Copper

As most of my readers probably know (because I am related to most of you), Copper died yesterday afternoon. He's been on and off sick for the past year, but he stopped eating after Christmas. I think he just wanted one last holiday meal of Ma's before he went. He was an old guy and probably the sweetest, most even-tempered dog you would ever meet.

It's just really weird to think today that I won't be sitting with him watching the ball drop on tv because everyone else has already gone to bed--that is how most of my grade school and college holidays-at-home New Years went!

I just keep thinking of him in all his usual places around the house, and the sound of him shaking his collar and walking on the wood floors with his nails tapping. It is going to be a quiet place without him. Who is going to lick the plates clean?

 

 

Copper Oschman 1998-2010

I miss you so much, Copper. You're such a good boy! Sorry I couldn't be there.

In between parties...

Bonjour, everyone!

Nothing much is going on here, but I wanted to post to let you know I'm alive. The last few days have just been gray and rainy in Rennes, so I've been sleeping in, reading, playing on the computer, cleaning, and doing a bit of yoga. New Year's Resolution: Do a little yoga every day, even if it's just downward dog for five minutes!

Pierre-Antoine and Adrien are planning a New Year's Eve Party for 25 with little toast appetizers, frozen pastry ones, rum punch, gin bucket, mousse, and cakes. Last night was a punch-making and taste-testing session, which was pretty good for having bought cheap things. It is going to be six euros per person, so I guess the boys are controlling costs just fine. And Adrien even drew a sketch of how he wants to rearrange the furniture... In the end, I think that the boys' apartment cannot be made that classy, let's be honest! Ah, well!

So you'll have pictures and stories from that after the New Year! I hope everyone has tons of fun! Skype or email me your stories ;)

<3
L

Christmas with the Levillains

I last wrote to you on Thursday before PA and I visited the Christmas market one last time and took in the sights and sounds of the Mayor's office illuminaton! Here is a phot I captured for you at the risk of freezing my fingers off! (I'll post the video once youtube uploads it.)

Friday was a great day of French Christmas activities. PA and I made a batch of date balls to bring to the party that night. At 7pm, we metroed to meet his mom to drive to his aunt Therese's house. It was the Levillain side of the family with three of PA's aunts, a cousin, her two kids, and then PA's immediate family.

We were a bit late, having gotten lost on the way to the small town outside Rennes. The kids were eating already so we just chilled. When they went to the kitchen for their desserts, Pere Noël or Father Christmas dropped off their presents! The kids scrambled back out and went crazy! PA and I then spent a good a good amount of time assembling a parking garage for little Loic.

Dinner was seafood, the preference of the hostess Therese. We started with platters of raw oysters, shrimp, whelks, and winkles, all served with mayo. The main course was salmon and rice with a yummy red sauce. Then was a huge cheese course of six or seven varieties. Dessert was a sampling of my date balls (which went over very well), pistachio cakes with white chocolate on top, and a chocolate mousse log covered in ladyfingers. All soooooo delicious! And after that was a coffee and tea course with more chocolates... Phew!

The party lasted late into the night, so PA and I were dropped off at my apartment around 2am. It was officially Christmas, so I didn't feel too weird about opening gifts at night. The family sent me warm socks, sweaters, a new dress, and crafty things like knitting to keep me occupied. PA got me a French press, an awesome black vest, and another gift that hasn't arrived yet. For PA, my parents sent a bunch of Lakers gear, and I got him personalized M&Ms, cologne, and a meerkat shirt!

No sleep for the weary--we had to get to a lunch party on Christmas day at Aunt Beatrice's house in Rennes. We took the bus at noon and were the first to arrive. There was an aperatif of champagne, bread with meat and crab spreads, nuts, different purées to try. Lunch was the same crowd as the night before minus the kids, Nathalie, and Samuel who were with the other side of the family.

On to the food: a real Christmas food tradition is fois gras, which we ate on toast with fig jam and ham and beef strips kind of like prochutto. Sweet white wine was served with that. Christmas day lunch was a chapon, a nurtured chicken the size of a turkey. This was served with farce, a delicious mix of sausage, raisins, and onion; cooked chesnuts; and potatos gratin with cream and cheese. I was so full, but we had to power through more cheeses with red wine and dessert--all of the leftovers of the night before, plus a chocolate cake! I ate so much: it was delicious!

PA and I went to his apartment for awhile so that he could check things online and I could nap. We bussed back to the same place for a dinner of leftovers, which were still good but I was still full from lunch. After some last conversation and some playing with Clémentine and Martin and their new toys, PA's immediate family and I returned to Vitré to see if Santa had passed by there too ;)

He had, in fact, and he even left some cute things for me--placemats, a bath towel, a soap dispensing girl, a French dessert cookbook, and a bracelet with a dog charm! Samuel and I put together Clé's vanity, and we all danced along with the "Jingle Bell Rock" Santa in the living room a few last times before bed.

PA and I then had the Lakers v. Heat game to watch (sadly lost). The next morning Nathalie's family left for Nancy and we spent a quiet day in Vitré. That was nice after a whirlwind Christmas!

Now it's time to try out some French desserts!

Gingerbread, or pain d'épice!

Despite my illness, I trekked out to Vitré Monday afternoon to hang out with Caitlin before she left for her Christmas in Norway adventure. We made good spicy chili and cookies! First, her creation of oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip, and walnut! Mmmm! Then we found a gingerbread recipe online and tested it out. Caitlin wasn't a fan, but I was! We also had no cookie cutters, so we had to freehand a gingerbread man, horse, tree, star, heart, santa hat, present, etc. I also kept half the dough to make later.

Oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip, and walnut cookies! Phew!

Hand cutting the gingerbread shapes!

There was also a shopping run sometime in there so I could find a a last Christmas gift. Apparently, Vitré also blasts music through speakers on every corner, so I was serenaded by Lady Gaga's "Telephone," lol! I stopped by PA's mom's house to say hi to the whole family and share cookies. PA also tried to talk me into going to the doctor the next day... :/ I took the train home to Rennes for a good night's sleep.

I did feel kind of better the next morning, so I did laundry and cleaned up... Then, I noticed my ear hurting, so I went to the doctor that afternoon. Lucky me, I had a sinus infection that had spread to my ear! Tsss... I got five medicines to cure me and felt better by that evening. PA also came back to hang out with me, so it was a cozy evening of watching ninja movies and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

That brings us to Wednesday, which was PA's mom's birthday. We stopped in Leonidas for white Belgian chocolates for her. We took a bus to Saint Gregoire to meet PA's sister Nathalie, Samuel, and the kids for a ride back to Vitré for the birthday evening. I finished off the gingerbread cookie making there using shape ideas from PA and Clémentine, so we ended up with flowers, a star, a man, a sheep, a scooter (Clé's special request), a basketball, a heart, a cat, and some others I can't remember now. Everyone liked them :) We had a lovely veal and potato dinner capped off with gingerbread, a chocolate-strawberry birthday cake, and the white chocolates I had bought! Mmm!

Now, PA and I are back in Rennes to run errands. I'm going to take him to the Mairie (Mayor's building) for the lights show tonight! I'll try to film some of it to share as well! Tomorrow night is a Christmas dinner at one of his aunt's houses in Rennes, and Friday is another at another aunt's house! Lots of presents to come too!

Let me share some of my apartment Christmas decor with you:

Christmas tree surrounded by gifts!

Stockings on the "mantle."

My ornament wall says it all!

Christmas at home

I didn't even realize what I loved about the holidays and my family before I came here:

How my dad offers to bring us slices of pie.
How my mom gives us news updates on the most random things.
Everyone in their pjs in the parents room to watch tv.
Nick's jokes.
Copper shaking so that his collar jingles and his toenails scratch the floor.
Or going to Chicago and actually having to wear boots and gloves to go outside.
Seeing snow.
Eating delicious meals at Cathy's or out.
Kids running up and down the basement stairs.
Apples to Apples and other games played around the kitchen table after dinner.
Catching up with the aunts.
Home videos being pulled out.
Family gift exchanges as people drop by.
Going downtown to a play or for shopping or for eating somewhere wonderful.
Aunt Chris's delicious food as the Oschman brothers are reunited for an afternoon-long comedy sketch.
Gretchen chatting and laughing.
Old stories told again and again and again, especially if a newcomer is present.

Christmas is almost the worst part because then the anticipation is gone, then people leave again...
Until next year!

Holidays! Starting in St Malo!

Wow, a week to catch up on now! My last classes this term went well--we played a taboo-esque game that the kids enjoyed. It was kind of sad since I won't be working with these classes anymore--I have a whole new schedule for January and February. I just hope I did some good!

Then Friday was a bit of an adventure. I had to go to the immigration office for a medical exam so I could get my official residence permit. I ended up seeing five other assistants there at the same time! The process was very quick, one of the most efficient things I've seen in France or elsewhere: chest xray, immunization record, eye exam, height/weight, brief medical history, listen to lungs, check xray, blood pressure. All of this in three rooms in a hallway in under an hour! Bravo! I got my OFII sticker in my passport and immediately had a copy sent to the office for my housing assistance money. All paperwork taken care of, I'm legal!

So Katherine joined up with my afterwards and we headed to the train station to pick up Herbert, an assistant in Quimper who was coming in for an afternoon immigration appointment. He is from Louisianna, and I had talked to him on facebook before, so he asked me to be his Rennes tour guide for the day. For the morning, we walked all around the center city, ate tartines for lunch, and let him buy a jar of Mississippi Belle peanut butter at my grocery store--apparently, I'm lucky they stock it!

He headed off to his appointment, and I saw PA for a bit. When Herbert was done, it was snowing like crazy, so I took him to Le Haricot Rouge for hot chocolate and a few hours of warm, cozy conversation. They were even playing a Black Eyed Peas album, so we rocked out to that. The crowning moment of the day was the lights show at the mairie; Rennes literally projects lights onto the mayor's building in an awesome Disney-esque animation show! I'll film it sometime soon because it is every night until Janurary 2. Then poor Herbert had a 40 minute train delay! Still, he picked a good day to visit Rennes!

Saturday was a real French adventure! Katherine and I took the train to St. Malo, a walled coastal city. Even though we had slush under our feet and rain coming down on our heads, we trekked into the old city and took tons of pictures of the buildings, walls, beaches, sea! At one point, we realized that music was coming from speakers on every street corner--from Christmas carols to Rhianna! Cute or creepy? The jury is still out on that one...

Marina at the approach to the city gates.

Islands and swimming area off of St. Malo.

We had a delicious three course lunch of warm goat cheese salad, lamb and mashed potatos, and chocolate crepes. In the afternoon, the weather turned around and we had blue skies and beautiful light. We returned to the walls and walked around half the city on them, admiring the adorableness of it all. We also did a fair bit of shopping at the Christmas market (where I spent about 50 euros...) and in all the shops and enjoyed some warm, spiced wine.

Drinking warm wine!

St. Malo Christmas Market.

After a coffee and warmth break at a bar/cafe, we hit the streets again and saw a ton more people out! This led us to believe that the people of St Malo are vampires... ;) So more shopping, seeing the house of the Duchess of Anne, trying the Breton specialty butter cake, and walking the other half of the walls was on the late afternoon agenda. The lighting at the snowy beach was incredible! Just admire these photos below (and all of the ones in my Rennes Winter album) to get an idea.

We had a last cup of tea/chocolate in a classy salon du thé facing the cathedral before we had to trek back to the train station through the ice. It was a gorgeous day in a cute city full of lots of good food! A nice way to start off a holiday break.

Today I'm in the apartment resting, nursing my cold, maybe even cleaning a bit! Everyone is scattering for break, so I'll be entertaining myself for the most part. Skype me!

A cute festive touch at the St Malo market^^

Reflections

So I'm currently sick in bed (just sore throat and headache, nothing serious, Ma!), and thus I have been spending a lot of time thinking... Plus, the holidays are coming up, and this is the first year I'm not in Knoxville or Chicago with my family.

Copenhagen was a nice break from my life in France. It made me realize how settled I've become here in Rennes--the apartment is set up, I have people I like, my work schedule is normal, most of my bureaucratic duties are complete. From January until June, my life is going to be a breeze! Now I have to remind myself to make the most of it.

I really need to give kudos to EBrown, who is one of those people who can just make you think. We were talking about people who make you grow as a person, and that made me start mentally listing the family members, friends, aquaintances, professors, coworkers, etc. who have inspired and/or changed me in some way.

Family can go without saying--almost--because those are the people who always have your back. My family has been so nice in sending me letters, skyping me, facebooking me, and sending me care packages (thanks again mom and dad!) while I've been away, and it keeps me from feeling forgotten or alone. Being truly apart from them for this long makes me realize how much I take for granted every crazy holiday I usually spend with them. I miss the silliness! I miss being around people who are truly interested, invested, and involved in my life.

It also makes me think of friends who are more like family because they've been in my life so long--Jean and Danielle, I miss you so much! Life is not the same without lunch/dinner dates and movie nights with lots of laughs. Also in Knoxville, Helen and Deepa, my sworn enemies, will have no movie room and interesting conversation to entertain them this holiday. How boring for us all!

And on to my college friends... I have Marguerite, who is both hilarious and intelligent--you can laugh and philosophize with her anytime. Many an afternoon at Furman was spent wandering around the lake working through my life plans with her. Why she was able to listen to me whine that much, I'll never know, but I am eternally grateful.

Then, of course, I have my Africa group of professors and students I love dearly. These people were challenging, inspiring, silly, and serious all together, and I certainly miss that constant excitement of being in a group of caring people. Dr. Ching and Dr. Maher opened my eyes to a lot of things, and the students I was with helped me talk them out and relate them to my own life. Seeing EBrown and Lily this weekend really refreshed these feelings in me.

And this post would be amiss if I didn't mention Pierre-Antoine, the best friend I've ever had. He makes me want to go out in the world and have fun, see new places, learn new things. He's my living French dictionary and we get to teach each other about our cultures everyday--from him making his favorite tartiflette dish to me making him watch Zoolander for the first time. Every day is some little adventure that keeps me from taking life too seriously. I don't know what I would do without him.

So thanks to all of you! And to all the people I couldn't mention because I really need to go to sleep now... It's just one of those "It's A Wonderful Life" moments when you see what effect one person can have on so many--and all of you have had such a powerful effect on me.

Je vous aime ! I love you!

Adventures in Copenhagen with Lily and EBrown

Thursday through Sunday I was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to visit two of my Africa study abroad buddies, EBrown and Lily (who lives and studies there now).

Getting there was ok--bus to Rennes airport, plane to Paris, delay in Paris because of the previous day's snow, arrive in Copenhagen around 11pm. Lily picked me up there and we metroed to her place to drop off my stuff. It was cold, windy, snowy, snowing! We metroed to meet her boyfriend Martin at a main square and found a bar. Danes have an intense drinking culture, especially at "Christmas Parties" this season--even your work party is a drinking party from lunchtime until night! Tried the Christmas beer and chatted with Lily and Martin until a drunk Dane named Reuben came to hit on me. All Danes learn English from elementary school and speak pretty fluently. It was pretty easy to talk to people in shops, cafes, drunken bar settings ;)

Between metroing at night and walking back in the freezing cold, Lily and I weren't in bed until 3:30am that night, and we had to get up at 8am so that she could go to class. I got off to explore the shopping streets and the Christmas market on a canal for a few hours.

Lily and I finally got to meet EBrown at noon! We all headed to eat Chinese takeout and met up with EBrown's sister Brittany and her friend Caitlin to roam the streets. See photos in the Copenhagen album for an illustration of those chilly hours. Actually, the sun was out pretty much all weekend, and we had decent weather in general but for a few bouts of snow/rain/sleet. It's just always below freezing and the sun sets around 3pm.

Me, Lily, and EBrown

Lily headed to work at a restaurant, so EBrown and I went to Brittany's host family's home for dinner. The house was cool and the parents interesting world travelers. We helped make the delicious home-cooked meal of vegetable quiche/tart, salad, hamburgers with egg on top, potato salad, and South African wine. We also had these delicious ginger/honey cakes with chocolate on top that are a Danish Christmas treat. So good!

They lived about an hour outside the city between a train and walking in the cold. Around 10pm, we headed back downtown for a taste of nightlife. Brittany went with friends, and EBrown and I went to Lily's restaurant where we got free cocktails--mango for me and lemonade mojito for EBrown. When Lily was off, it was a quick Christmas beer before EBrown had to head back with her sister and Lily and I had to metro/walk home.

Slept in a bit before meeting up for walking and a long cafe break where plenty of girltalk ensued. That afternoon we met up with Martin. Firstly, I grabbed an authentic Danish hot dog with mustard, ketchup, fried onions, We climbed up this church spire for a scary but lovely view of Copenhagen, which is actually some islands off of the Denmark peninsula. You could even see Sweden and the bridge to get there--only 30 minutes away!

View of the city from the spire.

The power of the wind and the cold had us down before too long, and we headed to Freetown Christiania. This place used to be a military base that fell into disuse, so hippie-squatters moved in and made it a mini-society with its own hippie laws, common property, and lots of pot. The police come to clean out the weed every once and awhile, but the people of Copenhagen cherish it and consider it an important city landmark. It has a "downtown" area with an art gallery, cafes, pot stands, etc., and then there are really neat houses built of odds and ends where people actually live around the lakes--they just have permission to do so rather than actually owning it. Martin showed us around, and then we warmed up with coffee at a cafe there.

It was nearing 6pm when we left again, Lily to work and EBrown and me to Brittany's host home for a candy making party. First of all, the 20 minute walk after the train ride took about an hour because we got lost. Imagine forty or so Danes, adults and children, plus five American girls in a marzipan and nougat sculpting/candy-making competition! I just made myself one little treat to eat, but EBrown made a bunch of grapes and there were animals and traditional candies too. Towards the end, there was a big pot of soup, bread, and cheese to eat. I headed to Lily's alone and made it back safely.

Sunday I really slept in while Lily went to church. EBrown and I met at 11 and went hunting for those honey-ginger cakes which we ate with tea at Lily's apartment while we chatted. All three of us gathered at the metro at one to take me to the airport. So fun to see them, the first old, friendly faces I've seen since September!

I got to Paris just fine, but then my flight to Rennes was cancelled. AirFrance bused us all to the train station and someone went to get our tickets. We waited as a group for half an hour--the train was going to leave in five minutes and we still didn't have tickets in our hand. A search for the AirFrance official failed, and we headed down to the platform where the train was sitting. Some people just got on and said they would get reimboursed by the company for the tickets later... but I was afraid of getting a fine! With only two minutes before departure, the AirFrance lady shows up with a stack of tickets--I grabbed one from her hand and jumped on! So instead of getting back around 9:30, I wasn't in my apartment until 12:30! Oh, well...

It was back to work today for a Taboo-esque game of describing random people, places, and things in English for the other students to guess. Seems to be going pretty well! I also finished Pierre-Antoine's Christmas gifts, so I'm on to some for his family.

Please, check out all of my Copenhagen pictures in the album too!

Still alive :)

Hello all!

This has been a rather productive week so far. All Christmas cards mailed, lessons finished for this and next week, and the last grad school applications submitted to Columbia and Tufts! I'm just trying to get everything in order since I will be in Copenhagen from Thursday to late Sunday night.

This week I'm doing a lesson on music from Tennessee because even our state quarter celebrates it! The kids listen to blues, Elvis, Paramore, country, rap, and Justin Timberlake--all from TN. We do a fill-in-the-missing-words game with "Blue Suede Shoes" and then play a game where they listen for certain words in Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and grab the card of the word when they hear it--the winner is the one with the most cards at the end. The latter gets rather competitive/violent!

TN state quarter

Othewise, it's life as usual here in Rennes. The snow has turned back into rain, but it is still super cold. I still have two paperwork snafus to sort out before the holidays, but life is good :)

Paris in the snow!

Snow all Thursday and Friday--so much that kids decided to cut class! Fools!

Now, I must define what will now be known as "pulling a Pierre-Antoine": one lets one's friend get on the metro and chooses not to get on with said friend when the noise sounds and the doors close, so the friend rides alone without saying a proper goodbye. Used in a sentence: "Pierre-Antoine pulled a Pierre-Antoine on me Friday afternoon." Tsss...

Apart from that on Friday, I didn't do much except enjoy the snow and meet some assistants for drinks--British, Spanish, Guatemalan, and Mexican. I tried a beer with flavored syrup in it, choosing kiwi over banana, peach, passion fruit, violet, and more.Good but too sugary to drink a whole pint of it.

Saturday I took a day trip into Paris to meet Caitlin who was there to visit Versailles with her students on Sunday. My main wish was some Christmas shopping, but there was no time!!! Let me start from the beginning...

I caught the 9am TGV (fast, direct train) from Rennes to Paris, supposedly arriving at 11:10. My train was late because of snow, Caitlin was late meeting me, then the quickest metro to the museum where we were meeting another Paris assistant was shut down so we had to take another and then walk. We arrived at almost one!

In the meantime, we walked though the falling snow from the edge of the Louvre to the museum--really super snowy! We saw a Chrisrmas market on Champs Élysées as we hurried past. The museum, Palais de la découverte, was ok. It is a science musum with exhibits from the human body to magnets, but I've seen better presentations. We did see the planetarium show and a show on training rats in mazes which were interesting. And at the fencing exhibit, you could try different moves in a box with an electronic target! Afterwards, we walked back through les Tuileries (gardens at the Louvre) to the Starbucks across the street from the Louvre. Caitlin and I sat there for an hour to warm up and eat since we had not gotten lunch. Then, it was past 6 and time to head back to the train station. My train left at 7:30 and I was back in my apartment by 10. I'll go back to Paris 18-22 for shopping and enjoying, I think. Maybe Disneyland too.

Me and Caitlin in the Tuileries gardens.

I was so glad to get away for the day. I was getting to the point when I feel like my life is the whole world... so it's nice to get away and get perspective that my little 'problems' amount to nothing in the grand scheme of things! It makes them seem smaller and more manageable. And despite the annoyances of time lost and a mediocre museum, I was so happy just to do something different and have a little adventure. The Starbucks Caramel Noisette Latte was also super delicious with a blueberry muffin ;)

I was too wound up to sleep after a fun-filled day. First, I took some pictures of the Christmas lights in Rennes, which have officially been turned on! I found some people at bar Angélus, a classy wine place at the Mairie, and had a kir and conversation. Then, on the way home, I grabbed a kebab to nourish my tired body. It was a satisfying day.

Lights on Rue le Bastard, a shopping street behind my apartment.

Today's plan is to finish my music lesson for the week, write Christmas cards, and watch Into the Wild so I can return the dvd to the prof tomorrow. A hard life, I know ;)

A few more pictures are in my Winter album, link on the sidebar to the right!

LA NEIGE!

La neige is snow, some of which is drifting past my window at the moment :)

What a way to kick off December in Rennes! For a place where it never snows, according to Pierre-Antoine, we've had three flurries in the last week. I went running in the park this morning, and it was completely frosted! Pretty in some ways, but I sure miss the flowers...

I also took time to make up a soup with the stuff I had lying around--beef, chicken broth, potatos, spinach, italian seasoning. Somewhat bland, so I'm going to add tomato sauce when I warm up the leftovers. I just have so much time! I guess Wednesdays are my favorite days with this work schedule. Monday and Tuesday start so early, and then Wednesday I can sleep in, run, relax, have a leisurely lunch, and then head to work two decent classes from 3 to 5:30.

Speaking of class, on the texting lingo worksheet that I'm using this week there is an entry of "143." I had no idea what that meant, but Caitlin informed me that it is from a rap song and means "I love you"--the numbers stand for the letters in each word, 1 for I, 4 for L-O-V-E, and 3 for Y-O-U. Kind of cute, but the kids like to be smart and point out that it could stand for any words, including "I hate you!" Well, I just wanted to inform you all of a little cultural exchange; now you'll know what I mean when I say 143! I may have started a new trend in France of kids texting 143 to each other, or maybe they'll adapt it to French's "Je t'aime" and send 214 instead!

I'll get back to my Christmas music and decorating now. Ma sent me some of her trademark snowflakes for hanging in the window... :)

Thanksgiving dinner photos!

Hey! I forgot to take pictures myself, so I've stolen some Thanksgiving photos from Caely and put them in my Autumn album: click here!

I forgot to mention that Caitlin and I were the official turkey carvers! What an honor ;)

Caitlin and me carving!

The Christmas Market, or Marché de Noël

On Sunday, Caitlin and I spent most of the day working on our grad school applications since we were still feeling stuffed from Thanksgiving. In the evening, we decided to venture out into the cold to get a little exercise. We window shopped and walked around the old town for photo opportunities. Click here for my Rennes Hiver/Winter album.

We started seeing people in the streets with food and drinks, so we followed the crowd to Place de Parlement where the Marché de Noël (Christmas Market) was up and running! Like you can find in Germany, the stands are little wooden cabins selling Christmas gifts and food. I got a sausage, tomato, and onion sandwich with the spiciest mustard ever (seriously, it felt like eating wasabi!), and Caitlin waited in a super-long line for chichis, basically churros but with only sugar, no cinnamon. Apparently, it will be open during the week too, so it should be less crowded than that grand opening Sunday evening!

Me digging into a sausage sandwich!

Rennes' Christmas Market

And now I'm headed back to the classroom to teach some English texting abbreviations and acronymns...

A Wild Turkey Day

Double meaning in that title!
1) The only whole turkey we could find was an expensive, happy, free-range one for 70 euros (fed 10 people).
2) Last night was one of the wildest and silliest Thanksgivings that I've experienced.

The evening started out when Caitlin arrived, and we headed down to the food section of Galeries Lafayette for fancy foods. I couldn't find celery or sage at my usual grocery store, and Caitlin needed chutney and tobasco sauce from the store's extensive international aisle. We also found some flowers as a hostess gift because my mother trained me so well.

We chilled in my apartment for awhile, putting together my dressing and her spinach and apple salad before we went out the door. Dinner was supposed to start at 8, but the turkey, of course, took longer than expected, so the time was changed to 9. We got there around 8:45, so I could use the oven to back the dressing. In the end, we had nine Americans, one Canadian, and one Guatemalan to celebrate with. We had a long appetizer phase while the foods were being reheated, so dinner started at 10:30. Caitlin and I were the turkey carvers!

Now, the food!
-Appetizers: Bread, pâté, cheese, baked brie with fig jam.
-Main meal: Turkey, mashed potatos, gravy, stuffing and dressing, sweet potatos, brussel sprouts, spinach salad, cranberry sauce.
-Desserts: Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, apple pie, apple brownie goo (didn't cook properly), ice cream.
-Drinks: Ten bottles of wine for eleven people!

After dinner, we were stuffed, so we took a long break to chat, listen to music, drink wine, and play the game Cheers Guv'nah. Dessert was served around 1am. After that, everyone was either falling asleep, taking silly pictures, or doing dishes. I did some dancing and tipsy yoga in an effort to stretch my stomach out (didn't work... I still feel full at 12:20pm the next day). Caitlin and I were the second and third to leave around 2:30am. A good night, even though I felt so full that it hurt to breathe. In France, you have to take advantage of these American moments to get you through all the French times!

I forgot to take photos, but I'll steal some from others when they pop up!

Time and food

Recently, I've really started to feel at home in my apartment and in Rennes. I know where things are, I have 'usual' stores and restaurants I frequent, my apartment is completely set up, I have a regular work schedule, etc. I've also found ways to take up the free time I have, like yoga, running, reading--and thank God for nytimes.com for keeping me in-the-know! Plus, I have exciting travels planned for the next month! Things are looking up this holiday season :)

Since my cultural lessons have been absent awhile, I'd like to share some observations with you on how the French eat. Breakfast when I was in Versailles was last night's leftover baguette with jam, sometimes a croissant. That lasted you until lunch at 1-ish where I usually grabbed a baguette sandwich (ham and cheese, tuna salad, camembert) and sometimes a dessert like pain au chocolat or flan. Now that I have my own place in Rennes, I more commonly eat there or at Pierre-Antoine's place rather than outside. What I have seen a lot here is that the French grab a snack, or gouter, around 4 or 5pm--I see people with little pastry bags on the main squares and shopping streets every day. That works because dinner isn't until 7 or 8pm, a fact that shocked my family the other day when I hadn't eaten before 8!

Thinking about all of these meals has made me rather hungry! I'm going to a Thanksgiving dinner party of assistants tonight to get my fill of turkey and all those sides!

Also, I added some photos to the Rennes Automne album. I'll start a Winter albumn after Thanksgiving tonight!

Oh yeah...

IL FAUT QUE JE DORME !

Forgot to say that I am thankful for skype letting me sit in on Thanksgiving with the Williams/Bodies and with my family too!!

Also, I'm super-thankful for Pierre-Antoine, the silliest kid I know and the French boy version of me :) Je t'aime!

:*

Thanksgiving in Rennes

This is my first Thanksgiving away from family! So sad!

At least, today was a good day of classes--I had them drawing hand turkeys! Then, IT SNOWED/HAILED! A Christmas in France miracle to say the least ;)

So what am I thankful for? Mostly for the box of American foods that Ma sent me! Today, I've munched on Goldfish crackers, drank Sleepytime tea, and made a Jello pumpkin pie dessert.

I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with a more authentic meal on Saturday with some other American assistants, but for tonight I have the pumpkin dessert and a Shepherd's Pie on the menu--something hearty and home-y.

And if anyone wants to FedEx me some leftovers, I would not be opposed! ;)

Happy Turkey Day everyone! :*

Working in France v. the US

I suppose holiday nostalgia is just making me miss all things about home... I've been very reflective this week!

My thought of the day is about American v. French work ethic. I miss the teamwork and striving for excellence that the US encourages. I don't see creativity or passion in the workplace here, or at least not yet. None of the teachers care what I do with their students; only one has even asked me about it! Here in France at my school I feel like no one cares much about their students--maybe that is also related to lack of school spirit and community. I remember Mrs. G from my high school, the kind of teacher who gets to know you and who goes the extra mile to take care of you.

Another issue hs been PA asking his professors here for recommendation letters for US graduate school applications. Professors and students have no personal relationship here--you don't chat with them, you don't have department picnics with them. While I could ask professors who knew me and my dreams, PA has to rely on professors who have just read his masters work and seen him in class. It seems rather cold to me after the experience of my university.

A tangent off of this: the strikes in October made me angry because I felt like it was silly and selfish to be out protesting when children needed to be in class learning. I thought of my high school experience when I wouldn't dare miss a class because I needed every second of learning for the AP exams! And these kids here lost three weeks with no tangible consequences, just their own intellectual losses! Vacation be damned, kids need structure.

And now I'm off to work, hehe!

Plans for this weekend: maybe dancing tonight at an international student party, lunch with Caitlin tomorrow, a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday with the other assistants in Rennes.

School spirit

I think I figured out something that is missing from French schools--school spirit!

While I do admit that I wasn't the biggest sports fan back in my day, there is something to be said for having a school mascot, teams, clubs, pep rallys, etc.; these are all means to fostering communities be it schoolwide or just between students and teachers of mutual interest.

There is definitely not this spirt of community here. I feel like the students and teachers are more at odds because they interact only in a competetive classroom setting--there is no room for getting to know the student or teacher as a person (I'm thinking particularly in the senses of coach/athelete or mentor/club participant). When I think back to high school, I remember most the teachers who had a hand in the clubs I was in--Honor Society, French Club, Band. I also remember beig proud of my school's and fellow students' accomplishments in sports and academic competitions.

The school I work at is just a workplace. Imagine the different experience that a French assistant at a US school would have--a French club, football games, school dances, art performances! I miss the feeling of celebrating school.

Ugh!

So today was not so good. In one class, I sent one student away. Then in my last half of the last class of the day, I took EVERYONE back to the professor.

What happened was that I was walking them from their classroom to mine; I unlocked the door and walked in, and only four out of nine students showed up. I looked out in the hall to see the rest just hanging out, two on their cell phones. I tried to good-naturedly herd them into my room. Once there, I realized that they had brought an extra girl with them! So these kids are talking on phones, talking to each other, talking to a random girl. I decided to scrap my Thanksgiving lesson for a round of Tongue Twisters to get everyone to pay attention to me--three did it, some ignored me, some told me they couldn't read.

So I took all of them back up to their teacher and told her what happened. She sent me back down with the four on-time kids and kept the rest. I was so pissed, I was shaking!

So with only four, it was much quieter, so we proceeded with the Thanksgiving lesson, which they all did well on. Then, the teacher showed up again with the rest who apologized and sat down quietly. I gave them paper and had them draw hand turkeys because I didn't know what else to do with them.

I talked to the prof afterwards who said to just send one or two to the disciplinary office next time as examples. She also said that it wasn't just me, that they are horrible with everyone. They actually told her that they did not understand what they did wrong and why I was upset!!!! That is ridiculous--how about they did EVERTHING wrong! I really could never be a grade school teacher because these kids are so disrespectful. They told their teacher that my classes are interesting, but they certainly didn't act interested in them!

So that's my rant on discipline... and on people who are not nice to others.

Two thoughts

First, a quote I currently love: Distance to love is like wind to a fire--it inflames the great and extinguishes the small.

All of you out there who take time to chat with me, even though I'm far away, I LOVE YOU!

Second, I want to take up a hobby. Anyone know something good to get into? I'm considering knitting...

Peace

After a glowing end of the week review about being 'magic,' I had an equally magical weekend. Firstly, I received a package of wrapped Christmas gifts from the family on Friday morning. That afternoon, I took the train with PA to Vitre to visit Caitlin, my favorite assistant here! We had fun making lemon bars and going out to eat Indian food with Sara the German assistant (samosas and Matar Paneer); the waiter even chatted with us a bunch and was impressed that Caitlin and I actually ate the spicy sauce that French people never touch! After that was all the fun of a good old-fashioned American slumber party with sugary snacks, tv, joking around, etc. Tons of fun!

Side note: Caitlin taught me that a "French press" is known as an "Italian" coffeemaker here! LOL!

Our baking challenge for this morning: biscuits and Southern style sausage gravy! We googled recipes and made it all from scratch--me the biscuits and Caitlin the gravy. They were soooooo delicious! We had a lazy morning of cooking, eating, and drinking coffee before a grocery store run. She had to get things done for classes since she is day-tripping to Paris tomorrow, so I stopped in to see Pierre-Antoine before catching the 5:30 train back to Rennes. Did some intense grocery shopping for myself here, then I enjoyed the first box of Kraft mac and cheese that Ma sent me from the States! Now I'm having some real Sleepytime tea and clementines :)

Speaking of clementines, PA's niece Clémentine talked about me recently, saying that my country was very far away from hers! So cute!

Here are all the recipes we used!

Biscuits: http://www.joyofbaking.com/Biscuits.html

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips). Add the milk and slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Roll out dough to 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thickness. Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured round cookie cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 3-inch (7.5 cm) biscuits.

Southern Style Sausage Gravy: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,175,135176-243195,00.html
1/2 pkg. mild sausage
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. all purpose flour or Wondra
4 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper

Cook sausage until done. Add butter and flour. Simmer for a few minutes on medium heat stirring frequently. Add milk, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium-high heat stirring constantly until desired thickness.

Lemon Bars: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonBars.html

Shortbread Crust:

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (25 grams) confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Filling:

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (approximately two large lemons)

1 tablespoons (5 grams) grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour

Garnish:

Confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan.

Shortbread Crust: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together. Press onto the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Lemon Filling: In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer,  beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the shortbread crust and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

To serve: Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Yield: 16 - 2 inch (5 cm) bars

Quick smile

Today a professor told me, "Yesterday, I heard kids speak English that never said a word before, and I thought, 'Lauren is magic!"

Just knowing that a few kids appreciated my silly lesson has cheered me up so much.

:)

Life lessons

Today I realized that I was the worst kind of student--sure, I was a nice kid with good grades, but I was so quiet! Like many, I was shy and too often afraid of making a mistake. Now that I am a teacher of sorts, I see that it is the talkative, maybe even the 'troublesome' kids that are the best in the foreign language--and maybe any--classroom. They are the ones who have no fear in talking to me, so they can play along with the games and lessons I bring up, using broken English, but English nonetheless.

Today's first class was full of nice terminales, so their English should have been pretty decent. They didn't say a word besides 'yes' or 'no'! During Would You Rather?, a game that kids two years below them could play along with for half an hour, I had to give up on because they refused to answer--it was like deer in the headlights! I told the professor this after the class, and she said that all of their teachers complain about it. They're great on paper and in their graphic design classes, but they are as silent as mice.

For my second hour, I got the best five in the class for the whole hour, while the others revised their last test. I did the powerpoint on Tennessee, talked about stereotypes, taught some American slang, and played Two Truths and A Lie, where they had to make up their own three and I had to guess the lie. The stereotypes lesson is hit or miss, I'm finding. Some groups stare blankly, and others really get interested when they hear about French stereotypes that Americans have, including:
-They eat cheese, frog legs, snails, and drink wine.
-They all smoke.
-French people hate Americans.
-They wear berets.
-French people are always well-dressed and stylish.
-French people are lazy--they don't like to work and they often go on strike.
-The French don't take showers. (The students all want to know where this comes from!)
-All French people live in Paris.
-French people always wear black.
-French cooking is the best in the world!

I think this lesson helps because it makes them realize that I'm not a normal teacher and that I am a foreigner with different ideas about people.

So tonight is a birthday bar gathering for one of the British assistants, Eleanor! PA is working a wine and cheese tasting for foreign university students, so I'm just hanging with the assistant crowd. Luckily, I don't have work until 3 tomorrow!

First day of scheduled classes

Here’s another French mystery for you—no one is out on Sundays! I see about one tenth of the people I usually see on Place Sainte Anne on Sundays.

A thought from fellow assistant Caitlin’s father was that living in France is like living in the US in the 1950s. Hours are shorter for businesses, nothing is open 24/7, and most things are closed on Sundays!

I don’t think I mentioned yet that Christmas things have been up around here since before Halloween! I guess since Halloween and Thanksgiving aren’t here to break up the holidays, Christmas shows up a lot earlier. Besides décor and ornaments in shops, there are also gift wrapping tables outside the toy store and lights hung across all the main streets and squares. I’ll be sure to share photos when they get turned on.

Enough random thoughts. Today was my first full-scheduled day of classes, four hours worth. Lycée is the last three years of high school here called secondes (10^th grade age), premières (11^th), and terminales (12^th). What I learned today was that English levels are vastly different among these grades :/ My terminale class at 4pm on Mondays is considered one of the worst rowdy groups in the school, but they are my favorites because they are not afraid to speak and interact with me. Plus, they understand so much of what I saw that I need double the activities to fill their half hour. My secondes just stare blankly at me, and usually just one or two are clever enough to translate my questions into French for the others. They’re just so nice and shy, it’s annoying!

In talking with the more active classes, I think I will incorporate more music and tv into my lessons to keep them interested. Next week, I will do something on slang and texting/chat lingo which I hope they’ll enjoy.

Whew! One third of my classes are done for the week already! I feel so much better knowing when and where I have to go. I also like having the autonomy to do what I want with the kids.

Rain and reflections

Nonstop rain today, so I had no motivation to go out. Plus, the party last night lasted until 5 or 6am, so I didn't sleep all that much. I did a little work, a lot of reading Guns, Germs, and Steel (only a chapter left!) and Moins que zéro, a novel that Pierre-Antoine gave me.

The most fun of the day was when my door buzzed this morning. I wasn't expecting anyone on a Saturday morning, so I ignored it. Then, I looked out my window to see a yellow postal delivery van driving away. Ma had sent me some packages, so I realized what was going on immediately. Still in my pjs, I ran out into the rain in my bathrobe and chased the truck down. The guy seemed rather surprised, but he got the package out for me quickly so I could get in out of the rain. Nor many people were out on the Place at the time, but I saw smiles and laughs and heard a woman yell 'pyjamas' at me! Ah well, all for the sake of adventure.

The package had little Christmas decorations/home goods, which I've already hung up and set out, and some GOLDFISH CRACKERS!!! Eating some today made me feel like a little kid in preschool--very theraputic.

My internet died for a few hours, so I took the time to reflect on my life here. I've been very negative lately about the students misbehaving, miscommunication with French people all the time, the bad weather, the strange food... A skype conversation with Ma ended with, "No one is going to want to hang out with you if you're so negative." Very true. I'm resolving to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" in the words of Spamalot! Here I have a minimally demanding job that allows me to live comfortably in a foreign country in a nice town. I should remember my blessings; perhaps celebrating Thanksgiving soon will help.

Also helping me cheer up is the prospect of holiday travel. I am going to Copenhagen to see my Africa study abroad buddies EBrown and Lily for the weekend of December 9-12. For the Christmas holidays, I'll hang out with PA and maybe (tentative plan here) go to Eurodisney and/or Strasbourg for the Christmas markets--or if anyone has a Christmas in Germany suggestion, that'd be nice too ;) For the February/March break, my dream is to do Spain, Portugal, and Morocco for a week or two. We'll see how the cards fall, but a change of scenery and something to look forward to may be just what I need.

As always, thanks for reading my confessions from France. Hope to hear back from you sometime!

Long weekend...

So today was far less exciting than planned... The wedding was called off at the last moment, so I stayed in Rennes while PA went to check out the family drama--of which there wasn't any in the end! How dull!

So I texted around and got an invite to the movies with Katherine and Julia. It was the usual French style of slow movie, multiple stories, lots of drama/emotion, lots of smoking and drinking, etc. Oh, the title was Les Petits Mouchoirs or The Little Tissues. It was rather sad at the end, and I definitely don't recommend it.

Afterwards, we had a delicious pizza dinner at La Casa Pepe. Thin crust and way bigger than the plate, it was the best pizza I've had outside of Italy! Whoever visits me here must try it!

There was a brief interlude in my apartment while we waited for some friends to finish their dinner, then we headed to the Cactus bar with Georgia, Seth, Jackie, and her two Guatemalan friends. The music and conversation was good, but they are all traveling to nearby cities for the day tomorrow, so they headed home around midnight.

And here I am... back in my apartment to update y'all and chill. I'm pretty sleepy myself, but that might just be the wine from dinner.

I also learned that I am on the cover of the Furman University Engage magazine with my Africa study abroad buddies! I've made it to print in three continents: Africa, Europe, and North America!

Caitlin is awesome!!!

Haha! So as you can imagine from the title of this post, Caitlin came in to visit from Vitre again! We had planned an evening of fun and dancing... but things did not work out exactly right...

But starting from the beginning: She arrived yesterday evening, and we ran to H&M to buy 80s-esque clothing in order to get free admission to an 80s themed party at a club last night. For some reason, a lot of French fashion is currently 80s revivial. I ended up with big bracelets, a lace skirt, and "reddish purple" leggings. We cooked and ate chili that tasted just like home. Then Caitlin napped and made an 80s playlist, while I cleaned up and chatted with PA.

I had planned a pregame party at 10, so Berit, Madeline, and Ellie showed up. We just chatted, smoked hookah, and played the drinking game Moose, which was super fun! It was like college parties... but with only 6 people :/

Around 1:30am we head to a club called Pyms, about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. In France, clubs are open from 11pm or 12am until 6-7am! So we arrive to a huge line! We get in it, feeling optimistic, and do move forward. But eventually we realized that instead of the line moving forward because people are going in, it is moving forward into a big mob that keeps pressing closer and closer. So we ended up trapped in the mob for about an hour with people pushing from all sides... They really need some velvet ropes because it was chaos!!! So we all gave up and pushed our way out feeling super angry that French people cannot manage to maintain an orderly line! Though, my mother does have an anecdote about this from our trip to Eurodisney, I had forgotten my love for straight lines until last night.

Caitlin and I were back at my place around 3, and we tried to watch a French movie but decided to sleep. And we slept until 2pm today! I don't know how, considering there was some demonstration marching through the Place a few times in the morning. We had kebabs for breakfast/lunch/snack, did some returns/window shopping, got to-go flavored lattes at Le Haricot Rouge (which was better than Starbucks!), hung out!

I also learned that there is a band that practices in the apartment above me! It's nice rock, and they sing in English (or at least I heard one English song in the stairway).

Caitlin just left to train back to Vitre, and I'm going to meet up with PA for dinner soon. The plan is to go to an international student party at a bar tonight with some assistants. Hopefully, it will turn out better than Pyms! And tomorrow I will go to a French wedding--PA's cousin. We'll miss the ceremony at the mayor's office but get to enjoy the dinner party afterwards.

Photos of fun to come! :*

Using all those brochures I have...

This is another short week of school because of Armstice Day on Thursday. We have no work Friday, and I have no classes tomorrow, so it is a five-day weekend for me. You would think I'd be excited, but I'm really just bored!

I worked two hours yesterday and one today (because the other class did not show up), talking about vacations and what activities people can do in cities, countryside, beaches, and mountains. I then passed out brochures from Las Vegas, DC, Tennessee, and Chicago and had the kids look through them to find an activity they would like to try, whcih they had to present to the class. More successful with some groups than others--language ability is super varied. Group size too--between four and ten--can chang the dynamic of chattiness versus participation in the lesson. The plan is for teachers to give me half the class for half an hour, and then we switch for the second half hour. It is better to have small groups but also tiring to do the same lesson four times in a row. I'll have to find a rotation system to keep myself alert.

Also, I did finally get a schedule from next Monday until the holiday break. I have 4 hours Monday, 2 Tuesday morning, 2 Wednesday afternoon, 4 Thursday, and Fridays off. Monday is a 9:30 start, Tuesday 8:30, but I'd rather get going now that I have official work to do! The reason that it will change in January is because professional schools have internships that their students go on for weeks at a time, so some of my students will leave then, and others will arrive to take their place at different hours.

This weekend I pledge to prepare more lessons and games! Next week I want to do a lesson on stereotyes between French and American people. I also want to play a song and have the kids fill in blanks in the lyrics, so we can talk about music and learn some vocab. The week after will be for my Thanksgiving activitites! ;)

Another thing I've noticed is that French people start sentences with "euh/bah..." and end them with "quoi" which means "what." I guess it is just their way of saying "um" and "you know" like we do in English, but it is funny to observe. I even notice some of the assistants doing it to sound more authentically French! Maybe I should join the bandwagon on this one.

I'll let you know what excitement I get up to this weekend too! Bisous !

Fun weekend!

I had a pretty fun weekend! Friday night, Seth, Georgia, Berit, Sinead, and Pablo (a Spanish assistant), came over for drinks, bread, cheese, and pate. We listened to jazz music and just chilled. Saturday I had a visit from Caitlin, the assistant in Vitré who is from the Seattle area. We chatted, ate date balls that I made and mini-muffins she bought at Vitré, bought candy from a candy shop, ate Creole food at King Creole--very good!, watched some online tv, and exchanged some good music. After a lot of big group activities, it's good to get to know someone one-on-one. We also share a love of dancing, so we're arranging a club night on Wednesday since there is no school Thursday or Friday!

She left this morning, so now I'm working on preparing games and lessons for my classes! I want to try talking about American-French stereotypes, so that should be interesting ;) It's exciting to be doing real work! I guess I still have my American work ethic, despite my exposure to French strikes.

Here is a burning question I just reseached online: Did the French make French Toast? 

Answer: No. It is more likely that the recipe dates back to the medieval ages and may have been a logical "invention" by different people , akin to battering and frying any food. Supposedly it was originally known in England and America as "German toast" , prior to the First World War , when it was changed because of anti-German sentiment. [From http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_the_french_make_french_toast]

Anyone recall hearing about "German Toast"? Haha!

A rough week

Even though we only had class from Wednesday to Friday this week, I had some tough times. I've really started preparing for classes since I will be getting my official schedule on November 15. I've made powerpoints on Tennessee, traveling in the US (to use with the brochures everyone has been collecting for me), and the American school system, and I've set up games to play, like Would You Rather, Two Truths and A Lie, and Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. Some of the profs let me steal groups of three to ten students for conversation, games, and these presentations this week, so I've been really getting my feet wet.

So far the students are generally nice, but there a definitely some groups and people who care a lot more that others. You just have to hope that they will be willing to play along. I think, in general, they do like me since I am younger, American, and more fun/interesting/different than regular class.

What has been rough, you ask? Well, one of the professors and I are having some communication issues since between her English and my French understanding, something is getting lost in translation. This is making some moments uncomfortable, but hopefully, all will work out in the end.

I also learned that next week is another three day week! Thursday is Armstice Day, so we're off for that and the Friday. I'm thinking of doing something fun--traveling somewhere nearby for a day perhaps. I'm trying to budget well so that I can live off of my euros and not exchange anymore dollars. Wish me luck! ;)

Besides work, I also had some fun last night going out with PA and two of his friends. A bar was having a belated Halloween theme night, so if you went in costume you got a free drink. I was a devil again, and PA and his friends wore morphsuits:

It was a release to be a crazy person wandering around in a costume on a Thursday night! People talked to us on the street to laugh or ask questions about how they can see out of the morphsuits. It was just funny! We also had a guy buy us free caramel vodka shots! It was silly but much needed.

PA is in Vitré for the weekend, and so I am looking for ways to entertain myself. I definitely need some down time to read and chill after a stressful few days.

A nice French doctor

Today was yet another adventure in French—I had to go to the doctor! The owner of Caely’s (another assistant here) apartment recommended one to her, so I got the name and address. The medical office is run without secretaries, medical history forms, nurses, or even appointments! I just walked in at 8:30am, and the doctor waved me back as the first person of the day. He sat behind his desk, and I had a seat and just described my symptoms to him. I studied up on vocabulary the night before, but with some of the questions we switched to a bit of English and used his handy French-English medical dictionary. So without a physical exam, temperature, blood pressure or anything, he wrote me a prescription and said he hoped he never had to see me again! How nice!

Since it was my first medical visit, the doctor also had to fill out a form for me to deliver to my medical insurance office here. I also haven’t yet received my Carte Vitale, the social security card here for medical reimbursement, so I had to pay for the visit (22 Euros) and the medicines from the pharmacy (11 Euros) up front and deliver the relevant receipts to the insurance office to get my money back later. So yes, I also stopped by that office to drop all of these things off. Luckily, there is no line during the regular workday :)

Just ate a sandwich in my apartment, waiting to go to observe more classes this afternoon. My boss called to say that I will have a schedule starting November 15 since this week and next week have strange scheduling for some reason. Thank goodness! Soon I will actually have (steady) work to do!

Otherwise, things are quiet around here. I’ll try to get to some cultural notes soon, but I haven’t really been inspired by anything lately…

Halloween

My Halloween party was a huge success!! Friends old and new from the US, France, Canada, Spain, UK, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Lithuania showed up! Not many did costumes, but I was a devil and PA the Phantom of the Opera.

To see photos, click here! The link is also in the photo albums sidebar on the right!

Happy Halloween to you all!

Vacation cont'd. cont'd.

Just a little update: Laetitia kindly took me to IKEA yesterday where I purchased two lamps, two tables, and a clothes rack. Today, everything is fully assembled and organized, so I feel like I'm home now! Pictures will come from Sunday's Halloween party, I promise ;)

More strikes predicted... Boo!!! And that's a sad boo, not a scary one! Laetitia said that she doubted students will show up back to class on Wednesday..

I started reading the French paper Le Monde to keep myself educated. Here are President Sarkozy's recent words on the retirement age issue, followed by a rough translation by me:

Interrogé sur le recours que le Parti socialiste veut déposer contre le projet de loi sur les retraites, M. Sarkozy a répondu : "Attendons que le recours soit déposé, attendons sereinement que le Conseil constitutionnel se prononce". 

[Questioned about the appeal that the Socialist Party wants to present against the bill on retirement, M. Sarkozy responded: “Let’s wait for the appeal to be presented, let’s wait serenely for the Constitutional Council to rule.”]

"Dans cette affaire, il n'y a qu'un seul vainqueur, la sécurité sociale", a estimé le président français. "Ce sont les Français, qui, une fois la loi promulguée, sauront que leurs retraites seront financées, que la solidarité ne sera pas un vain mot, que les retraités pourront compter sur leurs pensions de retraite."

 
[“In this affair, there is only one winner, social security,” assessed the French President. “These are the French, who, once the law is in place, will know that their retirement will be financed, that solidarity will not be a vain word, that the retired will be able to count on their retirement pensions.”] 

"Tous ceux qui partiront à la retraite dans les années qui viennent sauront que le système français de sécurité sociale, fondée sur la solidarité entre les générations, fonctionne. C'est tout", a insisté M. Sarkozy. "Pour le reste, des inquiétudes, souvent légitimes, ont été exprimées. Je les ai entendues, j'y ai réfléchi et je prendrai le moment venu des initiatives pour y répondre."

[“All those who are retiring in the coming years will know that the French system of social security, founded on the solidarity between generations, functions. That’s all,” insisted M. Sarkozy. “For the rest, the worries, often legitimate, have been expressed. I heard them, I reflected on them, and I will take the coming time of initiatives in order to respond to them.”]

Vacation cont'd.

I found the upside of retiring later for the French: Taking Early Retirement May Retire Memory, Too. And for all of us, I suppose... ;) I'm pretty sure that this month of not working has already declined my brain abilities, so I totally agree with this study's findings!

So it still isn't too exciting here... After my last post, I went on a bit of a shopping spree for a bathrobe, hat, and mittens to keep me cozy this winter. I also found postcards that actually show my apartment's windows!!! How cool is that!? I bought a ton to send and keep for myself. Also grabbed pasta and sauce for a lonely dinner. Most of the other assistants are out of town traveling for vacation, and the two in town were not feeling up to meeting me downtown since they live a ways out. It was fine to have a little chill time, and there was a band playing at a bar I could hear clearly from my windows. After "Hotel California" and some Beatles, I was plenty content.

This morning was exciting because I got two packages from Mother of clothes, Thanksgiving things, photos, and brochures for my classes. Thanks to her and Grandma Tucker for the thoughts and things! I also got a form back from my landlord (who lives in Andorra, so I got a cool Andorra stamp!) so that I could finally mail in my application for housing aid! Hopefully, that will go smoothly, and I can take advantage of this poor French government some more.

PA arrived around lunchtime, bringing me a microwave! How exciting! Plans for the afternoon include helping PA research grad school stuff, decorating my apartment for a Halloween party, and perhaps going to IKEA to buy a table, lamp, and clothes rack. How domestic my life has become...

Vacation

Sorry to not update, but even sorrier that I have nothing exciting to say! Since I've been back to Rennes, I've just been hanging out, doing laundry, watching movies, reading, catching up on the news, etc. Nothing to do!

I think the boredom is getting me down too. At least when I nominally have work each day, I can pretend I'm being useful. When there is nothing at all to occupy my time, I just feel like it was pointless of me to come here. People at my school don't seem to know what to do with me, and since I don't have a schedule, I cannot really prepare activites. I've just been spending money to set up a life here all month, and all I've given the world in return is a few English conversations. I hate that!

And to make this post less whiney, I thought I should explain what this vacation is all about! November 1st is la Toussaint, or All Saint's Day, which as the name suggests celebrates all the saints in Catholic tradition. The day is meant to bring candles and flowers to the graves of loved ones--chrysanthemums are the norm.

Since the French don't have a Thanksgiving break (or Halloween fun...), I guess this is their week of a fall breather.

If anyone has any entertainment ideas, let me know! Funny videos, books to get, recipes to try...