Carine en France

Well it's been another 60 days and I'm updating again. I just seem to forget about this blog. Here are some highlights of the past 60 days: Prague: I went to Prague for the last weekend of January to see 2 of the Miami skating teams compete at their international competition. I traveled alone and everything went really well. I didn't realize how much I missed my old friends - it was really revitalizing to see them and spend some time with them. The teams did well - 5th place and 4th place. Unfortunately I caught a really bad cold and came home very sick. Rouen: The next weekend I traveled (alone again) to Rouen, France in Normandy where my best friend, Gianna's, little sister, Gabi, was competing with another U.S. skating team. This town was ... read more

I've been meaning to post my address in France for quite some time, so here it is: Cari Drake-Wittenborn Chez M. Thierry Duchêne 101 avenue Barthélémy Buyer 69005 Lyon, FRANCE I haven't writen about my daily activities in awhile so I thought I'd take a second to do that - especially after experiencing the US election this past week. Of course Obama was the favorite candidate of just about every Frenchman/Frenchwoman and on the 4th and 5th the election was all the French were talking about! I was very happy to wake up and find Obama the winner on November 5th and my French family helped me celebrate. They surprised me that evening with champagne, appetizers, and 4 French newspapers so I could remember the different headlines in France on that day. Although they began by ... read more

The next morning Kristi and I woke up early - as was the case this trip - and Vince slept in. I went for a run to see the train times since we had to check into the hostel in Marseille between 10-12 and then we gathered up our stuff and went to the station. Turns out there was a train leaving right when we got there and we sprinted to get on. The train was pulling away as we found seats. the ride was short but the walk was fairly long when we got to Marseille. We weren't sure what to expect at this hostel as we'd read it was just an apartment where a guy had put bunk beds in most of the rooms and charged people to stay. We rang the bell three ... read more

It has been a very long time since I've written and I've been dreading this...there's so much to write about the All Saint's Vacation! To start, I'll tell you about two of the most HORRIBLE days I've had since I got here - the Thursday and Friday before I left for vacation. On Thursday I was supposed to leave for the metro at 6:50 a.m. and was instead woken up by my "French mother" at 7 a.m. asking if I was supposed to have left already. I got ready in 10 minutes and ran to the metro and then all the way to the school. I walked in just as the first bell was ringing but then realized I had forgotten about 1/2 the teaching materials I needed at home. I made up some new material ... read more

Last week I had my first REAL classes where I was alone with the groups of students and running my own lesson plans. Everything went very well and most of my students left smiling telling me they really liked the class. I had some sophomore classes where I showed them American stuff (like my driver's license, school ID, prom pic, dollars, etc.) and then played a game. They really like my stickers and I can use them as a bribe! My one class of juniors was easy - I only had 4 and they were very mature. My senior classes were the best. We talked about segregation and I tried to make it more personal - really connecting with one character rather than learning about Rosa Parks for example. I think they really enjoyed it even ... read more

I really shouldn't wait this long to write on here because I always have so much to say and I can never remember everything! This past Thursday I went to Grenoble with Laurie to help her pass out flyers and posters for two big snow skiing/snowboarding events coming up. Grenoble is about one hour est and a little south of Lyon. I really wanted to go there and I'm glad I went on this trip with Laurie because it's very small and I was able to see most of the city just walking around with her all day. And that's what we did...we walked. A lot. But it was a beautiful day and the city center is very pretty with a lot of old pedestrian-only roads. I've added some pictures of Grenoble to this post. On ... read more