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Published: November 28th 2009
Arras
we have photo contests whenever we go on outings, and this photo won for the Arras trip! :)I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving and ate lots of turkey and sweet potatoes for me. There wasn't even a hint of the holiday here, so it was a bit sad. Life here in Douai is far from exciting, but I suppose I can scrape together an update for you guys.
School has been going okay, I guess, when I actually have classes to go to. I only have about eleven hours of class a week, and they keep getting cancelled for various reasons (teacher strikes, bike safety classes, storytellers, etc). It's often quite frustrating. The students are only required to have two forty-five minute classes a week (but obviously that's not even happening), and homework is never assigned. Not many people around here speak English, so it's not like their parents can help them, and there is next to no motivation amongst my students. It's often like pulling teeth to get them to participate in English, and they seem to think answering questions about English vocabulary in French is acceptable. We studied colors and animals for three weeks in one class, and the average quiz grade ended up being 4/20. It's very disheartening for me and the teacher
because we try so hard. Hopefully things will look up soon.
Oh, and at one of my schools, I have a new class to teach: computers. My computer skills are pretty much limited to Facebook and uploading photos, but apparently that doesn't matter. I am supposed to start with teaching fifth graders about French punctuation...entirely in English. I speak as slowly as possible using very simple phrases, but all I get are blank stares. Also, I have next to no idea where to find all the punctuation marks on a French keyboard since mine is set as French-Canadian (much easier to use, in my opinion). This could prove to be very interesting...
Many of the students here in Douai go home on the weekends, and the weather is getting more and more depressing. We are therefore trying to get out on Saturdays for a bit. Last week, we went to Arras. It's a whopping fifteen minutes away by train, but it's supposed to have nice Flemish architecture (not that I could really tell you what that means). It turns out it's just like Douai with an uglier belfry and the same shops arranged in a different order. We
did explore the town centre, though, and we got religieuses (cream puff-type pastries) and coffees in a café.
This week's excursion was to the Marché de Noel (Christmas Market) in Lille. It's supposed to be one of the best in France, but it was a bit kitschy and overpriced. You could buy all sorts of jewelry, ornaments, gingerbread, useless knickknacks, candy, and stuffed animals. They also sold mulled wine and waffles (which are really big in northern France and Belgium), and the place was overrun with English people who just popped across the channel for a day trip. It was rather disconcerting to be surrounded by so many English speakers after living in France for over two months (already?!) We hit up some nice shops that don't exist in Douai (like H&M!), drank hot chocolate in a café before we were so rudely asked to leave to make room for other customers, and enjoyed the holiday hustle and bustle.
I have only two days of classes this week. Monday's classes are cancelled due to a visit by a storyteller. Thursday, I'm heading back into Lille with Katie (the other American) for our required medical visit. I've waited eight
weeks for them to tell me to show up for this exam so that I can finally have a fully valid visa. Fortunately, this means that not only do I get the day off of school, but I also will no longer have to worry about re-entering France after a trip out of the country! Hooray for weekend trips to England!
We've only got three weeks until our Noel vacation, and I cannot wait! I'll be heading down to Paris to see my friend Peter sing in his holiday choir concert. Then we're taking a 15-hour, overnight train trip down to Rome (it sounded better when we booked the tickets weeks ago...now I'm a bit concerned about my sanity on this trip). Four of us will be meeting up from various countries (France, Italy, and Israel) for several days, then I'm taking an overnight train back to Paris. After twelve hours in the city (hopefully visiting Aude!), I will be heading to the airport to fly to Okinawa, Japan. After all of my New Years plans fell through and I had exhausted all of my European contacts, I thought I was going to end up alone and homeless as
we welcomed in 2010. Fortunately, Chris invited me to stay with him in Japan, where he's stationed with the Air Force. Instead of holed up in my room alone in Douai, we'll be ringing in the New Year on a beach in East Asia.
Lucy bought a bunch of Christmas decorations in Lille today, so we've spent the last two hours hanging up decorations, listening to Christmas music, and chatting with parents on Skype. She's been using me as slave labor to cut snowflakes, claiming that her left-handedness severely impairs her cutting abilities. At least she pays me with the occasional piece of chocolate. I must admit that her retro snowman lights are very cool...I may have to pick up my own on Thursday...
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aunt kel
non-member comment
dont worry kate, i ate enough for 10 of us at thanksgiving!!! and we thought of you with every bite! we love and miss you be careful and have fun!! love ya aunt kel