Stories from weeks 2-4 of French life

Preface: En lieu of teaching which has yet to start, I am writing, taking ballet classes, and running. Here are a few of the other things that have happened since my last post.

Last week

I went to a “weekend d’intégration” with my school and it shocked my poor little eyes. We arrived at 9:30 or ten in the evening having still not eaten dinner. In my experience, the French are always willing to eat dinner as late as 11:30 at night, but never ever earlier than 8 o’clock. And so it was that we gathered around a sumptuously laid table garnished with red napkins and carafes of red wine and rosé, and yet we didn’t sit down to it. There were bisoux to be made, and aperitifs to be poured before we could imagine sitting down. It took 20 minutes to move from the lobby to the table despite the fact that all of us (me especially it seemed) were starving. At the time, I excused it, but now I realize that this was merely indicative of how the rest of the weekend was going to go down. I admit, the director, who at first scared and intimidated me, was the most gentile at the table that evening. Unlike many when a stranger is à table with them, M Chenevoy looked me in the eye when he talked, even if it was a story he was telling to the whole table. His inclusion of me was one of the first, and therefore most appreciated by yours truly. We even talked about Oklahoma for a good while, which pleased me. He told us how he shocked all of the Normanites by his behavior. I wasn’t surprised J.

After dinner, I went to go to bed. One of the two teachers that befriended me asked, “Aren’t you going to the night club?” and I was like oh my gosh you’re kidding. We had just driven 5 hours to get to this place literally marked middle of nowhere on the GPS and it was close to midnight. Of course, I went to the boîte de nuit, and that was where my puritan eyes and sensible head were shocked. The students, 450-500 in number, were completely wasted. At parties, I was used to seeing the one person who didn’t control himself, but here, every. single. person. was trashed. Glossy eyed, drooling, stumbling, sobbing, slurring, trashed. What maybe surprised me the most was that the students were in such a state around their teachers and the administration who were all standing around watching. The French, and the IUP, are going to have to excuse me, but no, I don’t think this was a great way to get the students to approach their teachers without feeling intimidated. Drunk students, even if they’re more honest and courageous when it comes to talking to their profs, are still drunk students. When the teachers patted themselves on the back for a “calm” weekend at the end, my jaw dropped. Only three trips to the hospital, only two broken ribs, only one case of drug overdosing, only two girls who strip-teased, and only one breach of security. Oh my lord…

Some of the teachers have taken to calling my country “puritan.”   That was when I realized exactly how puritan I was. I was happy to go home, back to my meager meals of potatoes and peas, my 10 o’clock bedtime, and my innocent novels.

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September ish

A sparrow just hopped into my room from the open balcony window. He even stayed a minute when I jerked up from my bed, wide-eyed and half-asleep. He only left when I stood up, and then just to the sill of the door. I moved closer and he flew to my balcony railing, and when I stepped outside to watch him, he flew off. I felt like I was in Disney land! Compelled to ask him to be "my very best friend" and then to sing together, I managed to just say, "Hi there!"

It was just the weirdest (but coolest) thing.

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September something

I did nothing today. Absolutely. Nothing. It was like a movie. Seriously—you know those montages that show that time has passed by by shots of the person in one position, then in another corner of the room, and then laying, then staring out the window? That was me. There was me pacing, me cooking, me cleaning, me laying down thinking, me curled up trying to sleep, me standing, me eating, me cleaning, me staring out the window, me back to the wall and my knees curled up underneath, me eating again, and mostly me hitting refresh on Facebook. Omg, this is getting bad.

October 4th, 2010

I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I'm in McDonald's because (I'm so excited) they have free wifi! As you might know, internet chez moi is unreliable and moody. And I don't know what it is I'm smelling here in McDonald's but it's like a hint of a hot, toasted, warm peanut butter and oozing jelly sandwich. And I want one. Maybe it's just the aroma of home--America--that I recognize here in this chain of all chains. How funny that I rarely set foot in McDonald's and here I am, probably coming back tomorrow and again after that to use their internet. Oh but how nice to have wifi that works!

I went into school today and learned a few things. First, the good news, is that my question about being paid was answered the same day it was asked!! I am thrilled. But I still have to wait until next week to have my pay check for last month... Thank the Lord Almighty that I really like rice and beans haha. 

Second, I learned more about my class. A month ago, I would have been depressed to learn what I learned today, but right now, I'm strangely calm about it. My class hasn't started yet: you may know that because I told you or because I haven't written in my blog. Nothing happens means nothing to write about... In any case, this job is a lot more humble than I anticipated. Mme de Borges, a very friendly teacher at the IUP, explained to me that I will be in charge of the Autoformation, or in other words, the computer class for the students. About 10 hours a week, I will be baby-sitting as students complete an English software program on computers. I guess the reason I haven't started is because they're waiting for the computers to come in. I asked if I could teach an actual class, but there is nothing settled as far as additional classes goes. I am hoping against hope that I'll get to teach: as Mme de Borges explained this to me, visions of my beloved books that I bought--books about teaching, books about the American culture, about American expressions--and lesson plans that I had drafted--went out the window. Gone. I hope I get to teach supplementary classes. Part of the good news--I may not have to teach the alternances. That means I'll be done in March. Is that good news?  I don't know. Altogether, it's a little disappointing. Of course I'll keep you updated, but my autoformation class won't start until the end of the month. I'm looking for volunteer positions, and I asked permission to work in other schools of English. Pray for me!

Love you all, I'll be in touch (maybe from Germany. With all this free time, why not travel a little?)