The Night We Invited the Firefighters to Dinner ... Seriously

On our second night in Dinard we decided to stay in and just have a quiet dinner at the apartment … or so we thought! Our apartment is on the top floor of a building in the middle of the town square, with a realty office and restaurant on the ground floor. We were sitting at our table eating, and the phone/buzzer rang several times. I tried to pick it up but there was no dial-tone or voice, so we just ignored it. Then my mom noticed that there were flames shooting out of something right beside our balcony/window; it looked like part of our building’s roof was on fire. It turns out the buzzer was ringing because other residents were trying to tell us that the building was on fire! So we all started freaking out, grabbed jackets & the computer, and ran down the stairs. Outside there were a bunch of people in the street saying that the chimney from the restaurant below us was on fire. It took about 15 minutes for the fire department to get there, and we were getting a little nervous; basically, the chimney was right next to the balcony off of our apartment. The firemen got it put out pretty quickly but wouldn’t let us back into our apartment for about an hour. So of course my parents kept making me go up to the firefighters/policemen, explain our situation, and try to convince them that we could go back in; that was fun! Finally we got back up there and discovered 3 firemen on the balcony in our apartment. They were using the balcony to make sure that everything was okay with the chimney. It didn’t look like they were leaving anytime soon, so we just went ahead and started eating dinner again. Each time a different firefight would enter the apartment, he’d just look at us, say “Bonsoir,” and laugh a little bit. So of course we got a picture with them! Hopefully that will be the most eventful evening we have here!

Christmas in Bordeaux

My Chilean roommate has several Chilean friends who are also assistants in France, and since none of them are going home for the holidays, they all met up in Bordeaux for the week. She invited me and the Russian assistant to come along since neither of us were going home, either. It was a bit strange at times not being home for Christmas, but it was a really fun and unique way to spend the holiday … and it obviously helped knowing that my family was going to arrive on the 26th, anyway! So there were 11 of us (one Bolivian, one Colombian, the rest Chilean) staying in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment … a bit tight at times, but the atmosphere was very lively, to say the least! And his apartment was located right in the main street of Bordeaux, full of shops and restaurants. It was one of those apartments that I’ve always wanted to have in a city … located above a seedy ethnic restaurant, with huge windows that open from the front room over the main street … very cool. And Bordeaux is a larger, more interesting city than I originally thought. The first night we went to a little bar where a Chilean band performed and then continued the party back at the apartment. After that we didn’t wake up until the late afternoon and then checked out the Christmas market downtown for the night. On Christmas Eve I did some last minute shopping with my Russian friend and then came back to the apartment to rest up for an all-night Christmas celebration! We didn’t eat dinner until about midnight, then they exchanged their Secret Santa gifts (and a couple of people who I had only known for 2 days even gave me a gift – just says a little something about their open hospitality!), and we danced/partied/played a little soccer until 7am! Quite a Christmas Eve night! The food was really good – several different types of salad, chicken, sausage, pork, beef, plenty of beer, and some Chilean liquor. Each night ended with tons of music, dancing, singing … and an attempt to teach me how to dance. Just another reminder that I will never remotely approach having the natural rhythm of South Americans J I’d like to tell you that I came away from 3 days of being surrounded by “Spanophones” with a few new vocab words, but nope, I just know a few bad words in Chilean, haha. But it was really a nice way to spend Christmas … it’s comforting to spend such a family-oriented holiday with other people who can’t be at home, either … and was such a good reminder how genuinely kind and generous people can be.

Pictures to come later because they are on my friend's camera ...

Most Random Train Trip Ever

On the Saturday before Christmas, I took a train from Rennes to Bordeaux with the Chilean and Russian assistants, to spend Christmas with a group of Chileans who live in Bordeaux. We got to the train station in Rennes plenty of time before our train left, only to find that there were about 100 people too-many to fit in the train! I understand that it’s the holiday season, and everything is busy … but what I don’t understand is how SNCF sells 100+ too many reservations for the size of a train. Everyone was trying to cram on, but it was impossible, so they actually had to add 3 cars to the back of the train to fit us all in. Then the second leg was just as packed and we were luckily able to find seats in first class. We ended up sitting next to an 8 year old French kid and his mom, and this kid was probably the craziest little 8 year old I’ve ever met. His mom had absolutely no control over him, and he performed several ghetto French rap songs in the middle of the aisle for everyone. Then he asked me to marry him by offering me a wedge of a Clementine as a ring … yes, it sounds cute, but he had so much attitude that it really wasn’t charming. Once as he was hugging his mother to “apologize” for his behavior, he looked at me behind her back, made a vulgar kissing motion, and mouthed “Je t’aime.” Seriously … an 8 year old. Then he heard my accent and decided to share an American joke with me; it didn’t make sense, but I’ll tell you anyway. In a hot air balloon there are an Italian, a Chinese, a French, and an American; the Italian balanced a pizza, the Chinese balanced chopsticks, and the French balanced a baguette. Ok, so what did the American balance? “Everybody!” Yeah, so it doesn’t make sense to me either, and I asked him why … “Because you are zeeeee bessst in zee world.” Yep, the little brat yelled that in front of the whole train … suuuper, it’s pretty fun being mocked by an 8 year old! Then his mom started yelling at him for being so obnoxious, and he pointed at me and yelled that it was my fault for “having excited him.” Ok, so it was a little entertaining for a long train ride, but I couldn’t wait to get off at the end.

James Bond Prom 2007 ... a Success!

I can’t believe that it actually happened, but everything came together perfectly for Prom. I really had my doubts about how this would come together because we had had so many meetings that didn’t seem very productive … but the week of Prom, all of this awesome music/lighting/stage equipment showed up out of nowhere, and students pulled together to get everything done. In true Molly-fashion, my decoration committee procrastinated and did everything the day before/day of the Prom. The day before about 8 of us blew up (manually, no helium allowed!) 350 balloons and made a rockin’ balloon arch! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, and it was so fun to spend some time getting to know a few of my favorite students. The night before we had a quick rehearsal to practice the speeches, set up the music & lighting equipment, etc. Then on the day of Prom, teachers kept bringing their classes to the gym to help out, so the decorations/carpeting/lights/etc were all set up under two hours! It was amazing how many people helped out … I ended up not really doing too much, but as the only American here, I just like to think of myself as the “Prom consultant” haha, whatever value that may have. So the decorations ended up being: one massive balloon arch over the door, a small stage for the DJ and band, a “fresco” on the wall with a lifesize James Bond/Prom 2007 logo (painted by students – very good!), lots of random balloons, and ongoing projections on the wall of various James Bond movie clips; we also had a VIP section for the prom committee members, of course! Sounds random but it worked!

So, onto the night of the Prom. It took about an hour for all the students to actually get into the gym. Had I already mentioned that the teachers and I made name badges with photos for each of the 400 students? Yeah, tight security … so it took a while for the teachers to identify each student and give them their badges at the door. The other English assistant and I, along with the president of the student association, officially “opened” the ball with a little speech. He spoke in English and we translated in French … not super fun to speak French in a microphone in front of everyone, but it was pretty quick! Then the Prom committee was invited to the dance floor to do the “Madison,” a line dance that we all learned together. After that there were random contests, lots of dancing (including a group of students who formed a huge circle to dance “Techtonic”, the newest dance among French teenagers), and a student band that performed at the end. Clean-up also went really quickly, and we were out of there by 11pm. Then some of the students invited us to the Prom After-Party (!!) but that didn’t work out and I just met up with friends downtown for the end of the night. It was quite the success, and at the end of the evening the principal said that they could for sure do it again next year, with the addition of a real dance floor, as well! Most random Prom ever … it actually didn’t end up really resembling your typical Prom, but that’s what’s so great about the French – they can take an idea from another culture, but it gets so “frenchified” that it ends up becoming something completely different … and just French. This was a great example of the way that the French go out of their way to think through little details for everything … from the photo/name badges for all the students to the scene-specific film projections, to the 100+ cakes made by students and sold at the prom, etc etc. It would take all day to tell you about all of the little, random things that we discussed at the meetings leading up to it. But it was a very fun activity to have for the semester and gave me something to do in addition to my whopping 12 hours of weekly work.

Secret Santa Gift Exchange and Raclette Dinner

Ah, yes, last night was the exciting culmination to our roommate Secret Santa exchange … and exciting it was! For the most part, we actually did a good job keeping the secrets. The random gifts ranged from a bath towel to a hand-painted Russian hair clip … never a dull moment! We had traditional French raclette for dinner… melted raclette cheese over potatoes, smoked ham, pancetta, saucisson, and bread. The raclette machine is a square, dual-level, electric grill; each person has a little “shovel” (for lack of a better word, but that’s basically what they are) on which that they put a slice of cheese and then place it on the bottom level to melt. On the top level of the grill you can put potatoes, veggies, etc. Then when your cheese has melted, you scoop it off of the little shovel and eat it with the meat & potatoes. It’s a really fun way to eat and was perfect for our Christmas dinner! We also had a traditional Breton apéritif drink – a liquor made from honey. We are all definitely going to miss each other over the holiday break, but I know that everyone is also looking forward to a change of pace.

Vitre and Fougeres

A few weeks ago, five of us drove to the nearby towns of Vitre and Fougeres just to explore for the afternoon. Each town had a chateau, so those were basically the highlights! Here are a few pictures, all from the chateau in Vitre. My favorite picture is the one with four of my roommates in it ... I told them to strike their "national pose" and this is what they ended up with! From the left we have the Russian stare-down, the friendly Portugese, "long live the Queen" English, and I think Italy explains itself!

Our Fave Cafe in Rennes

Just a quick word on L'Haricot Rouge ... a very cute little cafe in Rennes that specializes in different flavors of homemade hot chocolate. My roommates and I found this place a month ago and usually end up going there about once a week together, just to chill, play games, hang out outside of our little high school dorm. And there are board games to play there .... playing Taboo in French actually does wonders for your vocabulary! Here is a picture of us all there together (order of assistants: Italian, English, Russian, Chilean, Portugese, me)

Update on Prom Planning

This is just to give you an update on where we are in the prom-planning stages! We’ve been having weekly meetings with the interested teachers and students to make sure that things are actually getting taken care of. We just heard back from the administration at the “City Hall,” and they confirmed that we are, in fact, allowed to have up to 450 people in the school gym for the Prom. That’s perfect because about 420 students are coming. That’s just one piece of all of the red tape that we’ve gone through while planning! The actual date of the “Prom” (which is being called either “Le Ball” or “La Fete de Noel” at the school) is on Thursday, Dec 20^th right after school gets out at 6:30. I think I’ve already said that the theme is a random combo of James Bond, the 1960’s, and Hollywood Glamour. But the head teachers are making sure that everyone understands the dress code is a suit/tie for the boys and a nice dress for the girls … supposedly if anyone shows up as a hippie from the 1960’s, they won’t be allowed to enter!

I have been working with the Decorations Committee and am basically just letting the students take care of most of it. We are paying one of the student’s friends to paint a big logo sign with Prom 2007 and a lifesize picture of James Bond on it … this will be the backdrop for the pictures. The students bought streamers and 350 balloons last week in the color theme of black, gold, and “Bordeaux.” We’re not allowed to use helium, so we still haven’t discussed how exactly we will get the 350 balloons inflated … maybe I will make each student blow up 5 balloons in each of my classes next Wednesday and Thursday, who knows! So our budget-friendly decorations basically consist of the James Bond poster, two big balloon arches, and streamers.

The other English assistant is in charge of the “Animations/Entertainment” committee, and from her I have heard that there will be: a band, a DJ, one student who’s going to sing an Alicia Keys song in English, a music trivia game, and the presentation of the winners of the student contest to decorate the school’s language lab. Most random prom that you’ve heard of, right??? I can’t wait to see how it all goes!

Oh, and the best part, I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention this! The teachers all passed our parental permission slips for the students to turn back in. The questionnaire was fairly simple …

1) Yes / No I will or will not attend Prom.

2) Yes / No I can bake a cake for the Prom.

CAN I BRING A CAKE TO THE PROM? Not your typical follow-up question on Prom attendance ... I somehow missed this part of the planning but was delightfully surprised when I saw this on the form! So we have over 100 students who are each bringing a cake that we will sell during the Prom! Only in France, I love it!!

Secret Santa Chez Nous

My roommates and I all agreed to do a 10-euro Secret Santa gift exchange, so we picked random names last week and are going to exchange gifts/have a Christmas dinner next Thursday. It’s funny because the tradition exists in each of our countries, but we all have different names for it … but none of us really know what it’s called in French! So we’ve resorted to referring to it as “des amis secrets” = secret friends. But when you’re only playing with 7 people who all live together/generally go downtown together/shop together … it’s not too difficult to figure out everyone’s secret! So we will see what elements of surprise are still there when we finally exchange gifts!

Weekend Trip to Poitiers

Last weekend I went with 5 of my assistant roommates into the region of Poitou-Charentes, an area about four hours (by car) southwest of Brétagne. My Chilean roommate has family who live in Chatellerault, a really small country town near Poitiers, so we stayed in their house. It was really cool – a large, old stone house in the middle of the countryside. We spent all of Saturday just hanging out around the house, lounging around in the living room that had a huge, open fireplace … very cozy! Saturday night we went into Poitiers for about an hour to just check out the downtown; it was really cute & festively decorated for Christmas. I really love the Christmas decorations here … there are always lights strung up all over the old, cobblestoned parts of the cities. Then we went back to the house because they were having a small party with friends on Saturday night. Several of their friends brought their children along, so there ended up being about 8 little French girls under the age of 10 … they were so cute! I had bought a bag of marshmallows because I’d told my friends about our tradition of roasting marshmallows in the fireplace, and they were a big hit with the French kids! So I showed them how to roast marshmallows, and they loved it … sooo cute!! Then Sunday we just headed back to Rennes … it was good to get away for a weekend.

Classes ... the Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Ugly

Luckily I am writing this after having just returned from a solid morning of good classes. Even though I’ve been doing this for over two months now, each class session can really just be hit or miss. And it’s a little difficult because I work with really different types of students: one class only has only 2 students; another has about 12 who are pretty advanced at English; group of about 20 guys who are anywhere from 19-22 years old & are studying mechanical engineering/electronics; group of psychologically challenged students at a medical/rehab center; oh, yes, and I also work with a calculus class in English … that’s a fun one! Here’s a quick overview of some failed attempts and success stories:
1) The Harry Potter overview lesson was a miserable failure. The teacher recommended I do it to tie in with their previous lesson on Roald Dahl short stories. But unfortunately only a few of the students had actually read HP, and the others were totally lost. My HP vocab matching-exercise was pretty bad, as well!
2) Several teachers have asked me to talk about after-school jobs in the US. It is very uncommon for teenagers to have part-time jobs here since most of them stay at school until 6pm everyday, so they think the American schedule is pretty interesting. So I put together a worksheet with common teenage jobs, pictures, and useful vocab words … and even though I’ve done this lesson with a few different groups, it has been kinda boring each time. I’m still trying to think of ways to spice it up a bit.
3) I did a lesson on the retail industry in the US … specifically focused on Target, obviously! I brought a few circulars from the US paper and emphasized the contrast between US promotions (how we advertise different prices weekly, always have sales & clearance, etc) and those of France (there are only two official “sale periods” per year, regulated by the government). I’m not sure if they understood too much, but it was kinda fun to do.
4) I have a group of just 2 students who I work with individually each week. Since they chose to take this in addition to their normal English classes, they are pretty advanced & motivated; so I can choose some pretty interesting topics to discuss with them. Usually I find an article related to a current event or debate and then discuss it with them; for example, we discussed the entry of Starbucks to France three years ago, how the company had to adapt to the culture, the status of American brands abroad, etc. If you’re interested … after 3 years Starbucks has close to 50 locations in the Paris area, beating their initial projections … J
5) My lesson on all of the different American holidays has gone over pretty well. Groundhog’s Day consistently gets a good reaction from the students, naturally!
6) I’ve also used a few different songs and lyrics with some classes … just Elton John and Bob Dylan so far, but I’ve had a few requests for Christmas carols, so I can’t wait to whip out Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You! Oh, if I can get the students to sing that, I will pretty much be the happiest assistant in the world, haha!
7) GAMES ALWAYS WORK! Playing Jeopardy after we’ve discussed a certain topic always goes over well, but I’m not sure how many times I can re-create Jeopardy on different topics without losing their interest! I’ve also played Scrabble, the 20 Question electronic game, and am thinking about doing Catchphrase as well.
8) I think I’ve played “Two Truths and a Lie” about 10 times already. I can obviously only play it once with each different group of students, but it has consistently been a lifesaver when I have 15 minutes left in class and nothing left to do. My example usually goes:
a. I was born in California (False)
b. I have run a marathon (True)
c. I have traveled to India (True)

Can’t wait until I make them play “Never Have I Ever” … pg version, of course!

Dinard for Christmas!

My parents and Alec will be flying into Paris on December 26th, driving to Rennes to pick me up, and then heading out to our rental place. We spent a few weeks looking online at different houses/apartments in several coastal areas and finally decided on one in Dinard, a town on the central, northern coast of Brittany. I’ve never been to Dinard, but the guidebooks describe it as “a turn-of-the-century resort with striped bathing tents, seaside carnival rides, and pinnacled belle époque mansions perched about the water.” Well, keep in mind that it will be January while we’re there, so the summer/seaside atmosphere will be lacking a bit … but I am excited about it! We ended up finding a 3-bedroom apartment on the VRBO website. I don’t think we will even be in the apartment too much, since our plan is to take day trips to check out lots of other small Brittany towns along the coasts. I’ll try to put in a link to our place.

A Few Words on my French Gym

I think I could probably write a blog entry about this every time I come back from the gym. The interesting dress code never ceases to amaze me. The other day the guy on the treadmill next to me was wearing velour pants and Ked’s-style slip-on shoes; don’t ask me how you’re supposed to run effectively in that! Last night I was waiting for a girl wearing huge gold hoop earrings to finish on the treadmill … that was a little annoying. There are also a lot of white (why?!?) pants, short t-shirts, board shorts, and Puma street shoes. I think that I’ve actually seen a couple of guys in collared shirts, come to think of it … ?? And sports bras for the ladies? Totally optional … and often not bothered with. So whenever I show up to work out in my running shorts, t-shirt or tank, and running shoes … I think I look a little too “sporty.”
Lately I’ve been timing my workouts to coincide with the various group aerobic classes that are offered. Since it’s a small gym with no TVs or anything, the treadmill gets pretty monotonous sometimes. But not if there’s a French aerobics class to watch in front of me!! The owner of the gym is a big, burly guy (Alec, you’ll be happy to know, he was wearing a Gold’s Gym sweatshirt the other day!), and he leads a lot of the classes. Something about him yelling the instructions, punctuated with short motivational lines, in French, is really entertaining. Maybe I will work up the nerve to join a class someday, but for now I just enjoy being a spectator.