Do You Believe in Magic?

It's been an eventful 2 weeks in France. I have successfully done the following:

- Obtained a magic key (hence the title of the post) that unlocks all the gates at the high school
- Obtained a TV and a mini oven for my room (thanks to the generosity of other teachers)
- Seemingly have secured getting internet (after the vacation, bien sûr)
- Taught French students about the Puritans, the Civil War, the Gold Rush, the Mexican American War, the Civil Rights Movement, country music, the concept of "soul food," and the term "laid-back." I've also discovered my favorite way to teach is through music. Next up for the French kiddies: The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
- Gone to a concert
- Played (and lost) a game of poker
- Most importantly, I made French friends!

I cannot stress the last point enough. My welcome (in French: L'accueil) was great, and the English teachers really went out of their way to make sure I wasn't alone. However, having friends my own age who aren't my direct colleagues is really good for my morale! Since making friends, I've gotten to do normal things like have a drink in a normal bar (not a dancing box), walk a dog at the lake, and play a game of poker - they type of things that I've found are surprisingly necessary for my equilibrium.

Last night, I went to see a concert. First act was an amazing solo pianist - Chick Corea. Second act was even better, a swiss band called Rusconi. A bit like Sigur Ros, these guys did amazing things a piano, and acoustic bass, and drums. They are definitely worth checking out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9bDis29qXw.

In the 3+ weeks I've been here, I've noticed some things about the French that are surprising, and break some preconceived notions I had. I've also had many experiences that confirm lots of stereotypes, both in good and bad ways. So I think I'll dedicate my next post to Truths and Myths about the French. (Ex. The French smell bad: Myth. The French smoke a lot: Truth).

Oh, and the strikes? I've quickly become accustomed to the fact that going on strike is a national sport for the French, and is usually nothing to worry about. It also means I don't have to work as much :)

Le week-end

So this past weekend was the first weekend in my town. Unfortunately, everyone leaves the dorm to go back to wherever they're from, so my little "chambre" (bedroom) feels more like a prison than living quarters. Luckily, the Frenchies have reached out their generous hands and invited me all around town and then some. The married English teachers have sort of adopted me - they've lent me a bike, did a load of laundry for me, have fed me more meals than I can count, and brought me to the store to do shopping. Among all these glorious things, they teach me about apertifs (small amounts of alcohol drunk before a meal), local cheeses, desserts, and main dishes. My french culinary education is coming along quite nicely. The way of life here really isn't so different as some might imagine. The two things that have been the strangest to adjust to is 1) the main meal here is at lunch and 2) bread is rested directly on the table, not on the plate. Also, lunch and dinner is almost always followed by a cheese course and coffee -- to no one's surprise, this pleases me.

On Saturday, I took a bike ride 8km into Sallanches. Riding the bike was MUCH better than driving. I got to smell the horses, hear the cow bells (yep, the cows really do wear bells), watch the smoke from fireplaces disappear into the mountains...If I had a beret I'm pretty sure I could have been cast in a movie. Once in Sallanches, I went to the general store to buy folders to keep my dozen classes sraight. Then I went the fromagerie (cheese store) I had spotted once before. I dared to go into this cute-beyond-words little store and squeaked out, "I'm not from here and I'd like to buy some local cheese." The woman was very obliging and started handing me tastes of various things, 5 in total. I bought 3, placed them carefully in my backpack, and hit the road. That night, I brought the cheese and some wine over to the English teacher's house, where we ate dinner before heading out to meet some other teachers from the school. Natalia, Blandine, and I ended up going out dancing, which is not called a club, but a box ("la boite"). So, to the dancing box we went. Much like in any club, I felt a little uncomfortable, moreso because I was with two 40 year old women, each of whom had 3 children, and one of whom could be called my boss. Nevertheless, I am glad I went.

The next night I went bowling with my surrogate family, and Sunday night I had dinner at yet another English teacher's house (Sandrine), after which we went to a concert - an American arist curently touring France - Raul Midon : raulmidon.com. He's a blind one-man band definitely woth checking out if you like jazzy blues!

Finally, last night I went rock climbing. I went with Jaques, who is a philosophy teacher who lives on my floor of the dorm. (Olivier, my boss, and his wife Nadine were also there.) Jaques and I wil begin English lessons for a small fee - 10 €/hour - since he is starting a Master's soon and will need to take classes in English.

Today a small step was made in finding other youngins, as I finally have found a 26 year old female Spanish teacher! Just as exciting, she is from Marseille. A conspicuous attempt to gain friendship with her has thus begun!

Climbing Mont Envers

Yesterday, I climbed Mont Envers. It's a mountain right next to Mont Blanc, and it's awesome. I went with the students of technology/engineering. (At my high school, half the students are general high school students, and half are tech students. These students have finished their BAC -equivalent of a GED but harder- and are pursuing further education but not at a traditional university.) The tech course is two years. These students are anywhere from 18 to 24. Every year, both the first and second year students do this hike as a bonding experience. It was really great, not only for the scenery, but to hang out (finally!) with some people relatively my own age.

There is only one female in the second year tech course, and she sleeps right across from me in the dorm. There are two young women in the first year class.

All the students were very nice in sharing their wine and cheese with me at lunchtime. They also were pretty impressed I could keep up the hiking pace (about half the students opted out of the hike to take the train, but of course I chose to hike!). They said "L'ameraine est bien" - "The American is good."

We exchanged some information about music, they helped me distinguish the difference between "la rue" (street) and "la roue" (wheel), and I taught them a trick for saying the "th," as in "think." It's a sound that doesn't exist in French.

Tonight, I am going dancing with two female teachers...they are both about 40 years old! Should be interesting... stay tuned!

First week of classes

I finished my first official week of classes. One class was finishing a unit on violence in the US. This was really interesting, since France has really strict gun laws. It's difficult for the French to understand the second ammendment. It's also startling how many people die from firearms each year - over 11,000 in the US. That's more than 40 per day. Half of the people who die are between the ages of 10 and 24. It's hard to be a representative of the US in this context. I can do nothing but lament this sad reality. At the same time, the teacher who was teaching this class gave the students a story about how teachers brought guns to school in a small town in Texas (population 300). This was an unfair representation. I tried to explain that in the northeast, I knew only one person with a gun and it scared me the first time I fired a pistol (which was only last year). I also tried to explain that gun-related violence affects different populations disproportionately -blacks are twice as likely to die from guns than whites - red and blue lines on graph.

I also taught a class that was doing a unit on English advertisements. For the other classes; I talked about Chicago (sports, deep dish pizza, etc) and the United States in general, which included drawing lots of improvisational maps of the US on the chalkboard (yes, chalkboard - not whiteboard) -- good thing I paid attention in geography!

Training

I spent the weekend in the mountains at a training session with the other 225 assistants in my region. It was like camp - there were rooms with 8 bunks in each one, and freshman-year dorm-style showers - just all lined up next to each other. You had to pull a chain for the water (which was cold) to come out for 30 seconds. There were cows and horses everywhere too. I pet a horse :)

At training we learned about what is acceptable and unacceptable to teach (religion is COMPLETELY off limits!), and we learned some specific activitites we can do with the students. For me, it was also the first time I was able to converse with other Americans in 5 days. I know that does't seem like a lot, but try to think if you've ever gone 5 days without talking to a native English speaker... it's a rare ocassion I think.

I spent a lot of the weekend trying to find other English language assistants who lived within an hour train ride of me. I found 2. Nevertheless, it was a great bonding experience, and it was a relief to talk to people who were dealing with all the same things I was - culture shock, French bureaucracy, etc. Also, I think I secured some visitors since I told everyone how close to Chamonix I was (Chamonix is a world famous ski resort).

It was sad to say goodbye at the end, knowing that I was headed back to my remote corner of France alone. But on the bright side, my French will improve much faster I hope!