Bonjour mes amis!
Well, I made it through my first 2 weeks of work and was rewarded with a 12-day vacation! I don’t have to be back at work until November 5, so I’m taking advantage of the break to go visit one of my cousins for a week in Liverpool, where she’s currently in dental school. I’m not leaving until Tuesday, so until then I’m bumming around Nevers, packing up and cleaning my apartment. Sarah (one of the German assistants) and I are moving into our new apartment on November 3 – the day we get back from break – so I have lots to do before I leave! I lied about being done with French administrative formalities; now that I’m moving, there are tons of things to be signed and taken care of… We’re currently working on getting internet set up for the apartment, so hopefully it will be set up and installed shortly after we move in! As you can imagine, getting internet in France is quite a long and involved process, as are most things. We first had to go to France Telecom to get our phone line opened (I honestly do not understand why this needs to be done), then had to go back to SFR (another phone company) to start the ordeal of ordering our Neufbox, which is basically our internet box/wireless router. It’ll be really nice when it’s all set up, because the Neufbox comes with a phone line, and as part of our €30 monthly fee, we get free calls to landline AND mobile numbers in the US – in addition to wifi, of course! I'm not pleased, however, that I received a text message from SFR this morning saying that our order for internet had been received and is being processed and that the "delai de mise en service est de 21 jours environ" - it could take up to 21 days for our internet to start working!!
Work has been going pretty well, although the kids were pretty wild this week because it was almost break. In almost all of my classes I talked about Halloween and how it’s celebrated in the US – we talked about costumes and trick-or-treating and learned words like “witch,” “ghost,” and “skeleton.” I also got to carve pumpkins the other day in one of my classes! I’m pretty sure it would NEVER be allowed in the US, but the teacher had told the kids to bring in spoons and knives (to empty and then carve the pumpkins, of course) to school. It was a fun Friday afternoon activity, and although I was terrified that someone was going to lose a finger, we managed to successfully carve 2 pumpkins without any injuries!
I’m going to be tutoring a high school student in English while I’m here in Nevers – he’s the son of one of the teachers at one of my écoles primaires. On Thursday night Madame Billot picked me up in town and brought me to her house to meet Guillaume (yes, his name is actually Guillaume) and the rest of the family. They’re really nice, and I’m excited to start working with them after the break (and to start earning a little bit of extra money!).
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Bourges
Bonjour mes amis!
I’ve now officially made it through my first week of work! My classes all seem great, and the kids are always really excited to see me – it’s very cute. As soon as I walk into a class, they all say, “Hello!!” As I believe I’ve said before, French children are hilarious. I was in a CP (cours préparatoire, so the kids are about 6 years old) class on Thursday morning and we were talking (in French) about French words that come from English, like “le weekend” and “un hamburger.” (In a class where the children are that young, the main objective is just exposing them to the language, so there’s not a whole lot of teaching that goes on…) The teacher asked the class, “C’est quoi le weekend?” (What is the weekend?) A little girl then answered, “C’est une petite vacance le samedi, le dimanche, et le mercredi!” (“It’s a little vacation on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday!”) Only in France would a child tell you that Wednesday is part of the weekend…
Yesterday, a group of 4 other assistants and I took a day trip to Bourges, a town about 45 minutes away by train. It was a delightful little trip, and Bourges is a gorgeous and really charming town, with a beautiful cathedral (St. Etienne) and lots of half-timbered houses and little medieval streets everywhere. We spent a little while wandering around the Saturday morning market, where I saw the hugest wheel of Emmental cheese I’ve ever seen! Bourges is a rather rich town, and it’s wealth dates back to the 1400s, when Jacques Coeur, Charles VII’s finance minister, chose Bourges as the site for his personal chateau, now called the Palais Jacques Coeur. (Jacques Coeur was later arrested for embezzlement, and didn’t even get to enjoy his palais!) We visited the Palais Jacques Coeur (for free, as many monuments in France are free if you’re under 26), which was absolutely beautiful. None of the rooms are furnished, but everything is so ornately embellished that it was a still a great place to visit.
Bourges has a rather quirky little museum called the Musée des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France; it’s sole purpose is to display the work of those few French artists/professionals who win the Meilleur Ouvrier (best worker) medal in their field of work. The trade for 2009 is roof ornamentation, so we got to see a room full of roof decorations and miniature models of different types of roofs.
We visited Bourges’ main church, the Cathédrale Saint-Etienne, a 13th-century Gothic cathedral that’s just gorgeous. We also got to go down into the crypt, where our tour guide pointed out that during the cathedral’s construction, one of the craftsmen had carved des fesses (a human butt!) at the base of one of the vaulted arches! We also climbed up the cathedral’s northern tower, and the 396 (!) steps led to a great view of the town.
In other exciting news, I’m moving!! The foyer where I’m currently living is really far from the schools in which I work (45-50 minutes à pied – by foot), and I also have no microwave, oven, or table. One of the German assistants and I had been looking for an apartment together, because she didn’t love where she was living either, and we finally found one the other day! It’s in the centre ville, right on the banks of the Loire River, and it will cost me about €150 less each month in rent. It’s 2 furnished bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room – we also have a little balcony! It is EXTREMELY funky and old-fashioned though, and I’m pretty sure the wallpaper hasn’t been changed in about 35 years, but I think it will work out well for us.
I have one more week of work before our first vacation starts, I think I’m working on Halloween (and how we celebrate it in the US) with my classes this week, so I’m excited for that.
A bientôt!
I’ve now officially made it through my first week of work! My classes all seem great, and the kids are always really excited to see me – it’s very cute. As soon as I walk into a class, they all say, “Hello!!” As I believe I’ve said before, French children are hilarious. I was in a CP (cours préparatoire, so the kids are about 6 years old) class on Thursday morning and we were talking (in French) about French words that come from English, like “le weekend” and “un hamburger.” (In a class where the children are that young, the main objective is just exposing them to the language, so there’s not a whole lot of teaching that goes on…) The teacher asked the class, “C’est quoi le weekend?” (What is the weekend?) A little girl then answered, “C’est une petite vacance le samedi, le dimanche, et le mercredi!” (“It’s a little vacation on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday!”) Only in France would a child tell you that Wednesday is part of the weekend…
Yesterday, a group of 4 other assistants and I took a day trip to Bourges, a town about 45 minutes away by train. It was a delightful little trip, and Bourges is a gorgeous and really charming town, with a beautiful cathedral (St. Etienne) and lots of half-timbered houses and little medieval streets everywhere. We spent a little while wandering around the Saturday morning market, where I saw the hugest wheel of Emmental cheese I’ve ever seen! Bourges is a rather rich town, and it’s wealth dates back to the 1400s, when Jacques Coeur, Charles VII’s finance minister, chose Bourges as the site for his personal chateau, now called the Palais Jacques Coeur. (Jacques Coeur was later arrested for embezzlement, and didn’t even get to enjoy his palais!) We visited the Palais Jacques Coeur (for free, as many monuments in France are free if you’re under 26), which was absolutely beautiful. None of the rooms are furnished, but everything is so ornately embellished that it was a still a great place to visit.
Bourges has a rather quirky little museum called the Musée des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France; it’s sole purpose is to display the work of those few French artists/professionals who win the Meilleur Ouvrier (best worker) medal in their field of work. The trade for 2009 is roof ornamentation, so we got to see a room full of roof decorations and miniature models of different types of roofs.
We visited Bourges’ main church, the Cathédrale Saint-Etienne, a 13th-century Gothic cathedral that’s just gorgeous. We also got to go down into the crypt, where our tour guide pointed out that during the cathedral’s construction, one of the craftsmen had carved des fesses (a human butt!) at the base of one of the vaulted arches! We also climbed up the cathedral’s northern tower, and the 396 (!) steps led to a great view of the town.
In other exciting news, I’m moving!! The foyer where I’m currently living is really far from the schools in which I work (45-50 minutes à pied – by foot), and I also have no microwave, oven, or table. One of the German assistants and I had been looking for an apartment together, because she didn’t love where she was living either, and we finally found one the other day! It’s in the centre ville, right on the banks of the Loire River, and it will cost me about €150 less each month in rent. It’s 2 furnished bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room – we also have a little balcony! It is EXTREMELY funky and old-fashioned though, and I’m pretty sure the wallpaper hasn’t been changed in about 35 years, but I think it will work out well for us.
I have one more week of work before our first vacation starts, I think I’m working on Halloween (and how we celebrate it in the US) with my classes this week, so I’m excited for that.
A bientôt!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
[Finally] Starting work!
Dear friends,
I started work on Monday, and I can already tell that this year will be something to remember! First of all, the French school system is VERY different from the American system, and French children are actually quite different from American kids as well. Even though I’ve only been in the French school system for two days, I’m already starting to see where the French bureaucracy and national obsession to detail comes from… Or maybe I’m seeing the result of French bureaucracy and a national obsession to detail – either way, it’s very interesting. Today, for example, I was in a CE2 (Cours Elémentaire 2 – the students are about 8 years old) English class at one of my schools. We were working on asking “getting-to-know-you” questions like “What’s your name?,” “Where are you from?,” etc., so the teacher asked them to make a table so they could record the responses of their classmates. I kid you not, every single one of the nineteen kids in the class got RULERS out of their pencil cases to draw their tables. I’ve also never seen a French person underline something freehand – they always get a straight edge or another piece of paper so as to be able to draw a perfectly straight line. Quelle absurdité!
I am also learning that certain phrases, which I always knew to be uniquement et typiquement français, are learned and utilized from a VERY young age. If you were to ask me for the two most typical French phrases, I would respond with 1) “C’est pas grave!” and 2) “Ah bah oui!!” If you spend any amount of time in France, I can guarantee that you will hear both of these phrases several times a day. In the past few days, I have heard 6-8 year-old French children saying both of these, something I find absolutely hilarious.
But a bit more about my actual job, now that I’ve started and can give you a more accurate idea of what I’ll be doing for approximately 10 hours each week (as I posted previously, they’re having trouble getting me to a “full” 12 hours…) I’ve been assigned to work in 4 elementary schools in Nevers, so my time has been split into 2 halves, and I’m working in 2 schools (Ecole de Mouesse and Ecole Claude Tillier) from now until mid-January and then in the other 2 schools (Ecole Jean Macé and Ecole Brossolette) from mid-January until the end of April. From what I’ve done so far, it seems that my job will consist mostly of working with small groups of students (about 4 at a time), playing games and reading stories – en anglais, bien sûr! According to one of the teachers, the kids always love the English assistants, because they never have to do anything with them but play games!! I also get to put together mini-lesson plans about American culture – for example, I have to put something together on how American children celebrate Halloween for my CE1 (Cours Elémentaire 1 – the students are about 7 years old) class next week. All in all, I think it’ll be quite enjoyable, although I have been warned that there can be some discipline problems in the schools to which I’ve been assigned. They’re all classified as ZEPs (Zones d’Education Prioritaire), which basically means that the kids come from more economically disadvantaged homes. Luckily discipline and punishment is not under my realm of responsibility, so I’m not too worried!
The other assistants and I have been trying to make the most of our time in Nevers and in France, so we’ve been doing all sorts of things we maybe wouldn’t do at home – especially if they’re free! On Monday night, for example, I went with 3 other girls to a dance class for which one of the British assistants had seen a flyer in town. When we walked in, we quickly realized that we were easily the youngest people there by about 30 years… We stayed for the whole hour and danced the cha-cha with old French men – I think we were all just trying to keep a straight face most of the time! (Making the story even better: all 4 of us were taller than about half the men there, something they weren’t shy to point out.) While I don’t think I’ll be going back, it’s definitely an experience I’ll remember (and laugh about!) for a LONG time!
I only have 6 days of work until my first vacation starts, when I’ll be going to Liverpool to visit my cousin for a week. Until then, a few of us are going to Bourges, a town about 45 minutes away, on Saturday – I don’t think I'll be trying to find any parks this time!
A bientôt!
I started work on Monday, and I can already tell that this year will be something to remember! First of all, the French school system is VERY different from the American system, and French children are actually quite different from American kids as well. Even though I’ve only been in the French school system for two days, I’m already starting to see where the French bureaucracy and national obsession to detail comes from… Or maybe I’m seeing the result of French bureaucracy and a national obsession to detail – either way, it’s very interesting. Today, for example, I was in a CE2 (Cours Elémentaire 2 – the students are about 8 years old) English class at one of my schools. We were working on asking “getting-to-know-you” questions like “What’s your name?,” “Where are you from?,” etc., so the teacher asked them to make a table so they could record the responses of their classmates. I kid you not, every single one of the nineteen kids in the class got RULERS out of their pencil cases to draw their tables. I’ve also never seen a French person underline something freehand – they always get a straight edge or another piece of paper so as to be able to draw a perfectly straight line. Quelle absurdité!
I am also learning that certain phrases, which I always knew to be uniquement et typiquement français, are learned and utilized from a VERY young age. If you were to ask me for the two most typical French phrases, I would respond with 1) “C’est pas grave!” and 2) “Ah bah oui!!” If you spend any amount of time in France, I can guarantee that you will hear both of these phrases several times a day. In the past few days, I have heard 6-8 year-old French children saying both of these, something I find absolutely hilarious.
But a bit more about my actual job, now that I’ve started and can give you a more accurate idea of what I’ll be doing for approximately 10 hours each week (as I posted previously, they’re having trouble getting me to a “full” 12 hours…) I’ve been assigned to work in 4 elementary schools in Nevers, so my time has been split into 2 halves, and I’m working in 2 schools (Ecole de Mouesse and Ecole Claude Tillier) from now until mid-January and then in the other 2 schools (Ecole Jean Macé and Ecole Brossolette) from mid-January until the end of April. From what I’ve done so far, it seems that my job will consist mostly of working with small groups of students (about 4 at a time), playing games and reading stories – en anglais, bien sûr! According to one of the teachers, the kids always love the English assistants, because they never have to do anything with them but play games!! I also get to put together mini-lesson plans about American culture – for example, I have to put something together on how American children celebrate Halloween for my CE1 (Cours Elémentaire 1 – the students are about 7 years old) class next week. All in all, I think it’ll be quite enjoyable, although I have been warned that there can be some discipline problems in the schools to which I’ve been assigned. They’re all classified as ZEPs (Zones d’Education Prioritaire), which basically means that the kids come from more economically disadvantaged homes. Luckily discipline and punishment is not under my realm of responsibility, so I’m not too worried!
The other assistants and I have been trying to make the most of our time in Nevers and in France, so we’ve been doing all sorts of things we maybe wouldn’t do at home – especially if they’re free! On Monday night, for example, I went with 3 other girls to a dance class for which one of the British assistants had seen a flyer in town. When we walked in, we quickly realized that we were easily the youngest people there by about 30 years… We stayed for the whole hour and danced the cha-cha with old French men – I think we were all just trying to keep a straight face most of the time! (Making the story even better: all 4 of us were taller than about half the men there, something they weren’t shy to point out.) While I don’t think I’ll be going back, it’s definitely an experience I’ll remember (and laugh about!) for a LONG time!
I only have 6 days of work until my first vacation starts, when I’ll be going to Liverpool to visit my cousin for a week. Until then, a few of us are going to Bourges, a town about 45 minutes away, on Saturday – I don’t think I'll be trying to find any parks this time!
A bientôt!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Clermont-Ferrand
Bonjour mes amis!
Yesterday a group of 6 of us (4 English and 2 German assistants) went to Clermont-Ferrand for the day. Our train was supposed to leave at 8:57AM (it’s about an hour and a half from Nevers), but I think there were some strikes (or “perturbations,” as the SNCF likes to call them) in the system, so our train was delayed 30 minutes, and we didn’t end up leaving until 9:30. I think we were all slightly sad to think we could have slept for 30 more minutes! We arrived in Clermont-Ferrand, which is in the Auvergne region, south of Burgundy, around 11:15 and headed in to the centre ville, which was about a 15-minute walk from the train station. Clermont-Ferrand is situated in a chain of extinct volcanoes, so it’s really hilly, and we had to do a lot of walking up and down some pretty steep collines (hills)! Its location in an extinct volcanic range also means that it has some very distinct architecture – the main cathedral in town, Cathedrale de Notre Dame de l’Assomption, is built out of black volcanic rock. Because the rock is so much lighter (because of the air bubbles in it), it means they could build the cathedral higher than with regular stone. Its huge size, coupled with the fact that it’s jet-black, makes the cathedral pretty imposing!
Although I’d heard from several French people that Clermont-Ferrand is an industrial town (Michelin is based there and they have a tire factory there), it had a very pleasant centre ville with some pretty places and lots of impressive statues. In the Place de la Victoire, for example, where the cathedral is located, there’s a big statue of Pope Urban II, who actually launched one of the Crusades from Clermont!
Clermont-Ferrand was originally two separate cities, Clermont and Montferrand, but they were combined in 1630 by an edict – Clermont definitely got the better end of the deal! We took the tram out to Montferrand (it took about 10 minutes) and explored for a bit – not that there was much to explore, it’s very small!!
As I said above, the main cathedral in Clermont-Ferrand is very tall, and you can climb up to the top for a great view of the city and the surrounding mountains. We climbed to the top, which was 252 steps (!), but the view was gorgeous!
After we climbed the cathedral, one of the other assistants and I decided we wanted to walk out to the Parc de Montjuzet, which was recommended in both of our guidebooks – it’s on the outskirts of the city and at the top of a pretty steep hill, and both books said that it was “perfectly manicured” and offered amazing views of the city and cathedral. Let’s Go France 2009, my guidebook, claimed that it was a “15 minute walk northwest of the cathedral.” This, however, turned out to be a blatant lie, and I no longer trust the walking times quoted in the book, as it turned out to be approximately a 35-minute hike up a VERY steep hill. By the time we got to the park, it was already time that we needed to turn around to get back to the train station to catch the train back to Nevers. It turns out that we were actually a bit further away than we thought we were, and we ended up having to full-out sprint through the streets of Clermont-Ferrand to make it back to the station in time. We got on the train with about 2.5-3 minutes to spare; it was very distressing! Even with that traumatic experience, it was a great little day trip, and I’m looking forward to our excursion to Bourges next weekend.
I finally start work tomorrow, so I’ll be observing my first class at the Ecole de Mouesse tomorrow afternoon! I’m mostly excited, but also slightly nervous, because I don’t really know what to expect!
Yesterday a group of 6 of us (4 English and 2 German assistants) went to Clermont-Ferrand for the day. Our train was supposed to leave at 8:57AM (it’s about an hour and a half from Nevers), but I think there were some strikes (or “perturbations,” as the SNCF likes to call them) in the system, so our train was delayed 30 minutes, and we didn’t end up leaving until 9:30. I think we were all slightly sad to think we could have slept for 30 more minutes! We arrived in Clermont-Ferrand, which is in the Auvergne region, south of Burgundy, around 11:15 and headed in to the centre ville, which was about a 15-minute walk from the train station. Clermont-Ferrand is situated in a chain of extinct volcanoes, so it’s really hilly, and we had to do a lot of walking up and down some pretty steep collines (hills)! Its location in an extinct volcanic range also means that it has some very distinct architecture – the main cathedral in town, Cathedrale de Notre Dame de l’Assomption, is built out of black volcanic rock. Because the rock is so much lighter (because of the air bubbles in it), it means they could build the cathedral higher than with regular stone. Its huge size, coupled with the fact that it’s jet-black, makes the cathedral pretty imposing!
Although I’d heard from several French people that Clermont-Ferrand is an industrial town (Michelin is based there and they have a tire factory there), it had a very pleasant centre ville with some pretty places and lots of impressive statues. In the Place de la Victoire, for example, where the cathedral is located, there’s a big statue of Pope Urban II, who actually launched one of the Crusades from Clermont!
Clermont-Ferrand was originally two separate cities, Clermont and Montferrand, but they were combined in 1630 by an edict – Clermont definitely got the better end of the deal! We took the tram out to Montferrand (it took about 10 minutes) and explored for a bit – not that there was much to explore, it’s very small!!
As I said above, the main cathedral in Clermont-Ferrand is very tall, and you can climb up to the top for a great view of the city and the surrounding mountains. We climbed to the top, which was 252 steps (!), but the view was gorgeous!
After we climbed the cathedral, one of the other assistants and I decided we wanted to walk out to the Parc de Montjuzet, which was recommended in both of our guidebooks – it’s on the outskirts of the city and at the top of a pretty steep hill, and both books said that it was “perfectly manicured” and offered amazing views of the city and cathedral. Let’s Go France 2009, my guidebook, claimed that it was a “15 minute walk northwest of the cathedral.” This, however, turned out to be a blatant lie, and I no longer trust the walking times quoted in the book, as it turned out to be approximately a 35-minute hike up a VERY steep hill. By the time we got to the park, it was already time that we needed to turn around to get back to the train station to catch the train back to Nevers. It turns out that we were actually a bit further away than we thought we were, and we ended up having to full-out sprint through the streets of Clermont-Ferrand to make it back to the station in time. We got on the train with about 2.5-3 minutes to spare; it was very distressing! Even with that traumatic experience, it was a great little day trip, and I’m looking forward to our excursion to Bourges next weekend.
I finally start work tomorrow, so I’ll be observing my first class at the Ecole de Mouesse tomorrow afternoon! I’m mostly excited, but also slightly nervous, because I don’t really know what to expect!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
I don't work Wednesdays!
Bonjour mes amis!
Well, I didn’t start work this week, but I did go in to all 4 of my schools to introduce myself the other day and I’ll be starting on Monday! For those who have been following this, my contract begins on October 1. I won’t actually report for my first day until October 12, and our first vacation starts on the 24th. I’m getting paid for the entire month of October, when, in fact, I will only have worked 8 days! (Also, I’ll just be observing my classes for at least 4 of those days!) Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE France?
I was supposed to go meet the directeurs of the schools the other day, but apparently there was some big meeting that morning for all the directeurs, so 3 of the 4 people I was supposed to meet weren’t at the schools! I got my schedule on Monday, and luckily it looks pretty good. I don’t work at all on Wednesday, and the only day I have morning classes is Tuesday (which is actually a super-long day, but I think I’ll be able to use my Wednesdays off to recover).
I’m working in two of my schools from Monday until mid-January, and then in the other two from mid-January until the end of April. They’re pretty far away from my apartment, but luckily they’re all pretty near each other, and I can buy a monthly bus pass for €15 (for unlimited rides), so I don’t think it’ll be too bad of a commute.
I’m supposed to work 12 hours a week, but because of the way English classes are scheduled in the primary schools, my responsable (the woman who is kind of “in charge” of the primary assistants in Nevers) is actually having a hard time getting me to 12 hours! For the first half of my contract (from now until mid-January), for example, I’m only with the kids for 6 hours and 15 minutes each week!
I’m finally getting all of my administrative tasks taken care of – I got my forms sent in to the French immigration office this morning, and once I turn in forms on Friday for my salary advance, I think I’ll be all set!
In other exciting news – I FINALLY have a bank card! When I opened my account, I was told to come back 8 days later to pick up my card. I went back so many times to check if it was there that the man at the front desk (his name is actually Pierre, and he’s very helpful) now recognizes me and doesn’t need to ask my name anymore! In short, it took 14 days for the card to arrive, although I am now pleased to say that I have a bank card AND a pin code (they send it to you separately in the mail)!
Sadly, my camera has died unexpectedly, and I’m very distressed by the fact that I’m now camera-less! I’m hoping to get another one soon so I can continue documenting my vie en France!
A group of us from Nevers are taking a day trip on Saturday to Clermont-Ferrand, a city about 2 hours away by train. It has a cathedral built out of volcanic rock (it’s in the middle of a range of extinct volcanoes), so I’m sure it will be a fun excursion!
Well, I didn’t start work this week, but I did go in to all 4 of my schools to introduce myself the other day and I’ll be starting on Monday! For those who have been following this, my contract begins on October 1. I won’t actually report for my first day until October 12, and our first vacation starts on the 24th. I’m getting paid for the entire month of October, when, in fact, I will only have worked 8 days! (Also, I’ll just be observing my classes for at least 4 of those days!) Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE France?
I was supposed to go meet the directeurs of the schools the other day, but apparently there was some big meeting that morning for all the directeurs, so 3 of the 4 people I was supposed to meet weren’t at the schools! I got my schedule on Monday, and luckily it looks pretty good. I don’t work at all on Wednesday, and the only day I have morning classes is Tuesday (which is actually a super-long day, but I think I’ll be able to use my Wednesdays off to recover).
I’m working in two of my schools from Monday until mid-January, and then in the other two from mid-January until the end of April. They’re pretty far away from my apartment, but luckily they’re all pretty near each other, and I can buy a monthly bus pass for €15 (for unlimited rides), so I don’t think it’ll be too bad of a commute.
I’m supposed to work 12 hours a week, but because of the way English classes are scheduled in the primary schools, my responsable (the woman who is kind of “in charge” of the primary assistants in Nevers) is actually having a hard time getting me to 12 hours! For the first half of my contract (from now until mid-January), for example, I’m only with the kids for 6 hours and 15 minutes each week!
I’m finally getting all of my administrative tasks taken care of – I got my forms sent in to the French immigration office this morning, and once I turn in forms on Friday for my salary advance, I think I’ll be all set!
In other exciting news – I FINALLY have a bank card! When I opened my account, I was told to come back 8 days later to pick up my card. I went back so many times to check if it was there that the man at the front desk (his name is actually Pierre, and he’s very helpful) now recognizes me and doesn’t need to ask my name anymore! In short, it took 14 days for the card to arrive, although I am now pleased to say that I have a bank card AND a pin code (they send it to you separately in the mail)!
Sadly, my camera has died unexpectedly, and I’m very distressed by the fact that I’m now camera-less! I’m hoping to get another one soon so I can continue documenting my vie en France!
A group of us from Nevers are taking a day trip on Saturday to Clermont-Ferrand, a city about 2 hours away by train. It has a cathedral built out of volcanic rock (it’s in the middle of a range of extinct volcanoes), so I’m sure it will be a fun excursion!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Dijon and orientation
Bonjour mes amis!
I just got back last night from Dijon, where all the foreign language assistants in the Burgundy region had an all-day orientation meeting for our job. It was a lot of fun, and it was really nice to get to meet all the other assistants from the region. There are more English language assistants than any other language, but there are also assistants for German, Spanish, Italian, and even Russian! Nevers has at least 11 assistants total, including myself, making it one of the places in Burgundy with the most assistants. (There are at least 7 English assistants, 2 Spanish assistants, and 2 German assistants.) I arrived in Dijon on Thursday afternoon with 3 other English assistants from Nevers, and we spent about 2 hours exploring the city of Dijon – which is a lovely city – before getting the city bus out to the Centre des Rencontres Internationales (roughly, the Center for International Encounters), where we were fed free food and given a room for the night. About 25 of us walked into the centre ville of Dijon on Thursday night (we had nothing to do until Friday morning, when our orientation started) and found a bar where we could sit and chat. (As a side note, at a bar in Dijon, France, I heard ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ The band had changed the words, however, and was singing, “Sweet home Barack Obama, yes we can!” It was ridiculous.) It was really great to get to talk to people from all over the world – there are lots of Brits and Americans, but also quite a few Australians, a couple New Zealanders, and even people from Costa Rica and Colombia.
Our actual orientation was held on Friday and lasted most of the day. Most of what we talked about I already knew or had already taken care of, but it was definitely still very helpful in that it laid out exactly what steps we need to take to get ourselves officially settled. Of course, in typical French fashion, all these steps involve mountains of paperwork and TONS of photocopies – I can tell you already, the French are NOT too concerned with saving the trees!
We got some information about our sécurité sociale (social security), and even the most basic benefits are great! Even as non-citizen assistants who work only 12 hours per week, we’re eligible for French social security. Doctor’s visits cost €22, and everyone has the right to be reimbursed for half of that, meaning that with even the most basic social security, you can have a doctor’s visit for €11!
The apartment complex where I live is called a Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs, and it’s essentially just apartments for young people under the age of 30. It has an office staff and occasionally organizes different events so the residents can meet each other and get involved, etc. On Wednesday night, 2 other English assistants and I (one of whom also lives in the foyer) went to one of the events – it was ‘un repas africain’ (an African meal), and anyone who wanted to come could help cook and then (obviously!) eat it. About 20 people ended up coming, and I got to meet 2 French girls who are in Nevers for their BTS, which, from what I understand, is similar to an associate’s degree… The French education system is super confusing, which is not good, as that is who’s employing me for the next 7 months!
I’m excited to start working, and I have another meeting on Monday afternoon with my responsable, the woman who oversees all the primary school assistants in Nevers. Hopefully I’ll be getting my schedule then and starting on Tuesday, but one never knows in France!
I went to the market this morning and bought homemade blackberry jam with a hand-drawn label... How cool is that?
I just got back last night from Dijon, where all the foreign language assistants in the Burgundy region had an all-day orientation meeting for our job. It was a lot of fun, and it was really nice to get to meet all the other assistants from the region. There are more English language assistants than any other language, but there are also assistants for German, Spanish, Italian, and even Russian! Nevers has at least 11 assistants total, including myself, making it one of the places in Burgundy with the most assistants. (There are at least 7 English assistants, 2 Spanish assistants, and 2 German assistants.) I arrived in Dijon on Thursday afternoon with 3 other English assistants from Nevers, and we spent about 2 hours exploring the city of Dijon – which is a lovely city – before getting the city bus out to the Centre des Rencontres Internationales (roughly, the Center for International Encounters), where we were fed free food and given a room for the night. About 25 of us walked into the centre ville of Dijon on Thursday night (we had nothing to do until Friday morning, when our orientation started) and found a bar where we could sit and chat. (As a side note, at a bar in Dijon, France, I heard ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ The band had changed the words, however, and was singing, “Sweet home Barack Obama, yes we can!” It was ridiculous.) It was really great to get to talk to people from all over the world – there are lots of Brits and Americans, but also quite a few Australians, a couple New Zealanders, and even people from Costa Rica and Colombia.
Our actual orientation was held on Friday and lasted most of the day. Most of what we talked about I already knew or had already taken care of, but it was definitely still very helpful in that it laid out exactly what steps we need to take to get ourselves officially settled. Of course, in typical French fashion, all these steps involve mountains of paperwork and TONS of photocopies – I can tell you already, the French are NOT too concerned with saving the trees!
We got some information about our sécurité sociale (social security), and even the most basic benefits are great! Even as non-citizen assistants who work only 12 hours per week, we’re eligible for French social security. Doctor’s visits cost €22, and everyone has the right to be reimbursed for half of that, meaning that with even the most basic social security, you can have a doctor’s visit for €11!
The apartment complex where I live is called a Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs, and it’s essentially just apartments for young people under the age of 30. It has an office staff and occasionally organizes different events so the residents can meet each other and get involved, etc. On Wednesday night, 2 other English assistants and I (one of whom also lives in the foyer) went to one of the events – it was ‘un repas africain’ (an African meal), and anyone who wanted to come could help cook and then (obviously!) eat it. About 20 people ended up coming, and I got to meet 2 French girls who are in Nevers for their BTS, which, from what I understand, is similar to an associate’s degree… The French education system is super confusing, which is not good, as that is who’s employing me for the next 7 months!
I’m excited to start working, and I have another meeting on Monday afternoon with my responsable, the woman who oversees all the primary school assistants in Nevers. Hopefully I’ll be getting my schedule then and starting on Tuesday, but one never knows in France!
I went to the market this morning and bought homemade blackberry jam with a hand-drawn label... How cool is that?
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