And then it gets better...

I bought a ticket to go home for Christmas break, and things are going much better overall. I imagine that this comes as a direct result of knowing that I will be back home, if even for a short time, but I'm going to take every positive feeling that I get and just hold on to it.

Classes have been going well, my kids are behaving themselves (even if they're still a bit talkative, or "bavard"), and the lessons are going pretty smoothly. I still miss people at home, but have come to terms with the fact that I can see them later if I don't manage to do so during the break, and that long-distance communication is still a form of communication. Not as nice as face-to-face, but still good.

I also decided to move to a new place, starting late January, and I couldn't be happier! It isn't "ideal," per se, but it is a beautiful little house with a garden and small yard. I will (if I get to live here) be living with two very nice French girls, a little out of the city center, but in a beautiful neighborhood.

This blog post sums up the experience better than my ill-timed posts ever could:

http://www.brookerene.com/2010/11/everyone-take-their-pencils-out-of.html

Life Goes On...

            My long weekend in Avignon was AMAZING. I remembered so much of the city, got to meet some of Nicky’s great assistant friends, and ate home-made dinners chez Nicky every night. Seeing the Palais des Papes was something I had always hoped I would get to do again, and it didn’t disappoint. It reminds me of all of the great moments I spent in the city with my friends three years ago, and I think will always serve as the focal point for my memories of Avignon.

            But as life tends to go on, bringing with it shocks and disturbances as often as it brings good times with old friends in places we love, I found myself a bit disheartened when I returned to Chambéry. Having spent part of the weekend at Nicky’s using her much more reliable internet reconnecting with people back home, I came to the realization that I managed to make some really terrible life choices before leaving for France. Add this to the stress of needing to actually finish my graduate school applications and my frustration with teaching elementary schoolchildren with whom I don’t really share a common language, and the past week or so has been rough to say the least. I never thought I would be the kind of person to want to leave Europe (or a job right after graduation) but I’m finding myself close to the point of just buying a plane ticket and going home, and ending my contract early. The only reason I really want to stay is because I want to be able to move on to bigger things next year, i.e. grad school, and I know that I wouldn’t be a serious candidate if I left this contract early.

            Aside from that angsty mess, things are going as well as could be imagined. I’m getting help with lesson planning and am coming up with new games to play with my kids. I started teaching Thanksgiving this week, so at least a small portion of my lessons is going to drawing handprint turkeys, a welcome relief from the emotional strain that accompanies teaching children (especially those who still can’t read in any language, let alone a foreign language). Things will go on, and get better, and I just want to be able to make it to that point with some sanity intact. Also, I think I am boycotting boxed wine. It makes me an emotional (and belligerent) wreck. Sorry to anyone involved in Friday night’s rambling attempts at serious, emotional conversation.

AVIGNON!

Tomorrow I get to go back to Avignon, where I did my study abroad as a freshman. I've missed the city so much, and have realized in the past three years just how much I took it for granted. Provence was definitely one of the friendliest, most beautiful places I've ever been and I can't wait to see it again.

Shit, it's been a while

So for anyone who has actually been reading this, I'm REALLY sorry that I have been sucking so terribly at updating it. I didn't realize it had been nearly a month! I'll try to make this post long enough to make up for your time.

First off, you may have heard or read about the protests here. They were definitely happening, and in some cases were kind of a huge nuisance. I had to miss work one day and get a ride from my conseiller pedagogique (it's kind of like a manager, I guess) another day. Then I got stranded in Grenoble, about an hour train ride away from home, because the trains apparently stopped two hours earlier than normal. Fortunately I had a floor to sleep on, thanks to some incredible assistant friends, but it was still convenient at the very least. My city was especially bad at having what would be called "les manifestations" in addition to your typical and regularly seen "greves". That would be the difference between a protest and a strike, to translate into English as well as I can. I saw in one day: a bus stop window smashed in, two older ladies running away from the riot police's tear gas, and something burning in front of one of our only landmarks here in the city. These were all due to younger people who almost definitely did it just for the fuck of it, and not out of a sense of concern over the issue at hand, the extension of the retirement age by two years.

I taught my classes for two weeks and then had a two week vacation. It was ROUGH getting accustomed to teaching, but I finally got into something resembling a rhythm. Now that I'm back after the long break, though, I'm finding that the experience really didn't help all that much! I'm still running out of material early, but I imagine that this is all a part of teaching. No one ever goes into teaching already good at it. Lesson planning is HARD. That said, I already have students that I can tell are really good at English, and in some of my classes the kids are all kinds of good at it already. I have one particular class that it really is fun to go in every day, even though they're the ones who make me finish way before I'm supposed to (they're super smart).

During the break I went to Paris. It was incredible! I didn't really dig it too much the last time I went, but this time I had zero time conflicts and I was there for longer, so it was much better. I also got to visit several gay bars and clubs, which was awesome. By the way, if you're freaked out by any of the following, don't go to gay bars and clubs in Paris: having a creepy old guy watch you pee, creepily, and then follow you out of the bar, where you have to walk very quickly to lose his drunk ass in the street; watching a guy shower IN a bar; getting your ass and junk grabbed by strangers as you walk past; and seeing two shirtless dudes dance in a cage. I got to be a super tourist and take a shit-ton of pictures, which was perfect. Next time I go I don't need to take a camera at all, which is super convenient because mine is really big. I took just over 300 pics... which although that seems excessive, it really isn't too bad. I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Sacre Coeur, Pere Lachaise, Tuileries, the outside of the Louvre, the Centre Pompidou, and the Notre Dame. Not