est-ce tu preferes la france ou les etats-unis? France, clearly

aight, i've a few meetings under my belt, several introductions to various levels of english classes, and im learning more about france every minute. and staving off a headache, too.

moving to france is something ive been dreaming about seriously since my semester in Paris. after 4 months in the best city, and realizing as i was leaving that it took all 4 months to appreciate the advances i had made linguistically, i knew that i needed to 1) become a french major and 2) spend more time in france. as finding a job here is difficult (the current economic climate is not very hospitable to the hiring of foreigners for just any old job), the assistantship program offered an easy in as far as obtaining a long stay visa and residency and INCOME, even if such bliss was only to last for a few months. I'll take it, and work on the permanent move once ive finished graduate studies, no?

that being said, applying for the job and the visa was the easy part. now that we're here, the assistants have a dozen different circles to run, especially those of us hailinig from the good ol' US of A. EU residency cuts paperwork in half - americans need to apply for residency, which means piles of applications, a medical visit, an appointment at the prefecture, countless photocopies of passport and visa...thus far i have: signed my housing contract, mailed the notification of arrival so that i can be called in for my medical exam (yuck), opened a bank account (shockingly easy and yaay carte bancaire internationale = no more withdrawls from my DC account, hopefully from mid-oct til the end!), filled out the securite sociale forms (mailing them tomorrow, hopefully with all the right attachments!), received my convocation to the prefectre (jeudi a 15h30), and filled out my direct deposit forms (to be turned in at Pagnol, my main school = ecole de rattachement). then, if all goes well, i'll have my medical exam and send in that info to receive my carte de sejour (residency); i'll get my insurance card (securite sociale) - the french loooove insurance (even Happy People has insurance!); with these pieces of information, i'll be able to apply for the CAF (caisse d'allocations familiales) = dinero towards rent expenses since im poor. all of this should be finalized by....febuary. oh lordy.

[note: as much as i love france and all things french just for so-being, one of the hardest things for me to adjust to, besides la fermature du dimanche, is the "work to live, not live to work" mentality. i like everything fast, punctual, specific, high-speed...mandy and i waited in the post office for 30 freaking minutes the other day to buy stamps bc the man decided to go around to the back and chill with his coworkers after every transaction.i almost died. and im here to "work" for 12 hours a week? whaaaat?]

papers aside, this week ive been spending some time in the classrooms, too. our first week is reserved for observation, so we can see how the teachers interact with the students, what their levels of english are, etc. ive only seen a few minutes of actual class, however, since the students are very curious about newcomers; ive had a lot of Q & A sessions in the last 48 hours.

im working in three colleges, Marcel Pagnol, Paul Valery and Jean Zay. College,in france, is a rough equivalent to middle school in the states. the grades count backwards: sixeme = 11-12 yrs old, not much english
cinquieme = 12-13
quatrieme = 13 -14
troisieme = 14 - 15
then they go on to lycee (high school). I will work primarily with the 4e and 3e students, since in theory they have a better grasp on english and might best benefit from interaction with a native speaker, although several teachers have remarked that generally the younger kids are more enthusiastic about foreign languages and the older ones are more frustrated at not being able to express themselves as clearly as they would like. ive met kids from all the age groups, and based on the initial interactions, i'll be thrilled to hang out with any of them.

monday morning i headed out to Pagnol, bright and early, since i was supposed to be there for the 8h section of EU (kids that are taking 5 hrs/wk of english rather than just 3 - they tend to be more engaged in language studies and get to do more fun projects) with julia, the teacher i had met on friday. well...she was out sick, so instead i met Emily, another teacher, and hung out with her sections of 5e from 8-10h, and then i sat in on Annique's 6e class. we did q & a, half in english, half in french...the kids were fantastic,i forgot how cute and awkward 13 was...in all the classes i visited, kids would ask if i like france or the US better (france, of course, and then they'd be all smiling), if i speak french (yes, and theyd look all relieved, then ask how hard it is to learn another language), if i was rich, new celebrities, had visited france before, had a boyfriend, what are my sisters' names, do i know 50 Cent, do i have a gun (seriously. i looked at Emliy like, did he really just ask that? and she was all "you should have said yes, to strike some fear in them! omg, hilarious). oh, and then the best part, besides their super-cute "do we get to see you all year?": 3 little girls in the 6e class asked for my autograph! and they gave me theirs, and then they just sat and examined my handwriting...and i remembered that not only with my accent be different for them (they learn british english. i HATE hearing "have you got..." but i'll have to adjust), but my penmanship is different, too.

today, tuesday, i had a meeting at Paul Valery at 15h45; Jean Zay had simply sent me the hours they wanted me to work, but i hadnt actually talked to anyone, so i headed there in the morning,to see if i could sit in on a class or two. the secretary advised that i come in during the lunch break, but as i was heading out of the school to find somewhere to hang out for an hour, a teacher walking into the building asked me if i spoke english - it was mme conte, one of the teachers im working with. she is possibly the cutest thing ever - she burst into english, was super psyched that im from dc, we talked about my hours, she introduced me to the principal (and then laughed behind his back when he didnt understand that "she's from washington" meant the US, told me about her daughter and boyfriend (british, of vietnamese origin, didnt like living in france so he commutes between his job in london and her in valence)...omg, what a hoot. i met another english teacher, as well, but they were both so excited and flustered that they sent me home after that, rather than having me stay for class. buut i'll be back there for an hour tomorrow, with mme conte! cant wait!

and then there was one..clg paul valery. it's a nice facility- the school building is U-shaped around a sunny courtyard, and the classrooms all open onto open-air walkways. the day was perfection and they'd opened the doors to catch the afternoon breeze. the principal (very nice guy) dropped me off in a 5e class for the last 15 minutes of the period, and i got to do another q & a section, and then i conferred with the english teachers about my hours. sadly for them, id already set up my days at Pagnol and Zay, so they need to meet on their own and see where they can fit in...chaos! i then spent about 2 minutes being interviewed by a section of 3e (the oldest kids) - they are so loud and nosy! the teacher for that section, christine (she was actually the only teacher that replied to my emails this summer, so bonus points for her), is great, though - she just gives them this dry sarcasm and stares down the chatty cathys. but yes. i love these kids. i know i have no idea what it will be like working with them, and im sure i'll cry some days and be well tired of it all come april, if not sooner, but it's heartening that these first few days have gone so well. the teachers are open and eager to help and the kids dont seem put off by an american standing in front of them to teach them english. im going to start doing some research and reflecting so that i can do real things with them rather then falling back on bingo all the time. i mean, i truly loved learning spanish and french, and my teachers were mostly boring in middle and high school, but im not boring, right?! no, it'll be good for me to think outside the box about activities and tying in their lessons in memorable ways. and to learn to enunciate and speak loudly.

last thing that was great: i found my place. you know, somewhere that you know youre destined to visit often (like politics and prose for me in dc)...it's a cafe called tasse & glace. it's a small cafe tucked in a corner near the theater, with bright green walls and good music and an AMAZING tea menu, as well as coffee, sirop, juices and (love it) ice cream. i just drank my fruity tisane (served with a bowl of sugar cubes, haribo candies and a mini-macaroon) and read for an hour. it was so nice to enjoy a coffeehouse for a change, rather than being behind the bar (not that i was tired of my job or anything....)! i love it, and no doubt will be a regular, especially once the cold sets in. and it's so nice to feel at home here. the town is cute - theres a great park with a fountain and a kiddy train and a little zoo, i have the Happy People, i found a post for yoga classes that i should pursue, there's ice skating and swimming, good buses (even if they stop running ridiculously early), theres an artsy movie theatre, i live with a fat cat named Kiwi...ive already been asked for directions and stopped traffic so some random dudes could hit on me. im speaking french....sigh. after the most dragged-out move ever (berks to ny to takoma, still waiting on the security deposit...blahh) and living out of suitcases for the better part of 2 months, then the hectic-ness of orientation last week, it is sooooooo nice to just feel comfortable and know where everything is and to be in one place. ahhhh la fraaaance