The first was earlier this year (January, February or so) and took place on a bus that I was riding for less than 10 minutes.  As I tried to get on, the guy in front claimed I pushed him and then decided to push me back and harass me. All while the bus driver did nothing.

The second was two Sundays ago (if you’ve checked out Episode 3 of The Parisian Pursuit you’ve already heard this story) and happened on the metro on my way to church.  I was sitting there with my phone in my hands, earbuds in, when a little teenage punk decided to rip it straight off me and run out the train.  Luckily my reflexes kicked in and I managed to barely escape before the doors shut.  I basically begged him for the phone back, and as he clearly didn’t expect me to have caught up with him, he ended up giving it back to me. Score.

Since then, I’ve been a little nervous on public transport, which I’ve felt silly about, but I figured I had a good excuse.  I mean I survived 7 months of teaching out in the sketch suburb where my school was with absolutely no problems safety wise.  And now I’ve had this happen on a perfectly calm train on a quiet Sunday morning?

This morning however definitely validated my paranoia.  I got on the train (same one as the incident above) and a guy came over and sat across from me.  He started talking to me, but as the train was really loud I wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying.  To top it off, I kept having flashbacks to last time, and when he started asking me what station I was getting off at I realized I needed to play dumb.  So I pretended I just didn’t understand him because I didn’t speak French (he had been getting peeved due to my lack of information).  After a couple stations, another guy came and sat next to me and I started getting really uncomfortable.  Eventually, we arrived at the original guy’s stop, his friends called for him to get off, and he left. *RELIEF* The guy next to me says “Do you speak French?” I figured I’d come clean, as he seemed nicer than the last guy, and he explained to me that he had come over to sit next to me in case the guy attacked me. While incredibly thankful for this man and his willingness to help a stranger, it was slightly unnerving that there was even a need (and that I couldn’t just chalk it up to me being paranoid, as an outsider recognized the situation was escalating).  Also, keep in mind that there was a mother, her son, and a pilot all sitting on the bench with me who did absolutely nothing (ok, the first two I can understand, but the pilot?)

All this being said, if you ride the metro with me over the next few weeks, prepare for me to be a bit jumpy! And no sneaking up behind me or jumping out from around the corner

It’s amazing how much stuff one accumulates in just 7 months.  Let’s just say, I’m glad I didn’t have to find a way to fit it into suitcases that were subject to weight restrictions.  I forgot just how stressful packing and moving was, and I will definitely be happy in 3 short weeks when that apartment with an elevator, an oven, a washing machine, and a non-electric toilet is ours!

Very strange thinking that the original plan for today, instead of hauling all of my stuff across Paris on a bus with the awesome help of my official new roommate, was to be on a plane flying home. For good. In fact, my flight would probably be landing just about now.  I’d be settling in back at home, spending a lot of time with family and friends, eating some amazing Tex-Mex, and watching some incredible people walk the stage at graduation.  I’d also be enjoying some HEAT (not that I’ll miss it this summer at all) instead of this miserable cold and rain (but enough of that because I’ve vowed not to complain about it anymore ).  As much as I do miss everyone back home, and some good Southern hospitality, I’m still very much excited to see what comes next. For an awesome summer full of new memories, new experiences, and new direction!

Time for a quick plug: if you haven’t checked out the 3rd episode of our podcast (The Parisian Pursuit – www.theparisianpursuit.com) go do so! We’ve had a lot of fun doing it so far, and would love to hear from you!

A big congrats to all my Baylor friends graduating this weekend!  All of you rock, I so wish I could be there!

Check us out at theparisianpursuit.com where you can click on the Podcast section and listen/subscribe! Leave us some feedback, we’d love to hear from all of you!

Also, you can follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/parisianpursuit) and find all of our contact information on the website.

The first episode is up, and hopefully we’ll have another one soon!

So here we are in the month of May…what?! Almost a whole semester has gone by since I updated last, so I guess there’s a lot to talk about! Life plans have been kind of up in the air as of late, and so everytime I sat down to create a new post I wasn’t really sure what or how to write. But here we go!

About 3 weeks ago I finished my contract as an English Assistant at my high school. The 7 months flew by, and it had its highs and lows. I’m definitely glad I had the experience, as it taught me a lot about myself, teaching in general, and French school culture. I learned that teaching English is definitely not my calling in life (at least I hope not!) and I’m glad to be out of a school environment (at least temporarily) for the first time in 18 years. Like I said, glad I had the experience but the students and the lack of administration at the school were wearing me out by the end.

So what next, you ask?  Good question.  A few months back I started seriously considering what it would look like to stay in France after my contract ended.  I’ve found such an awesome community and love so many aspects of my life here, and so, combined with the fact that my plans on the U.S.-side fell through, I decided to stay in Paris. Your guess is as good as mine as to how long this will be for (another 6 months, 5 more years, a lifetime?) but I’m taking it one step at a time.

As far as what I’m doing here? An even better question.  I’ve had a couple employment leads that have fallen through, so I’m still on the job hunt, looking for something that will launch that next chapter.  The problem is, I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life, or at least not on this side of the ocean.  Teaching French always sounded nice, but is not exactly a practical or feasible option when you live in France. I’m learning a lot about trust and patience though!

Concerning day-to-day life updates, I’m moving out of my current apartment at the end of next week (definitely excited about that), crashing at my good friend Adam’s place for 2 weeks (which is slightly smaller than mine and thus will be quite the experience, but so incredibly thankful he’s willing to put up with me), and then moving in to our new apartment at the beginning of June!  So excited about having a washing machine and an OVEN (considering I don’t even have a microwave right now, this is a big deal).

I say it every time but I really do have every intention of updating this more often.  Don’t they say it takes 21 days to form a habit?  Maybe I should force myself to write a post everyday for the next 3 weeks…welll that might be pushing it, but I really hope I can share a little more frequently.

Also, I’m really excited about a new “project” that Adam and I have started…stayed tuned for more details!

**So I originally wrote this post on my phone, but then when I came to publish it, all but the first 2 paragraphs had been eaten.  So I promise, the original version flowed much better, because as you all know, it’s just not the same when you have to rewrite it from memory.**

I left my apartment around 8:15 this morning, knowing full well it would be a short day. Due to a new government reform, my school decided to cancel most of the afternoon classes so they could explain to the students and parents just what was going to happen over the next year. Now, this reform has caused quite a lot of tension in my school and the area around us (referred to as the 93, which is the département number). From what I can gather, there are a lot of jobs being taken away, and classes are growing from an already saturated 30 students to up to 40 in some cases.

As I was walking from the tram stop I saw one of the teachers I work with up ahead of me. I caught up with her, and both of us looked at each other wondering what the sound was we could hear. As we turned the corner, we saw at least 100 students all gathered around the front gate of the school banging drums and yelling. We pushed our way to the front, made it through the man-made barricade and walked into the building. Well this was new.

Teachers across the region have been on and off strike for the last 2 weeks, and as it’s a personal choice whether or not they want to work, the school has still been able to function for the most part. Today however, was slightly different. As the morning progressed, some classes still met (usually with 6 students instead of the normal 25-30) as their comrades outside were throwing eggs at the windows of the school.

At around 11, these students who had been outside in the snow for up to 3 hours, were finally convinced to come inside so that options could be discussed (just in time too, as there were 3 plastic trash bins out front that we assume were about to be lit on fire).

When the students came inside, they all went to the auditorium where the teachers who were still on strike (but still hanging out at school) came in and basically told the students what their rights were and how to go about appropriately striking and getting what they want. So even if the teachers weren’t helping them learn academically, they were giving them tools to succeed in other aspects of life. Interesting. I did think it was pretty awesome that the students and teachers are on the same side of this whole debate, and the teachers really did care about helping these students out (after all, you can’t learn as a high school student in a class of 40. Especially not a foreign language.) The slightly unnerving part was hearing the teachers discuss amongst themselves about how they “feared this might happen if….” or that they were “worried about the situation escalating…”etc. If you remember the riots of 2005, they started not too far from where my school is located, and one of the teachers made the comment that this situation could easily escalate to something worse than what they saw 5 years ago. Awesome.

The day ended for me at noon, having my 4 afternoon classes canceled, and so I went home (ironically passing the huge demonstration outside my métro stop that went up to my doorstep). And now, I wait. Nobody has the slightest idea if school will be back on for next week (which is exam week before a 2 week school holiday), and as there are regional elections next month which are really important for this whole process, it could be quite a while until things calm down. Then again, everything could be back to normal in the morning. That’s just French striking culture.

Christmas was great, definitely weird not being back home but I got to cross the Channel and spend it with some family in England. I was worried I’d have immigration issues since I still haven’t been convoked for my medical visit that was supposed to be done within the first 3 months of being in France, but no such troubles! Every time I come back into this country, I’m shocked at how loose the borders are. I never showed any ID to get back on the boat from England to France, then just walked in, got my passport stamped and took a train back to Paris. No landing cards (even on flights from outside the EU), nothing.

First part of January was pretty uneventful, and then came this past weekend.  As crazy as it sounds, I flew back to Texas on Thursday for Justin and Jill’s wedding, then flew back to France on Sunday.  As short as the trip was, and as jet lagged as I am now, it was absolutely worth it. The wedding was so great, and it was so awesome to catch up with old friends all the way back from elementary school, spend time with my family, and see my incredible 5th grade teacher again.  I also got to spend some time with a few friends outside of the wedding which was great, ate 3 Mexican meals in a row, and got to drive my car for the first time in 4 months.  Needless to say, a lot has changed in me over the past few months and it was definitely weird being ‘home’.  That word has taken on new meanings since moving abroad (and even when I moved from Grapevine to Waco for college), but Texas will always mean something to me regardless of where I end up.

Today was an exciting day, after reluctantly waking up and dragging myself out to La Courneuve to teach one class, I came back and decided to head to the British Consulate General and apply for my British passport.  The process was actually really simple and I should have it on February 1st!  Having this passport will make such a huge difference as I will no longer need a visa to stay in France (which hopefully means I can just leave all this medical visit stuff to the side) and allow me to travel and reside anywhere in the EU. Not to mention that I’ll finally have a document that puts legitimacy to my dual nationality

Like I said, boring update, but hopefully I’ll be on top of this a little more in the future so that updates aren’t as broad!

I hit my 2 month mark of being in Paris recently which has led to a lot of reflection. When people asked me during the first month where I thought my life was heading, I had a very secure answer. I’m working here in France as an English assistant for 8 months and then going back to the U.S. to get a Master’s. Easy. I didn’t even have to think about it because it’s what I had been planning on for years. It was my plan and I was sticking to it.  When you combine that with the fact that I had a somewhat rough transition here, I never gave any thought to any other options.

When I walked across that stage in May, I thought to myself, wow, I can really do anything or go anywhere now.  What I mean is that I realized  I was leaving the structured walls of the Baylor Bubble (which I’ve decided is more like a fortress) and going into a world that is not defined by such strong parameters.  And although I began to think about life like that, it was only in a hypothetical sense.  I COULD do all these things, but I knew that I was going to grad school.

Over the past 2 weeks however, things have started to change.  Significantly. The rough transitional period is fading away and I have been so extremely blessed to meet some amazing people.  Some of them American, some French, some Australian etc. etc. I’m developing a sense of community and for the first time I’m actually really happy to be here. I began to realize that my life is not something to just be put onto a track and let go.  I shouldn’t just look for what’s secure and safe, but instead I should seek out what His will is for my life.  As it stands now, I’m still applying for school back in the U.S and I’ll probably also look into grad school options here, but I’m also leaving my life completely open to what may come.  I have a strong feeling that I’ll be here after May and although I’m not at all sure what exactly I’ll be doing or what it will all look like, I do know that all those details are not that important right now. I know that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.

All these decisions are not easy.  Some will find it hard to accept, and effectively, the entire course that I thought my life was going to take could completely change. I miss people back home and have in no way moved on or forgotten about you. Know that that is completely sincere. I’m learning so much about friendships and personal relationships and I know that although I may not physically be around people that I used to hang out with every day, they are still a huge part of my life. I love that. I’m also learning about what it looks like to live in the moment instead of simply looking to the future constantly. It’s useless to have everything planned out, and there is so much potential for living life as it’s given to you. Why waste all your time worrying about what tomorrow holds when there is an awesome life to be lived in the immediate present?

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).

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.

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!