It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

So I've just finished my third week of teaching at the middle school, and I'm really enjoying my classes there. As always, the youngest classes are the cutest. Sometimes I am even greeted with a rousing chorus of "Kaf'rine! Kaf'rine! Kaf'rine!" when the kids see that I'm there. My favorite part is probably how they pronounce my name since they try really hard for the English pronunciation of my name (with the English "th" sound), but it always comes out as "Kaf'rine". It's basically the most adorable thing ever.

So far with the middle schoolers, I did the initial class where they asked me questions about myself (in various different ways depending on their level and the teacher I worked with). After that, I made a powerpoint with pictures of my family, Michigan, and other cities around the US that I've been to so that I could take them "sightseeing".

This week, instead of going to school on Tuesday like normal (for my long day -- 6 classes), I had to go to Bordeaux for my medical visit to get my longstay visa certified. I made up the classes I missed last week, and mostly just followed along with the professors' lesson plans, helping out where I could. On Friday, my one class of 5ièmes serenaded me with a few English songs they've learned this year ("Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles, "The Bare Necessities" from Jungle Book, and "Singing in the Rain" by Gene Kelly). That was really awesome. One of the professors wants to use Doctor Who to work with the students, so I'm also really excited about that.

Last weekend, one of the professors at the middle school also invited me over to her house for lunch. We ended up spending the day together--she and her husband came to pick me up in Dax, then we went to her friend's house for an apéro (before meal drink). After that we headed out "into the country" to this tiny little village where she lives. I helped her cook lunch while her husband went and got wood for the fireplace and we had fun just talking about everything -- travel, TV shows, American culture. We went for a walk after we ate and stopped by her friend's house (to tell her the name of "Downton Abbey" because her friend wanted to know the name of the show) and ended up stopping in for a cup of tea. And then we went back to her house and sat in front of the fire and talked for a while. Her house is absolutely gorgeous -- from the middle ages. It even has arrow slits on the outside! And the view is spectacular. Honestly, I can't say that I've often had jaw-dropping experiences, but when I walked up the stairs into her kitchen and saw what lay beyond her window, my mouth fell to the floor. I literally had to stop and stare for a moment.

The view of the Landes from the kitchen window

Tons of useful plants in the garden like verbena and mint

This is the back of the house

I'm in love with this view

The trees in the garden were fabulous

Arrow slits

Garden :)

So Tuesday I went to Bordeaux with the other North American assistants which was really nice since I haven't actually seen most of them since... October? Most of them I hadn't seen since before break in October. It was nice to catch up and spend part of the day together. There were also more familiar faces at the OFII office. While in Bordeaux, we checked out a couple book shops, and I ended up getting a couple small anthologies of poetry (in English) to hopefully use with my students.

At the high school, classes have been going pretty well. All the students are in love with the "no-bake" cookies that I made for them (a family recipe). Some of them have even asked for the recipe, so I might do a lesson on it for them. I'm starting to enjoy my lessons at the high school, even though sometimes the students are kind of a pain and don't want to speak English. Hopefully as the year goes on, they'll open up more and more. A student surprised me on Thursday because he doesn't usually talk too much, but when I made it a competition (whoever asks the most questions gets an extra cookie), he totally stepped it up and asked 13 questions. I think most of these students are a lot smarter (and better at English) than they think they are, it's just going to be trying to find the right motivation to open them up.

Other than teaching, I've been really putting my nose to the grindstone for my grad school applications since most of them are due next month (*big gulp*). I can't even believe that's its almost Thanksgiving, even though I've been putting up Christmas decorations already. I've also been planning for April when my best friend in the whole wide world (Vanessa LP) will be coming to Paris for a WHOLE WEEK to visit. I'm also trying to plan for Christmas vacation (I'm thinking of going to Wales and maybe Sweden or Norway).

Today was market day, which is quickly becoming my favorite day. I just love going and smelling all the lovely smells and seeing all the wonderful things! Today I ended up getting more jam (I'm almost out!), and got some fresh local honey for infusing in tea (or by itself in hot water). I've already been drinking honey infusions all day -- it's so good! And, of course, I got some bread and cheese (aged goat cheese is the best thing on the planet). I also FINALLY got around to getting a plant. I've been thinking about it for quite some time because it'd be nice to have at least ONE other living thing in the apartment (and since I can't have cats...). So I got a mint plant that's sitting pretty on my windowsill. I'm debating whether to bring it inside (it smells so good!) or to leave it out there where it can maybe get a bit more sunlight. I can't wait to make some fresh mint tea though.

Christmas lights

Christmas garland (and I rearranged a bit)

My little baby mint plant outside!

I also found out last night that I am officially a published researcher. (It's only an undergraduate journal, but still exciting). If anyone's interested in reading my article about the role of women in medieval French literature, here's the link. (It's in English.) So that was extremely exciting news since I've been worried about whether the article was accepted all summer.

Until next time, dear readers, DFTBA. :D

3 Cities in 3 Days

On Wednesday morning, I made my way from Amsterdam to Brussels where I spent the day. Mostly I kind of wandered around, made my way to the Grand Place, St. Michael's Cathedral, Parliamentarium, and Coudenberg.

The Grand Place and the cathedral were absolutely spectacular. And the architecture around the city was just generally amazing--it felt like I saw something magnificent around every corner.

Tower in the Grand Place

I just really like towers, okay?

Absolutely incredible architecture

This is seriously all in the same square. It's incredibly breathtaking

Church-y church church church

I actually really liked this church. It was HUGE (bigger than Notre Dame maybe; it seemed a lot bigger than Notre Dame)

I don't actually know who this is a statue of...

Inside the cathedral

Coudenberg was really cool, but also insanely creepy. Basically, it's the remains of the old palace that have been excavated. Most of it is underground, and it doesn't seem like many people really visit (or at least there weren't many people there when I was). So it was pretty big, very dark, and I kind of felt like I was in a horror movie at some points. Nevertheless, it was well worth a visit.

This is where I thought I was going to die (if you looked down into that glass pane on the left, all you could see was this like infinitely dark hole and it was terrifying)

Stairs that lead to nowhere

The Palace

Palace again

Parliamentarium was also really cool. I wanted to visit the European Parliament itself, but it was closed to the public. Parliamentarium is pretty much this big interactive museum/exhibit that details the history of the European Parliament. It's really quite awesome (and totally free).

In the evening, I took a train to Antwerp where I stayed with some friends of my aunt and uncle. Antwerp was absolutely amazing. On Thursday, their daughter showed me around town and I got to try some incredible Belgian beer.

Antwerp is absolutely beautiful, and it was wonderful to get to see it through the eyes of a "local" who told me stories about the history of the city. My favorite part was probably the cathedral (sucker for the architecture) which was filled with paintings by Peter Paul Rubens; the castle comes in a close second, pretty much tied with just sitting around drinking beer and talking about everything from politics to religion to feminism. Also, there was this awesome bar that had collected old religious objects that were going to be thrown away. (I spotted two Jeanne d'Arc statues!)

The cathedral in Antwerp

Neula, the lovely puppy, kept us company.

The castle in Antwerp

Brickwork is the best.

Inside the cathedral

The crypt

Tourist time!

I could spend all day on that little bench, I think. Absolutely gorgeous.

Church tower

The cathedral at night

Thursday night we had dinner out and I got to try a Belgian alcohol (not beer!) called jenever which is sort of like a gin(ish) but is flavored. Pretty delicious.

Friday morning I slept in a bit longer than I probably should have (I stayed up late getting a grad school application done on Thursday night), but headed off to Bruges for a couple hours. I didn't really *do* anything much in the city nicknamed "The Venice of the North", but just wandered around marveling at all the beautiful architecture. (I also climbed a windmill which was a great idea until I got to the top and remembered I'm terrified of heights.)

Saw this in the distance; guess what I had to go find!

Seriously, does it get more perfect than this??

(Apparently, yes; yes, it does.)

I love this tower.

Tourist

The canals

Shoe planter!

The first windmill I saw

The view from the top of the windmill.

Friday night we went to an Asian fusion restaurant where I had the BEST curry I've ever had in my life (sorry, Lance!). After dinner, the daughter of the couple I stayed with was scheduled to play a set at the restaurant, so we stayed and listened to her. She was absolutely incredible! She played a mix of original songs and covers and it was pretty much perfect.

Saturday morning bright and early I hopped the train back to Brussels where I got a train back to Paris, where I boarded a TGV that brought me straight home to Dax. And thus concluded my adventure in Holland and Belgium.

(Apologies for not blogging about it sooner!)

This week it's been back to the grind of teaching. I got to meet most of my middle school classes, and I'll be honest: they're quite adorable (except the 3ièmes who were a bit more sullen).

First, let me explain the different classes I'm assisting in. At the middle school (collège), I am teaching three different grade levels; at the high school (lycée) I'm teaching two different grade levels:

Collège:
6ième (6th grade ~11 years old)
5ième (7th grade ~12 years old)
3ième (9th grade ~14 years old)

Lycée:
Première (11th grade ~16/17 years old)
Terminale (12th grade ~17/18 years old)

So basically the 11/12 year olds are adorable and super enthusiastic. The first class I had at the collège was with some 5ièmes and when I said that I was from the United States there was this audible, collective gasp of wonder and amazement which actually almost knocked me off my feet (SO CUTE). So they're all very full of questions and work really hard to speak in English as much as they can which is really cool to see.

My favorite part of teaching (in general, but especially with the younger ones) is when they make cute mistakes. For example, in French when you ask someone how old they are, the question literally translates to "What age have you got?" And so, one girl, tried to ask how old I was but didn't know the word age; she just looked at me and goes "What have you got?" and I had NO idea to respond. Luckily, the teacher helped her clarify. (For the moment with the classes at the collège, I'm in the classroom working with the teacher and not with a group on my own.)

This week my classes at the lycée have been kind of tough. Maybe it's just that we've all just come back from break, but I felt like I was torturing the poor kids this week trying to get them to speak in English which is absolutely no fun for them, I'm sure, and is just heartbreaking for me. I want so much to have FUN with them, to have them enjoy the games that I have them play (even though it's hard). I do have a few really good students who can brighten up my day, though, who are enthusiastic and funny. One of my students today even got really into the exercise (like I was hoping they all would) and so took it a step further than the rest of the kids, which was awesome.

I'm working on a system of rewards to try to encourage the kids to speak less in French (but still speak in English). So this week I started something which I'm hoping will work (and not bankrupt me). Basically, when each group enters, they start with 20 points; each time I hear them speaking French, I take away a point. If they've got more than 10 points at the end of their time with me, they get cookies/candy/whatever next time. So far, all the classes succeeded so I get to make them cookies next week. I also decided to award students who volunteer/go above and beyond. So I'm hoping that these two systems together will work to encourage them to leave the French behind and speak English more. We shall see. I might go broke first.

I'm also going to be starting an English club so that students who want to have some extra time with me to speak English can come and we can...I don't know yet. Play games and maybe cook some things?? I hope so. I've got a few students interested, so I'll have to figure out something for them to do.

Finally, I got around to decorating my room a bit with postcards I bought from the Van Gogh Museum and the cat museum.

Yes, those are two snuggly kittens by my pillows so that I can at least pretend I'm cuddling with something fluffy.

The Assorted Works of Van Gogh that now adorn my wall

Featured left: The lovely cards/letter I have already received; featured center: YOU, DEAR READER. That is your space.

As you can see, there is still quite a large blank space on the wall I stare at while I eat dinner. This is where you come in, dear reader. I love getting mail (cards, letters, postcards, whathaveyou) and so far I've gotten a few that I've put up. But I'd love to have some more things to hang up. 1) Empty mailboxes are incredibly sad. 2) So are empty white walls. So, if you feel so inclined, please send me stuff (not STUFF, but letters, cards, postcards). I promise, I'll write back (so you can get mail too!!). If you need my address, send me a message on Facebook, or email me, or talk to my parents.

Until next time, mes amis: DFTBA!