3 weeks on, 2 weeks off

I'm officially on the first of many weeks of vacation to come. After successfully (semi-successfully anyway) putting in my time at both Lycee Georges Brassens and College le Dorlay for about three weeks, I couldn't possibly be asked to continue without first enjoying nearly 2 weeks off. This vacation time is for la Toussaint, All Saints Day, a holiday the US doesn't even so much as blink at. I personally don't care what it's for! All I know is that I'm off until the afternoon of November 6th, when it's back to the grindstone for a 5 hour work week before the weekend. The following week will be a two day work week as one of the three days I would potentially be working that week just so happens to be a holiday as well. Such is the life in France. Between strikes, holidays, and teachers cancelling my classes, I'm still not sure what I'm getting paid for. I did, however, get my first month's salary today (i.e. the money the most opposite of 'hard earned cash' I'll ever make in my life, unless I'm lucky).

So with all of this time off, I'm hopping on a budget airplane (god forbid) and flying off to Italy, where I will meet Amanda, who arrived in Italy on Sunday. We will spend a week visiting Venice and Florence, and I will practice my 4 Italian survival phrases one of the Italian assistants so graciously taught me. Let's just say that three of the four phrases can only be used in a restaurant. The other can only be used if for some reason I need to purchase or steer a Gondola. Very practical, I know.

I am very excited to see Italy! The last time I was in France I thought for sure I'd get to go, but it just never seemed to work out. Now I'm finally going, and I can't wait! I just hope it doesn't rain the whole time because that would really put a damper on the whole trip! Nevertheless, rain or shine, warm, delicious, Italian restaurants that will be havens for me to charm the locals with my endless command of their language, await!

One other thing that can't be overlooked: I return from Italy on election day!! I am really glad I'll be traveling because the anticipation and thrill of the polls closing, the votes being counted, and Barack Obama being declared the clear victor, is almost more than I can handle! Vote, vote, vote!!

Contact me!

I decided it's time to give my faithful readers a way to contact me and send me things in the mail (!!!).

Phone number:

011-33-6-16-15-41-24

You can even send me texts from the US using this number!! I'll be looking forward to them!

Address:

Kim CALAWAY
12 bis Rue Emile Littré
42100 SAINT ETIENNE
FRANCE

Send me stuff! Getting mail from 4000 miles away is the best!

A bientôt!

Menthe a l'eau

Things in Saint Etienne are going really well. This week has actually been a really fun one, especially because of the 13 hours I was scheduled to teach, I only actually taught 9. And those 9 hours include two extra hours I put in at the collège (middle school) out of the goodness of my heart. I literally had 50% of my classes cancelled this week! Plus I already have two hours cancelled on Monday morning, so my 11 hour work week next week is also already 9! Pretty tough life I live, I know.

That being said, I'm sure you're wondering (maybe not) how on earth I'm managing to occupy my time! Basically, it's been a mix of shopping at Auchan (huge Walmart-like store), sitting endlessly at cafés, watching the entire series of House on my computer, walking around Saint Etienne all day, and going out at night.

The first activity, Auchan runs, sound about as much fun as they are. Though Auchan is wonderful because I can find basically everything I could ever need, the trips are tiring. Not only does it take 30 minutes to choose garbage bags, I am then stuck carrying all of my purchases home. When I wrote about Ikea, I forgot one other thing I bought there, this beautiful blue bag! I now use it as my shopping bag. Seeing as how Corinne can actually fit in it, you can imagine that it can get heavy! Then I climb the hill and two flights of stairs to my apartment, and I feel like I need a nap. For these reasons, Auchan trips are becoming fewer and further between!

If Auchan trips are becoming less and less, cafe visits are becoming more and more frequent. Though there are probably over a hundred cafes in St Etienne, all offering the same basic things, I've been sticking mainly to the cafes in centre ville, especially those at the Place du Peuple, a beautiful open square close to my apartment. This week I decided to get adventurous at the cafe and rather than ordering my usual "un cafe s'il vous plait" ordered a menthe a l'eau. Those of you that took French class with Madame Straub in middle school know what I'm talking about. Basically, it's water (I prefer it with fizzy water) with mint syrup! Sounds gross, but it's actually very refreshing and delicious! Too bad as the warm sunny days are fading, so will my taste for this yummy refreshment!


This photo shows all that I accomplished on Wednesday. And I truly mean ALL I accomplished. I managed to trick the BNP (my bank here) into giving me my Carte Bleue (my french debit card), which is beyond exciting! Now each time I buy something I won't get sympathetic looks for having to use a different kind of card that must be swiped rather than simply inserted into the machine. Additionally, I managed to order a menthe a l'eau with Perrier and got exactly what I wanted (not even including a strange look from the server when I ordered it wrong). Later that night I went to see Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I actually really liked! I'm looking forward to next week when I can go see another movie, I'm just not the type of girl who goes to the cinema twice in one week.

During all of this sitting and walking and drinking minty things, I have been required to introduce myself countless times to faces I'll never possibly remember. The students were asked to prepare questions for me and I've heard everything from "Do you prefer Obama or McCain?" (tough question) to "Do you have a lover?" (delivered by a 13 year old boy). However, since the kids don't truly care about me or Wisconsin (why couldn't I be from California?) I like to bring up American rappers and TV shows to get them fired up. Turns out, as far as TV goes, these kids have the same taste as me! For some classes Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, 'Doctor House', and One Tree Hill were some of the only comprehensible words I spoke in an hour long class. These kids LOVE American TV. One student asked me today if I knew how to do the soulja boy dance. I (regretably) said yes. You can't imagine the excitement! A few minutes later, I managed to talk my way out of actually performing the dance without music in front of 31 fifteen year old French kids....mostly I think I just confused them so much they forgot about my hidden talent. Thank goodness I have that power!

I am surprised at how quickly I have become accustomed to life in Saint Etienne. One of the secretaries at the lycée today asked me how it felt to be so far from home, thinking that it must not be easy. I thought about it for a second before telling her that actually I feel very much at home in St E. I love my apartment, I love my new friends, and I truly love this city. Though I really do miss my friends and family in the US, I feel like this is exactly where I should be right now. I am happy and comfortable. I can't believe I've been here for a month already! I remember a month ago saying how I couldn't wait until November when I'd have everything figured out, and now here I am, at that point I was dying to reach!

With the rest of my time (still plenty!) I've been going to some bars here in St. Etienne. I haven't even been to Lyon yet which I can't believe! The bars here are great, pretty cheap, and it's nice to just go and hang out! I haven't found the French Axel's or Vitucci's yet, though I think I'm getting closer.

This week the assistant who was teaching at my school 2 years ago is in town...which is really strange. But he's nice, and we've been going out with a series of different people all week. Needless to say, as it's now 11:30 I'm past due to meet him and some of the teachers from Lycee Georges Brassens out at the Irish pub in town!

Who ever said routine was a good thing?

I've definitely settled into my new apartment and my new life in Saint Etienne. I've been to my school in Rive de Gier a few times, but am still awaiting the ever elusive timetable. Basically I haven't been to Rive de Gier since Tuesday. Wednesday are half days of school, so I didn't have to go. And Thursday was my orientation with all of the other English assistants in the Saint Etienne area. And Friday I simply didn't have to go. So here we are, it's Saturday evening and I still don't know exactly when I'll be going back to do my 'job'. I'm thinking Monday or Tuesday. No matter what, that gives me at least one more day of lounging around St E drinking coffee, running errands, and living the good life.


However, as tomorrow is Sunday, life in Saint Etienne comes to a screeching halt. Virtually the only thing open on Sundays are markets, cinemas, and a handful of restaurants. It's like a ghost town! Everyone seems to retreat to the 'campagne' to eat ridiculously long and leisurely meals with their families. As for me, I'd love to have another Sunday like last!


Let me explain: Last Sunday a friend, Corinne, and I decided to find a market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables and even nail polish remover from local farmers. The only problem was that Saturday night was spent drinking (too much?) French wine with some German assistants, so we almost missed the market.

Me (with Katharina, one of the German assistants) preparing the salad for dinner!

That being said, we did get everything we needed to make homemade soup! And when I say homemade soup, I mean even the broth was homemade! After an interesting conversation with a farmer about how exactly to go about making a soup (un potage?), we had a bag full of vegetables, spices, and other delights, and we were determined! This determination inevitably led us to a cafe halfway between my apartment and the market where we spent quite some time drinking coffee to motivate ourselves for what was ahead. Once we arrived back at my apartment we were pleased to find a hand blender to use to puree the soup, just like the French do! So after about an hour and a half of chopping, sauteeing, and simmering, voila! La soupe!!! It was pretty darn good for our first time, and wonderful on a cold Sunday night!
The next couple of days were spent at Lycee Georges Brassens in Rive de Gier. To get to this school, it takes me over an hour including a tram ride, a train ride, and a climb up a seriously steep hill. Needless to say, once I'm there I don't leave until I'm completely done for the day. Because of this, I spent some long hours there over those two days answering questions about Milwaukee, celebrities, my family and friends, and Barack Obama. One kid told me that he liked Marilyn Manson and then five minutes later was the first to raise his hand when I asked who liked Desperate Housewives. The teachers say he's 'finding himself.'

Wednesday was another adventure! It was an awful rainy day, and I had nothing planned, so Corinne and I decided there was no better way to spent such an ugly day than inside Saint Etienne's very own Ikea, which is apparently one of the biggest in all of Europe! Apparently my American sensibility led me to believe that the bus would drop us off directly in front of the store so we wouldn't have to brave the elements. I was very, very wrong. The bus dropped us off with Ikea nowhere in sight, and we trudged around in the rain asking every person we saw how to find Ikea. After about a half hour in the rain, we finally arrived, soaked, freezing, and quite cranky. We dried off walking around the model bedrooms and kitchens and testing out the comfy couches. I found the most perfect, girly bedroom I've ever seen. I wonder if Ikea will ship entire rooms (and the attached bathroom, in fact) to the US... After all of this effort we had un petit creux and decided to get some coffee and a snack. The one euro coffee was amazing and 'à volonté' which may or may not have meant free refills. 2 espressos and 1 hot chocolate later, I was ready for all Ikea had to offer! Corinne lives in a basic white box kind of like a dorm room so she needed to get a lot of things to decorate, which is right up my alley! All of my time watching HGTV finally paid off and she let me help her decorate!!! My purchases included a sprig of cotton, a vase to put it in, some tupperware containers, a flower pot, and a cactus. All for under 10 euro and all to carry in the (now pouring) rain at dusk. Needless to say we felt a little 'mal a l'aise' and decided to take a taxi. After two brushes with death and a tram ride afterward, I finally made it home from my Ikeadventure, with my (still dry) purchases in tow!


Thursday was orientation which was beyond strange. I still have no idea why, but some possibly important European Union people that we were supposed to be impressed by came in and talked to us about ??? and then we were all invited to sample food from all around Europe. The spread was ridiculous and included mini versions of paella, tiramisu, beet root something, greek grape leaves, etc. as well as beer and wine (which is always important at noon at a high school), and a variety of French cheeses, breads, and meats. Absolutely insane, but fun to get to taste a bunch of different things!! Much later that night we ate at a 'Mexican' restaurant where 'tapas' included wings and onion rings, a taco salad included ham, and many things included zucchini. ALSO, the margaritas only came blended. It was apparently impossible to orden one on the rocks, which still stumps me because where I come from all margaritas start that way before heading to the trusty blender. Not your typical night at Jaliscos, that's for sure.


Yesterday was a day of catching up and booking my trip to Italy for Toussaint in two and a half weeks! Amanda will be coming from Milwaukee and we'll be going to Venice and probably Florence! I can't wait!

Today was one of the most beautiful days since I've been in Saint Etienne, sunny and warm. Though I feel like I spent most of the day indoors, it still was great to have such nice weather.

Wow, long update.


The week ahead brings more fun (and with any luck, very little work), hopefully including the cinema, and maybe including making something else from scratch with items purchased at tomorrow's marche!


Hope all is well with everyone who has been reading this blog! XO

I'm alive and well, but been having annoying internet problems lately! This picture is from Sunday afternoon, one of many adventurous days this week! Sunday included a trip to the market and making soup from scratch! Yum!

Next time, I'll tell you all about my very first trip to an Ikea and my trip to the Mexican (???)restaurant in Saint Etienne!

English Wednesday

Well, I'd been planning on waiting until I'd uploaded some more pictures from my camera to do this post, but I figure there's no need to put it off any longer?

Since real life starts again tomorrow (and by 'real life' I obviously mean my 12 hour work week), I should at least update those of you who have been reading this (which I assume is nobody, since I have very few COMMENTS!!) on what I've been up to since I left Paris on Saturday.

Basically, I've been settling into my new apartment and life here in Saint Etienne! I must say, Saint Etienne is a pretty cute town with really nice people. It's almost as though it's a completely different country than Paris. I'd gotten so accustomed to my life in France being in Paris that I didn't even realize all that there was to experience in other places. And here, what there is to experience is typical French lifestyle and habits.

My roommate, Mathilde, is hilariously funny. Because she's a student and takes English classes, we've decided to speak only English on Wednesdays. Though it was not ALL English today, we managed to speak some, and it was nice being the language expert for a change! Tomorrow it's back to French. I just learned that to say good luck, the French say "Merde!" which also means shit. Could be confusing...

I've been busy making trips to Auchan to buy things to make my room feel like my room. So far, so good! The bed is EXTREMELY comfy and cozy so I haven't had to buy any bedding. So instead I bought some pictures to put on my orange walls! When everything is all set and perfect I will take pictures so everyone (the 3 people that I'm assuming are reading this blog anyway) will see exactly what it looks like here!!! I have to say, it's very French, which is perfect! Though there are some silly nuances about the apartment, (such as the faucets don't really turn off the first time you try, you have to turn them on again then turn them off quickly and the toilet is in the middle of the toilet room so there's hardly room to sit and close the door but there's space behind the toilet for god knows what) it's okay! These are the things that I will always remember about my quirky little French apartment!

Tomorrow I have to go to Rive de Gier for the first time to see my school and meet the teachers and students. A little nerve wracking, but it will be good to finally know what I'll be doing this year! I'm excited to get my schedule, just like when I could hardly wait to get my schedule in middle school and high school, and when I'd spend days planning my semester schedules in college... What can I say, I guess I like to have a plan!

I'm waking up in about 6 hours to make the 8:48 train to Rive de Gier, so I should probably get some sleep! Wish me "merde!"