I finally have a real, living and breathing French friend who is not a teacher. Claire is about my age and from Bordeaux and has come to Metz with her job. We met because she stayed in my foyer briefly before she found an apartment. Since she is not a juvenile delinquent, she immediately became friends with us “normals” in the foyer. So the assistants and the German students in the Carrefour are all very glad to know a French our age who doesn’t have dance parties in the hallways with Gwen Stefani on full volume late at night or shove cigarette butts under our doors. On Thursday Claire took us to an comedy improvisation competition, which was really interesting, even though I did not understand the parts that made the audience laugh really loud. I met a guy working at the theater who found out I was American, and he was very excited to meet me. So when the actors played an accent game, the guy told the host to make someone do a Mississippi accent, but the guy misunderstood and ordered the actor to do a Minnesota accent, though I doubt a French person understands the difference. I still really appreciate the effort...I love being a novelty.
I am still really enjoying the kids for the most part. I finally got my class preparatoire to talk a little bit after I worked really hard on a lesson about censorship and rap music. In my other classes, we have still been talking about stereotypes, and, I have heard some very interesting ones about Americans, such as that we all carry guns, sit on the couch all day eating fast food, and all wear helmets with beer cans attached to them. I knew that other countries don’t have positive images of America, but I didn’t realize it was “America=handguns and hamburgers.” “Hamburger” is usually the first word I hear when I ask about what they think about when they think of America, which is followed immediately by “fat” of course. At just about every restaurant you can order an “American,” which is really just a hamburger. Despite the prevalence of fast food in the US, I think that the American love affair with the hamburger is exaggerated in Europe. I also didn’t realize that a lack of gun control is one reason that many Europeans look down on the United States. Americans school shootings receive a lot of press here, and this increases the European confusion to why we don’t have stricter gun control, why we have guns at all.
It has also been interesting telling the French what the stereotypes that we have of them. They are always very shocked and appalled when I tell them that Americans think that they are mean and that they smell bad so I must assure them that these stereotypes are not true...
Speaking of stereotypes, I have had some serious trouble with the stereotypes that people have about the Deep South, and this includes the attitudes of other Americans. One American said that the South is what is wrong with America. If you ask me, the problem is really the small-mindedness of small town America, and you can find this throughout the entire country, though it is a little more prevalent in the South because it is more rural. It’s really frustrating meeting so many American haters. I always try to argue with them, but they seem to already have their minds made up. French people also have a lot of really negative ideas about the South, but when all they know about the South is slavery and the Civil Rights struggle, this is slightly more understandable. During a language exchange, Carlos asked me, “Do you even have any black friends?” Clearly, he was just anticipating me to say no. I yelled at him and was almost on the verge of tears by the end of my tirade. It is weird feeling to have to struggle so much with where I am from. I’m thinking that I’ll just let them get to know me, and I hope that this will change their opinions of Southerners. Still, one problem underneath this whole situation is my self-consciousness that I am a privileged white female so I am always wondering if the problems are a lot worse, and I am just never in an environment where I would witness them.
On a lighter note, yesterday I had a date with someone who I referenced a few entries earlier (scroll back to “le raccourci” if you want the whole story...) He is the school nurse’s daughter’s Spanish salsa partner. He is studying law at the university, and his name is Carlos (not to be confused with the Carlos who is a teacher at my school with whom I do a twice weekly language exchange). We hit it off when we were lost in the woods together. I have a lot of trouble understanding his French through his accent, but thankfully he speaks really good English since his dad is an English teacher. We hadn’t hung out since the original raccourci because I don’t have a cell phone, but we were finally able to coordinate things through email. And since the night before we had had a time change, he got there an hour early just in case I didn’t know about it. Aw.
(FYI, now I am just 6 hours later than those of you in the Central time zone).
I have not used a cell phone or watched television (other than rugby) in a month, and it has been pretty liberating. But...I think I am going to break down and buy a cell phone this week since Wednesday I am moving across town, and I won’t be living in the same building as my best friends (except for Helen) anymore. A bunch of my foyer friends are moving as well. A lot of us just stayed there for a month before moving to better apartments. Our close-knit group is scattering, and I am definitely going to miss living and eating meals with all of them.
Sarah took me out to a store that is basically a French Wal-Mart last week. I knew they had to have one somewhere...I have learned that these stores are usually pretty far out of town because they take up so much space. So now I have a new hair dryer (my American one blew up despite having bought a voltage adapter!) and a straightener plus various other necessities so I am feeling much more like myself now.
Right now I am in the middle of my first vacation, which is not that exciting since I am stuck in Metz since I have to move and haven’t been paid yet. It also stinks because a lot of my friends are taking trips and aren’t here. I think Helen and I might take a trip to Luxembourg once we’re settled (since it’s only 45 minutes away by train). Or we just discussed going wherever in the country we could find a cheap ticket or throwing a dart at a map or something. All of these plans will, of course, depend on whether the transportation workers go into work that day...
lundi 29 octobre 2007
dimanche 21 octobre 2007
Strikes, Strasbourg, and Riverside Strolls
The students have been really sweet thus far. Now whenever I walk up to school or walk around town, teenagers yell, “Hello, Kate!” and ask me questions such as, “How are you?” “What are you doing right now?” “Are you lost?” A few have stayed behind after class to discuss with me various American tv shows or music groups or just to wish me a good stay in Metz. (Apparently everyone in France watches the show “Prison Break”...I had never heard of it until I came over here). Today a kid handed me a sheet of paper, and I will be darned if he had not gone home and typed up a long list of French (and Japanese, for some reason...?) bands that I should listen to along with long and adorably grammatically-flawed descriptions.
Thursday was my first contact with French strikes. Someone mentioned to me on Wednesday that the strike would be the next day, and apparently everyone knew that the strike was coming. I didn’t--presumably because I don’t watch television or read the newspaper and because the only French people I know are my teachers. So Thursday I was waiting outside class and wondering why the teacher hadn’t come yet when one of the students told me that she was participating in the strike. So...I hesitated and then went in and taught the class myself. Later in the day, I found in my box a roll list and instructions from the on-strike teacher on how to substitute for her. Still wondering why she didn’t tell me beforehand... In my other three classes, so many students were out for the strike that the teacher did not want to continue with her original lesson plan, and since she had lost her voice and had nothing else prepared, I took over class and did my standard lesson on stereotypes about French and Americans that has carried me through this entire week. I am going to make Carlos discuss strikes with me for our next language exchange...because even though it did make huge waves throughout the whole country, everyone was pretty nonchalant about it. And when I asked one of the other teachers about my on-strike teacher, and she just laughed and said, “Oh, Marie-Christine? She’s always on strike!” It does not really make sense that she went on strike and set up a substitute teacher. The point of a strike is not to come to work and mess up things up and to prove your point. Helen told me that someone told her that teachers were not allowed to step in for their on strike colleagues because the teachers must be allowed to prove their points. This infuriates me even more because education should be a priority...particularly when whatever group is striking is not at all linked to the education system.
Wednesday I chaperoned the field trip to Strasbourg. It took about two hours to get there by bus. We went to the museum of contemporary and modern art. I did not get to see much of the art because the tour just focused on a few pieces, but still as soon as I walked in and saw some Picassos and Monets, I felt a breath of fresh air, and I remembered another important reason that I love living here. Next I had a traditional Alsacian meal with the other teachers then saw the beautiful half-timbered houses with the window boxes full of flowers and the gorgeous cathedral (fabulous rose windows). Strasbourg is a really gorgeous city, but it is a little toursity for me. The outside of the cathedral is just surrounded by little postcard and trinket shops and people trying to sell you fake jewelry. It is very possible that I just did not visit the right places in the city, but I think I prefer Metz.
On Saturday Helen and I decided to do a little sightseeing in Metz since we have been here three weeks and haven’t seen much of the city yet. We went inside the cathedral, and it really is truly spectacular. There are stained glass windows that take up entire walls of the church (see the new pictures I put up). The Marc Chagall windows are also really really amazing. A little later, we were walking around the city some more, and we ran into Mark, who is another assistant who we didn’t really know, but had met at orientation. He was in the process of going to meet some other assistants to sit by the Moselle and maybe rent boats or have a picnic, and he invited us along. We met up the other assistants (again, people we had met but didn’t really know), and after watching a protest for the rights or immigrants, we went walking along the Moselle. Later we went met up with even more assistants and ate dinner and watched the rugby finals. It was really good to hang out with all of them because I knew that there were a bunch of other assistants in town that we just hadn’t really hung out with yet.
I have actually started studying French in my free time, which has been both relieving and worrying. I am feeling better speaking since I have resolved a few grammatical issues I had before and have augmented my vocabulary. But at the same time I am seeing how much further I have to go. Fluency is a long way away. Sigh...
Thursday was my first contact with French strikes. Someone mentioned to me on Wednesday that the strike would be the next day, and apparently everyone knew that the strike was coming. I didn’t--presumably because I don’t watch television or read the newspaper and because the only French people I know are my teachers. So Thursday I was waiting outside class and wondering why the teacher hadn’t come yet when one of the students told me that she was participating in the strike. So...I hesitated and then went in and taught the class myself. Later in the day, I found in my box a roll list and instructions from the on-strike teacher on how to substitute for her. Still wondering why she didn’t tell me beforehand... In my other three classes, so many students were out for the strike that the teacher did not want to continue with her original lesson plan, and since she had lost her voice and had nothing else prepared, I took over class and did my standard lesson on stereotypes about French and Americans that has carried me through this entire week. I am going to make Carlos discuss strikes with me for our next language exchange...because even though it did make huge waves throughout the whole country, everyone was pretty nonchalant about it. And when I asked one of the other teachers about my on-strike teacher, and she just laughed and said, “Oh, Marie-Christine? She’s always on strike!” It does not really make sense that she went on strike and set up a substitute teacher. The point of a strike is not to come to work and mess up things up and to prove your point. Helen told me that someone told her that teachers were not allowed to step in for their on strike colleagues because the teachers must be allowed to prove their points. This infuriates me even more because education should be a priority...particularly when whatever group is striking is not at all linked to the education system.
Wednesday I chaperoned the field trip to Strasbourg. It took about two hours to get there by bus. We went to the museum of contemporary and modern art. I did not get to see much of the art because the tour just focused on a few pieces, but still as soon as I walked in and saw some Picassos and Monets, I felt a breath of fresh air, and I remembered another important reason that I love living here. Next I had a traditional Alsacian meal with the other teachers then saw the beautiful half-timbered houses with the window boxes full of flowers and the gorgeous cathedral (fabulous rose windows). Strasbourg is a really gorgeous city, but it is a little toursity for me. The outside of the cathedral is just surrounded by little postcard and trinket shops and people trying to sell you fake jewelry. It is very possible that I just did not visit the right places in the city, but I think I prefer Metz.
On Saturday Helen and I decided to do a little sightseeing in Metz since we have been here three weeks and haven’t seen much of the city yet. We went inside the cathedral, and it really is truly spectacular. There are stained glass windows that take up entire walls of the church (see the new pictures I put up). The Marc Chagall windows are also really really amazing. A little later, we were walking around the city some more, and we ran into Mark, who is another assistant who we didn’t really know, but had met at orientation. He was in the process of going to meet some other assistants to sit by the Moselle and maybe rent boats or have a picnic, and he invited us along. We met up the other assistants (again, people we had met but didn’t really know), and after watching a protest for the rights or immigrants, we went walking along the Moselle. Later we went met up with even more assistants and ate dinner and watched the rugby finals. It was really good to hang out with all of them because I knew that there were a bunch of other assistants in town that we just hadn’t really hung out with yet.
I have actually started studying French in my free time, which has been both relieving and worrying. I am feeling better speaking since I have resolved a few grammatical issues I had before and have augmented my vocabulary. But at the same time I am seeing how much further I have to go. Fluency is a long way away. Sigh...
lundi 15 octobre 2007
Le Raccourci
After two weeks of very disorganized observation, I have started real work, and it is a little hectic. Part of the problem with my job is that I work for all 9 of the English teachers, and each one of them has a different style. The large amount of work I am going to have is partially my fault. I was a little on the eager side during my first weeks of school, and since I was interested in so many subjects, each teacher wants me to do something different with their students. The teacher who I sat down and had the long conversation about the American dream, etc saw my love for literature, so she wants me to teach her students English lit. Several others want me to give insight into American life, particularly in the South after my discussions of race relations. For one teacher (who I am with for two classes) the students are doing an enormous project on my life. Each student is going to write a lengthy article on some aspect of my life. Both classes spent class Friday interviewing me, and it was really bizarre for them to sit and write down every state I have ever visited and other mundane details about my life. It is creepy. I taught my first class preparatoire on Friday, and it was frustrating. Getting them to talk was like pulling teeth, but some of the students apologized after the first class for not talking much. I think that they were a little shy with me on the first day.
I started my language exchange with Carlos today. We discussed the French school system. He is a social studies and economics teacher so he is going to explain to me a lot of the ins and outs of French society. I know that it is going to help my French skills a lot and give me some more insight into where I live.
This morning Helen and I went and reserved rooms in a new residence, which is near the train station. It is not a foyer like where I live right now...though it is also a home for young students and workers. The main differences are that there are no rules, no juvenile delinquents and that I have a kitchen. I am a little sad to move to the other side of the town because I don’t get to pass through the quaint parts of centre ville or the cathedral on my way to work (and plus my walk to work is a little longer), but it is better than getting an apartment because it is furnished; the internet is set up, and I don’t have to deal with landlords or leases, etc. So at the end of October I will be moving. There is a possibility that I will be on a trip to Belgium during this time because it will be time for my first vacation, but I am not sure I’m going because I won’t have been paid yet and don’t want to dip into savings yet.
The Lebanese connection has already come through for me here in France. Thursday night I got invited to a party held by a girl who is half-Lebanese and half-German who I had met last weekend through some of my German student friends. My friend Samira and I left somewhat early because we had to get up early, only to discover that we had missed the last bus. We had quite the adventure getting home...but we made it there eventually... thanks to my knowledge of the weird industrial part of town where I’d gotten lost on my first day of school.
Friday night I went to an “apero” or drinks party held by one of my teachers, which was kind of cool. Later that night, I met a girl who I’d become Facebook friends this summer when we discovered we’d both be assistants in Metz. As I was leaving my first two hour long visit to the Prefecture on my second day in Metz, I realized I’d been sitting next to her for hours and had not realized it. So Friday (after several failed attempts at meeting and a zillion emails back and forth), Helen and I met her and her friend. We met up with them again on Saturday to watch the England vs. France semifinals. France lost, which confirms a suspicion that I have had for a long time--that whichever team I root for will lose. Maybe I will stop rooting for anyone so as not to jinx anyone. Or maybe I’ll just root for the other team.
Yesterday I ended up lost in the woods somewhere in the Lorraine region with a really bizarre group of people. I keep asking myself how exactly I ended up in this situation, and I am still not really sure. On Thursday, Roger, a particularly jovial teacher who I’d met a few days earlier, asked me what I was doing on Sunday, and I just laughed because I thought he was joking. Friday he asked me again, and I realized that he was serious. I would have not have said yes if I thought I’d be alone-- he promised me that the school nurse would pick me up outside my foyer. The school nurse picked me up along with her daughter and her daughter’s Spanish salsa partner. Roger greeted us when we got there in a huge black toboggan with tall bright orange socks with sandals and served us a traditional French zillion course meal.
I thought that we would go home after lunch, but everyone started putting on tennis shoes and pulling out backpacks and water bottles, etc. Roger reminded me that he had told me we were going for a hike on Friday, but when he’d asked me, I hadn’t understood. I remember him asking me if I liked walking, but I thought it was more of a general question about walking around the city so I told him I had some ankle trouble, but that I enjoyed walking. Apparently by saying this, I had consented to a Sunday post-lunch hike. We got out to a trail, and first we followed the paved trail, but Roger was not content just to hike on the trail so he dragged us through the woods. “C’est un raccourci!” (“It’s a shortcut!”) he insisted. Three hours later we realized that we were very very lost. An hour later, we found our way to...a zoo. In the middle of the woods, we stumbled upon a zoo, a casino, a spa, bowling alley, two discos, a skating rink, bars, restaurants, etc etc. Roger dragged us, filthy, exhausted, and muddy into a bar for drinks with the two dogs we had brought. This (8pm) was the time that I asked the group if I was ever going to make it home. A while later, we finally found our way back to our car, and the nurse dropped me off at home.
I have to say that Sunday was one of the best days I have had in France. Every day things get a little weirder than they were day before, even though it always feels like things can’t get any stranger. I tell myself that I should not be astonished at the randomness of everyday life--at having to run across the French interstate with Samira after we miss the bus--at the fact that most social events include people from at least 4 different continents--at getting lost in the woods with random company. I know that it is my own provinciality that makes me so surprised at these situations, and I am trying to overcome this because I feel like I am a rather adventurous and international person. Still, it is my provinciality that makes me value these situations more than I would otherwise. So...the point is I guess that I am trying to get rid of the surprise of my every day life without getting rid of my appreciation how random life is right now.
I started my language exchange with Carlos today. We discussed the French school system. He is a social studies and economics teacher so he is going to explain to me a lot of the ins and outs of French society. I know that it is going to help my French skills a lot and give me some more insight into where I live.
This morning Helen and I went and reserved rooms in a new residence, which is near the train station. It is not a foyer like where I live right now...though it is also a home for young students and workers. The main differences are that there are no rules, no juvenile delinquents and that I have a kitchen. I am a little sad to move to the other side of the town because I don’t get to pass through the quaint parts of centre ville or the cathedral on my way to work (and plus my walk to work is a little longer), but it is better than getting an apartment because it is furnished; the internet is set up, and I don’t have to deal with landlords or leases, etc. So at the end of October I will be moving. There is a possibility that I will be on a trip to Belgium during this time because it will be time for my first vacation, but I am not sure I’m going because I won’t have been paid yet and don’t want to dip into savings yet.
The Lebanese connection has already come through for me here in France. Thursday night I got invited to a party held by a girl who is half-Lebanese and half-German who I had met last weekend through some of my German student friends. My friend Samira and I left somewhat early because we had to get up early, only to discover that we had missed the last bus. We had quite the adventure getting home...but we made it there eventually... thanks to my knowledge of the weird industrial part of town where I’d gotten lost on my first day of school.
Friday night I went to an “apero” or drinks party held by one of my teachers, which was kind of cool. Later that night, I met a girl who I’d become Facebook friends this summer when we discovered we’d both be assistants in Metz. As I was leaving my first two hour long visit to the Prefecture on my second day in Metz, I realized I’d been sitting next to her for hours and had not realized it. So Friday (after several failed attempts at meeting and a zillion emails back and forth), Helen and I met her and her friend. We met up with them again on Saturday to watch the England vs. France semifinals. France lost, which confirms a suspicion that I have had for a long time--that whichever team I root for will lose. Maybe I will stop rooting for anyone so as not to jinx anyone. Or maybe I’ll just root for the other team.
Yesterday I ended up lost in the woods somewhere in the Lorraine region with a really bizarre group of people. I keep asking myself how exactly I ended up in this situation, and I am still not really sure. On Thursday, Roger, a particularly jovial teacher who I’d met a few days earlier, asked me what I was doing on Sunday, and I just laughed because I thought he was joking. Friday he asked me again, and I realized that he was serious. I would have not have said yes if I thought I’d be alone-- he promised me that the school nurse would pick me up outside my foyer. The school nurse picked me up along with her daughter and her daughter’s Spanish salsa partner. Roger greeted us when we got there in a huge black toboggan with tall bright orange socks with sandals and served us a traditional French zillion course meal.
I thought that we would go home after lunch, but everyone started putting on tennis shoes and pulling out backpacks and water bottles, etc. Roger reminded me that he had told me we were going for a hike on Friday, but when he’d asked me, I hadn’t understood. I remember him asking me if I liked walking, but I thought it was more of a general question about walking around the city so I told him I had some ankle trouble, but that I enjoyed walking. Apparently by saying this, I had consented to a Sunday post-lunch hike. We got out to a trail, and first we followed the paved trail, but Roger was not content just to hike on the trail so he dragged us through the woods. “C’est un raccourci!” (“It’s a shortcut!”) he insisted. Three hours later we realized that we were very very lost. An hour later, we found our way to...a zoo. In the middle of the woods, we stumbled upon a zoo, a casino, a spa, bowling alley, two discos, a skating rink, bars, restaurants, etc etc. Roger dragged us, filthy, exhausted, and muddy into a bar for drinks with the two dogs we had brought. This (8pm) was the time that I asked the group if I was ever going to make it home. A while later, we finally found our way back to our car, and the nurse dropped me off at home.
I have to say that Sunday was one of the best days I have had in France. Every day things get a little weirder than they were day before, even though it always feels like things can’t get any stranger. I tell myself that I should not be astonished at the randomness of everyday life--at having to run across the French interstate with Samira after we miss the bus--at the fact that most social events include people from at least 4 different continents--at getting lost in the woods with random company. I know that it is my own provinciality that makes me so surprised at these situations, and I am trying to overcome this because I feel like I am a rather adventurous and international person. Still, it is my provinciality that makes me value these situations more than I would otherwise. So...the point is I guess that I am trying to get rid of the surprise of my every day life without getting rid of my appreciation how random life is right now.
mercredi 10 octobre 2007
Euh...quoi!!?? part II
I have had lots of stress with banking. I have been to banks 7 times trying to cash my travellers checks and still haven’t managed to do it. I am starting to figure out the French system somewhat. You have to remain calm yet be stubborn. Also am having trouble with my debit card...spent ALL DAY yesterday on the phone with banks. This is all really frustrating because I like living here so much, but there are just these enormous obstacles to my enjoyment with banks and bureaucracy. I went back to the Prefecture and this time only had to wait 10 minutes. Got my recipassé, which is sort of a pre-carte de sejour, but I still have to go do a doctor to be checked out before I can get my actual carte. I have a theory that the French make it difficult to stay here so that everyone on earth will not want to live here (and of course to protect jobs for actual French people when unemployment is so high).
The apartment hunt is not progressing very well. We have made some calls and emails and have not heard back from many people yet. Vanessa is not living with us anymore, but our friend Shamiran, one of the German students from our hostel might. This is good news because she is a lot of fun, and also because she can go home and get some stuff to help furnish the apartment. Helen and I ventured out to Ikea yesterday to price furniture. Ikea is outside of Metz in the middle of nowhere--which it has to be because it is enormous, even by American standards. It has the air of an amusement park; it even has play areas in the middle of all of the model living rooms to keep children amused. We wandered around for a few hours before realizing that it had another floor. Seeing all of this cool furniture has made me really excited about getting my first apartment.
Today while trying to find a different foyer to see if living there might be any better, we got lost (imagine!), but we did end up stumbling upon this:
http://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/
This has got to be one of the weirdest buildings on earth. It is a branch of the Centre Pompidou, that they are building here (See what an up-and-coming city I live in!) I was rather disappointed by the progress of the building; there isn’t much to see now. It is supposed to done this spring so hopefully I will see it before I leave at the end of this year.
There is a pretty good chance that I will try to renew my contract and be a language assistant here next year as well. I don’t have anything better to do next year anyway...the GRE/grad school and an actual career are looming somewhere in the back of my mind, but I still feel unready for either. I am pretty sure that I am learning a lot more than I would be in grad school, and I like to think that it’s more practical sorts of things--just about how to get by in a foreign place and about foreign culture--not to mention how my French skills are getting better. I feel my comprehension level getting higher...although speaking--that is a completely different matter. After a few discouraging exchanges, nervousness just might be causing me to regress.
Tomorrow at school I have to talk about Mississippi to my students. My teachers have been salivating at the prospect of having a living and breathing American Southerner come to their classes and talk about slavery, Civil Rights, and racism. And I really don’t know what to say. I have been thinking about what I am going to say a lot, and I think I will probably paint it in economic terms and discuss the role that Mississippi’s poor education is playing in systemic poverty. I am not going to paint a rosy picture, but I do hope to dispel the idea that all Southerners hate black people, which I heard often when I was backpacking.
Friday I will start teaching my class preparatoire. It turns out that they are taking a big engineering test, and part of the exam will be an oral exam in English. I am pretty nervous about what to do with them. I really have no idea. And for my other classes, I would really like to use a lot of pop culture stuff such as songs and movies. Any suggestions of examples that are interesting and/or funny and easy to understand?
Every time I leave my foyer, I run into someone I know. This is probably because there is only one main street, and I live off it and spend all day walking up and down it. Still...it makes me feel popular.
The apartment hunt is not progressing very well. We have made some calls and emails and have not heard back from many people yet. Vanessa is not living with us anymore, but our friend Shamiran, one of the German students from our hostel might. This is good news because she is a lot of fun, and also because she can go home and get some stuff to help furnish the apartment. Helen and I ventured out to Ikea yesterday to price furniture. Ikea is outside of Metz in the middle of nowhere--which it has to be because it is enormous, even by American standards. It has the air of an amusement park; it even has play areas in the middle of all of the model living rooms to keep children amused. We wandered around for a few hours before realizing that it had another floor. Seeing all of this cool furniture has made me really excited about getting my first apartment.
Today while trying to find a different foyer to see if living there might be any better, we got lost (imagine!), but we did end up stumbling upon this:
http://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/
This has got to be one of the weirdest buildings on earth. It is a branch of the Centre Pompidou, that they are building here (See what an up-and-coming city I live in!) I was rather disappointed by the progress of the building; there isn’t much to see now. It is supposed to done this spring so hopefully I will see it before I leave at the end of this year.
There is a pretty good chance that I will try to renew my contract and be a language assistant here next year as well. I don’t have anything better to do next year anyway...the GRE/grad school and an actual career are looming somewhere in the back of my mind, but I still feel unready for either. I am pretty sure that I am learning a lot more than I would be in grad school, and I like to think that it’s more practical sorts of things--just about how to get by in a foreign place and about foreign culture--not to mention how my French skills are getting better. I feel my comprehension level getting higher...although speaking--that is a completely different matter. After a few discouraging exchanges, nervousness just might be causing me to regress.
Tomorrow at school I have to talk about Mississippi to my students. My teachers have been salivating at the prospect of having a living and breathing American Southerner come to their classes and talk about slavery, Civil Rights, and racism. And I really don’t know what to say. I have been thinking about what I am going to say a lot, and I think I will probably paint it in economic terms and discuss the role that Mississippi’s poor education is playing in systemic poverty. I am not going to paint a rosy picture, but I do hope to dispel the idea that all Southerners hate black people, which I heard often when I was backpacking.
Friday I will start teaching my class preparatoire. It turns out that they are taking a big engineering test, and part of the exam will be an oral exam in English. I am pretty nervous about what to do with them. I really have no idea. And for my other classes, I would really like to use a lot of pop culture stuff such as songs and movies. Any suggestions of examples that are interesting and/or funny and easy to understand?
Every time I leave my foyer, I run into someone I know. This is probably because there is only one main street, and I live off it and spend all day walking up and down it. Still...it makes me feel popular.
vendredi 5 octobre 2007
Sans titre
I mentioned that I am looking for an apartment in the last entry...it turns out that my foyer is also a rehabilitation center for juvenile delinquents. So in reality, the people who live here are students from Germany, a few other language assistants like myself, and female French gangstas. All of the language assistants and the German students have become close. It’s strange...since I moved to France, I have been hanging out with just about every nationality of people except the French! I guess it’s because we are bonding over the common experience of being foreigners here.
I am looking for an apartment with Helen and the Spanish assistant from my school Vanessa (also maybe a Luxembourgish race horse trainer I met the other day who is really cool...I dunno). Vanessa and I have been hanging out a lot ever since I discovered she does not know a soul in the city. That has been really good because she does not speak English so we have to speak French. Somehow with all of the other assistants and my German friends, we always end up speaking English. Though after being with people who speak British English, I’ve been catching myself saying things like “dodgy” and “Bollocks!” I do find myself speaking English with a French accent sometimes as well strangely enough.
Tomorrow one of my teachers is having me over for lunch, then a bunch of assistants and our German friends are going to an Irish pub to watch the France/New Zealand rugby game. Helen is making us wear all black and root for New Zealand. Tonight I may be attending la Fete de la Biere, which sounds like fun. Going to try to take it easy this weekend, though...I have had a very busy week!
I am looking for an apartment with Helen and the Spanish assistant from my school Vanessa (also maybe a Luxembourgish race horse trainer I met the other day who is really cool...I dunno). Vanessa and I have been hanging out a lot ever since I discovered she does not know a soul in the city. That has been really good because she does not speak English so we have to speak French. Somehow with all of the other assistants and my German friends, we always end up speaking English. Though after being with people who speak British English, I’ve been catching myself saying things like “dodgy” and “Bollocks!” I do find myself speaking English with a French accent sometimes as well strangely enough.
Tomorrow one of my teachers is having me over for lunch, then a bunch of assistants and our German friends are going to an Irish pub to watch the France/New Zealand rugby game. Helen is making us wear all black and root for New Zealand. Tonight I may be attending la Fete de la Biere, which sounds like fun. Going to try to take it easy this weekend, though...I have had a very busy week!
mardi 2 octobre 2007
Professor Brantley
I finally got in touch with my “contact person” Jean-Marc on Sunday night, and he told me to come to school at 9 a.m. on Monday. The story of getting to school is a long one--involving a misleading map (seriously...not my fault! and I got confirmation on this from others), me ending up in a weird industrial part of town walking beside the interstate, a friendly French girl who put me on the wrong bus which left me right where I started, and a trip to the tourist office. I was an hour late, but that was fine. Met up with Jean-Marc, and he was nice and gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to a zillion people, all of whose names I immediately forgot or just didn’t understand. The school is pretty nice, and has about 1200 students. There is a disused army bunker in the middle of campus, and it is now a sort of lounge filled with ping-pong tables. So strange about how a violent history has been integrated into every day life. See the picture above.
I went to lunch with the teachers (French school lunches are delicious, elaborate, and balanced). This was probably my favorite social interaction thus far because the teachers were really friendly, and I got to just listen to them having normal conversations. Several of the teachers have agreed to speak to me just in French. Right now I am finding that when people address me, I understand what they’re saying about 90% of the time, but when French people talk to each other, I have trouble understanding. I already do feel myself getting better, though.
After lunch, I observed my first class. For the first two weeks of work, I am just observing. Then I will be doing language practice with about half a class at a time. I will be teaching one class by myself. These students are actually close to my age, and are studying for a big test (probably the bac...but I’m not sure). That is really going to be a challenge.
Today at my second day of school, I finally had a class with Jean-Marc, and like all of the other classes, we just spent the class letting the students ask me questions about my life and about America. Things started getting pretty complicated with questions about American politics, society, and especially religion. I have always thought of myself as a pretty open-minded person who is not terribly America-centric, but having to explain the different aspects of the U.S. to people who are coming from different backgrounds with different assumptions and a different cultural background has been really strange...even emotional. It has, of course, changed the way I feel about my home. I’m not exactly sure how yet...I just feel myself changing.
I really love my job so far, mostly because I have already become close with the teachers. I got asked today to be a chaperone on a field trip to Strasbourg in two weeks. I also got asked to do a language exchange with one of the teachers. We will talk for an hour in English and an hour in French about literary, historical, and political things. During my hour break on my second day at school, a different teacher bought me a drink, and we sat down and had a really in-depth conversation because she wanted to practice her English. We talked about the American dream, immigration, literature, etc, etc. She also offered to take me around sometime and show me some of the sights in the city.
Today, I got a bank account, but I still have lots of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. Let me just give you a single illustration of how much red tape I have had to wade through--I have had to give fourteen identity photos thus far to get approved to do various things. As a result of this, I still haven’t time to do any real sight-seeing in the city (not to mention that my ankle has been hurting pretty bad so I have been trying to walk as little as possible...which is still a lot!) I finally put up some pictures so you can see where I live. These really are just a few of the sights in Metz.
Tonight I went out with a German girl I live with, my friend Helen from New Zealand (who I might be getting an apartment with since it turns out that my foyer is also a home for juvenile delinquents), and a German guy who works at her school. They are all really awesome. I tried to discuss my identity crisis with them (you know...about feeling kind of open minded and realizing that, despite my best intentions, I am not and still so as I said earlier America-centric)...and they were thoughtful even though I came off as kind of shallow. Guess I should talk to some other Americans about this. After that, I stopped by a party the assistants across the street were having. These were the primary assistants. Tomorrow is my orientation with the secondary assistants, and I am looking forward to meeting them. A tout l’heure!
I went to lunch with the teachers (French school lunches are delicious, elaborate, and balanced). This was probably my favorite social interaction thus far because the teachers were really friendly, and I got to just listen to them having normal conversations. Several of the teachers have agreed to speak to me just in French. Right now I am finding that when people address me, I understand what they’re saying about 90% of the time, but when French people talk to each other, I have trouble understanding. I already do feel myself getting better, though.
After lunch, I observed my first class. For the first two weeks of work, I am just observing. Then I will be doing language practice with about half a class at a time. I will be teaching one class by myself. These students are actually close to my age, and are studying for a big test (probably the bac...but I’m not sure). That is really going to be a challenge.
Today at my second day of school, I finally had a class with Jean-Marc, and like all of the other classes, we just spent the class letting the students ask me questions about my life and about America. Things started getting pretty complicated with questions about American politics, society, and especially religion. I have always thought of myself as a pretty open-minded person who is not terribly America-centric, but having to explain the different aspects of the U.S. to people who are coming from different backgrounds with different assumptions and a different cultural background has been really strange...even emotional. It has, of course, changed the way I feel about my home. I’m not exactly sure how yet...I just feel myself changing.
I really love my job so far, mostly because I have already become close with the teachers. I got asked today to be a chaperone on a field trip to Strasbourg in two weeks. I also got asked to do a language exchange with one of the teachers. We will talk for an hour in English and an hour in French about literary, historical, and political things. During my hour break on my second day at school, a different teacher bought me a drink, and we sat down and had a really in-depth conversation because she wanted to practice her English. We talked about the American dream, immigration, literature, etc, etc. She also offered to take me around sometime and show me some of the sights in the city.
Today, I got a bank account, but I still have lots of bureaucratic hoops to jump through. Let me just give you a single illustration of how much red tape I have had to wade through--I have had to give fourteen identity photos thus far to get approved to do various things. As a result of this, I still haven’t time to do any real sight-seeing in the city (not to mention that my ankle has been hurting pretty bad so I have been trying to walk as little as possible...which is still a lot!) I finally put up some pictures so you can see where I live. These really are just a few of the sights in Metz.
Tonight I went out with a German girl I live with, my friend Helen from New Zealand (who I might be getting an apartment with since it turns out that my foyer is also a home for juvenile delinquents), and a German guy who works at her school. They are all really awesome. I tried to discuss my identity crisis with them (you know...about feeling kind of open minded and realizing that, despite my best intentions, I am not and still so as I said earlier America-centric)...and they were thoughtful even though I came off as kind of shallow. Guess I should talk to some other Americans about this. After that, I stopped by a party the assistants across the street were having. These were the primary assistants. Tomorrow is my orientation with the secondary assistants, and I am looking forward to meeting them. A tout l’heure!
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