Final Thoughts- Things I Will/Won’t Miss About Being an English Assistant

As my time in France has come to a close, I’ve started looking back on the last 8 months of my life, reliving, rehashing, remembering, and reminiscing. As any stay in France is bound to unfold, I’ve had a large portion of amazing memories and experiences, a dash of utterly ridiculous encounters with the French way of life, and a few helpings of cultural exchange that have left me with a new perspective in many cases. As I’ve pondered the time passed, I’ve compiled a list of things I will and won’t miss from my time in France. The following are the won’ts, followed by the wills of the Assistant experience:

Won’t Miss-

-The school administration. Self-explanatory, especially if you have ever taught in or worked with a school.

-Navigating through grève days on my way to work. The French national sport is, of course, going on strike. Having worked in a town that was a train ride away from Montpellier, figuring out which trains I would have to take, arriving at the train station and finding out they were cancelled anyways, and dodging ticket-takers while riding without a ticket is something I won’t miss, but also won’t look back on without laughing.

-Seeing the “Ass Anglais” label on my cubby in the teacher’s lounge. This one might require a little explanation. My official title while in France is “English Assistant” or in French, “Assistant Anglais.” The day I received my cubby from the school secretary, he decided to use the abbreviated version, which may not be the friendliest thing to greet a native English speaker each morning.

Will Miss-

-Eating lunch in Les Jardins de la Fontaine. Up the avenue from my school is a large garden with a natural spring that dates back to the time of the Roman occupation. There are stone ruins that cover the entire park, as well as trees, flowers, and paths to follow all around. If I ever had a long lunch and it was nice out, I would bring my food up to the garden, eat it while people watching, and sometimes take a nap on one of the benches.

-The kids. Whether for the ridiculous things they say (see “Lessons from Scattergories” post) or for the unexpected, awesome things they do (baking me desserts “because it was Thanksgiving yesterday” or staying up all night to watch the Superbowl because I taught them the rules to American football), the kids I taught this year were great. With the number of students I worked with, sometimes up to 15 alone with me, I rarely ever had trouble with them.

-Traveling. Being able to travel to another country, see a different culture, and experience a different way of life all at a moment's notice is one of the most exciting parts about having lived abroad for the year. No matter how much I saw, there was always something else out there to see and I definitely can't wait to make my next trip.

-Meeting people from all over. No matter what new nationalities I came across, meeting people from around the world never got old. Talking with them and finding out how similar we actually all were was great, and I'm sure I've made lasting friendships with some great people from around the globe.

That just about wraps up My Year in the Merde. I hope everyone reading this will someday have their own experience in the merde, be it in France, another foreign country, or even right here in the United States. Traveling can be some of the best, or at the very least most memorable times, so never stop exploring because as Russell so wisely declared in Up, "Adventure is out there."

Final Travels

So it seems that moving home from a foreign country, moving to a new city, and starting a job all take some amount of time. As such, I've completely neglected posting my last few entries. Shameful, I know. Without further ado, here are the highlights of my final travels during April break and the month of May:

-The Paris Marathon, as seen by the previous post, was a total success. Katrina and I finished under our goal time of 4 hours, and got to celebrate with Mom and Dad who were finishing up their visit to me in France the next day. It was great to have the whole family together, albeit on another continent.

-For April break, Katrina, who stayed for 2 weeks following the marathon, and I planned to visit Belgium, Amsterdam and London. In Belgium, we traveled to Brussels (not our favorite, but easiest for traveling purposes), Bruge (tiny and touristy, but charming with delicious chocolate and beautiful sights), and Ghent (larger university with great medieval sights including a castle in the center of the city). Amsterdam was unique from every other place I've visited. It's architecture, layout amongst the many canals, attractions, and variety of inhabitants make it a nice change from many other European cities. A favorite of ours was definitely the Anne Frank House- a must see for anyone visiting or passing through Amsterdam.

-As I said, we also planned to go to London. The Icelandic volcano had other plans. What with the eruption of the volcano whose name no one can pronounce and the ensuing ash cloud, our flight to Gatwick was canceled and tickets on the Eurostar were going for about $350 one way. Preferring not to bankrupt ourselves, we decided to return to Paris and spend the remaining 4 days where we had started off (I know, how unfortunate for us). Once we returned to Paris, we made our rounds of some of the sights more off the beaten path, the best of which was visiting the Rue Mouffetard for the best crêpes you'll ever have. Period.

-Once my contract ended in April, Darcy (aka Darce Dawg) and I planned an adventure around Scotland as our last big trip before leaving France. Flying from Marseille, we visited Edinburgh, Inverness, the Isle of Skye, and Glasgow. Edinburgh was definitely my favorite of the cities we visited, with its well-preserved and far-reaching history around every turn, beautiful sights like the Edinburgh Castle and Arthur's Seat, and delicious food (haggis and whiskey, anyone?) The Isle of Skye was possibly the most beautiful place I've ever scene and definitely made for some adventures as Darcy and I drove our rental car around the island seeing all the peaks, valleys, ruins, and towns there were to see. We even got to drive alongside Loch Ness on our way to the island, although Nessie was MIA that day. The day of driving on the left side of the road almost came to a close without any major incidents...almost. (It's not my fault roads on Skye are one lane for two way traffic.) Overall, Scotland was without a doubt one of my favorite places I traveled to during the entire year.

Paris Marathon

Check out this blog post co-written by Katrina and I about our experience doing the Paris Marathon during April break:

http://ulmanfund.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-where-katrina-runs-for-team-fight.html

La’Chaim

A few weeks ago, a group of Assistants decided to accompany our Jewish Assistant friend (shalom, Lisa) to the Seder dinner hosted by the Liberal Jewish Community Center for Passover. Most of us had never been to Seder before (the extent of my Jewish experience is a few Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and one night of Hannukah dinner), but figured it would be a cool thing to check out.

So the 5 Americans showed up with our “family” dish to contribute to the buffet (a sort of matzah casserole) and a few bottles of wine, all kosher of course. From the second we walked through the door, everyone we met was more than welcoming, coming up to introduce themselves and find out who these newcomers were, where we were from, and if we were single. After a serious attempt to engage me to a Jewish girl about my age down the table (“Her mother really wants her to marry an American…”) the Seder started. The ceremony was done both in Hebrew and in French, with certain repeats done in English. Luckily we had a book to follow along with so that we could read a little more about what the chants and actions represented.

We soon realized that we were also supposed to have brought a plate with various vegetables and Matzah, but as soon as they were needed in the ceremony and the others realized we didn’t have any, shout rang out across the room: “Help the poor Americans! They don’t have anything. Does someone have any extra to give the Americans?” After some shuffling around the room to supply us with the essentials, the ceremony continued with our 4 glasses of wine being raised and then drunk, until finally the feast came. With the ceremony starting out slow and including only celery leaves, radishes, and Matzah, I had no idea what I was in store for. 2 plates of every kind of kosher dish and 2 helpings of dessert later, I was bursting at the seams and walking out with leftovers that had been offered freely to us. Jewish experience win. Sign me up for another.

Lessons from Scattergories

As a fun, vocab-boosting activity, I decided to play Scattergories with a few of my classes this past week. For those unfamiliar, Scattergories is basically a list of different categories (i.e. vegetable, American city, movie title). For each round, players are given a letter and have to find a word for each listed category starting with that letter. The kids certainly enjoyed this activity, but I had no idea that it would turn into some of the most ridiculous classroom moments I’ve had yet. Here are the highlights:

The “B” Round:

-A beverage: the entire class says “beer.” They’re sophomores. One student also decided to follow up with “Blue Ice,” which he explained is a cocktail with ice and blue alcohol. Classy.

-Something that scares you: This one requires a bit of explanation. In French, the word for “darkness” is “le noir,” which literally means “the black.” As such, one girl replied to this category with, “I am scared by the black…like when I’m in my bed…(other students start to giggle)…no, not a human black!” Dear God.

The “S” Round:

-Something that is bad for you: sex.

-A movie title: I still haven’t figured out what the exact title of this movie was, but it sounded like the student said something along the lines of “Sex Intentions,” thus making me think along the lines of the French version of “Cruel Intentions.” When I asked the student to explain it he promised me it wasn’t a “sex movie” and was backed up by another girl in the class. If you say so…

The “M” Round:

-Something your parents would make you eat: marshmellows and marijuana. Luckily, I think both of these were just them writing words they knew. Otherwise, I may need to call a social worker, if those exist in France.

The Baguette: France’s Life Blood

Whenever you think of France, most people’s mind eventually cycles through the stereotypical things we’ve been conditioned to associate it with: cheese, castles, Socialism, fast trains, wine and, of course, baguettes. I knew from my semester in Paris that baguettes were an essential part of everyday French life, with millions sold each day, but I have only recently come to realize just how important they are and how they can pop up in the most unexpected times.

A few of my favorite baguette sightings:

-While waiting for a tram, I saw a woman and man running down the street. That’s great, I thought to myself, I love seeing people going for runs. Then it hit me: what is that thing she’s carrying? Is that…yup, that’s a baguette. She’s running with a baguette. I guess when the craving strikes…

-A popular way for some of the poorer inhabitants of Montpellier to earn some money is to wash the windows of cars that stop at traffic lights. One day while walking by an intersection where this happens frequently, I noticed a woman telling some of the window washers that she wasn’t interested, but instead of just shooing them off she told them to wait while she searched for some change. Not finding any handy, she nonchalantly reached into her back seat and pulled out- you guessed it- a baguette. In France, baguettes are as good as cash.

-Americans aren’t the only people that buy in bulk. Multiple times I’ve seen people walking out of bakeries with brown paper bags the size of a small child filled with at least a dozen baguettes. Where are they taking them? To an office-wide meal? To a catered affair? Stocking up for the apocalypse? Your guess is as good as mine.

Adventure is out there! (Part 2)

After leaving Malta, myself and two others that were in Malta flew to Madrid and caught an early flight to the Canary Islands the next day. The Canaries are group of 7 Spanish-owned islands just to the west of Morocco. Created by volcanic activity over the years, the islands are still active. One such volcano is Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Spain and the dominant feature of the island of Tenerife, our destination.

The best description I can give of Tenerife is Jurassic Park. The green-covered mountainsides, exotic vegetation, and sporadic threat of imminent death (stay tuned for details) reminded us all of the island home of the dinosaurs. (What? No, I didn’t keep singing the Jurassic Park theme song as we walked around. I don’t know what you’re talking about…)

Highlights from the Canaries:

-The looming active volcano towering above us. Being able to look up from wherever we were on the island and see a snowcapped volcanic peak was cool, but also a bit bizarre when we made our way down to the beach a few of the days.

-The incredibly different climates and landscapes. On the island of Tenerife alone, you can find snow and ice atop the volcano, black sand volcanic beaches, and tropical vegetation and jungle-like areas. Climb the island a few hundred meters and you’ll find yourself surrounded by clouds in the late afternoon, but come down closer to the shore and it’s nothing but sun (or sunny rain, like on the first day we arrived).

-Seeing the island of La Palma. If anyone has ever watched the Discovery Channel, La Palma is the Canary Island that may or may not cause mass destruction in the future. Scientists think that if there is another volcanic eruption, part of the island may dislodge and slide into the Atlantic, creating a massive tidal wave that heads toward the Eastern seaboard and South America. Naturally, I have wanted to visit this island since I saw the documentary, not only because of this story but because of its incredible natural beauty found all over the island. The local Canarians call La Palma “La Isla Bonita,” or “The Beautiful Island.” So, together with another one of my friends, I hopped a local flight to the island and set out on the day-long hike to the top of the caldera, or crater. A few hours of trail hiking later and we arrived at the top to stunning scenery: a massive crater plunging straight down in front of us, green valleys covering the rest of the island, and the bright blue Atlantic stretching out as far as you could see. With nothing west of La Palma, the first piece of land you would hit would be the US. Continuing with the Jurassic Park theme of the vacation, this island truly seemed like a lost world.

Looking back on Malta and the Canary Islands, this vacation definitely turned out to be my favorite thus far. With everything said and done, I like to describe it with simple reminder and battle cry from my favorite Disney/Pixar film, Up: “Adventure is out there!” Go get it.