First break thus far.

So, I am on my first school holiday and I haven't done too terribly much. I've hung out with friends as usual. We went and saw the new James Bond movie, which I though was pretty good. Wouldn't call it a work of art, but it was entertaining and action packed for sure. I will admit that we saw it in English.

Besides that, I have been staying in bed and resting a lot because unfortunately, I am sick. It's just a cold, but I'm trying to take it easy so that it just goes away and doesn't linger. But, that means during my break I'm not doing a whole lot so far. However, tomorrow is Halloween and I will absolutely be going out no matter how terrible I look/feel. Luckily, my costume does not require me to look cute at all. (Don't even ask, it's a surprise.) Unless I've already told you... then shhh!

So, last week Lori asked me if there was day light savings in France and I had no idea at the time. But, it turns out there is. The interesting thing is that day light savings in France happens a week earlier than it does in the US. Weird, huh? So right now, I'm actually only 5 hours ahead time wise instead of 6. But, when you guys turn your clocks back in a few days, it'll be 6 again.

The good news is that I have officially been paid! But, the bad news is, it's still really expensive to buy train and plane tickets last minute, so unless I find a good deal somewhere, I might just be exploring Toulouse for the next week and a half. Which is okay, there's still plenty here that I haven't discovered I'm sure.

Goals for the first holiday break:

-get some lesson planning done!

• Thanksgiving
• Presidential election outcome... eek!
• American vs British English

-stop being sick!

-visit some local museums/places more cultural than just bars

-clean the apartment

-take more pictures (too bad my camera hasn't been working very well.)

-read, watch tv, and movies in FRENCH instead of English

-go see Kirikou in theaters 

On an entirely different note- I've been trying to keep track of the storm going on at home. I know a lot of you don't have power right now and probably won't see this, but I hope everyone is safe and dry! I've seen some scary stuff on the coast. I'm hoping everything isn't quite as bad in New Milford since it's inland. But, still, stay safe everybody! If you're able to lend a helping hand, do so. The true strength of communities really shows when these things happen, but you've got to make an effort to make a difference.

I just thought this was humorous since I love Grease so much.

The weather here has been fine. It's dropped down in temperature a bit, but it's still not too bad. Some parts of France have gotten some snow, but here in Toulouse it's still been pretty sunny for the most part. I'm glad I've got my scarves and hats though!

I'm going to do some Harry Potter reading (in French of course) and try to take a bit of a nap. I hate being a complainer when there's such worse stuff going on at home. But, all I want right now is to have my mommy and a bowl of noodle soup and to feel better.

I guess Slappy and Harry Potter will have to make due though.

Help from abroad?

Hello my darlings!
I've got a few questions for you all that could help me in the next upcoming weeks:

• What is an easy Halloween costume I can make with mostly just clothes I already have? I don't mind going out an buying a couple of things to finish it off, but keep mind, there aren't any costume/party/halloween stores here, and I'm running pretty short on cash until I get paid. And who knows when that will be? Halloween isn't celebrated here (which is super lame), but us anglophones aren't gonna let that stop us! Suggestions?

• Where should I visit while I'm in France? I kind of blew it for this upcoming break travel-wise because I did not plan ahead at all. I really wanted to go to Paris and/or Barcelona for this first 2 week break, but by the time I got around to looking up trains and flights, they were pretty costly. In my defense, I had a lot of other things to keep my mind busy this first month besides making travel plans, but I definitely could have put a little more effort into it. That's where you come in! I don't want to mess up all of my travel opportunities while I'm here, so help me out. Where would you go? I will absolutely be going to Paris, Barcelona, and Italy at some point, but besides that, I'm open to suggestions. For this first break, I'm going to try to find cheap train rides to other areas of France that hopefully won't be as expensive. 

Amerricuhh

• What are some interesting/important "American"things I simply must tell my students about? It can be anything from holidays, traditions, songs, food, geography, etc. It doesn't matter. If it's something where I can get the kids interested and talking while simultaneously learning about culture, it'll be perfect. I am working on both the presidential elections and Halloween right now. I will absolutely be teaching about Thanksgiving when we come back from break. I'll be the popular teacher that brings in yummy food! But, what are some other things you think are important? I know I'm probably going to miss some things that could lend themselves wonderfully to my lessons. Is there a monument I should talk about? Some different customs? An era of music? I've already taught them that we're not all fatties that carry around guns constantly. What else can I teach them??

Besides using your opinions for my benefit, I haven't been up to too much. Teaching is getting into full swing, so I've been much busier lesson planning and making teaching materials, blah blah blah. I suppose that is why  I'm here, so I guess it's okay. But, I preferred going out with my friends every night. Which reminds me!

  This is Kyle! He is our Bahamamamian! It was brought to my attention that on my blog I only ever talk about my English friends! I've been leaving out our important friend from the Bahamas! I'm not going to tell him I did this. I'm going to wait and see if he sees it (because he secretly reads my blog) and see what he says. This is my apology to you, Kyle for leaving your presence out of my blog for FAR too long. It feels much more complete with you here.

I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you all terribly, but don't worry, I'm loving it here at the same time! I wish you could all be here with me though. Keep me updated on your lives please. I can only find out so much through facebook, after all. Thanks for keeping up with me here, it means a lot. And thank you in advance for all of the suggestions I know I'm going to get. (Did that intimidate you into responding?) Yes? Good. A bientot!

Lunch Break

Hello all!

I finally went to my 3rd school today. I was supposed to be there at 8, but I got lost on the way and didn't get there until about 8:45. I was going to just go to the class for the last 15 minutes, but I didn't know where the room was and the secretary told me there wasn't an English class until 9:00. When I went to the class at 9, she told me the students in her 8:00 class were really disappointed that I wasn't there. After explaining everything to her, she was fine, but I was a little worried at first. I was literally walking around Toulouse looking at every map I could find. I knew I was ridiculously close, but I just couldn't get myself turned around and going in the right direction. And it was raining. 

Besides that, the classes I was in this morning went well. We talked about the upcoming election and the students were pretty knowledgeable about what's going on. I feel really out of the loop in what's been happening with the debates, so I'm glad we opened the floor to questions outside of politics. The second class I had was a ground of 11 year old's. They are the cutest, sweetest kids in the whole world. They were so enthusiastic and almost all of them asked a million questions. Even after the class was over, they were following me in the hallway asking more. 

I get my own classroom in this school too! It's just big enough to hold about half a class, which is pretty much all I'm going to be working with at a time. I've got my computer sign in name all set up and even my own photocopy code. I was really surprised at how organised and ready to go they had everything for me today considering how long it took from me to hear from them at all. I don't get the same warm and welcoming feeling from the teachers at this school, but that class of youngsters melted my heart. 

I've got to go back to the school for an hour at 3:30 to teach one more class, but I had a 3 hour break before that, so I came home for lunch. I stopped at the store really quick on the way home to pick up some essentials. 

How French am I?

I made a not very French lunch (hot dogs w/ cheese and mustard along with some grated carrots) but I had a super French second half to my lunch!

Orangina, Camembert cheese, and olive oil and vinegar to go with some of my baguette! 

I've got to go do the dishes before heading back to the school. I was going to take a nap during this lunch break, but it had been a while since I posted, so blogging won. I am DEFINITELY taking a nap when I get back though.

Oh, do you want to know the most amazing part of this post?? 

I'm not at McDonald's. I'm in my living room. With my feet up on my coffee table. With the balcony open. 

BECAUSE I FINALLY HAVE INTERNET!!

Okay, gotta go clean. Talk to you soon, mes petits choux! 

It's a twister, it's a twisterrrr!

The past three days there has been such a ridiculous wind nonstop. It is called le vent d'autan. And it is also known as the wind that can make you crazy. (le vent qui rend fou). And let me tell you- I can understand why. I think the past three nights I have gotten a total of 4 hours of sleep. It is so loud and the shutters shake and it sounds like your apartment building is going to be lifted off of the ground and tossed on it's side. The noise is by far the worst part, in my opinion, but as I was walking home from the metro the other day, it was literally pushing  me backwards. I am not exactly what you would call a small person and this wind was seriously challenging me. Walking by itself challenges me, I don't appreciate the extra obstacles.
The wind has pretty much died down, although it is generally a pretty windy city in the first place.

I have finally started teaching and have a somewhat regular schedule. I have only been to two of the schools to teach so far, but I will be going to the third school on Tuesday morning/afternoon. It's weird to me how long the school day is in France. I was telling some of my students here that in CT our school day ends around 2:30. They were quite jealous. Then, I told them that we started around 7 and only got 30 minutes for lunch. These students get an hour and a half to two hours for lunch each day. It's REALLY different then what I'm used to. I sit there and absolutely scarf down the food and the other teachers are peeling their apple still. The food that they serve at these schools is so good. I had duck yesterday. Duck. It was so good. Then, we went back to the teacher's lounge and had coffee and chatted. It's sometimes difficult to understand everything they're saying, but it's nice to be able to see my communication improving each day. Even though all of my friends here speak English, teaching allows me to use my French a lot more often.
I have to speak French in France? Why did no one tell me this?! Just kidding. Kind of.

Since the last time I blogged I've done a few things, but not much has changed.


I went to iBar, which is an amazing deal for girls! It's a pretty good deal for guys too, but definitely better for us. It cost 2 euro to get in (and 2 euro to check a coat/bag) and you get unlimited food and drink from 7-10. They only do this on Wednesdays and the food changes every week I guess. When you first get there, you give your ticket to the bartender who gives you a cup (full of a liquid of your choice) and you keep the cup all night. The food this week was hot dogs and pasta salads, so nothing special, but definitely a good deal. At about 9:00 dancing started and it was a wonderful time. I'm not a big fan of dancing in general, but it was great to meet some new people and have a new experience. Anna, Ashley, and I went and met up with some people there, but our other friends will absolutely be joining us next week. Yesterday, we went to Place St. Pierre to start, followed by Jager Bar and ended the night at Arty bar. At this point it's necessary to walk the hour back to my apartment, but with company it can be one of the most funny parts of the night.  

The most interesting part of teaching this week is that I actually taught an entire class by myself without the teacher being there. I thought the teacher was coming back, but she never did haha. The students behaved themselves and participated in the lesson well. We talked about embarrassing situations that have happened to us (practicing the past tense) so it was pretty funny. I wasn't planning it for this class, but I had it planned for the class before it. It definitely helped that I had a solid plan set up, otherwise I don't think they would have been so respectful. I'm actually not supposed to have a class to myself, so the class after that I just stayed in the teacher's lounge and did some brainstorming, but it was nice to see that I was able to do it on my own (even if I'm not allowed to) without it going completely horribly.

For this week I've got to plan lessons on:
-the upcoming election- can someone please tell me how to explain the American electoral process to French middle schoolers using very basic English? 
-the President's featured on Mt. Rushmore- I literally had to look up who they were... oops.
-Halloween- I can't even begin to explain to you how excited I am to do this lesson. I'm going to be teaching multiple classes using this lesson and it is probably going to be more fun planning it than it will be teaching (or learning). 

 I finally heard from my 3rd middle school (after being MIA forever) and I guess I'll have my own classroom with a computer and I'm allowed to decorate it. I doubt I will, but it'll be nice to have my own space for planning. And they offered me some additional English classes that will pay, so I have a chance to make some extra money! I would love that, but I also want to travel and I don't want to give that up for a little extra cash. I'll talk to them Tuesday and see exactly how it would work.

I'm currently watching the Arsenal game with a few Brits. I don't know what's going on, but they're angry. And I am currently wearing my New England Patriots sweatshirt... I've gotta represent REAL football while I'm in France, right?

lazy blogger apologies

First of all, I am really really sorry that it's been so long in between my posts. We did finally sign up for an internet plan, but it takes about a week to activate. So, once I have internet in my apartment I'll be able to post a lot more often, I promise. So to those of you who have been checking this daily and finding nothing new (Grandpa and Mommy) I'm sorry!

Super French things I've seen since I last posted:

Old men with FANTASTIC moustaches and berets

poodles! (although not wearing berets)

I went to a rugby game!

Pistachio Macaroons are delicious!

I also saw a woman breast feeding in McDonald's, but I won't put a picture up of that. You're welcome.

Things that I've accomplished:

-bank account and bank card

-made friends

-furnished apartment

     -fridge

     -washing machine

     -bed

     -couches

     -living room table 

-went to a football game

-went to a rugby game

-bought internet (though it still needs some set up)

-started teaching

Things to do still:

-get a phone plan (I know which plan I'm going to get and I went in and talked to someone today, in French, and figured out everything. I just need to have more money before I can actually get it.)

-teach at the rest of my schools

Teaching:

I went in on Friday to "teach" at one school. I "taught" 4 classes. The reason I'm saying "taught" is because I did the same thing in all 4 classes, which was introduce myself and answer their questions, which I don't really consider teaching. But, it went well. The teachers are really nice and the students don't seem like they'll be too much trouble.  I've almost got my schedule all set up. 

School 1- I'll have an alternating schedule where one week I'll work all day Monday and the next week I'll work all day Tuesday. 

School 2- As far as I know now, it's Thursday mornings and I'll be working with a drama class, which I'm really looking forward too, but I don't know exactly when that'll be yet.

School 3- This is the school I already taught at. I'll be working 4 hours on Friday, but every other week (including tomorrow) I'll be working an hour on Wednesday morning instead of one of my afternoon Friday hours. 

So the schedule isn't something that is set every week and some days are going to be earlier than I'd like, since I need to leave my apartment about an hour and a half early to get there on time with bus, metro, bus transfers. It'll definitely be interesting to see the differences between the students and schools and be able to get my hands into actual teaching. The assistant from last year left a disc for me with all of her lessons and materials on it. I'm gonna take a look at that later and see if I can use anything or make some material my own. (I was told a lot of it was a little on the dry side, so hopefully I'll be able to spice it up a bit.) 

Well, that's it for now, but I promise promise promise that once the internet works in my apartment I'll post much more often. Which will hopefully be soon.

A bientot!

Jumpers, crisps, and pavement.

I've spent the past 2 days surrounded with British English and I think it's so funny. Even though we all speak English there are some things that just don't translate or that cause some serious confusion, but it's really funny at the same time.

Last night, we hosted our first little apartment get together. I wouldn't call it a party, but a neighbor may have knocked on the door and handed us a list of rules for the apartment building... oops. But, the point is, our apartment is really coming together and it was nice to be able to show friends around and play the hostess. We even had bread and cheese available, along with crackers. And wine.

Anyways, I went to the bank and got my card this morning, so we should be able to have internet by Friday, hopefully. Maybe Saturday. But, it'll be a lot easier for me to update everyone more often. When I do, I promise promise promise that I'll include pictures of the apartment in its furnished state. However, my camera decided that it should stop working while I'm in France, perfect timing, I know. But, I've got my droid, so I can still take some pictures for you guys.

We're about to meet in town and go buy rugby tickets for this weekend! I'm not sure where the rest of this day will take me, but with this group, it's always interesting.

Bises!

English bubble.

Hello all! I promised a slightly more informative post this weekend and here it is!

I've continued to make more friends and get to know more people. It's really cool because I'm meeting people from so many different places, but we're all here in France together. We've been drinking wine down by la Garonne, walking back to our apartments at 3 in the morning since the metro has stopped, comparing the different forms of English and laughing at the miscommunication it occasionally causes. However, along with this group of awesome people comes the ease of speaking constant English. I was taken aback when I ordered my coffee at McDonald's this morning and I was spoken to in French. I knew I wasn't at home, but I had momentarily forgotten that I'm in France!

Although I'm very aware that I'm going to continue to speak English, I am going to make an effort to speak French more often. Maybe I'll even do some studying... or not.

I am going to try and update tomorrow as well with what happens the rest of today, but as of now the plan is: possibly pick up some furniture to borrow/move into the apartment and later on we might be going to a football game (soccer football). I'm really looking forward to going and experiencing a soccer game in another country. I'll be sure to tell you all about it if it ends up happening.

Anna and Brian went to get our new fridge yesterday, but the woman didn't realize we wanted to take it that day, so there was still food in it. So, she's going to have it ready to go tomorrow. My bank card should come in this week, so hopefully within a week I can stop relying on McD's for internet. Although a child just walked by with a very delicious looking sundae... I'll try and resist, but I did walk like an hour home last night. Which was also followed by Annie's mac n cheese.

OH YEAH! Yesterday morning our buzzer rang and it was a delivery guy with the package I've been expecting from Mama Green. I HAD TO PAY 118 EUROS TO ACCEPT THE PACKAGE! My mom already had to spend a decent amount the send them damn thing here! Apparently in France, customs has huge taxes (mainly for packages sent from the US or China) that the person receiving the package has to pay or they can't have it! After muttering some choice words under my breath, I paid the man because I wanted my peanut butter, mac n cheese, and Harry Potter books. I also gave him plenty of attitude even though I'm aware he was just doing his job. But, we are in France after all, I'm sure he's used to grumpy people.

There are so many adorable French children running around McDonald's right now. I can't even handle it. I hear these little children speaking French so easily and I'm always like...  why can this baby speak French so much better than me? And then I remember that they are French babies and not just geniuses, which makes me feel a little better.

I know I haven't posted any pictures of the apartment yet or very many of me actually doing things in France, but I promise they will come. I'm trying to get things with the apartment settled and I'm just really bad at uploading the pictures I take. But, I can promise that I will absolutely at least attempt to remember to do it tomorrow. On va voir!

apologies.

Sorry I'm so lame with the updates recently, still no internet at my place. But, there is hot water and Anna and Brian are on their way to pick up a fridge!

I promise this weekend I will find the time to come up with something longer. And hopefully something that includes some form of pictures, sarcasm, or wit.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Step by step.

I just remembered that this show existed... throw back!

Things are slowly starting to come together. 

Things I have:

• an apartment
• a bed
• a couch and chair
• a go phone
• a bank account
• cool roommates
• metro card

Things I don't have:

• internet
• hot water (the guy shoulddd be coming today)
• teaching schedule
• phone plan
• bank card
• fridge
• bed sheets/pillows/blankets
• bath towels

Obviously some of these things take priority over others. Hopefully I can convince Brian to take me to the super market later to pick up some of the smaller items. We've been finding furniture at www.leboncoin.com and stuffing Brian's little car full of couches and mattresses. The next priority is a fridge, but I wouldn't mind a washing machine either. Or a microwave. I think I need my bank card in order to get internet and I should get my bank card sometime this week. Hopefully. But, Tori, you say, you're blogging right now, so you must have internet! Oh no, my friends. 

 McDonad's has free wifi. Which means I'm spending way too much time at McDonald's and therefor eating way too much of it. I will stand by the fact that the quality of food in French McDonald's is much better than what I've experienced in the states, so I don't feel quite as bad about it. I've also been sitting in the hallway by Christophe's apartment where I can pick up his wifi. Yes, we have literally been sitting in a dark hallway outside of his door just to get some wifi. Christophe tells us we're more than welcome to come in and use it, but we don't want to take advantage, so we try to give him his space. He has been letting us take showers at his place since we haven't had hot water, which we have completely taken advantage of. Cold showers are just not for me. 

What else can I tell you? Friday night a lot of the assistants got together in Toulouse and we went to a couple different bars (I can't remember if I told you this already or not, so if I did, feel free to skip ahead.) It was so amazing meeting people from so many different cultures, all here to do the same thing. The last bar we went to was...

10 points if you figure out what it means and you don't giggle.

 We went to a bar last night called Cafe Populaire (or Cafe Pop). On Mondays they have really good deals, so it was a great night to try it out. It was awesome talking to people and experiencing the bars here instead of just the states.  The music was really loud, so it was difficult to hold and deep, meaningful conversations, but I'm just glad people were willing (and able) to talk to me in French without too much confusion. 

This morning I took the bus to the metro to another bus in order to get to one of my schools. I took bus 39 because it was going to l'Union, but it wasn't quite the right line. I got off at the last stopped and walked around for a while. I was able to find the school pretty easily though. I handed in some paperwork and talked the seretoriat for a few minutes. He's taking care of a lot of paperwork for me, which is awesome. He showed me a much easier way of leaving the school and getting to a bus stop instead of walking all the way around. It was a successful morning and now I know it is in fact line 43 that I need to take to get to both of the schools in that direction. Though, I still need to figure out the route to the 3rd school. And my teaching schedule. 

We have orientation tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll be completely overwhelmed with information then. I'll be sure to update you as soon as I can! Wish me luck that we'll have hot water when I get home!