Après un mois…

I know. I know. It’s been nearly a month since the last update, but life has definitely been in the fast lane lately.  To save you from all the boring details, most of which I can’t even remember myself, I’ll touch of some of the big events of the last month and hope I can update more regularly from here on out.

One of the great things about the French education system is the number of days you get off of school.  I’m sure this all works out to be about equal when you take into account that the summer holiday is much shorter here, but I only work until the end of April and thus get the best of both worlds.  My contract technically started on October 1st, although I didn’t go to work until the next week because of scheduling issues.  Even then, I only worked the odd day here and there because of numerous orientations.  By October 23rd I had been to school a total of 5 times and what happened then? The first school holiday (October 24th – November 4th).  This worked out great since my mom was coming over to England during this time so we got the chance to meet up and I spent some relaxing time away from the stresses of Paris and with family.

However, before this restful time, the night of October 27th happened.  Oh what a night. I had noticed that day that my drains seemed to be acting up.  I tried a few home remedies that I found off the Internet but all to no avail.  I figured it was time to call the landlady and she told me she could come in the morning. Um, I’m leaving for England in the morning.  You’ll come anyway and sort it all out?  Ok, great.  At this point, my shower, toilet, and kitchen sink were full of water since EVERYTHING is connected. Oh, and it was blue water because of the drain cleaner I put in.

I went out for dinner that night since cooking was obviously not an option, and when I came back home a heard a series of really loud knocks on the door.  Um, who even knows I live here? I opened the door to a man and woman who were freaking out.  She was screaming that there was water pouring into her apartment. Uh oh. She storms in my apartment, sees what’s happened there and flips out. Then she leaves.  So I freak out slightly wondering what I’m going to do.  Then she comes back, slightly calmer, and asks why I didn’t come find her when the problem started.  I’m sorry, who are you?  Then she explains that she’s Maria.  Um…ok.  What, they didn’t tell you about Maria the gardienne (the lady that is in charge of the upkeep of the building etc.).  Um, nope sorry.

So, my water and sewage was pouring into my gardienne’s apartment.  We then came to the realization that my landlady never told me that she existed, which really set her off – although now she was no longer angry at me, but furious that the landlady refused to come until the morning.  So, we spent the next few hours bailing all the water out of my shower, toilet, and sink into buckets and taking them to the courtyard.  Nothing like that for bonding with a stranger.  Her husband happened to be a plumber, and they built a whole new pipe that runs along the inside of my wall while I was in England.  All is fixed (for now) but talk about being thrust into adult life where nobody speaks your native tongue.  Needless to say, I learned a lot of plumbing technology in French (and some other choice words).

In the teaching realm, things are definitely starting to pick up (as in multiple full days of work a week.  WHAT?! I thought this was France. Only kidding.) Today proved to be quite an interesting day.  Here’s a brief highlight of things that happened.

- 2 of my BTS students (they’ve graduated from high school but are doing an additional professional degree) thought it would be a good idea to flirt with me in class.  One asked if I was dating their teacher because I shouldn’t let my looks go to waste by not having a girlfriend.  The other told me I looked like Leonardo DiCaprio.  I understand he’s been through a lot of phases, but sorry, I don’t look like any of them.

- I learned that one of my students sells the best drugs in the area. The class then claimed that he was only joking…

-  2 of my students had bones broken by police during the riots of 2005.

All in all, things are going well. I’m finally finding a routine and actually feel (at times) like I live in Paris.  Sometimes I forget that I live in a foreign country because the language barrier becomes less and less of an issue each day, but then there are those times when I can see the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe all at once. Then I remember.

Time for sleep now so I can prepare for…oh wait. Tomorrow is another day off of school (Armistice Day).

Permanent Housing

Yep!  I’ve finally moved into a place of my own…all 11 square meters of it.  This tiny space includes a sofa bed contraption (I like to call it my couchbed), a TV, a small bookshelf, a mini-fridge, a mini-shower, an electric toilet, and various other items. My kitchen walls are purple and you have to duck to get out of the door.  But I love it.  My couchbed has provided some interesting/frustrating moments, like the first morning when I couldn’t turn it back from a bed to a couch.  I worked on and off for about 3 hours, which included dropping the entire thing on the wood floor 3 times.  Oops.

I got to work my second and third day of school this week (the rest of the month has spent going to orientations – a plus for the Fulbright ones, not so much for the French government ones).  Wednesday went pretty well, I basically just observed some classes.  In the Terminale Euro class (where students choose to take part of their history/geography class in English) the teacher put in Sicko by Michael Moore which created some interesting questions from the students.

Thursday I got to a little taste of some of the difficulties that I’ll be facing this year.  During the last class of the day, I observed a class of seniors…35 of them to be exact. One boy.  Needless to say, they were chatty.  The teacher had told me that she wasn’t going to yell, and although I could tell she was getting really frustrated, she didn’t yell once (major props to her).  The discipline goes as such: every student has a carnet (a small booklet) and when the teacher decides he or she has had enough of the student she asks for the student to put their carnet on the table.  We had 4 or 5 carnets on tables by the end of the class.  The next step comes when the teacher has come to the very end of their patience; he or she takes up the carnet and fills out a report in it, sending the student to the CPE (which I think is something like a vice principal).  The teacher ended up taking one carnet up which I thought was very generous of her.  I would have taken at least 3, especially hearing some of the things that were coming out of their mouth.  I went to a World Cup Qualifying match the night before, and let’s just say there was similar language in the two settings.  At one point, the teacher asked me the English word for pig pen (which I thought was understandable…I definitely didn’t know the French word for it).  One of the students asked the teacher (in French of course, because these students had less than average English skills despite having studied it for 4-7 years), “you don’t know that word?” to which the teacher replied “well no, do you know every word in French?” The student decided to reply with “well no…but I’m not the teacher”.  Even at that, the teacher kept her cool which I thought was incredible.

Last weekend I went up to Caen (in Normandy) and got to hang out with Kaleigh, who was kind enough to entertain me the entire weekend.  I had a blast, and it was really nice to get out of busy Paris for a little while.  Tomorrow I’m meeting then in Rouen (death place of Joan of Arc) which I’m pretty pumped about.

Many of you have asked what my responses were to the questions I got asked last week by my students.  I can’t really remember them all, but I’ll try a few.

- Death penalty – When I told the class that in certain cases the victim’s family can watch an execution, they were appalled.  I found this entertaining considering that France guillotined people in the streets.

- What is your view on the Chris Brown/ Rihanna issue? - I told them that I think it’s crazy that someone that was a victim of abuse went back to the abuser.  They agreed.

- Do all Americans hate Muslims? - When I answered no to this question, several of my students let out an audible sigh of relief.

- Why are you called Americans when America covers more than just your country? - This one stumped me.  So I said…that’s an excellent question, and I have no idea why.

Some random facts/thoughts:

- The post office here is basically all automated.  When I asked for help today, they just pointed me over to a machine where I weighed everything myself, printed out the stamps, and then mailed it myself. Hmm. So if it doesn’t get to the right place, it’s all my fault.

- This one might only apply to people who speak French or some other language that has this rule – Why is it that Facebook uses the vous form when writing to you instead of tu.  I feel like Facebook does not need to show me respect, and that we are past that point in our relationship.

- French keyboards puzzle me.  Who in their right mind creates a keyboard that requires you to push shift EVERY TIME you want to use a period.  Did it not strike someone that that button is used very frequently.

New Job

What!? Two posts this close together? I know, I’m going off the deep end, but today was a good day so I figured I’d share.  I woke up this morning, took the metro and tram out to La Courneuve and then started my first official day as the English Assistant at Lycée Jacques Brel.  As it turned out, the teacher I was supposed to work with/ observe for 3 out of 5 classes today was out sick, but I figured I’d rather stay and see what a typical day looks like instead of go all the way back to Paris and then come back out for my 5pm class (yes, French high school students go to school this late…more on that in a minute). I finally got my key for my casier/pigeonhole/ mailbox and to my surprise, my bank stuff had already arrived which also means I’ll get part of my October salary in October (crazy, I know…)

Between 10:35 and 11:30 I went to a class of Secondes (first year of high school) where they asked me various questions and were given a homework assignment by the teacher to write my biography. I then hung out for a few hours in the teacher’s lounge until lunch when I got the great privilege of going to the cantine. You might be asking yourself (self): what do French students and teachers eat on a typical school day?  Well, today consisted of pasta with beef (not sure it was beef actually…this became a debate amongst the teachers during the meal), cheese, bread, grapes, tomato and asparagus.

After lunch, I observed some classes with another teacher – some of the classes were Terminale (final year) and they asked much more in depth questions.  I even got to listen/ interrogate/ contribute to grading a student on his oral presentation of an Obama cartoon. The last class I observed ended at just before 6pm, which is when I’ll leave school every Tuesday and Thursday.  This still blows my mind, because I’m used to high schools being done by 4 at the very latest.

The French system fascinates me. I’ll be working a lot with Terminale students as they get ready to take the baccalauréat (a very important national exam) at the end of the year. Part of said test is explaining a document that they have just seen for 10 minutes in English (5 minutes of just them talking, followed by 5 minutes of answering questions).  I could never imagine doing something like this in high school, especially not in a foreign language! A lot of students at my lycée need a lot of help in this area…as one teacher explained it to me, they are struggling to get most students past 45 seconds of speaking. This job will definitely require a lot of hard work if it’s done right, but the rewards could definitely be great.

So as I’ve mentioned, today basically consisted of each class asking me tons of questions about myself and American culture. Some of them were so interesting and outright hilarious that I have to share them. The following is a list of things I got asked today:

- Do you like George W. Bush?
- Do you have a girlfriend?
- Do you find French or American girls prettier?
- Gun control
- Abortion
- Death penalty
- What do Americans think about French people?
- Have you ever met a celebrity?
- What is your view on the Chris Brown/ Rihanna issue?
- Do you go to saloons?
- Do you wear cowboy hats?
- Do you own a horse?
- Do all Americans hate Muslims?
- Is it true that everyone in Texas is racist?
- Are you selfish?
- Can you explain Bonnie and Clyde to me?
- Are you married?
- Do you have children?
- Do you go to casinos every day?
- Do you like French food?
- Why are you called Americans when America covers more than just your country?

There were many, many more and I’m sure there are a plethora of new experiences to come.  All in all: I love my new job. I know I’m on the right path, and that teaching in some capacity is where I need to be.

Fulbright Orientation starts tomorrow, including a reception at the French Senate!

Avoiding SDF status

Well, it finally rained in Paris today, reminding me that winter is in fact on its way and that I need to invest in a coat soon!  This weekend was great, Kaleigh came in from Caen and we (along with Melissa) did a lot.  It was Kaleigh’s first time in Paris so we hit up just about everything we could: Eiffel Tower, Père Lachaise cemetery, Arc de Triomphe, lunch in the Jardin du Luxembourg, etc. etc. To top it all off, the Louvre is free is the first Sunday of every month. Check.

I finally got my teaching schedule for the semester, and let me just say, it’s near perfect. My 12 hours a week is separated into 5 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday, and 5 on Thursday. Yes, that’s right: no Monday or Friday classes. And, I’m never at school before 10:35. Only bummer is that I’ll be working during café anglais, but hopefully new ones will start! Thus, in the midst of all the orientations this week, I have a full day of teaching/observation tomorrow!

There’s a term in France for the homeless called SDF, which stands for sans domicile fixe (without permanent housing).  Although I am absolutely nowhere near being homeless, this experience has shed a lot of light onto that particular situation for me.  Previously, whether in Waco, Dallas, or even my first few days in Paris, every time I saw someone sleeping or begging on the street, I felt marginally bad for the person but that was about it.  I figured that everyone should be able to find a job, find housing of some sort etc.  Turns out, that’s not the case at all.  There have been a few days during these past few weeks where desperation has overcome me – much of it because of culture shock, homesickness, being completely overwhelmed by an -interesting- system of bureaucracy – and when I walk by someone on the street now, I see the hopelessness in their eyes. I feel it.  I’m realizing that you never really know someone’s situation, and that the basic necessities of life are not always a given.  In short, I realize how blessed I am to have what I have; to have a job in this country, to be able to afford the apartment that I’m moving into next week, etc.  Permanent housing is not a given. Food is not a given. Money is not a given. These are things that I am learning to value so much more and not to take for granted.

The original plan for this week before moving into my new apartment was to stay with a fellow Fulbrighter who was moving in to her apartment this weekend. Unfortunately, when she arrived the place was unlivable and she’s having to start the whole process over again (I feel absolutely awful for her because I know how stressful searching is, but I know something will come along for her!) I was able to arrange to stay in the hotel a couple more nights (not exactly sure how since they’re full, but hey we’ll go with it) and am generously being taken in by Jason and his wife for a few days after that.  The last couple of days have definitely been weird, and a completely new experience…not having any idea where I might sleep each night, let alone the night after that.

I actually get to experience Autumn this year!

The Louvre

Arc de Triomphe

It’s been a while…

So, one week later and I’m still alive in Paris.  I purposefully didn’t update in the past week because, well let’s just say, the tone of adjusting to life here was definitely a little different than in the last post.  Although day 1 was great, the days that followed were not so much.

I realized pretty quickly that the 10th arr. was not the greatest part of Paris.  Not that it was really unsafe, just that I got uncomfortable if I walked down certain streets, and that there weren’t typical Parisian staples (boulangerie, nice buildings to look at etc.)  This is to be expected in any large city, that there will be certain parts that are rougher than others, but when you are trying to adjust to the idea of living in said city for the next 7 months of your life, you want to feel comfortable.  When I looked up the area in a guide book I had bought (which probably would have been the smart thing to do when booking the hotel in the first place), the word “gritty” was used to describe the neighborhood.

The next few days were spent looking for apartments.  Now, I had been looking for several weeks online while I was back at home, but to no avail.  Surely, I thought, things will get easier once I land. Ha. No, they did not. Coupled with the increased stress of culture shock, and rude real estate agents, I started to panic.  No lie, I had serious doubts about whether or not I wanted to stay.  The typical day was: wander the streets of Paris, walking in and out of real estate agencies, or spending hours glued to the computer screen and calling landlords, then come back to an “eh” hotel in a semi-sketch neighborhood. Basically, I started to realize that I was alone, that nobody was going to be able fix my problems, and that something was going to have to change or else I would be in serious panic attack mode.

I spent a lot of the weekend with Cole (Sic ‘em!), who has been so awesome. He’s cooked me 2 meals (Monoprix sandwiches can only hold up for so long), introduced me to his French friends, and listened to me freak out about housing. On countless occasions. Being around people really helped calm me down, and then Sunday I went to Hillsong Paris.  Still haven’t decided if I want to go to a service that’s half-English half-French (translator), but it was so awesome to be surrounded by a community, and to see that this city isn’t completely dark.  I came home Sunday evening so much less stressed, and convinced that God had a plan and He would reveal it when the timing was right. And He did.

Monday was much the same – in fact 3 apartments fell through within an hour of each other.  How’s that for morale? Monday night I sent off another request to an agency and went to bed. This morning, I woke up to an email saying it was available for a visit and to call the landlord.  I got on the phone after lunch, went to see the apartment, and loved it!  It’s really small, split into two mini-levels, but will do just fine.  The location is so great – literally down the street from the French Senate…doesn’t get much better than that. The only negative aspect is that it’s not available until October 13, so I’m looking for some temporary housing between my hotel ending and that, but it will be worth it.

I also met Jason today, who does a lot of work with university students here in Paris.  He’s involved with café anglais, which from what I understand allows people to come and read articles in English and discuss them with native speakers.  Right up my alley of being an English assistant.  Excited to see what kind of opportunities come up here.

I was supposed to start my job as a teaching assistant this Thursday, but as with many things that hasn’t gone according to plan either, haha.  I’ll set this up for you.  Whenever I tell people that I’m teaching in La Courneuve, they do one of a few things.  They either cover their mouth in horror, tell me they’re sorry, or good luck.  Every. single. person.  Needless to say, when I called the teacher at my school and she told me to come check it out on Monday, I was a little nervous.  When I got to the suburb, it was indeed slightly ghetto (lots of run-down high-rise apartment buildings, various cars with their windows smashed in), but I didn’t really feel unsafe.  I walked about 10 minutes to my school from the tram stop and was pleasantly surprised when I walked in the doors.  The teachers and administration were SO nice to me and welcoming, especially my main contact point, Mme Berqoqi (except the admin lady that the teachers and students all call the dragon).  Mme Berqoqi then told me that the schedule wasn’t ready, so not to worry about coming to work on Thursday. Or Friday. Oh, and you have Orientation all next week? Well, we’ll figure out a time for you to start. Sounds good to me. I’m excited!

Thanks for bearing through this post…I’ll try not to leave it so long next time

Oh, and some random, interesting things for you:

1. Law and Order is really interesting to watch in French.  Especially when you’ve seen the episode in English before. The dubbing is actually done really well because the personalities of the characters don’t really change that much.

2. The wheel in French Wheel of Fortune(La Roue de la Fortune) is apparently a lot heavier than it’s American counterpart. I saw 3 people fall over in 1 episode while attempting to spin the wheel.

Bienvenue à Paris!

I’m finally here!  Hard to believe it, but the application I started in July 2008 has finally come to fruition. There is definitely some culture shock going on, but it’s good.  The fatigue isn’t helping, but I’m definitely excited to be here. Recap of the experience thus far:

Haven’t slept a full night in a couple of days.  Those of you who knew me at Baylor (and even those who weren’t at college with me) know that I procrastinate to the extreme.  This led to me not be completely packed until about 30 mins before I need to leave for the airport, but just as always, it got done.  It’s how I roll.

Got to the airport and we waited for my dad to bring my brother by from school so I could say bye. In the meantime we reported unattended baggage that we had been sitting next to for 45 mins (thinking it was someone’s, but when they walked off it became apparent nobody was claiming it).  Huge backpack, along with a cart full of random bags.  So the police came with their dogs and we were told to leave the area.  Thank goodness there was nothing there because a delayed flight was the last thing I needed to help cope with the stress of moving internationally by myself.

Got on the plane, sat next to a very friendly and talkative man named Pete.  Things got interesting as we were flying over southern England…I think the pilot leaned a little too hard on the controls because we started to nosedive.  I felt like I was on a roller coaster, which when you’re afraid of heights and are thousands of feet in the air, is not a pleasant feeling.  After exchanging terrified looks with the woman across the aisle, all was well. Until we made a blind landing in total fog. That was fun.

When I landed I went through customs, only to realize after that I couldn’t find the stamp in my passport. I know I heard the click, but apparently it was out of ink.  It was at this point that I knew I had to face the terrifying thought of having to use my French with an authority figure. Again, those of you that know me know that I am terrified of policemen, not to mention the fact that I was already high strung/ nervous about figuring everything out.  But I did it! It was so liberating to then realize that I could communicate, and that the language barrier was not going to be as much of an issue as I thought it was.  That might sound weird to people who think “You were a French major, you should be able to speak it fluently”, but until you use it in a real life situation, it’s just different.

I think proceeded to wait for the shuttle to take me to my hotel (so glad I didn’t try and get all that luggage on the RER). The guy was really nice, and I forced myself to speak more French even though he was perfectly willing to speak English. Then it got weird.  He pulled into another terminal and left me alone in the car for probably 20 minutes. I realized about halfway through that the keys were on the dash too, which I just thought was weird.  Two ladies finally got in from Austin, and we drove into Paris, passing…

La Courneuve. The suburb I’ll be teaching in this year. When I told the driver where I was teaching his exact words were: “Good luck.  Difficult children. No. Difficult adolescents.” When we passed a sign saying La Courneuve, I asked him if that was indeed where we were.  He said “ah oui, là-bas avec les “beax” bâtiments”. (oh yeah, over there with the “beautiful” buildings).  So glad he had the same sense of sarcasm I did.  He then told me that it was nearly impossible to find an apartment in Paris, but that he was sure there would be plenty in La Courneuve. Yeah. No.

BUT, I’m now here in the hotel, praying that an apartment situation comes through, listening to the extremely busy Parisian street that my windows face. I’m here.  So much stuff awaits, but I’m finally here.

Limbo

Camp is over, and although it’s been over a week since I drove back home, I’m still not sure I’ve processed everything.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever fully realize what I learned this summer.  Rather, I know that I am forever changed by the campers I interacted with, the staff I worked with, and most importantly what God did in all of our lives.  I’ll save you from all the minute details that probably don’t interest you, but what I will tell you is that I took away from this experience  a true picture of community.  Oh how I miss being around a group of people that have one common goal and all have their eyes fixed on things that are not of this earth (Col. 3:1-2).  I first experienced this in Tanzania last summer, and much like Pine Cove, that summer left me unchanged.  Both groups of people influenced my life more than they will realize, and for that I am eternally grateful.  As I sit here in a state of limbo between camp and France, I realize more and more how important fellowship is.  Never take it for granted.  Seek it out.

As for that state of limbo, I haven’t been this stressed in a long, long time.  As of today, my arrête de nomination still hasn’t come which means I can’t go down and get my visa. No biggie. I was warned about how French bureaucracy works, but until it actually began to be a problem I didn’t realize what people meant.  I do have a plane ticket though (September 22!) and hotel accommodation for the first 10 days.  Not sure if that will be long enough to find an apartment in Paris, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.  Meanwhile, I am working on discovering what the plethora of abbreviations and acronyms mean (OFII, RIB, CAF, MGEN etc. etc.) and hoping that I can remember what they all mean as I undoubtedly spend the entire month of October flustered and clueless in various government offices and agencies across the city.  Matthew 6:25-34 may be worn out of my Bible by the end of the year.

First Half

Baylor Graduation: Check
First 6 weeks of Camp: Check

Hard to believe how fast this summer is flying by. In just over 2 months I’ll be moving to Paris for 7 months. I honestly haven’t had much time to think about it, but when I’m standing on top of the Didgeridoo tower waiting for kids to go down the waterslide, it begins to sink in. Life is about to change big time.

The first six weeks of camp are done. Driving home today was weird. I’m excited about going back to England and seeing my family for the first time in 2 months, but leaving camp was incredibly hard too. Then when I got home, I had the genius idea of looking through all the pictures from first half. I think it really hit me that once each week ends, it’s done. There’s no going back to fix things that you did wrong, or say something to a kid that you wish you’d told him. It’s over. It was almost a numbing experience, but at the same it gave me something to really strive for when I go back for weeks 9, 10, & 11: being intentional with every circumstance. Coming out of my comfort zone even more. Taking every opportunity to establish some kind of relationship with every camper and every staffer. Honestly, I went into this summer pretty closed off. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to make a whole new group of friends, only to leave the country a month after camp. After looking through those pictures though, I realized that all these friendships are worth it. I’m already pumped about going back to Outback Week 9 and taking down all the walls I’ve built up. God is working in some incredible ways this summer. I’ve learned so much about Him, myself, and the way I should approach situations. After these two weeks of relative rest, I’m determined to make the last three sessions of camp absolutely incredible.