Les Vacances begin... again!

It is Thursday night and my excitement level is at an all time max! My parents, Dan and Brenna will be here in ONE DAY!! I just have two hours of private lessons tomorrow, a bus ride, and a train ride to Charles de Gaulle that separates me from my family, it cannot come soon enough. 

They are coming to visit me because (as the title of this post shows) I am vacation for the next two weeks! However, as events this week transpired, this whole week of "teaching" ended up being much like a vacation. This began on Tuesday morning when I walked into school for my normal 9 am class. I knew that Premier and Terminale students* had most or all of their classes cancelled this week, as they are taking the BAC blanc, a mock exam for the really serious standardized tests they take at the end of June. Knowing this, I planned accordingly, knowing that I would not have to make lessons for those classes nor show up. So when I walked in to see lists posted everywhere and utter chaos, you can imagine my confusion.

As it turns out, they take this mock exam within the school and need a whole floor of classrooms to have an adequate testing environment. So all classrooms for all teachers and classes had been changed. For the entire week. So I looked up the new classroom for my first class and waited with the students for the teacher to arrive. When the teacher came in, looking late and frazzled, he was surprised to see me and said "I just talked to the front office and they said your classes are cancelled for this week!" All I could muster in response, "what?!"

After a lengthy talk at la Vie Scolaire**, with many explanations and diagrams, they told me that I don't have any classrooms this week, there is just no room for me with the BAC blanc going on. Seeing each one of my classes on my timetable with a big red X across them, emblazoned with the words cours annulés*** made me quite angry - first, because I was excited to teach my lessons and second, because this was the first time this was communicated with me. Typical France.... At the end of our discussion, the secretary looked up at me and said "Désolé mademoiselle, mais maintenant tu as une semaine supplimentaire des vacances!"****

I preferred to not see it that way. Yes, I could have taken that response and not showed up for my classes all week, as when my teachers checked in, the secretaries would explain that I was not there because they were canceled. But I did not want to just sit and do nothing all week, not when I could have the opportunity to work with students in some capacity. After discussing the issue with each of my teachers, I still went to each of my scheduled classes and helped during the teacher's lesson in some capacity. Although I was not an active leader of the classroom, like the role I normally assume, it still felt great to be in the classroom this week and to see my students before vacation. At the beginning of this experience, I have to admit: the job of being an assistant was one of the things I liked the least. But now, as the teachers and I have learned how to communicate with each other, and the students and I have developed a rapport, it is an absolute joy teaching English here in France - it is now my favorite thing about being here.

With the sun shining brightly today and on Monday, I might have had a chance to catch some rays. It is still weird to think that I can do that in the middle of February... Hoping this great weather continues for next week, while my family and I explore Provence together (me acting as tour guide and translator)! After a week in the South, we will go to the North for five days with my parents and I exploring Paris and we might even take an excursion out to Normandy to explore the D-Day beaches. Good weather or bad, I know that this is going to be a vacation we will always remember - j'attends avec impatience!*****

Some typical February Provence sunshine (the temperature got up to 65 today, but who's counting!)

*Equitable to Juniors and Seniors in High School back home.
**Basically your typical school office, with all the secretaries and such.
***Translation: canceled class
****Translation: Sorry Miss, but now you have an extra week of vacation!
*****Translation: I can't wait!

Climb Every Mountain

This morning, the rays coming through the window as I write this post, along with the sound of the rushing river below, puts me in a state of sheer bliss. This Monday morning sans teaching was just what I needed to reflect on what a great weekend I had.

A very Valentine's sunset Friday night

Saturday morning, Amy, Alison and I awoke early and took the windy two hour bus to Aix-en-Provence. Although we have taken this bus before, so we were warned about how queasy our stomachs can get, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem this time. I was wrong – the whole morning ride there I was clenching my stomach, hoping I would not get sick. But because I was awake the entire time, I did get to see the breathtaking sunrise over the Provencal countryside.

Sunrise

Once back on our feet, we walked through town to have a nice sit down breakfast at le pain quotidien. It was such a wonderful morning, and very different from the last time we visited – sunny blue skies with warm temperatures and a nice dose of wind. I enjoyed a croissant and chocolat chaud, which sounds like a simple meal but of all of the hot chocolates I have tried here in France, this one was by far the best.*

After checking in at the tourist office for bus schedules and information, we were off to la Montagne Sainte-Victoire, the inspiration for many of Paul Cezanne’s masterpieces. We thought we had come prepared, armed with sneakers and good walking clothes. However, at the tourist office when I was asking for information, the woman looked me up and down and asked “Et tu es bien equipé?”** As we began our hike to one of the highest points of the mountain, it became increasingly clear that we were not really as equipé as we thought. The rocks were quite slippery to the step, promising that one wrong move or slip could send you rolling down the mountain. The journey might have been better with hiking boots and walking sticks, as the many men that passed us came prepared with. The hike was supposed to take 2.5 hours to the Croix de Provence but after an hour of hiking, we decided to stop on the side of the mountain.

View from where we ate lunch

Once we had taken in this view, we noticed that the wind appeared to be getting stronger but still wanted to make it to our end destination. So we set off prepared to get to the top. We must have gotten only 5 steps up and the wind instantly overtook me and hurled me to the ground. I called to the other girls, saying that although I wanted to get to the top, as it has been something I wanted to do for a long time, it might not be worth it if I just got blown over. They agreed and we decided to stop and take some obligatory shots with the mountain and then headed back down.

The mount on the left is where we ate lunch and the summit on the right is one of the high points of the mountain, where you can find the Cross of Provence

At the bottom of the hike, there was a lovely lake called Lac de Bimont where we enjoyed just relaxing and looking out over its beautiful blue water. After a hike, it was a lovely spot to just rest and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Then we headed back into town, enjoyed a nice drink at a café, walked through some shops (where I might have bought myself a new Longchamp bag as a belated birthday gift…) and munched on a nutella and banana crêpe. As the sun was going down, we boarded the bus back to Apt, which was actually much appreciated to sit after a long day of hiking and exploring. Feeling ultimate laziness, I grabbed a pizza from my favorite place here in town, as I didn’t feel like making anything. I chatted with the pizza maker Xavier about my day, how I like Apt and differences between here and America. It is nice that I can have a casual conversation like this with a total stranger and we can understand each other, plus I am continually surprised and delighted with how friendly people are here in Apt. After eating, I tucked in early for the night, my muscles tired and my heart full of happiness.

I took it easy Sunday and did some cleaning and planning, still thinking about the amazing day I had the day before. I cannot describe the amazing view from the hike and I am so happy I pushed myself to do something that I have wanted to do for so long. Although we didn’t get to the top, I always know that it is about the journey and not the destination. And let me tell you, that journey was incredible - it is a trip I will always remember.

*And since I don’t drink coffee, I have tried a LOT of hot chocolate here. I am basically an expert.

**Translation: And you are equipped? In other words, she was asking if I was ready for how difficult the hike would be.

My Funny Valentine

Le week-end is here once again! The constant rain we have been having decided to stop for a few days, bringing sunshine here to Apt and making all the people who live here very happy again – they are very grumpy due to this bizarre weather. Again, I think that they should make a trip to Michigan - they might have something different to say.

Classes have been generally great this week! It helped that the topic I chose to do was Valentine’s Day, where we listened to My Funny Valentine as a comprehension exercise and then talked about what the song means and what the students opinions of the songs were. This really worked well; I don’t know if I have ever heard them so quiet in class before, as it was dead silence as they were trying to hear the words to the song. Also, some got quite passionate with their opinions of the song, eliciting reactions like “WHAT?! WHY would a man say to a woman ‘your looks are laughable’!? That is SO mean!!” Either way, the students seemed to enjoy themselves, and I enjoyed teaching. I feel like I am finally getting a hang of this assistantship thing – too bad I only have 2 more months of teaching.*

Wednesday, I had one of my private lessons during the sunny afternoon. We met in the teacher’s lounge as usual but I was shocked to find the school resembled No Man’s Land during our entire lesson (which mind you, is from 12:30-2:30 in the afternoon). Of course, French schools do shut down on Wednesday afternoons, but I didn’t know to what degree. I asked her to explain about this and shared with her what is normal in America. Both she and I agreed, we much prefer the French way.

Bar l'Aptois - our regular cafe

In the evening, Amy and I went to the cinema to see a movie that I have wanted to see for a long time: 12 Years A Slave. What an incredible, harrowing film, it is definitely a story that has stayed with me and will continue to. Then, after a full day of teaching Thursday, Véronique took me downtown to pick out a ring. The ring that the teachers had given me for my birthday did not fit, and when Véro went to get it in a different size/get it resized, they didn’t have any more. So, instead she took me with her to the shop where I picked out a new ring with the correct size and ordered it. I still cannot believe the extremely kind gesture of this, giving me such a nice souvenir of France. I will really miss these kind people when I return, and every time I look at the ring I will remember them and mon séjour en France.

Valentine’s Day promises to be a fairly normal Friday, filled with cleaning, laundry, a private lesson, and other planning for next week. But, we will have Alison coming in from Avignon, so we will be having a little dinner, dessert and maybe a movie this evening. Then, tomorrow, as the forecast looks promising, we will make our second attempt to hike up le Mont Saint- Victoire. Happy Valentine’s Day!

*Actually, less than that due to the 2 week break starting in ONE WEEK. That’s right, I see my family in ONE WEEK!! I can’t believe it.

Célébrez!

After a full day of classes on Thursday, I was tired and ready to just snuggle and watch a movie for the night. However, I was invited to spend the evening at Véronique’s house, with other fellow teachers from the lycée, some English and some who merely speak and understand a bit of English. I have been waiting for this opportunity since plans for it fell through before Christmas, so although I was feeling not up to a night of speaking French (and English, for that matter), Amy and I went off to meet Olivier, who gave us a ride to Véronique’s house.

As I had not yet been to her house, I only had one image in my head of what it might look like: coming from Cathy (ma coordinatrice, or supervisor/colleague, whose house I have been to a few times), “Véro’s house makes my house look like Uncle Tom’s Cabin!” As we drove up her private drive on the side of one of the rolling hills just outside the chic Bonnieux, I marveled at the wonderful pool and garden outside as well as the beautifully decorated interior of the home. It was very provençal, yet in an exquisite way. They immediately handed us glasses of wine and said it was necessary that we celebrate. All of a sudden, Véronique came around the corner with a gift bag in hand and offered a joyous “Happy Birthday!” Everyone commenced in singing the song in English, allowing me to tear up a bit, and was given a beautiful ring to commemorate my time here in France – they said they always wanted me to remember them. Bien sûr, it was a moment that I will never forget.

Then, they shoved food on our plates, which included quiche lorraine, pizza du jambon, an endive salad, cold cuts of ham and salami, bread and a spicy shrimp cocktail salad, followed by dessert of a raspberry tart, brownies and clementines, all while all types of wine were poured, along with an after eating coffee, tea and pastis. I saw my teachers I work with but met their husbands, other teachers from the school and even a Vietnamese landscape worker who is friends with Véro. We spent the night conversing in both French and English, though I must admit they mostly spoke English to us and they would tell stories in French to the group. Best story of the nigh: the story of one of the teacher’s bike trip across America last summer and a very awkward situation that arose on a stay in Kansas. I definitely learned some new vocabulary with that one….

Friday, with one private lesson to teach as one was cancelled, I got all dressed up to go and have a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday with Amy and Alison. As they arrived a little later than expected, they got cleaned up and yelled to me through my door that they were ready to go. I walked into the kitchen and was greeted with a surprise: a stack of delicious brownies topped with lit candles and the girls singing Happy Birthday to me! It was such a sweet gesture (literally, as those speculoos brownies were amazing!) and so unexpected. Thanks girls for the cake and gifts! Then we were off to dinner at le Carnot Set. This is listed on Tripadvisor as being one of the best restaurants in Apt, and it did not disappoint. I had a delicious magret aux cerises, duck with cherries and cherry sauce, served with roasted vegetables, bread and even some fries on the side. It is a definitely a place I want to go back to, as the food was as great as the service, with the chef personally coming out to hand his plates to his customers. This place definitely broke the stereotype that French servers can be cold; they were so kind and friendly. Je reviens bientôt*….

The chef even jumped in for a picture, asian tourist style!

Seriously, AMAZING. My mouth is salivating as I am typing.

Homemade Speculoos Brownies, so delicious!

Sooo.. they didn't know they were trick candles. After five attempts with no avail, we threw them into a bowl of water - definitely blown out now!

Although Saturday was supposed to be spent hiking, seeing the forecast was rain, we decided to call it off and try to go again next week. It was good that we had – we ventured out in the morning to have a nice breakfast at a café and it was pouring rain and windy, making a simple walk through town quite chilling to the bone. In our best efforts, we thought we might rent a car for the day and drive around to visit a few villages. That plan was squashed when we were informed that all cars were already rented out for the rest of February. We decided to stay in, spending the day and night cooking, talking, and even doing some French grammar.** It was a relaxing way to spend the day, and nice to be out of the cold. 

Homemade tomato soup, courtesy of chef Amy

After a lazy, sunny Sunday, I was back to teaching early today. As I was told my students would be going on a field trip that afternoon, I was to prepare a lesson on Nelson Mandela to help them understand the movie. The first class enjoyed learning about him and his important life’s work. On presenting the topic of the day to the second class, I saw one student roll her eyes and turn to her fellow students, complaining in French that they have covered this topic ten times already in their English career. I asked her to speak up and in English and she angrily asked if we could talk about something else today, she was sick of talking about this topic. As no one in the rest of the group was even talking, I was extremely taken aback by her forwardness. However, I was flexible and turned it more into a comparison lesson, asking them for similarities and differences of apartheid and segregation. I had never experienced a student to be so demanding, and in situations like this I feel like it is better to be flexible – I could have said “No, this is what your teacher wants us to talk about and this is what we are doing” but that just makes the student not motivated to participate. I got her and the other students to talk and compare, making me feel quite accomplished today with a difficult situation. This rainy and windy afternoon, I helped chaperone a field trip to the cinema to see Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Quel film incroyable! I couldn’t help but cry a few times at the amazing story of this man’s life. Everyone must see this and understand this part of history.

I also received a lovely card in the mail today from Dan and Brenna, thank you! With all the festivities this weekend, it was nice to receive this message from home, making me even more excited to celebrate with them and my parents in 12 DAYS!! That’s right, in less than 2 weeks, my family will be here! The excitement is killing me. For now, I will continue to celebrate my time here, as I am continually realizing there is hardly any time left. On doit célébrer!***

Loved the 3D card!

*Translation: I’ll be back soon….

**I know what you all are thinking: happenin’ Saturday night, right? But really, I needed that grammar review.

***Translation: We must celebrate!

24

On this late Wednesday evening, my heart cannot be fuller. I don't know if that is due to the Pinot Noir I have been lazily drinking tonight, or it is the outpouring of love I have received from family and friends on this day, which happens to be my day of birth. It could be a little bit of both.

The past few days have been nice, albeit a little rainy around here still. Every provençal person I have talked to apologizes for this, saying "This is SO abnormal, it normally never rains here! This is the worst winter in a long time!" Seeing the pictures back in Michigan of the several feet of snow coupled along with the below freezing temperatures, I realize these people here don't know what a real winter looks like!

Monday was another normal day, though an interesting moment came when shopping at the local Camaieu. After going to the till to buy a shirt, the woman asked me if I wanted to sign up for the store card. I replied with a firm yet polite "non, merci" - per usual. This must have been not the right response, as she suddenly shot me a glare and said "you speak english??" Responding with "oui", she said "London?!?" I continued to respond to her in French though she insisted on trying to speak broken English, quite loudly mind you so all the other customers in the store were listening. When I said I was from the states, she practically screamed "OOOHHH!! The STATES!! Ahh coool!" Even the simplest transactions here sometimes make me feel like a sideshow freak.

Tuesday, with another morning class cancelled due to sickness, Amy and I enjoyed some nice sunshine (which is hard to come by these days) with a coffee and wifi break at Bar l'Aptois. After my two afternoon classes, I decided to get out around town and had a nice walk to parts of town that I have never visited. I didn't find much, as it is low season, many of the restaurants and little shops are closed for an annual holiday until February vacations. Sometimes I can walk through alley after alley without seeing a soul - both evoking feelings of peacefulness and isolation.

Blurred Lines... pretty sure this isn't Robin Thicke's style

Today, was both a great day and a very hard one: today was my birthday. It is hard spending a day like this so far away from home, family and friends - you all were on my mind constantly today! Although I woke up to pouring rain outside, I bundled up and headed off to my morning classes, trying to not let the rain get me down. While swimming through the mass of students in the crowded corridor, some of them seeing me and giving their normal "Hellooooo!" greetings, I heard two of my students yell out "Happy Birthday!" I was shocked, I had no idea they knew it was my birthday today - I hadn't told any of my students about it. As you can imagine, the word spread like wildfire throughout this mass of students. So as I walked into my first class moments later, all the students told me “Happy Birthday!” one by one. As we were still waiting for the teacher to return back to the classroom, the students were talking amongst themselves and all of a sudden I heard them all sign out the strains of a very out of tune English Happy Birthday song for me. Quite embarrassed and touched, I thanked them for their thoughtfulness. The teacher came into this scene turned to me and said "Is it your birthday today? How did they know?!" I'm still not entirely sure how this piece of knowledge came into the student's hands, but walking through the school today and seeing student after student call after me with a joyful "Happy Birthday!" made being away from home much easier.

To celebrate, Amy and I decided to have a nice lunch in town, at a restaurant I have been dying to try, Chez mon cousin Alphonse. Although they have the normal standard dishes, along with provençal favorites, this restaurants claim to fame are the pizzas they make over a wood fire. I decided to get the genovèse, which included toppings such as fresh tomatoes, eggplants, pesto and ham. Then, greeted with a dessert menu just as large as the regular one, I decided to get a Coupe Alphonse, an ice cream sundae with spiced bread and caramel ice cream topped with caramel topping. After a little shopping and reading at the library, we trudged back home in the rain, where I cuddled up, caught up on some American shows, and watched Mean Girls while eating a lovely chocolate mousse pastry as my birthday cake. It was a wonderful day.

Delicious!

Birthday Sundae

French version of a birthday cake: chocolate mousse pastry

Many of my close friends and family know that I have been thinking quite a bit about turning 24 the past few weeks, causing me to reflect on the past year of my life. I can't believe so much has happened in the past year: I finished performing my age-out season with my best friends, moved to Indiana for a long-term substitute position, stood up at my brother's wedding, was accepted into the TAPIF program, taught nearly six weeks of band camp (working with the best staff and students I could ever ask for), moved to France, traveled to seven different countries, met people from all around the world, taught English in a foreign country, continued to learn French (everyday), and gained more sense of self than I ever thought imaginable. I have learned that I am so much stronger than I ever thought I could be. Moving to a place that you have never been, knowing not one person, and using a second language that you have rarely used with native speakers is a SCARY thing. But it is also one of the most liberating decisions I have made in my life. I may have a lot of anxiety about "what I should be doing/should have done" by the age 24, but I have come to realize that it doesn't really matter - this is my journey, and I won't compare it to others.

Although this experience is not over for me, there are only 2.5 short months left of teaching and 3.5 in Europe, filled with traveling to so many new places. With my eyes set on the future, it is hard to stay in the present. But I am now realizing I must, as time continues to slip away faster every day. So here's to you, 24 - I will raise my glass and say "Santé!" May this next year of life be as rewarding and empowering as the last.