Life in France---in sickness and in health

Rebonjour mes amis!

2 updates in one day...aka catching up finally. That is about the only benefit of being sick right now. I have finally caught up on blog stuff and uploading pictures. I started feeling a bit sick last Friday morning. I didn't think it was anything to worry about. It's not unusual for me to have a scratchy throat in the morning. This morning sore throat decided to camp out for a while though.

Backtracking to Thursday night...
We went out to My Goodness, which is quickly becoming our stomping grounds. It's a really awesome little pub in centre ville, yet not too far of a walk from the residence halls we're living in. The bartenders are Irish and Welsh, so there are a lot of really nice international students who go there. There's also quite a bit of French people there as well. It's not strictly foreign or anything, which is one of the many things I love about it. Thursday night, we happened to grab a table next to three guys. After a few minutes, I decided it was time to say hello. Turns out these three guys are all French, and they just so happen to be really awesome people. Their names are Frederick, Arnaud, and Benjamin. They were all born and raised in or near Amiens. They are all really sweet and easy to get along with. I was happy to meet some French friends and can't wait to get to know them all a little better. The weather's been getting a bit better, so it looks like we'll have to have a bbq soon. Too bad Arnaud had to leave before this little photo shoot...

 

So, over the weekend. I was going back and forth between feeling slightly sick and feeling normal. Saturday night, we went to my goodness again. This time we met 3 other French guys to talk to. I guess good things come in three in France? This time, we met a Baptiste, an Anton, and an Anthony. Again, nice nice guys. We've been really lucky so far with the people we've met. Everyone is so friendly and interesting to talk to. We also learned a really fun little drinking game. The object of the game is to discretely grab each other's drinks and drink them. If you don't have your hand on your drink at all times, it's up for grabs. Discretion is key though. It's supposed to be funny to watch the owner of the drink become more and more confused as they wonder how their drink is disappearing so quickly. I'll have to take a video of it the next time I can.

 

Sunday, we went to Paris for the day. We did quite a bit of exploring. We walked around Montmartre, saw the Moulin Rouge, saw Notre Dame, explored Latin and Saint-Germain-des-Pres a bit, etc. There was a ton of walking, so I don't feel a bit bad about having that Berthillon ice cream. :)Once again, I am head over heels in love with this place.

 

 



Back to this morning:
I was supposed to be at my next school, Ecole Delpeche, at 8:30 am. I woke up around 6:45 and felt absolutely horrible. I could hardly even talk because my throat was hurting so much. After determining that I was in no condition to go spend the day in an elementary school, I decided to call Anne. I've been taking medicine and trying to rest as much as possible, something that I have not been doing much of since getting here. That and the weather have been a dangerous combo for me. I'm going to rest quite a bit this week because I don't want to have to go to the doctor here, plus we're trying to go to Amsterdam next weekend. Fingers crossed everything works out.

I miss everyone and hope everyone is doing all right and have enjoyed the holiday weekend. Thanks to all the soldiers out there who fight every day to give people like me opportunities like this.

Loving France but wondering why it's so difficult to find chicken noodle soup...
~Taylor

Week 1---L'école primaire

Bonjour mes amis!

It's been a while since I've made any updates, so I thought I'd go ahead and do that. Last week (May 20th-24th) was my first week in schools. It was a holiday on Monday, so I didn't have to be in classes until Tuesday. Tuesday morning, I woke up and got ready. I had to take the bus to the IUFM to meet a sweet lady named Pascal. She was going to drive me to my high school(Lycee Edouard Gand). We got to the high school which seemed like an interesting set up. It was like a little village of high schools. We found mine and went to find the teacher who would sort of become my mentor for the day. Sounds good if it had worked out that way. Instead, we got there and found out that due to exams and other things, it wasn't the best week for me to be there. Nothing like a little bump in the road to start the week off right. Both of us were a bit frustrated with the situation. We went back to the IUFM to speak with Anne and figure out what I should do for the week since my high school was no longer a go.

Side Note: One thing I've learned since getting to France is that nothing ever happens in the time you think it should happen and it's just best to be open minded and easy going or else it's highly possible to go mad. It's more of a cultural difference than anything else really. In the US, we've become accustomed to making a plan and sticking to it, to getting things we want when (or soon after) we've asked, etc. The lifestyle in France is a lot slower paced. It just takes some getting used to is all. In most ways, I've come to like it. In other ways, I've learned to be more patient. A small joke we have going in the group here is that we always have tomorrow to do what we don't want to do today. All in all, it's a learning experience I'm more than happy to have. There is a lot to be learned and appreciated when you don't rush through life.

Anne, being exceptionally crafty, was able to get me set up with an elementary school. I started that same day, a few hours later than expected, but the same day none the less. Anne is a lifesaver. I ended up going to Ecole Annexe, which is an elementary school right behind the IUFM. Years and years ago, students from the IUFM used to do there student teaching with the school, but they have to many students at the IUFM to do that now, so it's just sort of there now. The school is tiny. It's just 5 classes, one per grade level. The teachers and the principal are all amazing, and the students are as sweet as can be. My first morning was spent observing a class of students ages 7-8 practice in the gym for their upcoming end of the year show. I am happy to say that I was able to understand them and they were able to understand me completely. I was a bit nervous working with these ages because unlike older students, they don't speak any English. Our communication was dependent on me, so there was a lot of pressure. Thankfully it worked out really nicely. I observed each class at least once this week, so I was able to see how each different grade learns. It was really interesting to see them all learning the same things I learned years ago, but in a different language.

 

 

 

 

My week with these kids has been so beneficial for me, and for them as well I think. I was able to observe some differences in the education systems and they were able to learn a bit about a new culture. I spent the week talking to them and telling them about where I come from. I answered questions like: "Do people have black hair like me where you live?", "Do you have movie star friends?", and "Do you eat French cheese in America?" The kids couldn't have been sweeter. I left with a stack of drawings and notes from the kids. Hopefully I will get to stop by sometime while I'm still here to go say hello again. I had a very gratifying and happy week. Fell in love with the kids and the way we talked to each other. I will be at another elementary school this week. Can't wait to see what they ask next!

 

 

 

 

Love from France,

Taylor

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

une soirée au cinéma---a night at the movies

Here are a few pics of my cinema experience. J'ai vu le film "Hôtel Normandy." C'est une comédie romantique. Je comprenais presque tout! Je suis très fier de moi-même ce soir. :)

Bisous!

 

Le Gaumont

The movie we might go see tomorrow...kind of fitting :)

Le petit escargot that I saved on the way home.

 

He's cute

une autre monde

Salut mes amis!

This is my first official post since arriving in France. I had planned to get on here and update everyday, but that is proving to be easier said than done. Since getting here, or even before I left really, I have been going non-stop. It's been a bit crazy.

So, I won't bore you too much about the flight details. It's just a longer version of the same old flying routine. I did, however, meet a really nice girl sitting next to me on the plane. Her name is Julia, and she lives in the Montmartre quartier de Paris. She was extremely nice. We ended up talking about the differences between living, working, and studying in the states versus in France. She is an economist who just finished her PhD and is doing freelance work until she finds a permanent job. We also discussed French literature. It was a really great conversation. Julia was extremely nice, and I will hopefully get the chance to see her again while in Paris.

Upon arriving to Paris Charles de Gaulle, we had to find McKenzie and Matt who were on another flight. Luckily after going through customs, we ended up finding each other while waiting for our luggage. We were all a bit tired, but mostly excited. We transferred to Paris Gare du Nord. While arriving at Gare du Nord, I was able to see Sacre Coeur and that's when it hit me that I was back in France. It still doesn't seem real. We took the train to Amiens, et voila. Anne Petit, who is the coordinator for the program on this side of the ocean, met us at the station and took us to our residence hall. We are all in the same residence hall. To get into "centre ville," it's about a 15 minute walk. That doesn't seem bad at all, but considering most of the journey is on cobblestone, I am glad I brought comfortable shoes! We have met so many students our age. There are quite a bit of people from north Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, etc.) here, which was quite surprising. Everyone has been so incredibly nice. I was worried about my French before coming, but I haven't had any problems talking to anyone. In fact, my first night here, I managed to carry on a conversation with many different people from north Africa, and different regions in France. There were many different dialects, so I was extremely happy to be able to understand everything. My French has already improved and we've only been here a couple days. It's incredible to notice such quick improvements.

Yesterday and today, we have just been exploring the town a bit. Amiens is the home of its own Notre Dame, which is the tallest gothic cathedral in France. I don't think it's possible to capture how majestic this cathedral is in a picture. It is absolutely beautiful. The entire story of the bible can be found in the statues and carvings on the façade. The cathedral also houses part of the skull of Saint John the Baptist, you know, the man who supposedly baptized Jesus. There are so many things to do and see in this city that I have been waking up excited to get out the door every day. I have a few more days before I start the assistant internship, so we have been trying to fill these days as much as possible.

Last night, we went out in Saint Leu with some of the friends we have met. Monica came to visit me from Bordeaux, so it wasn't hard at all to have a good time. I met a really nice guy named Alex who I was speaking with for about an hour and a half...all in French I might add!!! We talked about a lot of interesting things. He, along with several others, have told me I speak French very well and have an impressive accent. I know it seems silly to need that kind of validation, but I can't explain how rewarding it is to have a French person say that to me. All this work has paid off.

I'm basically in love with everything here. The lifestyle, the language, etc. I'm unsure about a lot of things, but I do know that I studied the right thing. It may not be right for everyone, but it's right for me and it makes me happy. It's hard to go wrong with that. I also know that I am so so lucky to be able to be experiencing this (Thanks to all who have helped!). It's nice to have a dream come true. I know this entry has been a bit too general, but I will hopefully get better at this.

If nothing else, these first few days in Amiens have left me excited about my future, more confident, and a little more settled with where I am in life right now. It's ok to not have a specific plan, and it's pretty exciting to think of what could happen in the future, on this side of the ocean or the other.

On a side note, tomorrow we will be going to (PARIS!!!) for the day. We are leaving in the morning with packed lunches. We will go to Versailles and have a picnic and then explore the Montmartre neighborhood and come back tomorrow night. Just call me Amélie Poulain. Updates to come...

I miss you all so much, but I won't lie...this is awesome.

Here are a few pics. You can also see them all on my facebook.

Avec Monica dans Saint-Leu (with Monica in Saint-Leu)

Notre Dame d'Amiens

L'interieur de Notre Dame d'Amiens

il n'y a pas de mots

 

incroyable