Happy Halloween

We celebrated at school today. The kids made pumpkin soup and witches. They have a difficult time saying "Trick or Treat." I read a book called "Winnie the Witch" outloud around 10 times.

But now it's time to pack. Somehow Sarah and I are leaving for Italy tomorrow? This is shocking. It's snuck up on us. We just got all the hotels and trains sorted out yesterday. So look for posts from sunny Italy to be arriving soon.

We're going to Torino first, then Riomaggiore (on the sea), Florence and Rome. Whew!

Autumn in France

The leaves here are beautiful and sometimes bigger than both of your feet put together. (I know because this was the standing case yesterday.)

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one autumnal face.
(John Donne, Elegy IX: The Autumnal)

Happy Birthday Dad!

This is just to wish my Dad the bestest birthday.
Wish I could be there.

I love you!

Hugs not Drugs

People here don't really hug.
Not that I've ever seen.

Instead, they faire la bise-- they do cheek kisses when meeting, greeting and leaving. This is all well and good, and I am finally starting to get used to it.

There are lots of tacit yet observable rules of etiquette that go along with this process.
1. If the person is 'superior' to you, wait for them to initiate the bisou.
2. If the other person doesn't do anything, it may be up to you or it may not be appropriate. Then you have to decide if it's worth seeming rude to avoid being more rude.
3. Always go to the left first.
4. If you know someone well, watch out because you might get two on each side.
5. Guys shake hands sometimes but not always. (Girls don't shake hands here.)
6. If both people are wearing glasses, carefully calculate the trajectory so that the frames do not clink together.

Regardless, I miss good old-fashioned hugs.

Parlez-vous Franglais?

The French call them faux amis, we say "false friends."

They are words that are similar, but not the same in French and English. But they are so funny to integrate in to conversations with friends who speak both languages (franglais).

My personal favorites:
1. Derange
In French, this phrase Desolee de vous derangez translates into a mild "Sorry to bother you." But the word is ever so much more entertaining in English when used in sentences such as "If it doesn't derange you, could you bring me some bread from town?" or even just "Sorry to derange you, please text me later."

2. Perturbations
Sure in English, we can be perturbed with someone or something. But in French, these objects of annoyance are called perturbations, and that word amuses me to no end.

There are more, but I need to occupy myself (another typical french expression) with getting ready for school now. A toute a l'heure!

A cobbler

I've decide to forgive France for ripping up the streets. They do seem to be recobbling quickly. Yesterday, two Brits, an Australian and I had a discussion about what exactly a 'cobbler' is.

Is it:
(a) A person who works on shoes
(b) A person who works on streets
(c) A delicious Southern dessert best served warm with ice cream
(d) The act of clobbering someone with a corn cob

The answer:
(a) and (b) if you can name the last 10 monarchs of Britain
(a), (b), and (c) if you can whistle Dixie

So yesterday, I decided to make answer choice (c) to demonstrate its greatness. We had lots of fresh apples from the doctor's farm, so what could be better right? (By the way, it amuses me that despite the adage about an apple a day, these apples make the doctor come by more often.) American recipes in France pose several challenges. Measurements and temperatures must be converted. Ingredients must be translated and found. This isn't enough. There's something mysterious about cooking in France. I'm scared to disturb the delicious air of haut cuisine. It's just a big deal here. Menus are planned and executed properly. So to ensure good fortune in the kitchen, it's often necessary to throw salt over your right shoulder, and jump backwards three times towards the culinary districts of southern France.

Anyway, I couldn't find baking soda or powder at the store. So rather than use the yeast I accidentally purchased, I just left it out all together. This made more of a toffee-like cobbler than a cake-like cobbler, but it wasn't bad. Hopefully a bigger grocery store will sell them, and I cobble again later this week. Nobody minded though, they thought it was scrumptious.

Just a note

Dear France,

Was it really 100% necessary that you tear up all 8 streets around my house at the same time? And start every morning right at 8 am? You'd think there'd be a grace period of 15 min. at the beginning, but these guys have hats and vests strapped on and are ready to deconstruct roads promptly at 8. It'd be great if you could hurry up and recobble the streets. Thanks.

Sleepily,
Laura Joost

The REAL national sport of France

Today all the French transportation employees are on strike for more benefits.

Because I live next to the Prefecture--a governmental office building--I walked to my tramway stop this morning and saw something rather unusual. The vision of blue-collar workers wearing vests, waving flags and chanting will be forever burned in my memory. Policemen stood about watching them and didn't seem too concerned about anything. I actually can't get to one of my schools (no buses or trams), so they said not to worry about coming into work today. The other two thought about making me walk there, and then let me off the hook.

When will I actually work? We have a 1.5 week vacation beginning October 26th.

Later, I walked down the street and saw the crowd of multi-colored protesters earnestly marching towards me! I videoed part of it. Honestly, I couldn't stop smiling because of wanting to laugh so hard. They really do love a good strike. Apparently whenever one sector strikes, others do, too, just for "solidarity"! This would neeeeeever happen in Texas.

By the way, Sarah and I met up in Lille yesterday! It was fantastic! We ate lunch with a bunch of other assistants in a restaurant/bakery that had wall painted like an Italian villa. Our trip to Italy is approaching, how appropriate! Then we strolled around the old city center looking in bookshops, taking photos and laughing.

Sounds

Things you hear in France (notably at our apartment):

- Smiling kids saying 'el-low!
- Disproportionately loud motorbikes/scooters
- Creaky floorboards (everywhere)
- Cathedral bells ringing
- Trains and trams whooshing on tracks.
- Water boiling in a tea kettle (impossible to have too many hot beverages!)
- Funny European ring tunes.
- Heels walking on cobble stone.
- Music that sounds like it's been bounced around in a tin can.
- Road construction literally right outside the door. This morning, it seemed like someone was banging on the door with a jackhammer (in reality, they were just drilling holes in concrete).
- Lots of speaker messages from riding on trains and trams. The trains have this really urgent sounding alert they play right be for departure. It sounds like a game show tension noise.
- Mosquitoes buzzing near your ears (wouldn't have guessed that, would ya?)
- Loud cheering and booing if you are watching anything to do with sports.
- "C'est pas grave" One of the most common french expressions. Means "Oh, no big deal.. it's not serious." Walking down the street you can actually pick this phrase out of conversations.
There are more like this, but I should save them for a post about things french people say.


Things you don't hear in France (that I miss):

-My cell phone ringing (my heart breaks)
-"AAAAAAAA Gig'em Aggies, Whooop"
-American radio stations

In case anyone was wondering, the soccer game was great!

Geography Lessons or How much do YOU really know?

Who knows the other countries in the world where people speak French? You don't have to raise your hands. Leave a comment if you know!

The kids in class are funny because they aren't sure where people speak English (besides England). "Okay, what language do people speak in Australia?" "Australian!" They also can't quite pin point the United States on a map... some point to England, others study Russia. "Well, how do you think she got here?" "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure she arrived by train."

But how many people from the US could answer such questions fully and completely about the Francophone countries?

Yesterday I did a lesson with the kids about Great Britain, the countries in the British Isles, and all their flags. Of course, I didn't know much of that stuff before the lesson either. As embarrassing as it is to admit, (despite being an international studies major!) I had no remembrance that Wales was its own country until Megan told me last week. Or that the name of the English flag was "St. George's Cross" and that the Scottish, English and North Irish flags combine together to make the Union Jack. So there's that news for anyone who didn't know.

There's a lot to learn. It's really funny sitting in class and learning grammar or something along with the students. In a math class I observed the other day, they were taught to add and subtract by 9 by using 10 and then adding or subtracting 1. Well that is useful, why did it take 23 years for me to learn that?

Also, French game shows impart cultural tidbits. They have "Are you Smarter than a 6th Grader?" and several others that are similar to US shows, too. It's fun trying to understand the host's jokes and the crowd's remarks. The French are like Aggies in that they heckle mercilessly.

We'll see if they heckle in real life, too. This evening, I'm going to a charity soccer match in Valenciennes. Famous old french players are going to play the city's current team. Bernadette Chirac (the former president's wife) is going to open the game, so it will be interesting.

Internet Woes

Faithful Readers,

Sorry for the delay! Can you believe the internet was out in the entire city of Valenciennes starting Saturday morning? A cow must have chewed though a main wire and the chances of getting something like that fixed over the weekend in France are zippo.

It was especially annoying because so many great things happened this weekend.

Like AMANDA and ANDREW getting engaged!! Congrats you two :)

Other good things:
- Observation finished up fantastically. A girl named Sophie made me a lanyard key chain. The little boy who had been acting up in class was captivated by photos of American football and alligators in the Texas Monthly magazine and started behaving. All the teachers are really nice and two are around my age. I keep hoping we can be friends.

- Went to an outdoor market Saturday morning. You can buy the most ridiculous things at them. 1950s-style aprons. Sushi. Mattresses. 80 different kinds of cheese. Oriental rugs. Animals (cooked, raw, or alive). Shoes (really strange ones). Makeup.

-The refrigerator got plugged in at 5pm on Saturday. I got to have milk in my coffee yesterday. It was fantastic.

-We watched the France vs. England Rugby World Cup Match at a cafe Saturday night. Rugby's great to watch because they don't stop the clock for any reason. Goes by fast. The players are just massive, too. I would like to poke one in the neck. Anyway, half of the assistants are British, so they were cheering against the rest of the French people. So noisy. So great. Everyone was standing because there wasn't much room to sit... And England dramatically won in the last few minutes of the game. The French were good sports (surprisingly) and even played "Another One Bites the Dust" over the cafe speakers when the game was over (although it's possible they don't understand the words).

-Anyway then we talked until wee hours of the morning. It's so interesting talking about culture and politics and life with everyone. The group of assistants here is just great! There must be around 15-20 of us. But not everyone shows up for stuff, so there are normally fewer. It's funny how much English-English translation happens.

-The weather was sunshine again! I love it!

-In French class, we always learned about how much the French love to have "manifestations" or "greves" (strikes). Well, last Friday, the teachers were sent a letter about a strike they're going to have this Wednesday... It was the best thing to see how excited this one teacher got! The textbook was actually right in this case! Apparently transportation workers will strike, too. Good thing I don't need to go anywhere.

Eating Vegetables from a Ziploc

Apparently I am the sort of girl who eats lentils and veggies from a ziploc bag for dinner (cooked yesterday, used a fork). This came as quite a surprise. But it was a long day, and I couldn't be bothered to get out a plate.

"Couldn't be bothered" and "can't be asked" are two of the funniest British phrases Caroline and Megan say whenever something is just too difficult or not worth the effort. For example--typing a text message to more than one person (french phones are dumb and they only send to one person at a time)? Oh, no, I just couldn't be bothered.

Anyway, school today was enlightening (8 hours worth). First of all, it takes about 10 minutes just to say "Hello" to everyone. Teachers and kids. Every single person. You'd think after the first 12 people they'd call it quits, but they continue. It's great.

This also happens in every day interactions. It's rude not to say "Bonjour" to passerbyers (especially if you go into a shop or something). So that opening sequence in Beauty and the Beast isn't really that far off.

Back to school--the first class I sat in on wasn't that exciting because I didn't get to do anything. The next one was actually an English class--they were doing a crossword puzzle with random words in it such as "Cowboy" "Star" "Flash" "Sandwich" "Jogging" and "Building." The next class I actually got to help teach! We played Simon Says and did a matching game. It's really hard for kids to say "Right or Wrong" so it sounds Chinese, like "White ou wong." At recess all the kids wanted to ask questions about Texas. There must be some confusion about geography. In their minds, the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben probably come from Texas. This cuteness went on for the rest of the day.

A few differences:
- They do math in pen.
- Teachers yell in a funny outraged way.
- You get in trouble for doing extra work that's not your homework.
- You raise your index finger instead of your hand.
- Handwriting is really important. They have to copy everything by hand into a notebook. Not many xeroxed pages.

The word for skeleton in french is "le squelette" which makes it sound even more like a Halloween spook.

==
While all this was happening, our furniture arrived. Apparently French delivery men can dead lift a refrigerator onto a 10 foot terrace. No tools. However, our refrigerator can't be bothered to cool anything for 48 hours or it will explode (or something else dire). And our furniture isn't put together. But it's great to have a mattress on the floor even if it's nothing like a marshmallow.

Today I became a card-carrying member of the Valenciennes library (Bibliotheque).
That's legit.

School today!

Great news--the 10 day forecast says no rain for all 10 days!

Today is my second day of observation. I'll be going to Ecole Gilliard from 8:30-12:30 and the other, Ecole De Gaulle from 12:30-4:30. Luckily they are right down the street from each other.

Now if only I can remember all the teachers' names...

New art for the wall

Hello dear readers!

Lille was great yesterday. We arrived early, so we wiled away an hour sitting at a cafe munching on a pastry and sipping tea. This is what France is all about. There's something great about being still while people are scurrying past you. This cafe was in between the two train stations, so there were lots of folks scurrying.

The doctor's office turned out to be full of other Assistants, so that was the most fun I've ever had in a waiting room. They X-rayed our torsos. They weighed us in kilos, which is great because I only have a vague mathematical understanding of how they convert to pounds. So, there's no reason to feel guilty about eating pastries (yet). Appartently I passed muster, and (translated from french) "Fulfilled the sanitary conditions necessary to be authorised to reside in France."

The best part: we get to keep our chest x-rays. So, I've got this life-size thick black plastic x-ray art to hang on the wall.

Then we went to IKEA and made a mad dash to get the essentials. IKEA here is the same as IKEA at home. There's not much they can change because it's all in Swedish to begin with. It was not fun to haul weighty blue sacks around (in the rain) for an hour back home, but it was incredibly worth it to have rugs, a clock and lamps. That WORK! The electricity is on! And this morning, I made French press coffee. All is right with the world.

Just think, tomorrow we may have furniture.

Electricity

I know I've been mentioning not having electricity for awhile now. But TODAY is the day... hopefully unless the people at the electric company are liars.

Things that will be great about having electricity:
-lights during the night and early morning (i.e. not fumbling around to make a breakfast pbj in the morning or finding documents in the night so they aren't forgotten the next day)
-internet access on demand after not having it for a week and a half
-hot water... and that means COFFEE or TEA! Oh how I've missed them!
-hair dryers
-radiators (towels here don't ever dry unless draped over one for atleast 20 hours)
-refridgerator (no more thrice daily sandwiches)

It will be sorta sad moving out of the doctor's house back to the appartment (across the courtyard). The atmosphere and furnishings are too cool--everythings old and charmingly cluttered and perfect. Also the bed is like 150 years old, and it feels like I'm sleeping in a marshmallow because of the soft mattress, two quilts and a fluffy duvet.

Apparently Dr. Bleuse owns a farm, too. He showed up with a sack of hand-picked apples, walnuts and fresh eggs. Is this even possible? He said we could go visit it next Sunday if we're ready by 9.

Well I better get going. Today Megan and I will go to Lille (the regional capital) for a doctor's visit that will let us get long-stay visas (une carte de sejour). It just so happens that there is an IKEA. And it just so happens that IKEA sells fress press coffee makers, duvet covers, lamps and rugs. Fantastic.

Oh France...

Whenever I get fed up with France, something will charm me and win me back.

Like seeing people drive in reverse down a one-way street to park.
Like a sunny Sunday afternoon dining at an outdoor cafe.
Like watching the Rugby World Cup match between France and New Zealand in a pub and seeing people carrying flags with painted faces and red, white and blue wigs.
Like getting a picture from Sabri at school today.

Outside in the ghetto

Oh yeah

I forgot to tell yall a really important story about yesterday. I forgot my wallet because of rushing to run an errand before going to the bank to set up an account yesterday... this meant no money and also no key to get back inside the apt. building. So I got to sit outside for an hour waiting for Caroline to get back...of course this is when I have my passport, camera and every important document with me. In sketchyville as people drive by the rock lined parking lot in ridiculous cars. Anyway, it ended up okay, a french girl was outside smoking, and we talked awhile. She goes to high school in the small town I am teaching, and it was so fantastic! She is scared of spiders and wants to go to the Grand Canyon. She couldn't believe someone from America would want to go to her part of France.

Also the french word for water tower translates as "castle of water".

Today we went to a french outdoor market and looked at praline peanuts, almond nougat, wool scarves, dry sausages, 9 kinds of cheese and oysters---magnifique!

It is easy to get dressed here. You wear a jacket and scarf if it is really cold. Or if it is cool and sunny ( like today!) , you can wear whatever you want. The more an outfit doesnt match or make any sense together, the more you look like a french person. Voila, le secret.

The fastest I have ever seen french people move...

Lots of news here. Still dont have great internet access hopefullyonce we are in our new appartment we can get it set up with in the month! here is what happened... the studios ended up being no good--they forbid visitors after 8 pm, also the neighborhood was miserable. So yesterday Megan, Caroline and I went looking for a 3 bedroom. Praise the Lord we found one--the third try with 2 real estate agents. (In a market where its supposed to be immpossible nonetheless!) Its amazing-- an upper appartment in a doctors house (it holds his house;his practice; a huge garden; and our 3 bedroom one. Its AMAZING. Not furnished. So tonight he took us furniture shopping and bought beds; a kitchen table and a fridge. He is old and his wife is gone so he said he would be glad to have us nearby. He is so kind. He did not have to buy all the furniture and make it so easy for us to move in. Its supposed to be immposible to move in before 8 days in France. He let us have it the next day. Tomorrow we move out of the small dodgy place in Marly and into the new fabulous one in the old city center. Theres a lot more to the story than I can type. The electricity wont be on until Monday and furniture will arrive Thursday, so he is letting us stay in his kids bedrooms. What amazing blessings. Answered prayers! Cant wait to post photos of the crazy colors in our next appartment!

things are better

Sitting in a neat old stone building right now using the internet on a unsecure line. We'll see how long it lasts. So there's no time for a long post unfortunately.

Today we went to a meeting for all the assistants in Douai. It was great meeting all the other assistants. There must be atleast 15 here that are English speaking.

For some reason I am picking up a British accent. Probably from living next door to Caroline (a British girl from Kent) and Megan (aforementioned). Aforementioned seems like a very British word to use. Tomorrow we get to move into our studios!

Anyway hope all is well back home. Miss you all. Love, Laura

hmmm

Didnt get to move into the final appartment today--the electricity still isnt on.

So Megan and I moved into another appartment in that building. It is not good. We have not seen the other one yet, and now I am worried it will be dodgy like this one. Ahhhhhhhhh.
Examples of roughness:
broken glass window
strange woman on rez-de-chausee
see projects from windows
lots of grafitti about racial tension
not clean
found a kitchen knife next to the bed (why?)
toilets broken
no mirror or shower curtain

Trying to remember this most important fact:
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23

Where to begin...

Salut!

How are you all? So much has happened since my last post. Things are coming together more and more, and it's wonderful to see.

Megan arrived Sunday afternoon (yesterday--was it really only yesterday?). She's from Australia but has been teaching French and Spanish in London for the past year and a half. It's been really fun getting to know her. We'll either be roommates or next door neighbors in the appartment building we're moving to tomorrow in Marly. Today we went wandering around the old city center. It's really lovely here! When it's not so rainy, I'll take pictures and post them.

We got to drive by and see her schools yesterday as well as the appartment building. It's in a suburb of town where a lot of students live. There is a bowling alley, movie theather and Mc Donalds right across the street.

Today Antoinette took me by all three schools, and we spoke with the principals and teachers (six total) who I'll be working in! It was fantastic seeing all the kids. They are precious and made the funniest amazed faces when I was introduced as being from America...from Texas. Altogether, I should have like 12 classes, four at each school per week. My schedule hasn't been set yet though.

Tomorrow, we have a general meeting to go to in a nearby town (Douai--pronounced Do-A) and I get to see Sarah, woohoo! Anyway more later :) I've got to pack for the move tomorrow and kill all the mosquitos remaining in our room so they don't get us tonight. (This is not just a problem in Texas--it's worse here because the windows don't close all the way!) Bonne nuit!