Images valent mille mots

I'm going to Berlin to see my sister tomorrow and there will be a full posting on our adventures in Germany (hooray for beer!) But, I uploaded a few pictures and decided to just create a little post with some photos for you guys to see how it's going here!

This is the courtyard to the apartment I share with JoHanna. Our apartment is the one with the white shutters on the left. It's small but we love it and the area we live in is central, fun, and very safe!

Speaking of JoHanna, she's the ginger in the middle. I love me some gingers :). The other girl in the picture is Jessamyn who is also an assistant and is an au pair in the suburbs. We took this when the weather was still warm and we could sit near the Seine and drink wine and picnic. 

This is the fish market I pass on the way to the Métro every day. One of these days I'll stop in and get some fresh fish for dinner. They even have sea urchins! I'm not sure how one cooks sea urchins .. but maybe I'll find out some time!

This is the back side of Notre Dame from Pont Marie. It's really beautiful in the afternoon sun. Paris really is a gorgeous city. Come visit me and see for yourselves!

FWOTD: se promener (v.): to walk

La Grève et autres choses...

Hello Everyone,

I'm starting to get finally settled and accustomed to French life. Speaking is still mostly difficult but I'm willing to practice and learn, so I think that's a positive for me as long as I can find someone to speak with who doesn't mind my American accent. I can understand a lot more than I can speak, so that's okay, except for when I want to participate in conversation and I get nervous. After about 3 weeks in my lycée, I realized that I am one of the few lucky assistants with the best teachers and really great students. Of course, there are some duds, but I really do like my students. I didn't think that I would actually like teaching as much as I do (maybe because I haven't seriously had to plan lessons yet, or because my teachers are so welcoming and nice), but I enjoy teaching and not having to grade students (and also only having to be at school 12hrs per week). Today, we went over a cartoon in class about technology and I taught a few students the phrase "to peck the keyboard" and when they went over what they learned with their teacher, they used the phrase. I felt so proud of them, first, and also myself, for teaching them (and the teacher) something that they hadn't learned before.

Last Tuesday was my first experience with a Métro strike. I take the suburban trains to my school which were running smoothly, but the city métro was on strike. I wish I knew why, but when I asked, they just said "because they want something". Apparently this happens quite often.. So, fortunately for me, one of the math teachers generously offered to drive me from Central Paris all the way out to Pontault-Combault to school. There were fortunately no problems on the way home for me, but one of my friends said she had a 6 hour commute back home from school, which is way much more than my patience could even comprehend dealing with. I think I'd just give up and spend the rest of my night in a bar or something.

Other things of interest:
-I had an amazing meal tonight: Chestnut pasta with mushroom, duck, onions, and white wine cream sauce. Essentially my favorite foods in one plate. Topped off with Claufoutis. Which, is incredible. I cleaned my plate. AND, the restaurant is kiddie corner from where I live. I can't tell you how AWESOME French food is. You have to come to Paris to try it!
-One of my students has been showing me magic tricks that he learned off a DVD. And I'm easily impressed. But, my students were more impressed with my ability to bridge shuffle cards, and now they all think I was a poker dealer.
-I'm going to meet my sissy, Megan, in Berlin on Monday and I'm so excited to see her. I miss my family. It's been one of the hardest parts of adjusting to life in Paris. That and missing my dogs and Mexican food...
-Speaking of food, I presented a lesson on McDonald's breakfast (No McMuffins here, friends!) and the students were both appalled and shocked that sometimes we don't make it to the 10:30 cut off when we're craving breakfast, and not even a substitute of a McMuffin will satisfy us. But, I also learned they're OBSESSED with pancakes!
-JoHanna and I are not quite settled yet in our apartment (still awaiting gas, internet (that we're not mooching off our landlord) a real bed/fouton. We're apprehensive of putting up decorations (especially because she doesn't want a Bears flag in our common area..) so I promise I will put up pictures soon, but the one I'm posting for now is our poppin' "champagne" picture of the first night we slept in our apartment!

FWOTD: Grève (n): a strike
           

La Petite Americaine

This was my first week of actual school and orientation. Mostly it was just being introduced to the class and telling them about myself. The looks on their faces when I said "I'm from Chicago" ranged from completely shocked to befuddled. Most of them have asked me if I'm a Chicago Bulls fan. That seems to be the only thing they know about Chicago. The students are great (so far), most of them look older than I do, and all of them are fascinated that I came from so far away to teach at their suburban school. During the introductions, I was asked a few strange questions and gave a few strange answers. So, some of my students think that I ran over Barack Obama's dog with a stolen car and had to flee the United States. Others think that I have six boyfriends. And others are convinced that I aspire to be a prison guard one day. The levels of English range from barely comprehensible to close to fluent. I also find it very interesting that I've been asked in the classroom about my political affiliations in the United States and also what my opinions are on certain issues. It's pretty taboo at home to ask these sorts of questions, so I've been put off guard a few times when these questions are coming from my students.

During one of my lessons, I was asked to help a girl correct her exam. The writing portion consisted of a political cartoon about illegal immigration and the paradox it poses for Americans. So, the girl I was helping has a sentence that went something like this "The potty tasks of the housekeeper were..." and "The other woman in the cartoon asks the housekeeper to do potty tasks". After a few seconds of befuddlement, I realized that the girl meant to write petty tasks. When I told her what she had written, she was mortified and explained to me that her friend had told her that "potty" meant small or unimportant. It was my first experience with mis-translation and it was quite amusing.

I've also overheard some of my students in the hallways referring to me as "La petite Americaine" (the Little American) or "Chicago". My name is very difficult for the French tongue to pronounce. When students were asked to write my name on the board, the majority of them wrote "Christine", which seems to be the closest translation to Kirsten that the French have. They've all been trying very hard to get the pronunciation right, but having them call me Mlle Crowhurst might be even worse.

In other news: I found an apartment and am rooming with a girl from Wisconsin. It's in the 5th arrondissement of Paris (which, from what I gather at the other teacher's reactions when I inform them of where I live, is a VERY coveted area). I'll write more about the location and post pictures of our new place as soon as we're 100% settled.

FWOTD: langue (n.): language