Greetings all,
Mere here, your trusted source of all things Romilly-sur-Seine. A dog pooped on the sidewalk today. No other news.
Yea, such is my life. The train strike means it is nearly impossible to go anywhere. There are trains out of town in the morning and in the evening I am told, but really. If I were to go to Paris, I would be just as stranded with no metro lines. And trying to go to Troyes is risky - don't want to be stranded there and not be able to get back to work.
Speaking of work, I still don't know if I have to work next week or not. Are the teachers actually striking? Tune in next week…
As for this week (I am writing this Sunday afternoon, you are receiving it on Monday) not too much happened. I got a bike seat… but then promptly popped my back tire. Le sigh. Then I spent the morning on Friday with red marker on my pants and none of my students told me. I realized it at noon, changed my pants, and then sheepishly asked a teacher to take them home and wash them as I do not have access to the laundry on the weekends. Le sigh. Also, trying to track down my lost information for my work permit is proving impossible, ergo (ahem, yes, I am using ergo, Mr. Jones) I am going to start over this week. The problem is now I will be even two more months behind on all the paperwork, which means I will be two more months behind on my social security, rent refund and insurance paperwork. I should be all covered by March… le sigh. I am a little salty because I started all of this as soon as I got here. My attempt to be responsible and get all my bureaucratic stuff done has backfired. I think I am going to go back to being an unorganized wreck. My life was so much easier!
I've been teaching my students about Thanksgiving. They all think it is how we celebrate Christmas, poor dears. I put together a worksheet to read and answer questions and a powerpoint presentation for my terminales (seniors) a menu of what the Pilgrims ate and what I eat (including the Waldorf salad and Bongas prized peach pie.... aaaahhhhh I am going to miss that!!!) for my premieres (juniors) and a bunch of Thanksgiving jokes for both. They don't seem too interested. The premieres liked making their own Thanksgiving menu, but I think I am failing as a teacher over here. It is so hard to teach kids that have been labeled weak by their own teachers. They've slipped through their English classes for years and are just passed on. Weak at this level. Weak at this level. Weak at this level. Hopeless. Bad. Teachers tell me that I have a weak group and a less weak group. What kids wants to be called moins-faible? I wonder why teachers don't do anything to change that? Fine if they are weak, but don't pass that off as the students' fault, take some responsibility yourself. And they aren't bad kids! They're all just normal, middle class kids for lack of a better description. I was told this high school has the highest BAC scores in the region, so that at least proves something. They are intelligent students, but they aren't going to grow if you shade them in self-doubt.
*steps off soap box*
Mere here, your trusted source of all things Romilly-sur-Seine. A dog pooped on the sidewalk today. No other news.
Yea, such is my life. The train strike means it is nearly impossible to go anywhere. There are trains out of town in the morning and in the evening I am told, but really. If I were to go to Paris, I would be just as stranded with no metro lines. And trying to go to Troyes is risky - don't want to be stranded there and not be able to get back to work.
Speaking of work, I still don't know if I have to work next week or not. Are the teachers actually striking? Tune in next week…
As for this week (I am writing this Sunday afternoon, you are receiving it on Monday) not too much happened. I got a bike seat… but then promptly popped my back tire. Le sigh. Then I spent the morning on Friday with red marker on my pants and none of my students told me. I realized it at noon, changed my pants, and then sheepishly asked a teacher to take them home and wash them as I do not have access to the laundry on the weekends. Le sigh. Also, trying to track down my lost information for my work permit is proving impossible, ergo (ahem, yes, I am using ergo, Mr. Jones) I am going to start over this week. The problem is now I will be even two more months behind on all the paperwork, which means I will be two more months behind on my social security, rent refund and insurance paperwork. I should be all covered by March… le sigh. I am a little salty because I started all of this as soon as I got here. My attempt to be responsible and get all my bureaucratic stuff done has backfired. I think I am going to go back to being an unorganized wreck. My life was so much easier!
I've been teaching my students about Thanksgiving. They all think it is how we celebrate Christmas, poor dears. I put together a worksheet to read and answer questions and a powerpoint presentation for my terminales (seniors) a menu of what the Pilgrims ate and what I eat (including the Waldorf salad and Bongas prized peach pie.... aaaahhhhh I am going to miss that!!!) for my premieres (juniors) and a bunch of Thanksgiving jokes for both. They don't seem too interested. The premieres liked making their own Thanksgiving menu, but I think I am failing as a teacher over here. It is so hard to teach kids that have been labeled weak by their own teachers. They've slipped through their English classes for years and are just passed on. Weak at this level. Weak at this level. Weak at this level. Hopeless. Bad. Teachers tell me that I have a weak group and a less weak group. What kids wants to be called moins-faible? I wonder why teachers don't do anything to change that? Fine if they are weak, but don't pass that off as the students' fault, take some responsibility yourself. And they aren't bad kids! They're all just normal, middle class kids for lack of a better description. I was told this high school has the highest BAC scores in the region, so that at least proves something. They are intelligent students, but they aren't going to grow if you shade them in self-doubt.
*steps off soap box*
Le sigh. What is the key? The trick?
But my days aren't as bad as they seem. I don't remember if I have covered this before, but I teach at a public high school, ages 15-19 typically. I have 12 classes divided into 24 groups. I teach one half of the group one week and the other half the following week. Class sizes range from five students to 14, usually around 10.I don't really have to TEACH anything like grammar and sentence structure; I am just there for oral reinforcelent.
6AM: Wake up to French techno on the radio. Begin hating life right away, haha. Want to go back to bed, where is is warm. Shower, do hair, makeup, etc. Paw through limited wardrobe for something to wear.
7AM: Breakfast time. Flip on the news - either French news or CNNInternational news depending on my mood. Surf the internet for more news - IHT, Le Monde, NYTimes (even though that is basically IHT) etc. etc. Eat a bowl of granola and dried fruit, a hard boiled egg and some yogurt. Maybe bread and jam if I was feeling rich and bought a baguette. Glass of juice. Cup of coffee. Oh man, the coffee. For you coffee drinkers, stop reading. You don't want to know my sin… I don't have a coffeepot because I don't want to spend the money to buy one, so I boil water in a pot, pour it into a mug and add a spoonful of sugar, milk and… dissolvable coffee granuals. Someone send me a cup of Donkey dark roast with a hearty splash of cream and a packet of natural cane sugar, please… and a spiced chai with skim milk while you're at it.
7:45AM: Head to the teachers lounge. Greet everyone, bise the teachers that I am close with. Make photocopies if need to and if the photocopier is actually working.
8AM - 12PM: Engage young minds in intervals. Sometimes have an hour break between classes, sometimes not, sometimes more. Make my secondes (sophomores) work on their movie - a task that is increasingly impossible. Think maybe this was a bad idea… Do whatever random lesson plan I have made for my premieres, and something a bit more challenging for my terminales. If not met with blank stares, asked by the boys how to hit on girls in clubs… at least they are speaking. Le sigh.
12 - 1PM: Lunch. Hallelujah. Always a good time of the day. Eat an entree of some kind of protein and carb. Vegetables. Salad. Fruit. Bread and cheese. Natural yogurt. Field random questions about America or sit silent and listen to teachers complain about something wrong in the administration or complain about their weak students. Le sigh. Find it funny that we have the option of drinking beer and hard cider with lunch. I wonder if that helps any?
1 - 4PM: Maybe some more classes depending on the day. Stay in the teachers lounge to work on lesson plans, organize my life, talk to other teachers, etc.
4 - 7PM: Return chez moi. Unwind. Watch either more CNN or French game shows, German MTV-type channel, whatever tickles my fancy at the moment. Sometimes Hannah Montana, haha. Hop online and maybe stream episodes of American TV shows if I can find them online and get around the firewall. Work on lesson plans if I have to. Talk with friends, boyfriend and family via AIM and Skype.
6:58PM: Peel myself away from what has eventually morphed into a video chat or Skype conversation with Brandon. Promise him I will return after dinner. :D
7PM - 8PM: Dinner! Another time to chow on good food. Much of the same, only the natural yogurt is replaced with dessert. Meet Jerome and head down to the cafeteria. Greet favorite chef, FiFi (Jean-Phillipe), with a big smile. Laugh good-naturedly with him as he tries to explain in English what is on the menu for tonight. Eat with Jerome and whatever two surveillants are on duty that night (any combination of males Said, Ludo, Mohammed, Francois and females Sophie, Fanny, Sukayina… and one other woman who never says anything and I totally forget her name.) Say goodbye to the surveillants as they leave to go work at 7:30. Sit with Jerome and FiFi and talk about n'importe quoi. Greet Pascal at 7:45 as he pops in on his security rounds.
8PM - 10PM or midnight. Return home and talk to Brandon until bed. Go to sleep missing him terribly. :P Dream in French.
Exciting huh?
The weekends are all up in the air. Sometimes I go home with a teacher. Sometimes I go to Troyes. Sometimes I go to Paris. Most of the time, I stay home and watch American moves on the German movie channel. They are all dubbed in German, but I pretty much have "Hook" (such a classic!!!!!) and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" memorized from childhood, so it all works out. This weekend I went OUTSIDE to the movies. There is a cinema in town, so I took in American Gangster. Buying snacks isn't really part of the French movie culture, nor are those annoying ads before the movie! Hooray! The theater was really nice, comfy seats, screen covered by a red velvet curtain. Charming. But I miss eating a huge bucket of popcorn and watching Brandon's face scrunch up when I throw pieces at him - not because I am hitting him with popcorn, but because I am wasting it, haha.
Sigh, I just miss popcorn. And peanut butter. Uggggg never move to France without a supply of JIF.
This turned out a little longer than I anticipated. Alas, dear readers, you must suffer the lengths of my keyboard. I know Aunt Lori had a question of the teen culture at my school; I shall tackle that subject later this week. I've decided that high school students are the same no matter what country, but teenagers are so different. I hope you understand what I mean.
A bientot,
Mere
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