Decided to update my blog since there's not much else I can do right now... Yep, I'm sick, AGAIN. I started feeling sick on Wednesday, and I still feel like total crap. Sore/swollen throat, terrible cough, no voice, stuffy nose, and generally feeling really run down. It's hard to sleep, and it didn't help that last night the gate alarm went off for around 2 hours in the middle of the night. (Since I live on a high school campus, the front gate is equipped with an extremely loud alarm,which apparently malfunctioned last night. Lucky me that my bedroom window over looks the front entrance to the high school! I thought I was going to go crazy last night before a technician showed up after almost 2 hours to turn it off.)
I had to call in sick to both my jobs today, and I'm putting myself on total rest and relaxation today and tomorrow, and trying to heal myself with tons of orange juice, fruits and veggies, and antibiotics. I've heard from a lot of people that they were pretty much sick their entire first year living in Paris, especially first-year teachers (like me) who are exposed to new viruses every day when they go to school. I can say from personal experience so far that at least 5 students in each of my classes are visibly enrhumee (sick with colds) to various degrees every day, some so severely so that I wonder why their parents send them to school at all! Please, parents, keep your infectious children at home so I don't pick up every single one of their viruses! I did get the flu shot back in September right before I left the states, thank god.
Anyway, hopefully after a ton of rest today and tomorrow, I'll be well enough to go into Paris on Sunday morning to work my 8+ hour serving shift, and then teach my last two days of classes on Monday and Tuesday before Christmas break.
In other boring life-news, I finally did my laundry yesterday! (I'd been putting it off for upwards of a month...) It's a 2+ hour process that involves loading up my suitcase with dirty clothes, lugging it down 2 flights of stairs, taking a bus to Le Pecq (because there's no self-service laundromat in St-Germain...) and then walking 10 minutes up-hill to a tiny laundromat called Laverie Impecq. Once there, I fill up 3-4 washers (4 euro/wash), and then spend another 10 euro on the dryers, before folding everything, loading it back into my suitcase, and starting the trek to the bus stop. Not so much fun, but I'm so happy with all my clean clothes now! Small victories...
What else has been going on? Went shopping with Jill at La Defense on Wednesday, and ate Sushi Shop for the first time. Had salmon chirashi (sashimi on top of bowl of sticky rice) with avacado, cabbage salad, and miso soup. Pretty good, but for around $17 (including a drink), it was pretty pricey. Still, I have no problem paying for good sushi. After lunch and a trip to H&M and Zara, we took the RER into Paris and went to a tiny music box store in the 1st arr. to look for a Christmas present for one of her friends, but unfortunately they didn't have the song she wanted to get him (La Boheme). It was a clear, beautiful day, but absolutely FREEZING, so we found a Pain Quotidien and stopped in for a couple cafe allongees and a croissant for Jill. I made a note to go back on a free day soon, because it's a great place to sit and do work on your laptop or read a good book, and the area is gorgeous. They also have fantastic coffee and pastries!
After we finished our coffee, it was time for me to go to work for my usual Wednesday night 6pm-2am bartending shift at the Moose. I starting feeling really sick that night, and by about halfway through my shift, I'd almost completely lost my voice, so I started sort of just nodding and grunting at customers. (Good thing I was wearing a mustache t-shirt I'd bought at Zara that day that says "Ca va bien, et toi?" ;))
What else can I talk about? I've been making a big effort to eat healthier lately, and even though I'm sick at the moment, I can tell that my body appreciates all the fresh fruit and veggies I've been feeding it! I don't feel tired or sluggish after I eat, I have more stable energy throughout the day, and the less processed sugar and junk food I eat, the less I crave it. If I get hungry between meals, I've started snacking on nuts, dried fruit, or low-sugar, whole-grain granola instead of sweets/salty snacks. For the most part, I've completely cut animal products out of my diet, as well as processed junk food, simple carbohydrates, and sweets. I've been eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain granola/cereal, raw nuts, beans, seeds, dried fruit, couscous, rice noodles, hummus, etc. I will occasionally eat chicken or fish, but not more than once/day, and usually not even that often. I also haven't been able to give up milk in my cereal in the mornings, but I'm going to see if I can find soy/almond milk at the grocery store next time I go shopping.
I've been doing a lot of research into veganism, and the more I learn, the more I like the idea of a vegan diet, as much for environmental and political reasons as for my health. The impact of the Western diet on the planet, especially the cattle industry, is incredibly destructive and completely unsustainable in the long term. If the world moved towards a whole foods, plant-based diet (veganism, as laid out in the documentary Forks Over Knives), we could solve starvation and malnutrition, and make great strides in reducing the production of greenhouse gases. In addition, we could solve many health problems caused by the Western diet/animal products, including the prevalence of many types of cancer and obesity. We could drastically reduce health care costs in this country, which would be good for small businesses and corporations alike, as well as for the average American tax-payer, of course. In terms of politics, we could wrest the government/FDA from the control of the corn, dairy, and meat producers in America, and provide incentives for fruit/vegetable farmers to be able to grow their operations in order to meet the new demand for local, fresh produce. Veganism is better for the planet, better for our health, and even better for democracy. What are we waiting for?
The sad truth is that most people in America have an addiction to highly-pallatable, processed foods full of salt, fat, and sugar, most of which contain lots of animal products and corn (in one form or another, a popular one is high fructose corn syrup). These foods are also usually cheaper than healthy foods, and so we have the added problem of poor people being the fattest and the most addicted, and the least healthy people in America. They also don't have the option of making healthier choices sometimes because they actually can't afford to buy healthy foods, or they aren't available in their neighborhoods. The food environment in America sets us up for failure, and virtually ensures that most poor people will be fat and unhealthy, and the average American will have to make a huge effort in order to educate themselves about food, and avoid all the unhealthy and dangerous choices advertised to us every day.
The amount of power that the corn, dairy, and meat industry has in Washington is terrifying, especially over the government organizations that are supposed to protect our health, like the FDA. The nutrition guidelines provided by the FDA play directly into the hands of these industries, recommending far more dairy, meat, and grain than is actually needed in our daily diet, just to keep these industries' profits in the green. Many of the people in the most powerful positions in public health in Washington have connections with the dairy, meat, or corn industry. What's even scarier is that these industries are directly tied to the petroleum/natural gas industries, as of course these are fossil-fuel-intense products. It really does seem like those of us who are actually concerned about the health of our population are fighting an impossible battle against those who hold the money, and therefore the power, in our country. Once again, the forces of capitalism working to the detriment or our general well-being as humans.
By eating a mostly local, organic, and vegan diet, I can:
1. stop paying into corrupt agro-business (dairy, meat, corn industries), as well as companies like Mansanto
2. support local, organic fruit and vegetable farms,
3. make my body healthier by: greatly reducing my chances of getting cancer, reducing inflammation, getting more essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and water, and maintaining a healthy weight
4. stop supporting the inhumane raising and slaughter of farm animals
5. stop supporting unsustainable fishing practices
6. help protect the environment by reducing the impact of farm animals and mono-cropping
7. probably do lots of other things that I'm forgetting right now
When you look at the bigger picture, can you still say that going vegan is too hard because you enjoy the taste of animal products? What are your priorities in life, and what things can you afford to miss in order to be good to yourself and the planet? It's a pretty easy choice for me... (but that doesn't mean that transitioning into veganism isn't difficult, because it is!)
I highly recommend the following documentaries:
1. Forks Over Knives
2. Simply Raw: Curing Diabetes in 30 Days
3. Food Matters
4. Supersize Me
5. Making the Connection
6. Food, Inc.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Time for an update!
My mother recently reminded me that I hadn't written a blog post for over a month, so here's an update on my life in France!
Over the past month, I've settled into living in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a picturesque town directly west of Paris. I live in an apartment for teaching assistants at Lycee Jean d'Albret, a 10 minute walk from the RER station. The apartment is on the 3rd floor of a large administrative building, and there are 5 of us on the floor -- 3 other teaching assistants (from Germany, Russia, and China!) and a teacher from the south of France who lives in a separate apartment at the other end of the hall. We all share the same kitchen and bathroom facilities, but we are all so busy working and have different schedules, so we rarely see each other for more than a few minutes at a time! We speak French with each other because it's the only language we have in common, which is actually pretty cool because it helps me practice my language skills even more. I hope we'll have more time to hang out together in the new year, because the other teaching assistants all seem great and I'd like to get to know them better!
My room looks remarkably like my freshman year college dorm room, but it's fairly large, warm, and well-equipped, and for 120 euro/month, I definitely can't complain! The only thing I really don't like is that my window faces out onto the entrance of the high school/the road, so I tend to wake up every morning at 8am when the students arrive and smoke their morning cigarettes regardless of whether I have to get up or not!
At the beginning of November, I started working at a Canadian pub/grill/sports bar in Paris off bd. Saint-Germain in the 6th arrondissement, close to metro Odeon. I work 3-4 days/week as a server or bartender, and so far it's been a lot of fun, even though the hours can be pretty long. Nearly everyone who works there is American or Canadian (excluding Mexican and Italian bartenders, and one French waitress and another from Sweden!) We all speak English at work and that environment, combined with American football/basketball on TV almost makes me feel like I'm at a sports bar back in California :) Working there also gives me more opportunity to practice my French, as I'd say the clientele is split about 50-50 Anglophone - French. I also enjoy working in Paris, because it gives me an excuse to be in the city 3-4 days/week and ensures that I won't just stay in my warm room in St-Germain!
Speaking of warmth (or the lack there-of), it is officially winter in France. It's cold -- much too cold for a California girl like me. I have to do a lot of walking, which I'd normally enjoy, except now it tends to be a little less enjoyable given that my hands and face become icicles and my movement is usually hindered by the 120847234 layers I wear to keep from freezing! The other teaching assistants who come from places like New York or Ohio like to make fun of me, but my body just isn't used to functioning in these temperatures! Everything seems to take twice as much effort in the cold/rain -- I have to psych myself up just to go get groceries or walk to the bank! My current struggle revolves around trying to convince myself to go do my laundry... I've been desperately needing to do laundry for around 2 weeks now, but it's an ordeal that involves loading my dirty clothes in a suitcase, hauling it down 2 flights of stairs, walking 5 minutes to the bus stop, hauling it on the bus, riding the bus 10 minutes, hauling it off the bus, and walking 10 minutes to the laundromat. Followed by paying exorbitant amounts of money to do numerous loads of laundry in the TINY washers (4 euro/load), drying everything, folding it, putting it back in my suitcase, walking 10 minutes back to the bus stop -- you get the picture. It's just so not fun!!! And yes, I know... #1stworldproblems...
ANYWAY. Just to give you a mental picture of what a typical week for me looks like, here's my schedule:
Monday: Teach 10:30am-4:30pm
Tuesday: Teach 8:30am-3pm
Wednesday: Bartend 6pm-close (around 2am) at the Moose... (Since the RER (train) stops running at 12:45am, the nights that I close the bar at the Moose, I have to take the night bus from the 6th arrondissement to Gare Saint-Lazare to catch another night bus for Saint-Germain-en-laye, which comes once/hour and takes about an hour to get to Saint-Germain. As long as it's not too busy, I can generally make it to Saint-Lazare in time to get the 2:30am bus, which means I'm home by 3:30am, but if it's a busy night or I'm closing the bar on the weekend, I don't get back home until 4:30am, which is ROUGH.)
Thursday: Try to catch up on sleep, run errands and maybe do something fun in Paris :) Prepare for classes... Oh and it's my 23rd birthday!
Friday: Teach 8:30am-3pm. This week I also work at the Moose serving from 8pm-midnight.
Saturday: Usually I work during the day at the Moose (11am-7pm), but this week I have the day off, which I'm excited about because I get to celebrate my birthday with a fellow teaching assistant who turned 23 last week!
Sunday: Serve at the Moose noon - 7pm
Whew! As you can see my schedule's pretty full, but I still have time to have some fun :) The job at the Moose has allowed me to relax a little about finances, which is a big relief.
Teaching has been going pretty well lately! I've started to relax about it a big as I've settled into my schedule and gotten to know the kids a little better at both my schools. I've realized that if I relax and have fun with it (and make sure I'm prepared), the kids generally have a better time, too! It helps that most of the kids I teach are unbelievably cute and excited to learn English! While I do enjoy the job most of the time, this experience hasn't suddenly made me realize that I want a career as a teacher -- but it has made me realize that teaching really isn't that hard or scary! At least in elementary school...
I've been so caught up in getting my life together here in France over the past few months that I must admit I lost sight of the big picture of my life altogether. It's only been over the last couple weeks as I've been settling into a routine that I realized I should probably start thinking about what I want to do with my life next year! Move back home to California and get a job/go to grad school? Come back to Paris in the fall for a Masters program? Travel the world? I don't think I'd consider doing a second year of TAPIF because I feel like I'm getting what I should out of the program this year, and I want to move forward next year with the next phase of my life.
Anyway, I'm going back to the states in 15 days to spend Christmas with my grandparents and parents in Tennessee, so hopefully I'll have to time over break to consider my options for next summer/fall.
Right now I think I'll go back to trying to convince myself to go do my laundry before heading into Paris for work... but doesn't buying new underwear just sound like an easier option??
Over the past month, I've settled into living in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a picturesque town directly west of Paris. I live in an apartment for teaching assistants at Lycee Jean d'Albret, a 10 minute walk from the RER station. The apartment is on the 3rd floor of a large administrative building, and there are 5 of us on the floor -- 3 other teaching assistants (from Germany, Russia, and China!) and a teacher from the south of France who lives in a separate apartment at the other end of the hall. We all share the same kitchen and bathroom facilities, but we are all so busy working and have different schedules, so we rarely see each other for more than a few minutes at a time! We speak French with each other because it's the only language we have in common, which is actually pretty cool because it helps me practice my language skills even more. I hope we'll have more time to hang out together in the new year, because the other teaching assistants all seem great and I'd like to get to know them better!
My room looks remarkably like my freshman year college dorm room, but it's fairly large, warm, and well-equipped, and for 120 euro/month, I definitely can't complain! The only thing I really don't like is that my window faces out onto the entrance of the high school/the road, so I tend to wake up every morning at 8am when the students arrive and smoke their morning cigarettes regardless of whether I have to get up or not!
At the beginning of November, I started working at a Canadian pub/grill/sports bar in Paris off bd. Saint-Germain in the 6th arrondissement, close to metro Odeon. I work 3-4 days/week as a server or bartender, and so far it's been a lot of fun, even though the hours can be pretty long. Nearly everyone who works there is American or Canadian (excluding Mexican and Italian bartenders, and one French waitress and another from Sweden!) We all speak English at work and that environment, combined with American football/basketball on TV almost makes me feel like I'm at a sports bar back in California :) Working there also gives me more opportunity to practice my French, as I'd say the clientele is split about 50-50 Anglophone - French. I also enjoy working in Paris, because it gives me an excuse to be in the city 3-4 days/week and ensures that I won't just stay in my warm room in St-Germain!
Speaking of warmth (or the lack there-of), it is officially winter in France. It's cold -- much too cold for a California girl like me. I have to do a lot of walking, which I'd normally enjoy, except now it tends to be a little less enjoyable given that my hands and face become icicles and my movement is usually hindered by the 120847234 layers I wear to keep from freezing! The other teaching assistants who come from places like New York or Ohio like to make fun of me, but my body just isn't used to functioning in these temperatures! Everything seems to take twice as much effort in the cold/rain -- I have to psych myself up just to go get groceries or walk to the bank! My current struggle revolves around trying to convince myself to go do my laundry... I've been desperately needing to do laundry for around 2 weeks now, but it's an ordeal that involves loading my dirty clothes in a suitcase, hauling it down 2 flights of stairs, walking 5 minutes to the bus stop, hauling it on the bus, riding the bus 10 minutes, hauling it off the bus, and walking 10 minutes to the laundromat. Followed by paying exorbitant amounts of money to do numerous loads of laundry in the TINY washers (4 euro/load), drying everything, folding it, putting it back in my suitcase, walking 10 minutes back to the bus stop -- you get the picture. It's just so not fun!!! And yes, I know... #1stworldproblems...
ANYWAY. Just to give you a mental picture of what a typical week for me looks like, here's my schedule:
Monday: Teach 10:30am-4:30pm
Tuesday: Teach 8:30am-3pm
Wednesday: Bartend 6pm-close (around 2am) at the Moose... (Since the RER (train) stops running at 12:45am, the nights that I close the bar at the Moose, I have to take the night bus from the 6th arrondissement to Gare Saint-Lazare to catch another night bus for Saint-Germain-en-laye, which comes once/hour and takes about an hour to get to Saint-Germain. As long as it's not too busy, I can generally make it to Saint-Lazare in time to get the 2:30am bus, which means I'm home by 3:30am, but if it's a busy night or I'm closing the bar on the weekend, I don't get back home until 4:30am, which is ROUGH.)
Thursday: Try to catch up on sleep, run errands and maybe do something fun in Paris :) Prepare for classes... Oh and it's my 23rd birthday!
Friday: Teach 8:30am-3pm. This week I also work at the Moose serving from 8pm-midnight.
Saturday: Usually I work during the day at the Moose (11am-7pm), but this week I have the day off, which I'm excited about because I get to celebrate my birthday with a fellow teaching assistant who turned 23 last week!
Sunday: Serve at the Moose noon - 7pm
Whew! As you can see my schedule's pretty full, but I still have time to have some fun :) The job at the Moose has allowed me to relax a little about finances, which is a big relief.
Teaching has been going pretty well lately! I've started to relax about it a big as I've settled into my schedule and gotten to know the kids a little better at both my schools. I've realized that if I relax and have fun with it (and make sure I'm prepared), the kids generally have a better time, too! It helps that most of the kids I teach are unbelievably cute and excited to learn English! While I do enjoy the job most of the time, this experience hasn't suddenly made me realize that I want a career as a teacher -- but it has made me realize that teaching really isn't that hard or scary! At least in elementary school...
I've been so caught up in getting my life together here in France over the past few months that I must admit I lost sight of the big picture of my life altogether. It's only been over the last couple weeks as I've been settling into a routine that I realized I should probably start thinking about what I want to do with my life next year! Move back home to California and get a job/go to grad school? Come back to Paris in the fall for a Masters program? Travel the world? I don't think I'd consider doing a second year of TAPIF because I feel like I'm getting what I should out of the program this year, and I want to move forward next year with the next phase of my life.
Anyway, I'm going back to the states in 15 days to spend Christmas with my grandparents and parents in Tennessee, so hopefully I'll have to time over break to consider my options for next summer/fall.
Right now I think I'll go back to trying to convince myself to go do my laundry before heading into Paris for work... but doesn't buying new underwear just sound like an easier option??
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| Fun "apartment-warming" party at Olivia and Sam's place in the 18th! All the people in the photo are teaching assistants. |
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| Christmas tree in Galeries Lafayette! |
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| Time for another Picturesque Parisian Park photo |
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| Helping my friend Jill move out of her studio in the 18th into a cheaper, bigger apartment with another teaching assistant to the North-East of Paris, I discovered that she could see the top of Sacre Coeur from her balcony! Awesome, but still not worth the price! |
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| At Olivia's soiree, typical Parisians with our black & white stripes... |
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| Christmas ornament one of the kids in my youngest level gave me! I told him I'd take it back to America with me and put it on my Christmas tree, and I'm pretty sure I completely BLEW his mind. |
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| Yummy apres-lunch dessert -- Chocolate hazelnut tartelette with fresh raspberries and (instant :/) coffee |
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| Finally had the time/energy to go grocery shopping and made myself this delicious salad for lunch! Spring greens, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, smoked salmon, and fresh baguette. |
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| Chic hat in Galeries Lafayette |
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| The Louvre by night |
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| Pro-Palestine rally in front of the Opera building |
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| Sooo muchhhh goood chocolateeee mmmmm |
Friday, November 2, 2012
A few updates!
1. The weather here is incredibly unpredictable. Yesterday around noon there was torrential rain/hail and the loudest thunder I've ever heard... for 15 minutes. And then it was sunny for the rest of the day. WTF?? My policy here is to always carry an umbrella in my purse, no matter what the weather report predicts.
2. When it's cold here, it's bone-chilling-ly, finger numbing-ly, lips-turning-blue COLD. I'm such a California girl. Even having lived in Washington D.C. for 3 months in the winter, it seems to me to get colder here for some reason!
3. I picked up a waitressing job at a Canadian pub in Paris where another teaching assistant works. It's fun working with a bunch of other Americans/Canadians, and it's nice to be back in the restaurant/bar scene, I like the action and meeting lots of different people. Hopefully going to get back into bartending soon, too.
4. Why is everything here SO EXPENSIVE? And why do I make 8 euro an hour serving and basically zero tips? Long gone are the days of averaging $100/shift in tips bartending in Cali. Le Sigh...
5. Discovered a new pastry love today... something called a Gourmandise (like pain chocolat but bigger and with some kind of buttery cream stuff in the middle with melted chocolate chips... yum)
6. Unlocked my iPhone online today for $20 with the help of my friend's techie dad! It's kind of sad how much I missed my iPhone...
7. I need to eat a good cheeseburger soon.... fiending
8. Also sushi...
9. I'm really too poor to eat out...
10. Bought a bag of Bonne Maman madeleines today, they are the BEST. Also like 3.50 euro for 12 :)
11. I think I should stop talking about food now...
12. I feel like everyone who lives in Paris is in a relationship. I am so tired of seeing PDA on the metro... French couples seem to fight and make up (which consists of making OUT, usually in a public place) more often than the average American couple. Passionate or just plain silly, decide for yourself.
Alright, not feeling super inspired tonight! More later!
XOXO
2. When it's cold here, it's bone-chilling-ly, finger numbing-ly, lips-turning-blue COLD. I'm such a California girl. Even having lived in Washington D.C. for 3 months in the winter, it seems to me to get colder here for some reason!
3. I picked up a waitressing job at a Canadian pub in Paris where another teaching assistant works. It's fun working with a bunch of other Americans/Canadians, and it's nice to be back in the restaurant/bar scene, I like the action and meeting lots of different people. Hopefully going to get back into bartending soon, too.
4. Why is everything here SO EXPENSIVE? And why do I make 8 euro an hour serving and basically zero tips? Long gone are the days of averaging $100/shift in tips bartending in Cali. Le Sigh...
5. Discovered a new pastry love today... something called a Gourmandise (like pain chocolat but bigger and with some kind of buttery cream stuff in the middle with melted chocolate chips... yum)
6. Unlocked my iPhone online today for $20 with the help of my friend's techie dad! It's kind of sad how much I missed my iPhone...
7. I need to eat a good cheeseburger soon.... fiending
8. Also sushi...
9. I'm really too poor to eat out...
10. Bought a bag of Bonne Maman madeleines today, they are the BEST. Also like 3.50 euro for 12 :)
11. I think I should stop talking about food now...
12. I feel like everyone who lives in Paris is in a relationship. I am so tired of seeing PDA on the metro... French couples seem to fight and make up (which consists of making OUT, usually in a public place) more often than the average American couple. Passionate or just plain silly, decide for yourself.
Alright, not feeling super inspired tonight! More later!
XOXO
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Finalement!
Good afternoon everyone,
Sorry it's been so long since the last blog post, things have been pretty crazy here. Long story short -- my au pair job (and thus housing) fell through last weekend because of schedule conflicts with teaching, and so my last week was spent freaking out and scrambling to find another housing option. I had already moved in the family's flat in Paris, so I had to move back out again and back into Fabien's apartment last Saturday. For anyone who doesn't know, lugging heavy suitcases up and down stairs, in tiny elevators, and through the metro is super exhausting, and taking a cab (which I had to do a couple times) is prohibitively expensive (almost 20 euro/pop on average).
Anyway, after I schlepped my stuff back to Fabien's, I sent out SOS e-mails to my school principal and all the high schools in the area around my schools asking if anyone knew of affordable housing for teaching assistants. (I realized at this point that looking for a place in Paris no longer an option, as I'm out of money, time, and energy). Thankfully, I got an e-mail from a high school in St-Germain-en-Laye offering me a room in their teaching assistant housing for 120 euro/month, which is incredibly cheap by Parisian standards. I took the train out to Saint-Germain on Thursday, and was able to pay through November and get my keys the same afternoon.
The room is on the 3rd floor of a building on the campus of Lycee Jeanne d'Albret, a big international high school with a beautiful campus. I have a furnished room with lots of storage space and a big window, equipped with a counter/sink in the room and toilet/showers just outside my door that I share with the 3 other teaching assistants who also live on the floor. We have a big kitchen on the floor with a cute little table and a nice view of the campus while we eat. (I'll try to post photos soon, but I don't have a camera right now and uploading photos from my phone is proving difficult, so just try to imagine for now :P) The teaching assistants are all girls my age, from Russia, Germany, and China. The room I'm renting was free because the 4th teaching assistant who works at the high school (the English assistant) chose to live with her au pair family instead. (A choice for which I will be eternally grateful!) So far I've met the assistants from Germany (Elisa) and Russia (Yuliya?), and they are both super nice. Elisa went home today for vacances de Toussaint, our 2 week school vacation (I'm jealous she lives so much closer to home than I do!), but the Yuliya will be staying so hopefully we'll get to hang out a bit and get to know each other. Apparently no one ever sees the Chinese girl, because she cooks all her meals and eats them in her room, but hopefully I'll be able to get to know her as well. She apparently doesn't speak French, which must be hard, because as we're all from different countries, pretty much our only option is to communicate in French.
The only problem with the apartment is that there's no wireless on the floor, and there are no telephone lines either, so we can't even buy a router. The only option is to buy what's called a "surf-stick" with a SIM card inside, that plugs into the USB port on our computers. With that, we're able to access the internet using the carrier's network (like you would on your smart phone), and we can also connect to a wireless "hot-spot" signal that reaches the apartment (which is much better, because it's faster and unlimited). I bought the surf-stick today, so hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to set it up once I get back to my room in St-Germain tonight, and I'm also hoping the connection will be fast enough so I can skype and watch videos online! I've been feeling SUPER isolated without internet, so this seems like a monumental accomplishment to me... it really is the small victories :P
The apartment is located 10 minutes on foot from the train station, and 10 minutes from both of the primary schools where I teach. It's about 30 mins from Paris, and the only problem is that I won't be able to stay out very late in Paris, because the last train for St-Germain leaves Paris about 12:30am. The good thing is, this will probably make me spend less money at the bars! I'm also hoping I can find some fun stuff to do in St-Germain as well -- there are a few Irish/English pubs I'd like to check out!
Right now I'm sitting in a Starbucks in St-Michel (Paris), enjoying the wifi (I haven't had internet in 4 days!) and the heating (it's incredibly cold in Paris all of the sudden). I just had lunch with my friend Rachel (another teaching assistant) who's leaving for Corsica tomorrow with her au pair family. I'm going to have dinner with my friends Olivia and Jill tonight (more American teaching assistants) at Olivia's apartment in Paris, and then I'll probably head home pretty early cuz I'd like to finish unpacking and set up my internet tonight. I also need to stop by my friend Mary's apartment, because I left my warmest winter coat there last weekend, and I've been freezing for the past few days without it!
As for the school vacation, I'm planning on visiting my friends from high school who now live together in Barcelona. (For those of you Athenians reading, I'm talking about Chris Jorde and Chapman!) It's pretty awesome that even halfway around the world, I'm not too far from a couple Athenians. I'm planning on leaving for Barcelona next Wednesday (the 7th), and coming back Sunday the 11th, because I have to go back to work on Monday morning. Jorde is hopefully going to take me climbing with her buddies, which I'm super excited about because I've been missing climbing terribly since I've been here. I haven't climbed, or even worked out, since I left California, and I'm realizing that being active is really essential for me. I'm hoping to find a gym with some group X classes nearby my apartment soon, or if I'm really lucky maybe I'll be able to find a climbing gym that's not too far away/too expensive.
For this coming week and a half before I leave, I'm going to try to explore Paris, because I've been so stressed out trying to get my life in order since I've been here that I haven't done much in the way of discovering Paris. I have quite a few museums on my list (there's even a cool archaeology museum in a chateau in St-Germain right by the train station that I want to check out). I'm also going to start trying to find a second job. I'm going to look for a part-time bar-tending/cock-tailing gig in Paris or St-Germain, and I'm also going to start posting flyers for English tutoring at local high schools and universities. It would be really nice to have a little extra money for traveling, and going out, etc. and knowing me, I'm going to get pretty bored only working my teaching assistant job.
I'm going to be spending Christmas in Tennessee with my parents and grandparents, and I'm so grateful to my parents for buying my plane tickets so I'll be able to have an American Christmas :) I
think I would've gotten pretty homesick if I'd had to stay in my little apartment over Christmas break! I fly out on December 20, which is less than 2 months away!
I realized that I haven't mentioned much about my actual teaching job, probably because it's been the least stressful thing that's been going on in my life here! I actually really enjoy teaching for the most part, which is fortunate, because I've never wanted to have a career as a teacher and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it. To be totally honest, teaching English in primary schools is pretty damn easy. The kids I teach are between 6 and 11 years old, and the English they're learning is very, very basic. My biggest priority has been getting them to speak as much English as possible, because as a rule they're afraid to make mistakes and are pretty shy about speaking. The past few weeks I've been giving classes on Halloween, teaching them Halloween vocabulary, and playing the "trick-or-treat" game, which basically consists of acting out trick-or-treating. I've also given most of my classes English names, and they have to introduce themselves and say a couple sentences in English at the beginning of each class. Simon Says is also a big hit, as well as singing easy songs in English. The kids are super cute and eager to learn, even if it's hard to keep their attention sometimes in class. I'm going to spend some of this school vacation lesson-planning for the five and a half weeks of classes before Christmas break, because I'd like to be a little more organized and make sure my lessons are streamlined so that the lessons build upon the preceding classes, etc.
Now that I have internet (hopefully), I'm going to try to keep up better with what's happening in the US! I watched the last couple presidential debates, and I'm going to a late-night election night party next Tuesday that's being put on by Young Democrats Abroad France. Should be pretty exciting! My friend Jill and I attended one of their events a couple weeks ago (a live streaming of the 2nd debate at an Irish pub). It was really fun, and nice having a little piece of home here (and meeting other young, politically active Americans living in Paris).
Okay, I think this post is getting a little long, so I'll leave you with some photos.
Much love,
Kelly
Sorry it's been so long since the last blog post, things have been pretty crazy here. Long story short -- my au pair job (and thus housing) fell through last weekend because of schedule conflicts with teaching, and so my last week was spent freaking out and scrambling to find another housing option. I had already moved in the family's flat in Paris, so I had to move back out again and back into Fabien's apartment last Saturday. For anyone who doesn't know, lugging heavy suitcases up and down stairs, in tiny elevators, and through the metro is super exhausting, and taking a cab (which I had to do a couple times) is prohibitively expensive (almost 20 euro/pop on average).
Anyway, after I schlepped my stuff back to Fabien's, I sent out SOS e-mails to my school principal and all the high schools in the area around my schools asking if anyone knew of affordable housing for teaching assistants. (I realized at this point that looking for a place in Paris no longer an option, as I'm out of money, time, and energy). Thankfully, I got an e-mail from a high school in St-Germain-en-Laye offering me a room in their teaching assistant housing for 120 euro/month, which is incredibly cheap by Parisian standards. I took the train out to Saint-Germain on Thursday, and was able to pay through November and get my keys the same afternoon.
The room is on the 3rd floor of a building on the campus of Lycee Jeanne d'Albret, a big international high school with a beautiful campus. I have a furnished room with lots of storage space and a big window, equipped with a counter/sink in the room and toilet/showers just outside my door that I share with the 3 other teaching assistants who also live on the floor. We have a big kitchen on the floor with a cute little table and a nice view of the campus while we eat. (I'll try to post photos soon, but I don't have a camera right now and uploading photos from my phone is proving difficult, so just try to imagine for now :P) The teaching assistants are all girls my age, from Russia, Germany, and China. The room I'm renting was free because the 4th teaching assistant who works at the high school (the English assistant) chose to live with her au pair family instead. (A choice for which I will be eternally grateful!) So far I've met the assistants from Germany (Elisa) and Russia (Yuliya?), and they are both super nice. Elisa went home today for vacances de Toussaint, our 2 week school vacation (I'm jealous she lives so much closer to home than I do!), but the Yuliya will be staying so hopefully we'll get to hang out a bit and get to know each other. Apparently no one ever sees the Chinese girl, because she cooks all her meals and eats them in her room, but hopefully I'll be able to get to know her as well. She apparently doesn't speak French, which must be hard, because as we're all from different countries, pretty much our only option is to communicate in French.
The only problem with the apartment is that there's no wireless on the floor, and there are no telephone lines either, so we can't even buy a router. The only option is to buy what's called a "surf-stick" with a SIM card inside, that plugs into the USB port on our computers. With that, we're able to access the internet using the carrier's network (like you would on your smart phone), and we can also connect to a wireless "hot-spot" signal that reaches the apartment (which is much better, because it's faster and unlimited). I bought the surf-stick today, so hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to set it up once I get back to my room in St-Germain tonight, and I'm also hoping the connection will be fast enough so I can skype and watch videos online! I've been feeling SUPER isolated without internet, so this seems like a monumental accomplishment to me... it really is the small victories :P
The apartment is located 10 minutes on foot from the train station, and 10 minutes from both of the primary schools where I teach. It's about 30 mins from Paris, and the only problem is that I won't be able to stay out very late in Paris, because the last train for St-Germain leaves Paris about 12:30am. The good thing is, this will probably make me spend less money at the bars! I'm also hoping I can find some fun stuff to do in St-Germain as well -- there are a few Irish/English pubs I'd like to check out!
Right now I'm sitting in a Starbucks in St-Michel (Paris), enjoying the wifi (I haven't had internet in 4 days!) and the heating (it's incredibly cold in Paris all of the sudden). I just had lunch with my friend Rachel (another teaching assistant) who's leaving for Corsica tomorrow with her au pair family. I'm going to have dinner with my friends Olivia and Jill tonight (more American teaching assistants) at Olivia's apartment in Paris, and then I'll probably head home pretty early cuz I'd like to finish unpacking and set up my internet tonight. I also need to stop by my friend Mary's apartment, because I left my warmest winter coat there last weekend, and I've been freezing for the past few days without it!
As for the school vacation, I'm planning on visiting my friends from high school who now live together in Barcelona. (For those of you Athenians reading, I'm talking about Chris Jorde and Chapman!) It's pretty awesome that even halfway around the world, I'm not too far from a couple Athenians. I'm planning on leaving for Barcelona next Wednesday (the 7th), and coming back Sunday the 11th, because I have to go back to work on Monday morning. Jorde is hopefully going to take me climbing with her buddies, which I'm super excited about because I've been missing climbing terribly since I've been here. I haven't climbed, or even worked out, since I left California, and I'm realizing that being active is really essential for me. I'm hoping to find a gym with some group X classes nearby my apartment soon, or if I'm really lucky maybe I'll be able to find a climbing gym that's not too far away/too expensive.
For this coming week and a half before I leave, I'm going to try to explore Paris, because I've been so stressed out trying to get my life in order since I've been here that I haven't done much in the way of discovering Paris. I have quite a few museums on my list (there's even a cool archaeology museum in a chateau in St-Germain right by the train station that I want to check out). I'm also going to start trying to find a second job. I'm going to look for a part-time bar-tending/cock-tailing gig in Paris or St-Germain, and I'm also going to start posting flyers for English tutoring at local high schools and universities. It would be really nice to have a little extra money for traveling, and going out, etc. and knowing me, I'm going to get pretty bored only working my teaching assistant job.
I'm going to be spending Christmas in Tennessee with my parents and grandparents, and I'm so grateful to my parents for buying my plane tickets so I'll be able to have an American Christmas :) I
think I would've gotten pretty homesick if I'd had to stay in my little apartment over Christmas break! I fly out on December 20, which is less than 2 months away!
I realized that I haven't mentioned much about my actual teaching job, probably because it's been the least stressful thing that's been going on in my life here! I actually really enjoy teaching for the most part, which is fortunate, because I've never wanted to have a career as a teacher and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it. To be totally honest, teaching English in primary schools is pretty damn easy. The kids I teach are between 6 and 11 years old, and the English they're learning is very, very basic. My biggest priority has been getting them to speak as much English as possible, because as a rule they're afraid to make mistakes and are pretty shy about speaking. The past few weeks I've been giving classes on Halloween, teaching them Halloween vocabulary, and playing the "trick-or-treat" game, which basically consists of acting out trick-or-treating. I've also given most of my classes English names, and they have to introduce themselves and say a couple sentences in English at the beginning of each class. Simon Says is also a big hit, as well as singing easy songs in English. The kids are super cute and eager to learn, even if it's hard to keep their attention sometimes in class. I'm going to spend some of this school vacation lesson-planning for the five and a half weeks of classes before Christmas break, because I'd like to be a little more organized and make sure my lessons are streamlined so that the lessons build upon the preceding classes, etc.
Now that I have internet (hopefully), I'm going to try to keep up better with what's happening in the US! I watched the last couple presidential debates, and I'm going to a late-night election night party next Tuesday that's being put on by Young Democrats Abroad France. Should be pretty exciting! My friend Jill and I attended one of their events a couple weeks ago (a live streaming of the 2nd debate at an Irish pub). It was really fun, and nice having a little piece of home here (and meeting other young, politically active Americans living in Paris).
Okay, I think this post is getting a little long, so I'll leave you with some photos.
Much love,
Kelly
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| the view from my new room in St-Germain-en-Laye! Picturesque french village (also very rich...) |
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| nice lunch spot on the seine by one of my schools...and the elusive sunshine! |
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| rare warm afternoon in Jardin du Luxembourg... love me some fall foliage |
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| very blurry photo of me and Jill watching the 2nd presidential debate late night at O'Sullivan's! |
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| The senate building in Jardin du Luxembourg |
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| Gardens across from the train station in St-Germain-en-laye, 10 min walk from my apt! |
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| flowers in the St-Germain train station! so pretty |
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| more Jardin du Luxembourg |
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| late-night in Pigalle, Moulin-Rouge! |
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Friday morning musings
Finally have the urge to write another blog entry! It's currently 9:30am here in Le Port-Marly, a quaint Western suburb of Paris. I'm sitting in the empty teacher's lounge at Ecole Alexandre Dumas, drinking a much-needed second cup of coffee from the pot someone thankfully left full (I have the guts to pour myself a cup, but probably not enough gall to actually brew another pot, I still feel very much like an outsider here as it's my second day teaching). It's nice and quiet in here with all the teachers and students in class, but I must say if I had my druthers I'd add a nice big comfortable couch and wifi...American much?
I've just finished sitting in on Madame Barroche's 8:30am Friday morning (ouch) English class (level CM 1, mean age around 9 I think?) She is one of the few (two?) teachers who is allowed to teach English by law in this school, so I'm going to be primarily helping out in her class, preparing short presentations on American culture, etc. or telling stories in English. Today I presented myself to the class in English (class comprehension was around 50% I think... could have been worse!) and then mostly observed, took notes, and helped the kids out and answered questions if they were struggling. This class in particular seems to be really keen on learning English, and the kids seem genuinely interested in the United States and learning new vocabulary. Today's word queries: "blade" and "sea". I struggled for a moment with "blade", torn between wanting to explain the different between a "blade" of grass and the "blade" of a knife or ice skate, but I settled on a simple translation to "couteau". (Sidenote: just found some chocolate biscuits in a tin on the table, goes perfectly with my coffee! I'll have to remember to bring something in later today or on Tuesday, there's a big supermarket a block away and I don't want to be the moocher!)
Anyway, Mme. Barroche told me she'll e-mail me the week's lesson plan in advance so that I can come up with a short add-on presentation, story, or game that will go along with her lesson. I'm enjoying the fact that I get to work WITH the teachers here and that I'm not all on my own like some of the other teaching assistants I know. I'm also very thankful that I'm teaching in primary school, because I've been hearing some horror stories about discipline/respect issues from teaching assistants assigned to high school or even pre-college level.
This afternoon I have two more English classes, one a combination of CP and CM1 students, and the other CM1 again. There's quite a large different between the levels of comprehension of the CP and CM1 students, and the CM1 students seem proud to use the skills they learned in their first year of English classes, which is great! The combo class is a little tough, because I feel like I'm either leaving half of the class behind, or boring the other half. On Tuesday I spoke too much French in these classes, so I'm going to make a real effort to speak mostly in English today, and only translate if the kids are totally lost and there seems no hope in making them understand through pantomime/Vulcan mind-meld.
As for me, I am sick and exhausted this morning. I've been fighting off a cold for a couple weeks now, and I've finally begun to succumb over the last few days. I'd be surprised if I slept more than an hour or two last night. I'm supposed to finish at 3pm today, and then it'll take me between an hour and an hour and a half to get back to the apt, at which point I plan on passing out until I have to be at dinner at 6:30pm (might be a little late). I'm going to the France vs. Japan soccer match tonight, and I've been really looking forward to it, but right now I'm so tired that all I want to do is crawl into bed and not wake up until tomorrow. Hopefully a nap will give me a second wind!
Tomorrow I'm going to be spending time with my au pair family, learning their routines and helping them celebrate their daughter's 5th birthday (that reminds me, I still need to find a present! I'm thinking a super easy picture book in English that I can read to her). If all goes well, I'll hopefully be moving in with them on Wednesday, and it'll so nice to have my own bed, room, and bathroom for a change. I plan on doing a lot of sleeping.
Anywhoo, I think it's time that I go in search of a warm cafe with wifi. A bientot tout le monde!
I've just finished sitting in on Madame Barroche's 8:30am Friday morning (ouch) English class (level CM 1, mean age around 9 I think?) She is one of the few (two?) teachers who is allowed to teach English by law in this school, so I'm going to be primarily helping out in her class, preparing short presentations on American culture, etc. or telling stories in English. Today I presented myself to the class in English (class comprehension was around 50% I think... could have been worse!) and then mostly observed, took notes, and helped the kids out and answered questions if they were struggling. This class in particular seems to be really keen on learning English, and the kids seem genuinely interested in the United States and learning new vocabulary. Today's word queries: "blade" and "sea". I struggled for a moment with "blade", torn between wanting to explain the different between a "blade" of grass and the "blade" of a knife or ice skate, but I settled on a simple translation to "couteau". (Sidenote: just found some chocolate biscuits in a tin on the table, goes perfectly with my coffee! I'll have to remember to bring something in later today or on Tuesday, there's a big supermarket a block away and I don't want to be the moocher!)
Anyway, Mme. Barroche told me she'll e-mail me the week's lesson plan in advance so that I can come up with a short add-on presentation, story, or game that will go along with her lesson. I'm enjoying the fact that I get to work WITH the teachers here and that I'm not all on my own like some of the other teaching assistants I know. I'm also very thankful that I'm teaching in primary school, because I've been hearing some horror stories about discipline/respect issues from teaching assistants assigned to high school or even pre-college level.
This afternoon I have two more English classes, one a combination of CP and CM1 students, and the other CM1 again. There's quite a large different between the levels of comprehension of the CP and CM1 students, and the CM1 students seem proud to use the skills they learned in their first year of English classes, which is great! The combo class is a little tough, because I feel like I'm either leaving half of the class behind, or boring the other half. On Tuesday I spoke too much French in these classes, so I'm going to make a real effort to speak mostly in English today, and only translate if the kids are totally lost and there seems no hope in making them understand through pantomime/Vulcan mind-meld.
As for me, I am sick and exhausted this morning. I've been fighting off a cold for a couple weeks now, and I've finally begun to succumb over the last few days. I'd be surprised if I slept more than an hour or two last night. I'm supposed to finish at 3pm today, and then it'll take me between an hour and an hour and a half to get back to the apt, at which point I plan on passing out until I have to be at dinner at 6:30pm (might be a little late). I'm going to the France vs. Japan soccer match tonight, and I've been really looking forward to it, but right now I'm so tired that all I want to do is crawl into bed and not wake up until tomorrow. Hopefully a nap will give me a second wind!
Tomorrow I'm going to be spending time with my au pair family, learning their routines and helping them celebrate their daughter's 5th birthday (that reminds me, I still need to find a present! I'm thinking a super easy picture book in English that I can read to her). If all goes well, I'll hopefully be moving in with them on Wednesday, and it'll so nice to have my own bed, room, and bathroom for a change. I plan on doing a lot of sleeping.
Anywhoo, I think it's time that I go in search of a warm cafe with wifi. A bientot tout le monde!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
My thoughts on Paris today
It's raining,
it's pouring,
the cobblestones are really really slippery.
Goodnight.
it's pouring,
the cobblestones are really really slippery.
Goodnight.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Bonsoir!
So I've been in Paris for 2.5 weeks, and I've been so busy trying to get my life together here that I haven't even thought about blogging until now. It seems like things are finally starting to come together (knock on wood!)
I've been staying with my incredibly gracious friend Fabien since I arrived in Paris, but I should be finally moving out of his place this weekend. I have been interviewing with families the past couple weeks because I decided the smartest thing for me to do would be to work as a "fille au pair"" while I'm here. It's almost impossible to pay for an apartment in Paris with my teaching assistant salary, seeing as I net 730 euro/month, and you won't find a room, much less an apartment in a good part of Paris for less than 500 euro.
The family I met on Sunday live in the 17th arrondissement (west-central Paris), not far from the Champs-Elysees and directly across the street from a metro station. Part of my job will be to serve as English "immersion" for their three kids on a daily basis. They will provide me with housing in exchange for about 30 hours of work/week. They are very sweet and gracious, and I really hope everything works out! I'm a bit hesitant to celebrate yet, because nothing is set in stone and if this doesn't work out, I'm back to square one looking for a place to live!
Tomorrow is officially my first day of work at the elementary schools where I'll be a teaching assistant in English classes. I really have no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping they'll agree to let me observe classes this week so I can get a better idea of the students' abilities and do some lesson planning. I have some ideas if they really want me to start teaching tomorrow (along the lines of practicing "my name is" and "I'm 8 years old", from what I've seen the kids are real beginners!)
Even though I've been pretty stressed out about finding a place to live, I've been trying to enjoy the beauty of Paris. I'm going to try to take some pictures this week so I can show you guys what my Parisian life looks like! I've also been getting to know some of the other teaching assistants and everyone seems pretty awesome. This Friday I'm going to the France vs. Japan soccer match at Stade de France with a group of other teaching assistants and I can't wait! I love soccer and I'm glad I finally live somewhere where a big majority of the population is soccer-crazy. I think this is going to be a fun year!
I'll try to update soon. I miss my friends and family back in the States a ton, and I'd love to hear from all of you as often as possible!
I've been staying with my incredibly gracious friend Fabien since I arrived in Paris, but I should be finally moving out of his place this weekend. I have been interviewing with families the past couple weeks because I decided the smartest thing for me to do would be to work as a "fille au pair"" while I'm here. It's almost impossible to pay for an apartment in Paris with my teaching assistant salary, seeing as I net 730 euro/month, and you won't find a room, much less an apartment in a good part of Paris for less than 500 euro.
The family I met on Sunday live in the 17th arrondissement (west-central Paris), not far from the Champs-Elysees and directly across the street from a metro station. Part of my job will be to serve as English "immersion" for their three kids on a daily basis. They will provide me with housing in exchange for about 30 hours of work/week. They are very sweet and gracious, and I really hope everything works out! I'm a bit hesitant to celebrate yet, because nothing is set in stone and if this doesn't work out, I'm back to square one looking for a place to live!
Tomorrow is officially my first day of work at the elementary schools where I'll be a teaching assistant in English classes. I really have no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping they'll agree to let me observe classes this week so I can get a better idea of the students' abilities and do some lesson planning. I have some ideas if they really want me to start teaching tomorrow (along the lines of practicing "my name is" and "I'm 8 years old", from what I've seen the kids are real beginners!)
Even though I've been pretty stressed out about finding a place to live, I've been trying to enjoy the beauty of Paris. I'm going to try to take some pictures this week so I can show you guys what my Parisian life looks like! I've also been getting to know some of the other teaching assistants and everyone seems pretty awesome. This Friday I'm going to the France vs. Japan soccer match at Stade de France with a group of other teaching assistants and I can't wait! I love soccer and I'm glad I finally live somewhere where a big majority of the population is soccer-crazy. I think this is going to be a fun year!
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| The view from Fabien's apartment onto Rue Saint-Severin and the church of Saint Severin |
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| Having lunch at a cafe in a courtyard by the Sorbonne |
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| Silly tourist in front of the Sorbonne |
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| Picture-perfect view from the restaurant on the top of the modern art museum! |
I'll try to update soon. I miss my friends and family back in the States a ton, and I'd love to hear from all of you as often as possible!
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