I love my awesome colleagues

Bon après-midi! It's another gorgeous spring day here with a bright blue sky and flowering trees! I had a pretty uneventful teaching morning.... although one teacher I work with has lost her voice, so that was an interesting class. With all of my classes, we played games with speaking opportunities and sang old songs from previous lessons. In Corinne's pre-k class, I worked with a group on animals and colors... and bribed them with auto-collants (stickers) if they were "très très sage" (very very good). But I have to say, they were the most attentive with this activity than with any of the others I've ever done! The book I'm reading is also pretty cool, especially for kids this age, so that could be it too;) In one of my other classes, a little girl told me she saw me riding bikes with my family on Sunday, which I thought was cute. I guess they are my French surrogate family :)

During the lunch break, I went to Ikea with Elise and Eve (who's lost her voice). Nathalie had a meeting during lunch or else she would have joined us too. We walked around the store until we got to the dining room area. I guess I don't remember what the Ikea in our area is like, but this one is like a maze.... you can only go in one direction through the layout of the store.... which kind of made me feel like a rat searching for cheese. Once we found our "cheese," we had a nice sit down meal. I had chicken, frites (french fries), salad, and a yogurt. They laughed at me for having a very French, well-balanced meal. They both skipped the yogurt and salad for a big tart (which luckily they let me taste). We went through the kids section after lunch, which they were most interested in. They had shopping to do for friends who are about to have babies... they do have some really cute toys and furniture... but I didn't really have a reason to buy anything so I just enjoyed their company!

After Ikea, they walked over to SFR with me to figure out how to close my phone/internet account. They gave us a phone number to call and Elise and Eve said they'd help call with me. We got back to school, they called the number using the school phone (which Pierre gladly handed over) and wrote down everything I need to do. What wonderful colleagues, right?

So- it sounds like I send a letter to SFR saying the date I want my phone line disconnected (and when I want my internet to stop). They send me a box for my neufbox equipment (internet box and cables) whenever the phone line is disconnected and I ship it to them when I can. I have to pay 45 euros to disconnect the line, which is annoying, as I paid some similar amount to connect the line just 6.5 months ago. So I'm hoping this means that come April 27, I will still have internet access!

I also got an email today from the woman at my bank who told me I have to do something similar- write a letter saying the date I want the account closed. She told me I'd only be able to get my money via check made out in euros though.... so I don't know about that.... but at least that line of communication has started with my bank! I feel much less stressed about these two loose ends that need to be tied up before I leave.

Time to make some good ol' American mac n' cheese for dinner:)

Reste cool!

If only I ruled the universe....

Well.... that was one way to spend 3 and half hours of my time. If I were queen of the universe, inefficient systems like this would not exist. (This delicious picture displays my reward to myself when the nightmare was over. I thought I'd add it to the top to lure you in so you'd have some motivation to read all the way to the bottom.) Here is what happened:

This morning I went into Lyon to go to the Rhone area prefecture (which deals with visas, passports, and driver's licenses). On Wednesday, when I was there around noon, they told me that although the office opens at 9am, I would be too late if I got there at 9... and they were right. Anticipating a long line, I arrived at the prefecture an hour and 10 minutes early (7:50am). Too my surprise, the line was probably a good 200-300 people long already (but it was hard to tell as people sort of lined up in rows of 5-7 people making it look more like a mob than a line). I got in line, telling myself at least at 9 the line would start to move and I'd get to wait inside and hopefully sit down.

By 9, I was probably about the middle of the line. The line started to move, slowly, especially after someone came out to separate the heard (driver's licenses upstairs, visas stay in line). It was probably 10:15 before I even reached the gates at the front, and 10:45 before I was inside. So... from 7:50-10:45, I stood in line, reading a book. For some reason, the beginners of the line didn't line up against the wall... we were in the middle of the sidewalk about 3 feet from the wall of the building. I was afraid if I went to lean on it for a minute, I'd lose my spot. And, people were cutting in line like nobody's business, so I wanted to make sure I stood my ground.

By the time we got inside, I had made friends with the 2 guys behind me (and by friends I mean accomplices in keeping cutters out of our part of the line and waving away smoke from the jerks who thought it was ok to smoke 2 feet away from others in line). Both guys were in line for a renouvellement (or a visa renewal). One was from Columbia and he's doing some sort of nuclear engineering in France. Apparently it is very, very hard to maintain temporary residency in France if you are from Columbia. He said the last time it took him an entire year before the process went through, even though he was working for and hired by a French company. The other guy had a similar story, but he was from a French speaking country in Africa, so it wasn't quite as hard to stay as for the Columbian. He even had some sort of special letter that was hopefully going to get him through quicker. Both guys said that once you get to the front of the line, you explain your situation, show your documents, and if you have everything, you take a ticket. Then, you wait several more hours before they call you up. The guy from Africa said that the Paris office is even worse. The people who were at the front of the line today in Lyon probably got here at 4am (according to him), but people in Paris basically start lining up the night before and camp out over night in order to make the cut. I thought, mon dieu, I'm glad I'm not in Paris!

Sure enough, once we were in inside, I noticed that there were probably only about 50 people behind me waiting in line. The others had been sent away (gasp), which means, had I actually gotten here at 9, I would have been sent home. By 11:15, I was up next and I went to explain my case. I started out with, Hi, I'm an American, living and working here as an English Teaching Assistant (I figured if this part of the country was more American friendly, I ought to go ahead and play that card first). The man behind the glass took my passport and said... err usually it's too late to do this for you now... and then made a phone call. After about 10 minutes on the phone, he handed my passport back to me and said, the stamp you received at the immigration office is good until May. If you wish to live here past the end of May, you must come back with a renewal of contract form. I was like.... so you're saying I don't need anything until May. He said correct. I said, now really, I'm good until May. I can live here without anything else, even though my visa expires in January. He said, Forget about your visa. That was just to get you here. You have the OFII stamp which is what matters now and it is good until May. I was like, oh huh. Thanks.

I left, thoroughly happy that I would not have to wait in line any longer... but as I got outside and started walking away, I realized I had just gotten up super early for nothing, wasted more than 3 hours of my life, standing in line for nothing, and all after asking 2 people who should have known to tell me I didn't need to stand in line in the first place (one being the contact person at the French Embassy in the US, the other being the guy from the prefecture in Lyon). AH!

But- it wasn't a total waste. Because my legs were stiff from standing so long, I walked down the river and happened upon the big flower and fountain. I think I've posted a picture of it before, but if not, here's another one. I decided that what I needed what a pick-me-up... a reminder that I'm glad to be here, not bitterly angry at such an inefficient bureaucracy (why, why, oh why do they not make people sign up for times online or something more civilized???). So, I stopped for a pink praline brioche and a cup of hot chocolate. Both delicious. The brioche was by far the biggest one I've had, and one of the sweetest, but it didn't stop me from devouring it after being in that long, horrible line. (The picture at the top is the brioche turned upside down to show all the gooey yummy pink praline goodness.)

Now I'm home... it's a gloomy day and I'm not really in the mood for anything but maybe a cup of tea (I know, weird right? I am not a tea drinker, but the French mid-morning break has forced me to enjoy it because they always ask if I want some and it's hard to say no) and a movie. Tomorrow will be a better day. I'm doing more laundry (which isn't that exciting) and then going to the Tony Garnier museum with my friend Hannah.

Hope you all have better Fridays than I did!

Reste cool:)

Ah la paperasse

La paperasse, or wretched papers or paperwork (according to wordreference.com... I thought "wretched papers" was a fitting definition) is driving me crazy!

This morning, I woke up early to make copies of a few important documents at the post office (they have photocopiers at every post office), and then went to renew my TCL metro pass in Lyon (which only took 20 minutes this time around, it took me 45 minutes the last time!). Since I was done a little early, I got myself an apple pastry and waited for the Brits who were meeting me at the train station office at 11:30. Hannah, Caroline, and I bought our train tickets to Colmar... I also got Lindsey's tickets and Helen is meeting us in Colmar taking a different train. We are going the first weekend of December because it is supposed to have excellent Christmas decorations and Christmas markets.. much like in Strasbourg, which I'm also going to with my friend Amy. (In case you're interested in learning more about Colmar before my trip... although I'm sure to post something about it after I go... http://www.colmar.fr/ this website is in French, but for those non-French speakers, you can watch the photos change at the top of the site to get an idea of what it looks like... it's pretty cute I have to say... or you can go to this website that shows the Christmas markets, which is why we are going http://www.noel-colmar.com/index.php?lang=en).

After buying tickets and a quick catch up with Hannah and Caroline, I headed off to find the prefecture for renewing my carte de sejour (or some sort of visa I need to continue working here after mine expires in January). Of course when I got there I had no idea where to go. They have little signs directing you different places, and the first floor was a mad house, so I thought maybe going upstairs might be easier to find an answer for where I needed to go. Of course, they sent me back downstairs. I waited in line to speak to someone, but realized I was in a line for drivers licenses. There was a man who seemed to know what was going on talking to another guy... so I waited until they were done to ask if he could tell me where I needed to be.

Well, obviously, I was there much too late to wait in line. (I was there 3 hours before closing, mind you.) He (I'm pretty sure "he" was a guy that was told to stand at the front and direct people to where they needed to go) told me I'd need to get here first thing in the morning if I wanted to get in. They open at 9am, but have people waiting in a long line before then. I have to work tomorrow, so I asked if I could come back Friday and he said sure, but there will be beaucoup de monde ce jour (there will be a million people here). Apparently, Wednesdays and Fridays are the worst days to come... and oh great, my days off are... Wednesdays and Fridays. But, then again, I do have nothing to do on those days, so I guess spending my day in a line isn't really that big a deal, just annoying.

I got all the information I needed from the guy and he told me "Courage!" which basically means "hang in there!" Someone else listening in was like, "psh, you're American, you won't have any trouble." I really hope so... I'd really like to have to wait in this line only once...

I came home real quick because I forgot my map of Saint-Priest, which is where the Social Security office is located (well the one closest to me). This was a much more pleasant experience, for the most part. When I got to the office (right across the street from my laundromat), I got a ticket, waited for a while, was called up... told to go to the back, waited a while, was called up... and then the lady was like.... wait what? You get free benefits for being an assistant? I don't even know what I need from you. So she basically made a copy of every document I came with (my birth certificate, my contract, my medical forms, my passport, my visa, etc. etc.) She stapled it all together and said, ok I guess we'll let you know if we need anything else! And then I left... and realized I had left an original document with her instead of a copy. And of course, for my carte de sejour, I MUST have all original copies. So I waited in line some more and poked my head in after a while to say... I left the original, can we swap? The lady was like, haha, oh yes, you might want that. (Side note: this nice woman is like the 10th French person to tell me, "Ah, America is the dream for us French," after she learned that I was from les Etats-Unis.... how funny that everyone thinks the French hate Americans).

After getting back my original document, I went to the grocery store. I realized that I had been passing a huge grocery store right by my apartment for weeks now and not even noticing it. It's sort of behind a construction site, so that's why... but in any event... it was pretty nice. And I got quenelles to make for dinner, they were delicious.

Welp, I better get ready for my first day back to school after the vacation. Oddly enough, I'm still doing Halloween with 2 of my classes, numbers 1-10 with another.

Hope you're having a good week! Miss you all!

Reste cool:)

Busy Time Off

After such a go-go-go first week, I've been enjoying my second week of time off. I am finally caught up on sleep and trying very hard to fight off a cold that I think is creeping up on me. I have sent in the research paper I'm working on with a professor (yes, I am out of college, but somehow I'm still working on this thing to get it published, I thought it was a good idea at the time). I have made my pumpkin bread (yumz) and it's almost an acceptable time to make dinner.

I heard back from the French consulate contact and I need to go renew my visa 2 months before it expires (aka, this Saturday will be 2 months). She said that this was the fault of the consulate and usually I shouldn't have to go through these extra steps, but now I just have to suck it up and take care of it. So I am planning on going to the prefecture tomorrow afternoon, by myself this go around. Laurence said if I couldn't get it straitened out tomorrow, she'd help me on Friday. I also got an email from another admin... I'm not sure what this person's title is, but in any event, I also need to go to the Social Security office tomorrow (or Thursday) so that I have health care coverage.

And, on top of these 2 important errands, I need to go to the Lyon Transportation office to renew my monthly metro pass and then I'm meeting up with the British girls to buy mine and Lindsey's tickets to Colmar (don't worry, she's paying me back, she's just out of town right now with her dad). We're all going on December 4th to the Christmas markets in Colmar, France (near Strasbourg and the German border) for a day trip. We're getting tickets now before they're all gone and the prices go up because it's such a popular time to go!

But besides all this... I will continue to post more pictures on facebook, write a blog post about Tours since I never got around to doing so, and catch up on all the other household chores I've put off!

Hope you're having an excellent election day! Don't forget to vote!

Reste Cool:)

OFII Appointment and Lyon with Friends!

After a very long day yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, I was very happy to sleep in my own bed last night (well, the one I have in France), and get real sleep. But of course, because I was nervous about my immigration appointment (doctor's appointment included in order to be signed off that I'm healthy enough to stay here), I got up a little tooo early... so I'm welcoming sleep again:)

Anyway, we got up and out of the apartment by 11am so I could show off the Saint-Priest castle, take the tram into Lyon, and point Maggie, Thomas, and Heather in the direction of the office of Tourism. I got to my appointment.... about an hour early, hoping I'd be able to scoot in a little early, but of course they were closed for lunch from 12-1:30. Why didn't I guess they'd be off for their long lunch break???

I went to grab a bite to eat (mozzarella panini), and waited in line with 50 other people who must have also been given a 1:30 appointment time (well, 13h30). Miraculously, and with the help of another English assistant, we went straight upstairs (as opposed to meeting the receptionist) and were first in line. I was in and out in under an hour! On the downside, although I was given my OFII stamp (office of Immigration and Integration), they notified me that I'd need to renew my visa and stamp come January as my visa extends only until Jan. 2011. I just assumed that was something everyone had to do, but after asking Lindsey about her visa, of course she tells me hers extends until Sept. 2011. So now I'm all freaked out that the French consulate in DC screwed up my visa and put the wrong dates on it.... and I stupidly just went along with it without checking before I left! Oh well, tant pis.... for now.

I found mes amis at the office of tourism and helped them find a place to eat. Then we were off on a grand tour of Lyon (my father, the tour guide extraordinaire, would have been proud!). I showed them Saint-Nizier (the cathedral built throughout the 14th-16th centuries), Place des Terraux and my favorite horse fountain, Hotel de Ville, the Soane river bridges with views of Croix-Rousse, crossed over to Vieux Lyon to see St. Jean (which unfortunately is all covered up by scaffolding at the moment, but we did go inside), up the funiculaire to Fourviere hill, went inside the Basilica, came back down the funicular, onto the metro, to the tram, and to a grocery store to buy a few things for our French feast (well... sort of... wine, cheese, and baguettes were involved).

Tomorrow, the plan is to get up earlish to go to Annecy (near Chambery in the Alps). I'm very excited. This place looks beautiful! Like Chambery, but with a lake! Then, Friday, we are touring Lyon some more, and Saturday we're back up to Paris! Busy, busy, busy!!!

Here are a few pictures from our day. The weather has been very pleasant, as you can tell! Upper 50's and SUNSHINE! I still haven't posted pictures from Paris, so I guess I'll just have to do one long post when I get back on Sunday night from both days in Paris:)

Reste cool:)