Amy is HERE!!!!

Yay! So I picked Amy up from the airport... no problems what-so-ever. Her plane landed early so I didn't have to wait long before she was coming out of the arrival gate! We got back to my apartment and ate lunch, she's freshening up after her long trip, and then we're going grocery shopping. Sadly, I also woke up with a sore throat this morning... yuck, so we won't be doing anything toooo crazy tonight... but hopefully we'll make it downtown just for an hour or so to see Lyon at night.

Just a quick update- but there ya go!

Ice Cream Corn, the Nouveau Beaujolais, and Audrey Tautou

So much to update you on!!! I just got home from spending the night at Lindsey's house, which is why you didn't get your daily post yesterday... but now I can tell you all about my avant-premiere experience!

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? I went to school (Berliet) and did two lessons on Thanksgiving and one with the number friends (in the youngest class). Murielle, the directrice, did most of the work for the first 2 lessons, creating flashcards and laminated pictures from the book I brought... I merely read the English while she went back to reexplain with pictures and French. I had talked a little about Thanksgiving last last week (since I didn't have work last Thursday for Armistice day), and so yesterday was mostly a Thanksgiving story recap and review of key vocabulary (Pilgrims left England, didn't have much food when they got the Plymouth, Squanto saved the day and taught them how to hunt turkey, fish, and grow corn and pumpkins, Pilgrims and Native Americans enjoyed a 3 day feast, which us Americans recreate in one day). With the middle age-group, when we asked what food the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to grow, they said "cones? Like ice cream cones?" and of course laughed hysterically.... I guess corn and cone would sound similar. They did fairly well with all of it considering how random this group of vocab words seems to them... and how difficult the words are in general to pronounce. Plymouth was never really achieved... but that's ok... I can't imagine when they would need to say Plymouth any time soon... or ever for that matter.

My lesson with the number friends went over well, as it has in the other schools. Who wouldn't like numbers with faces and names??? I also taught them the songs... which are just so cute to hear them sing with me. And then I gave out stickers that had little English expressions (Good Job! Wow! Excellent! Super! Super star! Goal! Touchdown! etc.). This was very funny...I'd give out a sticker, they'd say merci, and then I'd move to the next kid. After they said merci to me, they'd turn to their teacher and say... maitresse.... what does this mean??? Lol, and then she'd explain, even though sometimes the words would be/mean the exact same thing in French (super, excellent). And then they'd go ouuuaaai!!! I'm a crowd pleaser, what can I say.

After work, I ate lunch with the teachers. Murielle invited me to a Christmas festival thingy for the last Friday before the winter break. Apparently the teachers and parents bring in holiday goodies from around the world and the kids go around and try them all. So of course they want me to bring something American. I told them I'd try to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (even though I don't think they have quick-oats in France, my mom is sending me a mix). But then, right before I left, Murielle asked me to send her the recipe so that she could try it before we made it as a class.... I was like... oops... now I have to dig up the recipe and translate it. So I did, and I threw in a translated recipe for pumpkin pie too because they kept asking what was in it (I guess it sounds so foreign to them to put pumpkin in a pie and eat it for dessert). After translating the ingredients for both recipes... I realized... there are very few Christmas cookies I can even make here! Hershey Kisses... non-existent, peanut butter sparse, crisco... non-existent, quick-oats...maybe.... Ah! I guess I'll just have to live with French pastries this year.

After a quick gchat with my mom and Vic... it was about the time I needed to head out to meet Lindsey at the tram stop. I went with her to her house to drop off my stuff to spend the night, we watched some French tv, and then went out into Lyon for a quick dinner before our advanced screening of De Vrais Mensonges (True Lies.... maybe ?) with Audrey Tautou. I realized as we were on the bus coming down the hill that I haven't really been in Lyon much, if at all, after dark... so I haven't seen how things are lit up. Thankfully I had my camera to show you some pictures. It really is a very pretty city, don't you think?

We were a little early for restaurants to be open (it was about 6:45, they open at 7ish). So we walked around a bit and decided to take respite in a grocery store.... which just so happened to be having wine tastings of the Nouveau Beaujolais. The wine comes from this region, so there are big festivals all over town and in the little towns of the Beaujolais region. Lyon residents are often quoted as saying Lyon has three rivers, the Rhone, the Saone, and the Beaujolais (as in...the wine is a-flowin'). Apparently it isn't known for being a particularly good wine, just a tradition.... but I thought it tasted alright.... but what do I know?

After our wine tasting, we went across the street to a cute little italian restaurant for pizza. Lindsey and I shared a yummy tomato/mozzarella salad and each had our own cheese pizza... that was big enough to feed 2-3 people. We both kind of made ourselves sick trying to eat it all (we didn't succeed, although I got pretty close). We figured we wouldn't be allowed to waltz into the advanced premiere with our cheese pizza... so no doggy-bags... if that's even allowed in France.

We ended up finishing our dinner at about 8:10... running to catch the metro... and running to get seats. We got pretty good seats considering... although the people by the aisle glared at us as we scooted in a little late. Had I had air to breath I would have said... oh don't glare at me, at least the lights are still on!

The movie was hysterical... I laughed out loud for 3/4 of the movie... got a little teary eyed at one moment... and thoroughly enjoyed being able to understand a movie entirely in French. (Quick recap of the story line: Audrey Tautou's character owns a hair salon, has a guy working for her that writes her a romantic anonymous love letter, she sends it to her depressed mother, who figures out it was from the guy at the salon, who figures out that Audrey sent it to her mother, who is now in love with the guy.... all while Audrey and the guy are falling in love with each other... kind of a weird love triangle story, but very funny as you might imagine... the mother's character especially was hilarious, as was Audrey's.)

Then, as if seeing a cute little film in French wasn't enough, all three main characters and the director came out for a question and answer time. The actors were very nice and funny answering questions about their roles, getting along on set, working for the director, etc. But about half-way through, I started to zone out a bit because I was really tired as it approached 11pm. They answered one more question.... and I thought, well surely they'll just escort them out, but no! They stayed down there to take pictures and sign autographs with people. We awkwardly followed Audrey around until she just about left the cinema and finally got a chance to ask for a picture. Obviously, as you can tell, she is a super tiny person... and we were really excited, haha. Then, we thought! Yes success, we can leave now. But, we saw the male actor and thought, why not, let's a get a picture. A guy had us take his picture with him, so we asked if he wouldn't mind taking our picture. The guy took the picture and said... oh it's perfect. The guy must have been drunk, because the picture is blurry... but oh well. You can still sort of see (up top).

We left the theater at about 11:15.... and the next bus didn't come until 12, so we went to see about taking the funicular and walking... but once we got there decided it would be quicker to walk back to the bus stop and take a more direct route home in the end. But... it wasn't that bad. There were tons of people out... maybe for the Nouveau Beaujolais... maybe that's just how it is on Thursday nights... but it wasn't too cold and we enjoyed looking at the sites all lit up.

We got home exhausted! I left pretty early this morning so I could get home to start cleaning the apartment for Amy's arrival tomorrow... and I'm still pooped! I see a nap in my future... among the other things I need to do!

Reste cool:)

ma lessive

Nothing too exciting to report today.... despite how pretty it is outside, I've been cooped up in my apartment all day waiting for Laurence to come pick up my laundry. This was a very exciting idea at first... I wouldn't have to pay for the laundromat... I wouldn't have to lug wet laundry down the street... So when she offered to stop by and pick it up for me, I jumped at the offer. She said she'd be by around noon... and it's now almost 3. I called and left a message, she texted back and said she'd be by around 5pm. Well... at least my laundry is still going to get done:)

And even though I'm not gallivanting around Lyon like I'd hoped to do today... I have been getting a few things done in preparation for my big Thanksgiving feast and visitor. For example, I washed all of my plates and utensils. Because I haven't needed but maybe 2 of everything (4 when Maggie, Thomas, and Heather were here), I haven't gotten around to washing all of the dishes in my apartment. Welp! Check that off the list. I also worked on my French CV (Laurence suggested I send it out to a few educational agencies to get more tutoring jobs). And now I'm going to work on more lesson plans (get 2 weeks ahead!).

Only 2 more days until Amy comes!!! Yay!

Reste cool:)

les trois petits cochons

I woke up with a renewed sense of confidence in myself (in terms of teaching English in this unique teaching position I'm in). I need to keep in mind that what I do doesn't matter, but that I do it is important (thank you Gandhi). I have 30 minutes with these students, and I may not always have complete respect or attention from the class, but I can do my best to entertain the kids with English experiences that their regular teachers wouldn't normally give them. And that's that! (Amazing what a good night's sleep can do!)

Anyway- I was at Simon Signoret today, and much to my surprise, I didn't have my regular morning talk with Pierre... so I took advantage of the extra time and made copies for another school for next week (shh, don't tell them I used their ink for another school!!!). I met with the maternelle first (Corinne's class) and worked with a small group of students on numbers and colors. They're so adorable... I would ask them what a color was in French, then say the color in English, then ask if they could tell me the color in English, and they'd give me the color in French like they were so proud of themselves for knowing the answer haha. Oh well, I'm sure it's confusing to them on the whole. I also sang my good morning song with the whole class and they're getting pretty good at mumbling along with me.

In my CP classes, we reviewed the numbers and number songs (they're actually really good at mumbling/singing along to 1 little, 2 little, 3 little pumpkins...). Then I read the Three Little Pigs with them (trois petits cochons in French). They already knew the story, so I was hoping they'd get to focus a little more on the English. They picked up on "three" and "house," but when I'd ask if they were big or little pigs, they'd say big first... I guess I didn't think about how "big" and "pig" sound alike, so they got confused. They were cute though, especially when I couldn't think of the word for straw or chin in French to help translate a page (paille and menton, fyi).

In my CE1 classes, we did basically the same thing but had time to play telephone at the end. Telephone was one of the activities they mentioned at the in-service for helping children learn to listen and pronounce words in a foreign language. It turned out to be very entertaining... I only used very short 1-3 word phrases (seven, little pumpkin, three little pigs, five, etc.). By the end it usually ended up sounding like made up words (seenin, lilly pumd, fee pids, hive), but once I repeated a few, they got better and better at taking their time to pronounce the words and come up with something they had heard before (that was English and not gibberish). I've decided it really is a good game to play... and I could change it up.... like by showing them the picture along with telling them the word or just showing a picture and they have to come up with the vocabulary to pass along or they can find the right picture that corresponds to the thing they hear instead of having to pronounce it at the end.... the possibilities are endless:)

So, all in all, a really good day! Granted, most of my classes were missing several students because today is the last day of Ramadan.... giving me class sizes of 12-18 instead of 25-30, but... I'll just go ahead and attribute it to my fantastic lesson planning skills!

Speaking of lesson plans, I'm getting really excited for all of my Thanksgiving lessons. With this school, I'm going to explain Thanksgiving with pictures I copied from the books my mom sent and then have them make hand print turkeys to put on thank you cards to give to their parents. With Les Marendiers, I'm going to read the books I got from my mom to help explain Thanksgiving, and either have them organize pictures from the story in the right order (for the older kids) or color by numbers a turkey to review their colors in English. With the Berliet school, we're doing some of that stuff this week and next week we are making place mats (Amy's coming in to help). The mats will say Happy Thanksgiving and they'll draw thanksgiving pictures and write what they are thankful for... plus Murielle is going to take pictures of Amy and I working with the kids so that later she can put the real pictures on the place mats before she laminates them and gives them to the kids to remember the day! She's so great to work with:)

Bon mardi a tous! (Happy Tuesday to all!)

I miss having my own class

Once again... it was super awkward when I went in to school (Mondays I'm at Les Marendiers). I don't know why, maybe it's just because I'm there first thing Monday morning and they haven't had time to talk amongst themselves... but unlike at the other schools, where Murielle the directrice, and Pierre the director both greet meet and hold a conversation before I get started, I just sort of get my stuff out in silence and go to my first class.

My first class is with the longterm substitute. I thought after what happened last week, they'd remember that I mean business and not to be rude... but it turns out they forgot. They weren't quite so rude as they were just annoyingly noisy... between everything I said or question I asked, they'd make a comment or talk amongst themselves... it was annoying. And the teacher's soul method of getting them to quiet down is to say shh, which obviously still isn't working. I'm being observed at this school next week, so I decided I'd teach the class one little trick that sometimes works... I clapped my hands twice and had them repeat (this gets there attention and makes them focus on me long enough to realize I have something to say). It would work for the most part... except for the kid who kept clapping afterwards. It's just so frustrating because I'm only here for 30 minutes... how am I supposed to be able to gain any control of the class???

In the third class, with Sabine, her class is less chaotic, but still difficult. As soon as Sabine steps out- all hell breaks loose. The kids are cute, but can still be rude. Sometimes I have flashbacks to when I used to substitute.... you're in a class full of kids, whose names you don't know (I maybe know 1-2 in each class), whose personalities and abilities you don't know, and you don't really know the regular behavior system. I'm probably making it sound way worse than it is.... I know the kids are learning what I'm teaching (colors for this week), but I miss having a class of my own... When you're with your own class, you set the rules, you set the tone, you know your kids, you learn how to solve problems, etc. But tant pis, this is my job for now... and I need to figure out how to do it to the best of my ability:)

Anyway... sorry for my internal reflections.... after my next three classes, that went fairly well, I went out into the pouring rain to get my lunch at the cantine (have I mentioned that the cantine is always in its own building?). It was actually a very yummy lunch, scalloped potatoes and a stew with pork (plus baguette, cheese, yogurt, and fruit). And while we ate, I not only understood the teacher's lounge conversation, but I added something to most topics:) I even brought up that I'm going to see Audrey Tautou on Thursday and some of the teachers were like... NO WAY!!!! At the end, I got all of their email addresses so that planning would be a little easier. I left feeling accomplished... if not with gaining control of my classes, certainly in my ability to speak French and to feel like "one of the gang."

After school was over, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.... now I'm home to plan, plan, plan for next week. I want to make sure I have everything set up before Amy comes!!!

Reste cool:)

A Cours Particulier

Before I explain what my title means, I have something to say: Can someone please turn off the wind? It's a little much. Thanks. (All last night the wind kept me up because it was howling! This morning I decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to walk to the laundromat with my over-flowing laundry bags because the wind was STILL crazy. And when I went to wait for the bus, I have never felt the wind whip around like it did today! Gah!)

Around 1:30pm, I left for my first meeting with Julien (the son of a teacher I work with at the Simon Signoret school, she's the teacher in the maternelle). Corinne, the teacher, thought it would be a good idea to have desert first to meet and greet before I gave any real English lessons. So... I thought, this won't be too bad, they're giving me desert!

Stupidly, I didn't bring a map or write down any directions from the internet. All I knew was the house address, cross street, and which bus stop to get off at.... thankfully, I got to the bus stop early, and the bus got there early, so I was in the neighborhood of their house with 10 minutes to spare. I walked around aimlessly until I saw the cross street she wrote down and found the grande maison blanche (big white house). I knew I was at the right house because 2 little girls come running out saying in French, "Do you speak English???" And then Corinne came out to unlock the gate (all the houses are gated in this area... more to designate property than security, but I guess it serves a duel purpose).

The whole family came out to greet me, Corinne's husband, her 2 daughters, and her son Julien. They were so funny... it was like they had been waiting for me all day. The little girls were super excited, asking if they were going to get lessons in English too. The dad was falling over himself asking what I'd like to drink and where I'd like to sit. The desert was already all set out... on beautiful china. The desert itself was beautifully prepared... a delicious piece of chocolate cake with what kind of reminded me of caramel rock candy on a stick sticking out of the top and a small bowl of creme anglaise and some sort of poached sugary egg white with caramel drizzled on top (they called the white stuff an island... I still haven't figured out what it really was, but it was GOOD). The kids got to drink sparkling cider and the adults had coffee with sugar out of a cute little china sugar dish. I felt like the queen!

While we ate, they asked me questions about where I lived and how I was finding the job. We talked about tv shows they watched in French, but come from America (Corinne finally gave me an explanation for why so many tv shows in France are actually American... and it's because after WWII, part of the Marshall plan was to import American films and tv series to Europe because the European countries were too poor to produce such luxuries... and ever since then they have continued to have American tv shows, dubbed in French, of course). I felt like the French was sort of a shock to my system because it was spoken so fast, especially with the little girls...and some stuff just got lost in translation... but on the whole... I thought it went pretty well.

Then Corinne asked if Julien would show me the material he's been working on (all the "W" questions and responses)... and then said... would you like to give your first lesson right now? I was like, uh... why not! So they shooed the little girls away, cleaned up the desert, and we got to work. Apparently, Julien is in the advanced language section at school, taking not one, but two foreign languages. His main foreign language is German, his second is English. He showed me his last few English tests and he super failed both. So I guess I understand why his mom was so excited to have me come tutor him. But once we got working, I really didn't think he was that bad. He would take a minute to respond sometimes... or he'd say, "Can you repeat please?" or I'd reform the question with more hand gestures. I think for the most part he just lacks the confidence.... most times he'd say this is going to be wrong, but it was exactly right. When we went over his tests... you could see where he had written something, but second guessed himself and got it wrong. He was very motivated and patient with my French translations... In the end, I'm going to get just as much out of tutoring him because I'm not as afraid to ask how to say something and he enjoys correcting me after I've corrected him haha.

After our lesson, which seemed to fly by, I went upstairs to see the little sisters' rooms (I had to give them some attention too lol). Corinne paid me my 12 euros, we planned for our next lesson (in 2 weeks after Amy leaves), I awkwardly shook Julien's hand (they're not a big hand shaking country, but I didn't know how appropriate the double cheek kiss would be) and I was on my way. I felt bad when I got to my bus because I realized I never said thank you for such a delicious desert... so I emailed Corinne right when I got home.

Now it's time to get ready for my little ones at the Les Marendiers school tomorrow!

Bon dimanche (Have a good Sunday!)

oh and a cours particulier is a private lesson...or like tutoring...

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