Ohhhh where to begin!
I have neglected my self-imposed blogging duties for far too long, and I apologize. I do have (many, many) excuses, however and I'll try not to take too long explaining them all.
First of all, I started teaching. Life has been good in the classroom. Primarily, it is exhausting. I have gained a HUGE respect for career first grade teachers. After just a few days, I can already appreciate a lifetime of doing this. I am already learning so much from the kids - about teaching and about how to deal with so many situations on the fly. Today, one of my kids' teeth fell out in the middle of class. I forgot that even happened to people! That was so long ago! It has also been really interesting (and difficult) learning about the differences between cultures - the hard way. As in, I'm up in front of class and I'll say something completely incorrect and they all look at me like I'm dumb. Also, apparently American cursive is different from French cursive, so much of the time, they can't read my handwriting. They're very big on format as well, which I'm adjusting to - but essentially, I'm adjusting by telling them that it's not a big deal for me, and they do it anyway. I cannot tell you how many times in any given class period I get asked 'can I write this down with a blue pen?'; "Should I underline that?"; "Should I write the date here? or here?" It's understandable (as I learned when I told one class they could do whatever they wanted, and the proceeded to only care about choosing what color marker to write with, and paid no attention to the lesson) and clearly, they've been programmed very well. But it's such a stretch for me to follow along. I figure they'll adjust as well.
Anyway. There have been many, many more interesting adventures in the classroom since, which I'll be more than happy to elaborate on if you let me. But I'll refrain. The second big thing that happened was our first two-week vacation. Yes, I only work 12 hours a week and I have Wednesdays and Fridays off. And, yes, we get two weeks off every five weeks. I have a really good gig going here. And I also have wonderful people in my life that I get to go visit. So for this break, I was lucky enough to be able to return to the States to see Mike, my boyfriend. He's going to grad school in Rhode Island, so I flew into Boston and then took the train up to meet him. We had three eventful weekends, and I had two very relaxing weeks while he was in class. I was, surprisingly, pretty productive, getting lots and lots of things done. We also ate. So much. Sooooo much. I did get to spend Halloween in Salem, Mass. It was super fun. I got a tarot reading, so I can officially say that I have a positive future to look forward to. We spent a day in Boston, another in Providence (which is definitely one of the coolest cities ever), we went apple picking, we saw friends at Yale - all in all, a great trip. Getting back to Auch is another story entirely (flight from Boston delayed 2.5 hours, sprinted through Amsterdam airport, barely made the gate, arrived in Toulouse without any luggage, took shuttle to train station to find out there are NO trains to my town, then called every single person I knew here with a car and ended up getting picked up by my roommate's advisor's boyfriend in Toulouse) but that's another story for another day.
Now, I am back in Auch cranking away again with my extremely grueling schedule. I will admit - with the jet lag, these past two days have been exceedingly difficult. Roudy children and delirious exhaustion are not a good combination. But I think I'm back into the swing of things....the salsa dancing classes I started tonight will hopefully help!
This weekend will hopefully involve a fun trip to somewhere nearby, just for a little more adventure in our lives. After that, we get to start celebrating CHRISTMAS!!! (which is entirely reasonable because, you see, the French don't have a Thanksgiving that comes first). So, hopefully, we'll get to decorating sometime soon, and finding our sapin (they have a special word, just for Christmas tree. How great?!) I'm also very, very excited to start frequenting the marche de noel, or the Christmas market, where i can get my vin chaud, or spiced wine, and all kinds of goodies. All the streets are already decorated as well - but the lights should come on sometime soon, and then things will be just magical. I can't wait.
I also can't wait for MY FAMILY TO COME HERE!! Now that this vacation is over, I get to look forward to the next one, where my family gets to come see me in my town! They are flying in to Barcelona, where we get to spend a few days, and after that, we'll drive through the Pyrenees to Auch and then stay in this adorable farm house hotel my mom found. It's going to be a blast! And so good to share all these things with them that I've come to love so much. It's a shame they won't be able to meet my roommates....but that will come, in due time :-)
I will do my best to stay more up-to-date with my blog, though that should be feasible with not as many things going on. And, as always, feel free to contact me via any method you can think of! I love hearing about people's lives!!!
