One month down

It's official: I have been in France for exactly one month today! Call it 4 weeks and it sounds like nothing... a month is a whole different story. The strange thing is, it's beginning to feel very normal living here. Truth be told, I'm slightly bored.

All the bureaucracy of finding a house, setting up bank accounts, signing contracts, and getting settled in the house, has been sorted. I've settled into somewhat of a routine... the problem is I don't have enough to do. Supposedly, I have 12 hours a week of teaching. Realistically, I've done about half that for the past couple of weeks, due to some classes being on work experience, and my timetable not being complete at this stage. At college I have been sitting in on classes with the teacher, introducing myself to the pupils, and doing the odd reading exercise with them. At lycee I am slightly more invovled, taking small groups of my own and getting them to answer questions on a document they've been given to analyse. I've prepared a total of two things to do in class... two! My timetable so far means I have two 8 o clock starts, two 10 o clock starts, and all my lessons finished by 1pm. So I've been dossing round in the afternoons with very little to keep me occupied. I'm hoping I can get some extra pupils. I met up with one lady last week who is going to pay me 20 euros per hour to teach her english... sweet! Anyway, I am hoping I'll have more to do after Toussaints... (the holidays, which start this wednesday and last two weeks) Otherwise I may have to have strong words with the teachers.... give me something to do dammit!

There are things I love about France- how friendly the people are (a little too friendly in some cases, men ahem!) and how taking a two hour lunch break is perfectly acceptable. I love riding my bike on a clear morning and not relying on my car to get me places. I love drinking wine with friends- not to get drunk- but to enjoy it. And I love being able to talk in French knowing I can make myself understood and understand what people say back. But I have to admit the past few days I have been feeling homesick for the first time. Mainly missing my mum, my church, and being with friends I don't have to make an effort with.

I find myself enjoying life but at the same time not quite sure where I'm going... and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. On verra.

Men and Boots

I don't know what it was exactly but I think it must have been the boots. Yesterday I was wearing a knee-length denim skirt, a grey jumper, and my purple suede boots... perfectly respectable, I thought. Clearly it was something about the boots; I had about 5 men whistle/ say what I can only imagine were unsavoury things to me during the walk into town. But oh dear... on my way back I was walking past my lycée and there was a guy sitting outside... and he said 'pardonnez moi' and then something I didnt understand. By that stage I was so annoyed I just said 'Sorry, I don't speak French' and stomped off. A minute later he was there behind me in his car, saying 'excusez-moi...'! Luckily I was right opposite my house so I just frowned at him and waved him away and thought no more of it. And then today, quelle horreur, he was in one of my classes! arghhhh I was so embarassed! He probably was just being nice and saying hello...

I think I'll stick to jeans from now on.

3 weeks in

I've not been very diligent in writing on here, but now we have internet in our house (albeit erratic and tempermental as wireless always is) hopefully I will be better at updating this now! I have been in Blois 3 weeks today, but it feels like so much longer.

All is well in the house- except for bad plumbing (the water in the bath takes half an hour to drain, minging) and Sylvie our cat has a skin disease (also minging)... M. Bride has promised to take her to the vet, though has done nothing yet about the bathroom. I swear he cares more about that cat than any of us! Still, at least we have internet and TV now (including the BBC world channel- it's like home away from home) and feel more in touch with the world.

We had a housewarming party on Friday with other assistants from Blois, and our neighbours, which was fun, except that I had a little too much of the old vin rouge...! Saturday was a nice lazy day, and on sunday morning I was up bright and early for church. It was only my second sunday there and I was feeling a bit apprehensive, but everyone was really nice and made me feel welcome. There's a small youth group and they've invited me to a debate next weekend on the subject of Halloween!

After church we cooked a traditional English breakfast (or brunch) for two of our neighbours, Yann and Xavier... they were slightly perplexed by the notion of having sausages for breakfast but I think they enjoyed it all the same! Rose and I have been introducing everyone here to Marmite, with limited success... oh to be in Blighty, where such things are embraced!

So... school. Im working 4 days a week (tuesdays off) and although I'm meant to be doing 12 hours, I actually have less. I'm at collège 8 am on mondays, which means a bike ride in what feels like nighttime... quelle horreur! Last week I just observed my classes to see what level they're at, and to be honest I'm quite bored; I want to do some actual work! In collège I will probably be staying in the classes with the teacher and maybe having one group on my own... the kids are quite sweet actually. At least they are noticeably younger than me; whereas at lycée I'm taking some of the BTS students , all boys, who are all older than I am! In lycée I will be taking small groups on my own and helping them to prepare for their oral exams. I'm going to offer to do extra tuition for any students who want it, since every day I finish by 1 and I am getting so bored! I'm also going to have Spanish lessons with one of the Spanish teachers in exchange for teaching her English.

Susan has been teaching us a few spanish phrases so that when her family phone for her we can say enough to get by... eg, 'hola... susan no esta.... susan esta en paris. cual es tu nombre?' except that each time someone calls they insist on speaking rapid fire spanish at us, despite our repeating over and over, 'no hablo espanol!'. French-wise I have good days and bad days- days where I feel quite good and can hold a conversation, and days where my brain won't function at all. So far though, I am loving it here. It's so much easier than I thought it would be in many ways, and harder in some. Next week Toussaints (holidays) start so I am going to go down to Montpellier for a few days... I can't wait :)

jusqu'ici tout va bien

Well I have been a week in Blois and it's awesome awesome awesome. I'm living in a house with 3 other assistants so haven't been lonely, and they are really nice all of them! I can' t believe I've only been here a week because it feels like so much longer. I have a house, a job, a bank-account... and a cat! she came with the house and we called her Sylvie. apparently our landlord has a soft spot and she's been living in the garage for quite a while. she's also pregnant.... so kittens! or "minous" as they are here.

my french is picking up so quickly already. I understand so much more than I did a week ago and am so much more confident speaking it. I haven't started teaching yet, so that is the next big challenge. we have our training on weds in Orléans so I will start lessons next monday! I've been to the schools though and everyone's really friendly.

I expect a wave of homesickness will no doubt come at some point, but at present the only things I'm missing are TV and marmite...