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...

Visting in Vitré

I made it to Vitré Saturday evening at 5:30. I read my French Cosmo magazine for the thrity minute train trip and realized that I felt rather comfortable traveling like this. I know what to do now.

I was greeted by the whole Levillain crowd--Pierre-Antoine's sister Nathalie was in town for the holidays with her husband Samuel and their two kids Clémentine (3 years) and Martin (1 year). While shy at first, Clementine eventually asked me to read her a book at PA's prodding. I think my accent was rather confusing, and I found that there a words in French children's books I don't know... :/ We also spent time coloring together--I did a horse and a sheep on request and her abstract Aurora and Prince Charming were very colorful. I also got a goodnight bisous (kiss on the cheek)!

Having the kids around was fun and funny! At PA's basketball game, we got Clémentine to cheer, "Ne piquez pas le ballon de mon Tonton 'Toine!" ("Don't steal the ball from my Uncle 'Toine!") She also screamed "Allez les rouges," which was "Go red!" or the opposing team's color, and "AN-TOINE," which she shrieked during a qiuet moment in the gym, lol!

PA and I returned to Rennes this morning on the train. He's doing some studying, and I'm working on this and things around the apartment. I also added photos of the market in Rennes and some scenes from Vitré: click here to see my photos!

A weekend in Brittany

Friday evening was mellow. I had two small convo groups at school with graphic design kids. Laetitia made sure to give me a good mix of shy/outgoing, good/not-so-good in each group so that we could really keep a conversation going. Basically, I learned that if you bring up movies, music, or shopping, kids will talk!

Laetitia was nice enough to give me a ride home. She also offered her car next week for an Ikea run to get a table, lamp, and clothes rack to furnish my apartment. I said I was considering visiting St. Malo on the beach for a day, and she said that she was going to neighboring Dinard to visit a friend, so she could drive me up there too!

At home, I got some organizing done, hung up a curtain in my bedroom, read, watched ER, and chatted online with some friends. I was supposed to go to a dinner party, so I bought bread, cheese, and wine, but it was cancelled soon after. So I continued my activities into the night—reading Guns, Germs and Steel and French Cosmo, playing online, eating my recently purchased cheese and bread, and making waffles for entertainment. I also watched the people outside my window for awhile; I live on a main meeting square, so there are always tons of people gathering there. At one point, a group of people banging on pots and drums showed up with actual TORCHES!!! I still have no idea what that was about, but I’ll put the photographic proof in my album for you to review. I also skyped with mom and dad and planned a Halloween party at my place. The Monday after Halloween is a holiday here, so people have no excuse not to come!

Then, I had a solid ten hours of sleep. I think it was the best full night of sleep I’ve had since I got to France. Since I actually moved into my apartment, I am always running out to get things for the place. I have been so tired this week, so a night of calm and sleep was probably a good idea.

So this morning I checked out the market in Place des Lices, a three minute walk from my apartment. It is the second largest market in all of France! You can get produce, meat, fish, bread, cheese, flowers, Chinese food, pastries—everything you could want every Saturday. I looked around a bit and ended up buying flowers for Pierre-Antoine’s mom and sisters. I’m heading to Vitré in a few hours to meet the rest of the family and see PA’s basketball game tomorrow morning.

A plus ! Later!

The strike and its problems...

I just read this article about the strike conditions in Marseilles: Bad air and bobbing oil tankers in Marseille

I think I mentioned that transportation is at a minimum, but maybe I failed to point out that the port of Marseilles is blocked so oil ships cannot land, hence the gas shortages for cars and buses! I'm just glad the Rennes garbagemen have not decided to strike--a trash buildup would be miserable.

I managed to meet the last English prof at my school today, Aline. She is older and speaks the best English of all of them! I would have sworn she was British! Luckily, I came on the day when a student had baked cookies and they were having tea as a treat. I introduced myself and they told me about their work in graphic design and printing. This is a group of post-bac students (the bac is the final high school exam) who range in age from 19 to 25. Their English wasn't that great, but at least they try.

After that, I hung around to see Catherine. She wanted to make sure I was coming in every day since we hadn't crossed paths in a week. She also arranged for me to take some groups of Laetitia's students this afternoon. PA will be heading to Vitre today for basketball, and I have an assistant dinner party at Caely's tonight. Tomorrow I will head to Vitre myself for a change of scene and to see PA's home basketball game--undefeated so far!

After this afternoon, I have a vacation until November 3rd. My friend Deepa and I might travel a bit locally to work around the strikes. I'll keep you posted!

STRIKE: Neverending!!!

I mananged to get a class with one student this morning--the prof literally just left us to talk. So obviously I didn't really have anything planned, but she was excited about Las Vegas because of the movie The Hangover. We also talked about the Twilight books that she loves and how she wants to be a librarian. Sweet kid.

Despite my frustrations with the strike, at lease I did something today. I'm heading back in a few minutes to see if anyone else is around. Via facebook I got this article, so here's some food for thought: Like France, will US soon move to boost retirement age? - CSMonitor.com