February 2012
3 posts
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On Vacation (Again)
Yup. That’s right. I’m on vacation for the third time since I’ve been in France. If you’ve been following my experience in France, you would agree with me when I say that I have been traveling a lot. It’s easy to do since the transportation is relatively inexpensive and there are so many great places to go. However, it’s very easy to forget how absolutely...
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A "Gut Goût"
A week ago, I spent the day at another teacher’s house for a midi meal and a visit to another small town, which I hadn’t been to before. I had been looking forward to this outing because Nadine has been one of my favorite English teachers since the beginning of this year. I was finally going to meet her lover and indulge in the delicious food I just knew she eats. Eva, comme toujours,...
January 2012
10 posts
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Until Next Time
Since Friday, life in general has been pretty fantastic. Friday I taught a double class in the afternoon since I won’t have to teach Friday afternoons until after break. After that, I (actually) cleaned and organized my apartment, and then took the night train to Paris. This was quickly followed with a Breakfast in America misadventure to reunite with a high school best friend who came to...
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Should I Stay or Should I Go?
So I apologize for my inconsistent blogging as of late. I have been up to other things, like planning travel and my future. No big, right? All assistants have the chance to extend their contract to work until June, and lately teachers have been bringing it up quite often. They have even began talking to me as if this is what I have decided to do. I never signed anything, and honestly, I was really...
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“Sophisticated:
Like Avril Lavigne or 50 Cent, you like to shine! You’re...”
– From the text book for 6ème kids. How are French children ever going to learn English if they associate “sophisticated” with Avril and 50 Cent, or think that Johnny Depp and Scarlet Johanson don’t think clothes are important?
8 tags
Accidental Long Weekend
Early last week, my Toulouse friends invited me to join them in Montpellier for the weekend. I was supposed to visit them the weekend before, but I was too sick and travel-weary à cause de the Christmas vacation. Because of this, I felt guilty and really wanted to see them. So after my afternoon class on Friday, I hopped on a train to Toulouse and transferred to a train à destination de...
6 tags
Strong Words
One thing that continues to strike me about the French language is how strong verbs sound to me—at least strong in comparison to their English equivalents. The first time I noticed this was second year at UChicago when I decided to drop French 204. My professor wrote back using the word “abandonner” to describe what I was doing. Even though this is the appropriate word, the...
7 tags
Bonne Année!
After two weeks of traveling, I’m BACK! Although I had hopes of writing something during the vacation, those clearly did not become anything other than thoughts in the back of my mind. I was too busy traveling around London, Paris, Lyon, Carcassonne and Toulouse. I got back to Rodez yesterday with my family and they are here until Wednesday. Today, weather permitting, we are going to walk...
December 2011
7 posts
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Salsifis Success
Sunday was Jean-Paul’s birthday celebration, and I realize that I may have gotten his name incorrectly last post, Curse those hyphenated first names! This was the midi feast for which I was asked to prepare salsifis, the vegetable I hadn’t heard of before. Salsifies is like a turnip or other root vegetables, but it’s white, longer and thinner than the others. Apparently, its...
8 tags
Nooks and Crannies
My recent posts have been a little hard on Rodez and have been a tad self-deprecating. Or at least the emphasis has been less on my own experiences here, and instead, gazing off in the distance, hypothesizing about the future, reminiscing about home or bemoaning the fact I don’t live in a city. I admit, I have been missing the mark. But the truth is, despite its flaws, I love Rodez.
My...
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Rain, Rain Go Away.
I feel like the string of rainy days I’ve been experiencing in Rodez is a current phenomenon shared with many people I know in their respective locations in the world. Why, world, why? Rain is probably my least favorite (unavoidable) thing—I also dislike the idea of weather in general, but that probably hits on some deeper issues. On dark, cloudy days, all productivity ceases. I feel...
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The Mystery Vegetable Conundrum
Nearly a month ago, I spent a Sunday at an English teacher’s house with a few other assistants and her neighbors. During the meal, Christine’s neighbor invited everyone over to another Sunday midi at their house to celebrate her husband’s birthday. She also mentioned that we would have to RSVP so that she could assign dishes for everyone to contribute. I had brought soup to...
5 tags
Listing
My mother relentlessly makes fun of my obsessive list-making. I’m sure she still finds to-do lists stashed in crevices of the house in Park Ridge, even after 11 weeks being away. I figured it was about time to publish some lists on this blog. And since I’m about 1/3 through my scheduled stint in France, it’s also a time to reflect just a little. So here I go. Please bear with...
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Home is Where the Heart...Was Raised
It is no secret that I believe European living is healthier, more natural and perhaps more content than the lifestyle followed in the States. Money does not hold the same sway here as it does in America, and what you do in your free time is much more important than how you make your living. The French find extreme value in leisure, taking care of themselves, their appearance and also the pleasure...
November 2011
10 posts
10 tags
Noël Vient Près
As I descended the train at 8h30 this morning, back into Rodez, a distinct thought crossed my mind. It was something like, “Well, I really wished I had stopped into an H&M in Toulouse to get warm things. It is COLD.”
Friends, l’hiver froid is upon us, and I don’t like it. I still have my Edinburgh (Edinburr?) mittens, but I left my Cork beanie in Stockholm and my...
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Disconnecting to Reconnect
This is a public declaration of the promise to myself that I am going to begin making life changes, starting today. This is also an apology for not being myself the past several weeks. I felt myself slowly descending into a routine of self-pity, complaining, inactivity and living my life through the internet without doing much to stop it. I pretty much fell into the life those who fear social...
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Time to Waste
I’ve mentioned before that I only work 12 hours each week in addition to tutoring or conversation sessions, which comes to 15 (soon to be 16) hours a week of working. This, as my dear friend Keith informed me, is less time working than he works in an entire day. Okay, well, good for me, right? I am living in France, only having 12-16 hours of my week occupied and living just fine off the...
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Un Week-end Bien Passé
As this was my first weekend back in Rodez for several weeks, I had some reservations on how it would compare to those in Stockholm and Paris. However, this concern quickly faded as I came to realize that it was a three day weekend, and one in which a friend from Toulouse wanted to come visit me. Even if all we did was make soup, it would have been a weekend well-spent. It turned out to be an even...
Ça Marche Bien
Please forgive the lapse in blogging. The truth is that I have been having major writer’s block—I couldn’t find a topic about which to write. However, I have been asked about teaching with some frequency, so here it goes. This inquiry unexpectedly takes me aback each time it is asked. Probably because teaching is not, and probably will never be, something I aspire to do despite...
“Comme disait mon grandpère, ‘Je bois du lait quand les vaches mangent du...”
– From the chalkboard of a bar on Rue Oberkomph in Paris.
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Confessions
Well, this is it. I made a vow in my first post that this blog is to be an honest portrayal of my life abroad. Up to this point, it has; but this has been easy. Sure, not everything has been on top of the world, but overall, things have been more or less smooth-going. Now it’s time to admit something no one, no matter how old you are, wants to admit: homesickness.
Tuesday marked seven weeks...
October 2011
13 posts
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Ben and Liz's Misadventures: What a Steal
Although Ben and I loved Stockholm, despite it’s adverse effects on our minds and bodies, we were glad to be leaving the land of the Krona and entering into the Euro. While it’s a great place to be, Scandinavia is EXPENSIVE. We actually used the hostel kitchen the majority of the time—but by that I mean to keep the milk and yogurt cold for our muesli. Our quality of life...
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Liz and Ben's Misadventures: More than a Syndrome
One of the perks of being a foreign language assistant in France is that you begin teaching after the school year has begun, you get all of the scheduled vacation time the kids and real teachers get, and your contract ends before the school year is over—you also don’t get a wage that reflects how many hours you actually work. Fortunately, this week I was paid and am on vacation....
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Finally a Foodie in France
I feel like it has been a long time coming. Thanks to good friends like Benedict, who challenged my bland food preferences through humiliation, friends like Phil and Daniel who would always go with me to the classy and expensive wine/cheese or vegan restaurants I wanted to try, and for being on a volleyball team where you really just had to eat what you were given, my palate began to expand to...
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A Day in the Countryside
In previous posts, I have complained how very few things are open on Sundays. While inconvenient for this lonely language assistant, Sundays are the day where there is nothing, freeing families to get together and enjoy each others’ company. This, of course, means they eat the entire day. Coming from the States, this prospective food consumption frightened me; but, my friends, this is...
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In the Car with the Father of a Girl I Tutor
Father: One day I would like for you to translate the songs of Lady Gaga for me. I think I know what she is saying, but I am not sure.
Me: Haha. Okay. Do you like Lady Gaga?
Father: Very much. She is a little crazy. I like that.
Me: Me, too.
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Social Life in a Small Town
Rodez is a small town. While it does have an airport, train station, a city center with many shops, restaurants and a market on Wedesday AND Sunday, the night scene leaves much to be desired. This is probably best explained by the tale of when Eva and I went out last Saturday night.
We had heard through the grapevine (and the festival posters splattered all over Rodez) that there was a music...
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Perpetuate the Stereotype, Why Don't You?
My route back to Rodez from Toulouse was not the best. I did not receive the itinerary from my schools for the day of orientation, so I had no idea what time it would end. Therefore, I made the executive decision to just stay in Toulouse Wednesday night and return back to Rodez the following morning before I had to teach my first classes at the collège Fabre. First, I spent a somewhat sleepless...
Aunt Jayne Visits Rodez (Conversation From Memory)
Aunt Jayne: Ah yes, you can taste the...what is it... not the aftertaste. That doesn't sound refined.
Me: The linger? Like there is a lingering taste of...
Aunt Jayne: Of poplar?
Me: Haha. Evergreen? What are you actually supposed to be able to taste in wines?
Aunt Jayne: In red wine you can always say you taste cherries.
Me: Yeah, and in white wine you can always taste some sort of citrus....Like the lingering taste of... Shoot, what's the word in English...?
Aunt Jayne: HAHA what???
Me: Ummmmm grapefruit! That was embarrassing. I wanted to say pamplemousse, but I didn't think that was right...
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Getting Too Loose in Toulouse
As the pictures indicated, I spent four nights in Toulouse this past week. I love Rodez, but it was nice to go somewhere different—I was getting a little antsy having completed much of the procedures necessary for my apartment and life in France. Plus, the teachers from Lycée Foch told me that I should take advantage of going to the city and spend extra time there without worrying about...
Wait. Is That, Like, a Thing Here?
One of the highlights of Rodez is that it has a pool. Originally, I was told that it is a public pool, but that still means that you have to pay to get in. There are also only certain hours a day that there are open lanes available, and like everything else in Rodez, it is closed on Sundays. Naturally, I bought the 20-entry pass and have started to go.
The first time I went to the complex, I...
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Do You Understand What We Are Saying? No.
I’ve been sharing strange happenings with some of you, and I feel that it’s only fair if I send these out into the cyberverse to be enjoyed by the three people who read this blog (Haleigh said that it may only be her and my parents, so I’m rolling with it).
First, may I say that since I have been adapting to the French keyboard without having my own to use, this is incredibly...
September 2011
8 posts
3 tags
Tramping Around Rodez
I cannot believe that it has been five days since my last post. I guess time really does fly—especially when you are trying to get settled in a foreign city with a list of technical to-dos that spans farther than the city center of your small city in the south of France.
For example, this morning I went to the Wednesday market to pick up the fruits and vegetables I had anticipated needing...
Making Connections While Cut Off
Hello all,
I apologize from not keeping in touch better, but the truth is I really haven’t had a choice. The first two nights (Sunday and Monday) in Rodez, I stayed with an English teacher who was gracious enough to let me into her home and take care of me until I found some short-term living. On Monday, I met with one of the middles schools that I will be working at and found short-term...
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Well, What Else Would I Do?
This is a question that permeates my current existence. My adjustment to this from my normal compulsion to make everything I do count and to spend my time wisely has occured much faster than last winter’s. Then again, I had a thesis looming over the trip last time, and now I really have no responsibilities.
Therefore, what else would I do than sightsee during the day in Paris to meet up...
Á Paris
Bon soir. I have been in Paris for maybe a day and a half and it has been great. My hostel had been really chill and in Montmatre, better known as the area for the Moulin Rouge. Today, I met up with my friend Keith who I haven’t seen since before I left first trip.
First, we went to see the Sacre Coeur and walk around that first area. We also saw a fabulous cemetery (I’m so glad I...
1 tag
Karyn's on Green
Waiter: Well, I hope you enjoyed your meal. And I'm sure I'll see you around here.
Me: Actually, I'm moving to France.
Waiter: Show off.
Me: Yeah...I'll see you in 9 months for my welcome back family dinner.
Father: Yeah if she doesn't renew her contract...