MJ forever

Michael Jackson fans in France may very well be more hardcore than those in America, or anywhere for that matter. Seriously. Case and point: these guys. Every week when we have gone to the Champ de Mars park by the Eiffel Tower, this group of MJ fanatics is there practicing their idol's moves. We have seen them so many times that we're convinced we know them; you should have seen the tension last week between the lead guy and his "school-girl" girlfriend. Way better than any American reality show, that's for sure. Does anyone else think that the guy in the lead looks like Michael Phelps?

paris montage

i'm really bad at this...

Keeping up with the old blog has been difficult... I have been pretty busy lately with school and Teaching Assistant orientation meetings!

An update on life:

I had only been observing and meeting students at my lycee (called Lycee Sonia Delaunay) until this week when I began to teach on my own! As I mentioned before, I meet with groups of 10 or less students at an hour at a time in my own classroom. My job pretty much requires that I facilitate conversations among the students so they can practice speaking English. However, I still plan a lesson on which to center the conversation. This week, I kept it simple and explained how the class is going to go throughout the year, what my job is, introducing myself and providing background about my life in America, and having them introduce themselves to me. Also, I told them about Halloween traditions in America. Although they all know what it is, French people do not celebrate Halloween nearly as much as Americans! I also asked them things that they would like to learn about in future lessons so they would get out of this class what they want and I can encourage them to speak English in a way that isn't boring. They mainly want to learn about music, movies, food, TV, sports, and fashions in America... EVERY single one of them wants to go to America and wants to now everything about it. They asked me questions about surfing, cheerleaders, Obama, Desperate Housewives... you know, all the typical American things (haha). The good thing is that I have their attention since I am the girl from California as opposed to another French teacher, so they are very interested and talk a lot and ask a lot of questions. I think they seem like really good, smart kids and I am going to enjoy working with them. Well I haven't met all of them yet, but I hope it will be like this!

Other teachers at my school have also introduced themselves to me and have been really nice and speak slowly in French so I have a chance of understanding them. Every day I pray that I can learn a little more French and be able to practice it more often. I know it is the only way to become more confident in speaking the language. I am so lucky to be at a great school where this is possible.

Today after school I was walking to the train station to go back to Paris and I ran into a girl I recognized from the school. Her name is Kadie. I actually won't have her as a student-- it's a long story, but basically she is taking both English and German classes as second languages, so there is no time for her to take class with me. However, I did meet her when I was visiting and observing in English classes. I spoke to her in French and we had a good conversation about school and what it is like in French lycee and her opinion on it. She is very smart and spoke slowly and clearly so I could understand and speak back to her. I rode the train halfway with her until she got off at her stop, and I think i will be able to see her at this time every Thursday as we are both commuting home. I think this will be a great opportunity to both practice French and get to know her and help her with her English.

Life is good outside of school too! This week, we figured out our bed situations... meaning we bought extra beds so we all have one now! Our apartment is basically all done; we still are looking for a room divider to separate the beds from the living room area, but other than that it is really home-y. It's so great! I promise to post pictures once it is all clean and set up!

Also, last night Kara, Becca, Emily and I went to the France vs. Autriche world cup qualifying soccer game!! We went to a game back when we studied here our sophomore year, so we wanted to go back because we had so much fun. All over Europe people go WILD for soccer, and France is no exception. It is such a great cultural experience to come to a game here... by the end we were shouting all of the same chants as everyone else, such as "ALLEZ LES BLEUS!" (go Blues!).

I feel more "French" everyday... now I have a French cell phone plan, NaviGO pass (for transportation), bank account, apartment, job, and I will soon be getting French social security benefits! I also read French newspapers every day on the train. Even so, I still have my American moments -- I am eating Mexican food tonight! We found the only place maybe in all of France that has authentic Mexican food and our mouths have been watering all day!

Love and miss everyone, more pictures to come.

good news

This past week, we found an apartment to rent and I had my first day of school!

We didn't end up getting the apartment that I spoke of last time. Long story short, it turns out that the landlord and his family were waiting to hear back about construction that is being done on their other apartment that they will be moving to. They found out that it will take longer than they thought, so the apartment we wanted won't be ready until the end of October. We were pretty bummed, but we just can't wait another month to feel settled.

So, back to square one. We looked at a few other apartments and called about a lot of places, and were getting pretty discouraged that nothing was working out. Luckily, though, we found a place right by the Eiffel Tower, near both Emily and Kara's schools and really close to the train station that takes me to my school outside of the city. The apartment is actually loft style, meaning it is all one big space with no separated bedrooms. There are good and bad things about this, bad being that there isn't much privacy. However, the apartment is really big and there is plenty of room for us all to have beds along with an area that acts as an open living room, a desk area, dining table, and great kitchen. The bathroom is separate of course! It is a really charming, clean and Parisian apartment and since it is so open it feels even bigger than it is, something the other apartments we have looked at don't have. I can post pictures once we move in and get settled... everything will be finalized Tuesday!

Yesterday I had my first day at school! I work for France's Department of Education through a program that hires foreign graduates to come teach in language classes in French schools. There are people from Germany, Spain, UK, Canada, etc. who come to be Language Assistants here. I have been assigned to work in a lycee (or the equivalent to an American high school). The lycee I have been assigned is in Villepreux, which is about 30 min southwest of Paris by train. I have a supervising teacher who is in charge of the English department, but I have freedom to teach lessons myself with groups of about 10 students from the different English classes at a time. They basically just want me to speak English with the students and help them feel more comfortable speaking the language in topics they care about with someone who is closer in age to them. Also, I only work 12 hours a week (usually spread over 3 days)! My supervising teacher, Catherine, is so wonderful! She has been really helpful and has really made me feel welcome. I went to a few of her classes and she introduced me to her students, and they all seemed really interested in me being there. I told them I am from California and they brightened up... EVERYONE here dreams about California, no joke. I can tell I will learn a lot of French because obviously everyone in the lycee does, but especially at lunch time when I will eat with the other teachers... yesterday they were so nice and tried to include me in their conversations. The stereotypes you have heard about the French being rude or exclusive are lies.

Basically, I love it here! Once we move in to our new place and feel more settled, I might get another job--maybe just babysitting here or there to save money. I will still have so much free time though... which means I can finally begin to relax and experience Paris all over again.

I am truly blessed.

the apartment search continues...

This last week Kara, Emily and I have been working really hard to find an apartment. No luck just yet. We have called and emailed for at least 100 apartments and have gone to see 7. Even though Paris is a big city and you would think there would be hundreds of apartments available at any given time, there are thousands of people looking for places to rent just like us... most owners of the apartments we have seen say they get hundreds of calls after posting an ad. Overwhelming.

On top of the race to beat others to the perfect place, we have to make sure that it is 1) furnished, 2) the right price, 3) right size, 4) in good condition, 5) in a good location (...location, location), and 6) that the owner will accept dogs (Emily's petit chien Fozzie).

So far, we have found several apartments that we liked. The first one: the owner decided she didn't want roommates living together (the French are funny about things like that). Second: we decided we liked it enough after we found out we couldn't get the first one, but when we called someone had already rented it. Shoot. Third: a cute little apartment in a building that is rented out mostly to students. Clean, good size... BUT on the edge of the city. And Paris is big, so a metro ride anywhere from there would take forever, and we aren't sure it would be worth it.

Finally: we are waiting to hear back from a man who is trying to rent his apartment in the 4th arrondissement. We LOVE it. However, when we went to visit, he told us that he chose four people out of the hundreds who called him to view the apartment and that he and his wife will decide who they choose to live there. We visited it last night and he said he will let us know Monday morning what his decision is. The problem is that we love this apartment so much and have decided to wait to hear from him, but if we (knock on wood) don't get it, we are back at square one and lost this whole weekend to be looking at other places. So please pray for us to get it! It is in a beautiful, central, and safe location and the apartment has everything we need. We will just have to wait until Monday to see...

The apartment search has kept us really busy lately, but we have still had time to wander the city. I have taken some pictures, but I will have to upload them later; my computer doesn't have internet at the place we are staying now.

Also, I have been studying for the LSAT a lot lately, and I take it TOMORROW! I'm a little nervous but very ready to just do my best and go from there... it has been hard to enjoy Paris with that and not having an apartment looming over my head.

I start teaching soon, so I'll explain more about that when it comes time! I am getting nervous but I look forward to starting my job and getting into a routine.

Skype me: jennadalynn. I would love to hear from you/see your face via videochat!

Paris, finalement!!!

I have finally arrived in Paris! I flew in yesterday morning and took a cab to meet Kara at her, Emily, and my temporary apartment in the 17th arrondissement. It is a one bedroom, small apartment but we will only be here until the end of the month and are looking for permanent residence now.

It is a funny process looking for apartments to rent here. Today, for example, we called about a few places and one woman spoke in such rapid french that neither Kara or I could understand and she couldn't hear us at all... eventually she just kept saying "occupe" (meaning "occupied") and finally hung up. We will have many more awkward phone conversations like this no doubt. Hopefully one of them will be successful!

In other awkward French moments... Kara and I were racing to make a metro before the doors closed and the car was PACKED. Somehow I managed to jump on and squeeze in (being jammed in the door in the process) and poor Kara didn't make it! After having lived here before for months, we have resorted back to being noobs. C'est n'est pas grave! We will be right back at home here in no time I'm sure.

Despite having a few American moments here, my French is much better than I remember! I have been able to keep up and communicate pretty well. Perhaps it was all that practice with Rosetta Stone this summer! I had a full conversation with my cab driver yesterday and felt very accomplished. On my way to fluency...

Wish us luck to find an apartment soon!