Hey, teach!

I have gotten some questions from friends about what exactly I teach - whether it’s chosen for me or if I create the lesson plans. The answer to this is: it depends. I teach over a dozen classes over the course of two weeks, which include all the 3 years of general high school plus students called BTS students who are post-BAC (again, BAC is basically equivalent to GED). There are two years in the BTS course, which means I teach 5 years of students, ages 15-20 roughly, although I do have a few BTS students who are older.

Some students are focused on literature, some on engineering, some on sales. They all have different requirements for how much English they need to know and different standards for grading, all of which is -not surprisingly- confusing for me at times. I work with 7 different teachers, but I tend to teach separately from them in small groups, as I mentioned earlier. Some teachers give me free reign to teach what I want. Others have requests. Some of these requests arise organically - for instance, I was discussing the regional differences in culture, attitude, way of life, etc. in various parts of the US and a teacher asked me to create a fun quiz/game for the students to test their knowledge of US geography, ,history and culture. I divide them into teams and ask them 30 questions about the US - 5 Overview questions, and 5 questions each about the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West. This gives me the opportunity to teach about the settlers from England, Native Americans, the western frontier, various wars (Civil War, Mexican-American War, etc.), food - of utmost interest to the French-, current politics, and more.

Sometimes when I am teaching I get questions that take me back. For instance, just yesterday I was teaching about Thanksgiving when one of the older BTS students said, “May I ask you a question - what do you think of the gun laws in the United States?” This is such a tough issue for me, and something really difficult for French teenagers and adults alike to understand. I explained that the Constitution is the original, founding document on which our government is based, and in this document, it states that citizens are allowed to own guns. I explained that the Constitution can be changed, but it is extremely difficult, and it is typically to add to new laws, not to reverse old ones. That being said, each state has different laws in regard to guns, some of which are more strict than others. Chicago was the last place in America that has a total handgun ban, and that was reversed by the Supreme Court last summer, citing that it is unconstitutional. I also explained that I personally believe guns are too easy to own and there should be much stricter licensing laws. The student then cited the movie Bowling for Columbine, in which a boy and his mother walk into a supermarket and buy a gun. I replied, “Yes, that is sad and shouldn’t happen. That might have taken place in a state such as Texas, and I haven’t been there, but anywhere I have lived, the notion of buying a gun in a supermarket is ridiculous and it would be impossible.”

Then back to Thanksgiving…which in fact, I wasn’t completely prepared to explain. It went a little something like this: Well, when the pilgrims came from England, they met the Native Americans. And there was some war, then peace, then war again, back to peace, back to war, and then a big meal where everyone ate turkey. I tried to enforce the idea that Thanksgiving is about coming together with family and/or friends, and it is about giving thanks. It is not a religious holiday, but an American one, honoring the tradition of coming together from different backgrounds. I tried to get each student to say something they were thankful for, but they had a difficult time with this concept. Several needed lots of prompting and finally said family or sports. Good enough.

Another funny thing about teaching is this: I feel terrible giving bad grades, even when the students deserve it. Kalli or Dan, if you’re reading this, how do you deal with this? I am bereft.

Beaujolais Nouveau and Fondue

This past Thursday was a special day in France. It was Beaujolais Nouveau, a day when the Beaujolais wine region of France releases its new wines for the year. These wines are not particularly good; in fact, it is just a pretext for une fete (party). But that's fine with me. In the salle de profs (teachers' lounge), there was a potluck for Beaujolais Nouveau. This is a picture of the potluck, which was from 12-2: standard lunch break for the French. I brought banana bread, which dooesn't exist in France. Since the French are food snobs, there was a lot of suspicion surrounding my bread loaf, which they call a cake since this does not qualify as bread to them. It was gone in about 20 minutes, so I mark it as a success. Of course I tasted the wine, which is very fruity - kind of like grape juice gone bad. Just kidding, it wasn't that terrible. But definitely nothing like the excellent Bordeaux I had that night for dinner...

That same night, another professor on my floor made fondue as a birthday dinner. I am continually humbled by how nice my friends and colleagues are. Some students on the floor joined in and we had a nice little fondue party. I am also continually amazed at how seriously the French take their cheese. For this was not just fondue - it was fondue Genevoise - Geneva fondue. This is different from fondue Savoyard or any other type of fondue. I am pretty sure it just means it's made with different cheese. Geneva fondue is made with Gruyere. It was delicious!

Hiking around the Bastille

Last weekend, I went to Grenoble again to spend some time with other English language assistants. We spent our Saturday on a hike to, and then beyond, The Bastille. It was foggy in the city when we left and the hike was not looking promising, and when we reached the Bastille we were in the middle of a cloud. Grenoble , which is in the department of Isere, has a rich military heritage. The Bastille is the home of the French Mountain Troops. Grenoble and the department of Isere were particularly active in the French Resistance against the Nazis during WWII, and they even have a museum dedicated to Grenoble's role in the Resistance. The picture here was taken by the memorial by the Bastille and the sign says Paix - Amitie, which means peace and friendship.

By lunch, we had hiked above the clouds and had an amazing view of the surrounding mountains, which included the Chartreuse and Belledonnes ranges. You could even see Mont Blanc from where we were (I live right next to Mont Blanc, and it's a three hour train ride to Grenoble...).

This hike reminded me of two things:
1) the view is better when you've earned it
2) if you don't like where you are, keep climbing


We could have spent all day Saturday soaked in fog in the city, but instead watched a sea of clouds creep beautifully between the mountains. I am thankful for the reminder that obstacles should not mean resignation. In fact, they should inspire motivation.

Lessons in authenticity

Part of why I came to France was because I just wanted time to think without the everyday routines or distractions of my life in the USA. I knew I would have lots of free time here (I do) and plenty of time to reflect (I have been). It's not easy accepting that I am the type of person who must philosophize about nearly everything - it's actually a pretty annoying personality trait.

I explained my hiatus in many ways - I wanted to travel, I wanted to try teaching, I wanted to improve my French, all of which are true - but ultimately I just wanted a different perspective of the world, and maybe myself. I felt before I left- and still feel- the need to justify my time here again and again. But the truth is, there is nothing to justify. It's just a choice. My choice.


Since I left my job in Chicago, and since this job is temporary, I have spent a lot of the time thinking what I will work at, and how I will make money. (Sidebar: I hesitate to use the word career because I am not sure that would accurately describe my trajectory, which has more zig and zag than a career, I fear.) I separate working at something and making money because what you work at (life goal(s) is not necessarily what puts dollars -or euro, or yen, or pesos- in your bank account.

All of this free time spent thinking is hard, mainly for two reasons:
1. I am forced to think about myself very critically - which I sometimes then feel guilty about, because why I am thinking so much about myself anyway?
2. There is pleasure in hard work, which I'm not doing.

However, I am learning to listen more to my inner motives. And that's something.

Authenticity is difficult. We find plenty of ways to hide our true feelings and intentions. I think this happens more as we get older, when trying to navigate the waters of social conformity or rebellion. We become aware of others' expectations and reactions. As children, we don't think about these things.

In France, linguistically, I am a child. This in turn affects my behavior and thought. I am going to loosely analogize this to linguistic relativity, which is the idea that "speakers of different languages will tend to think and behave differently depending on the language they use." To take a famous example, this theory means that if my language has 40 words for the "snow" (icy snow, snow that came early this year, slushy snow, big wet snowflakes, powdered snow, etc.), I will see nuances in snow that I would not if my language had one word for all snow. Therefore, I experience snow differently depending on my language. This is not really what I'm talking about though (hence, loose analogy). In France, I do not have full capacity of the language. This leads me to explain things in simple and often blunt ways - like children do. I also run into frustrations when I can't communicate properly. Ex: Yesterday at the post office. A package sent to me is being held at customs. I cannot communicate with the postman what needs to be done to obtain this package. This results in me crying - again, like a child. Is it easy to lie in another language? Nope. It's enough effort to think of how to communicate the truth, nevermind a lie. Children also don't lie well. For all of these reasons and more, I often feel like a kid. And it puts me face-to-face with my most essential reactions, desires, thoughts and motives. This is part of how I have found my authenticity.

I have been trying to understand how "authentic Amanda" operates in the work world and this much is clear: I like working in service of others, but not under direct supervision. I like being in charge. I dislike inefficiency. I don't like complainers. I am empathetic. I cry under too much stress. I enjoy hard work - it makes me feel useful. I also enjoy coffee breaks and naps. What this will all mean when I come back stateside and have to start thinking again about a retirement fund, I am not sure. But when I think, what have I accomplished so far with my life? and What will I do in the future? I at least know that I will remain true to my authentic self and continue to live life whole-heartedly. And that's not a bad place to be for 25. Neither is France. It's fondue time.

From Geneva to Grenoble

I am back at school today, after a two-week vacation. I spent a weekend in Geneva and several days in Grenoble (as well as several days doing next to nothing in my quiet town).

Geneva:
La place de Jean-Jacques Rouseau
La Musèe d'histoire et d'art
La Musée de la Croix Rouge - Museum of the Red Cross
Le jardin botanique (botanical gardens - complete with freely roaming peacocks)
Indian food for dinner! (As you can well guess, that doesn't exist in my neck of the woods)


Grenoble:
House parties, bars, Halloween festivities
Relaxing on a rainy Sunday
La Musée de Grenbole - lots of art here
A burger topped with Canadian bacon and chevre cheese - yeah, it's worth talking about

What did I learn in these places? A lot about art, including the discovery of some new faves. Ex. Georgette Argutte - http://www.aguttesembat.com/page08.html

Also, I tried a yummy digestif called Chartreuse, which is a specialty of the Grenoble region: http://www.chartreuse.fr/

Okay, but I prefaced this post with a promise to do truths and myths about the French.
So here we go.

The French smell bad: Myth. Every French person I've met seems to shower on a very regular basis. Beyond that, there are copious amounts of cologne, perfumes, sprays, deodorants, and other such things at the store to make yourself smell even better.

The French are communal: Truth. In the professor break room, there is always coffee, and a dish rack with loads of cups in it. Thinking these cups belonged to individual people, I was sneaky about only taking coffee when no one was around and then walking into a computer room, in case the owner of the cup I was using saw me. Then I brought my own cup, only to discover someone else using it. Turns out, the cups are for everyone.

French people are rude: Myth. People here are overwhelmingly nice to me. Granted, I'm in the country and that means that same thing it would in the US countryside, but still...People drive me around to do errands, explain everything from how to cook certain things to bank accounts in English, give me old appliances, furniture...it's awesome.

French people like to smoke: Truth. A lot of people smoke. Even the kids - lots of students at the high school take cigarette breaks.

French food is delicious: Truth and Myth. French cuisine is fantastic (and don't the people know it!) but it's not the end-all, be-all. Give me some hot wings and a pint of Goose Island 312 anyday of the week over a croque monsieur.

Lastly, the French are lazy: Well, as Matt recently put it, the French like to work hard to ensure they don't have to work too hard. Yes, they are fighting the retirement reforms like crazy, but they aren't lazy. They take their time and need a bit more prompting perhaps than other cultures. But who can blame them for not wanting to work? Who sincerely enjoys working? At least they're honest with themselves... Right? Maybe.