Well, here I sit, in the new teacher’s lounge at the school I work at. I don’t believe I have ever mentioned in my blog the fact that I have a job. I work as an English language assistant with 1st and 2nd graders. Most of the time it’s really great. I leave school feeling so happy and refreshed but today kind of sucks. I work for 3 hours on both Mondays and Tuesdays and on Mondays I have an hour “plan period”. Right, like I have lesson plans to make. So, today, I’m using this time to write a blog.
Last Monday, I read this class a story about bears and today we went over vocabulary. The teacher split the class in two and put me by myself with like, 12 second graders. Without a firm voice, these kids go wild. So…I don’t know how to yell at second graders in French and naturally, they started poking each other in the eyes, kicking each other and like, fighting each other to answer my questions first. They’re like an F-ing box of puppies, wriggling and jumping around and yapping. In stressful situations like that, my French takes a backseat to the English and it becomes harder for me to function in French. So, I make these stupid errors and of course there is this one really loud talkative kid in class that keeps laughing at me and egging the other students on. By now, I have learned ways to tell people to “knock it off” but none them are 8-year-old appropriate so I was screwed. This kid is actually pretty clever and funny but he today made my life a nightmare. It really did feel like an “in my underwear in front of the whole school” kind of situation. Whew. I need this hour break…8 year-olds. Who knew?
In other news, I have lots of news. I have been meaning to write all last week but never got around to it because I was so busy. I have all new classes (with real live French students!), I had some serious French bureaucracy to deal with, I was catching up with people I haven’t seen in a month and, making new friends that I will hopefully have to catch up with in the future. Also, I’ve spent the last two weeks getting over that whole “me being such a little bitch” thing that was going on before. If you have read any of my prior blogs, come on, you know it’s true…I was being a little bitch. Florida really helped me realize that. I have a completely different outlook on my life here now. We’re talkin’ more than 180°. Its like, 180° + 180° +180° (aka 540°). After playing Apples to Apples with the bobs one night, Jeff told me to go back there and have fun. No more complaining. The whole time I was there, people kept saying, “wow, you must be having so much fun. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” And I would appease them ,when I really wanted to say, “well, its not all I expected.” Then, after I came back I got to thinking:
Wake UP RUBY. YOU. ARE. IN. FRANCE. FOR ONLY 6 MORE MONTHS. THEN YOU COME BACK TO AMERICA WHERE NOT MUCH HAS REALLY CHANGED. PLUS, HALF OF YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE ANYWAY. GO DO STUFF. GET SHIT DONE. LIVE LIFE AND STOP WORRYING ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE. YOU ARE 20 AND YOU ARE IN EUROPE WITH LIKE, 3 OBLIGATIONS, TOTAL. WAAAAKKKEE UPPP!!!!
Its like, everyone kept saying that but I never listened. Then, all of a sudden, one morning I just got out of bed and got shit done. It literally just happened. I looked around me and saw what was going on. My problem was the “It’s not all I expected” part. Now, I don’t expect a damn thing from this place and I’m having a GREAT time. I just let the days flow by and make my plans as I go. I was in one hell of a funk but I’m coming back through and gettin’ myself together. I love it.
So some of my new classes will be harder than others, but great nonetheless. Translation will be one of those harder ones but I think I’ll learn a lot. Last Wednesday was my first Translation class. I was running a bit late and couldn’t find the room, so I walked in a scotch late. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except that there were no chairs left. There was table space, but no chairs. So……I sat on the floor in the back of the room. Another girl came in about 15 minutes later trying to enroll in the class and the professor kind of bitched her out and was like, “I cannot take you in here, I already have this young lady sitting on the floor!” (said all in English because these students are English majors). And yes, the entire class turns around and looks and me, the little American sitting crosslegged on the floor. I just sort of awkwardly smile, raise my pen in the air and say, “hello…” After a perfectly timed awkward pause, everyone turns back around. A couple seconds later, this weird old dude with Bob Ross hair and like, 5 teeth walks through the classroom holding a chair high above his head and asked me “why I didn’t come sit next to him?” “I didn’t see the chair. Sorry!” I said. (I thought “I honestly didn’t see that chair but you have Bob Ross hair and five teeth and smell like patchouli and garbage.”) But it was very nice of him to bring me the chair. The class went on and when the end came, I was surprised! It was the first time a class period had just flown by since I’ve been here so that made me happy.
Afterward, I was talking with some of my American friends and met this Australian girl in our class. Her name is Lani and seemed pretty cool. When she said she had to jet off to a Contemporary Art class I stopped her. “What kind…of art is it? Paintings etc?” “Yeah, its like, Dadaism and stuff through the 80’s” “Really?! Perfect! Can I just, come along with you?”
So I went to this class with her. The day before, I went to what I thought was Contemporary Art but turned out to be 19th Century French Architecture class. Definitely not contemporary art. So this turned out to be the one I was looking for. That class period went well. We talked and became friends and I even had the courage to ask a French girl if she would let me have her notes. This is how that played out…
I tapped this blonde girl on the shoulder after class and explained myself. “Hello, I am a foreign student and it’s hard for me to understand everything the professor says-” –At this moment the girl turns back around, picks up her stuff and leaves (not kidding at all), but the girl next to her is looking at me. I continue, “and so I was wondering if I could have your notes?” –The new girl looks at me like I just asked her to poop in a bag or something.- I continue anyway, “I mean, I take notes but they’re not very good. I’m a foreign kid and my notes suck.” I leaf through my notes, she looks at them, scoffs and kind of starts chuckling. (NOTE TO SELF: Making fun of my inadequacies as a foreigner seems to play over well with the French!) She looks at me and then asks me if I have an email address or something (SUCCESS!!!) I give it to her and tell her, “thank you so so much, this is really nice of you” and she gives me what I interpreted was a genuine smile. I left class feeling pretty good and was excited about getting a Random French GIRL to be somewhat nice to me. But yet again, I’ve been had by my own damn naïveté for today is Monday and I still have not received any notes from this girl. Bitch.
That same day, I ate lunch with Lani and some of her Australian friends. We sat around at a table and discussed the elections and how they play out in our respective countries. I spent a good 30 minutes explaining the electoral college to them (with the help of a Canadian! WTF?) and they now think that America is even crazier than they thought it to be before. “Why doesn’t the guy with the most votes win? Isn’t that simpler?” “Why yes,” I say “It totally is but I think it was created to prevent corruption and now, nothing can be done. Its insane but we deal with it.”
The rest of the week went well however two of my professors didn’t show up for the first day of classes. I know…I know…
This weekend I went to an electro concert on a boat that went until 5:30 am. It was really fun and I slept until 3pm the next day. But then THAT NIGHT was our roommate, Julia’s, birthday party so we had to get ready for that. It was “tecktonik” themed. I have mentioned the “tecktonik” movement in earlier blogs but for a recap, it can be described as Emo kids who dance to techno. They wear tight tight pants and fluo colors like neon pink and yellow and lots of belts and ONE STRIPED SOCK (?!) OVER their pants…(I know…I know…) and super weird hair…lots of gel and faux-hawks...and the dance is even weirder. Here’s a nice little YouTube video to explain visually.
It’s a phenomenon in France. Kids stand around and dance like that with no music playing. Its so silly. Just…Silly. But it was fun to have a party mocking them. I’ll post pictures from the party later. This blog is super thorough and long.
All in all, things are much better than they were before. But don't worry, just because I'm happy now doesn't mean my blogs are gonna get all boring and sugary. I still get put in the most awkward situations, daily, and I need an outlet. More cynical criticisms coming your way.
143!
~Rubes
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