Already behind!

Many, oh so many things have happened in the last month! I went through some anxiety-inducing training, orientation, started teaching, and took a week-long vacation to Vienna! singin' with the roomie at the pub ------->

Other than my kids talking about my booty behind my back and me having to remind them that I understand what they're saying, the teaching part has been fine. My students range from ages 17-23, which was a happy surprise for me! The reason some of them are so much older is because there is an option in France to complete a 2-year degree, but there are no community colleges. Therefore, the classes are held on high school campuses. After which they can be completely finished or they can decide to go to the university for one year to finish the French equivalent of a bachelor's degree--here it's called a "license" and it's a 3-year program. Since most of my students in this program (it is called BTS) are studying commerce, finance, marketing, etc. they are very interested in participating and learning English. The high school seniors are pretty hit and miss. But that's ok...I hope to have made some sort of difference by the time the year is up!

Living in Nice has been quite the adventure, too. It's so easy to be hanging out just chit chatting with the roomies, look down, and realize that it's 2am. Or to go out with friends to a bar, look at your phone and realize it's 4am. Luckily, the city isn't very big and I never go out alone, so the walk home is never too daunting. The city really has two faces though: day-time Nice at night time Nice.

Day time Nice is a place of wonderful open-air markets, beach-side strolls, and cafe culture complete with sunshine and little to no risk of danger.

Night time Nice is a whole different ball park. It is sketchy, dangerous, hooker-laden, and not a place to find yourself alone. I was out with my roommate and saw a fight (ironically in front of the courthouse) of 15 vs. 15--throwing punches, throwing bottles, not caring that there were other people around. It was insanity. The cops showed up by car, on foot, on segway, sprayed some sort of tear gas or pepper spray, and arrested two bloodied-up hooligans. I also know at least two or three other assistants who have been physically assaulted at night because they decided to talk back to the men hassling them. I know this will alarm anyone back home reading, but I'd rather tell the good with the bad and not paint Nice as some sort of idyllic, sleepy, sea-side town. It definitely has a hard edge that people planning a visit, or even people daydreaming of how wonderful it is here, should be aware of. The best thing to do is go out in a group, leave when there's trouble a-brewin', and ignore the cat callers.

Also, a note to anyone reading this, The G-20 is in Cannes in the next few days, but the rioters are coming to Nice. I'm really not planning on being out much...but if you see craziness on the news don't freak out. If I see craziness on the news, I promise I will call home immediately.

Next post will be all about Vienna :-)

Biz just so you do know it is beautiful and not all scary ---->

Nice: Finding Lodging, Exploration

I was actually really lucky to have a safe, comfortable place to stay while I searched for my apartment. Sophie and Raphael were so accommodating and wonderful--I almost felt like I was taking advantage of their hospitality.

I was also very lucky to have found an apartment so quickly! I am living with two Algerian lawyers who are studying/working in Nice. Farouk is 32, plays the guitar, and is really laid back and fun. Nazim is more high-strung (but still very very nice), obsessed with Michael Jackson, and loves to dance. I fit right in! Additionally, they cook for me (while wearing an apron which is adorable) and do the dishes. Fantastic.

I quickly found a few of the other assistants by a keen use of Facebook and my prompt purchase of a phone in Paris. I began hanging out with Molly, an American from the Chicago area, and Katie, an English girl from Newcastle. Our days have been filled to the brim with going to the beach, swimming, using the diving mask that they found in their apartment, walking around, and going out in the evenings. Not a bad way to spend the days before we start working! After spending my time in Paris and now living in Nice I have come to the conclusion that I need to buy a lighter. This is not because I am planning on starting to smoke, but rather because I am asked at least 2-3X/day whether or not I have "du feu" ie: a light.

Over the last week our posse has grown as more and more people arrive and buy phones. It has been great having this time before work starts to get to know each other and have a little fun while we're at it!

I don't have any photos of the people I have met or my roommates, but here are a few touristy photos I took while walking around Nice. Enjoy!
This is my attempt at being artsy. I thought these dudes on the bench, gazing out at the sea looked interesting
Pretty soaps at the outdoor market in the Cours Saleya
Nice from "Le Chateau"
The port side of Nice
Flowers at the market

Last day in Paris, Nice arrival

Our last full day in Paris we did the boring, obligatory stuff like buy train tickets and call our coordinating professors to ensure that we had places to stay when we arrived to our destinations (Tracy is an assistant in Bordeaux). We convinced both of the guys in the ticket office to speak to us in French. Bonus points!

After those logistics were taken care of, we headed up to Montmartre to walk around in the hills and see Sacre Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. The lines were massive, so we didn't go in (which stinks because I really wanted to!). The outside is super gorgeous though and since it's on a giant hill the view of Paris from up there is awesome. We just mozied around, bought some post cards and other trinkets and headed back to the room to drop off our tourist-y impulse buys (magnets for me, a mug for Tracy)

We took a little detour on our way out to the pub that night and went through Parc Monceau, which is a decent sized park where people go to hang out and go jogging. It is, in my opinion, one of the better parks in Paris because it's removed from the big tourist attractions and has really beautiful and interesting landscaping. Then it was off to the pub for more live music, beer, and conversation with random strangers.

Nice Arrival:
The next day we packed up our things, said goodbye the Persiaux and went off to our respective train stations. We decided to spend the money for a cab and it was *the best* ten euros I have ever spent. Not having to drag my crap through the metro alone (again) was my little "welcome to France" present to myself. I was meeting Sophie, my coordinating professor, at the train station in Nice. The train ride took six hours, and was uneventful. I didn't really sleep because I was so nervous about my stuff being in the little baggage storage area and having it stolen. Luckily nothing bad happened and me and my stuff all arrived in one piece.

Sophie and her fiance, Raphael, picked me up in their car and took me to their apartment which was actually a pretty big two-bedroom place. We talked for a while and they asked me questions about Minnesota and my time in Paris, etc. Let me tell you, trying to explain to French people what food on a stick is is hilarious and really hard! Over dinner, which was a delicious salmon filet and a side of extremely buttered noodles, they told me a little bit more about themselves. They have been together since they were in high school and he proposed in Barcelona this summer. Super duper cute. We stayed up too late chatting and finally went to sleep because Sophie wanted to bring me to school with her so I could see where it was and meet some of the other teachers. More to come on that tomorrow!

*a picture of Sophie and Raphael's cat "Grisboy" who was terrified of me the entire time I was there and would peer at me every night from behind the wall. Too bad because he's so damn cute!

Tourist Time in Paris!

Admittedly, Tracy and I had a rough couple of days adjusting to the 7-hour time difference, but we were troopers about it and decided to to a ton of stuff the first full day we were there. We walked to the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elysees, through the Tuileries to the Louvre, to the Centre Pompidou, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, and the Sorbonne. Phew! It was a long day and our dogs were a-barkin'.

Along the way, we bumped into our other assistant friend Emily, who was on our flight, and set off to look for a good place to find phones. I was successful, Tracy and Emily were not as lucky. It is definitely difficult trying to explain to someone (in French) how your unlocked phone should function after a new SIM card is put in. We left feeling slightly downtrodden. Next, in an attempt to actually be productive, we parted ways from Emily and went off in search of train tickets. So we hopped on the metro and headed over to Gare d'Austerlitz to see if we could catch someone at a counter before they closed. Unfortunately, they had already closed upon our arrival, so we decided to try to purchase them at the automatic machines. I couldn't because my US debit card doesn't have the magic "chip" that all of the cards here have. Zut! Then Tracy tried to buy hers but the machine asked her for her pin number, which she didn''t know. Merde.

After all of that hulabaloo was finished, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to take some obligatory tourist photos and marvel at its size. Unfortunately the stairs were closed and the lines for the elevators were ridonkulous, so we decided to forgo the observation decks.

Next we began our walk back towards the St. Michel area (by Notre Dame) for a well deserved pint at my old Irish pub haunt: The Galway. A lot of people say that Irish pubs are overrated because you can find them everywhere and they aren't anything special. I beg to differ. I love the laid back ambiance, the quick-witted bar tenders, and the fact that most people who frequent these establishments aren't pretentious. Plus they tend to almost always have live music. Good beer, good people, good music. Irish pubs, you just can't beat 'em!

So we grabbed a couple pints, listened to some live acoustic versions of everything from The Beatles to Buddy Holly to Muse to Lady Gaga, and decided to call it a night.

Good News Bears.

First days in France: Return to Paris!

So it has been over two years since my last blog post...I am a certified dead-beat-blogger. So I will now recount my (most recent) first few days in France!

The Plane:
We took off from MSP in the evening around 7:30. There were, surprisingly, 3 assistants including myself on my flight. We were all nervous and feeling apprehensive, which was strangely comforting. On the flight I was seated next to a truly fascinating person and we chatted about pretty much everything for most of the flight. He is currently on a mission to bike around the world and takes odd jobs here an there along the way. His passion for life, for meeting people, and for making real friends all around the world was inspiring. I always enjoy it when someone can figure out a way to live outside of "the system". Awesome.

The next plane:
In Iceland we had a lay-over for about an hour. We had to go through security again and they confiscated my newly purchased, almost full water bottle that I bought in Minneapolis. Doh. The flight to Paris was uneventful as I slept almost the whole time.

The arrival:
We arrived in Paris and discovered that our connecting flight contained at least two more assistants. That said, we had more people trying to navigate the airport which was definitely helpful. After about two hours and seemingly endless struggles through the metro, my friend Tracy and I arrived to our destination: my old host family's home. We needed to wait around a bit so we grabbed some sandwiches and a coffee and spent about two hours relaxing and people watching. When it was time to go, we picked up a bouquet of flowers as a gift and went on our merry way!

Chez les Persiaux:
The family that I stayed with is named Persiaux. I stayed with them when I was studying in Paris in 2009--they are very, very nice people who are accommodating and helpful. When we arrived, the kids and Alain (the dad) helped us take our things up to the chambre de bonne (maid's quarters) that I stayed in the last time I was there. It was here that I got my first "bisous" in France. This is their version of a hug, so it made me feel all warm and fuzzy!

We freshened ourselves up a bit and then went down for what we thought was going to be a simple dinner. Turns out they were entertaining another friend from Japan for the evening. We had a 4 or 5 course meal and then were served traditional matcha tea from the Japanese visitor. It was nice to catch up with Alain and his wife. I learned they are in the process of buying a new house (an actual house in Paris, not an apartment). They also just asked us about what we would be doing for work in France and gave us some ideas about where to visit while we're here. The company was very mixed and all in all at one table we had: 1 Japanese, 1 Bulgarian, 2 Americans, 1 French, and 1 Russian. I guess that's Europe for you!

First Excursion:
After dinner we went on a little bit of a walk (15 minutes) to the Arc de Triomphe to ensure that Tracy would start to believe that she was in Paris. It worked! :-D

Part II of my days in Paris are to come!

wow...i fail at blogging

hey all! long time!
so i did a ton in the last week and a half or so! the friday after i got back from Marseilles IES took us to Giverny, Monet's old house/gardens, and it was absolutely stunning. the waterlillies are still there and the huge gardens. the house is still there too...we couldn't take pictures inside, but it is exactly how one would picture monet's house to look like. the colors on the walls were all super vibrant yellows and blues and it was just adorable. so we hung out there for a few hours and just walked around the gardens. it was relaxing :-)

then that weekend we stayed in Paris and tore it up a bit. went out to an awesome Irish pub and the singer was making eyes at me all night--it even went so far as to him dedicating "Just the Two of Us" to me. Unfortunately he didn't talk to me after he was done with his set and I'm not about to go around chasing boys but it was still fun! So mostly last weekend was just a lot of touristy things. I went to the Louvre, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre again (I like it there), Walked around Paris for a bit, went out dancing a couple times. Oh yeah! My friends Meaghan and Emma and I went out with the son of their host mom, Mathis, and his friends on Thursday night to this thing called an "After Work Party" which was a pay at the door thing but then you get free champagne, food, and, most importantly, water all night. Then dancing started at 9pm. It was a good deal and was super fun and cool to hang out with some real French people for a change. We've been hanging out with them more and more since and they are really nice and chill AND they like to dance. Points for them.

So I was sitting in the gardens at the Musee Rodin this past Friday and decided then and there that I wouldn't mind living in Paris for a couple years. I don't know what it was about being there and that moment. I was alone, the gardens were beautiful, the weather was perfect, and I just fell in love. It was a really nice feeling that didn't give me excess anxiety--so that's a good sign! I know I'm leaving a bunch of stuff out cause really I can't remember all the things I do and see everyday. However, for the 4th of July Jessica and I went up to Normandy to see the beaches and the American cemetery. It was extremely beautiful and moving to see all the graves and then the beaches that are gorgeous on their own but they just have so much meaning. Some of the German bunkers are still there on the hill which was pretty surreal to see. It's hard to imagine why people would fight in general, but why they would choose such a beautiful place to do it in is beyond me. Anyways...it's another place in France that is a must see on top of Strasbourg and Marseilles/Cassis.

So my plans for Ireland fell through because a plane ticket to Ireland from Paris and back was 300 Euros. No way. So instead I'm using my train pass and am going to Switzerland (Zurich and Geneva), for 4 days. Literally I was like "where should i go?", looked at a picture of Zurich and said "I'm going there". It looks absolutely beautiful and I feel like it will be relaxing and nice before I head back to Paris to hang out with Miranda before we come home. My host dad said that we could stay in my room while she is visiting so we have a free place to stay which is SUPER awesome of him. Then I fly out on the 16th! I can't believe school is over (took both my finals today already), and that I come home in a little over a week. It seems so surreal and just...nuts that these past 2 months have flown by so quickly.

Most importantly, I feel like I've learned a ton from being here.
1. Don't let money be the reason you don't do something.
Yes, money is important and vital to travel and school and living, etc. but if I had let everyone that told me I shouldn't study abroad because of money win, I never would have done this and it has been such a wonderful experience.
2. Life doesn't have to move super fast
The French aren't even done with college until their late 20s and they don't get married and start having kids til their 30s. I like that.
3. Take a vacation when you feel too stressed
I still have problems with this one...but I fully intend on following up on it when I go home because as I've been here I've felt the stress of life and work just slowly melt away and I know that I can have the same feeling back at home even though I like to keep myself busy and productive, etc.

More to come! Love you all :-)

Marseille and the like

So Thursday after class after much stress in planning and tickets not working out, etc...I finally got on a train to the south of France. Let me tell you...everyone should go there. It was stunning and the weather was gorgeous.

Thursday:
School...boring.
Train from Paris-Lyon and then from Lyon-Marseilles
Got into Marseilles at around 10 and took a cab to our hostel cause apparently the buses in the town stop at around 9...lame. The hostel was a bit hard to find, too...even the cabbie got lost. So we check into this hostel and it was such a sweet place. The proprietors...if you can even call them that, were named Jean and Xavier and they were these two old pervy guys who I don't think I saw move from their couches more than once or twice in the whole 4 nights we were there. They also were very adament about telling me that I was pretty and then when I would walk away they would kind of old dirty French man laugh...gross. But they were truly harmless and nice. Plus the hostel was only 15 Euro a night which was sooo good. So our rooms all had kitchens and showers and toiles. The beds were more like...lofts I guess you could say. They were basically just mattresses on these planks that were attached to the ceiling. Our mattresses had a little closet nook thing behind them which was nice...we never had to leave our things on the floor. There had been some problems with theft before we arrived...I guess some guys had hoisted themselves into the room cause the window was open and had taken some girl's backpack that contained her laptop. Suck. But why on earth would you leave the window open if you were gone? Silly girls. Anyways...the other people in our room were all from Canada and were super nice. Two girls, Alex and Chris and a guy (Alex's boyfriend) named Sean. They were all just trekking through Europe and it was fun to hear their stories and some of their advice. Nice people. The first night we also met this Irish guy Eoin (pronounced Owen..silly Irish) who ended up hanging out with us the rest of the weekend which was nice. So basically we chatted all of them up a bit and conked out around 2.

Friday:
Slept in til around 10...so brilliant. Then we woke up and went out in search of groceries, got 4 days worth of food for 30 Euro...score. We went back to the room, grabbed Eoin, and headed out to this calanque (which is a rocky inlet cove-type thing) called Sugiton. The walk out there was a bit of a hike and we got a little lost in the hills, but when we found it it was just breathtakingly beautiful. The water was clear as day and you could see straight to the bottom no matter how deep. There were all these cliffs around so naturally we jumped off a few and swam around for a bit. It was just absolutely stunning...I cannot reiterate enough. It was a bit of a shock when I jumped in the water for the first time and realized it was, indeed salt water. Gross. But other than that swimming in the Mediterranean? How can you beat it!
After we dragged outselves away from Sugiton, we headed back to the hostel for a quick minute and then went out to downtown Marseilles where we found a nice little Irish bar that Eoin had been to the night before. I got my first on-tap Guinness...I am never going back after that one...maybe I will...but it will be hard. It was sooo good. We also did something quite shameful in going to Haagen-Daas afterwards and getting two giant sundaes to split...Oh decadence. After our little Marseillean adventure, we hopped on the metro and then walked the rest of our way to the hostel--it was about a 40 minute walk but it was so nice out. We got back decently late, all of us hopped in the shower to rinse the salt off of us, and we just hung out in our room with the people we met drinking beer and having a good time. Alex had cooked already so we just ate some of her left overs and called it a night.

Saturday:
Got up relatively early--around 9. WE COOKED SCRAMBLED EGGS. Enough said. The French don't believe in them and it sucks. So we made some breakfast and headed out to see if there were any good markets happening on a Saturday morning in Marseilles...and oh guess what? There were! So we did a bit of shopping, picked up a few things. Alex came with us for the markets but decided to head back and the three of us, Me and the two Jessicas, decided to stay and walk around the city. We just did some shopping and stopped to get lunch at a place by the Vieux Port (old port/harbor) where they had amazing seafood. I got salmon, but when I took a bite of Jessica's scallops I immediately regretted it. But everything was delicious right down to the coffee we had afterwards. I've noticed that French waiters are very suggestive. "Would you like dessert?" "Why yes...I would!" ***five minute later*** "Would you like a coffee?" "Well...why not?!" Yes...they are sneaky. Anyways...after we ate we realized something was happening that seemed a bit dangerous. There were tons...TONS of guys in the street chanting and hollering and lighting flares and doing what looked like a riot--especially since there were cops in riot gear there...but it turned out it was a celebration for the Algerian team doing well in soccer. They take their stuff very seriously over here apparently! So it was fun to go up and take some pictures of the celebration after we found out it wasn't hostile. We then tried to go out to Chateau D'If, the famous island from the Dumas books about the Musketeers and the Man in the Iron Mask...but it was too windy that day so we couldn't. Sad. Instead we went back to the hostel, caught up with Eoin and a few Americans--Mike and Marc (not related...still funny). And we walked to a beach and went swimming. Brilliant. Headed back home, cooked some pasta, tasty vegetables with garlic, and made some guacamole. We forced the boys to eat some because they don't like it...not ok. They still don't like it. Still not ok. Then we all headed to our respective beds for a nice night of sleep.

Sunday
Woke up pretty early to leave to go to a little town a bit away from Marseilles called Cassis. We got on a bus that took us out there and walked around a bit and just enjoyed being out of a big city for a while. The beaches and the water were clear as day again and everything was just so nice. However, I wish that the only people at these beaches that took off their tops weren't old women. Not so enjoyable. We just kinda lounged on the beach for a bit. The water was cold, but I still dove in head first whereas the other girls were not for that at all. It felt soo good but the water got deep really fast and I am afraid of the ocean to begin with so I stayed pretty close to shore...but it was still great. The sun was out there weren't any clouds. Parfait. The two Americans and Eoin were getting a bit hungry so we packed up and went in search of food and this is where we split up because us girls wanted to sit down somewhere outside and enjoy just relaxing and the boys wanted to grab something to go. So...no big deal. They left and we stayed. We got a great lunch at this little place and poked around Cassis for a bit then decided to go for a hike along the coast even though none of us were prepared for it AT ALL. Aka we were all in dresses, bikinis, and basically flip flops. Didn't stop us...we're hardcore. We hiked all the way from Cassis back to Marseilles along the coast up these huge mountains/hills and then down but pretty much each time there was a descent, there was a beautiful calanque with a beach that we stopped at to admire and just take a breather. It was so breathtakingly beautiful. The hike in total took us 8 hours and afterwards I had to throw away my shoes...which was kinda sad. But we got back to Marseilles right as the sun was setting and it was just so nice and pleasant...but tiring. Very tiring. So we got back, said goodnight and goodbye to the boys, and went to sleep a bit too late.

Monday
Train left at 6:30am so we got up at like 5:30 and had to be out by 5:50...not a problem right? Wrong. We got up just fine and left the hostel when we wanted to, but when we got close to the bus stop, one was leaving and we figured "no big deal...wait til the next one!" but as we got closer we saw that the next one wasn't coming for almost 20 minutes. Bad day. So I tried to call a cab and the guy wouldn't just come to the bus stop where we were at, he wanted an adderss which I had no idea what street we were on or any addresses so he hung up. Awesome. So then we got on a different bus, had to switch to the metro, ran up the escalators to get to the station with our sore feet and joints from the day before, and missed our train by 1 minute. Literally. Sad. It was really no big deal, but we did have to pay to change our tickets and all that. Oh well. We still got back to Paris in time for a quick shower and class (boo). For dinner I ate at this restaurant called Polidor that served traditional French cuisine and it was soooo good. It was a bit pricey, my meal was 23E, but it was so worth it. Then a bunch of us from the program were going to try to meet up at this bar because my French dad AND my friend's French dad both told us to go to it because the views are "some of the best in Paris". So we were supposed to go when I get a call from one of the Jessicas saying "we aren't going because we're here and it's 22E a drink...even juice and coke and stuff" YIKES. So instead we went to "our spot" which is just a corner cafe halfway between our two places with a big group of friends. One of our friends actually got engaged over the weekend so she bought a bottle of Champagne and then we all got beers and talked and laughed. So fun and relaxing and a nice way to end a very very long day.

That's all! Go to Marseilles!

Ann