first:
no, i was not concerned about my health when i got my lungs x-rayed. i had that done as a REQUIREMENT to work for the government of france in the school systems.
i went out last night with some friends of mine who are french, and who play rugby, and they informed me that my french is at such a level that they feel comfortable calling me bilingual. to quote them "you understand everything we say, when we're speaking we don't change what we say for you, and we understand what you say to us every time. so pretty much, you can speak french"
and i thought that was awesome.
this was after all of the assistants got together for thanksgiving dinner at our friend brittany's house. there were nine of us total, each bringing a dish. i brought mashed potatoes and wine, alyson brought green bean casserole, jen brough corn and wine, brittany was in charge of the turkey, joanna brought stuffing (actually, i did too), stephanie brought salad, the other stephanie brought veggies (including squash!), whitney MADE AN APPLE PIE and brought a couple others.
all in all it was quite the feast and it was quite a fun time. i think for all of us, it was exactly what we needed. a few americans, some great food, a few glasses of wine, and hours of conversation. although the night before i was close to tears after speaking with my family, this made me feel better about the night.
so after this, jen and i met up with the rugby friends, and this is where i found out my french is apparently awesome. so go me.
now alyson and i are awaiting the arrival of bryan to watch movies.
catch y'all on the flip side.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
i almost forgot!
alyson and i made friends with a "little person" in france. his name is "little wolf" (petit loup) and he is probably my new favorite.
ben oui
so.
i know you were all curious as to whether or not i had TB. i don't, i got my lungs x-rayed today in orleans to make sure that i don't. and then, i got my titre de sejour. it's pretty much just a little card that says i'm a temporary citizen of these parts until july 15th of 2008. pretty sweet.
i had forgotten, being over here, that schools get time off for thanksgiving. when i found out friends of mine were going home, i asked "why?" and then felt like an idiot.
so, to make up for it, we're learning about thanksgiving in all of my classes this week. although i only have three classes total out of the eight, because i had to cancel all of mine today (although i was only going an hour away, there is a train strike so transportation is limited and i had to be there all day) and thursday i have an all day training in tours with the other elementary school people.
i've decided the title of assistant does not work for us, especially considering one of my teachers told me that the reason why i'm hired is because the school doesn't want to pay for a full time teacher - so i get the duties of a full time real teacher with only half the pay. super.
my bank stuff is finally straightened out. i have french checks, money in my french account, and my bank of america business has been handled. THANK GOD.
although i tried to overnight the affidavit concerning the fraudulent charges, and it got sent back to me since it was going to be mailed to a PO box, and that's not acceptable with chronopost. so i paid 50 euros to mail it from tours, to tours. i finally faxed it, paying four euros. super.
also - did we know the euro is almost a dollar fifty? yes. i think that's great. no, no i don't. dammit.
we're having thanksgiving dinner with the american assistants on friday, i'm responsible for mashed potatoes and wine. let's all note that i believe that in itself is an acceptable meal. so. i'm excited.
my classes are going well, although i have one level of CM1s (9 going on 10 years) that i CANNOT control. all those years of camp for the troubled kids and teaching dance class and learning psychology are of absolutely no help because i can't play my little games and manipulate them the way i want in my stupid second language.
although, i have been learning more french with my french friends, one of whom saw some of the material i had to work with in college and decided that my level of french is high enough that he will only speak to me in french. thanks, thomas. i've also become friends with the son of a friend of the host family with whom i stayed (yay six degrees of separation), who speaks english with a jamaican accent since he loves reggae. i met him right after arriving here, and he and i kept running into each other on our nights out. so we decided to bite the bullet and be friends and it's been working out nicely. first acceptable french man i've met under the age of 33. because the rest of them seem to have some serious social problems - they come on WAY TOO STRONG and are WAY TOO ENTHUSIASTIC and it's disturbing. but basil's a cool kid. other than that, i've been mingling with the friends of another american's boyfriend, and one of the american assistants is fluent in italian and lived in rome this summer - now his italian friends are here and we've only got french in common so that's the language we all speak when we're together. and yes, these are the crazies i have mentioned in past posts. they are the most fun, most amazing people i have EVER met. i love 'em.
as of right now, i am exhausted, after getting up at 545 to catch my train to make it to my appt on time this morning. i think i may be turning in soon, considering i have to get up and see some of my youngest students tomorrow morning at 830. yehaw!
hope all is well in the states.
you have no idea how much i miss it - especially now that it's winter - the snow and the woodfires and the egg nog and the family and friends - we don't have all that here. we've got rain and nutella and some people we barely know but are clinging to because we've got nobody else to turn to.
it's been real.
catch y'all on the flip side.
i know you were all curious as to whether or not i had TB. i don't, i got my lungs x-rayed today in orleans to make sure that i don't. and then, i got my titre de sejour. it's pretty much just a little card that says i'm a temporary citizen of these parts until july 15th of 2008. pretty sweet.
i had forgotten, being over here, that schools get time off for thanksgiving. when i found out friends of mine were going home, i asked "why?" and then felt like an idiot.
so, to make up for it, we're learning about thanksgiving in all of my classes this week. although i only have three classes total out of the eight, because i had to cancel all of mine today (although i was only going an hour away, there is a train strike so transportation is limited and i had to be there all day) and thursday i have an all day training in tours with the other elementary school people.
i've decided the title of assistant does not work for us, especially considering one of my teachers told me that the reason why i'm hired is because the school doesn't want to pay for a full time teacher - so i get the duties of a full time real teacher with only half the pay. super.
my bank stuff is finally straightened out. i have french checks, money in my french account, and my bank of america business has been handled. THANK GOD.
although i tried to overnight the affidavit concerning the fraudulent charges, and it got sent back to me since it was going to be mailed to a PO box, and that's not acceptable with chronopost. so i paid 50 euros to mail it from tours, to tours. i finally faxed it, paying four euros. super.
also - did we know the euro is almost a dollar fifty? yes. i think that's great. no, no i don't. dammit.
we're having thanksgiving dinner with the american assistants on friday, i'm responsible for mashed potatoes and wine. let's all note that i believe that in itself is an acceptable meal. so. i'm excited.
my classes are going well, although i have one level of CM1s (9 going on 10 years) that i CANNOT control. all those years of camp for the troubled kids and teaching dance class and learning psychology are of absolutely no help because i can't play my little games and manipulate them the way i want in my stupid second language.
although, i have been learning more french with my french friends, one of whom saw some of the material i had to work with in college and decided that my level of french is high enough that he will only speak to me in french. thanks, thomas. i've also become friends with the son of a friend of the host family with whom i stayed (yay six degrees of separation), who speaks english with a jamaican accent since he loves reggae. i met him right after arriving here, and he and i kept running into each other on our nights out. so we decided to bite the bullet and be friends and it's been working out nicely. first acceptable french man i've met under the age of 33. because the rest of them seem to have some serious social problems - they come on WAY TOO STRONG and are WAY TOO ENTHUSIASTIC and it's disturbing. but basil's a cool kid. other than that, i've been mingling with the friends of another american's boyfriend, and one of the american assistants is fluent in italian and lived in rome this summer - now his italian friends are here and we've only got french in common so that's the language we all speak when we're together. and yes, these are the crazies i have mentioned in past posts. they are the most fun, most amazing people i have EVER met. i love 'em.
as of right now, i am exhausted, after getting up at 545 to catch my train to make it to my appt on time this morning. i think i may be turning in soon, considering i have to get up and see some of my youngest students tomorrow morning at 830. yehaw!
hope all is well in the states.
you have no idea how much i miss it - especially now that it's winter - the snow and the woodfires and the egg nog and the family and friends - we don't have all that here. we've got rain and nutella and some people we barely know but are clinging to because we've got nobody else to turn to.
it's been real.
catch y'all on the flip side.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
late night thoughts
so, i have been back and forth with my parents and bank of america because this whole banking situation seems to be impossible to handle overseas in one simple step. it's more like five thousand not simple at all steps. but as the french say "jamais simple"
my fingers are covered in marker because i've been making posters of the days of the week and of months and bingo charts so they can review numbers. although i think the marker's making my fingers itch a bit, but whatever.
i know i've spent a fair amount of time complaining, so i am going to make a list of all the things i love about being here:
meeting the frenchies who i've become friends with. they have taken us out and treated us so well, and they are so silly and also learning english (they are university students studying business, for the most part, some engineering) and we always wind up having a good time and partaking in silliness.
meeting new people all the time, and striking up conversations.
the dance clubs - and running into other assistants, and the crazy italians i met a while back. this past weekend was a blast - we saw them saturday night and they are loud, and wound up, and have no fear about leaving a bad impression anywhere. it was a great time. it's so fun here, much different than the states in that regard - everyone just starts dancing and lets go. although the italians started a mosh pit and i got sandwiched in between two very tall, very large men, bryan came to my rescue though since he's the one who knows them all.
learning french idioms for random things, and putting them to use.
the abundance of cheese. thank you, cheese gods.
walks around the city - if you avoid the unbelievable amounts of dog crap on the sidewalk, the weather is usually agreeable - the coldest temperature feels like a brisk new england fall day and i just love it.
the fountains in jean jaures, and the christmas lights they have started to put up.
getting accosted by my students when i walk into the school.
how inexpensive wine is.
castles are so inexpensive to get to, and the towns are so cute and quaint where the castles are located - it's quite unreal and unlike anything you will EVER encounter in the states.
adorable french old men who strike up conversation with you in cafes when you've stopped to have a coffee in the middle of the day.
chocolate is served with any coffee you get - anywhere.
how good the coffee is - everywhere
goat cheese here is inexpensive, and amazing.
window shopping takes on a whole new meaning - there is some crazy stuff here.
the foot bridge over the loire - it's so beautiful and calm to stand over this massive river and realize that i'm here in france, on that little spot on the map that i looked at for so long on the pages of an atlas from the US
getting to practice my french - non stop, and hearing people tell me i speak good french. also - teaching people english. other than my students, it's kind of fun.
getting packages and letters from home - best thing EVER.
becoming familiar with french music and french comedians. understanding them - that's soon to come. i swear.
online talks with the US friends that i miss so much.
alright. i should skip off to bed now.
catch you all on the flip side.
my fingers are covered in marker because i've been making posters of the days of the week and of months and bingo charts so they can review numbers. although i think the marker's making my fingers itch a bit, but whatever.
i know i've spent a fair amount of time complaining, so i am going to make a list of all the things i love about being here:
meeting the frenchies who i've become friends with. they have taken us out and treated us so well, and they are so silly and also learning english (they are university students studying business, for the most part, some engineering) and we always wind up having a good time and partaking in silliness.
meeting new people all the time, and striking up conversations.
the dance clubs - and running into other assistants, and the crazy italians i met a while back. this past weekend was a blast - we saw them saturday night and they are loud, and wound up, and have no fear about leaving a bad impression anywhere. it was a great time. it's so fun here, much different than the states in that regard - everyone just starts dancing and lets go. although the italians started a mosh pit and i got sandwiched in between two very tall, very large men, bryan came to my rescue though since he's the one who knows them all.
learning french idioms for random things, and putting them to use.
the abundance of cheese. thank you, cheese gods.
walks around the city - if you avoid the unbelievable amounts of dog crap on the sidewalk, the weather is usually agreeable - the coldest temperature feels like a brisk new england fall day and i just love it.
the fountains in jean jaures, and the christmas lights they have started to put up.
getting accosted by my students when i walk into the school.
how inexpensive wine is.
castles are so inexpensive to get to, and the towns are so cute and quaint where the castles are located - it's quite unreal and unlike anything you will EVER encounter in the states.
adorable french old men who strike up conversation with you in cafes when you've stopped to have a coffee in the middle of the day.
chocolate is served with any coffee you get - anywhere.
how good the coffee is - everywhere
goat cheese here is inexpensive, and amazing.
window shopping takes on a whole new meaning - there is some crazy stuff here.
the foot bridge over the loire - it's so beautiful and calm to stand over this massive river and realize that i'm here in france, on that little spot on the map that i looked at for so long on the pages of an atlas from the US
getting to practice my french - non stop, and hearing people tell me i speak good french. also - teaching people english. other than my students, it's kind of fun.
getting packages and letters from home - best thing EVER.
becoming familiar with french music and french comedians. understanding them - that's soon to come. i swear.
online talks with the US friends that i miss so much.
alright. i should skip off to bed now.
catch you all on the flip side.
Monday, November 5, 2007
just a follow up
talked to both banks:
bank of america account should be active and going tomorrow and i should be able to use my card that i have now and everything.
BNP paribas informed me that it takes a month for checks to clear the first time you write yourself an international one - it took me three trips talking to older women who didn't seem to want to help to wind up with a younger male assistant who was very willing to help the poor american girl. he called up paris and took care of it for me, and told me to tell my friends if they're in the same situation. oh boy.
things are looking up.
i start work again on thursday. dammmmmit.
bank of america account should be active and going tomorrow and i should be able to use my card that i have now and everything.
BNP paribas informed me that it takes a month for checks to clear the first time you write yourself an international one - it took me three trips talking to older women who didn't seem to want to help to wind up with a younger male assistant who was very willing to help the poor american girl. he called up paris and took care of it for me, and told me to tell my friends if they're in the same situation. oh boy.
things are looking up.
i start work again on thursday. dammmmmit.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
WHERE DO I BEGIN???
last update was october 14th, i'll try to remember everything in order. but here is a basic update:
the negative:
i wrote myself a very large check from my american account to my french account which was received on the 15th of october in the paris center of my bank. on the 19th of october, the money was withdrawn from my US account. fun story, the money is STILL not in my french account. when i spoke with my bank about it, they seemed a little shocked that a) the check went to the pairs center, not orleans, and b) that my money still isn't here. so they said beginning of the upcoming week it should be here. since i am now broke because i've had to pay for EVERYTHING (internet, phone, and rent) from my french account (which was not the original plan for these first few months) i am walking in there on monday and letting them know that hey-o, i need my effing money. now.
also, someone by the name of troy jones got a hold of my routing number and checking account number and was using my US account to pay his t-mobile phone bills. thanks, troy. now i have to close my account from overseas. it is difficult enough to do banking over the phone nonetheless try to do it over the atlantic with a time difference of 6 hours. although, they did put me on the phone with one of the head service people of bank of america because i was like you don't understand. i want my account canceled and a new one opened within the next week because i don't live in the us and i need to know that my money is safe while it is there. so yeah. now we're waiting on that, and i will probably have to call them on monday too. greaaaaat.
i think that's the main negative. well also the work life is a bit stressful because i have my bosses from the education department and the teachers of my students all telling me different stories, and i'm not sure what to do. in addition, the progressions that my bosses sent me are all conflicting. the ones online do not match the ones given to us in person, so i have not done the work they said should be done online, only the stuff in paper.
all in all i'm learning that the organization of this country is quite different from my motherland, and it's taking some serious adjusting to get used to it all.
BUT THE POSITIVE!
alyson and i have been taking trips to castles, foot tours around the cities, and trying to make the most of our vacations and our time here, even if we are broke at the moment. i'll insert a link for my albums on facebook for the castles and whatnot at the end of this post.
my students are all great, enthusiastic, and ready to learn, most of the time. these are all good things.
i have yet to meet another person like the london girl who i so badly wanted to strangle. i've actually started making some very good friends, and reconnected with a friend my host family introduced me to who has been showing me how fun and accepting the city really is once you move away from the pretentious people and towards the good ones. so that's all been really nice.
christine came to visit for the week, which was wonderful because i hadn't seen a close friend like that in a very long time. it was nice to share stories with someone who had been there and laugh at inside jokes. i had forgotten how much i missed that.
although this time of year is making me miss home quite a bit, it's one of my favorite times to be in new england. october-january, when the leaves change and fall to the ground and the air is crisp and biting and you get those first few snowfalls that are practically magical. there isn't much snow here according to the locals, i don't think the ground stays frozen so all the snow just melts. very sad.
i think that's about all i have for now.
here are some links to pictures:
http://mtholyoke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031501&l=88506&id=10400438 is the link to blois, with me, alyson, whitney, roman and philipp. the last two are a russian and a german, the first three of us are american girls.
http://mtholyoke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031953&l=73e03&id=10400438 is the link to amboise, it was a gorgeous day and all in all a wonderful time.
more to be posted later.
i almost forgot!
SEND ME CARE PACKAGES!!!
Hilary Park
55 Boulevard Heurteloup
Tours, 37000, France.
:)
the negative:
i wrote myself a very large check from my american account to my french account which was received on the 15th of october in the paris center of my bank. on the 19th of october, the money was withdrawn from my US account. fun story, the money is STILL not in my french account. when i spoke with my bank about it, they seemed a little shocked that a) the check went to the pairs center, not orleans, and b) that my money still isn't here. so they said beginning of the upcoming week it should be here. since i am now broke because i've had to pay for EVERYTHING (internet, phone, and rent) from my french account (which was not the original plan for these first few months) i am walking in there on monday and letting them know that hey-o, i need my effing money. now.
also, someone by the name of troy jones got a hold of my routing number and checking account number and was using my US account to pay his t-mobile phone bills. thanks, troy. now i have to close my account from overseas. it is difficult enough to do banking over the phone nonetheless try to do it over the atlantic with a time difference of 6 hours. although, they did put me on the phone with one of the head service people of bank of america because i was like you don't understand. i want my account canceled and a new one opened within the next week because i don't live in the us and i need to know that my money is safe while it is there. so yeah. now we're waiting on that, and i will probably have to call them on monday too. greaaaaat.
i think that's the main negative. well also the work life is a bit stressful because i have my bosses from the education department and the teachers of my students all telling me different stories, and i'm not sure what to do. in addition, the progressions that my bosses sent me are all conflicting. the ones online do not match the ones given to us in person, so i have not done the work they said should be done online, only the stuff in paper.
all in all i'm learning that the organization of this country is quite different from my motherland, and it's taking some serious adjusting to get used to it all.
BUT THE POSITIVE!
alyson and i have been taking trips to castles, foot tours around the cities, and trying to make the most of our vacations and our time here, even if we are broke at the moment. i'll insert a link for my albums on facebook for the castles and whatnot at the end of this post.
my students are all great, enthusiastic, and ready to learn, most of the time. these are all good things.
i have yet to meet another person like the london girl who i so badly wanted to strangle. i've actually started making some very good friends, and reconnected with a friend my host family introduced me to who has been showing me how fun and accepting the city really is once you move away from the pretentious people and towards the good ones. so that's all been really nice.
christine came to visit for the week, which was wonderful because i hadn't seen a close friend like that in a very long time. it was nice to share stories with someone who had been there and laugh at inside jokes. i had forgotten how much i missed that.
although this time of year is making me miss home quite a bit, it's one of my favorite times to be in new england. october-january, when the leaves change and fall to the ground and the air is crisp and biting and you get those first few snowfalls that are practically magical. there isn't much snow here according to the locals, i don't think the ground stays frozen so all the snow just melts. very sad.
i think that's about all i have for now.
here are some links to pictures:
http://mtholyoke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031501&l=88506&id=10400438 is the link to blois, with me, alyson, whitney, roman and philipp. the last two are a russian and a german, the first three of us are american girls.
http://mtholyoke.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031953&l=73e03&id=10400438 is the link to amboise, it was a gorgeous day and all in all a wonderful time.
more to be posted later.
i almost forgot!
SEND ME CARE PACKAGES!!!
Hilary Park
55 Boulevard Heurteloup
Tours, 37000, France.
:)
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