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?
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