Last night, PA’s friend Antoni invited us to go out to his class party with him—hanging out with people in his master’s program. Apparently, in France, classes of undergrad and grad students have class mixers out at bars and clubs. So we went to… Melody Maker! It was my fourth time there, so I guess it’s becoming my regular spot!
I had good beer and chatted mostly with PA and Antoni. Random classmates of his kept coming by to introduce themselves, and I had to say I was American and not in the master. Sometimes they would speak a bit of English with me. PA and I ended up in a bunch of their photos, even though we’re not in the program, haha!
Sadly, it is getting cold again here after a warm, sunny weekend. I was shivering outside in my fleece jacket last night, and today has a chilly autumn breeze.
This morning, I left around 11 to bring some cleaning supplies over to my apartment. I tried to call the water and electric companies to put them under my name, but I couldn’t understand what the recorded or real voices were saying :/ I enlisted the help of my apartment agent who kindly took care of it for me. She really is nice and helpful except when she has to enforce the rules of the building owner. Anyway, I have water and electricity now!!!
I had to run into work at 3 today, but right before I left PA’s apartment after lunch, I got a phone call from Catherine. My school has gone on strike against the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62! So from now until the end of the month, some teachers will not be in school. This means that a lot of students don’t bother to show up for class even for the teachers who aren’t on strike. I was advised to still make an appearance at the school every day so as to not be considered on strike as well.
For those wondering about the process of a school going on strike: In the teacher’s lounge was a poster proposing the strike followed by columns with dates (today, tomorrow, next week…). If a teacher wants to strike on a certain day, they put an X in the column—no names so that no one gets in trouble. Many teachers, however, do not go on strike because they don’t want to lose pay for the days they miss; instead they support the cause by handing out flyers or demonstrating during their free time. And yes, there are often demonstrations in the street and on the main squares! Buses, trains, and planes are being cut back (but luckily, not the automated metro that I use). It’s a lot of inconvenience.
So I still went to school at 3 and saw Julie and Laetitia. Only two boys showed up for Julie’s class, so I tested my Tennessee powerpoint on them and let them peruse some menus of Cracker Barrel and Mimi’s Café to learn about Southern cuisine. Then, we just chatted in French about the strike and asked if the students were organizing. For the last few minutes we played some charades using English to describe the person. It was really fun!
As far as moving in goes, Laetitia offered her car to help me move things to my apartment tomorrow! And I should get my beds and a small oven from Julie on Sunday or Monday. After work, I scrubbed every surface of the apartment, so it is clean and ready to be inhabited. I definitely need a table and some decorations still…
When PA finished classes, we ran to buy groceries for fajitas (seasoning mix provided by Ma’s care package). I also turned in the last of my grad school applications this evening, so now it is just a waiting game.
I’m sleepy, and I’m supposed to go to school tomorrow at 9:30. Let’s hope some students show up!
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