Monday 19 October 2015
So I
haven’t been keeping a written record (oops!) and I’ve got a lot of time to
kill right now so I’ll try to catch up. I’m currently on a Megabus heading
north to Paris and I’m on break for Toussaint aka All Saint’s Day, which in
France is a two-week break. I’ve been CRAZY busy, which is why I haven’t been
keeping up with this blog.
The day after I posted last was my
first day working at the school. I was nervous because I had no idea what to
expect but I had been told I would be “introducing” myself at some point in
English so luckily I had a PowerPoint prepared. I honestly assumed my first day
I would just be observing since I had not really been told what I’d be doing
and I didn’t have a schedule unlike two of my colleagues, but I was told to
introduce myself right away! It went over pretty well and I got a better feel
for what language level to expect, although to be honest it varied widely. That
day I worked all day, bouncing between teachers until evening when the school
had an apéritif (snacks and
drinks) in the cafeteria with all the teachers to greet us. It was a nice
welcome but I was EXHAUSTED so eventually we all went back up to our apartment.
That weekend we decided to see
Bourg-en-Bresse, which is the town I keep mentioning as where I always have
layovers to get to Lyon. It’s about an hour away from Oyonnax and there are a ton of assistants
there. We tried to meet up with them but it didn’t work out. But it’s pretty
and that day there was a huge once-a-year market selling everything from
mattresses to pots and pans and clothes and makeup and food and posters.
There’s also a really pretty monastery with an interesting roof that I’ll post
pictures of someday. I didn’t go inside yet (saving that for when it’s cold
outside) but it was a nice sunny day and we sat outside in the garden and I
read my book and the others made fun of me and took a picture that someday I
will add to this blog when I get real Internet. It was really fun, even
considering that I lost my chapstick and was forced to buy some at the train
station because the prospect of 2 hours without chapstick was horrifying. And which
the other assistants found hilarious.
Monday I worked again haphazardly
from teacher to teacher in the same way as Thursday. And Tuesday we had our
“formation” (orientation) which I was SO EXCITED about because I would finally
figure out what my job was! Although I am in the Lyon school district, I am
actually in a different region than Lyon (even though it’s only an hour or so
away by car). I live in the Ain
département and I believe Lyon is in the Rhône-Alpes or something. I’d
look it up but HA no Internet and anyway it doesn’t matter, Google it if you’re
curious. So anyway, although there are a bunch of people on the Lyon TAPIF
Facebook page, most of them are in a different département and attended a different formation. The only assitants in the Ain are: a few people teaching
in cities bordering Lyon but on the Ain side of the divide, a ton of assistants
in Bourg-en-Bresse, we the 5 Oyonnaxiens (the other American at the other
schools in Oyonnax and Bellignat, me, and my 3 roommates), and one girl in
Bellegarde (I think that’s what it’s called – it’s further east and even closer
to the Swiss border). We had to get up early to get there because it was in
Bourg-en-Bresse and of course the train was running slow because it was broken
or something (none of us caught the French exactly) so it was running at
reduced speed. But luckily we were on time anyway. My main contact teacher was
actually one of the presenters which was fun and he mentioned me and my
fabulous presentation PowerPoint in front of everyone. I found out some useful
stuff but didn’t learn as much as I thought I would. After the formation we all
went out for food and we got to know some of the other assistants in the Ain
and wandered around Bourg-en-Bresse a bit more.
I want to pause here and say I’m
still on the Megabus in real time passing a château on a hill next to a river and it’s taking my breath away
right now. I have no idea where I am right now but it’s sunny and beautiful and
there are white cows dotting the landscape and the leaves are starting to turn
yellowish green and rusty red and there’s a field of flowers to my right with a
tractor running through it. And a tiny, cramped cemetery clinging to a hill.
Anyway, the next day was Wednesday,
which was a BIG DAY. French school, for those who don’t know, doesn’t meet on
Wednesday afternoons (although sometimes it meets on Saturday mornings and it
goes much later than American school – until 6 PM). So now that we assistants
had the necessary paperwork, we had an appointment at the bank!! I was SO excited
to get a bank account because you have to have a bank account to get an
Internet subscription. And also because my American credit card is a pain and
only works half the time and I really wanted a Carte Bancaire (CB) that would
work in machines and stuff. The good news is I got the account but the bad news
is I am still waiting on the card and the Internet. I went from the appointment
to SFR immediately to sign up for Internet and we got “the box” two days later
on Friday but we’re STILL waiting for it to be turned on. Which is a pain
because we’re actually moving November 1st and we’ll have to let the
company know and wait for them to turn it on at the new place anyway. UGH.
On Friday my main contact teacher
took me to the Middle School I’ll be teaching at for the first time. He took me
there on his motorcycle because he doesn’t have a car, which was fine except
that when I got on it the first time I knocked it over and almost killed him.
This thing is HUGE; it’s not a Harley or anything but it’s very wide and very
heavy. Somehow he managed to keep it from falling and got it upright. After the
first time he taught me to mount it more slowly and keeping myself and my
center of balance upright and I didn’t have any more problems. But that first
time was terrifying! We met the principal, then went to lunch with 2 of the
English teachers from the Middle School, and then I went and worked with one of
the teachers at the Middle School for the rest of the day. She is insanely nice
and even drove me home after bringing me to her house and letting me meet her
kids and saying I could eat lunch with her on Fridays there if I want. The
benefits of being in a small city like Oyonnax (although technically this was
in neighboring Arbent) become more apparent every day. Everyone is extremely
nice and welcoming and offers to help me immediately.
Friday night we decided to try to see if there was any
nightlife to speak of. Not so much. But we went back to the Zola, the same
restaurant we ate at with our teachers on our first night, and there were some
people having drinks. We met a bunch of buzzed French dudes there. They flipped out
when they heard I was from Cleveland. Apparently everyone in France knows about
Lebron. And the birthday boy (it was a gathering for his birthday) had gotten a
Tim Curry jersey as a present so they taunted me with that. When they heard I
was American two of them decided to do to try out their English on me, which
was definitely better than I expected but not so great except for one guy. But
it was really fun and they were nice and I think there’s a possibility we’ll
meet up with them again. My roommates went to a rugby game with them the
following weekend but I had other plans.
On Saturday we assistants decided
to go on a hike at some nearby lakes with some teachers. It was called the randonné des trois lacs (hike of
the three lakes) and depending on the length you chose they had different
starting places. We saw Nantua but drove to a different place to start the hike
and walked to Lake Genin (near Oyonnax) and back. I have to say, I enjoyed it
but also there were parts when I wondered why I’d come. It was beautiful and
everyone was really nice and it reminded me of nature activities down in the
valley back home, with volunteers bringing food and everyone chatting. BUT it
was long. And hilly. I think it was 15 km and I’m sure you sporty people are
laughing right now and thinking that’s nothing but I am soooo lazy and the
first part was all uphill (it’s a mountainous region) and I was half delirious
by the time we got to a plateau because my asthma was kicking in because of the
altitude. But looking back I’m really glad I did it because it really was so
beautiful and I made friends with one of the teachers. And because it gave me
perspective. I think I’ve neglected to mention this but Oyonnax is known not
only for its excellent rugby team but for its resistance movement during WWII.
I guess it’s just mountain folk – there will always be resistance in the
mountains. In fact, Oyonnax still commemorates a parade of resistance fighters
that occurred during the occupation, and President François Hollande came on
the anniversary one year (probably the 50th but I’m not sure). One
of the teachers also told me that when she was in school at the school I teach
at (Lycée Painlevé), there were still craters in the courtyard from the bombs.
So anyway, walking through those mountains all day reminded me of how insanely
tough those resistance fighters must have been, hiding in the mountains during
the war. I was talking to my teacher friend about it and talking about the
fighters in Crete, who were also mountain folk. I felt like we had this weird
moment of understanding: women who were too young to have been there but who
grew up hearing the legends of their predecessors.
I worked the following week – this
time with a schedule! – and it was my first week with my specific classes after
my “observation” period that was really more of an introducing myself period.
We finally have passwords to use the Internet at the school (not Wi-Fi but I
can use the computer in the teacher’s lounge) and I looked for some activities
to do. I had a bunch of different stuff planned for different levels and I kind
of took the week to gauge the language level of each class. I’d say it was an
overall success!
On Friday night one of my teachers
was nice enough to invite me out with her and her boyfriend to a local pub.
This was where I was during the rugby game, and in fact I caught the end of it
on TV in the pub. Rugby is huge in Oyonnax since their team is so good, so
everyone watches. I got to meet some local personalities and had a really good
time despite the fact that I was the youngest person in there. I think the next
youngest was my teacher and she’s about 10 years older than me. The rest were
much older. My teacher’s boyfriend is a driving instructor and told me I could
use him as a taxi service if I ever need it. The bartender apparently said to
my teacher “l’américaine, elle est
jolie” (the American girl is pretty) and kissed my hand. Which was
embarrassing but funny. I was definitely getting the novel foreigner treatment
but I’m used to it and enjoy it at this point.
That’s basically all I can think of
for now, but I wanted to add for everyone’s amusement that even in France I can’t
escape being called Danielle! My homestay family last year called me Danielle
initially and a lot of the teachers keep accidentally calling me Danielle.
People claim it’s because my last name starts with Da but I don’t think that’s
true whether they believe it or not because I know other Nicoles who get called
Danielle and vice versa. It’s such a bizarre phenomenon.
Anyway, sending love back home and hopefully I’ll have Internet after
break and will post more often and actually because to communicate regularly
and even Skype! That’s the dream, anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment