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!