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

Chance Encounters and the Cathedral

So today I ran into another assistant by accident. We had met through the Bordeaux Assistant Facebook group, and I knew that she had arrived in the city yesterday. I wasn't sure when I'd be meeting her, but I thought she was living in the Foyer like me, so I'd run into her surely in the common room at some point.

I was in desperate need of groceries today, and a few odds and ends for the apartment that I've just been picking up slowly other the past week. Normally, I take the bus to Leclerc (since the bus stop is right in front of it), but there's a Carrefour behind Leclerc, and since that's where I shopped pretty much exclusively when I lived in Orléans, I decided to walk the extra 3 minutes to check it out. Well, it's a lot bigger than Leclerc, and of course I didn't know where anything was, so I resigned myself to walking up and down the aisles.

Lo' and behold, I run into a family in the aisle with all the dishes. Didn't really think anything of it, until the daughter says "Hey mom, I like this one," in perfect English. I stopped for a moment, incredulous. No British accent, no French accent. Just American English. In a town like Dax (where NO ONE speaks English), I just had to ask. It still hadn't occurred to me that it might be the girl I knew from Facebook. So I blurt out, "ARE YOU AMERICAN?!" Of course, she was; she recognized me almost instantly (she said that I "looked tall" from my Facebook photos), and so there we were. Two Facebook acquaintances, both thousands of miles from home, in a city of about 19,500 people and we're both at Carrefour. Talk about a chance encounter.

I also went to the Cathedral today since there was a free guided visit. It's a gorgeous cathedral, but really not my style. Neo-Classical, built in the 18th and 19th centuries; eh, I'm really a medieval gal. Give me a cathedral built in the 14th or 15th century. It's not that I'm religious (pas du tout -- not at all), but there's something awe inspiring about walking into a building that's THAT old. And I just love the architectural style.

But the visit, though long, was extremely informative.

pigeons on the outside of the cathedral

The facade of the church, finished in the 19th century (last thing done)

Detail of the tower

On the lower left is the guide

interior detail

The ceiling

   

The old gothic door

Jeanne d'Arc

Immaculate Conception by Murillo

A painting at the DIA.

I added in the painting at the DIA because when I first saw the painting on the left in the cathedral, I thought it was the same as the painting on the right--a painting I fell in love with on a trip to the DIA a few years ago. When I got home and looked at my old DIA photos though, I realized that they're (clearly) not actually the same painting.

I'm *thisclose* to having wifi chez moi. I went to SFR today (a phone/internet/television company--a bit like Comcast or whathaveyou) after finally getting my bank account opened and started my subscription. All I've got to do is wait for the text message telling me that my stuff is ready to be picked up; then I get to go pick up my wifi port and set up an appointment to have someone come set it up.

BUT, in addition to wifi, I will also be getting a ligne fixe ("fixed line" or house phone) on which I will have unlimited calling to the US (to mobile phones as well as house phones) all included. So that's pretty awesome. :D

I also figured out that I can sit on the bench outside the common room and get wifi, so I'll be able to check my email and stuff at least a bit this weekend.

Sunday there's the bullfighting championship of France (who knew?!) and I'm going to go check it out with maybe some of the other assistants. I am, in principle, against bullfighting, but when in Dax, do as the Dacquois do, yeah?

Other than that, it's just paperwork paperwork paperwork. And, of course, French bureaucracy is notoriously slow. First, I need my bank account (CHECK), then I need to fill out papers to apply for Social Security so I'll be covered with French healthcare, but to do that, I need to have a paystub. But we don't get paid until the end of November (we can apply to get an advance on our salary for the end of October). I also need to apply for the CAF (French housing assistance), but to do that, I need to have my social security all set. All the papers/emails/handbooks say that SS can take a month or more to complete. So....basically I'll have everything all set by the time I'm ready to come home. VIVE LA FRANCE! :D