Hola, como estas?
Me, estoy bien. I finished another week of teaching at the high school, and I've come to realize that the hs's organization (or lack thereof) and my lack of organizational skills can sometimes make for a difficult combination. However, I'm not often confused for that long, because I apparently just don't have to work that much. I was supposed to work 4 days, but we had an orientation pt. deux for the assistants one day, and then on Friday my class was canceled because the students had a day of sporting. Thus, 2 days of work during the week, and now I'm on vacation till November 5 (France, je t'aime).
My friends Marta (Madrid) and Jenna (Barcelona, originally New Braunfels) visited this weekend, and we had a heck of a time hanging out in Toulouse. I felt bad because I still don't have a place to live, and they had to get a hotel, but it was alot of fun. We had a little party at my friend Livan's apartment with a crazy mixture of nationalities (Madagascar, Tunisia, Tahiti, Norway, Italy, Spain, and the US were all represented).
Photos from the weekend, for those of you not on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2555573&l=491a2&id=7900792
As Martaquita and J-Bone pointed out, I was discovering Toulouse almost as much as they were (apparently my première fois here I didn't go downtown all that much, spending lots of time on the INSA campus). We walked around quite a bit and hung out by the river and learned about how Toulouse is the aerospace capital of France, Europe, Earth, and Mars, or something like that. It was quite sad to see them go, as I've often talked to the two of them since our summer internship in Paris, but we're making plans for another petite reunion in Barcelona at the end of November.
Tonight I'm leaving for Lyon (actually, St. Etienne) to visit my friend Leila, whom I also met over summer in Paris. I'm looking forward to seeing her, and she's actually arranged for me to stay with one of her friends in Strasbourg after a couple of days of staying in Lyon. How awesome. We'd once discussed visiting Morocco (she's got family there), but unfortunately plans have changed and she's going to Brazil for a 6 month period beginning in January. However, this should be a fun time, and I'm looking forward to meeting her family.
In the US, elections are coming up, and of course the people here are curious to know for whom I will be voting. It's too difficult to explain that Tony Romo is my write-in, but good grief, Brad Johnson is terrible. We may as well have Tavaris Jackson, Quincy Carter, or Matt Nordgren. The latter practiced against the best players in the country, you know.
Also in the states, apparently I'm missing good concert after good concert...this will hopefully be mitigated by finding stupid electro events where one can dancefight, as Monsieur le Cbass has trained me to do. I guarantee America will demonstrate it's mad skill at such an event.
On the topic of America and mad, at times France can be infuriating for an outsider. As I learned this past weekend, when this country wants to make things inconvenient, it can succeed like no other. Sometimes laundry can prove to be one of the most difficult things known to mankind. It is near IMPOSSIBLE to get change in France, but machines never accept bills. A good combination. Subtlety out the window, swearing ensues in front of people in both French and English (the latter because I feel it doesn't mean much to them, the former because it doesn't mean much to me). Today I listened to a Polish man air his grievances at the train station, which he described as an "organized mess." While I felt for him, I noticed I was also tempted to do the Parisian shoulder shrug to basically say "Yeah, but what can you do about it?" I mean, somehow it will get figured out, right? Sort of like my housing situation. Eventually.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Living it up at the hotel Livantsoa
Hola, wie geht's? Oy, so I finished my first week teaching at the Collège (which, confusingly enough, is the word for middle school). Overall, things went relatively well, with the usual uncomfortable question here and there. Do you have any children? Yes, but I don't know how many.
There was, however, one class that was complètement painful for me, however. I'd seen this group before, and they were friendly, but this time the teacher asked me to try to teach them about NYC for some questionaire/faux interview they had to do. I, unfortunately, went in thinking the assignment had already been discussed and the kids had direction. Alas, after an hour of me talking about a city I have never visited, with almost no one responding, I was glad to be finished for the day.
A propos de logement: I've been searching for housing with a Spanish lang. assistant from Chile who is very nice. However, luck seems to have it that the only apartments available often fit into one of 3 categories, with some forcing their way into several of the categories: 1) too expensive, 2) too far, 3) too small. In spite of the steady stream of letdowns, there is a potentially promising possibility for housing that might could maybe, given the proper alignment of stars, work- and that is living with a family in Toulouse. I did some application for this program, and the lady got back to me within a day, saying she knows of a family, but just needs to confirm that they still want to house a Burger-Eating Invasion Monkey (i.e. me).
On other fronts: The long march toward legal residence is closer to being completed! I have a medical appointment tomorrow, which should be no problem to pass, unless, of course, my Blood Cheese Level is too low. Speaking of long marches, the once-supremely-confident Cowboys crossed the Volga and fell at Stalingrad...err, St. Louis...maybe we should just play for draft picks now? Or just forget the season and anxiously await the promise-to-disappoint Mavericks. Regardless, Dallas sports as a whole: NO FUNERAL!
Oh, I'm getting my birth-certificate translation tomorrow...wooohoo! I mean, I already did this myself and gave it to the school for salary purposes, but technically they aren't satisfied until I've paid 35 euros for this worthless document. Why does it not suffice that my passport shows my date of birth (and has all of the information in French)? Merde, quoi, France.
Finally, I've got this week of oh-so-grueling work before our 2 week vacation, which I feel I've earned. I mean, 2.5 weeks of work justifies 2 weeks of vacation, right? I have no plans at the moment because booking travel this late appears to be rather expensive, but my friends Marta and Jenna are coming from Spain this weekend, which should be fun. Guaranteed dance contests, moments lost in translation, and "Greg, I can't eat all of this, do you want to finish it?" Of course I do.
There was, however, one class that was complètement painful for me, however. I'd seen this group before, and they were friendly, but this time the teacher asked me to try to teach them about NYC for some questionaire/faux interview they had to do. I, unfortunately, went in thinking the assignment had already been discussed and the kids had direction. Alas, after an hour of me talking about a city I have never visited, with almost no one responding, I was glad to be finished for the day.
A propos de logement: I've been searching for housing with a Spanish lang. assistant from Chile who is very nice. However, luck seems to have it that the only apartments available often fit into one of 3 categories, with some forcing their way into several of the categories: 1) too expensive, 2) too far, 3) too small. In spite of the steady stream of letdowns, there is a potentially promising possibility for housing that might could maybe, given the proper alignment of stars, work- and that is living with a family in Toulouse. I did some application for this program, and the lady got back to me within a day, saying she knows of a family, but just needs to confirm that they still want to house a Burger-Eating Invasion Monkey (i.e. me).
On other fronts: The long march toward legal residence is closer to being completed! I have a medical appointment tomorrow, which should be no problem to pass, unless, of course, my Blood Cheese Level is too low. Speaking of long marches, the once-supremely-confident Cowboys crossed the Volga and fell at Stalingrad...err, St. Louis...maybe we should just play for draft picks now? Or just forget the season and anxiously await the promise-to-disappoint Mavericks. Regardless, Dallas sports as a whole: NO FUNERAL!
Oh, I'm getting my birth-certificate translation tomorrow...wooohoo! I mean, I already did this myself and gave it to the school for salary purposes, but technically they aren't satisfied until I've paid 35 euros for this worthless document. Why does it not suffice that my passport shows my date of birth (and has all of the information in French)? Merde, quoi, France.
Finally, I've got this week of oh-so-grueling work before our 2 week vacation, which I feel I've earned. I mean, 2.5 weeks of work justifies 2 weeks of vacation, right? I have no plans at the moment because booking travel this late appears to be rather expensive, but my friends Marta and Jenna are coming from Spain this weekend, which should be fun. Guaranteed dance contests, moments lost in translation, and "Greg, I can't eat all of this, do you want to finish it?" Of course I do.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
A Cat named Stevens found a faith he could believe in
So the first few days of work went pretty well. I say this really having worked only 2 days, thanks to strike and some strange scheduling. Some of the kids in the classes seemed interested in learning English, and particularly in knowing more about the United States. Maybe next week I will just put Mellancamp's "This is our Country" on a loop, that way the students can experience the sweet soundwaves of freedom, and I can relive the irritation of watching incessant Chevrolet commercials.
I'm thankful to be from Texas and not from one of the lame states (see: the other 49), because people love to hate (and love) Texans. Questions about NYC, Miami, and LA are of course abundant, but everybody knows (or thinks they know) something about Texas, so it's always a good conversation starter. Plus, they really like it when I tell them I have a picture of George Bush that I keep under my pillow, and that I go huntin' in Crawford all the time.
In my first few classes, things were, for the most part acceptable, but there were of course the awkward high schooler questions...a few of the most notable:
1) "do you think American or French girls are prettier?" - I can't answer that honestly in class.
2) "have you ever French kissed?" - No, only Freedom kissed.
3) "do you have a girlfriend?" - No, but you're too young.
It's funny how forward they can be with questions. It's uncomfortable having to dance around with answers at times, but as long as they're talking and participating, I can deal with it. Furthermore, it's fun to answer the usual "are you voting for McCain or Obama?" question by saying "whoever will continue to do exactly as Mr. Bush has done," just to see the looks on their faces.
On other fronts, I still have not found lodging in my effort to find something with roommates. I visited 2 apartments this week, but I'm waiting to hear back from both pairs of roommates on whether or not I am good enough to be cohabitant numero trois. If this doesn't work out, I've spoken briefly with a Spanish assistant at the same high school about possibly rooming together.
More productively, yesterday I finally obtained my French debit card, and as a result, a phone and my metro card...Hello, Win column. Unfortunately, the debit card gave me the power to utilize the public bike system in Toulouse. I apparently thought I knew the city a bit better than I actually do, which became apparent when I had to navigate myself off of a local highway. Not as bad as it sounds, but there was that feeling of "Alive!" at the end of it. Malheureusement, there was no copilot to eat, like in the book.
Also, today I saw a concert of three "jazz-electro" bands from Norway. Overall, pretty interesting, with a wide variety, believe it or not, ranging from jazz to electro. The tektonik dance (for those unfamiliar with the brilliance, voila, tektonik: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqRR10Xy3GU) made an extremely brief appearance during some of the electro, but of course it couldn't last....one should never be foolish enough to try to tektonik to electronique. After all, you don't ride bikes on highways, do you?
I'm thankful to be from Texas and not from one of the lame states (see: the other 49), because people love to hate (and love) Texans. Questions about NYC, Miami, and LA are of course abundant, but everybody knows (or thinks they know) something about Texas, so it's always a good conversation starter. Plus, they really like it when I tell them I have a picture of George Bush that I keep under my pillow, and that I go huntin' in Crawford all the time.
In my first few classes, things were, for the most part acceptable, but there were of course the awkward high schooler questions...a few of the most notable:
1) "do you think American or French girls are prettier?" - I can't answer that honestly in class.
2) "have you ever French kissed?" - No, only Freedom kissed.
3) "do you have a girlfriend?" - No, but you're too young.
It's funny how forward they can be with questions. It's uncomfortable having to dance around with answers at times, but as long as they're talking and participating, I can deal with it. Furthermore, it's fun to answer the usual "are you voting for McCain or Obama?" question by saying "whoever will continue to do exactly as Mr. Bush has done," just to see the looks on their faces.
On other fronts, I still have not found lodging in my effort to find something with roommates. I visited 2 apartments this week, but I'm waiting to hear back from both pairs of roommates on whether or not I am good enough to be cohabitant numero trois. If this doesn't work out, I've spoken briefly with a Spanish assistant at the same high school about possibly rooming together.
More productively, yesterday I finally obtained my French debit card, and as a result, a phone and my metro card...Hello, Win column. Unfortunately, the debit card gave me the power to utilize the public bike system in Toulouse. I apparently thought I knew the city a bit better than I actually do, which became apparent when I had to navigate myself off of a local highway. Not as bad as it sounds, but there was that feeling of "Alive!" at the end of it. Malheureusement, there was no copilot to eat, like in the book.
Also, today I saw a concert of three "jazz-electro" bands from Norway. Overall, pretty interesting, with a wide variety, believe it or not, ranging from jazz to electro. The tektonik dance (for those unfamiliar with the brilliance, voila, tektonik: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqRR10Xy3GU) made an extremely brief appearance during some of the electro, but of course it couldn't last....one should never be foolish enough to try to tektonik to electronique. After all, you don't ride bikes on highways, do you?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
So I've decided to create a blog to document my 7 months teaching English in Toulouse. Who knows how long this thing will last? I detest sitting in front of a computer all the time, but somehow find myself doing it anyway. Anywho, I've been in France almost two weeks now, so here's a brief recap of what's happened thus far:
I spent two days in Paris, staying at the apartment of my friend Thomas Roborel de Climens, whom I met while working at Air Liquide over summer. He was extremely generous in housing me, and we had a good time hanging out with his friends. While there, I also got to see my friend Sofia, une portueguese whom I met while living at the Maison du Portugal in Paris during summer- in spite of how much she makes fun of me, she's one of the nicest people you could meet, and it was great to see her again.
Since I arrived in Toulouse, I've been staying with my friend Livan from Madagascar, un homme I knew from when I studied at INSA here in 2007. He, as well, has been incredibly accommodating (a word that just lost meaning to me after a long deliberation on the correct spelling...) while I search for an apartment...
And now let's gather around the aluminum pole for a brief airing of grievances regarding the happenings thus far:
First of all, you can't do anything without an address, so Liv's made an Attestation for me to say I'm staying with him. This allowed the opening of a bank account at Societe General. For those of you familiar with my running joke from the last stay in Toulouse, it appears that Societe General girl no longer works there :( However, there is a new young lady who could enter the pool of possible future wife prospects if the bank would hurry up and get me my stinking Carte Bleue- a key to open all doors in France, where Visa appears to have a monopoly, and American cards don't work because they don't have that cursed little chip in them. Bref, I can't start a phone contract until I have this magique debit card. Furthermore, I've been making calls about apartments from skype, which can be frustrating because everyone misses the call, but can't return it. Plus, there's all the trudging through the merde of French bureaucracy in order to get my residence card (carte magique numero 2), which I hope will be doled out in a grand ceremony in which I'm lead to the guillotine (to the sound of Axl Rose screaming "You're in the jungle, baby!"), only, instead of a guillotine blade, my Carte de Séjour gently slides down and presents me with legal residence.
On a more positive note, it's quite good to be back in Toulouse again, and it really feels like I wasn't gone for that long. Some things have changed with the city, as there's now a north-south metro line and some renovated areas downtown, but nothing too significant. It is a bit different, I must say, not having the crew of American and Erasmus (international student org.) kids here. There's a new group that I haven't really encountered yet, and although I'm wondering a bit who I'll be hanging out with, I guess this could be another opportunity for new friends.
Language-wise, I've been speaking a bit more French, and I'm a bit more comfortable on the phone now, but I have a rather goofy American accent, and I need alot of vocabulary work. Additionally, my language remains littered with unnecessary swearing that I don't use in English....fun in the short term, but really not helpful in most communication. Also, I've confirmed (after several communication problems both abroad and at home) that I have some sort of speech impediment- people have difficulty understanding when I say words that contain a consonant followed by an L, mistaking it instead for R. Ex: glass vs. grass. Apparently a problem for me in English as well as French, and I don't know whether to try to fix this or just let it slide and work on other issues. Whatever, if the kids I teach get confused, I'll just say I'm Amerkan and that I command respect....or I'll just get them to say "rural purple squirrel"- sure to induce enough laughter on my behalf that they'll forget what they asked me anyway.
Tomorrow is Wednesday the 8th of October. The first day of work. I was actually supposed to work today, but, in typical French fashion, the teachers were 'en grève,' and so thus I was sort of on strike as well. Score.
Finally, I must point out that I've had an unusual number of nightmares since arriving. This happened when I was in Paris, too, and I'm not sure if it's the result of being away from home or too much baguette. However, there have been some pretty funny dreams, too, where I've been singing along to Yelle (my favorite French pop singer) in random environments. It makes me wonder if I dance in my sleep (Tektonik, of course).
I spent two days in Paris, staying at the apartment of my friend Thomas Roborel de Climens, whom I met while working at Air Liquide over summer. He was extremely generous in housing me, and we had a good time hanging out with his friends. While there, I also got to see my friend Sofia, une portueguese whom I met while living at the Maison du Portugal in Paris during summer- in spite of how much she makes fun of me, she's one of the nicest people you could meet, and it was great to see her again.
Since I arrived in Toulouse, I've been staying with my friend Livan from Madagascar, un homme I knew from when I studied at INSA here in 2007. He, as well, has been incredibly accommodating (a word that just lost meaning to me after a long deliberation on the correct spelling...) while I search for an apartment...
And now let's gather around the aluminum pole for a brief airing of grievances regarding the happenings thus far:
First of all, you can't do anything without an address, so Liv's made an Attestation for me to say I'm staying with him. This allowed the opening of a bank account at Societe General. For those of you familiar with my running joke from the last stay in Toulouse, it appears that Societe General girl no longer works there :( However, there is a new young lady who could enter the pool of possible future wife prospects if the bank would hurry up and get me my stinking Carte Bleue- a key to open all doors in France, where Visa appears to have a monopoly, and American cards don't work because they don't have that cursed little chip in them. Bref, I can't start a phone contract until I have this magique debit card. Furthermore, I've been making calls about apartments from skype, which can be frustrating because everyone misses the call, but can't return it. Plus, there's all the trudging through the merde of French bureaucracy in order to get my residence card (carte magique numero 2), which I hope will be doled out in a grand ceremony in which I'm lead to the guillotine (to the sound of Axl Rose screaming "You're in the jungle, baby!"), only, instead of a guillotine blade, my Carte de Séjour gently slides down and presents me with legal residence.
On a more positive note, it's quite good to be back in Toulouse again, and it really feels like I wasn't gone for that long. Some things have changed with the city, as there's now a north-south metro line and some renovated areas downtown, but nothing too significant. It is a bit different, I must say, not having the crew of American and Erasmus (international student org.) kids here. There's a new group that I haven't really encountered yet, and although I'm wondering a bit who I'll be hanging out with, I guess this could be another opportunity for new friends.
Language-wise, I've been speaking a bit more French, and I'm a bit more comfortable on the phone now, but I have a rather goofy American accent, and I need alot of vocabulary work. Additionally, my language remains littered with unnecessary swearing that I don't use in English....fun in the short term, but really not helpful in most communication. Also, I've confirmed (after several communication problems both abroad and at home) that I have some sort of speech impediment- people have difficulty understanding when I say words that contain a consonant followed by an L, mistaking it instead for R. Ex: glass vs. grass. Apparently a problem for me in English as well as French, and I don't know whether to try to fix this or just let it slide and work on other issues. Whatever, if the kids I teach get confused, I'll just say I'm Amerkan and that I command respect....or I'll just get them to say "rural purple squirrel"- sure to induce enough laughter on my behalf that they'll forget what they asked me anyway.
Tomorrow is Wednesday the 8th of October. The first day of work. I was actually supposed to work today, but, in typical French fashion, the teachers were 'en grève,' and so thus I was sort of on strike as well. Score.
Finally, I must point out that I've had an unusual number of nightmares since arriving. This happened when I was in Paris, too, and I'm not sure if it's the result of being away from home or too much baguette. However, there have been some pretty funny dreams, too, where I've been singing along to Yelle (my favorite French pop singer) in random environments. It makes me wonder if I dance in my sleep (Tektonik, of course).
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