Odds and Ends (updated with some new pictures)

Well, I haven't written recently because I don't have a whole lot to report on. My schedule at school changed recently so now I have one class on Friday mornings (still no classes Monday!) I have some new classes to work with but some of my classes are the same as last semester. My schedule is really complicated. I have a lot of things that vary between Semaines A and B. The teachers are always confused and never seem to really know if I am supposed to be with their class or not. This leads to a lot of canceled classes because I'll show up and the teacher was planning on me being there the next week and so he or she won't need me. Also, at least once, my new schedule resulted in a teacher getting upset with me because she thought I was skipping her class (I wasn't, I had her class on the opposite week). On the other hand, my new schedule means I have twice as many students whom I see half as often which means I only need to do half the lesson planning (and by lesson planning I mean googling "ESL games" 15 minutes before class).
There was a grève last week which meant that a lot of teachers didn't come to school. I honestly don't know what they were striking about but I'm sure Sarkozy did something shocking and unfair again. One of the four teachers I had that day told me she wouldn't be there, one other promised me she'd let me know her final decision and the other two said nothing. Out of five classes, guess how many I had that day. 1/2!!! The first class was the one where the teacher promised me she'd let me know. Having not received a call, I came to school. Of course, she wasn't there and neither was most of the class. Three boys did come and we had fun playing "Who am I?" and Hangman. They are really adorable and they vouvoyer me and call me Madame. Technically they shouldn't be doing either since they should be speaking English but they're my youngest class and so cute I can't get too mad. So that was my half of a class. My next class I knew was canceled, two more classes were canceled because that teacher was sick and for the class class not one student showed up (but the teacher was there). I could have gone home at 11 instead of 4 but I did get to use the Internet for free all day and watch True Life on mtv.com, so I can't complain too much.
Things haven't been totally business as usual here though, I did go to Strasbourg last weekend for a visit and to celebrates Paul's birthday. While there, we took a day trip to Freiburg, Germany which is a really adorable town. Here are some pictures I stole from Etienne (Paul's roommate who, along with his really sweet girlfriend, Eva, came with us):
A cute street and the cathedral which has sort of the same style as the one in Strasbourg.



Etienne enjoys a sausage while the sausage lady watches:

One of the highlights of the Germany daytrip was going to a store called Vom Fass (which means something like "on tap" or "draught"). Basically, its a liquor store where everything is stored in glass barrels and where you can buy a bottle to fill up. It also had all different kinds of oils for cooking etc. in barrels. Our favorite was olive truffle oil. Here is a picture of some of the different alcohol choices to better explain:


Etienne and Paul:


The funny thing about this store was that the logo seemed so familiar to me and I knew I'd seen it before but I couldn't remember where. Then when I got home to St. Brieuc I realized that we had the same store here though I've never been in it. Its one of the only two Vom Fasses in France!! (It might have something to do with this area being the most alcoholic part of France for seven years running. Vom Fass must have done some demographic research).
I have also included a picture of Paul blowing out his birthday crêpe. There was one votive candle stuck into the ice cream. It was delicious, though melty:

All in all we had a lovely weekend and I'm looking forward to Paul's triumphant return to Brittany sans streptococci!
One thing that being in Germany made me realize is that I speak French much better than German. Maybe this should've been obvious since I've never studied German a day in my life so I guess what I mean is that it made me appreciate how much better my French has gotten. In Germany, I couldn't carry out the simplest exchanges. I think the only German I said was "danke." ("Danke" to Wayne Newton for that). At one point a man came up to Paul and me in the cathedral and started gabbing away. Luckily, he didn't seem to need a response nor did he seem to notice that our eyes were wide with utter uncomprehension. Eventually, satisified, he wandered away. Thank goodness Etienne and Eva both studied in Germany and could help us buy souvenirs! This short trip to Germany did make me super excited for my trip to Berlin with Sophia, Danae and Barbara, though! (Especially since Sophia and Barbara are both Germanophones because I think Freiburg proved that I need supervision if leaving an Anglo- or Francophone zone.)

In other news, Hammy is doing well and I think his name has to stay Hammy (although I appreciate all the suggestions). I can't call him anything else now and even my roommates call him Hammy (or, Ammy, rather). It has been suggested that I train my webcam on him and call it HamCam but I don't think my life has gotten that sad yet. (Also, that would assume that I had the Internet at my place, which, of course, I don't and have given up expecting.) Also, my good pal Clare is moving into my house tonight!! We have a spare room and since she is always over it just made sense that she move in. I'm very excited because it can get a little lonely on the weekends in that big house when all my roommates are gone and now Clare will be there to keep me entertained! Last but not least, I have talked to my friend Rodrigo about giving me Spanish lessons which I will pay for by cooking for him. I decided to start because I have started to get bored with only 12 hours of work a week and I've got to nip that in the bud. There's no greater waste of time than boredom and I don't want to spend a minute of my time here not appreciating it.
There, I guess I did have a lot to say after all!

Funny/Strange Things My Students Do/Say

1. When instructed to create a sketch about the Holidays, 2 students referred to Santa Clause as "Christmas Dad" (direct translation of Père Noël)

2. One student asked me if it was possible to buy "cooking foods" in America (when pressed, he defined "cooking foods" as eggs and sugar) because his sister went to England once and came back telling people you could buy pre-made meals there but no ingredients.

3. Asked me if I had a "little friend" (direct translation of petit ami, i.e. boyfriend). I told him I don't discriminate based on height when choosing my friends.

4. Told me my hair was too long and then suggested that he could help me shorten it with something he had set on fire. (He had some kind of flint/steel combo that he was sparking at people). Don't worry, afterwards he was nice enough to tell me that he liked my hair, long though it is. Thanks, creep.


p.s. No, Mom, I'm not naming Hammy after you. He's a BOY!! Besides, its weird to name a hamster after your mother.

Happy 2008!

I haven't been writing during my Christmas vacation because this is supposed to be a blog about France (or at least Europe) and not about the US but I did have a really good time and got to visit family in IL and FL. Florida was especially wonderful because it was 80°F (for any non-Americans that's about 25°C) and sunny everyday. I also got some lovely Christmas presents including 3 new cookbooks which will come in really handy for me and Clare when we need dinner ideas. I will tell one story about my trip home. When we were in Springfield, IL my mom and I decided to try out the hotel's Jacuzzi (indoors, obv.) We put on our bathing suits and went down to the pool area. There is a little foyer before you get to the actual pool that is locked to prevent ne'er-do-wells from using the pool. Hotel guests can use their key cards to get in. Or so we thought. Our card didn't work. Weird. "No big deal" we thought. We'll just reenter the main building and talk to someone at reception. Of course, the door to the main building had locked behind us and we needed our key cards to get in. Fabulous, don't panic, we're completely trapped except for a door to the outside. We discuss the best plan. We can't both go outside because then we might not be able to get in at all and we'd be trapped outside all night (Only to be found dead the next day. Very undignified to be found dead outside in your bathing suit in December) My mom decides to brave the elements, exit the only open door and run in her bathing suit to the front door. This was very brave for 2 reasons. 1. Neither my mom nor I have anything resembling a sense of direction and locked in the little room, we had lost our bearings. So, basically, she had no idea where to run. 2. She was in a bathing suit and a t-shirt, we were on the prairie at 9pm in December. It was about -21545° (n.b., that is an exaggeration in both Fahrenheit and Celius). Debbie Dahl is a trooper, however, and she ran out into the night to try and find the main entrance to the hotel (I'm not at all exaggerating about our senses of direction. They're terrible. We think we might be legally handicapped). My job was to wait vigilantly at the door and let her in if she needed me to. Of course, just then a helpful hotel guest spotted me and was going to help me escape from the pool foyer. So, I had to lean out the door and yell until my mom heard me and ran back inside. At which point, the helpful guest let us into the main building and my mom went to reception and got our cards fixed. After that, we took a well-deserved dip in the Jacuzzi. Fin.

In other news, 39 Avenue Corneille is now in possession of a lovely pet hamster!! I call him Hammy (short for Hamster, if you're slow) because we couldn't think of a name and I had to call him something. Blandine, being a true paysanne, insists that he be named a "D" name because 2008 is a "D" year and, therefore, all the farmers name any cows born in this year "D" names. Suggestions welcome!! The name has to be something that my roommates and I can all pronounce. Here he is:
running like the wind in his ball:

having a drink: