Tired and tired of strikes!

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!

Paperwork... DONE!

I spent a nice Thursday evening out. I took Pierre-Antoine to the Japanese restaurant Fuji where we shared potstickers, sushi, and fried chicken bits. We were craving sweet afterwards, so we went to a place called Le Haricot Rouge (The Red Bean). They are famous for their hot chocolate with flavors added and their authentic XVIIth century chocolate. I took Le Spécial that had cinnamon, caramel, and pistachio added with whipped cream on top! PA had a delicious moeulleux de chocolat—a denser, darker brownie than in the US. And yes, we ate outside in the not-too-chilly evening.

We left there about 8:45 to meet our groups for the night. He was going to a party of classmates in his current American studies master, and I was meeting other English assistants at Melody Maker, a bar that plays cool rock music right around the corner from Sainte Anne. Caely and Emma were there when I arrived, and I had a Saint Benoît beer (light but hoppy) with them. Later came Marie and Berit. We compared school working environments and gave each other tips on the paperwork to be done in addition to just chatting. Reminding myself that others are having the same difficulties as me makes me feel so much better—that sounds weird, but I just feel less alone when I hear an assistant voice the same concerns and then listen to everyone’s ideas on how to solve the problem. I also learned about a bunch of group activities for the weekend, so I might be visiting the Saturday market, the art museum, and an assistant dinner at the crêperie under my apartment!

I have no work today, so I spent the morning taking care of social security and free transport. I got lost finding the Caisse première d’assurance maladie where I had to go for social security/basic health insurance. I just handed the woman all the papers I had, and she sorted through all of it to make my dossier. So now I get reimbursed for around 75% of medical expenses and medicines!

Then, I went to a community center to get free transport since I make less than €976 a month. The woman at the information desk kept saying that I couldn’t get it if I hadn’t lived in Rennes for a year already, but I told her that I knew another language assistant who just did it and insisted on talking to someone else. The next woman was much nicer; she took my work contract, passport, and address and charged my Carte Korrigo for six months of free metro and bus!

So the morning was a productive success! Even though I probably said very dumb things in French, everyone understood me enough to put everything together, and that is a very nice feeling.

Now that all my paperwork is done, I hardly know what to do with myself! Since PA has afternoon classes, maybe I’ll just go downtown with my FREE transport card and wander around :) Or maybe God will smile down on me some more, and I’ll get the phone call to pick up my apartment keys!

PA is going to Normandy for the weekend, escorting students to the Bayeux Tapestry and the World War II memorial in Caen. I have thus lined up some activities with the assistants. Should be busy... I hope!