Never counting down, always counting up

Happy Thursday from here in Apt! I have just finished yet another week teaching here in the South of France. Although many of the days have been gloomy and rainy, the sun did peak through the clouds a little bit - a reflection of not only the weather but my day to day life here the past few days.

Front gate with blue skies

 
Tuesday was another day filled with teaching, which included more conversations about home-schooling. I am becoming continually amazed at how much better my students are behaving and how they are trying to participate more and more. In one of my other classes though, we were talking about equality between men and women: the past and present. The teacher had me lead the part of the discussion about the present and told me to share how things are in America and have the students compare that to the French perspective. While things like salary, careers, roles at home, etc came up in conversation, the portrayal of women in the media came up as well - all stemming from me bringing up Miley Cyrus. It is the most I have ever heard this class talk, and in that moment, I felt I did a good job, bringing up something coherent and interesting to the students and still putting towards the topic at hand.

Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages

 
The rest of the day, I read, enjoyed the sunshine and a new French film I rented from the library: les Demoiselles de Rochefort. A typical 1967 musical in film, it featured amazing dancing, catchy songs and a predictable love-story. It was a light-hearted film that I think everyone should see - and it included Gene Kelly... speaking French! What could be better? Along with this flick, the biggest news was that we received a microwave in the apartment! After arriving in September, Amy and I realized that our microwave was broken. When we had the reimbursement incident with the hotplate, we were intimidated to ask to get the microwave replaced. Upon returning in the New Year, I mustered up the courage and went to the secretary, explaining the situation. After a short, curt conversation, she agreed to try to get us one. Knowing how the French work, I figured it would take two weeks. I was so surprised that it came only one day after this talk, maybe the French aren't so slow after all!

Wednesday morning, I taught a few more classes - these ones discussing more New Year's Resolutions that the students had. I was so inspired by some of their responses like "I want to be kinder." We even discussed ways they can reach these goals, talking about following through on these actions.

Sseiously, so proud!

 
In the afternoon, I took a little walk out to a place I haven't visited in a long time: Pizz'Burger! I talked to my favorite French woman, who commented that I hadn't been there in a while. It was nice to see her and catch up a bit, while watching some French news and eating a hamburger. After grabbing groceries and walking back into town, I took in some of the last bits of sunshine and blue skies - it will be awhile until we see them again.

Sun for days

Today, I did not want to crawl out of bed. After a mishap last night that led to me with a three hour French customer service call with no end solution, all I felt like doing was to stay in bed cuddled up and watch some movies. But I have bills to pay, so off to work I went, in the pouring rain and le mistral bearing down on me. Turns out today was class pictures and a special training for the English teachers, so half my classes were cancelled. Well that's awesome! Either way, it meant a lot of trekking back and forth in the rain and cold. After this year, I will never take for granted again the ability to have my own car - especially in weather like this. Today's lessons were just as great as the others. Memorable quote? "Rebecca, I know it is not in the lesson but what does the word timber mean??" Me: "Is this about the Ke$ha song?" Student: "Yes....." After explaining the definition, she said that made a lot more sense than the definition Google translate gave her: wood. Oy vey!

I also finally met the replacement teacher that I will be working with while one of my teachers is away on maternity leave. He is about my age and when he came up to me in the staff room very timidly and said "par hasard, est-ce que vous êtes l'assistante d'anglais?", I hesitated to say yes. He quickly switched to English and said "Oh good, our colleagues said you would be tall!" Glad to know that it is my identifier. Either way, he seems nice and asked me lots of questions about the students and trusting my expertise with them. It felt good to be able to give advice, like I have found my place here!

After a long, wet day, it was nice to just stand in front of the hotplate and try a new recipe tonight: pasta with garlic, mushrooms, and lardons, all sautéed in olive oil. It seriously was THE BEST meal I have had here - you can bet that I will be having it many more times in the future!

BEST DINNER EVER!

 
Tonight, I am going to relax. Tomorrow is a full day of running errands, cleaning, cooking, and having my first private lesson with a boy from the collège. From today it is: 5 weeks until Winter Break (when my parents, Dan and Brenna arrive!), 3 months until my teaching contract ends, and 4 months until I will be home. Although I love being able to look forward to things here, I have to constantly remind myself to not constantly count down for the next thing to occur. I must live in the present and not in the future, especially as time appears to be slipping away from me here. I was told before I left that I must profitez-bien - I will continue to do that with my remaining time left.