was lost to preteen snickers. Apparently I have a 13-year-old Stiffler in my class.

Then, lunch time. One of my favorite times of day, because I get hot food that feels free.

(I paid for it at the beginning of the year). And, because I’m a “staff member” I get to cut the line J. Today was a wedge of camembert, some shredded/seasoned carrots, yogurt, chicken, carrots, and peas. Or so I thought. Sitting next to Clare at lunch (the secretary’s assistant and my favorite person), I said “Clare, this chicken is good! Want to try some? There’s cheese in it!” First odd look of the day. “Lorraine, that IS cheese.” Oh.

I know you guys love cheese….but cheese patties that resemble chicken? Really?

Another fun lunchtime occurrence: wine. There are fetes everywhere these days, to celebrate the new wine that has been brewed for fall, and always a couple of bottles at lunch. A cheese patty was enough of a lunchtime adventure for me.

At the end of the day, I walked to the next town over to catch the bus, to get some exercise since I can’t run at the moment. First, I stopped at the local Carrefour to buy a birthday card and other small things. However, my American credit card didn’t work in Custines’ teensy Carrefour, and neither did my French card (?). I tried to explain it wasn’t a big deal, I could leave the stuff there, but the cashier kept repeating something and a line was steadily forming. It took way too many hand motions and 2 or 3 excruciating minutes for me to realize that she was just trying to get me to take the birthday card and candy back out of my backpack. Wowww. Head down, out the door. On the way to the bus, I proceeded to get pelted with rain, as the wind was too strong for my weak sauce umbrella, especially on the bridges over the rivers. Should be used to it by now.

Now, after I have showered away the embarrassment/ truck spray, I’m waiting for Jenna to arrive to talk about how much we hate that we can’t run right now due to various injuries. And, trying to work my way through Le Portrait de Dorian Gray. A plus!