First Week Back in France

So Thursday September 24th I jumped on a plane to return to France. I took off from the Seattle/Tacoma airport before the birds even started to sing and arrived in Toronto, Canada later in the afternoon. I was only suppose to have a six hour layover, but unfortunately there was some sort of mechanical probably with our plane so the six hour layover turned into 9 hours and a departure time of midnight (I guess I shouldn't complain though because at least we weren't flying over the ocean when they realized there was a mechanical problem). I arrived in Paris at the Charles De Gaulle international airport Friday September 25th around noon, which didn't leave me much time to get to the train I had to catch at 1:15pm so I was rushing to get my luggage, pass through customs, get to the train terminal and buy a ticket. I made it to the platform with ticket in hand with only 10 minutes to spare (that was no easy task with two 50 pound checked-bags and a 25 pound carry-on). I took the train to Poitiers and then a bus to Montmorillon (the small town where I'll be living for the next 7 months of my life).

Veronique, one of the english teachers from the school, was waiting at the bus station for me to arrive. She had sent me an email a few weeks before offering to let me stay with her during the weekend when I first arrived (of course there's no polite way of saying 'no actually I really just want to move into my new apartment' so I agreed), so we headed to her place, had dinner and then I crashed out (lots of travelling always exhausts me). Saturday we visited the Saturday market in Chauvigny. Chauvigny is a small town north of Montmorillon, famous for the five castles that surround the town and is also another town where I'll be teaching at once a week every Mondays. We bought some fruits and veggies, stopped for a 'cafe' and then went at visited one of the castles before returning to Montmorillon and dropping off my luggage at my new apartment.

Saturday night I stayed at a different english teacher's house. Her name is Valerie. She made me dinner and then I crashed out again (ever hear of jet lag...yeah it sucks). Before going to bed we discussed what we'd do tomorrow (any one who kept up with my blog last year knows that nothing is open on Sundays in France) so I mentioned that I liked hiking. So Sunday morning Valerie took me to a hiking trail by the "Gartempe" river. It was absolutely beautiful with the rapids and cliffs and I couldn't have asked for better weather. After our hike we visited for a while at her house before she dropped me off at my new apartment.

My apartment has 4 bedrooms. I have the largest room and its also the most secluded (first come, first serve). When you first enter the apartment you walk down the hall way and pass three doors on your right, they are all bedrooms. The two doors you pass on the left are the shower and toilette (because in France the toilette is always in a seperate room from the bath). At the end of the hall is a large living room furnished with couches, tv, a bar and a kitchen nook. To the right of the Living room is the kitchen and right of the kitchen is my bedroom. I have two other roommates (although one I've only seen once in the apartment, because he only stays here very rarely) one is a french boy (who I never see) and the other a columbian girl named Leidy. She doesn't speak much english, so only french is spoken in the house which has made my french improve phenomenally.

Monday morning I was giving a tour of the school that I'll be working in for the year. It's called Lycee Jean Moulin. The students range in age from 11-19 years old and I teach all of them. During the tour I was introduced to my new columbian roommate, who had just arrived. I also was introduced to one of the classes I'd be working with throughout the year.

Tuesday I took my new roommate around town on a tour and showed her the ropes as far what paperwork you have to fill out and where, opening a bank account, etc. I also was introduced to more classes that I'll be working with. When I get 'introduced' to a class it is basically a question and answer. They practice their english by asking me questions about myself and I answer. Like "Wat izzz your name?"

Wednesday morning Leidy and I took a bus into Poitiers for the day to get cell phones and see the city (I've already visited there a couple of times, so I was playing tour guide once again). Basically the first half of my week was spent exploring the new city that I live in, meeting my future students and filling out paperwork (because the french love paperwork. They actually have an expression for it that goes 'why do it the easy way when you can do it the long way').