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.

Three Midnights in Paris

As today was Wednesday, it brought a short work day, which became even shorter due to one of my classes going to the film festival. After my one class this morning, which went brilliantly by the way, I ventured into town to get run some errands and even stopped to enjoy a warm drink at Bar l'Aptois. Today was a brisk day for the south of France, one could have even believed that winter was coming soon here, with the gusts of chilly wind freezing you to the bone. I guess le mistral might be here to stay.

This afternoon, Amy and I went into Avignon to finally get our new phone plan. Unfortunately, when we arrived they told us they only had one phone left. After talking it through, we decided that I would get my phone today, as Amy would be around this weekend to pick one up once it gets in. After getting this set up, we met up with another assistant Alison and had some nice warm drinks at a picturesque tartinerie. It was nice to catch up with another assistant, hearing about how her teaching is going as well as life in France. And, of course, nice to be inside enjoying a hot beverage on a cold day.

After a ride back to Apt that made me feel quite queasy (or maybe it was the bad escargot aux raisins that I ate...), I began setting my new phone up and called everyone from home! It was so nice to be able to just sit and have conversations with people from home on the phone, can't tell you how much joy it brought me to catch up with everyone. Thanks for talking to me Dad, Heather, Christa, Katelyn, and Marissa!* Another awesome thing this phone has brought me: 10Go of data. Also known as, fast internet, and a lot of it. I am feeling that the Wifi/internet problem at the apartment is soon to be solved.

With tomorrow fast approaching, I am both dreading and am extremely excited for it to come. As it is again my most busy day of the week with assisting, this stress is augmented by the fact that I have 20 minutes once my classes are over to run to apartment, drop off my teaching materials, grab my bag and get to the bus. I am leaving Apt for a weekend trip tomorrow!

And this is where I get excited. I am SO happy to share that this weekend I will be in Paris with one of my best friends from home, Katie, and two of her friends that she is studying in Spain with! I will be leaving tomorrow night and returning Sunday evening, just in time to teach early Monday morning. I have been to Paris twice before, but each time I go, I find something new and more beautiful about the city. I cannot wait to spend time with a great friend in an amazing city!

City of Lights

*If anyone wants to talk to me, I have to call you (otherwise, you will get some hefty fees). So let me know and I will give you a ring!

Home Improvement

The past four days have been a lovely long weekend here in Provence. I am sitting in my kitchen looking out onto the sun setting over the hills. Although the blue skies and sunshine never seem to fade, there are some autumn traces starting to show, with the gusting chilly wind and the colors of the foliage starting to yellow.

View from my kitchen window this evening.

On Friday, Amy and I ventured into Avignon to try and figure out our phone situation. Originally, we had planned to just keep our pay as you go phones, as it seemed the cheapest option. However, rates changed and it made more sense for us to go to a different store and sign up for a monthly plan. When we got there though, we were told that we would have to buy a new phone entirely to take full advantage of the internet that comes with the plan. Not expecting the prices of the phones to be so high, and while re budgeting my entire month's allowance in my head, the salesperson ran back in telling us he had a solution: the Telib. Now, the velibs are quite popular here in France: they are public bikes you can pick up from their various stations along the street, after it reads your credit card of course. You can ride the bike around town as much as you please, just as long as you put it back in a marked velib spot once you are done. If you don't return it, that is when you get fined and your card gets charged. Besides this, it is entirely free!

Virgin has taken this idea and applied it to phones: for 20 euro a month, I will get unlimited calls, texts, and 10 Go of internet on a smartphone with all apps provided. And the best part, I am in essence borrowing the phone, so I don't pay for it! When I am done using it at the end of this school year, all I have to do is return it to the store. Pretty awesome, right? Not so awesome: they were out of these phones when we were there, so we are returning Wednesday afternoon to officially get this plan.*

After the visit to the phone shop, Amy and I indulged a bit and went to IKEA. As I had never been to one before, it was quite overwhelming! But I was happy to get many things to make the apartment feel more like home. After sprucing this place up, I do have to say that it feels much better to spend time here.

New bedding, rug and blanket. And yes, the color theme was on purpose. Not pictured but also part of the home improvements: a new lamp, cinnamon candle and a new shower caddy!

Saturday morning was another typical day of wandering around the market. I happened to notice the amount of stares I was getting though - as since it was a beautiful day, I was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sandals. Passing by a vendor visibly shivering while bundled in a winter coat and scarf, hiding his hands underneath his legs for extra warmth, I thought only one thing - you think this is cold?! Come to Michigan, man! That morning we also spent some time at our favorite Bar l'Aptois, where I checked off another thing from my bucket list here: I tried a cafe au lait. I wouldn't say I liked the first sip, but as I kept drinking it, I did learn to enjoy the taste quite a bit.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent at home, reading, relaxing, cleaning** and watching movies. During these past few days, I have also been trying to plan many trips, which I will reveal later on. But there is one trip that I can't hold in, because I am so excited about it! I am so grateful that as my Christmas present this year, my family has helped me a buy a ticket back home for the holidays! Though I was not planning on going back to the States until next May, I cannot say how thrilled I am to be able to see family and friends, especially during the holiday season! I am enjoying my life here in France and traveling around Europe, but there is nothing like being home for the holidays.

Also part of the home improvement. Can you tell I am excited for Christmas??

Today, Amy and I decided to make a little hike to a nearby town called Gargas. After walking for an hour, we stopped for refreshment and a bit of discount shopping and then, having realized we didn't really know where we had to proceed to get to the town, we turned back to Apt. Either way, it was a nice way to get out of the apartment, enjoy the beautiful weather and exercise a bit. And we decided to practice our French on the way back, something we are going to try to push ourselves to do more often when we are around the apartment.

Tomorrow ends our long weekend of relaxation, with classes once again. I quite enjoy going back to teaching after the week end though - it gives me something extra to busy myself with. Until then, enjoying this lovely evening here in the South of France.

*Typical day here in France: don't ever expect for things to be done the same day you go out to take care of a certain task. You will almost always have to return.
**I see your face reading that, Mom. Yes, I know - it is hard to believe.

Le Mistral

Le Mistral.... it is the wind that blows from the North to the South of France. It is said to be the reason for the amazing blue skies that are ever-abundant here in Provence, as it chases away all the clouds in the sky. In the summer, this breeze is quite nice, as it cuts through the blistering heat in this Mediterranean region. However, everyone has said beware: the mistral in the winter will cut through you like a knife. Although Provence does not get snow typically, le mistral is said to keep people inside all winter long, due to it's awful frigid temperature.

The past few weeks I have been here have been quite beautiful weather - blue skies almost everyday along with skirt wearing temperatures. However, last night, I was resorted to wear a sweatshirt, long pants, two pairs of socks as well as 3 blankets on my bed, due to the freezing chill that was in the apartment.* Even though it is just the beginning of October, I feel like le mistral is beginning to arrive. And I feel like I am ill-equipped to meet it this winter.

Besides the seasons seeming to change over-night, today was a wonderful day of surprises. This morning, we went down to the gate as always to leave school grounds. The gate keeper waved us into the office, where I was given a large package from home! It was filled with all my favorite things that I can not get here: JIF peanut butter, Reeses peanut butter PUMPKINS, a Hello Kitty travel toothbrush, Twix, Swedish Fish, Reeses pieces, Butterfinger bites, and a tupperware full of my Mom's amazing homemade brownies. I seriously was like screaming with excitement as I unwrapped it.

EEK!

Ummm can we just focus on the Reeses pumpkin right now? IN LOVE

Mom's brownies made the trek all the way across the pond!

Choosy Becca chooses JIF!

Then we bundled up and spent the afternoon in town - running errands and shopping for warmer clothes. Its tempting to want to buy everything that will keep me warm, but I don't get paid until the end of this month, so just the necessities for right now. Then came the second surprise: Amy received a call from a flower shop in town that someone had bought her flowers! She went and picked up her beautiful birthday flowers from her aunt and sister.

Beautiful flowers for the birthday girl!

Adding to the cold breeze flowing through town, new decorations are being put up as well. I said in a previous post that all the shops are closed lately for vacation. Although that is true, the streets have been filled this week with workers putting up strings and strings of lights, making the city festive for the holidays. Amy told me today that the person that does the Christmas decorations here in Apt also does them for the famous streets of the Champs d'Elysees in Paris and Regent Street in London. The lights are not on yet, but they are all in place. Even though it won't be anything like my Dad's amazing Christmas lights display**, I can not wait to see this quaint village around Christmas time.

The start of Noël in Apt

Off to Cannes tomorrow until Sunday, going to celebrate Amy's birthday on the French Riveria!

*Note: my apartment does have a furnace/heater, but it only turns on when the rest of the building has it on. We can't turn it on ourselves.
**If you don't know of my Dad's light display, it is legendary. Each year, he adds more lights. I think the latest record is 16,000, but I could be dreadfully wrong.