Yay for Wednesdays

Got up nice and late today, swept out the house and did a general scouring. And did it NEED it. Euck.

Met up with Alan and headed off across the river to Emmaus, where we browsed the secondhand books, dishes, and other miscellany. Found some kitchen things, including a real French press that might actually work. Alan found a moped helmet for a whopping 3E. Love this place! Afterwards, we went to the bike shop where Alan bought a moped. Love it that you don't even need a license to drive one of these things, just a quick run-down from the shopkeeper and a helmet. As it was a two-seater, we gave it a test drive (well Alan test-drove, I test-sat) down the Loire, amazing!

We ended up with a full house, an obscene number of frozen pizzas and pains au chocolat for dinner. Note: don't put pizza on the bottom of the oven, it WILL burn.

Seven lesson plans later, I'm ready to hit the proverbial hay. Am gonna need energy for my joyous Thursday.

Whhhat

One of the professors I work with is taking away one of my best classes!!! She said they were not behaving well with her, and so she's punishing them by not letting them take class with me. These were the kids that asked the most questions and really wanted to talk and learn about both English and the United States. Not all of them, to be sure, but the majority. They made my Tuesdays worth going to. HERE is another reason why I should not be judging teaching as a career based on my experiences here...nobody's going to take away your class from you when you're the actual teacher.

Merry ole England

What a trip. Cumulatively, I spent more times on trains that I did sleeping. But oh, it was worth it.

Started early Wednesday, got up at 4:30 because I was just too excited. Got into Paris around 8:30, wandered around the garden of the natural history museum until it was time to get the Eurostar. The sky was amazing on the way up by Lille, dark gray clouds but sun shining behind. The sooty smell of the London underground was gorgeous in its own dirty way. I forgot how early it gets dark up there...it was 2pm in London and looked more like 6. On the way up after the change in York, it was almost surreal to see the familiar station names--like driving home and seeing those landmarks that mean you're almost there. Jono and Natalie met me at Scarbro station, and it was just like we'd all been away on vacation for a couple years. I can't explain how great/weird it was to walk back to the old flat, unlock the door, and have everything be pretty much the same. Rosie's gained a little weight, the front door sticks a bit, and there are two girls living in our old rooms, but it still has the same sounds and smells. And Rosie still has the knack for getting into stuff; she got Natalie's toothbrush and my comb over the course of the week. After chatting and tea with Liz, we three headed out to where Jono's staying with his old housemates. It was again surreal to meet up with these kids...two years ago, I just assumed I'd never see them again, and then there we were, eating spaghetti and watching TV. Went out to see Lucy and some of the guys play (including this infamous guy who gives local bands a boost in Scarbro, known as "the Captain").

Thursday, Natalie and I got up, took Rosie for a walk on the beach. Lunch at the tearoom; the ham sandwich is still amazing, as is the coffee walnut cake. I did some wandering on my own, got a haircut, made my way up to make sure Anne Bronte was still there and well. Roamed up a path I hadn't taken by the castle and ran into some locals taking a walk, chatted a bit. It was so nice to be able to actually carry off a conversation with random people. Haven't mastered that in French yet. Anyways, after I got back, we picked up an obscene amount of Tesco's brand pizza for Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, we ended up in Bacchus for open mic/terribly cheesy disco night. Aaah good times.

Friday, we stumbled out of bed into the tearoom for a quiet lunch of soup and bread. Jono's friend from Alaska arrived, and the four of us caught the bus up to Whitby--again, dang the darkness here, we arrived around 4pm and it was already dusk. I'm kickin myself for not having gone up there earlier, it seems very quaint. On the way up to the abbey, we ran into several lost sheep, just wandering around the car park. They stopped, consulted amongst themselves, and then headed for the cemetary. We headed for the ruins but couldn't find the entrance. We couldn't leave at this point, so we solved the problem by jumping the wall. I can see why Bram Stoker used this as a setting, it's straight-up eerie, especially when it's all misty and dark. Jumped back out of the grounds after a bit, got mulled wine at a pub, and then took some locals' recommendation on a fish and chips place. Bused our way back to Scarbro, then went over to Johan/Emi/Edward's place for a wine club reunion. James was around, too, so that made seven of us! Amazing! Ended as wine club always would, with Natalie, Jono, and I meandering down to the beach and splashing around.

Saturday, I got up, brushed off the sand from the night before, and squished into my still-wet shoes. It was a fairly rushed morning, good-byes were so short that they could barely be difficult. Got into Derby after standing most of the way--dang not having reservations. Met up with Dave at the station, dropped stuff off at the house, and then went off to see my first ever professional football match (reeeeal football, aka soccer)! Derby v. Leicester City...there were all sorts of quality shouting and singing going on. Derby won 1-0 (yayyy! after my hostel experience in Leicester, I'm quite happy to see anyone beat them). We headed back, made some chili, then went down to the pub for a pint, where I took advantage of the fire to dry out my still-damp shoes. Went back to eat the chili, then headed out to the hot spots of Derby. Made a Subway run at the end of the evening, then promptly collapsed.

Sunday morning involved industrial-strenth coffee. Hopped the train around noon, dozed on the various trains all day long, and finally stumbled through the door around 11pm. Was strange to get back into Blois and actually feel like I was coming home...I hadn't quite thought of it as such before.

Pictures are goin up tomorrow, this girl's gonna get some much-needed shut-eye.

Almost off

Classes went well today, apart from the part where I thought they started at 2pm instead of 1pm. I discovered my error right at 1:00, so was only a couple minutes late (pedaled like crazy), but still.

It was raining old ladies and their canes when I got back, and we couldn't bear the thought of going to Leclerc for dinner. So it was either pasta and...ok pasta. Or order Domino's. So Domino's it was, and it was good.

Now to pack. Train leaves from Blois at 7am, so hopefully my inability to sleep before 3am decides to take a break tonight.

See you soon.

Whooplah

Figure I should explain this word now, because when I come back and start saying it uncontrollably, people are gonna wonder. Mehdi stayed with a friend in Vineuil (south of Blois) who said "whooplah"...it translates kinda like "whoa." So if you fall off your bike? Whooplah. If you're late for class? Whooplah. If you see someone doing back flips while juggling wine glasses? Whooplah. In any case, Mehdi started it, and now I'm stuck with it. And I've probably anglicized the spelling...the French would probably say it more like "Euplah."

Today is my Friday. Leaving tomorrow in the not-so-bright-but-definitely-early morning to train my way up to Scarborough! Was lying there this morning literally teary-eyed, I can't wait to pull into the train station and smell it there. I'm staying with my former landlady, Liz, so it's seriously like going home, or as close as you wanna get on this side of the Atlantic. Just imagining ringing the doorbell to the flat...Rosie the Jack Russell is going to bark her head off, come down the stairs to meet me, stop in her tracks and go, "Whooplah!"

Magic trick

Today after my last class, one of the students came up to me and showed me a magic trick involving disappearing coins. Was so proud, he explained it all in English. Maybe I should do a lesson involving a sort of talent show.

aHA!

Cercle d'escrime de Blois
25, rue Lucien Joubert
41000 Blois

Yesssss.

French Sundays

At first I thought French Sundays would be unbearable with everything being closed, but it can actually be one of the more relaxing days of the week. Got up at a luxuriously late hour, potzed around with laundry and lesson plans, read a bit. Met up with Alan to play some petanque, although we got kicked out of the park soon after arrival...even the parks close early here. Hunted down some baked goods instead and hung out after our exhausting single round of petanque. Back at the house, Rose made one heck of a fish pie for dinner. Watched "L'appartement" afterwards, what a crazy film!! Had so many twists and turns that by the end, you felt like your brain was tied in knots. Need to watch it again.

Full Saturday

Ahh yesterday was great. Biked with Rose to a professor's house, who drove us to a second-hand store that had EVERYTHING. Including books, of which I bought two. They had dishes, which made me regret buying all those new, more expensive ones from Leclerc. Ah well. Returned chez the prof, and she gave us a cafetière! So no more making coffee in saucepans, thank goodness.

Rested, then went out again, this time to the "BD Boum"...a huge comic book expo. French people take comics very seriously, it's not just something for kids. It's an artform. The expo was great because you had everyone roaming around the tents, from kids that couldn't even walk to grandparents that couldn't walk either. One father was showing his little 5ish-year-old son around one of the exhibits, and I heard him go: "You see this one? That was inspired by..." Only in France. I bought a pirate comic book, figured it'd be nice to have some actual bandes dessinées to use in an American classroom. Plus it's got pirates.

Went to La Halle, the neighboring café (also where I do my tutoring), and got drinks. They were outrageously priced! I get a hot chocolate during my tutoring sessions for 1E60, and this time, it cost me 3E!! Jacking up the prices for the expo??

Got home and then out agaaain, this time with Françoise to the movie theater to see "Scoop," the new Woody Allen film. Was pretty funny, there's this great scene where Death is sailing his boat to...wherever he sails...and one of the characters (who is deceased and therefore on the boat), is like "screw this", jumps off and swims away.

Went back to her house for dinner...she made me real crepes! I took notes, so now I can make em at home. AND she lent me a crepe pan, so I'm prepared. They were amazing: first was savory, ham and gruyere and egg; second was sweet, chocolate. Then she let me actually try making one, so I hopefully have it down.

Got home, not for long. Was determined to go to the engineering students' soirée, main goal: get my hat back from a Frenchman called Bobo. O dear. A 15-minute run in the rain later, I got there, got my hat, and couldn't be asked to run back, so I stayed. Turned out to be a fun evening, I love the way French people dance. It really reminds me of swing. The footwork isn't the same, but the rest is identical.

Beaujolais night

So, last night was the third Thursday in November, which means beaujolais night in France! The new batch of beaujolais is released, and it is illegal to sell it before 12:01am. So, technically, the event started on what would seem like Wednesday night in the Beaujolais region (apparently, you can't even start transporting it until 12:01, so the only people who can dig in on the first night are those in the region where the wine is produced). We went to L'Hendrix and met up with some (and by some I mean about 15) engineering students. The general feeling was that the wine was bad, but apparently that's always the case with the first batch (it's "vert" and "jeune"..."green" and "young"...so it hasn't really ripened yet). They said that the next batch, in a couple weeks, would be better. You could buy glasses for 1E50 or a bottle for 8E, and it came with a plate of munchy-type things: meat slices and cheese and pickles and bread.

Learned some fun French phrases and facts throughout the evening:

"marée basse"--literally "low tide," in this context used to describe a glass that is nearly empty. So you say, "Tu es à marée basse"--"You're at low tide" and then fill up their glass. You would then be at "marée haute"--"high tide."

If you are the person to finish the bottle in France, you are the one who buys the next one. (Or maybe that's some convenience that they just made up.)

Rose and I left before the rest of the group, and were followed up avenue de Châteaudun by two guys in a van. Ugh. The guy in the passenger seat actually got out and started to try and approach us, so we swore at him in a mixture of French and English, and he backed off. But they still followed in the van. And of course, I don't have a key for the door to our little neighborhood, I always have to use the key pad that opens up the big doors...and Rose hadn't brought hers. We had to get inside obviously, so we decided to open the doors and then run for it. Worked, they didn't follow us in, but it was terrifying nonetheless.

Thursdays...the horror

I've got 5 minutes to spare before my day from hell starts...so: last night, most of the assistants went to the international dinner party thing at the engineers' school. Was a good time, Steve and I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as our cultural contribution. Dancing, singing, etc. followed, as well as general conversation and banter. A good evening overall.

On a not-so-fun note, stupid France Telecom gave us a weird bill...we're charged twice for what seems to be the same internet subscription. Went yesterday to straighten it out, and they were like "Hmm, I dunno...here, call Orange and ask them." Was terrible because I had trouble just talking and listening, not to mention actually explaining the problem. Ended with me asking for a mailing address so I could explain the problem in writing.

OK class time. Only 10 more hours to go, uuuuugh.

Later...at 9:30am

O. My. God. I hate HATE Thursdays. I have successfully lost one of my classes. One of the profs changed my schedule around, and failed to give me a room, sooooo as I realize this at the end of my 8:00 class, I figure, I'll go to the adjoint proviseur and just ask where it is. Well I do, and she gives me the room, but I go there and there are no students. And of course the prof is not here, so can't ask him if he even told his students where they were supposed to go. I actually have a bad feeling about this in general because there was a note in my locker this morning from the prof, giving me the students' names and saying they'd see me at 1pm this afternoon. Got news for him, no they won't...I have another class at 1pm. Uuuugh.

8.5 hours to go.

Helpin out

O today was funny. My first HEC class, I gave them common sayings like "Money doesn't buy happiness" and had them discuss them in pairs. Went around asking their thoughts, so got to actually talk one-on-one with them, much better. Then made them listen to a Tim McGraw song ("Do you want fries with that?")...gave them the lyrics with certain words blanked out, so they had to fill in the words as they heard them. Pretty fun, I thought. My secondes today spent most of the time in pairs...gave them a bunch of adjectives that they had to put into two groups: those for a good friend and those for an undesirable friend. Discussion one-on-one followed. It was a pair-activity day...the second HEC class spent most of the time doing mock job interviews with each other.

Got home, left almost immediately for a thing at the engineering school in Blois...it is international week or some such thing, and tonight was kind of an anglophone night, including games (scrabble, pictionary), general conversation, and debates. Rose and I directed some debates...they had to take stances on the statements: "Politics are inavoidably corrupt" and "exit exams should be abolished." Heated, let me tell you.

Splurged and went out with Rose, Alan, and Teresa to the creperie, but it was sooo worth it. Had a mushroom-ham-cheese one, followed by a nutella one. And coffee. What goodness.

Caught up with some of the engineering students and other assistants at a nice little bar, "L'Hendrix." It's nice to talk with French students who I don't have to worry about seeing in the classroom the next day.

Rose got a letter from the CAF today telling her how much they were giving her, so that bodes well for the rest of us too! HOPEFULLY it comes soon, things are rather dire.

Ready for another week

This morning was a little rough due to the aches of hiking. I managed to fry up some potatoes and toast some muesli bread (all they had left at the bakery last night), and then Shannon, Pamela, and I walked back to the train station so they could start the long trek back to Aix. Wandered in town a little bit...there's a market on the riverbank that I didn't know about. Exciting to find things happening on a Sunday.

Back at home, we entertained ourselves by making chocolate-covered clementines, marshmellows, and apples. Then it was nap time in a big way.

Dinner tonight would have been turkey curry, but we looked at the date of the turkey and realized that 9-22 was before we even arrived in France. Sick dude. So vegetable curry it was, and it was good. Chocolate-covered fruit for dessert.

We then threw on "Fight Club" on Rose's computer. Spent a nice quiet evening movie-watching, lesson planning, and searching for companies that will ship things like pumpkin pie filling to France.

Needs to get better, NOW

K, yesterday was marked by the disappearance of my bike saddle and bar while I was shopping at Leclerc. Yup, came out with groceries to find half a bike. Merde. Went in and told security, they were like, wow that sucks, we can't do much for you. So I go and buy a seat and bar in Leclerc, but the bar ends up not fitting. So I pedal home standing.

Shannon and her friend Pamela got here in the evening from Aix-en-Provence...walked back to the house and played Kings before heading to bed.

This morning, I ran out to get waffle-making ingredients. They turned out pretty good, but will have to finagle the recipe a bit, they had too much flour. Afterwards, Shannon, Pamela, and I went into town, wandered, and found out how they could get to Chambord. They left for the chateau, and several of us assistants went with Steve and a professor from his lycée to mark the path of a hike that's going on tomorrow. 12ish kilometers later, we were tired and wet, and the bus was coming so late that we just decided to walk the 45ish minutes back to our place. Picked up Shannon and Pamela on the way, got kebabs for dinner, and then sat in a dazed state for about an hour. Got a hot bath, then headed out to Singe Vert for drinks. On the way, we met two professors from Steve's lycée, who came with us, so we had quite a turnout. Ended up going back to one of the prof's houses for drinks.

I'll be very ready for things to settle down a bit. I don't quite know how to make things settle down...can't prevent people from stealing my bike seat short of carrying my seat with me...money just won't get easier until I get paid. Living situation needs to get easier, as well. I'm also beginning to think about May and what I'm going to be doing when I get back home. I've got education grad school applications either done or almost done, but I am still open to other ideas.

Gettin thru the week

Wednesday, 8 November

I got my carte de séjour today!! Had received notification in the mail that I could come pick it up, and it was just too easy. Walk into the préfecture, stop at the front desk, hand em my convocation and récipassé, and they handed me my CDS.

Came home for a laundry party at our house, everyone brings theirs here because we have a washing machine. Mehdi went out and got chicken and bread and wine, and we had a fine lunch of chicken curry and stir-fried vegetables.

Wandered into town with Claire and Kristen, where I bought some much-needed hand lotion. It's funny, for the Brits, things are cheaper here, but I still can't help thinking how expensive things are. Where's a good ole deep-discount store when you need one? Even England had the pound store.

It's been stressful working out household finances...nobody likes doing it, but it needs to be done. We're going to do two kitties, one for general household things and foods that Susan wants to go in on, one for shared foods for the rest of us. Now if we can get a cleaning schedule, I'll be happy.

Thursday, 9 November

I know teachers do this all the time, but OMG five classes in a day is hard. Especially here, because you have all this down time...I'm at school from 8-5 today, then I tutor til 6. But classes went well, generally. I had one where only three kids showed up...knowing the prof whose class it is, I'm guessing there was probably confusion of one kind or another about time. But the three that did show were good and enthusiastic, so I'm ok with it.

Went to a concert this evening at the Chato'do, nice little venue about 20 minutes walk from our house. Went to the restroom before the concert, and dunno what the heck happened, but I just flush, and the water won't stop coming. Before you know it, there's water pouring over the floor and I run to the bar to tell someone in seriously panicked-and-therefore-baaad French, "There is a problem with the toilet...and now there is water everywhere!" Nice.

The concert itself was pretty good. The first group--Porcelain--gave me high hopes with the first song, a good beat and melody. But then their true colors came out and it was a strange mix between depression and poserish English lyrics. Whole songs would consist of three notes and the lyrics "I want a song that turns me on" repeated endlessly.

The second group, Smooth, was much better. Funk-electro-soul-pop mix, kept things interesting. I might even go so far as to buy their album.

Tomorrow, Shannon and a friend are coming up from Aix to visit for the weekend! Yay! So that means tomorrow is gonna be a cleaning day, and hopefully a sort-out-the-kitty day so we can get some more food. We'll be eating pasta for breakfast tomorrow as it is.

Back to civilization

It's midnight, Tuesday night, and I have no classes tomorrow, so I figure this is as good a chance as I'll find to catch up. Ile d'Yeu was pretty much amazing. Each day was similar to the next: get up, eat breakfast, go into town to buy food for the day, go back and eat lunch, then bike around the island, make it back for a rest before dinner, after which we'd watch TV before sleeping.

They both spoke English well, but did speak mostly in French, which was better for me anyways. Hopefully improved a lot...I do feel more confident if nothing else. There were times, though, when it was just exhausting to concentrate so hard to understand everything from politics to what type of fish to buy for lunch.

On the way to the island, we stopped at a friend's house, who lived on another island up that way. But this island had a bridge, as well as a strange sort of road--only accessible during low tides. It flooded over during high tide, at which point you'd have to go back by the bridge. We had real pound cake, like butter in loaf form. Was amazing.

When we got to the island (by ferry into Port Joinville, the main village), the landlady picked us up, dropped us off, and we were struck not only by the quaint sea-themed decor but also by a strange odor resembling vomit. A sitcom we watched the first night got it right: "environment olfactrice hostile"--hostile olfactory environment.

One of the ladies' relatives lived literally next door to the cottage we'd rented, and they were nice enough to lend me a bike, which I promptly broke on a rather steep hill. Just, bam: chain no longer gripping the gears. Soooo yea, the first day's bike ride was cut short. But up until then, all I could think was, wow this is gorgeous.

Dinner at the neighbors, apologies for the bike followed. Also learned a random cool fact: the French have a funny thing with purebred animals. Your dog or cat is obviously born in a certain year, and that year is assigned a letter. So you go to the vet and sort through the names in the register, so if it's a U year, you get a cat named Ulysses or a dog named Ula... Whoa.

Wednesday, we biked around the Port de la Meule--roughly, "port of" either "the grindstone" or "the haystack." Also hit Plage des Vieilles--"port of the old women." Question mark.

Dinner consisted of omelette and fish soup. Yumm. Watched a documentary about making a travel documentary. They showed people making travel tapes about Peru/Argentina and China.

Thursday, we had whole shrimp for lunch. Like, with eyes. Then we biked to "le vieux chateau"--the old chateau. 1300s, yep that's old. There ARE cars on this island, just not many. But you can tell where everyone's from because the last two digits on the plate indicate the département. So Loir-et-Cher, that's me, is 41. Vendée, that's where Ile d'Yeu is, that's 85.

Friday was COLD and WINDY. We prepped for biking with salmon in white wine and potatoes. Then we biked to the "pierre tremblante"--the trembling stone, which is also a double entendre...use your imagination. Stopped at the only café in Port de la Meule for a hot chocolate, then biked back for a quick nap before going into town to eat. It was a feat to climb back on the bike, but our motto was: "Ne pensez pas, pedalez." Don't think, just pedal. Wanted to go to the creperie, but it's apparently popular, because there was a gigantic line despite the freezing temperature. We ended up in Chez Père Raballand, where I had a deeeelicious terrine, followed by duck, ending with crème brûlée.

Saturday, the wind was unceasing. Ate lunch, then out to the cemetary, where things were actually beautiful...it was just after Toussaint--when everyone decorates the graves--so there were flowers everywhere. Except on the grave of a certain person buried here, the Marechal, Philippe Pétain. Not a popular man here in France.

Moved on to the citadelle, a fortress of sorts that seems to host cultural events and sheep these days. Back to Port de la Meule for a coffee, then pedalled along the coast against monstrously strong winds to Port Joinville, where we indulged in chocolate banana crepes. Went to a friend's house for a pre-dinner apéritif--had pineau des Charentes--a rosé wine mixed with cognac. Also had so many little snacky things--puréed tuna, smoked tuna (an island speciality), olives, nuts--that we decided to forego dinner when we got back.

Sunday, we cleaned house and then went into town to wander a bit before the boat left. Got back to find a Guy Fawkes party assembled at the homestead...good to be home! We made s'mores over candles, which lacked a lot of bravado, but you've got to make do.

Monday, classes started up. The heat, however, was still on vacation, so we all sat in freezing classrooms hoping the joys of learning would be enough to warm us up. Classes went well. Did some major shopping that evening, chicken stirfry for dinner that was just amazing.

Today, classes again went well. At least with my older students, I'm finding a happy role that blends teacher and peer, which is an admittedly hard line to walk. My younger class is still a bit rough: had three girls today who just wouldn't stop chattering, so I told one of them to come up and sit by me. She was like, "no, that's ok." So I'm like, no actually it's not ok. Come up here please. Again refuses, and I explain in French that it wasn't a question, it's an order. Still is just like, no. The talking stopped, but how did my high school teachers actually get kids to sit by them???

Steak tonight, with stirfried veggies and baked potatoes. The whole house smelt (smelt?) like warmed butter and beef. Just amazing.