My Room

Yeay I finally have internet, which should meen I can update more often (possibly!!) So as promised I have uploaded some photos of my room so you can see what it looks like!

As you can see it's small, but nice enough for me, and yes my kitchen is in a cupbord!! Plus I have a lovely view of the train station!!!

Well quick update on what I'm doing, I've been at Ecole Joilot Currie this week, which was totally different to Ecole Stievenart. For starters it's a lot bigger and so there are more classes, secondly it seemed that the teachers really didn't know what to do with me! Even in the English lessons, they only wanted me to introduce myself, (I had the map and things with me) So I managed to use some of what the teacher had said the week before to explain about the UK etc. But it was just sorta tacked onto the lesson, rather than being part of it like at the other school. The teacher uses tapes of english words so the children know how to pronounce the words. I have to say even at the end of two weeks observations, I am still not sure really what I am meant to be doing!!! It was quite nice on thursday because I got to go into the CE1 class (6-7 year olds) and they don't really learn english, but the teacher wanted me to tell the children about England and the UK. I had to do it all in French which was intresting, especially when I was talking about English things like Fish and Chips, but had to say it in French, and sometimes I forgot and said it in English! Like I said c'est le flag Anglais, insted of c'est le drapeau Anglais!! The children were really sweet though, and had all thought of some questions for me, they were really intrigeied by the idea that British children have to wear uniforms to school!!

Talking of English flags, I'm gonna need mine tonight, gonna into Valenciennes to watch the World Cup final, I wasn't going to go, but having been listening to Radio1 all day and they have been building up to it, so I decided that I couldn't miss it. I'm staying at the house of one of the other English assistants, I met last week. It should be a good laugh, and a chance to see all the other assistants again. Come on England!!!

Then on Sunday I'm going into Lille to meet Dad and Natasha, I'm so excited to see them!! They are staying untill wednesday, but I am working Tuesday afternoon, but it will still be great to see them, and we can go out monday and Wednesday morning!!

I feel so much more settled now that I have the internet, and can keep in touch with people. I can't believe I have been here nearly a month already...only 2 months till I get to go home for Christmas!!!!!

Thats all for now

A tout l'heure

Rebecca

Updates - Part Two

Ok So it suddenly got so much better after that (if you are reading this from the top, please scroll down to read the post below first, or else it won't mame any sense!!)



Well after I left the Internet cafe, last wednesday, I met one of the other American assistants, Kelly, She currently lives in Mauberge about 15mins from here, but she is hoping to find a place to live in Valenciennes, so she had just been to look at a flat, and she was just going to the station to get the train back, so I walked with her. We both got on the train, and we swaped numbers so we could arrange to meet up again. When we got to Aulnoye the train stoped for a while, I got off, and when I got to my flat the train was still in the station, then I saw the 1st 2 coaches pull away! It turns out that only the front coaches were going to Mauberge, and Kelly was on the 3rd coach! She then had an 1/2 wait until the next train, So she came up and saw my flat, and had a cup of tea while she waited! It was really nice to speak to someone else in english for a change.

The thursday and Friday were so much better in the school too. We actually did english lessons! it was really nice, the teacher introduced me, and then she showed them my map of the UK and explained (in french) about how the UK was made up of 4 countries and England was just one of the 4. Then she had some Photos of British things, (like Big Ben, Cricket, Pounds, Cup of tea etc) and French things, (like The Eiffel Tower, Boules, Euro, Wine etc) and the children had to guess if the thing was British or French. They seemed to really enjoy it, and I think they liked seeing things that were different in Britan! Finally I showed them some British money, they loved finding the Queens head in the back of the coins!! In the end, I did the same lesson with the 7-9 year olds, then the 6-7 year olds, then the 9-11 year olds, except with the older children the teacher got the children to name other counties that spoke english, and then they had pictures of american things as well!

On Friday afternoon, I got a text from Kelly saying that she was going to go to Valenciennes to meet up with some other assistants, did I want to go? I said yes, but because I had school on Sat I had to get the last train back to Aulnoye, which unfortunatly was 10pm! I met some of the assistants, and they said that they were going to be watching the Rugby, (gotta stop, lunch break is over, will go to internet cafe afterschool to finish!)

Right so school has finished now, so I can continue, Yeah so some of the assistants said that they were going to be watching the rugby on sat, but the only way I would be able to, was if i could staty at someones flat Sat night cos the last train would be half way through the match!! Luckily one of the American assistants said that I could stay at his on Sat night. Unfortunatly since most of the assistants showed up at about 9:15 I didn't really get a chance to meet them all, cos I had to go which was annoying.

So on Sat I had to get up to be at the school by 8;30 which was fun! The kids played Handball for about 1 hour, which was quite fun to watch, especially as most didn't seem to know the rules and were just making it up as they went along! Then I had another English lesson, which was quite fun, the teacher taught them how to say Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening, and then she gave them all English names!! So now not only do i have to remember their actual names, but their English ones as well! In the afternoon I went swiming, I haven't been swimming for ages, forgot how hard it was!! But the hot tub and the shower afterwards was nice!! Then i was going to go on the Internet, but there were no spare computers, so I phoned Mum and Dad for a bit; Then, due to extreamly stupid train times on Saturdays, the only train I could get to Valenciennes left at 6:30, Luckily Michael (the american assistant I stayed with) was able to meet me at 7 and we got something to eat, before going to the bar, where everyone else was to watch the Rugby.

When we got there it was packed, mostly with French supporters, but the English assistants had got a little corner, with flags and stuff! Most of the american assistants decided to support France though, some even went as far as having french flags on their faces! (they felt pretty silly afterwards!!!) It was a really great atmosphere in the bar, i think my favourite bit was hearing the commentry even though it was all in rapid fire french, and the commentator only seemed to know one English player, Johnny Wilkenson!!! It was funny to hear the change in the tone of voice, from quite confident about 15mins before the end, to disbelief, and then sadness at the end!! Despite being massively outnumbered we still managed to get some chears going, and at the end the French were very nice, and some even came over and shook our hands, saying it was a good game, so that was nice. Afterwards we were all on a bit of a high, and walked arround Valennciennes for a bit, then a few people decided to go into another bar, so we went in there; it was really nice cos we could all sit down and talk so i got to meet about 15+ other assistants, and I made sure i got numbers of most of them. It was really werid going from not knowing anyone, to suddenly knowing a big crowd of people. They normally go out each weekend, and loads of people have said that I am welcome to stay on their floors over the weekend, which is good.

On Sunday a big group of us met up and went for lunch at Flunch, Which is a kinda fast food self service restruant, the food was really nice and quite cheap too, and it was great to be able to talk more with the people I met the night before. After lunch, because it was so hot and sunny, about 6 of us decided to go for a walk round the park. It was really nice in the sunshine with all the french families out and the kids playing and stuff. We walked arround Valencenniens for a bit, I've no idea where, but down all these little side streets and stuff, it's a really preaty town. Then i had to go to get the Train back to Aulnoye. I had a really good weekend, and I'll definatly be meeting up with them all again soon!

One of the things we were talking about, was what to do during our Toussaint holiday which is from 27th Oct- 7th Nov, quite a lot of the English assistants are going home, but i don't really want to, so I was wondering what the American assistants were going to do, a Few of them were planning to go to Toulouse for a week or so, so i might go with them.

I had orginally thought that Dad and Natasha were coming during the first few days of the Toussaint holiday, because I thought that was when Natasha's half term was. Apparently not, they are actually coming next sunday!! Luckily i am only working tuesday afternoon while they are here, so we should still be able to do the same things. i am still really looking forward to them coming, but now i have to work out whether I will be able to go to Valenciennes to watch the Rugby final, and still be able to meet them at the Train station on Sunday afternoon!!!

Well thats me up to date

Till the next time!

Becca

Updates - Part one

I know I'm rubish at updating this, but i've been really busy, so this update has to be in 2 parts, It's the only way to explain the sudden change in fortune I've had over the past week. In actual fact this post is a copy on an e-mail I sent to my friend last Wednesday, which explains how i was feeling at the time.

Wednesday 10th October

I'm currently in an internet café type thing in Valenciennes, (well I say café it's more somewhere for young people to find jobs and stuff, well thats what everyone else seems to be doing) and it's free, but only for 1 hour, so I don't have long. Valenciennes is a town about 1/2 hour away by train from Aulnoye, I ended up here, cos it's wednesday, and so the kids aren't in school, and I wanted something to do. In fact i've just spent the last 2 hours just wondering aimlessly round the town. I did manage to buy a landline phone, so at least when I get evrything set up, I'll actually have a phone to make calls on! But thats it! Theres no point me going into any shops cos i've barely got any money, I've got about €100 to last me till the end of the month!! Well I do have money in my English account but I was hoping to save that, just in case I don't get paid at the end of October, ( I should do but only if all the correct forms have been recieved by the head office in Lille by today. I filled them all in at the begining of last week, I just hope they all got sent off on time!) SO I was basically wondering whether I should either keep wondering round, or go back to Aulnoye, when I found this place! So now I have something to do for another hour yey!!!

I started work in the school yesterday, well I say work, all I actually did was sit in the back of the classroom "making notes" for 3 hours. They didn't even do any english lessons, they had maths and science lessons. The maths I just about managed to follow, but I had no idea what they were doing in science, It took me about 15mins to work out the were doing biology, and were talking about body parts!! I really have no idea how I suposed to be of any assistance to the teacher when I don't even know what it is they are doing!! I'm working again on Thursday afternoon, at least this time i think they are actually having an English lesson, Though it is their first lesson, so it's all in french anyway!


still haven't heard anything from the girls I met last week, so I think I'll be spending another weekend on my own Sat should be ok cos I'm working, and then I thought I'd go see what the Swiming pool is like, and then I can always go tot the internet café I found the other day for a bit, Sunday I have no idea what to do, cos EVERYTHING is shut on sunday, seriously in a town with very little to do anyway, sundays are even worse cos there is nothing to do. I was so bored last week I ended up cleaning the flat!! Hopefully by next weekend I should have internet, so I can have something to do.

I think that is the worse thing about being here, being on my own practically all the time, I meen the people in the office are nice enough, in fact eveyone I've met has been really really nice to me. But there is no one else I know who is my own age, even the other assistants live at least 15 min away by train, so it's not like I can just pop round to chat to them! I guess i'd gotten used to having people round me to talk to that being on my own is just a bit of a shock, i don't know, Right now I can't wait for Natasha and dad to come over during half term (she doesn't know yet so don't say anything!) not just cos I haven't seen them for ages, but also because it meens that for 3 whole days I'll actually have someone else to talk to!!!
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Ok so thats how i was feeling last wednesday, Read the post above, to see how it all changed.......!

This is it.....My first steps into English teaching!!!

I know I haven't updated for a while, it's hard not having unlimated internet access, (but that is going to change my internet has been ordered (through Neuf) and should be up and running in the next 2 weeks!)

Anyway just a quick update about my timetable, I'm working in 2 schools, 1 one week, one the next. this way I get to teach all the classes. unfortunatley there aren't enough english clases for me to just assist in them, so I'm going to be assisting in other classes too! Though doing what, I have no idea!!!

I work this week in ecole Steivenart, tues, thurs and friday afternoon, and Sat morning, then next week in Ecole Joliot Curie, Monday and tuesday afternoon, All day Thursday and Friday morning. It meens that every other weekend I get a 4 day weekend, which is good if Iwant to go somewhere. (Unfortunatly the other weekend is just Sat afternoon and Sunday off, so not quite as good!!)

I'm spending the next 2 weeks observing the classes, so I can get an Idea of what I'm meant to be doing!! I start this afternoon in Ecole Steivenart. Finally after 2 weeks I'm doing what I came here to do!!!

Will update soon to let you know how it went.

Rebecca

I Don't keep a diary

There is a very good reason why I don't keep a diary, I am not very good at updating it! I had this great idea that I would keep a blog, (Which lets face it is a sort of web diary, isn't it) so I could let evryone know what I was up to in Frenchland. Well I hadn't quite counted on the fact that I wouldn't have unlimated internet access like i'd been used to, or just how long it would take to write each post, or how busy I would be in the 1st couple of weeks, that I wouldn't be able to update all the time. Hence the reaaon why "My First Week in France" only goes up to Tuesday, and it's now the following Thursday, and I've only just got round to updating. I'm going to try to do a (hopefully briefer) update of what I've been doing over the last week, otherwise it'll get silly qnd Ill never right in this blog!

Well Wednesday was mostly spent shopping for things for the appartment, (kettle, toaster, rugs, cutlery etc) as well as getting food for the next few weeks, so it was really good having Mum and Dad there to pay for everything!! We also went to a really nice Pizza Place in the evening, in the town, so at least thats one good thing in the town!

On Thursday Mum and Dad went home, I went with them to Lille and we spent some time walking around the town (mainly so Dad could refilm some of the town that had mysteriously dissapeared from the video camera!) We went to the supermarket so I could get a duvet and pillow, then Mum and Dad got on the Eurostar :'( and I came back to Aulnoye. I went to the office where the Brigette's worked so I could use the internet, which was good as it gave me something to do. I watched DVD's in the evening, although it was a bit lonely.

On Friday, I went to meet the teachers and children in the 2 schools I would be working in. They were all really nice, the children in every class wanted to say 'hello' to me, and some were brave enough to tell me their names and ages in English, which was very cute. It seems that there would be some conflict with my classes, where I'd need to be in 2 places at the same time! Which unfotunatley would be slight inpossible! So I sugested maybe doing one week at one school and the next at the other. This works out better, but it seems that i'm doing about 14 hours (over 2 weeks) English, and the other 10 hours in other lessons, doing what i've got no idea!

At lunch time I went to the canteen. When Brigette had been talking about going to the canteen for lunch, I thought there was one near the offices, or in one of the schools, but actually, it seems there is a big canteen that all the primary schools in the area use, and they all go there by bus. It's a bit weird, but the food is very nice!

On Friday night I went to stay at Brigette P's house for the weekend. She has two daughters, Maryléne who is 20 and Anne-Sophié who is 18. They were all really nice to me, We went to Brigette's parents house for dinner on Friday, and I went with Anne-Sophie to meet some of her friends, which was good. We played pool, and Then Anne-Sophie decided that we should all speak English for 20mins. It was really strange, cos they were speaking English with a french accent, I started speaking like that too! And I kept answering in French when they asked me questions in English!

On Saturday, I spent alot of the day on the internet which was good, then in the evening Maryléne's friends came over and they taught me how to play poker! It was quite confusing, even when I read the rules in English, I still mannaged to lose, (good job we wern't playing for real monny!) Though I did teach them the word 'Fold' for when you can't play anymore, they don't have a word in french, they just put their cards down which seems a bit boring to me!!

On Sunday I slept really late, It wasn't entirely my fault. In France (or round here at least) they have shutters on the window insted of curtins, ( though my flat has curtians!) which block out all the light...compleatly it's pitch black. I woke up on Sunday, and cos it was still dark in the room, I assumed it was really early, so I went back to sleep again, When I woke up the next time it was still really dark, but I looked at my watch this time and saw it was nearly 11:30!!!! I reckon it was probably about 9 or 10 when I first woke up but cos it was so dark i didn't know!!

In the afternoon I went on the internet again, and then later Maryléne and her friends took me to this cocktail bar they liked. It was in Belgium! Apparently they are only about 20 mins drive from the boarder, I hadn't realised it was soo close! The bar was really nice, sorta Hawaiian themed, with all sorts of fruit cocktails. I had a Strawberry and Pineapple one which was yummy!!!

Anyway it's getting late now, everyone will be going soon, and I can't really be bothered to write anymore! I'll try to write some more tomorrow maybe

à tout l'heure

Rebecca