29.9.06

under the shade of a koolaba tree

So the stage is over and I’m back in Amiens. It was a great two days, not because we learned anything about anything, (although I did learn just a wee bit about teaching children, like hitting them, although technically not allowed, still happens, and it is fine to shake them a bit. CRIKEY!) but because we got to meet all the other assistants in the whole department, and most of them were from the UK or Germany or Spain. I fell in w/an Aussie girl, 2 guys from Kentucky and a boy from Brighton…and a girl from SEATTLE!


I met several more people who are in my city, and now that I know where some of the assistants are I realize how fortunate I am not to be somewhere where the cows outnumber the people and there’s one bus that leaves the town per day. If that.


The days were full of rapid-fire French and I have a huge stack of paper work I don’t understand but need to fill out, and the nights…well, two lads ( I am allowed to say this now ) from Ireland must have bought out a winery and threw a party in someone else’s room.


The aftermath the next morning was interesting, breakfast was quite vacant but I came out mostly alright, although I did earn the appellation sleeplessinseattle (cannot describe how fast the boy from Galway talked, I cannot WAIT to hear someone from Cork!) and have a disturbing tendency to speak "half-British" and end all my sentences with a knowing "yeah, yeah" (or just yea? if it’s a question). It’s amusing to think that we’re all teaching English but after two days we realized that frankly we don’t speak the same language, at all.
The next night the same thing happened, and then we all got on the bus this morning and went back to our towns, still kind of fragile and bewildered and in the dark. I knew this program was horrifically unorganized when I signed up for it, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. Everyone told their story of yeah, they have an apartment but no water or electricity yet, or they’ve been living in Paris because they still don’t know what city they’ve been placed in, or what. But given that we’re all a bit shell-shocked and in the same situation (dans le merde) we bonded rather quickly. Too bad we all live miles and miles apart. E-mails were exchanged, so hopefully I will see some of my favourite people again.


Not sure what’s going on this weekend, I meet with primary assistants and teachers at 1:30 Monday to see when I start teaching. May get a hamburger w/one of the guys from Kentucky, and search for non-tacky, non-ridiculously $$ jeans as mine are already too big (yay! I think.) A trip to Paris on Sunday might be in order. I need books in English badly.


Here are pictures of wherever we where, I don’t think I ever learned the name of the town:

ok so once again no pictures will post... :-z it was coastal & pretty, just take my word for it.


Bloody oath. Wacka-doo!

26.9.06

les escaliers du mort

Not much to relate today, but I do have pictures of my new house! Alice (the woman I live with) was a dj and ran a music business when she lived in Portugal, so my breakfast routine now consists of croissants, tea, and crazy club techno. It's a good way to wake up! Also gives me the motivation to climb back up the stairs of death once I'm through.



I met some other assistants last night, and also a girl from Senegal. That was pretty fun, although I'd forgotten how loud a group of Americans can be. We went out to get dinner and we got plenty of stares. But I now know a place that serves awesome chicken tiki sandwiches. Sweet! Tomorrow all the assistants in the whole area are meeting in front of the train station to go to our stage, which is what they call orientations here. It's on the coast, it should be lovely, and supposedly they're going to tell us all what's going on. I'm glad I didn't wait to hear back from any of the program contacts, though, it seems like everyone has a different story or has heard different things about housing, etc. I think the best approach is just to expect to do everything on your own. It's all that's happened so far!

On that note I am going to the préfécture later on today, to take and number and hopefully get a chance to make an appointment to find out what all paperwork I need so I will be able to leave this country and be able to re-enter it legally. Blech, so much paperwork! There’s a saying here that goes something like "you’re nothing without your papers." So true, so so so true. And tonight I’m going shopping! Figuring out euro sizes will hopefully not be to demoralizing. I’ve shrunk quite a bit just from walking so much! The guys here are like toothpicks. Fortunately with enough nutella, crêpes, and croissants, I should be able to avoid that state ;)



25.9.06

les serpants dans l'avion






So Snakes on a Plane was a dud. It was dubbed. Plus, there is only macho-sounding voice artist in all of France, and his voice is used for Russell Crowe, Harrison Ford, you name it. But Samuel L Jackson? Samuel L mfin’ Jackson? It was almost too much to bear. Plus I kept falling asleep, so just about the time the snakes went crazy and started killing everyone I snuck out back to my hotel room. And then of course could not fall asleep. Until 6 AM in the morning. And then I had to get up at 9, and I looked pretty grim at breakfast. Fortunately they provide very large cups of very black coffee.

Had tons of time to kill today, per usual, so I walked the back way to the train station to check out wifi access and who did I run into? Willy and his girlfriend, who was taking the train back to wherever she lives. She seemed nice, and he informed that me in France we say “wee-fee.” So when I go back to check it out (because EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday here) I will say it correctly.

That only took up a spartan half an hour of my day, so I decided to try the Museum of Picardie next. Of course, I got there at 11 and they close from…12 to 2, like everything here, if it wasn’t closed already, so I took in the first floor of middle age art and then was kicked out temporarily. Walked to the supermarket to discover they were closed, just like everything else. So lunch was my last nectarine and a piece of a carefully rationed bar of white chocolate.

Went back to the museum but arrived just a bit too early and had to circle the blocks, getting odd looks. I had the museum to myself when they re-opened, and there was a nice docent that kind of shadowed me everywhere in his Mr. Rogers sweater, but never talked to me except to smile and say bonjour. The Archeology section was pretty cool, though.

Unfortunately the museum had some killer staircases and I was actually feeling a bit lightheaded, a combination of having nothing to eat and walking for hours on end out of sheer boredom. But on rue des Jacobins on the way back, a Turkish sandwich place was…OPEN! And the heavenly smells of roasting meet dragged through the door, like in the cartoons when the scent lifts you off your feet and you float along following it. So I got a chicken sandwich and made a new friend, Hassan. While the chicken was cooking he sat down and had a cup of tea with me. And while Willy’s intentions are somewhat to fairly dubious, Hassan’s are pretty much downright dubious. But after sitting alone in a hotel room, in a movie theatre, at a café, alone alone alone for 4 days now, I cannot impress upon you what joy a simple conversation brings! Just silly stuff like all he knows of the US he’s seen on TV, like Boston is crime-ridden and California is pretty. Both true. And I learned some more rudimentary vocab. Spoon! = Cuirrette. Probably not spelled correctly.

So now I have two official French friends and a chicken sandwich and the saltiest, greasiest fries you can imagine. What else could I want? A place to live after tonight, my last night in the hotel? Well yeah, I have that too! HUZZAH! I am moving into Alice’s house tomorrow, walking over the deposit tonight. Monday I will hopefully get a bank account and a cell phone and maybe some little plant or other housewarming something for my new room. And Wednesday I meet the rest of the assistants. Joy! The bad news is I have to check out really early in order to call a taxi and drop my stuff of at Alice’s before I have my appointment at the bank. So I think I’m going back to doping myself with Dramamine, I tried Nyquil last night for a change and had a panic/heart attack/aneurysm. DEFINITELY don’t need another night like last night. Let it be said that an empty hotel room is the loneliest place in the world. But things are looking up! Now if only my French would improve…


post-script: well it's monday & i am moved into my new garrett appt. & i thought the museum had killer stairs!!!!


23.9.06

It's odd. Somehow I seem to have developed a sense of direction and am able to end up where I want to go, without having to put too much effort into it! I visited les hortillonnages today, it's comprable to Marymoor I guess, a huge park with lots of canals and a slough of sorts (or is it the Somme river? I couldn't say...) Lots of joggers and people with children and dogs and two young guys playing african drums in the center of the park. On the way back I went through a Saturday market, they seem to be much more functional and less for show than in the US.

I also visited the Cathedral. I cannot begin to describe how huge it is (the largest in France? or even Europe I believe, at least in the Gothic style) and it's claim to fame is the relic of John the Baptist's face. And lo and behold in a display case was a petrified brown face, set in a gold plate w/lots of jewels. Pretty gruesome. That part of Catholicism is always a bit odd to me, (relics). All along the cathedral were murals depicting scenes from the Bible and the history of Amiens. I think Jean D'Arc has some connection to here, but once again, couldn't tell you what. There was a french guy giving a tour and it seemed to be pretty amusing based on the laughter of the group, I might take it one of these days.

I made it to breakfast this morning! And my suitcase came. And l'hôtelier was kind enough to carry it up to my room for me. Unfortunately I can't get into it yet because the airport people locked all the zippers with heavy-duty plastic ties. So sometime this afternoon-evening I'm going to need to buy some scissors and also some insoles because my feet are KILLING me. I think my best bet is a hypermarché (French equivalent to a super walmart) but it's waaaaaay accross town and I'm pretty exhausted and zonked and queased at this point. So I think I'll nap first.

Also exciting, I made my first French friend. His name is Willy, and he doesn't really speak a word of english. I learned a lot of useful vocab from him, though: jet lag = déclorage horiare, begger = clochard, dead tired = crévé, mort, and when things are just screwed up, c'est en beton. And I can now name all the vegetables in a salad Amienoise. I also learned that French men are by far the best lovers in the world, but I should be v. wary of them (present company excluded of course). But he gave me his phone number and told me that if anyone gave me any trouble he would beat them up for me. Kind of reassuring?

That's all for now, time for a nap. Tomorrow I hopefully can move most of my crap to my new room, and hopefully not freak out l'hôtelier because he'll think I'm trying to skip out w/out paying my bill. But I have to check out of the hotel by 10 am Monday, and I have a bank appointment at 9, so really it'd be best to move my stuff Sunday night. I am not looking forward to lugging my 23 kg suitcase up 3 flights of stairs though. Will just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

And as promised, a few photos:

ok well i lied, i can't get them to post :(

will try again later.

22.9.06

aïe aïe aïe

So I am in France. The trip went about as smoothly as I expected...which is to say not at all. But I am here (even if my suitcases aren't yet) in a gaming café w/20 teenage guys & cheap internet.

Note: British Airways are v. nice, but that's about all they have going for them.

Amiens is a cool town, as far as I can tell. I've walked through a good bit of it, at least the downtown area. I met another vetran assistant today which was nice, because I'd forgotten how lonely it can be to travel to strange places on your own. Esp. at 3 in the morning when you have been trying to sleep since 10 pm & can't because of jetlag. & all that is even interesting on tv is 2 men scuba diving 1 at a time...it was bizzare... I was watching it on silent so as not to piss off neighbors @ 4 am... it must have gone something like this tho:

jean-jaqcues: voila, a crab!

henri: that is a very nice crab. Now I will dive down
to the ocean floor w/my silly silly flippers & spear small fish w/an
absurdly large fish-spear.


I don't know. Plus, I broke my alarm clock shortly after trying to turn on the backlight, (don't ask) and consequently slept through breakfast, as l'hotelier gravely informed me. But my french isn't sufficient for explaining "I broke my little alarm clock trying to turn on the little light" so I just said I had a grasse matinée (roughly: lazy morning) and just sounded like a ditz.

Everything here is hurry up and wait. I made an appt. to get a bank account, so this monday i should be able to get that and a cell phone. Note: I CAN RECIEVE INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR FREE!!!! So if you have a phone card & are feeling kind, call me sometime (i will give you the number).

I also met w/the british-french lady & toured her house. I am in love w/the room (maybe not the 3 steep sets of stairs up to it, but it has an amazing view of the cathedral steeple over rooftops and is a quaint little garret... & also her daughter who is 5 and kept singing songs in english for me & demanding bisous (kisses). & alice made me a cup of earl gray w/milk. Hopefully I can move in Sunday night.

Well it has taken me forever to type this as the letters are all different on this keyboard, and I think I am going to check out an Irish pub for dinner. It's the first thing I saw out of the train station & it has my name written all over it. So I will post photos later. So much more to relate but this keyboard is killing me. à la prochaine, then...

20.9.06

one more before I go


Welp. Packing is done, obviously... will leave for the airport in 30 min so now it's just waiting, waiting. I done good, my suitcase is 50 lbs and my backpack is 19.5. This is important when hauling my luggage through every form of transportation save rickshaw and boat. So hopefully, things will go something like this:

Sept 20 6 pm: Leave Seattle for London.

Sept 21 ??? am? 11? what? Arrive in London, hopefully not going through customs and hopefully having my backpack fit their new ridiculously stringent carry-on size requirements.

Sept 21 4:20 pm: [yes, timing is apt.] Arrive in Paris. Hopefully can find someone in customs area to actually stamp my passport. They're usually a bit lax about it..

Sept 21 5:00 pm Take bus from Airport to Roissypole commuter train station

Sept 21 5:20 pm Take RER B to le (la? I don't know French!!!) Gare du Nord

Sept 21 6:00 pm Take TGV to Amiens

Sept 21 7:20 pm Arrive in Amiens, walk to hotel! A little over 24 hours later...


Of course disaster could arise anywhere. Esp. considering I get to barge through Paris's rush hour commute w/my suitcase and technical backpack (hiding in duffel for time being).

That's all I got. It doesn't feel real yet. Denial, I guess. This is going to be crazy!!! But hopefully I will find internet access in the next few days to document the insanity. Wish me luck!

15.9.06

dude, we got 86-ed from Fred Meyer!

well not quite... but we probably deserved it. The kcathi strike again!



I realized one of my first lessons will probably be teaching French children about Halloween. I can imagine how it will go.

Moi: Halloween, a traditional American holiday, is when kids dress up in costumes and eat a shitload of candy.

édutiants: Mais porquoi?!?

Moi: No reason, really.
édutiants: Cooooooooooool!

Other news on the France front...looking likely that I will rent a room from that woman, and also it's about 3 blocks from one of the schools I will be teaching at, so, score! Now if I can figure out international banking...

oh and by request: the capitol hill chip monster. be afraid. be v. afraid.

12.9.06

George Harrison is alive and well!

On PBS, at least. He is playing Here Comes the Sun. I think I shocked poor Jude by commenting that he hasn't aged a bit! Considering he's dead. I knew that. I knew that! And Bob Dylan is looking pretty hot these days...

But they don't make music like that anymore and that's the truth of it.

France. Today I had a housing freak panic attack and signed up on appartager.com for 25 euros so I could appartment shop over the internet. I'm a bit concerned that some of the people who are looking for roomates are psycho killers who want to lure stupid american girls to their demise. But the one upside of that is I'd have a place to sleep before they bumped me off or ate me alive. Probably w/a bechamel sauce.

To try and cheer myself up and get stoked about leaving the country in 8 days, I decided to learn how to flip crepes. With a non-stick pan it was surprisingly easy except that the recipe I followed called for the eggs and flour to beaten together before milk was added, resulting in large goobs of eggy dough floating in a thin batter. I kind of fixed it as I went. The last crepe was the best!

So I bake to deal with stress + I just got a spiffy new camera = I have a new career in food porn. Check these out:







bow-chicka-bow-bow!


Also, since I tend to have a habit of rushing around Redmond, and for a brief time, Seattle, to deliver my baked goods, does that make me a procurer...a bono fide pastry pimp? I kind of like the sound of that. If I was ever going to open a bakery I was planning on naming it "Queen of Hearts" and making a lot of tarts, but I'm going to keep an open mind w/the pastry pimp thing. Pimping Pastries? Your feedback is welcome.

Hopefully in the next few days I'll have a bunch of appartment viewings lined up. There's one room in a house w/ a possible babysitting job of some 5 year old which sounds really really promising. Cross your fingers! and I bake you something...

10.9.06

Straight lines with crooked sticks

Mmmmmmmm. cupcakes!


[Notice the striking similarity between Robb and a certain French football player? Notice how witty that comment is when you realize Thierry Henry is a striker? I mean, that's the position he plays. Striking similarity... striker... I mean, ha ha HA!]


Tomorrow I'm going shopping for adapter plugs and getting some more passport size photos of appropriate thickness for all the ID cards I'll have in France. Should be thrilling!!!




Good
company and tequila is also a great idea. Blogging while sleepy is not. So on that note, bonne nuit!













8.9.06

there in San Francisco, above the blue & windy sea


Note: To the right is a circle of hell that Dante somehow missed, i.e. the consulat general. I'd stick it in between circles 6 and 7, where non-frenchies are forever bringing piles of paperwork up to a little window, and are summarily rejected for increasing implausible reasons.

So I am back from San Francisco and have succesfully obtained my visa!  Sure I was missing a bunch of paperwork and stamps, but the only snag I encountered was having my ID photo's paper dismissed as too thin. How terribly...french? Had a interesting time trying to get replacements, visited three Walgreens before I found one that had a photo machine that wasn't broken (what are the odds?) and generally just more hassle and improbably bad luck that I'm coming to associate with the French beauracratic proccess, bad luck that lingers over your head like a raincloud as you leave the consulat and go back to your daily life, in short: I got my visa.  The photo is probably my worst yet!

(To the left, I imitate my visa portrait in a dark Chinese resturant.)

Other than that San Francisco was great. I got to see Jenn, my roomate from Mississippi, and eat her parent's awesome home-grown vegetables fresh off the barbeque, and lounge in her hot tub and visit Pacific beaches. I think it'd be pretty hard to adjust to the California lifestyle. What with all the sun and the fog creeping across the bay, the awesome art-deco architecture, the free-wheeling hippie ways of San Francisco, it'd be impossible to enjoy living there. So if things don't work out in France, you know exactly where I wont be.


Actually it's a decided possibility. And I'll be sure to wear flowers in my hair.


One last thing: I've heard from France! I will be living in....... Amiens! The city itself. Also, there is housing reserved for me for the first 9 days and I will be teaching at l'école Jules Lefebvre, l'école St Maurice et l'école Jules Verne.

pretty sweet, huh? ahh OUI!