shop til you drop and valentine's day goodies

Yesterday after school I went to the mall at Part-Dieu. You may have heard me talk about Part-Dieu's train station which is the one that I can get to fairly easily on the bus. There is a huge mall/movie theater across the street from this train station. This area of Lyon is not one I've taken many pictures of because it's got fairly new buildings and architecture, as opposed to the more interesting roman empire/middle ages/renaissance/17th-19th century architecture of the other areas of town. The mall is 4 floors of every store one can think of; I know I only came close to getting through half of it. I was on a shoe/clothes-for-my-trip-to-Italy shopping mission... and 3 hours later, I semi-successfully came out with a dress and 2 shirts... no shoes:(

I had a fun school day... In Corinne's class, I continued teaching animal names. I've decided that if I put out books and flashcards on a table, they're more likely to talk about the subject naturally as opposed to me making them sit through a story or play a little game. They would pick up a card and talk about the animal in French and I'd sort of mention the English word and they'd turn to their friend and say what I just said. It was pretty cute. And although I think I've only successfully taught them the word for dog.... and maybe sheep, I feel like that's a pretty good start for 4 and 5 year olds who are still learning French, their first (or even second) language at school.

In my CP classes I got to work with half of the group which was awesome. It made me realize how far I've come in my French language skills because I'm able to do a lesson and behavior management successfully... at least with 6 year olds:) In my CE1 classes, I did a neat lesson with colors and emotions and the kids got to act out certain things like jealousy and anger.

I had brought in a little plate of brownies and other Valentine's Day candy goodies from my package. I figured I should share so that I don't force myself to eat it all before Valentine's day;) (Wouldn't have to force much hehe). So during the break, my favorite teachers hung out with me in the lounge and all had a little tasting of reese's peanut butter hearts, red hots, and brownies. They looooved it all. They were shocked at how moist the brownies were, intrigued by the cinnamon tasting candies, and amazingly pleased with the peanut butter candy (as the French usually scoff at the mention of peanut butter). They don't celebrate Valentine's day at school like we do, so it's been fun to talk about with them!

Today I went down the street to do my laundry and cleaned up my apartment. I'm about to make heart cookies to share with teachers at school tomorrow. I know I could have gone downtown and done something cultural today- that would have probably been more interesting for you to read.... but sometimes I just need moments of normalcy. I don't want to go a whole 7 months without doing things that I would normally like to do (like baking Valentine's Day cookies), just because I'm in France. And to be honest, sharing American goodies with my French friends is a very cultural experience... I always think back to one of my earlier blog posts about why I'm here... I'm hear to exchange cultures and to create relationships with people from a different culture. And the museums will still be there in March and April. I'm not done here yet! So if I want to spend extra time creating thorough lessons and making cookies to share, I should!

Anywho- hope you're all having a nice week!

Reste cool:)

packages- je t'aime

I have had an awesome day:) Despite waking up an hour late for work (yes, I know.... don't I do this every Monday???), I made the bus, had a great lesson with Sabine, and tried some weird tasting wine at lunch. Apparently they were actually serious about someone bringing in wine every Monday for me to try. This one was called a MacVin.... no relation to MacDonald's.... and I think there was speak of it being made with rum? I didn't care for it.... a little too strong for my likings when paired with meat, rice, radishes, and cheese (actually a pretty good lunch today). I had a kiwi for dessert.

After work, I stopped by the post office to pick up a package from my parents (got the slip Saturday afternoon after the post office was already closed!). It was 14 pounds of wonderful:) I unpacked it, got very excited about the Valentine's day candy+, and made a grocery shopping list so that I could focus on not eating it all, hehe. I went to the Carrefour (my neighborhood supermarket, translated as crossroads), and spent my time choosing my week's groceries wisely:)

This evening I got to talk to Victor, my sister, my mom and more.... so that was a highlight as well. I love not being sick- I have so much energy to do everything I want to do! Now- must go to sleep and set 3 alarms for tomorrow. I vow that I shant wake up late again while I'm in FrancE!!!!

Reste cool:)

lovely sunday

Although I am not celebrating Super Bowl Sunday (not that I usually do much anyway), I still had a very nice day. I went over to Corinne's to tutor Julien. I brought brownies, which we tasted after we went for a little family walk. I played freeze tag with the girls and had some left over birthday cake from Lucie's party (which was yesterday). She turned 6 and was very proud to tell me so when I got there. After our little desert tasting, I sat and chatted with Luc and Corinne who are going to give me another babysitting go for Valentine's Day (hurray!). Luc drove me home because Corinne is still feeling under the weather (she got the flu right after me.... this horrible thing is everywhere!).

Have fun to all you football fans (American football that is!). Time for me to get to bed. Can't be late for the important lesson I'm giving on family members!

Reste cool:)

sun, shopping, and stuttering kings

I tried blogging this morning after sleeping in and cleaning my apartment.... but it was just too beautiful outside to sit inside! I left around 1:30 to go into Lyon to meet up with Hannah and her friend Mia. They were going to see the King's Speech at 4:20, so I had some time to kill. I decided I'd take another look at some shops while the sales were still going on...try to find some birthday presents or something. It took me over an hour to get into Lyon.... the tram was packed with lots of families with kids and bikes.... so I guess it just took longer with so many people getting on and off at each stop.

Once I got off and walked through Rue de Victor Hugo... I thought my goodness! I guess I wasn't the only one who felt cooped up this week. There were loads of people out! I went into a few stores, but it was just too packed to really look. I eventually met up with Hannah and Mia and we got our seats early for the movie (which was a good thing as it was packed too!). The movie was sooo good.... very interesting, funny at times, but also heart warming and uplifting. I highly recommend it! (It's about George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father, who had a stutter, but lead England throughout WWII). After the movie, we went to the crêperie I went to with Lindsey and Amy back in November. I had the crêpe tatin (warm caramelized apples with whipped cream, yumz). I took a picture to show you! (It's been so long since I posted a picture!!!)

Anywayz- reste cool. Going to go chat with me mum now. I'm tutoring tomorrow... but not doing much else accept readying for the week ahead!

"lesson planning" (semi-kidnapping)

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from a teacher, Sabine, who works at my Monday school. She was calling to tell me that she's being observed by the inspecteur... or the guy in charge of the Saint-Priest district. Apparently he works in Laurence's office, although I've never seen him there... and he is a step above the pedagogical advisors. In any event, teachers are observed every 3 years and it's a pretty big deal when it happens. She didn't know she was being observed until a few days ago- and so before the weekend got under way, she wanted to know if we could get together to plan my lesson that I do first thing in her classroom Monday morning. Of course I agreed and she said she'd be by to pick me up at 3:30.

Earlier in the day, I went down to do my laundry. Although I was pretty winded by the time I got to the laundromat, I made it a-ok. I even stuck my laundry in the washer and went to get myself a little pastry as a reward for my efforts. I ordered a chocolate croissant, which is different than a pain au chocolat or what I usually get for breakfast.... a chocolate croissant is a regular croissant laced with milk chocolate on the inside and dipped in chocolate on the ends. It was actually my first tasting... and it was heavenly. I skipped the drying process because all dryers were in use.... and huffed up my 5 flights of stairs with my wet laundry.

I had told myself I needed to go to my Tuesday school just to use the computers/printer to do lesson plans anyway when Sabine called. She actually picked me up from there at 3:45ish.... and soon after she told me she needed to stop by the library first. So we went there.... she returned some books and looked for a few others.... About 4:30, we made it to the school where she needed to arrange her classroom for Monday morning. She works at mi-temps, so only 2 days a week. Tuesdays and Fridays there is another teacher in her classroom.... and in order for the room to be presentable for her observation on Monday, she needed to come in Friday afternoon. I sorta just hung around... talked to the other teachers who asked if I had recovered from la grippe. It was actually kind of nice to see them after being at home alone all week.

We eventually left the school, once Sabine had arranged the room and picked up some papers to grade. We drove to her house, which is in a little village called Genas, not far from Saint-Priest. It's definitely a little bit more in the country with bigger houses than Saint-Priest... and therefore not as well connected to public transportation, but it looked like a cute place to live. Sabine has a very pretty house and 5 kids- 4 girls and 1 boy. 2 are from a previous marriage on her end, 2 are from a previous marriage on the husband's side... and they have a little 2 year old girl named Lisa.

When we first got there, the husband, Philippe came out of the house on his way to pick up Lisa from the day care center just a few blocks down the street. They asked if I wanted to go too... to see what a real day care center in France was like. So we walked down the street, passing the brand new elementary school (named the Nelson Mandela school) right next to the brand new and very nice day care facility. The parents had to put on these little shoe coverings like they were at a hospital before going into the play area. It was fairly hilarious to see all these fashionable moms and dads come in and put on these little booties over their high heels and boots. LOL. (Side story: While I was there, another teacher from my Monday school came in and was like... Lindsay? What are you doing here? I was like... oh I'm just here with Sabine. I bet it was really odd to see me there.)

Once we had Lisa (who had spots all over her from her recent bout with Chicken Pox), we came back to the house where I met one of the older daughters. I guess it is a form of manners to do the double cheek kiss to new comers because the children and the husband did it to me.... but it always throws me off. We all sat and had a cup of tea.... and eventually Sabine and I got to work (being interrupted a few times with the kids being picked up to spend the weekend with their other parents).

We got all planned... and it was nice to talk and lesson plan with someone who isn't afraid of English. We spoke mostly in French and she kindly told me that my French has improved so much since I've been here. The reason she speaks and is so comfortable with English, though, is because she did the same thing I'm doing in England, she lived in Costa Rica for a period of time teaching English, and she's been to visit the US several times. She also used to only teach English before they mandated that all teachers teach English as regular classroom subject. She's by the most eager to teach English on her own and often says that she wishes her colleagues would try to speak more English with me to improve for themselves so that they could eventually have lunch time conversations in English. Perhaps I will give them a push and proclaim that I've had enough speaking French and that I would like to only speak in English now....

Anywho, Sabine invited me to stay for dinner with Philippe and Lisa. With the house mostly empty, I think they thought it would be fun to entertain me for the evening. They made kirs and set out little crackers for a snack. After we sat and chatted for a bit, they told me they didn't have anything to make for dinner and would be going out, obviously I'd be coming too. We went to a little restaurant connected to a hotel that was Italian. It wasn't the best food I've had in France, but it was still good and free meal so I won't complain! They were such a cute little couple to chat with.... leaving in turns to take Lisa to the bathroom because she is already potty training.

After dinner, they drove me home.... and I got back about 11:30pm. This explains why I haven't had much time to blog! It was a nice evening, just very unexpected... as I thought I'd lesson plan for an hour or two in the afternoon and be back home before 5. Oh well- I think I needed a good night out... and I learned a new term of endearment: puce which means flea.... Sabine kept calling her daughter "ma puce, ma puce..." Ahh my little flea:)

mieux, but not up to speed

The expression to feel better in French is "aller mieux" or "to go better." I guess I go better today, but not all the way. I'm so tired! I feel like I did when I had mono.... just completely wiped of energy. I slept last night for 12 hours.... got up this morning, did a little cleaning/ate lunch and then was ready for a 2 hour nap. And I'm still feeling like I could sleep more. I feel.... woozy. I guess I just need to take it slow, but it's so frustrating! And I have so much laundry to do! Maybe it will get done Friday....

Hope you are all doing well! Laurence asked me how I was doing today and mentioned that I'd need to make up my hours or take a reduction in my pay. However.... due to an in-service day next week, I only need to make up 6 hours... and since I've been giving extra lessons, I don't actually need to make up any time. So- I guess I shouldn't feel so guilty for emailing all my teachers for tomorrow and saying I'm not coming.... :/

Reste cool!

Going to the Doctor... in France

I was still feeling pretty pathetic this morning... so I emailed Laurence and told her I'd like to go to the doctor if she was available today. I called her a little later and she said she'd call the doctor's office I found online. She emailed me right back saying that I had an appointment for 2:00 this afternoon. She came by to pick me up a few minutes before and the doctor's office was just down the street. She was shocked at how close it was.... so I guess when you need to find the nearest doctor, google is your friend.

We went into the office... there was no sort of receptionist, just a waiting room. We sat down across from a little kid and his dad. The doctor came by and had them go in first. They were done in 10 minutes and he called us in. He shook our hands and had us sit down at his desk. He asked to see my carte vitale, my French health insurance card.... but I haven't been sent mine yet. (Laurence vouched for me that I worked for the schools and that I just hadn't received my card yet.) He asked what was wrong with me... a couple of other questions (allergies, date of birth), and then had me lay down on the bed in the same room as his office. He listened to me breath, took my blood pressure, and announced that I had la grippe, or the flu. I thought.... alrighty then- just what we thought. He prescribed me some ibuprofen, paracetamol, cough syrup that tastes like butterscotch, something for my tummy, and some sort of nose spray that disinfects your sinuses. He told me to lay off the ibuprofen because that's what has upset my stomach... only take it at meal times and if absolutely necessary. I paid for my visit, 23 euros, and we were on our way.

Laurence took me grocery shopping... which was very nice of her to do. I felt a little woozy walking around the store, but got a few things I needed (paper towels, tissues, and juice!). After shopping, she took me to the pharmacy to pick up the meds I needed. For some reason they gave me 2 or 3 of everything, so I guess I'll be set for the rest of the year. In total, for 8 different boxes of medicine, I paid 19 euros!

When we got back to my apartment, Laurence walked me up with my groceries and showed me what to do with the paperwork to get reimbursed for the doctor's visit and the medicine. Had I had my carte vitale, I know the doctor's visit would have been free and the medicine would have been reimbursed too. But.... at the end of the day, not too bad as far as not really being insured yet!

I am feeling much better... just very tired. The doctor told me to stay home all week, so I guess I will unless I'm feeling back to normal Thursday. It's so odd- all of my teachers have said, stay home stay home! Feel better! Get rid of your germs soon! So I guess if you're sick, they don't want you to come back until you're back to normal. I'm ok with that.

Okie dokie, time to go take a cat nap. Miss you all!

Reste cool:)