France Part 7

Ok, so last weekend was FUN.

I meet up with Liam on Friday night and we got Nutella PIZZA!

Yes. Pizza with Nutella on. It was pretty amazing but also pretty sickly.

The next day we met up with Chelsea at her school and walked to the station. Which was close. Thanks people on strike. I really appreciate that. So we planned to get on the train with no ticket and explain to the ticket man when he came around.. But nobody came around so we got on for free. Woo. I really love free.

We walked through the city and saw a protest (see photo). Something about Sarko’s new immigration policy. It was fun. There was police there and everything.

We met up with Brianne and Sara at zee station.. Krista and Brady was also there.. I had met Krista before at the induction so that was fun. It’s the 2nd time I’ve bumped into her by accident.

We checked into the hotel and then went to go find food and look around. We went back to the hotel around 6:30 and had a beer, then went to a nice Italian restaurant. We watched half of the rugby final there and moved onto this cool pub where we sat upstairs and it was playing on a big screen. After England Lost (sad) we went this really strange club.. Called ‘frys’ or something. It was freaky. That is all I can really say about it. Freaky. But we ended up back in it later on in the night haha.

The next morning we went for breakfast in Metz.. Being a Sunday in France, most places were shut. Boo hiss. But we found a cute little bakery/café thing. Woo for that. I got the train at around 2 and then had to walk home from the station. Because do the French have buses on Sundays? Nope. Somebody needs to sort this problem out.

I’ve taught my kids about Halloween and reality TV this week. Tomorrow I have like 6 lessons. Should be interesting.. I feel kind of unprepared although I’ve prepared as much as I can. I’ll just have to see what happens and hope for the best.

From Friday I have 12 days off. Woo. I love school holidays. I’m hopefully going to Paris to see Liz and maybe go to Germany. Just hop over the boarder you know!

A plus tard!

France part 6

OK so, last Sunday was SO cold! The radiators hadn’t been turned on and it was actually colder in our apartment than outside! I laid in bed all day on my laptop unable to move. It was slighty distressing. But any excuse to be lazy is welcome I guess. Woo for that?

On Monday morning I went into town to get some warmer clothes - only to find all the shops shut. Yes, the French like to close a lot. Monday mornings. All day Sunday. Everyday between 12 - 2 for a two hour dinner break.. Nothing is open on Wednesday nights either. It makes me miss tesco and its 24 hour-ness!

I got Trouble over Tokyo’s new CD which makes me really happy =) Another woo. ! ! !

Oh, the picture is me and some of the assistants I have met with a few times. Fun.

Lessons on Monday and Tuesday were ok, I worked with two students at a time mostly, going through texts and answering questions.. Also doing some conversational work.

Thursday was my busiest day, I had 5 lessons. The first one I had to take the whole class while the teacher watched, it was about Inspector Gadget. The most annoying thing is when you ask the kids if they understand.. And nobody answers. So you ask again, and nobody answers, then you ask again and say ‘yes or no?’ and they say yes.. Then you ask them if they understand a certain word and they so ‘no’. Ha. What I had done was a little hard for them, so next time I’ll do something a little easier.. These kids need more pictures/fun activities rather than long texts to get them hyped up. I will remember that. Pesky kids.

The next class was the BTS.. Older kids between 18 - 21.. I hadn’t worked with them before and had to take 3 of them away and they had a text that the teacher gave me, I’d not seen it before so I made them read it out and then I asked them to present it to me, asked some questions and we discussed it, then I got them to ask me questions about myself then they presented themselves.. Same with another class in the afternoon. They are nice kids when you have them in small groups and can actually interact with them better!

The another lesson where I took half.. We worked on a text on technology type stuff (it is a technical school)… it was a little boring I think, I need to think of something to get them talking more and discussing things! Hopefully next lesson can be more fun now I know what to expect.

Also experience my first strike since being here.. Well, I’ve not really experienced it because I’ve not needed to be on the train on Thursday.. But I was on france while there was a strike on which is practically the same thing I guess. I’m living history here, are you really jealous?

I only have next week left, then I have a week off! Gotta love school holidays, maybe off to Paris, maybe Luxembourg or Germany.. We’ll see how I am for money. Feel free to donate. I have a paypal account ;)

Tonight I am going to meet Liam at the station, then we are going to hit up some pubs in St Avold.. Then tomorrow hopefully we are staying in a hotel with some other assistants in Metz to watch the Rugby. Good times. I’ll take pictures. GO ENGLAND!

Ok bye the end.

france part 5

Ok, so it’s end of week two, it has been okokokokokokokok.

Each class I have, I also have my own room for, finally I have the keys for those too. I am the key master, see. I have all the keys.

I took a whole class the other day, the teacher sat and watched, assisting every so often.. At the end she said she liked what I did so that was fun. Success. I only have 9 hours next week, I have 15 hours on week then 9 the week after etc etc etc, so next week should be more laid back which I am looking forward to. I’m still planning lots of stuff but it will get easier soon I guess. Need to keep taking notes of their levels and stuff.

I did a lot of taking half the class into my own room on Friday. I had this one group and they were REALLY good. They asked loads of questions and did the tasks I asked of them and listened to me so that’s fun. I have them every two weeks.. One half for one hour then the other half the hour after. Will think of something more chanellenging to do with them.

I went to a party on Friday night in Metz with some of the other assistants. I was SO tired though because I’ve been getting up at 6ish for classes and not finishing until 6... Then having lessons to plan. Thurdsays and Fridays are my busiest days.

England won France last night! Woo all the kids kept asking me ‘who do you think will win?’ and when I asked them, they all said ‘FRANCE’. ha. No.

It’s Sunday now, I have some work to do for some lessons then tomorrow go and print them out and make copies. I need to plan some kind of lesson on the FBI or something.. Ha.

Oh, I keep having the most amazing dreams. Well really scary but they are like full lengh movies. I had this one yesterday about living with this woman and she was going to kill me and then eat me and I knew but I couldn’t get away, and I had a plan to escape and it was going to work so it was okay. It was the longest dream ever will all the details and exciting and stuff. Fun.

France part four

I finally have internet! it turns out that my computer was causing a problem for the whole school and kept crashing the server, how fun is that? I am bad news..

it wont let me log onto msn propely though.. but last night i was really clever and got msn working but this morning it appears to be back with the hate.

so i am stuck with web messenger again. i play around with it later. please remember kids -if you message me when you are appear offline, i get the message but cant respond. i feel like i am in time out and it is rather distressing.

i um.

ok. yes i remember now. tomorrow i have beaucoup de lessons so i went to the teachers computer area thing for plan some lessons.. then i get to photocopy like a real teacher and my worksheets look the same as what they did when i was a kid at school so that is really exciting.

this is this one class and i had them yesterday, i had never met them or the teacher before and she basically told me to go into a room on my own for the whole time and do what i want. so i made it up on the top of ma tete and ok. then i went to talk to her and she said i can do exactly what i want with them and i never have to justify myself to her. which is ok but scary.. so i guess i can go wild with this lot!

sometimes i do what i want, sometimes i have a certian topic etc or sometimes the teacher gives me something to do.

its going to be hard finding tasks at first as im unsure on their level.. but i may buy some kind of book with different tasks in. i have to make sure i have alternative work incase the kids find it too hard, too boring, too easy.

yesterday one of the teachers had a meeting, so she asked me to fill in for her. she said she would understand if she didnt want to but i guessed any teaching exeperience is good so i said ok.. she gave me some texts to pick from. scientific stuff, i did some questions, some true and false things and the class went ok i guess. not great, they were may age so that was strange. and they were all boys. but it went ok as far as a first time stood up infront of a whole class without the teacher there goes. their attention goes so fast and then they start speaking in french, like i said, i need to figure out the level of each class.

it will be ok in the end.

i really enjoy filling in the register at the back of my teachers planner =)

oh, and i am going to a party on metz on friday night! woo. friends. that should be fun.

France Part 3

Saturday October 6th

Hey everyone, it is me again.

I am in mc donalds on the wireless internet. Yes. Fun.

I had fun the other night with the other assistants. The 16 of us went to this lovely Italian resturant, it was really nice. Around 9:30 Chealsea and I (the assistant from the other school in my town) went to the train station to get the train, according to the time table there were trains back to St Avold at 10:15, 11, 11:30 and 00:05.. When we got there the next train was not until 6:43am! This was quite the problem, especially as I had lessons at 8am! I had to call Lucy (Lucy, thank you so much for this) and ask where she was and if we could stay over.. Lucy was in a bar with some of the other assistants, so we walked around Metz for a while and found their bar and had a couple beers, I also had a conversation with this friend homeless person who was sat outside drinking wine in these plastic bottles!

So anyway, Lucy said we could stay, she has a german assistant, a Spanish and a Russian on in her school too, so I stayed with the Russian assistant and Chealsea stayed with the german assistant, they were all really nice and let is borrow towels for the shower etc, so that was nice.

The next morning I got up at 5:45 got dressed and then left their apartments. There was a problem though, the gate was locked and I had no idea how to open it. I tried turning it but nothing happened. So yes, I had to climb over this gate at 6am. In the dark. In this city I’ve only been to once before, then find my way to the station. But I did it pretty well. I’m really good at france. I am also like batman. Or something like that.

So I got to the station for 6:20, got on the train and got back into St Avold at 7:20. The bus was waiting to take me to the bus station, so I paid my 1€ and sat down. Then I heard ‘Corinne Corinne’. and yes, it was some of the students.. The started talking to me and I told them they had to speak in English, me being an English assistant and all and they asked if I was going to the school. Then when we got to the bus station they told me about the school bus and helped me get on it by explaining to the lady on the bus I was the assistant, so that was good. The bus got in at 7:56 and I walked to the class I was meant to be in and got there for just before 8, told the teacher what happened. But I was there on time so it was all ok.

I told another teacher who lives in Metz and she said she would give me her number when I get a French phone so if it happens again, I can call her and she will drive me to the school. So that is good. But it was like an adventure so I don’t mind. I am quite glad it happened because I now know not to believe time tables and to check at the train station, and I also know my way around Metz,

Anyway - yesterday I had 3 lessons, some just observing and some introducing myself and asking questions. Then me and John (the other English assistant) when to the doctor to get our form signed so we can get a social security number and then get paid. So that is all sorted now which is great. I also have my time table now. I have all Wednesday off and Mondays I just have one lesson 3-4. I also have every other Friday afternoon, so those wanting to do a weekend trip, I’ll let you know which week I have the afternoon of so I can get to Paris (aimed at Sarah, Jenny and Janine.. But anyone else who wants to come is welcome).

I have some lesson plans to do for next week, which is really exciting. Also Mme Paton gave us some tickets to a French comedy thing at a theatre tonight, which should be fun. Then we are going to check the bars out in St Avold, which should be.. Er.. Interesting to say the least!

I really miss everyone, seriously. Especially at university, I am so jealous of all the Wednesday nights out and FND’s (or flirt, which I refuse to call it) at the union. I am really excited for next year to come bacn and do the student stuff again. I really think I’ll get some kind of culture shock when I go back. 24 hour shops? What the hell? Here everything closes between noon and 2pm for a dinner break. What is all that about? I also miss going to tesco.

The things I love though how I can get wine for 1€ and it doesn’t actually taste that bad! Also people here are so friendly, you walk into a shop and everyone says hello, asks how you are, they are patient with me when I’m speaking friend.. It is just a lot nicer than England. And the students here are a lot more well behaved. They actually listen to the teacher. I just really love the French culture. The food in the school cantean is also really good! In England we get chips, pizza, sausage rolls, crisps.. In france you get rabbit, gammon, sea food with squid, mussles, fish etc.. chicken, pasta, steak.. Salad, friut, yogurt.. Its just a lot nicer and a lot healthier. So I am really happy about my current situation.

I am in Metz right now, it is a really pretty city. Lots of shops and cute cafes. Resturants and it is very typically French. I think I may come here every Wednesday on my day off as it’s only about £5 for a return with my 12-25 year old train card. I’m also hoping to visit Nancy, germany and Luxembourg in the next month or two.

I am also working on getting internet in my room. The IT man gave me a sheet of paper with the IP address and port etc I should be using, but I am no IT person so I don’t really know what I’m doing. Apparently somebody is going to come to our appartment on Monday and maybe try sort it. I will not hold my breathe though, but I will keep working on it. But if not I’ll use the internet cafes and wifi bars in Metz every Saturday and Wednesday until then.

I’m sorry I’ve not been replying to e-mails and private message, I’ve only had like 15 mins of internet time or so, I’ve not even checked my e-mails in a week and a half! I just log onto face book, update and then it’s time for me to go basically. I’ll try rely to you all soon though.

Please remember I have a new phone number which is on my face book page, my other number is now de-activated until april.. I’ll also be getting a French number sometime soon. My address while I’m here is also on my page if anyone wants to send me letters, although I’ve not found the post office here yet. It is lame ass man.

I love you all and will speak to you soon!

France Part Two

Wednesday 3rd October

hello everyone.

i am still sans internet. it is sadness. i should get it at some point i just dont know when!

this week i had some lessons, most of them i stood up infront of the class and introduced myself, then they asked me questions. i also did a bit of observation. he kids here are crazy and come out with the most random stuff!

today i had my induction with the other assistants near here. ive met some cool people, a lot of them are american. some of us are meeting up for dinner in about 10 mins so i have to keep this short.

this weekend i think some of us are meeting up too.

i have to go now. love love.

my appartment and view out of the window -

France Part One

Friday 28th September

hello everyone!

i am here in france. i spent two lovely nights in paris and then went over to st avold and the teacher was waiting for me at the station.

i broke my suitcase dragging it up and down the french metro though! doom sad.

this keyboard is french and really hard to type on. i dont have internet in my room yet but i keep asking mme petit to sort it out and she keeps saying tomorrow and it keeps not working still. maybe one day.

my room is okay.. there are two beds, perfect for those of you who are coming to visit me! we have a kitchen and bathroom, there is also a canteen downstairs that serves 3 meals a day.. apart from weekends.

there is another english assistant, john, and a german assistant, dom. we all get on really well which is cool. we opened our bank account yesterday. fun. and last night we were invited to go to a reading by some students which was cool. its hard to concentrate for so long in french though!

i am missing everyone and you all better be missing me! my address is on my page and my new number is 07964309661, my french phonenumber is 0642492313.. ill be getting a french phone today also.

talk to you soon!

Some photos