A month worth of updates - oh la la!
I'm not exactly sure if anyone's reading this, but I did get an email from a friend who was disappointed to see that my blog had gone into "reruns" and since so many things have happened in the month or so since my last post, I figured now would be a good time to update the blog.
December got off to an impossibly good start with Davin visiting Paris for my birthday. After he left I wasn't too sad because I knew I'd see him in NYC in two weeks and there were still tons of fun things to look forward to in Laval before Christmas. There was ice skating, a Christmas show at one of my schools, Christmas dinner at the foyer, the Christmas market, etc. Best of all there was the knowledge that I was going to get to go home for 2 whole weeks and see my family, my friends and my city. It was just a really good month and it flew by.
The ice skating in Laval's temporary ice skating rink left much to be desired since they only used the Zamboni machine thing once a day and we went skating later in the day. We didn't even last half an hour, but it was fun anyway.
The Christmas dinner at the foyer went on for ages...we finally got up and left around midnight (it had started at 7PM). We didn't have traditional French Christmas food but we did exchange gifts. Us English assistants decided to rebel against the "rule" that you had to dress up and we got ourselves cow-themed shirts and Santa outfits. We thought we were the funniest thing to ever happen to the foyer Christmas dinner, but I'm pretty sure the French just thought that we hadn't understand the dress-up rule. Either way, it was a good time.
When it was finally time to go home I had to lug my suitcases to Paris and stay at my friend Cassi's apartment so that I could make it to the airport in time for my 9:30AM flight the next morning. It was not a pretty process. By the time I got back to NYC I told my parents that I never wanted to see a suitcase again. The thought of having to go back to France 2 weeks later and once again lug my suitcases across Paris was not in the least bit appealing. You'd think I'd just pack less...but no.
Anyhow, I was thrilled to be home and eat my mom's food and see my family and my dog. I made just about everyone I came in contact with massage my sore-from carrying suitcases- arms and I slept all the time for the first few days (as if my life in France was so difficult that I needed the rest). Jet lag played fun tricks on me for the better part of the first week home and I was usually fast asleep by 9PM on the couch every night. It didn't help that there was a transit strike for the first time in 25 years in NYC and that I was more or less stranded at home for the 3 days it lasted.
So Christmas came and went and so did New Years and in between I spent lots of time with my family and with Davin, less time with my friends, and a fair amount of the time sleeping. I took lots of pictures of NY so that I could show them to people in Laval and I stocked up on all the stuff I thought I'd need to get through the next 6 months in France.
As much fun as it was to be home, I couldn't help feeling that I hadn't accomplished everything that I wanted to. Maybe I had just built it up too much in my head. Maybe it's because I spent too much time sleeping. Who knows? Either way, it was nice being home. Living here in France has made me realize that living in NYC isn't so bad and that I really like my life there. In college (I love how I say that and it sounds like so long ago) I used to always want to go abroad to work - preferrably to Paris, but I didn't really care where. I didn't want to live abroad forever but just a few years to get it out of my system. It turns out that it's not as easy to pack up and leave home as I thought it would be. I'm glad I'm doing this because it's letting me do something I've wanted to do for a while - live in France - but it's also helping me figure out what I want to do after this stint as an English teacher is over.
A bit deep for a travel blog....moving on.
The return to France was not as smooth as I would have liked it to be. When all was said and done it was a 17 hour journey from my house in Queens to Laval. The plane (on which i blissfully slept almost the entire way) was delayed almost an hour in arriving to Paris. This caused me to miss my train back to Laval. I then had to wait 3 hours for the next train which was just as well since i also had to lug my suitcases across Paris again because the bus I wanted to take from the aiport to the train station was ON STRIKE. Bad month for Laura and strikes, but at least I wasn't surprised about the one in France. Strikes are more the rule than the exception here in France.
It was nice to be back in my room and to be rid of the suitcases and it was really nice to catch up with the English girls. I brought them Dunkin Donuts from back home and they liked the jelly ones the best. I didn't have much jet lag coming back this way. I also didn't have much desire to go back to teaching the kiddies. But I got over it and went back to 2 of my 3 schools this week. It wasn't so bad after all mainly because I discovered that KIDS LOVE HANGMAN. And you know what? I love Hangman too. All my classes will be playing Hangman for the rest of the year.
Other highlights of the week: I joined the gym (although now that I've actually gone to the gym I'd hesitate to use the world "highlight") and I joined the movie rental place! I figured out a way to make French DVDs play on my computer and there are so many movies I want to see so I am quite excited about this.
When I joined the gym the guy who was showing me around had to go teach a class and he left me with these words: "Contary to what most people think, French people don't hate Americans." I was kind of taken aback at the randomness of this comment but appreciated the sentiment. Unfortunately, there was a less kind Frenchy waiting in the wings to ruin the moment. He had overheard what the other guy said about Americans and said to me "Oh, you're American? Too bad" and I said "Why's that?" and he just kept shaking his head and saying "Too bad. What a pity. No luck." but not explaining why. Then he told me "I know an American, she's nice" (as if she were the lone exception). I kept waiting for him to laugh or smile or for some indication that he was kidding but it never came. I took out my notepad and started writing something down in an attempt to ignore his presence and I think he got the hint. More than being annoyed or insulted by this one man's ignorance, I was just kind of annoyed at the fact that this whole "You're American/I'm French and I either hate/don't hate your country" thing always has to come up. It's all part of the experience though so it's ok.
Bonne Année 2006 à tous! aka "Happy New Year 2006" (they always specify the year here).
December got off to an impossibly good start with Davin visiting Paris for my birthday. After he left I wasn't too sad because I knew I'd see him in NYC in two weeks and there were still tons of fun things to look forward to in Laval before Christmas. There was ice skating, a Christmas show at one of my schools, Christmas dinner at the foyer, the Christmas market, etc. Best of all there was the knowledge that I was going to get to go home for 2 whole weeks and see my family, my friends and my city. It was just a really good month and it flew by.
The ice skating in Laval's temporary ice skating rink left much to be desired since they only used the Zamboni machine thing once a day and we went skating later in the day. We didn't even last half an hour, but it was fun anyway.
The Christmas dinner at the foyer went on for ages...we finally got up and left around midnight (it had started at 7PM). We didn't have traditional French Christmas food but we did exchange gifts. Us English assistants decided to rebel against the "rule" that you had to dress up and we got ourselves cow-themed shirts and Santa outfits. We thought we were the funniest thing to ever happen to the foyer Christmas dinner, but I'm pretty sure the French just thought that we hadn't understand the dress-up rule. Either way, it was a good time.When it was finally time to go home I had to lug my suitcases to Paris and stay at my friend Cassi's apartment so that I could make it to the airport in time for my 9:30AM flight the next morning. It was not a pretty process. By the time I got back to NYC I told my parents that I never wanted to see a suitcase again. The thought of having to go back to France 2 weeks later and once again lug my suitcases across Paris was not in the least bit appealing. You'd think I'd just pack less...but no.
Anyhow, I was thrilled to be home and eat my mom's food and see my family and my dog. I made just about everyone I came in contact with massage my sore-from carrying suitcases- arms and I slept all the time for the first few days (as if my life in France was so difficult that I needed the rest). Jet lag played fun tricks on me for the better part of the first week home and I was usually fast asleep by 9PM on the couch every night. It didn't help that there was a transit strike for the first time in 25 years in NYC and that I was more or less stranded at home for the 3 days it lasted.
So Christmas came and went and so did New Years and in between I spent lots of time with my family and with Davin, less time with my friends, and a fair amount of the time sleeping. I took lots of pictures of NY so that I could show them to people in Laval and I stocked up on all the stuff I thought I'd need to get through the next 6 months in France.
As much fun as it was to be home, I couldn't help feeling that I hadn't accomplished everything that I wanted to. Maybe I had just built it up too much in my head. Maybe it's because I spent too much time sleeping. Who knows? Either way, it was nice being home. Living here in France has made me realize that living in NYC isn't so bad and that I really like my life there. In college (I love how I say that and it sounds like so long ago) I used to always want to go abroad to work - preferrably to Paris, but I didn't really care where. I didn't want to live abroad forever but just a few years to get it out of my system. It turns out that it's not as easy to pack up and leave home as I thought it would be. I'm glad I'm doing this because it's letting me do something I've wanted to do for a while - live in France - but it's also helping me figure out what I want to do after this stint as an English teacher is over.
A bit deep for a travel blog....moving on.
The return to France was not as smooth as I would have liked it to be. When all was said and done it was a 17 hour journey from my house in Queens to Laval. The plane (on which i blissfully slept almost the entire way) was delayed almost an hour in arriving to Paris. This caused me to miss my train back to Laval. I then had to wait 3 hours for the next train which was just as well since i also had to lug my suitcases across Paris again because the bus I wanted to take from the aiport to the train station was ON STRIKE. Bad month for Laura and strikes, but at least I wasn't surprised about the one in France. Strikes are more the rule than the exception here in France.
It was nice to be back in my room and to be rid of the suitcases and it was really nice to catch up with the English girls. I brought them Dunkin Donuts from back home and they liked the jelly ones the best. I didn't have much jet lag coming back this way. I also didn't have much desire to go back to teaching the kiddies. But I got over it and went back to 2 of my 3 schools this week. It wasn't so bad after all mainly because I discovered that KIDS LOVE HANGMAN. And you know what? I love Hangman too. All my classes will be playing Hangman for the rest of the year.
Other highlights of the week: I joined the gym (although now that I've actually gone to the gym I'd hesitate to use the world "highlight") and I joined the movie rental place! I figured out a way to make French DVDs play on my computer and there are so many movies I want to see so I am quite excited about this.
When I joined the gym the guy who was showing me around had to go teach a class and he left me with these words: "Contary to what most people think, French people don't hate Americans." I was kind of taken aback at the randomness of this comment but appreciated the sentiment. Unfortunately, there was a less kind Frenchy waiting in the wings to ruin the moment. He had overheard what the other guy said about Americans and said to me "Oh, you're American? Too bad" and I said "Why's that?" and he just kept shaking his head and saying "Too bad. What a pity. No luck." but not explaining why. Then he told me "I know an American, she's nice" (as if she were the lone exception). I kept waiting for him to laugh or smile or for some indication that he was kidding but it never came. I took out my notepad and started writing something down in an attempt to ignore his presence and I think he got the hint. More than being annoyed or insulted by this one man's ignorance, I was just kind of annoyed at the fact that this whole "You're American/I'm French and I either hate/don't hate your country" thing always has to come up. It's all part of the experience though so it's ok.
Bonne Année 2006 à tous! aka "Happy New Year 2006" (they always specify the year here).
posted by Laura at 3:59 PM
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This is my favorite blog in the whole wide world!
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