we must steer it up!

Gotta love it when little French kids attempt to pronounce English words. This morning I worked with my older kids on colors and emotions... continuing from last week. Although I said the words multiple times, using pictures to help, listening games, and miming games... when I finally wrote the words up on the board to help students remember a large amount of vocabulary... I get some of the most hilarious pronunciations. "Scared" becomes scarrr-ed; "tired" becomes teer-ed; "orange" becomes or-ah-ngees. I try not to giggle, but sometimes.... after having them repeat and re-repeat so many times and they still add their little French twinge, it's just too funny.... and to be honest, a little nerve-racking! I say- don't say it like you're French!!! Pretend you're me:)

Besides silly pronunciations, I'm getting frustrated working with the oldest kids at this school because the replacement has their schedule all out of whack and somehow I end up rushing through my 45 minute lesson in 25 minutes or less and they still miss out on recess. She doesn't do much to help me with behavior until it's too late and then she yells at them... which makes me feel bad that I didn't prevent them from getting in trouble. AH! Murielle will be out now until sometime in March.... I haven't heard much of her progress- other than she's needed more time off and more medical tests:(

But on a high note, I feel like the CP teacher at this school is letting me teach a little more than she usually does. I've decided because she knows these kids are "hard," she kind of goes over board with discipline and then they go over board with acting out. I feel like she's constantly yelling at kids for every little thing.... and when I come in... I feel like I need to suggest things to her before actually doing them; whereas in my other schools, I just teach how I want and the teachers help me out when I need it. I usually come out of her class feeling just as tightly wound as the kids do.... but today wasn't half bad. I think it helped that I prepped her with options via email the day before...

I came home in between schools, had some left overs from the night before and prepped for my afternoon lessons on recipes. I headed over (with a tram full of noisy middle schoolers.... they're always heading back home from lunch at the same time I am... the middle school is just across the street from the elementary school), made my copies, and headed upstairs to work with the "big kids." I actually had a lot of fun with these lessons.... I read out a recipe- had them guess what it was I was reading, and then we worked on what we needed ingredients-wise and what to do. When we got to the part about stirring... the kids saw the little words on the recipe sheet and tried to read it as "steer." I tried to explain that steering is what you do in a car, stirring is in a bowl. By the end, we were all air-stirring and saying "stiiiirrrrr!" Oh me- that would have been funny to rewind and watch later hehe.

After my recipe lessons, I went downstairs and ran into Nathalie's class. She said that they were reserving us a lane at the bowling alley for tomorrow night, haha. I don't think bowling is something they typically go out to do, so this should be fun to witness... although I really shouldn't talk- I'm good for about 3 goes and then my arm gets tired and my total score ranges in the 50's lol.

I took the tram home, nice and quiet this time:) I stopped to pick up a few things at Carrefour- water, milk, soap.... and I just happened to stroll by the baguette aisle and pick one up. I had eaten 1/4 before I even got through the check-out line, and finished another 1/4 at home with some carré cheese. It was good- but I hate it when I do that! It's not my fault though- I think they put something in it that makes you want to just eat it like a celery stick... and then you think- where'd it go???

Hope you're having a nice evening! I'm going to attempt to do yoga after that baguette fiasco. I did do some serious running/working out yesterday and have been walking around like I can't bend my knees today. In all reality, every muscle in my body sort of screams when I move one way or another.... eh bien voila- that's what I get for trying to be good:)

Reste cool:) I'll try to bring my camera tomorrow for bowling and show you how we do it in France!!! (Oh and ps- babysitting for Corinne's fam got rescheduled to next Friday... too much going on tonight for them to go out!)

Saint-Valentin Continues... un peu

Bonjour mes amis!

I had a nice day at school... more animals in Corinne's class, more colors and emotions in the CE1 classes, and we made Valentine's in the CP classes after I explained our traditions and we practiced saying "Happy Valentine's Day!" I told them that they could give their cards to their parents or grandparents.... or even their amoureux if they wanted. This got a laugh, but surprisingly enough, a few little girls did make cards for boys in their class. I tried so hard not to laugh in Nathalie's class because a little girl gave a card to a boy named Jules. Jules didn't even look at the card, he immediately turned and gave it to the kid behind him:( Nathalie explained that it's impolite to turn away a card or gift and that he should say thank you. He took the card and shook his head.... like ah man.... not this again! Apparently, the little girl had given him a card yesterday on Valentine's Day.

During lunch, we recounted this little lover's quarrel and the other teachers asked how we avoided situations like this in American schools where everyone gave out cards. They also wanted to know what you did with the kid who didn't get any cards at all. Apparently one of the CM1 classes I worked with last week voted on whether or not they would try out our custom of card giving, and they actually voted not to do it in fear that they wouldn't get any cards:( I explained that everyone gave out cards to everyone in the class... and most cards given out are pre-made, so there's little room for overly lovey messages... although there are always a few that are slightly suggestive to romantic feelings.... very slightly of course as they usually involve a cute rhyme- Be Mine Valentine.... with a Scooby-doo background. The teachers were probably confused, but they said ohhh ok it's a little more organized then. Sure.

After lunch, I spoke with Eve and Nathalie about our upcoming soirée (also going out with Elise and Mireille). We're going to go bowling, go out to dinner, and see a movie this Friday. They asked if I wanted to see anything in particular, but I didn't know what was out. They all mentioned "Black Swan." I had heard that it was an odd Natalie Portman movie.... but I said sure, sounds good. I got home and saw the movie trailer.... and immediately thought- oh crap. I am not a good horror/suspense film watcher... and this one seems to be fairly freaky. I'm going to try hard to persuade them to see something else.... but we shall see I guess. :-o

On Saturday, I'm going to Perouges with the girls. It's a cute medieval town just outside of Lyon, 30 minutes by train... so it will be a nice little day trip. It was voted as one of France's most quaint villages, so I have high expectations! Take a look for yourself:http://www.perouges.org/

So- Thursday night I'm babysitting for Corinne and Luc.... Friday out with teachers.... Saturday going to Perouges... and then I have one more week until Victor comes! I'm sure I'll be busy busy busy being excited and getting ready for our trip to Italy. I've already borrowed a few books from Luc (who lived in Siena for a few years). Today I read through some phrases in the handy Italian phrase book. It's actually French-Italian, so that makes for an interesting puzzle... I think about the French phrase first... then attempt to pronounce the Italian without sounding French. When I explained this to Victor he said- I'm going to speak English. I'm sure that'll work too:) But personally, I like to do as the locals do. Unless of course I'm in Switzerland and have no idea what anyone is saying because I'm nul at German.

Hope you're having a good week!

Reste cool:)

Valentine's Day Holiday Identity Crisis

If I was in my own classroom in the United States... I would have probably enjoyed a very pink and red day full of cupcakes, candy, valentines, cute-sy crafts and decorations (with hopefully an ounce of educational value). My kids would have brought in heart covered shoe boxes and if I was lucky... maybe even chocolate or flowers for me! By the end of the day, I'd be ready to send them all home on the bus with their boxes full of Hello Kitty and Spiderman themed cards.

In France however, they have not been over taken by this Halmark holiday (I say this in the least negative way- I'm a Halmark holiday sucker). Instead, it has remained a day devoted to adult romance in honor of Saint Valentine.... for those that actually celebrate it. At the lunch table today, out of the 7 other teachers, not one teacher besides myself and Vincent, the director, said they were doing anything in particular this evening to celebrate the holiday. Vincent said that he would probably stop on his way home and buy flowers for his wife.... otherwise that was it.

When I told them my parents had sent me Valentine's candy and I had gotten a few cards from friends and family (thanks by the way!!!), they were shocked! "You mean....your parents sent you something for Valentine's day?" And then when I told them I sent flowers to my sister, they were even more blown away. To them, love is between lovers. I explained that with my family and even a few friends, I say, "I love you." They explained to me that very rarely do they tell their children or parents they love them.... it just seems weird to do so. They aren't cold by any means... I think Corinne and Luc are very loving with their children.... they say little pet names and kiss and hug their children often. But- the phrase, "Je t'aime" is left for lovers... and very occasionally very close family members. Instead, for example on Desperate Housewives, I hear this said often, "Bisous" or "Bises" when the wives are on the phone with their husbands. But... similarly, when signing emails, most of my teachers and Corinne's family writes "bisous" or "grosses bises." This technically means "kisses," but I've come to learn that it's kind of like how British people sign things "xx" or "xoxo." I guess it means... fondly, see you later, kisses- all wrapped into one. I guess they do the double cheek kiss when they meet someone for the first time.... so in that sense, it does make sense that they write kisses at the end of things. Interesting, non?

I would say maybe 2 or 3 students in each class wore the color pink, and whether it was purposeful, I can't be sure. No one brought in any sort of candy or cards for their teachers. I'm sure if they had, it would have been thought of as sweet, but really really out of the ordinary, and potentially strange. Had I not done a few lessons on our traditions, I doubt many students would have even realized what day it was! When I asked what day it was, I got proud, "It's Monday!" responses lol.

In my CP class, we worked on presenting oneself, "Hello, my name is.... I'm... years old." After everyone practiced saying it, I asked if they wanted to sing any songs. They requested the song I taught around Halloween- one little, two little, three little pumpkins.... and Jingle Bells. So, just to sum up, we sang a Christmas song and a Halloween song.... on Valentine's Day :)

On my way home I stopped by the post office to pick up a package. It was from my Aunt Molly, who sent me an amazing box full of American cooking goodies and a pretty blue sweater. I'm actually wearing it right now because after walking home in the rain, I was freezing and put it right on! And now I'm going to have some rice-a-roni for dinner:)

Anywho- I hope you all have a nice, Joyeuse Saint-Valentin!

Reste cool:)8

Some Sunday Cycling

This afternoon I tutored Julien for about an hour and a half while the rest of the family went out to eat for lunch. One of Luc's cousins was coming into town later in the day and they had spent all morning gardening and cleaning, but didn't have enough time to do any grocery shopping for lunch. We worked on reading, understanding, and translating little texts that I thought up and wrote down. Most of what I thought up was just about what I had done this weekend, but after a few of those paragraphs... I asked if he was interested in anything particular, US-wise. He wanted to know about US-Russia relations, if we were really scared of the world ending in 2012, and the Civil Right's Movement. Between tv, his parents, and school history lessons, for a 13 year old, I thought those were pretty intellectual topics. I threw in something about Justin Bieber, but only because I had just watched an episode of David Letterman on youtube and thought he might be interested since he's only a little bit older than Julien. According to him though, "everyone makes fun of him because of his expensive hair cuts...." lol. Oh well, at least I tried to relate to the younger crowd:)

After tutoring, the fam came back and the girls went for a bike ride. Luc stayed to wait for his cousin and Julien went to a friend's house to study. I borrowed a bike, obviously as I have no bike here of my own, and we did a little 30 minute ride around the neighborhood. It probably shouldn't have even taken that long, but with Lucie, she stops and starts and needs help, so it took a little longer. She's very cute, I know I say this every time, but maybe it's her little French expressions that make me think she's just the most adorable little kid. In any event, it was nice to be on a bike, one of France's most popular sports, especially on Sundays. We saw a lot of families out on their bikes or walking dogs. It was maybe a high of 55 today, so not terribly warm, but pretty nice for mid-February!

After the bike ride (which by the way I saw Fourvière hill at a distance.... that was pretty neat), Anise, the cousin, had arrived. She's in town to take her concourse.... a written test that if passed, ensures her a job in working with infants to 18 year olds in the field of well-being (I'm not really sure what that means... but something like working in day cares or hospitals). I've learned that in France, for most public jobs, you take a test after a certain amount of schooling, and if you score in a certain percentile in a region, you are guaranteed a position. Like teaching, if you want to teach in the Lyon area, you take the concourse in Lyon. If you are in the top 400, you are guaranteed a position somewhere; if you don't pass or make the cut off, you have to retake the test again the next year or in a different region. A few teachers I work with said they had to retake the concourse 2 or 3 times before getting a job.... very interesting system....

We sat and drank tea (actually, I had also had a coffee right before the bike ride too.... so I won't sleep a wink tonight) and ate little italian cookies. I shared some Valentine's day cookies and red hots. They, too, enjoyed the little red heart candies, saying the same thing that everyone says, "They're spicy!"

Corinne drove me home around 6:15... the girls were very excited... and a little loud with their young second cousin visiting, so I was ready to head back. On the way back, Corinne asked if I could babysit for them this Thursday and we talked about me chaperoning a field trip to the circus in April. Yepee!

It was a nice little visit, but now I have to get busy! I haven't had time to plan yet!!!

Reste cool:)

movie day and pancakes

Yesterday, I spent pretty much all day watching girly movies in honor of Valentine's Day weekend (Sweet Home Alabama... which made me want to immediately pack my bags for home and then head south to Georgia, Romeo and Juliet, always a crowd pleaser, Paris Je t'aime, and 10 Things I Hate About You). Besides having the jam hearts (which, sadly were sub-par.... I think they needed frosting or something), I made big, good ol' fashion pancakes with syrup for breakfast (which, sadly I'm almost out of my pancake mix, but fortunately, I think I have more coming soon!!!). I did my nails and cleaned up my apartment.... took a quick trip to the grocery store/walk to the castle, but otherwise, it was a pretty relaxed day!

Today I'll be tutoring and lesson planning.... and maybe a little trip planning for when Victor comes! I have to brush up on my Italian phrase book- grazi! Only 16 more days of waiting!

I know these aren't the coolest pictures.... but I've had a few requests for more pics.... so enjoy them:) The sunset was taken a few nights ago.... the day the fog was so bad in the morning. I'm thinking the pollution must create beautiful sunsets, because I have some of the most colorful sunsets I've ever seen!?

More later!

tgif!!!

This was the first real Friday I've had in a long time and when the clock struck 4h30, boy was I happy to be going home! My in-service wasn't terrible.... I feel like people keep dropping like flies, either they didn't show up at all or left periodically throughout the day. And although I was about 5 minutes late, I was one of the early ones! I appreciate the activities and effort the curriculum specialist put out there... but man, I'm glad that's done with!

I came home to not only a series of spastic Washington Post updates about Egypt, but an email from Laurence saying that she was changing positions due to personal reasons! I wrote back immediately saying that I hoped that even though she was no longer in charge of me that I could still keep in touch with her. She wrote back fairly quickly, saying not to worry, she'd still keep up with me, but if I had questions concerning my position, that I should contact someone else. Hrmmm, I hope everything is ok.....

Anywho- it's the weekend!!! I'm going to relax and enjoy my Valentine's day weekend, even though I can't be with my Valentine:/ Only 17 more dayssss though!!!!

Reste très cool;)

fog or smog?

Last night a layer of fog blanketed Saint-Priest and I assume, subsequently, Lyon. It was so thick this morning when I woke up that I literally couldn't see anything but little balls of light coming from street lamps and cars. I thought.... shouldn't work and school be canceled for today? How is anyone going to be able to see to get to work! But.... the bus was there when I got to my bus stop, so I guess life doesn't stop for fog ;)

When I got to school, I commented on the brouillard, and Murielle's replacement said, "Well you know it's partly due to pollution and all the radio/tv stations told people to drive more slowly to decrease emissions on their way to work." I thought.... well that's strange. I guess it could be fog/smog, so I looked it up when I got home. Apparently Lyon is in fact a part of a "chemical corridor" and is at a higher risk for pollution. This is a statement I found on the official Lyon website: The metropolitan area's geographic situation makes Lyon a sensitive city in terms of air quality. The presence of the Rhone and Saône rivers in a rugged landscape including the Croix-Rousse, Fourvière and Sainte-Foy hills has generated a distinctive topography with a marked influence on the way pollutants disperse. South of Lyon lies the "chemical corridor", and the prevailing local winds are north-south and south-north. In climatic terms, winter in Lyon is often marked by temperature inversions resulting in higher temperatures at altitude than in the lowlands. Since 1959, air pollution has been a core concern for the City of Lyon, whose range of clean-air measures was implemented many years ago. In 1961, the City of Lyon Hygiene Bureau and the APPA (Association for the Prevention of Air Pollution) set up a manual air quality surveillance network. Another network monitoring the Loire/Rhône thermal power station was created by Electricité de France in 1963 and the ALPOLAIR network was set up by manufacturers to monitor the industrial zone south of Lyon in 1975. COPARLY was founded in 1979 and in 1993 the four networks were combined into one entity. So... I guess that's good to know that they make monitoring the pollution a priority.... even though it kinda stinks that they have the weird "geography=higher risk for pollution" problem in the first place. Hrmm.

In any event, I had a nice long school day (and by the late morning the fog/smog was clear!).... I did my emotion+color activity with 2 classes in the morning, did a short recap lesson on family vocab with the CP class, and helped a few students with their classroom work before it was time for lunch (the students I helped are ones who get in trouble often.... but in reality I think they act out because they need more support with the exercises they're doing.... it made me feel good that I could help them succeed with their work, even in French!). In the afternoon I gave 2 CM1 classes a lesson on Valentine's Day.... explaining the tradition of having parties at school and giving out Valentines. This is very foreign to them.... France just doesn't celebrate the holiday like we do! These lessons went well, although the first class was very chatty and I had to get a little bit stern.... which always makes me uncomfortable while I'm in another teacher's classroom. I hate to feel like I'm over stepping my boundary with behavior management, but it was getting ridiculous! The other afternoon class has a wonderful teacher who's very on top of things... it's always interesting to see how teaching the same lesson can go so differently with different groups of kids with a different classroom teacher!

After school, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I spoke with a teacher about a recipe for "jam hearts" and I thought I'd try it out! You cut out ready-made puff pastry in the shape of a heart, put strawberry jam in the middle of 2, and then sprinkle with sugar. You take a fork and press down around the edges of the little jam pockets.... and bake at 375 for about 15 minutes! They are incredibly easy to make and extremely cute. I haven't tried one yet, but I'll let you know how they are:)

I'm exhausted after my big day.... so I should get to bed early before having another long day tomorrow. I'm soooooo glad tomorrow is my last in-service. But thankfully, since I missed 12 hours of work when I was sick, these hours count towards making up sick leave. Shew.

Almost Friday! Can you make it?

Reste cool:)

ps- Shout out to Judi- Thanks so much for my get well card! I am fortunately back to la joie de vivre:) Let's hope it stays that way!!!