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Published: October 23rd 2009
BONSOIR A TOUS!!!!!!!
I'm so sorry it's been over a week since I last wrote! Things are mellowing down a bit for me right now and I didn't want to be saying the same things all the time in my blogs. So I figured I'd wait to update you all on the past week and a half before Toussaint!
Let's see, where to begin... Jackie came to visit me last weekend!! She's placed in Creteil (paris suburb) and this experience has been a huge culture shock for her. Here in France, suburbs and cities are flip flopped. For example, the wealthy people in Paris live in the city where as our "inner-city" people live in the suburbs. Anyways, she came to visit me for my birthday and we spent all day Saturday in town and drank wine, ate delicious pastries, bought 80 euros worth of childrens books, ate a fantastic meal, got lost in La Riche because our bus line was finished for the night, panicked and ate chocolate, found a nice family in the neighborhood and asked for the number of a taxi service, were picked up by a very friendly taxi driver who didn't charge us the full amount, and made it home safely! That was basically our day in a nutshell! teehee!
This week went okay! I'm still loving everyone at the high school and IUFM. I'm just so blessed to be working with such great people! Wednesday was week 2 of the Literature Class. It's going well...I really just sit there and listen. The thing about French teachers here is that they lecture all the time. Our class is three hours long and in that time, not one person spoke. I find myself having to doodle in order to stay awake! I really appreciate the American system of working in groups and interacting with the teacher instead of just listening. I learn more that way. On the other hand, it is wonderful to hear the language more though! 😊
So by being alone here and having a lot of time to myself, I find myself thinking a lot and paying attention to details I would probably miss if I was with someone else. I must say, the French must have a fabulous sense of balance. I danced for 15 years and thought it didn't help with my clumsiness, it did help with my balance. Well, so I thought. I was on the crammed bus coming home from the city and you would have thought I had wheels on my shoes. I'm not kidding every turn, bump, stop, and start, I was FLYING everywhere bumping into people left and right. Normal right? I mean how can you keep your balance when your on an amusement park ride like that?! This is where the "French Balance" comes in. Everyone around me was standing perfectly still....I was the only one flying around like an idiot. I'm sure that was a dead give away that I'm foreign...I'm just glad noone from home was there to see me !! haha
In the city, they were giving out free samples of ear plugs. When I came home, I decided to try them out to see how well they worked! I sat myself in front of the mirror in my room, put the inch long bright orange ear plugs in my ears, and just stared in silence. This is the moment that I realized...wow...I need to get out. The highlight of my day is discovering French ear plugs... So, last night I went out! God Bless Loic. He's really taken me under his wing and introduced me to so many people. We went to this student party last night where there were at lead 800 people. It was so much fun...we danced all night! The only problem was...I didn't get home until 5 and I had to get up at 6:30 to go to the lycee!!! haha whoops!!! I was dead tired this morning but Brigitte was so happy for me that I went out! haha It was a great night, but my goodness I'm exhausted!
Well, I'm pretty much all packed for tomorrow!!! I'm taking an 8:15 train to PARIS to spend the day with Jackie and find the apartment my mom and I will be staying in! I'm soooooooo excited to se my mom! I'll be at her hotel as soon as she arrives on Sunday to pick her up! We have such an action packed break planned, and I can't wait! I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write during our travels, but you will for sure get an update with MANY pictures and new adventures when I return!! Miss you all!!
Bisous!!!
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Jennifer(:
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Bonjour Alana! Ca Va?! Your blogs are so funny! I bet France is so beautiful! I hope you have fun in France with your mom! Love, Jennifer(: