Fall Funk

I’ve been in quite a little mood recently, and I am going to go ahead and blame it on the changing weather. There are few things I hate more than winter and being cold- unfortunately since my surgery in ‘09 I am ALWAYS cold, and in the winter I think the only time I am warm is in the shower.  It’s been a dreary, rainy couple days in Nantes and I’m sure Winter weather will be here in no time. In the whiny voices of my campers last summer… “Mais NON!” 

I’m sure that my fussiness also stemmed from the departure of my parents and aunt… good thing I at least have a wonderful Christmas visitor to look forward to now. 6 Weeks! 

It took me about an hour and a half to get home from the airport on public transport, the whole time during which I was very confused why everything was closed. Ahh All Saints Day- a holiday. Thankfully I had some cashews in my cupboard, some wine in the fridge, and some candy buckeyes that my Grandma had made and sent over with my parents. No meal is complete without the dessert course, so things felt pretty well balanced.

I was meant to return to work on Thursday… I caught my 6:50am bus #1 to hop on the tram, got to my final bus stop and someone I assumed was crazy informed me that my bus was on strike. Normally, even in a strike there is minimal service, and there is always an announcement on the screen near the bus stop. The Spanish Assistant and I chatted it up with some bus drivers who confirmed the greve, freaked out a little because there is literally no other mode of transportation to school (someone mentioned the train, but really, the train? To get to school?)  I emailed my teachers as soon as I got home and received a response along the lines of “Don’t worry, this is France!” 

Are strikes common in France? In the month since moving here there has been a teacher strike, a general transportation strike, an AirFrance strike, and then this particular bus company’s strike. 

Some good news, I received a confusing letter from CAF, the French housing welfare program that assistants qualify for. When I showed this letter to the directrice of the foyer she told me that I have been assigned a number and that this a good sign.  I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I don’t think I should uncork the champagne in welfare-reception celebrations quite yet. But perhaps those celebrations will happen sooner rather than later. I am also fairly certain I have medical insurance now, but those papers could be misleading as well.

After about 2 days (or was it 3?) spent lying in bed and watching more How I Met Your Mother than any normal human being should watch in one sitting, I emerged from my cave and into the social world again. Don’t feel too sorry for me, I live in a building of 100 people, 5 of which I consider quite good friends at this point, and I have two feet that could walk to their doors and one hand to knock. I just wasn’t up to it. 

I visited my bread man at the market, was disappointed that my normal cheese truck wasn’t there, and purchased a bouquet of flowers. At the flower shop I was asked if they were a gift or simply for my enjoyment, I sheepishly responded for myself… the cashier said “With Reason!”  and smiled when she wrapped them up.  Finally, someone who thinks like me (or wants to help me justify my purchase so I will return to the shop in the future).

At the bar last night I was asked how old I was, which is apparently very old in the opinion of these Frenchies. When I studied abroad the younger drinking age was fantastic… now that I have run into my students at a bar and have also been harassed by 19 year old carpenters for my age, I am reconsidering the benefits of bar access at 18. The night ended with shamelessly eating a Kebab on the tram on the way home (which I’m pretty sure is interdit, eating on the tram), after ordering “an Americain” that we thought was just a HUGE fry… but instead turned out to be a sandwich. Bon. 

Tonight we celebrate the birthday of the German Assistant, who is actually older than I am (whew). It's a good thing I live in the foyer and have people I like a lot who I can go out with, because this tiny little room (as much as I love it) is sucking all of my positive energy lately. 

Step One, create pizza

I’m quite excited to start work again on Monday… I could use a little more structure in my life these days.

The week will also bring the challenge of booking train reservations for my December trip, and also finding a cheap toaster oven. Hopefully today was the last time I fry a pizza on my hotplate… 

Step Two, Place Pot over Pizza to capture heat and melt cheese. 

Bises,

Steph

Pornic & Sainte Marie Sur Mer, FRANCE

Cou Cou everyone, I finally find myself in France. And it is lovely.

 The past few days I have spent with an English teacher from the high school where I'll be teaching, and her family. I was originally a little anxious about this, seeing as I had never stayed with a French family before... but it has been nothing but wonderful. We speak French about 95% of the time and I have regained a lot of confidence in my language skills- it's hard to retain vocabulary and grammar without any regular practice in the States. I have also had the opportunity to eat homecooked delicious french food- we have had pain au chocolat, quiche, crepes (with scallops and leeks YUM), mussels and duck. Oh la la Mmmmm.


I'm going to attempt putting some photos of the city on the blog now...  It's situated right on the ocean- I can almost see you over there America!! There is also a chateau that dates from the Middle Ages, the Duke who built it knew Joan of Arc- I think they were friends but I could have misunderstood that part... People just walk around this place like it's nothing. Mmm I love the history and oldness of everything over here!











I spent today wandering around taking pictures, and journaling on the beach (see photo below). Not bad huh. I resisted the urge to swim in the ocean, because I did not think it was in my best interest to get eaten by a shark alone in France before I even started work here.

A little anecdote for you: While I was walking an older French man who passed me started to sing in English something Sinatra like- then said "not bad enh?" in French when he finished. Hoooowwww did he know I spoke English when we did not speak to each other? It's not like I was wearing a shirt with the bald eagle on it and tossing my passport around like a baton. In face I was wearing a boring green shirt, jeans, and carrying my French purse. Bah.

Tomorrow I move in with a different teacher who lives closer to the high school. It will be easier to get some of my affairs in order from there- open my back account etc. I can't move into my housing now until next Monday... so unless they can find me somewhere else to stay, I will be coming back to Pornic to stay with this family again for the weekend. 

There is a big education strike tomorrow. Oh France. You and your revolutionary spirit.

I'm happy to be here.


Gros Bisous,
Steph

Why Love France?

Sometimes people are confused just why I love France so much, and why I always want to be there.  So here’s a little something something I put together to let you know just what I am specifically excited about for the next couple months of my life, and some things I am not so excited about.

Things I love…

• Let’s get it out there right away: The Food, the Drinks, the Desserts, the Wine…The food is brilliant. I can’t wait to discover a local boulangerie for my everyday baguette, try many patisseries for macarons and bonbons, go to the market for fresh veggies and fruit, and pair a good stinky cheese with even better glass(es) of red wine.

• Being a Pedestrian. All the time. I won’t have a car in France. No big deal. I’ll have public transportation, hopefully a bike, and my own two legs. This will suffice. .. and will hopefully counterbalance my love of French food.

• Foreign Language I make mistakes. But I love love love this language. And I can’t wait to see just where my language skills will go after such a long period of time listening/speaking/writing it.  And the funny stories I will have from language miscommunications. These situations can breed awkward, and I tend to thrive in that. Bring it on.

• Teaching I know I belong somewhere in the education field, and I feel lucky that I have had a lot of different opportunities to see just where I want to fit in. I am excited and terrified to have a classroom of my own.

• Travel There is a Mediterranean cruise planned for October with my parents and my aunt. I’ll probably be in Spain at Christmastime. I want to get to Morocco to see my college roommate at some point. And my very first friend ever is planning on coming over to backpack. Top it all off with the possibility of working camp again this spring? Family, Boyfriend, Friends… the world is ours. I can’t wait to explore more of it with you

• A Slower-Paced Lifestyle They work a shorter work week, take longer lunch breaks, and close their shops up when they need to. Americans put so much value on ambition and convenience… which can be great. But I think that some days it’s harder for us to take a step back and enjoy everyday living.  

• New People + New Perspectives One of my favorite parts about study abroad was the class of kids I studied with. We had about 17 kids in class, representing about 9-10 different countries. Living in the Midwest, this is not something I get to experience often. I’m excited to learn more about France and will have most of my interactions with French people, but there is also a German language assistant and a Spanish language assistant placed at my school. And I’m sure multiple nationalities will be living at the “foyer” that I will be calling home

• Pretending to be Belle from Beauty & the Beast It’s too easy. Life over there is so picturesque. I just want to sit on a fountain while people sing a song about me, read a book, and have a sheep take a bite out of a page.  I can skip the whole locked up in a castle for a spell of time. 

Things I can handle but wish I didn’t have to…

• (The lack of) my American life + Time Difference  I will miss you, and you, and you… I have a lot of wonderful people to miss. This will not be easy. I know that. I love you. I know that the time difference makes it hard to keep in touch, but let’s try. And if you ever are wondering what life 6 hours into the future is like, chat me up…

• Dog Poop. Everywhere. The French are not the most responsible dog owners when it comes to picking up their pups’ messes. When I studied abroad I had one particularly terrible day. And on my way to my program director’s office to discuss said day, I stepped in Dog Poop for the first time that semester. He congratulated me and said that meant I had truly lived in France for a significant period of time.

• Greves (Strikes) True Story, I was once tear-gassed in France.  Because I was outside eating my lunch at the wrong place wrong time, and the middle schoolers were striking. While I love that the French really work for what they believe and act as an important part of their government processes, this can be very inconvenient. And make you cry. And they are very common.

• Neutral Colors Goodbye bright colored clothing and prints. I used to think I was so worldly and people would mistake me for European all the time. Nope. I am so… American.  I don’t need to be drawing any excess attention to myself so I try as hard as I can to dress like the French when over there. So I’ll be donning black, brown, beige, grey etc clothes for a good spell of time.

There are good and bad things about everywhere you can live. But since I try to live my life a little more on the optimistic side, I think my list of great things about France outweighs my negatives.  My lists could be far more extensive, but you get where I’m going. I love France.  I’m excited to live there, and maybe now it’s a little clearer why. I'm only 10 days away!

Bises, 

Steph