yep- still sick

Hello all-

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while! I have been sick all weekend with the flu:( I ended up not babysitting Friday night for Corinne's family... which I felt really bad about, but now that I know how sick I am, it's a good thing I didn't spread it to them! Corinne came by to give me some medicine... some sort of couch syrup, advil, and tylenol for my fever. I went to bed and got a good night's sleep in.... and Saturday I woke up and felt much better than I did on Friday. Stupidly, I pushed myself to go out to lunch with Hannah and Helen. I got to our meeting spot a little early and bought a new purse at H&M.... taking advantage of just being paid+les soldes still going on. We went to lunch at Le Nord, another of Paul Bocuse's restaurants (I went to Le Sud with my dad and Steph). While it was a great lunch, in which we actually thought we saw the real-live Paul Bocuse, the world-renowned French chef who hails from Lyon and owns several restaurants around town.... I came home feeling reallly sick (I'll have to write another post sometime to describe my lunch...). Then, all night Saturday, Sunday, and today I've been struggling with the flu. I missed school today and I won't be going tomorrow because I still feel pretty weak. I talked to Laurence today, who is also very sick. She said that if I needed to go to the doctor tomorrow, she'd take me though... And I called Corinne earlier to see if she could bring me over something to eat. I got a hold of Julien, who said he'd have his mom call me as soon as she got home... so I'll hopefully have something other than applesauce and noodles to eat. I owe their family big time!

Ok- need to go lay back down. Hope you're all well!

Reste cool!

la greepppe- bleh

Salut- I'm not feeling too hot today.... la grippe (the flu) is going around all the schools and I think I've caught a little something. Thankfully, my dad brought me a few cough medicines I didn't need before, but am taking advantage of now! I'm bummed though because I'm supposed to babysit tonight for Corinne's kids.... and I called to let her know this morning that I had a little fever (I had one of those little disposable thermometers), and that I still wanted to come tonight, but didn't want to get her kids sick. She said she'd call again this afternoon to see how I'm doing, but that it probably wouldn't be a big deal to leave Julien to babysit the girls by himself. But.... we shall see. I don't have anything but couch laying and water drinking on the list of things to do today!

Besides starting to feel sick last night, I had a great double school day. The kids were cute as usual... although many were absent.... I didn't stay for lunch at the first school, so I was able to have a few hours to hang out and eat lunch chez moi. I've sort of decided that until Murielle comes back, I can use my afternoon lessons as an excuse to just come home and not feel like I'm in the way. When I got to the second school, the teacher that I sent materials to print and make copies of had forgotten because she was being observed today! She was mortified, but I just went to the computer lab and printed the stuff off I needed and was on my way. I had 2 really nice lessons where the kids went around and asked their peers what they had for breakfast.... and then I talked to another teacher who was interested in having me come for a few English lessons. She wants to do a Valentine's Day lesson.... so of course I couldn't say no! I love Valentine's Day and they don't really celebrate it here, except for between older married couples.... We will be making heart cards galore:)

Okie dokie, can't type much more, I'm having a hard time concentrating. Ugh! I hate being sick!

Reste cool:)

Snowmen.... with toes?

Salut! I've had a productive little morning.... swept, mopped, cleaned, did some school work stuff, and am now watching Family Matters in French. Steve Urkel sounds hilarious. I would have gone out to do laundry, but I had to wait for people to come around and check the gas heating system (or something). They came and went quickly saying that I actually had been upgraded to an electric water heater system, so I didn't need to be checked! I'd go out and see a museum this afternoon, but it's snowing! Must stay indoors:)

Yesterday, I had a great day at school.... none of my teachers were absent, I did a lesson with animals in Corinne's class, and lessons with snowmen in all of my other classes. We went over the parts of the body (with the hokie pokie) and some clothing items with a little book.... and then I gave them directions to follow to draw a snowman. I had them draw ears and toes on their snowmen (since we sing about them in Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes), so all of their snowmen were quite... special:) And they thought it was funny that when translated, snowman is like saying neige-bonhomme, instead of bonhomme de neige.

I will be having another double day tomorrow.... and then I'm babysitting on Friday night for Corinne's family!!! January is just flying by!

Reste cool:)

manger manger manger (mahnjay x 3)

All you've missed in my life is eating, eating, and more eating. (Lol- just kidding, but that's what it has felt like).

Yesterday, I left my apartment at 11:30 to get to the pedagogical advisor's apartment located in the Croix-Rousse area. After my 50 minute bus-metro trip, I found her apartment no problem, arriving right on time. (Side story- while I was on the metro, I was interviewed by a TCL employee who asked me how many times I use the metro a day, where I was going, what I did for a living, how old I was, etc. I'm now part of some statistic somewhere!) The pedagogical advisor's name is Agnès and she's a very nice woman that has a high appreciation for food, wine, and other cultures. She speaks French and German fluently, she knows English well enough to teach other teachers how to teach English, and is taking Italian (for her upcoming trip to Rome). Her apartment is in a very old building, with high ceilings and tall windows. When I got there Agnès was very busy in the kitchen!

I was invited over with two other language assistants, a guy from Ohio and a girl from Canada. I got there second, after the guy named Zane, and we sat and chatted with Agnès in the little bustling kitchen while we waited for Magda, the girl from Canada. I also helped whip together the egg whites for the fondant au chocolat (our desert).

Once we were all ready to get the feast started, Agnès poured us an apèritif, a kir (made with cassis liquor from Dijon and sparkling white wine). For our first course, we had a simple, but tasty salad with avocado and balsamic dressing with some petits pains (little baguette like rolls). For our main course, she made tomates à la provencale (sautéed tomatoes with garlic), haricots verts (green beans), poulet à la crème (chicken in a cream sauce), and un gratin dauphinois (similar to au gratin potatoes or scalloped potatoes). With this course, we were served a fort red wine... which I guess translates to a robust red wine. Next came the cheese course, with a plate of 5 different cheeses (brie, compté, some sort of chèvre, and 2 others that I can't remember). None of them were too strong.... and were all quite delicious. These last 2 courses were of course served with the traditional French baguette. For desert, we had the fondant (a flour-less chocolate cake), vanilla ice cream with pecans, and orange slices.

Needless to say, I felt like I was going to need be rolled home. It was an amazing meal... Agnès went above and beyond, but I'm not complaining! It's always nice to have a good meal and some afternoon company! Agnès would go in and out of the kitchen often, forgetting things and cleaning things, so the three of us assistants would go back and forth between speaking English and French. The other two have better French speaking skills than I do, Zane having lived here since 2009 and Magda being from Canada... but I didn't ever feel lost and had fun talking about travels, future trips, where we were from, and of course, the food:)

I got home around 5:30pm, and had a hard time doing anything else but laying on the couch, slowly digesting. French food is yummy, but it can sure take you out of commission for a few hours after such a large meal. I got myself ready for school, watched the Simpson's for a few hours (a show I rarely watch at home, but am quite enjoying in French lol), and tried to get to bed.

School went well today. I did breakfast food in most classes, except for doing one lesson on age in the CE1 class and the Hokie Pokie with my CP class. They were soooo cute, as usual. The older classes had a lot of kids absent today with the flu. I hope I don't get it!!! I came home feeling a little drained of energy, but I think that's just because I didn't sleep well last night.

I stayed for lunch, which was a fried cheese patty and spinach, carrot and cucumber salad, baguette, applesauce, cheese slice, and a cup of sparkling wine (brought in by Vincent, the director). He said we were drinking it to expand my knowledge of French wine.... but I think they just wanted an excuse to drink a glass during lunch;) Also during lunch, I helped the CP teacher to translate some random marketing vocabulary from English to French (no easy task, and I'm still unsure why she needed it) and I had a pre-meeting meeting with some teachers about the language festival. Turns out they didn't have everything they needed for the meeting and so they said that we'd have another meeting after the March vacation.

Once again, I feel like I won't need to eat dinner. I guess this is why the French don't eat dinner until 8 or 9pm, but I feel weird eating dinner an hour or two before bed. So we shall see.

Hope you all had a nice lundi!

A plus+

i love les soldes!

Hello tout le monde! Happy Saturday! Bon samedi!

Not too much happening today.... going to lounge and have a lazy Saturday.... make some materials for school, talk to family, and stay out of the cold weather! Granted, -2 C is only like 27 F, so it isn't thhhaaat bad, but I got used to the 50 degree weather!!! Isn't it spring yet? I was supposed to tutor this afternoon, but apparently Corinne's family is all sick with a nasty bug, so I'm staying out of there. Helen is in Lyon today, so she might come visit me if she has nothing else to do this afternoon. They went to see a movie this morning... but I didn't really know if I was tutoring until I got the final word from Corinne earlier...and I just "can't be arsed" to go out into the cold (funny expression Hannah uses when she doesn't really want to do something). They were going to see Au-dela, or the Hereafter, as it was called in the US. My dad and Steph and I saw the movie poster for it all over the place (with Matt Damon) and never could figure out what movie it was in English. Now I know!

I was more active yesterday... so that's probably more interesting than the weather and my plans to do nothing;)

Friday, I woke up and went grocery shopping.... and I mean serious grocery shopping. I even took along my cart so I could bring home heavy things like laundry detergent (still hopeful about my potential washing machine.... did I tell you I got an email saying they are reviewing my request?), canned veggies (must get my "veg" in as the Brits say), and juice... all good and heavy things when packed together in one bag. All went well doing the actual shopping, except while I was in the detergent aisle, I was a little overwhelmed and asked a nice old woman what kind she used. She sold me on a brand that I have since seen several commercials for... so must be good haha.

The only downside to being able to buy heavy things and easily transport them in my cart....was having to carry those heavy things up my 5 flights of stairs. I need a pulley system.

After shopping for food, I got ready and met Hannah downtown to get another look at some January sales (after first stupidly forgetting my wallet and having to run back home and up my 5 flights of stairs to go get it.... good thing I did too!). We went from store to store on Rue de Victor Hugo, mostly to get out of the crazy wind! But, I did find an amazing sale item in a reasonably priced store called Pimkie. Leather jackets are all the rage in Lyon these days and so I've sort of had my eye out for one that was nice, but not too expensive. I had almost given up because they were either not in my size or still too expensive even with the sales, but Hannah pointed out a rack with jackets marked down 60% off. A brown leather jacket, that was originally 80 euros was on sale for 32!!! Woo hoo! I tried it on in several sizes, picked the one I wanted and c'est parti! I have a nice brown leather jacket now:) (I have a feeling this rack of brown jackets was so on sale because brown is a much less popular color than black here, but I'd rather have brown anyway!)

After our windy shopping adventure, we went back to my apartment to make dinner, brownies (yumz) and watch some French tv and Steel Magnolias. We both laughed and cried and had a fun girlie night. (I hadn't seen the entire movie in a long time, but there are so many incredibly funny parts! "Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair." hehe) Hannah spent the night (since her buses are so limited) and left a little while ago to get to work on her French paper. Since she's still technically in school, while they're on their year abroad they have to do research and write a long thesis type paper. It kind of makes me miss school, but then I think, wait a minute.... I don't think I miss it that much;)

Anywho- hope you all have a nice weekend! I'll be going to Agnès' house tomorrow for lunch. She's a pedagogical advisor that runs our in-service days and she is inviting us all over to her house in turns. This weekend is mine and I hear she's a fabulous French cook:)

Reste cool:)

My first double school day!

I'm amazingly not dreading doing another double day! On my way home from my first school, I was kind of thinking to myself, why did I say yes to this.... but after working with the two classes at the second school, I feel loved and needed:)

At my usual Thursday school, I'm getting annoyed that I'm sort of ignored sometimes (by the other teachers in the morning). I realize that they have important school things to discuss and whatnot- but I feel like it takes them forever to warm up to me...ask me how I'm doing, etc.... and while I'm teaching, I almost feel like I'm taking up their precious school time. I know for sure that they definitely don't do much English instruction without me there... and they're supposed to do it twice a week. A lot teachers, in all my schools, find it hard to take out an extra 20-30 minutes for English instruction when they need to focus on other subjects.... and I understand that they're going to teach things they feel most strong in when it comes to their extra-curricular instruction. None of the kids are tested in areas besides math and French (in terms of national testing), so similar to in the United States, things that may be listed in the curriculum or standards, but aren't tested, sort of fall by the waste-side (ie English, German, music, arts, science, etc.).

I know if Murielle were there, I probably wouldn't feel like this quite so much, but even sometimes in Anne-Laure's class, I get that feeling. I am also getting really frustrated with this school on their behavior management. Today, during lunch, I asked if they ever tried using behavior systems.... sort of test the water, see if they were open to hearing about how we do it in the US. They were like.... yeah, we've seen some before.... takes a lot of effort on the teacher's part to keep track of points or moving names... we go with the yell and punish approach... hahaha. I was like.... sort of shocked that they were so nonchalant about it. Do they not see that they're yelling at the same kids every time? They don't even explain why a kid is in trouble and work with them on what they should do the next time. One kid lied today, and the teacher just let him have it and then he wasn't allowed to go to library. He was never asked.... why did you lie?, oh because you have no glue.... well next time, ask me for glue, and don't lie. Something as simple as that could help rectify the problem the next time he needs to glue something into his notebook, but instead, he just resents the teacher.... and I can tell, already as a 6 year old, he hates school.

I also learned that the replacement, who is in the process of becoming a teacher, has no formal training. Working in schools as a replacement and learning from other teachers is her training, and thus, she will probably continue the yell and punish approach. Apparently, this way of becoming a teacher is new, but has changed in the last year. She's like in some middle group of new teachers who only need a certain amount of classroom time and the occasional in-service to learn pedagogical teaching theories and types of activities. I'm confused about the whole thing.... it appears that every teacher has had a different kind or amount of training.... but explains a lot of what I see. I know our system isn't perfect either, and isn't controlled at a national level like it is in France.... but they need to scrap the current system of how to become a teacher and mainstream it for a longer period of time than keeping something in place for 1-2 years! Seems nuts to change your pre-service teacher standards so frequently! (And to go from much higher standards to much lower standards...)

Anyway.... after talking with them at lunch, I was just ready to get home. It was cold outside and I wasn't looking forward to going to another school. When I got home it snowed really hard (nothing sticking), and I felt even less like going. But.... once I got there, I had a great time. I worked with a teacher I've only met once and she was great. I'd say she's in her mid-late 30's and she took notes on everything I did. I felt needed again:) And her kids were so excited to ask questions about the US (yep, got the "Do you see the stars?" question a few times), and they enjoyed learning about breakfast food....

It was a good lesson because a few items that we eat for breakfast, the French have started eating in recent years.... cereal, pancakes, bacon.... so the kids picked up on the vocabulary easily. They don't ever eat pancakes or bacon for breakfast, but they do eat cereal, yogurt, fruit, and pastries for breakfast, if they eat it at all. They were shocked that we would even consider firing up the stove in the morning.... or that we would eat eggs and bacon so early in the morning. They just aren't morning eaters! I was going to add oatmeal and grits to my list, but that would have been way too foreign a concept:) Hot food for breakfast? What are you nuts? (However, they think it's hilarious that we rarely eat hot lunches.... at least for kids at school who bring in sandwiches. What do you mean they can't use the microwave at lunch time if they bring their food?) I also explained pb&j (because they asked if I ate peanuts and laughed for some reason.... I was like, yes, and we eat peanut butter... on a lot of things). I once again got really shocked faces.... you put what with what? It's so funny that something so normal to us (pb&j) is so strange to them:)

Both teachers and classes I worked with were very thankful for me taking time out to come teach lessons and said that it was just what they were hoping for.... so it made me feel really good:) So- I guess I'll be doing my "double" until the March vacation.... and then Murielle will back after that...and I won't need my second school as a spirit-lifter, hopefully....

This afternoon I'll be lounging, making more materials (somehow I'm teaching emotions, age, body parts, clothes, snowmen, food, school supplies, and recipes all at the same time.... if only I could figure out a subject that all the teachers want to do at the same time....), and video chatting with some friends! Yay! Tonight starts my weekend:)

Reste cool:)

House Hunters- France

Well I would have written last night, but I got sucked into my new favorite show- Recherche Appartement ou Maison... aka House Hunters. There was one episode that took place in Lyon last night; it was so cool. It was like.... I knew exactly what they were talking about and where they were.... and I got to get a look inside some of those pretty apartments I've seen from the outside. I'm going to try my best to focus, even though I have it on in the background;)

Yesterday, I had a fun and pretty laid back day at school. Corinne was absent and so was Eve, so I only taught 3 classes (my 2 CP, and Elise's crazy CE1). With the CP classes, we did the Hokie Pokie. They LOVED it. They thought it was so funny... but they're quick to catch on to new vocabulary, so it was a perfect activity for them. I think they also liked to just get a chance to get out of their little desks and move!

Elise's class seems to be getting worse and every time I come out of it, I just think to myself.... what a crappy situation she's in. The kids have her 1 day a week, a man the other 3 who is apparently fairly harsh. So when they're with her, they go nuts.... but it doesn't seem that besides them being afraid of the other guy, there's any sort of behavior plan... and it seems like it would be an almost impossible feat for Elise to implement something so infrequently. These kids definitely need a full time teacher, none of this mi-temps stuff. I just don't know what I'd do in that situation! She really must go crazy having 4 different classes every week.

During lunch, I talked to a few teachers I don't normally talk with... We discussed the differences between public, private, and charter schools in America. For some reason, the teachers I've talked with always assume we have more private than public schools. And then when I say, nope most kids go to public school... with some who go to private or religious schools, they say, "Oh, just like France." Haha. Yes, just like it. I blew their minds with the charter school concept... and they were absolutely shocked to hear that some kids got into the school through a lottery system. They were like... that's so random! Yes- I thought, that is the point! Talking with Perrine, a CM1 teacher, I also figured out what I'm teaching Thursday afternoon in her class.... Breakfast food. Yumz. So in the afternoon, I made a bunch materials for that and got really hungry for some pancakes.... and bacon, and eggs.... and hash browns, grits, toast, muffins, scones, and more. I do love eating brioche and pain au chocolat every morning, but I miss a nice big brunch or breakfast for dinner meal!

Today, I got up and ready to work out and run some errands before going into Lyon to meet up with Hannah and Lindsey to go museuming. I should have had enough time to fit it all in, but for some reason the post office was packed (I needed to mail in paperwork that will hopefully get me my health care coverage). Then, I took a chance on running to pay my rent really quickly before my 11.03 bus left, but there was a line there too. Then, right before I was about to leave and leave it for another day, it was my turn and they weren't able to let me pay with credit card. And- on top of that, she told me I was late paying my rent. I was like.... uhh I got the bill yesterday. I'm not sure what was up with that, but I wasn't charged any sort of late fee. I asked if I could come back tomorrow and she said no problem. So I ran to catch the bus... and I saw it take off without me! UGH! I decided it just wasn't in the cards today to go into Lyon, went to withdraw money, and paid my stupid rent bill. Shew, at least it's done with for another month!

This afternoon I used my unexpected extra time to clean my scattered apartment, lesson plan, and attempt some yoga while the teens in the apartment below blared music.... and now I'm back to lesson planning/watching House Hunters.

Tomorrow, I'm teaching about animals and clothes in the morning (Berliet)....then switching gears and schools to teach breakfast food (Signoret)! Hopefully it goes well and I don't call butter boots or something silly. Although I don't know how I'd manage that.

Reste cool:)

hate to be late!

This morning, much like the past few mornings when I have had to get up for work, I stayed in bed. I wasn't late to work, but I was later than usual due to leaving 10 minutes too late, missing the bus, and getting on a new bus that took much longer than I could have imagined! So I'm turning over a new leaf! I'm setting my alarm 10 minutes earlier!

I guess because I was a little off this morning, I forgot about the changes to my schedule (due to some kids going to water polo during the day) and was late to a few classes because I stayed in other classes too long. So some got extra long lessons today, like Sabine and Carole's classes, whereas I was late twice for Sophie's two. Oops! Besides that, I had a great morning. I had most classes do a pronunciation activity where person A read a line of images and person B had to remember the images to repeat them back. It was cute to hear so many little timid French accents saying "mittens (meettahns), scarf (scahf), boots (booots)."

After my lessons, I ate lunch with the teachers (much better this week, fish with rice.... may sound gross but it was delicious, cheese (3 types to choose from!), salad, and a kiwi!). All the teachers could talk about were the soldes! This was the first weekend of sales and everyone had on new clothes they bought, marked down 50%! So, yep, you guessed it, I went to the Porte des Alpes after school. I tried on some pants but have decided my hips are not French hips...and so things fit me weird. I did buy one shirt for only 9 euros.... and then picked up some delicious yogurt in glass jars on my way out!

Currently, I'm watching the Simpson's in French. It's quite a hoot. Their voices are very similar, although Marge sounds a little toooo manly and Bart sounds a little too girly. I figured out just a little while ago that I have tevo powers too!!! Woohoo! I can record.... other stuff in French. But, I gotta make sure I don't get distracted and go to bed too late! I'm turning over a new leaf!

Reste cool:)

J'adore la famille de Corinne

This morning after I wrote, Laurence called to say she was just around the corner, coming to drop off my laundry. I ran down to meet her and she asked if I'd be going out and about today because it was so beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky! I told her in fact, yes I would after tutoring:)

I actually walked to Corinne's house... and not getting lost this time it only took 15 minutes! Julien and I worked on more irregular verbs, including shake, wear, stick, and throw. For shake, all I could think of as an example was, "shaken, not stirred," and milkshake. When I explained what a milkshake was, he laughed because evidently kids his age say "shake the milkshake" for no apparent reason. When I asked, he said it just sounds funny because it rhymes.... but now it seems ridiculous because he knows what a milkshake is. For wear, he laughed uncontrollably because the word itself sounded so silly to him. I had to finally say, Julien, get a hold of yourself! It's a verb! For stick, he kept saying steak... I'd say, you have to say stiiiick. So he'd repeat and then after a second he'd say oh, steak. Haha. It was very funny... it was like he just heard a different sound. And throw- quelle horreur! We had both the "th" issue combined with the English "r." Let's just say we're working on it.

After our lesson, Corinne, Luc, Emilie, Lucie, and I went for a walk. We drove a few minutes to a path, parked, and walked around looking for rabbits. I actually asked if they eat rabbit, and they said yes, but they aren't the same as the rabbits you have at your house! They're different! (Rabbit fillets are found right next to chicken in the supermarket. Weird.) Besides rabbits, we talked about lots of different things... les soldes, when they lived in Marseille, places in Lyon (we're kind of both new to the area since they moved here just a year and half ago), etc. We went to a duck/swan pond, not far from the Porte des Alpes mall.

On our way back, I thought they'd just drop me off, but they asked if I wanted to come back for some tea and a snack. I said, why not? We talked a little more.... I'm going to babysit for them on the 28th. I met Julien's friend... who happens to be a girl. She isn't technically his girlfriend, but they hang out often. They were working on a project while we had our snack. They'd come and get cookies occasionally, but as soon as they'd leave, the parents would sort of roll their eyes with an "oh goodness what are we going to do with them" kind of expression. And then, they asked if I saw the most recent Grey's Anatomy... and I said, well no, I don't have a tv. They were in shock! But- I was in luck, they had a tv upstairs that they never used!

So Luc and Emilie drove me home, with the tv. He hooked it all up (after jokingly saying that had he known I lived on the top floor he would have thought twice about agreeing to this... haha) and now I have tv!!! I've been watching Desperate Housewives reruns (in French) ever since. I can't believe I've gone this long without one (a tv)! What a great language experience.... and more:) I can actually watch something and be on my computer at the same time!!!!

Welp- back to school tomorrow! I've had a great weekend! Enjoy your Monday off!

Soirée entre "nanas" and Lunch entre British

I know I know! It's been 2 days! You're probably thinking what's she doing over there in France (hehe)? Well- between my long night out with some co-workers on Friday (reference title: "soirée entre nanas), getting up to get my apartment presentable yesterday morning and the actual potluck yesterday afternoon, I haven't gotten a chance to blog! But I'll back up and tell you all about both:)

Friday evening, I went over to the school to meet up with Eve and Nathalie, a CE1 teacher and a CP teacher. Both are fairly young, in their late 20's, maybe early 30's. They're both married and have 2 little boys who are about the same ages (6 and 9 mo. old). After a long day of teaching, they were both a little pooped, so they had cups of tea in their hands when I got there to give them a little pick-me-up. About 5:30pm, we all crammed into Eve's little red Peugeot and headed into Lyon.

Of course we got into some rush hour traffic, which I've never experienced here... I guess that is certainly an advantage to taking the metro! Eve put on one of her favorite French groups, saying, "We're going to broaden Lindsay's taste in music this evening!" I actually did enjoy the band, but with it on, I had a hard time keeping up with their conversation in the front. Nathalie would turn around occasionally and ask me questions directly to make sure I was included, which was nice of her to do... she asked if we have eekeyAah in the United States. I was like... hrmmm, we definitely don't have anything called that. She said, "Oh well we'll have to go there next time! It's a big blue and yellow building... maybe you've seen it?" I said.... ohhh Ikea. Yes, we have that haha.

We finally got parked and into Lyon, near the Perrache train station, which is where Eve used to live. She pointed out the old prison near the station... I had seen it before but didn't know what it was. Apparently, it used to be the most high security, dangerous prison in all of France. Now it is being turned into a university, among other things (it's a huge complex).

We walked up towards Bellecour, walking through a street with lots of shopping (Rue de Victor Hugo). Beginning January 12th, the nationally mandated sales began. They last for about a month, but according to Eve and Nathalie, by the end things get picked over, so if you want to get something good on sale, you have to buy now! Of course I don't have a lot of money to spend on more clothes...plus I'm not sure how I'm going to pack to come home if I keep buying more stuff! But.... I looked and thought about what I would buy if I had more time to try something on.... so I may go back sometime this week, since they are such good sales:)

We were starting to get hungry, so Nathalie led us towards a street over near Place des Jacobins with tons of restaurants. I guess I had seen this area from afar, but never thought to go there when I was actually looking for a place to eat! But it was great! There were so many restaurants to choose from and we went to one called Lo Lo Quoi (I was just talking with the girls during our potluck yesterday how French people add quoi to the end of everything, much how we use the word "like" frequently and unnecessarily). It was italian-ish food, with good looking deserts (Eve and Nathalie were basing most of their decisions on who had the best desert). Neither of them are much into Lyonnais specialties.... and I've decided I don't think I am either (besides quenelles of course!)... so we all were able to find something we wanted to eat here. In fact, we all ordered almost exactly the same thing (chicken Caesar salad and tiramisu, plus a chocolate dome thing for Nathalie). We also ordered pre-dinner apéritifs... I didn't know what kind of drink the other two were ordering... so I said I'd have what Eve was having. It ended up being something with pastis in it... a similar liquor to absinthe. It sort of tasted like licorice to me... you added water to it, so it wasn't the worst thing I've ever tried, but it wasn't something I would have ordered for myself! Now I know:) Apparently, it's a manly drink from the Marseille area of France (south France).

After dinner (and the best tiramisu I've ever tasted), we made our way to Starbuck's. There are two that I know of in Lyon. It is much more expensive and has less variety than our American version, but otherwise it's exactly the same. Nathalie is obsessed. She kept reminding us that we couldn't order coffee with our deserts because we were stopping there for coffee on our way to the movies. They were both so funny explaining how you had to drink Starbuck's, with your coffee in one hand, your purse and phone in your other... just like Eva Longoria haha. They lovveee Desperate Housewives here, so their view of American women revolves around Susan Myers and Gabby Solis.

As we were rushing to get to our movie on time, carrying our Starbuck's, Eve kept getting it all over her. Nathalie was so proud that she could walk with her coffee and not spill it (through the little hole). Eve kept saying, "I just don't understand why you would walk and drink your coffee at the same time. I'm getting so hot! And I can't figure out how to carry it!" It was sooo funny. Nathalie tried showing her how to do it (walking with coffee). People in France drink their coffee at a table, like civilized people should do:)

We got to our movie just as it was starting and had to give up our coffee (after all that!). The movie, Somewhere, was good.... Eve and Nathalie loved it. I liked it, but am not big on films that have a lot of artsy scenes or abrupt endings (the French are fans of these types of movies...makes you think a little more). I, on the other hand, like to sit and watch a movie that doesn't make me think at all:)

After our movie, we went back to the train station to pick up Eve's sister-in-law. She spoke excellent English to me once she found out I was American. She didn't even have a British accent! She's been to visit friends in Bethesda, Maryland (I swear the world is shrinking haha, what are the odds!) so she's had some more real-world experience than Eve or Nathalie, who are embarrassed to try speaking English with me. It was super duper foggy on our way back (it was about 1am at this point), but we dropped off Nathalie, and then Eve and Sarah dropped me off at my apartment. It was a really fun night and I learned a lot of interesting slang... nanas is a very informal way of saying girls... mec is the slang for guy (which they said all the time, calling their husbands their "mecs"). So I will definitely be glad for another soirée amongst the girls and hopefully Elise, the other teacher will be able to come with us the next time!

Yesterday, Hannah, Helen, Lindsey, and Caroline came over for a potluck lunch. We ate and chatted for several hours and they all left a little after 6. It was another fun day with friends and it was fun to catch up with everyone after not seeing them during the holiday break. We also talked a little bit more about me potentially visiting England before I come back to the States at the end of April.... which is incidentally around the same time as the royal wedding:) Sounds like it could be fun hehe!

Well- gotta go get ready to tutor. Corinne invited me to go for a walk with their family afterwards if the weather is warm enough:)

Reste cool and happy Sunday!

sheeepssss

Sorry I never got around to blogging yesterday! I watched a movie when I got home and then kind of forgot about it.... but I did have a pretty ok day!

Murielle is going to be out until at least the March vacation.... which I'm totally bummed about. I don't really mind her replacement, she's a little bit of a yeller... but at least the kids aren't completely out of control like with the other replacement at the other school. But- obviously, it's just not the same... nothing runs as smoothly, the other teachers aren't quite as talkative... but maybe with Murielle gone, they'll make more of an effort to chat me up?

With the older group, the replacement had the kids read an excerpt about the life of an English school student. After they read the excerpt (in French), she had them ask me questions about the English school system.... as in, the British English system. I know she knows that I'm American because she commented on my accent.... so I'm not really sure why she thought I'd be the best person for this particular topic as she has been to England, I have not. I've read books and seen movies (aka Bridget Jones), but I'm by no means an expert on their school system... But I did my best answering questions about uniforms, school lunches, and morning assemblies. Every time I gave an answer, I'd make sure to add in, "But in America..." in hopes that the kids knew there was a difference. I kind of got the feeling that the replacement has been grouping us in the same category when giving English lessons... language-wise, this makes sense, but otherwise, we are completely different countries! For example, they asked me what kinds of sandwiches they eat at school... and I said, I'm not sure, but a lot of American kids eat peanut butter and jelly. The teacher said... "hmm I guess we won't be packing our bags for England anytime soon! That sounds weird! We need our cheese!" (Lol- I'm going to have to ask the British girls tomorrow if they eat pbj...)

Anywho, that didn't take up much time, so it was a good thing I brought along Froggy! I read the book and we went over some vocabulary. I also brought the "English Question Box," a little review activity for the kids (they pull out a question they've already seen before, answer it, and ask the same question to another kid). When I was done with my lesson, one student, who often gets into trouble, asked, while the teacher stepped out, if I knew the Kardashian family or if I knew what playboy was. This is the same student who asked Amy if she knew what playboy was. I'm not really sure why he knows about either topics...as all of the other kids in the class were like, "What's he talking about???" I sort of pretended like I didn't know what he was talking about either until the teacher got back into the room. She thought he seriously didn't know what playboy was, so she gave a vague explanation and commented that it had nothing to do with what we were talking about.... How awkward! Next time I'm just going to say, hrmm, I don't understand, perhaps you should write out your question and we can give it to Murielle... lol. That would straighten him out!

I did pretty much the same thing with the middle age group (answer questions about England, read Froggy, talk about clothes)... but with Anne-Laure's class, I read Brown Bear Brown Bear and we worked on learning the names of animals. It was so cute, we'd ask if they heard the word for the animal and they'd say the color.... or they'd just say the French name instead. It took them a while to grasp a few names, but one that they had no problem remembering was "sheep." This is because sheep sounds like how they saw chips. Chips are chips in French, but they say it like this, "sheeepsss." And therefore, I had a class of 25 kids yelling sheeeepssss... even though there was only one sheep on the page:)

I really like Anne-Laure as a person, and most of the time as a teacher, but it is so odd to me that this age group is told to sit still in old desks with the chairs connected to the tables. The tables are set in rows like you see in high school and all face the board. They look fairly uncomfortable to me.... and if I were 6-7 years old, I would very much like to move about a little more. And so... there are always those kids that get yelled at for wiggling around, turning around, or talking.... whereas in the US, we have so much movement in K/1st grade... circle time on the floor, centers.... and there are very few things that children must do without making a peep.

After classes, I had lunch with the other teachers and made some copies. I got home and watched the Social Network... which was just bizarre to watch and then go on Facebook afterwards. Very interesting movie though.... After my movie, I felt very much like I wanted to get out of my apartment... I'm getting cabin fever. I guess to go from doing something every minute of every day with my dad and Steph to doing not a whole lot other than work.... I'm ready to be social! Which is a good thing because this evening I'm going out with 2 co-workers from my Tuesday school. We're going to go shopping, eat dinner, see a movie, and then Eve will drive me back home after we pick up her sister-in-law from the train station! Then tomorrow, I'm having Hannah, Helen, Lindsey, and Caroline over for lunch!

Hope you all have a nice Friday and a happy start to your long weekend! The French do not celebrate MLK Jr Day... so I have work on Monday... (I know I know... I don't have much to complain about!)

Reste cool:)

Lyon Resistance Museum

This afternoon I took the tram to 14 avenue Berthelot. This was the site of the Gestapo headquarters from 1942-1944, led by Klaus Barbie. Today, part of the site is dedicated to the French Resistance movement, for which Lyon played a central role, in a museum called the Centre d'histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation.

This is what I learned today.

Lyon was a part of the "free zone" from 1940-1942. Very near Lyon, to the southeast, Italy occupied an area of France. At this time, about three-fifths of France was occupied, leaving the rest as "libre." Something I didn't realize was that the Vichy government (led by Maréchal Pétain) didn't just rule over the "free zone," or what I thought was the "Vichy zone." The Vichy government ruled over all of occupied France, but in occupied areas, like Paris, German laws trumped the French laws. Pétain's rule was, therefore, most powerful in the southern "free zone."

Pétain collaborated with the Germans, and his French police and milice, or militia, carried out raids on Jews, Resistance fighters, and other "undesirables." From the beginning of this collaboration period, summer of 1940, many French citizens joined the resistance movement. Charles de Gaulle, who fled to Great Britain, gave a radio address calling for the French to resist Nazi Germany. However, as the French were still in shock of the invasion and the changes happening around them, many remained apathetic until 1942, when German forces occupied the remaining part of France, renaming the "free zone," the "south zone."

As you can imagine, France experienced food shortages, fuel shortages, disorganization in transportation, labor shortages (due to high numbers of French prisoners sent to Germany to work as free labor), raids and roundups of Jews, and more while paying host to the German army.... all of which played a part in waking up apathetic French citizens. Although not everyone took part in active resistance, most resisted passively by reading the different publications (newspapers, pamphlets, etc.) or by listening to the radio. I read an interesting "rule book" for the occupied citizens of France. One of the suggested rules was to pretend not to know or to forget any German that you knew when addressed by a German officer. Another rule was to keep only one copy of this document with you (allowing friends to make a copy if need be).

Active resistance members (for which 10-15% were woman, maybe more as many wives helped their husbands or sons) sabotaged transportation and electrical plants, burned bridges, or even participated in guerrilla warfare. There were underground paramilitary groups, called the Maquis, who received weapons, explosives, and ammunition from nighttime parachute landings. They also provided intelligence to Allied forces and carried out rescue missions. The resistance was made up of people from all different social classes, communists, anarchists, Jews, and many foreigners. The Jewish population only accounted for about 1% of the French population as a whole, but in the resistance, they accounted for about 25% of the resistance fighters.... and many Jewish or other persecuted people fleeing from other countries aided in the organized French resistance.

About 76,000 Jews were sent to the concentration camps from France, 13,000 of which were rounded up and arrested in 2 days in Paris (Vel d'Hiv). Of these 76,000, only 2,500 survived. At the time, there was an estimated 350,000 Jews residing in France, many of them were not French, but German refugees. And although France saw a lot of hate, apathy, and collaboration among its clergy, including, for example, a high ranking priest in Lyon, its officials, and its citizens, France is ranked third in the Righteous Among the Nations for the most non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

The museum had row after row of documents, pictures, and articles written by, for, or about the French resistance and resistance fighters. Countless personal stories were told; a French school teacher hiding Jewish children and teaching them in her house so that they could continue schooling when the war was over, neighbors taking in families or children, resistance leaders imprisoned but rescued by their wives, and on and on. There were also many Lyon related stories... resistance fighters using the famous Traboule passageways in Vieux Lyon to dupe the Gestapo... pictures of floods of people celebrating in Place des Terreaux and Rue de la République after the war was over.... the destruction of the building at 14 avenue Berthelot, after the bombardment of Allied forces in 1944 (targeting train stations and the Gestapo headquarters)... bridges on both sides of Presqu'ile destroyed by bombings or resistance fighters...

The museum is a lot of reading- timelines and quotes every few feet, with the occasional side area to view videos that I couldn't stomach. I left feeling a little sickened, as one usually does after reading or seeing pictures describing genocide. But, one of the last quotes written on the wall went something along the lines of, "What we don't remember about the past, will surely happen again." And so.... I'm very proud that the city of Lyon has this museum to document an important part of its history, in the building that was once the cause of such despicable acts, in hopes that that kind of history will stop repeating itself.

I'm glad that I went. I walk around Lyon and see the Renaissance buildings of old Lyon or the Roman Ruins of Fourvière... but rarely do I picture the Lyon of the 1940's. It's amazing that it all took place here less than 80 years ago...

double rainbow will do the trick...

This morning I had a few frustrating lessons... a lot of kids were absent or are sick at school... several teachers were sick at school or seemed absent because they were thinking about their own sick children at home. I had one really excellent lesson with Martine's class (CP)... she's the older woman who doesn't know any English, but I just love her class. They're always so excited and motivated when I'm there... and without doing much outside preparation together, she's awesome to team-teach with. I also have the other CP class before hers, so I think, unfortunately for the other class, I kind of work out all the kinks with them and then give a great lesson with Martine.

Anywho, at lunch, I was a little taken aback because a teacher from one of the older grades asked me when I'd be coming to work with them. We had sort of talked about me voluntarily coming a few times to their classes sometime in the afternoon, but I figured they wouldn't bring it up until I asked them about it, which I was going to do today anyway. But besides her asking if I'd be able to come Thursday afternoon, I wasn't completely put off by it... she got the ball rolling for me. I gave her and another teacher my email address so we could work something out. Then, I used a pen that I saw laying on the table to write it out for others interested. While I'm using the pen, this other teacher was watching over me, waiting for something. I assumed he was waiting to write down my address and to talk to me about helping in his class... but nope. I was using his pen.... which he told me in French first, and then rudely in English. Woah- I thought, it's just a pen and I didn't know. Of course I didn't say this, just a quick, oh je suis désolée, but it put me in funk.

Nathalie, another teacher asked if I would go out with her and a few other teachers on Friday night, which of course I said yes... so that put me in higher spirits. But before I left she asked me how I was doing , if I had friends to hang out with and if I missed home. I said I had some friends and that I didn't miss home all the time.... but then of course it got me feeling homesick as I walked home. Ugh.

I came home and talked to my mom, which was helpful... then Victor, which also cheered me up.... but I just kept thinking about how frustrating it can be to live in a place so different than what I'm used to and how I missed certain things/people/activities I can't do here... As I was just about to eat a spoonful of peanut butter and wash my face (both easy pick-me-ups), I saw a rainbow right beside the castle of Saint-Priest from my window. I ran to get my camera and after taking a picture realized that it was a double rainbow!!! How lucky- and obviously made me feel like someone was watching out for me... double rainbow=double hope. It's natural to get down being so far away from home, but I just gotta have hope:)

Miss you all! Reste cool:)

Pants! What's the word for pond?

Hello mes amis:)

I finally got up on time and almost made the bus.... I think after having to get up extra early for the painters/electrician those last few weeks before break, my normal routine is thrown off and I take longer because I think I can, but I can't.... but all is not lost, I took the tram and walked. It was in the upper 40's today, so not quite as nice as this weekend, but I'll take anything above 38:)

I saw Sabine on my way in and she was fairly cheery, asking how my weekend went. I had a great weekend, up until the last few hours on Sunday when I was in the process of making dinner... and my electricity went out. I was using the stove, the oven, my computer, and had a few lights on.... which I guess over did it. I called Laurence, because walking around in the dark I realized I didn't know how to fix my little problem. I assumed I needed to just flip a switch somewhere, but where and how was my main issue. I also don't have a flashlight, just a few candles... so that didn't help me much either. She tried explaining over the phone, but with my expansive knowledge (not) of electrical vocabulary, I probably sounded more lost than ever to her. So, she said, "J'arrive, j'arrive," and was here in no time to walk around with her flashlight and turn my electricity back on:) It's a good thing she doesn't live too far away!

Anywho, I made my way up to my first lesson, Vincent's class (the one who had the sub). My goodness is this an entirely different class! All he has to do is snap his fingers very quietly when someone is acting out and they stop whatever they're doing. We had a discussion at the break about whether or not they were scared of him. The other teachers were laughing and saying, yep, that's why they're so good, they're scared! He said, no, they fear me, which is very close to respect. Lol. This lead us to comparing the US and France again... how American school teachers are much less severe than their French counterparts... they said they've always had the "if you're bad, you're punished and told to straighten up" system and that's what they were taught to do in their education classes. According to them, students should have a level of fear of their teachers.... whereas in the US, most teachers are a little bit more nurturing. I don't think these generalizations apply to everyone on both sides, as they are generalizations.... I work with 2 teachers at this school who I feel are very nurturing and much less severe, more fair, etc. But even with these 2 teachers, I have not seen one positive behavior system in a French primary school.... going over board to reward students for their effort, behavior, etc. It's interesting to see the differences between the 2 systems...

Sorry- I keep getting off track! My lessons all went very well... I had several teachers ask me, however, why I kept calling pants, pants, instead of trousers as they all learned in school. Apparently, in British English, pants are your underwear and trousers are your pants. Which now explains why, when giving Julien this example sentence , "Ah, I can't find my pants!" he burst out laughing.... I thought maybe he just thought the word pants sounded funny.

After my lessons, I ate lunch at school. They had couscous, with an odd combo of meatballs, sausage, and veggies poured over top. There was also a mystery breaded patty of sorts. I'm beginning to wonder if I should just make my own lunches. Usually I enjoy at least 3/4 of the meal, but today... was too out of my comfort zone. We also had salad with carrots in odd dressing, plain yogurt (not my favorite), and chocolate wafer cookies. Not even one slice of cheese today!

During lunch, Vincent suggested that we speak in English. This lasted about 30 seconds after he said something wrong and everyone laughed. I didn't think it was that bad, but they're so hard on themselves! So instead, anytime they brought up a new subject, they'd ask me for the English word. They were talking about a pond behind the school (une mare) and I couldn't think of the word... I said puddle, but Sabine said she thought that was more like a flaque. I said I thought you could probably use the word puddle for both, only because I wasn't really clear on how big this pool of water was. And then... another teacher who's second language is German, jokingly said, "It seems to me that English is a very vague language..." Lol. Yes, let's go with that. (When I got home, I looked up all of these words and emailed them to the teachers with the title, les mots précises en anglais.... precise English words...hehe)

My not-up-to-usual-par French cafeteria food motivated me to go grocery shopping. I was almost out of TP, so it's a good thing I went:) I made myself an excellent dinner, if I do say so myself, and have yummy leftovers for tomorrow (tuna steak with avocado, mozzarella and tomato salad, and pear+cheese for desert). AND- my electricity stayed on throughout the entire making of the meal:)

Hope you had a nice Monday!

Reste cool:)

long time no write!

Hello! Bonne soirée à tous:)

I guess I'm only one day behind.... I didn't do a whole lot yesterday.... it was an absolutely gorgeous day, 60 degrees and sunny, sunny, sunny! I walked down to the laundromat happy as could be to just be outside... if I knew how to whistle, I'm sure I would have been a-whistlin'!

While I was at the laundromat, there was an interesting looking family doing tons of laundry. I had my ipod on, so I couldn't hear all of what they were saying, but basically I got that they are a "caravan family." They explained to some curious others at the laundromat (it was packed, guess it was a Saturday) that they had 2 caravans, a truck and were stationed near a road with a wall somewhere in Saint-Priest before moving on. One day at school, a teacher said something about a child that was going to be moving but coming back after a few months because they were a part of the caravan lifestyle.... I guess we would consider them sort of like gypsies.... but I'm not sure if they are considered Roma or Romani or not? I often see, who I think are Romas, asking for money in the metro, and they usually only know a certain few key French phrases.... but these people at the laundromat spoke perfect French, albeit a little accented... and seemed to be doing ok if they owned 2 caravans, etc. So.... I just don't know. I may ask tomorrow at school because I think it's pretty interesting.... I googled Romani people and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information. They do mention, however, that they usually don't mark themselves on any sort of census information, so it's sort of hard to know who's who and where the are since they move around so often. To be continued I guess!

After doing laundry, I got home to find a package slip. So I went straight over to the post office (I was just so happy to be soaking up the sun!) and found myself in a 20 minute line. Everyone was so upset to have to wait in line... but I wasn't about to leave. I had a package to receive! It was from Valerie, Victor's sister. It included yummy brownies, some hot cocoa, and some toiletry items.

Around 1:45 I left to go tutor Julien. Corinne asked if I'd be willing to come Saturday instead of Sunday because they had something else to do. Of course I said yes, it's my weekend of nothing, why not? I didn't know it would be as beautiful as it was... but it wasn't so bad. We did our lesson, I brought them some gingerbread cookies, and then I stayed to chitchat with the parents outside while the girls played with their new spin art (present from Santa). Lucie, the youngest, asked if I got anything from Santa... and then listed off every single thing she got:) She's so cute. I told Corinne and Luc that I'd love to babysit anytime! They said... actually we might need you in the near future, we'll let you know! (They also informed me that Lyon is NEVER like this in the winter. I guess we can thank global warming??? Do we thank global warming... hrmmm).

I walked back because it was so nice and I sort of felt bad about breaking up the happy family for someone to drive me back. I've never walked back before, so I got a little turned around, but thankfully found the tram. It wasn't that big a deal, it was fun to see kids running around blowing bubbles and playing soccer. It made me want to stay outside a little longer!

Today the weather wasn't so nice.... rain rain rain. I stayed in to make stuff for lessons, update my resume (why not right?), and get ready for this week. I got several emails from my teachers... I think I've gotten them all into a habit of exchanging ideas for the week on Sundays... which is nice. I don't have to guess or pray that they like what I've planned:) I even had one teacher ask if I'd be staying for lunch (I skipped out last week because I didn't have any food haha).

This weekend has been nice to get back into a routine and to get caught up on lesson planning.... but I'm excited to get this week rolling. I begin my museum month (hopefully going to make it to the Resistance museum and the Contemporary Art museum), I'm excited about me lessons, and I invited the girls over for a potluck lunch on Saturday! (Apparently the Brits don't use "potluck" in their vocab, so I had to explain. It's so much work being their friend, hehe jk. I'm glad they're all back!)

Reste cool:) Bonne semaine! (Have a good week)

better late than never:)

Well- in following through with my plan to do nothing of great importance today, I made gingerbread cookies. My dad brought me a mix, per request, and although I didn't get to eat any around Christmas, I got them today:) They're delicious, so thanks parents!

Obviously, this isn't going to be long, since I didn't do anything but normal, around the house things, but tomorrow I am tutoring. I will probably also bite the bullet and do more laundry... haven't gotten so much as a "We'll think about it" or "No, absolutely not" response from the woman at the mairie on the idea of giving me a washing machine. I'd ask Laurence if I could do it at her house again, but I hate feeling like I'm inconveniencing people. My mom was right, I should have asked my dad to help me do it while he was here (jk).

Reste cool:) Happy weekend to the rest of the world!

formation-ing

I thankfully woke up on time this morning (well, I did fall back asleep for another 10 minutes, but that's much better than my recent sleeping in catastrophes!) and got to my formation (in-service) 10 minutes early. Of course, nothing starts on time here, so I would have been fine if I had gotten there 30 minutes later, but oh well....

On the whole, today was ok. I felt like I got more out of the activities they showed us because I know what kinds of activities I need to keep an eye out for.... It's funny to think back to those first two in-service days. I didn't want to admit this then, but I think I kind of felt overwhelmed trying to figure out what it was that I was supposed to be teaching. We were given a confusing rubric... that some of my teachers seemed to be following and others not so much. But after getting to know my teachers and students better, I've come to understand that pretty much whatever and however I want to teach English (as long as I ok the activity with them first, which they usually do), I'm on the right track! I think for the most part my teachers are just glad to have some new/extra English input/support... so I don't try to stress myself out about it. But getting new ideas on how to use mostly visual and oral activities or games is always good... so I can't complain!

I'm back home now... ready to start my 3 day weekend, before another 3 day week:) Having a real 5 day/ 7:30-4:30 job with a 25 minute lunch break or less next year is going to be.... a big change. I better enjoy it while it lasts!

Reste cool:)

500 euros- gone!

Not to worry, it's supposed to be gone. (Just thought I'd get you hooked into reading this post, hehe, did it work?) I bought train tickets today for my upcoming trip to Italy with Victor... and that's just how much it costs to ride around Italy for 5 days (for 2 people) and to come and go through France. I even used my discount card, so can you imagine how much it would be then??? I looked up plane tickets and they were even more outrageous. We're taking 2 overnight trains, so that should be interesting.... a new European experience for me:)

I also went grocery shopping, part 2, today... and did laundry, so that contributed to my money loss for the day. I should be just fine getting through the rest of the month, though, because I don't really have big plans to go anywhere. I'm calling January: "Museum Month" because they should mostly be free for me under 25 and because there are still so many to see (resistance museum, Lyon history museum, silk museum, film museum, Tony Garnier museum, Modern art museum, etc).

Tomorrow, I'm going to my in-service. I finally made myself a real meal for dinner... so I have good leftovers for lunch tomorrow. So if nothing else, I have that to look forward to:) Just kidding, it shouldn't be that bad, right?

Reste cool:)

oh ps, I saw 2 of my students today while I was out and about. That was neat and cute. They both (different places/times) were like "Ah, Leensay! Maman, c'est Leensay!!!" (Mom, it's Lindsay!) and then they said "hello!" Yes, I'm getting through!

Jacadi a dit... (Jacques ah dee ah dee...)

Well- another unintentional grasse matinée this morning! I slept past my alarm, but 50 minutes over this time... which is much worse than 20 or 30. Must still need to catch up on sleep... But all was not lost. I got ready in record time, made it to school as the bell rang, and had good lessons all day.

With the maternelle class (Corinne's class), I worked in a small group like usual, but this time I started working with them on animal names. I was just going to use the Brown Bear, Brown Bear book to work on colors, but Corinne asked if I had anything to work on animals... and what do you know, the book is all about colorful animals! Parfait! So we did a quick little animal overview, even though I had Maxime in my group. Maxime is a challenging little bugger, he enjoys having lots of attention and making up wild stories. He's adorable to me, at least, because of his little man French voice, but he gets in trouble a lot. He also likes to make lunettes, or glasses, with the blocks... and then puts them up to his face. So cute. During our good morning song with the whole class, he sang in a really high pitched voice and Corinne had us all sing the song again so that he could participate correctly. Silly kid.

Then with my CP groups, I had them sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. It was so great and they loved it. And miraculously, it really did teach them the names of those body parts...albeit being pronounced just slightly off... and them thinking that the word "toes" meant "feet." Oh well, close enough. After we sang, we played "Simon says." The kids are familiar enough with the French version of the game, so it wasn't too too hard for them to get it...even though "Simon says" is a nonsense phrase to them. In French they say: "Jacadi a dit..." which to me seems silly. If you didn't see it written, it sounds like "Jack said, said..." because Jac-a-dit, a-dit is what you hear. Well- I was confused for a bit, but after looking it up, I comprehend why a dit, a dit was said twice. In any event, I did it all in English, so I said Simon says (not Simon says, says).

With my CE1 group, I read Froggy again. They loved it like yesterday, teachers and kids alike, hurray!

I left without eating lunch at school so I could go grocery shop and have food to eat. I must have been in a rush to just buy things I was craving, so I came home with a pineapple, kiwis, some frozen vegetable casseroles, and stuff to make tomato/mozzarella salads. I'm going to have to go back... and buy chicken or something with more substance because I've already eaten 2 kiwis, an entire cauliflower casserole thing, and a salad... and "I have hungry." Perhaps I will just make pumpkin bread my dad brought me and call it a night. It's weird to eat and make dinner for just yourself after eating with people for a week!

Tomorrow is part 1 of the laundry fest. I have at least 3 loads to do, but I'm only taking one in hopes that I get a response about the washing machine I've requested. I know it's a long shot, but one never knows until they ask. I sent my landlord, aka the lady from the mairie, and email asking if they would install a tiny washing machine for me because with as much as I pay for laundry at the laundromat, I could have bought my own washing machine and saved myself money and trips out. It's not that big of a deal, but if I do at least 10 more loads of laundry, that's almost 100 euros that could go towards a cheap 1K mini-washer. We shall see what she says!

Hope you are all having a nice week! I may be purchasing train tickets to Italia tomorrow too! The sooner I buy, hopefully the cheaper they'll be for my March trip!

Reste cool:)

Froggy Gets Dressed- A Hit!!

Well, after a day of rest... and sleeping in past my alarm 20 minutes, I got to school in time to meet Monsieur Vincent Jenac, the director of Les Marendiers. He's the teacher who has been out with the replacement all year. I did my Froggy Gets Dressed clothing lesson, which was a huge hit, even though the kids didn't quite get the punch line as quickly English speaking children would (he forgets his underwear in the story... and as they don't know that word yet, it wasn't quite as funny until they knew what it meant). However... the book is like PERFECT for teaching clothing vocabulary. So my lesson, even in the class that is usually nuts, went really well. I have a feeling the class was more well behaved because their teacher was back... but it still felt good to have a successful day right off the bat!

Otherwise- I have been fairly non-productive all day. I wrote a few postcards and wrote an article for my in-service on Thursday. I guess that's not totally unproductive, but I had hoped to go grocery shopping. I have no food, so tomorrow I will not be staying after school for lunch because I have nothing to bring except peanut butter and a brownie mix ;) But those I am saving for American craving emergencies.

A plus! More tomorrow! Reste cool!

Lindsay

ps- both my dad and steph returned home safely!

Paris 2010-2011 (hehe)

We got to Paris on Dec. 31, 2010, around noon. It was a bone chilling, wet, cold temperature... not sunny and 40 like the weather channel predicted.... but we saw a good bit of the city, even with so many other New Year's visitors and in just 2 half days!

We arrived into the Gare de Lyon (a gorgeous train station built for the 1900 World's Fair), walked to the Place de la Bastille (nothing remains from the actual Bastille prison that was stormed the 14th of July during the 1789 French Revolution), took pictures of the Colonne de Juillet (which commemorates the 3 day, 1830 Revolution and sits in place of the Bastille), and headed into the metro. We got off in the Latin Quarter, near the Saint Michel fountain and not far from Notre Dame. This area has skinny, winding streets, with row after row of cafés and brasseries... we chose one with nice Christmas decorations and beouf bourgignon on the menu and sat for a nice 3 course, moderately priced meal. I had a cheese crepe, the aforementioned beef stew, and chocolate mousse. My dad and Steph had French onion soup, my dad had turkey with cream sauce and Steph had a ham and cheese crepe. Yumz.

We left and headed towards some souvenir shops... then to the Notre Dame (which we stood in line for... it went quickly though!), headed towards the Hotel de Ville, and got back on the metro towards our hotel, with a quick pit stop at the Arch de Triomphe. We got checked in, took a little break, and got back into the crowds to see the the Roue de Paris (ferris wheel), the Obelisk, Champs Elysées all lit up, and the Louvre. The museum was closed, both New Year's Eve and New Year's day, but we did go inside to see the inverted pyramid. We got back on the metro to hang at the hotel for a little longer... and then went back out around 9:30pm to wait for fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately... due to security concerns, they were canceled, which we didn't know until the day after, but we did stand under the Eiffel Tower as the clock struck midnight, while it sparkled, drank champagne given to me by Murielle, and slightly feared for our lives as people set off their own fireworks in the crowds. We walked back... well hobbled back really, as our feet were frozen through by this point. But, it was New Year's Eve... so our spirits were high as we made our way back with the thousands of others.

After a nice defrosting and a good night's sleep, we took advantage of the metro still running free and headed towards Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur. We took the funicular up and walked over to see the artist's square (place du tertre), where artists set up easels to paint and sell their work. This area of the city used to be home to Picasso and other modern artists before they were remotely famous. This area, with the Sacre Coeur Basilica in the background is probably my favorite place in all of Paris... even when it is cold and rainy.

We waited in a long line, that also moved quickly, to see the inside of the Basilica... I've never seen so many people in there... nor I have I ever waited in line to go in, so New Year's day must be a big day to go see it! There was also a mass going on... which was cool, but made us feel a little awkward touring...

We walked down the stairs this time to get back on the metro at Anvers, passed one of the hostels Maggie, Thomas, and Heather and I stayed in by chance, and headed straight towards the train station. It was PACKED. We were starving... not having eaten anything for breakfast, so we crankily looked for a place to eat quickly... and finally got seated at the Bleu Express, the less expensive, quicker version of Le Train Bleu (which has been there since 1901). Our train ride home was very pleasant, we all nodded off a bit, and got into Lyon around 4:20pm, Jan. 1, 2011:)

We took our second funicular ride for the day to show Steph the Fourvière Basilica, which she also called a "keeper." We were able to walk around the roman ruins down the street a little bit and took the other funicular down to head back. We stopped at a café for a café (hehe) and got home around 7 so that my visitors could pack up. I called a taxi for them the night before and they left this morning at 5am. Hopefully, their flights went well and they are almost home soon!

I miss them already and had a wonderful, action packed week before going back to school. I have plenty of time to recover before going to Italy again... in March with my next and final visitor!

No tutoring today- just catch up and lesson planning. Reste cool and hope you all have a great first week of 2011!

Bonne Année!!!

Happy New Year! We are home, in Lyon, from our 2 day trip to Paris to ring in the New Year! We're tiiirrreed, and my dad and Steph have to get up in the hour of 4 tomorrow to get ready for the 5am taxi ride to the airport (gah!). So I should get to bed here, too, to help make sure they get out ok tomorrow morning (but then it is back to bed for me!).

More soon!