quick update

Good morning!

It's ANOTHER gorgeous day here in Lyon! Quel beau temps! I think it's supposed to be warmer today than any of the other nice days we've had, so a perfect day to tour Lyon. I think I'll show Kelsey the Fourvière Basilica, the roman ruins, and Vieux Lyon today. Who knows? Maybe we'll even do the ferris wheel if it's still up and running... but I guess we'll just have to see how my body feels about going up in circles.... But, I woke up after 10 good hours of sleep feeling great and so far so good. I'm going to try my best not to wear myself out today so I'm not sick again tomorrow. Might even take a quick nap before Kelsey gets here at noon.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Bisous,

Lindsay

la poste again

I had a nice couple of lessons at my first school- some Gingerbread Man and Very Hungry Caterpillar action in those classes. It's adorable to hear the French kiddies try to pronounce "caterpillar." It's also pretty adorable to hear even the older kids try to pronounce "Gingerbread Man." It usually sounds more like, "Gingerman man"- but hey- it's a hard 4 syllable phrase to say!

I left as soon as possible from my first school feeling a little weird, so I went straight home to take a nap and eat lunch. I felt 10x better after my nap and went off for my last lesson of the day with a a class at my Tuesday school. It was almost hot while I sat waiting for the tram to arrive.... and we had another a gorgeous bright blue sky!

During my lesson, I told the kids they could ask me 5 questions about the US to start off, if they had any more questions (they asked a lot last time as it was my first time with them). One of the first questions someone asked was why I was wearing a pink shirt and white pants. They were convinced I was dressed for another holiday (lol- last time I was wearing green for St. Patrick's Day). Kids are too funny:)

We did my emotions/colors activity where they listen for color words, order them, and then order the emotion vocabulary that corresponds to the color I read in my story. I was glad that even though they don't really know their colors very well that it still worked out. If nothing else, it was a great introduction for them... and they got to hear about how I missed mac and cheese and my family (when asked, "What do you miss most?"). In reality, I don't miss mac and cheese anymore because I've stocked up from previous packages.... but that would be something I'd be missing a lot. I can't think of many other things I miss that much (I do enjoy French food too!). Except for maybe Mexican food.... and bacon. But those can wait.

Speaking of packages and things I miss- I went to the post office to retrieve what I thought would be something from the phone company, but it was a package from my friend Emily! Inside I found lots of Easter candy and a mix for cookie brownies!!! Hurray! I miss both of those! hehe... Actually she sent me a really funny/cute card that had my face in a picture of a dog that said, "Come Home Lindsay." Get it?

The only annoying thing about my nice Easter care package was that the plastic Easter eggs, that were full of candy, had been opened by someone at the post office. I'm sure they were making sure that there weren't drugs or something in them.... but all of my candy was either crushed or melty. (Don't worry, still tastes the same, I sampled it to make sure lol). I will hopefully make the cookie brownies this weekend with Kelsey who's coming to visit Friday and Saturday night. She thinks she's getting a visit to Lyon. What she's really getting is a visit to my apartment with the occasional trip to Lyon (haha jk, but if I'm not feeling too great, that may be the case....). At least I will have cookie brownies and wifi to entertain her with:) Let's hope I get some rest tonight and feel great with this beautiful weather! (But don't worry, if I'm stillll not up to speed, I'm going to go back to the doctor next week!)

Anyway- I got my letters sent out and should be all set with both closing my bank account and DSL line. I feel pretty good about how much I got done today.... but I have to go to bed now to get up and clean before my visitor gets here!

Reste cool:)

la poste- buff (+ pics of saint-priest)

I've had an extremely productive day! I got up early to do laundry and what a perfect day it was to be outside! I brought along a wedding magazine a friend sent me to read while I waited, so the time flew by, sitting with my fellow Saint-Priestians doing their laundry (a couple of old men).

I came back to my apartment to find a package received notification in my mailbox and lugged my wet clothes upstairs to hang on the wrack. Before going anywhere, I warmed up some leftovers, talked to my mom, and worked on the letters I need to send to the phone company and bank to officially state that I would like them to end my accounts. I got an email from Elise with a model for the SFR letter (for my neufbox) and she mentioned that I should have them close my account April 17 because it may take up to 10 days for it to actually happen.... and then for them to send me my box. So if I were to put April 28, I might not get my box in time.... and that would be a mess. So- I'm going to risk being without internet a few days before I come home. Oh well- I was able to go several weeks at the beginning without reliable internet.... hopefully I can last just a week and a half more. Perhaps the free wifi will play nice and work for me for a few days if I need it???

Anywho- I figured since I was having such a productive day... I might as well keep going and go pick up my package. I brought along my camera to take sun-shining pictures of Saint-Priest's "downtown" and was glad I did. The stupid post office, which has hours posted outside their building (and online... which I checked before leaving), had a piece of chart paper outside stating they would be closed between 13h-14h (1-2pm). My guess- they wanted an hour break in the afternoon sun! But of course I got there about 1:10.... so I decided I'd take my time walking around and pick up a few groceries. I took pictures of my neighborhood Carrefour Market- it has 2 whole rows of cheese... which I took a picture of to show you just how much the French really do love their cheese.

After my shopping trip, I walked back to the post office and took a few pictures around the main drag- the town hall, library, cinema, and post office are all connected (among other things in this stretch of 70's style architecture). It's definitely not the prettiest part of my little town, but it's right by my apartment and it's where I do a lot of errands... so I thought I'd show you!

I waited outside for a good 20 minutes with my bag of groceries... I probably could have taken them home and walked back in time, but I kept thinking they'd open up early. Nope- 5 minutes late actually, and of course the other hoards of people rushed inside. I didn't really mind because I knew I had nothing big to do later, so I waited in line with my package slip. When it was finally my turn, the lady scanned it and said, we don't have it yet, in fact (the French say en fait a lot- it's kind of like how we say "actually" or "as a matter of fact"). I thought well how can that be... I have a package received notification.... and they marked the box saying that I wasn't there to get the package..... the woman pointed to the date- March 24, or tomorrow. I left shaking my head.... I waited in line and fiddled around town to be told to come back tomorrow for a package that I got a notification for.... today. Well that's a new one.

Anyway- that was my day in a nutshell. Going to go review my lessons for tomorrow, watch a tv show on my computer, and head to bed!

Enjoy the pictures of Saint-Priest!

Reste cool:)

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!

run, run as fasahyoucan!

Good afternoon! The sun is shining and it is another beautiful spring day in France (good thing too, as today is the first day of spring!). I would love to be running around the park, but alas, walking pneumonia/being tired strikes again. I started wheezing at lunch and felt dizzy on my walk home, so I'm resting up with the windows open to let in some l'air frais!

Despite feeling très fatiguée, I had a great morning. We worked on the gingerbread man some more in all of my classes. You will be hearing a lot about this little guy as I have planned a 6 week lesson on him:) It's surprising how much more kids pick up after just a second reading. Some of my older kids were able to pick out full phrases that they understood, "I don't like..." and even new vocabulary that was evident with help from the pictures: kitchen, oven, head, nose... etc. And this time around, the kids were more curious about the sing-song part the gingerbread man says over and over again as he runs away. I say the lines slow at the beginning, but progressively get faster.... My CP kids laughed and giggled every time I read it. At the end they said, "Teach us the gingerbread man song!"

Although it isn't really a song, it is catchy- "Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man." I added some motions to it and broke it down for them to learn. The teacher had little faith in them being able to learn it, but we went over it maybe 3 times and they were all singing it! It was so cute.... maybe I'll video tape it when they get really good at it:) They still get it jumbled and it sounds more like this, "Run, run, asfasahuacan, You cancatch ME, I'm the gemmebrman!" But hey- for 6 year olds who don't speak English- sounds pretty close!

We had boeuf bourgignon for lunch today. Yum yum! My favorite cantine lunch:) I sort of laughed on the inside when I got done and had wiped my plate clean with my baguette. It was only just a few months ago I was watching the teachers wipe their plates with their bread and thought.... how do they do that? Their plates are so clean! But, the student has become the master:)

During lunch, there was a bit of heated conversation about teacher absences. Sabine was absent today and Vincent, the director, had called in a sub. However, the sub didn't show and so they were left scrambling with the kids. In most schools they just break up the kids and put a few in the back of each class. For some reason, Vincent decided to have the 2 special education aids watch the class for the day. I went in and did English, which was fine. We just read the story and reviewed some old material.... but anyway- the point is, some teachers are very upset about the number of absences compared to the number of times they are replaced by a sub. I kind of got the feeling that one teacher was indirectly commenting on a particular teacher's amount of absences... and that she feels bad enough when she takes leave when she's sick because there are no subs, but she has even more anxiety about teachers who don't care about this same worry (or so I think that was her point).

In any event, all the teachers agreed that they do feel bad when they don't come to work and are sick, but when you're sick you're sick, and you shouldn't judge others who may be in the same situation another time. But, the same teacher, who was upset, made the point that you never know if the system is being taken advantage of... if the person is really sick. And the other teachers said- it doesn't matter... we're a team and we respect a teacher's decision to stay home if they feel they can't come in. She said, yeah that's fine, but then parents start to complain about the number of teacher absences and it reflects poorly on all of us. And then one older teacher, whom I don't work with, but usually think is pretty funny, said.... Does it matter? Who knows if the perks of being a teacher will be taken away from us anytime soon. We have some of the best flexibility when it comes to taking sick leave... and on national average, teachers are in the middle with the number of days taken absent. If people want to take advantage of the system, then do it while you can!

I just thought- wow! It must take some major will power for her to come in everyday. (But the funny thing is, I've never seen her absent from school!) I piped up and asked- so you don't have a sick day limit? -Nope. I told them that we have certain rules about how many days you can take off for sick leave or personal leave... but we always have substitutes when we're absent.

As I was walking home, I thought... huh... even though we have substitutes and sick leave limits, I feel like for the majority of teachers, very few miss school if they can help it. I think we have different standards for being sick and how sick is too sick to go to work.... but I don't know, I guess there are always teachers that take advantage of the system and take sick leave more often than they should in America too. Just seemed like an interesting dilemma!

Welp- I'm going to try to go lay down. I just want to feel better! It's so frustrating feeling like I'm always sick. Darn foreign germs and my lack of immunity to you!

Happy first day of spring to you!

Reste cool:)

stoopeed americans, puh

After spending a good amount of time switching between shutterfly (the online photobook maker... such a nifty site for anyone who wants to make custom calendars, albums, and more with their own pictures) and a few wedding dress websites (hey, an engaged girl can look and tell now, right?), I got ready for my afternoon with Corinne and company.

I hadn't gone outside much this weekend, as I was making myself stay in and rest up, so it was a nice surprise to feel the warmer weather and sunshine on my face as I walked to their house. Luc was in the garden and Corinne was doing house work. Lucie swung open the door with a big welcoming smile. Before Julien and I got to work they all came to see if I had brought any pictures from my trip and to hear all about it (too bad they can't read my blog!). I'll have to send them some pictures, but I did get to retell some highlights from our trip:)

Julien and I worked on pronouns and verbs for a bit; he was amazed that we used "it" for so many nouns. In French, every noun is either feminine or masculine, and therefore is replaced with "him/her" in certain cases where pronouns are used.... although it sort of depends on the situation, and to make it more confusing, the pronoun may need to be placed somewhere else in the sentence. English, however, is much simpler. Anything that isn't a person or living thing with a gender identity is called "it." When given the sentence, "John put his pen away," Julien tried to replace the nouns like this: "He put him away." Although this is nice poetic personification for the pen, in non-artistic language, we would normally say, "He put it away."

During our little grammar exercises, Julien asked me if all Americans were like a girl he saw on tv, who when asked if she could find Iraq on a map, said, "What's an Iraq?" I laughed and said.... no, I guess there are ignorant people everywhere, but we aren't all that stupid. He then asked, "Do you know where Libya is?" I said, yeah of course.... it's that little country in the middle east off of Saudi Arabia. He laughed as I was saying this and it dawned on me that, huh, do I actually know where it is? He went to get his globe, and sure enough, it is not a small country but a rather large country situated between Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria. I guess I was getting it confused with Qatar or Yemen or something... Now, had I been given a map, I would have found it fairly easily, but I had to say to him, "Nope, guess I'm just like all the other stupid Americans haha." He said he doesn't really think we're stupid.... but from the sound of it, they learn a lot more world geography than we do. He could name and place every African country I named off on a map he drew! Wow!

After our lesson, I got to feel a little bit smarter when I was able to answer tons of questions by all 3 kids about English song lyrics. They sing all these American pop songs, but have no idea what they're saying! Our song session was interrupted by the parents who said, "Enough bombarding Lindsay with song lyrics! Let's go on a bike ride!"

So we all went out, except Julien who went to a friend's house, on a nice Sunday afternoon bike ride. While we were riding, I passed a few students who yelled out my name from across the street. I felt a little bit like a celebrity;)

When we got back, we had a nice chat and cookie tasting. They asked me questions about Victor and if he had fun seeing where I lived. They asked if he was surprised by Lyon or Saint-Priest... and I said, actually he was slightly surprised by where I lived. They said, you know, we were surprised by where you live too. I said, I was surprised when I first moved in, but I've never had a problem or had anyone hassle me. I don't put myself in a lot of unsafe situations by going out late and I keep my head down, walking with purpose if I do. It's been a really nice living and working experience here overall. They said that they really haven't minded living in Saint-Priest because there are some really nice neighborhoods, but they're about to start looking for a house to buy. The one they are in is rented because they are still in the process of selling their house in Marseille. They said unfortunately there aren't many houses for sale in the neighborhood they live in now and are thinking about moving to the north side of Lyon, closer to the parc de la tête d'or (and understandably so, I'd want to live up there too! Who wouldn't want to live within a few minutes drive to the zoo?!). But they also have concerns about moving the kids out of their schools again and Corinne likes being so close to work.... so it sounds like they're still trying to decide what to do!

Luc drove me home on his way to the Apple store to look at macbooks, lol. I did some video chatting and am just about ready for bed. That bike ride wore me out!

Hope you all have a nice week:)

Reste cool!

lazy days

Since Thursday evening, I've started to feel a bit sickly again. I've decided I must have walking pneumonia or something that I just haven't been able to recover from..... so I'm going to hold off on anymore running and sleep deprivation (ie, I need to go to bed earlier during the week!). I can't be passing out on anymore people! I have a few trips left before coming home, so I need to make sure I'm well enough for them. Next weekend I have a friend from some of my college French classes, who is also a language assistant, coming to visit. She lives in Paris, so she found cheap train tickets to come down next Friday. I'm looking forward to it, but I want to make sure I'm well enough to show her around!

Then, the weekend of April 9th, I'm going to Nice and Cannes for the weekend with the girls. The weekend after that, April 16th, we're all going up to Paris for a last hurrah. Then I have the weekend of Easter before coming home April 28th! In the meantime, I'm going to start the process of closing out my bank account and return my internet box..... I'm a little worried about how soon I have to turn it in...and how much time I'll have at the end without my beloved wi-fi and free landline calling home. But then again, I guess I'll be home soon enough. I'll just have to find an internet café to sit in to update my blogs for the last few times!

Anywho- as you can tell from the title of my blog, I'm going to nothing big today or tomorrow. Hannah came over to hang out last night and have dinner, so that was fun.... but otherwise, nothing too new with me!

Reste cool mes amis!