30 March 2011

I spent another afternoon at FNAC today with Yannick and my dead hard disk... After I grabbed a service number, another guy called me up to his counter but when Yannick looked up and saw me, he said I was here to see him. When I asked how he was doing, he looked at his watch before looking up at me with a smile and responding "Well, now I'm doing great."Unfortunately, the program we hooked it up to no longer recognized my hard disk. He tried several different things and cords were all over the place but, sadly, had no effect. He downloaded a recovery program specifically for Macs and we found it funny that I had to show him how to drag it into the "applications" folder to finish installing it.We laughed again when he couldn't find it in the application folder, which I was able to point out to him. 

At one point, he said that he was about to try the last thing he'd be able to try before throwing in the towel. But after that, he still tried a few different things. After two-and-a-half hours, he wasn't able to retrieve any of the information from my hard disk. He wished me well and apologized for not being able to help before sending me on my way. Get this - I didn't get charged! Can you believe it? In total, he spent close to 7.5 hours working on my computer and I only paid 15€ for the service. What a steal! All hope isn't lost... it's just not going to come cheap. At least this time I was well prepared for the worst and there wasn't even the slightest threat of a tear. 

Aside from that, this week at work has been insane. On Monday and Tuesday, there were three teachers absent (plus a few striking on Monday) and only ONE substitute. One of the teachers will be out almost until the April vacation but let's hope the other two get better and can come back to school because classes are too full! 

I forgot to mention that Nicolas (le directeur) and I set the date for my final day of work: le 28 juin! I can't believe that I have less than three months left now! My mom, aunt, and I haven't officially nailed down details of their trip to come travel Europe with me but we've tentatively planned to meet in London on June 29th -three months from yesterday! Words to describe how much I miss them are hard to find; I'm super excited to plan our Europe adventure! 
Bisous, 
-kelse

Le directeur/La directrice - the principal
Le 28 juin - June 28th 

24 March 2011

Overflowing

The weather the last few days has been gorgeous. Sunny and warm - perfect for sitting in the park with my ipod and journal and working on my tan... I've got to get rid of my ghoulish skin tone! But this change in the weather means that my students are a little on edge and other teachers are getting sick. I haven't gone much into detail in comparing  École Paul Bert to the elementary school I went to, which I'll try to get to soon (there are tons of differences!). One big difference that makes a huge impact is that there are rarely remplaçements when a teacher is absent - even when planned. Of course this is due to budget cuts...

On Tuesday, Rodolphe, the teacher for my first class knew he'd be out the following day for medical tests, so on Monday, he kept reminding his students that they didn't have to come to school the next day. At the end of the day, I could hear them telling their parents (and taunting their siblings) that they didn't have to go to school Tuesday. But on top of that, there was another teacher, Fanny, out sick on Tuesday. So all of Fanny's students and any of Rodolphe's that still showed up were dispersed into other classes. Many of the classes are already full at 28 students and have only 3-4 empty seats in the back of the room. 

Today, Fanny was still out sick and Silvia stayed home sick, too. (On Tuesday, she taught the entire day without saying a single word, since she'd completely lost her voice.) Two full classes worth of students where separated into the remaining classes; we were literally overflowing with extra students.  In addition to the gorgeous sunlight heating up the classroom and distracting my students, I  had side conversations from bored students to deal with. The displaced students literally sit and color and read comic books all day... Luckily a substitute came mid-morning and gathered up all of Fanny's students. But then after lunch, Jean-Michel was suddenly gone and our classes were once again overflowing and overly-agitated. In the middle of playing Pictionary with Pascal's class, I picked up my coat and purse and was about to walk out on my students. After telling them they needed to be quiet or else I'd stop the game and leave, I was more than ready to put some distance between me and the little twits. Thank god for three-day weekends! 

Bisous,
-kelse

Un/une remplaçant(e) - a substitute 

18 March 2011

Cry and you shall receive

Tuesday afternoon was a disaster. Okay, in comparison to recent activity in Japan, this is nothing. But in the scope of my life, Tuesday was a disaster. While on my computer, I heard a startling crackling noise and then my mouse disappeared from the screen. I tried shutting my computer and saw no change when I opened it. So I forced my Mac to shut down and when it restarted, I got a lovely grey screen with the image of a folder and a flashing question mark. Damn. You know that external hard drive my dad bought me a few years ago? Haven't used it since college... I know better than this. Luckily, my roommate let me use her computer that evening and my research led me to believe that it was a hard disk problem. What to do next? 

Panic, of course! Without my computer, I'm literally cut off from everyone at home except my dad, who has a land line that I can call for free and the only phone number I have memorized. I called in tears panicking about not wanting to but a French computer, refusing to own a computer other than a Mac, and terrified about losing all the photos on my computer... I'm sure he loved the phone call. Crying, insane daughters who are across the planet probably aren't fun to deal with in the morning. 

So on Wednesday I got to FNAC at 14h30 and described to Yannick at the Services Après Vente desk what happened. After trying several combinations of restarting my computer and pressing certain keys, he was able to run a diagnostic on it and determined that it was definitely an irréparable hard disk malfunction. In the process of all this, his varied facial expressions triggered my easily-triggered tear ducts... (just tears this time, it wasn't my kind of crying where I can't breath or talk, thank god!) "Pourquoi tu pleures?," he asked me, to which I responded that I was worried about losing all my photos and documents. He said (jokingly) that he'd stop working on my computer if I didn't stop crying. Somehow that worked. He brought me into their back room where he tried to get my documents and photos off le disque dur... to no avail - yet. 

Long story short: I had to buy a new hard disk (69€) and I was the one who told him he could stop trying to revive what clearly was lost. I felt like I was pulling the plug on a dying family member. Understanding the sadness I felt, Yannick explained that he's on vacation until the end of the month but will see what other resources he can try so that we can get my photos and data (like my resumé). So I'm going in on the 30th with a little hope that all isn't lost. In terms of payment for his services, he said "I apologize but I have to charge you 15€ for my time. It's the least I can charge you without getting in trouble." It's important to note that he worked with me right until he got off work at 18h00. Then, he said "I don't have the right to but I'm going to install the operating system Snow Leopard because I hate to see such a pretty girl cry." (I had the older operating system, Tiger!) I finally left with what feels like a brand new computer at 18h30... a steal at only 84€. 

This year in France isn't about teaching or traveling at all... It's a test to see how well I can handle life as an adult. Lessons learned this round: 1) Back your computer up more than every few years 2) Being cute, nice, and crying can still get you somewhere, even as an adult (I swear I didn't exploit it)

Bisous,
-kelse

Services Après Vente - Customer Service (literally translates to service after sale)
Irréparable - irreparable (see, French is easy!)
"Pourquoi tu pleures?" - "Why are you crying?"
Le disque dur - the hard disk 

12 March 2011

The Foreiners at The Mitre

I know how to spell foreigners... but my temporary teammate, Adam, apparently didn't. My second night in London, The Mitre, the bar where Jim lives and works, held their weekly Quiz Night! My team started off as Jim, myself, and a British guy clad in a matching suit and vest combo (complete with round, geeky glasses) named Adam. Jim being an Aussi, Adam saying he was half-Italian, and I became "The Foreiners". The Quiz Master, Drunken Duncan called it out to the entire pub so we just went with it. Adam quickly left and we joined with Jim and Joe, two Brits who were quite the entertaining teammates! In college, my sorority sisters and I loved going to Quiz Night at Finn MacCools; though we never stood a chance at winning. Jim and I feared that our lack of knowledge of British history and media would hinder our team's chances at winning the £25 prize to be spent at the bar. Speaking of Drunken Duncan calling things out... at one point, I responded to his question of "does everyone have their papers back?", to which he rebuked "Thanks to the American with the nice knockers!" I turned to Jim and asked him if "knockers" meant the same in British English.... yes, it does. 
The Mitre, Jim's place of employment and my landing pad for the last leg of my trip.
Cheers! Jim and the Rekorderlig's Cider he insisted would be the end-all-be-all of ciders. Verdict? DELICIOUS!
The Foreiners - Jim, Joe, Jim, and The American
After dominating the first round, we got a little scared in the "television" round, since we had never heard of half the shows in question and had selected this as our bonus round. Despite missing a few questions, we were still in the lead. We kept a strong lead after the next two rounds and were a little hesitant during the history round. One question was "In what year was Princess Diana killed in a car accident?" The Brits were hilarious on this one... I had this conversation with one of them: "I know it happened in August of my second year in college." "So when did you graduate high school?" "I don't remember... I was high." The other swore that it was in 1994 while I assured him that I couldn't have been only 8 years old... In the end, we guessed 1996 but the answer was 1997. After getting every question right in the last round, we were confident that we had the game in the bag.
Drunken Duncan was a hoot! Quiz Masters always love me! 
After waiting for the final scores to come in, we were happily pronounced victors for the night. I got to write our team name on the board to commemorate our win! And then we ordered a round of shots (mostly tequila with a few Jagermeister) plus another Strawberry Lime Rekorderlig's for me. 

Our prize
It was a great night! The next few days, Jim and I kept saying how we couldn't believe that we'd won! You want to know something else I couldn't believe? On Thursday afternoon, I went the the TKTS booth in Leicester Square to see if I could get a ticket to a show for that night, since Jim had to work until midnight. When I asked the woman at the counter "Do you have any tickets for tonight's Chicago?" Her response was "Hmmm... The best I have is front row." I couldn't believe it! And for £33! I absolutely LOVED it! I was so close I could see their freckles! The singing, dancing, and costumes were amazing! :) I was a VERY happy, musical-loving girl! Aaah, London, such great fun! 
Razzle Dazzle 'Em! 
Bisous, 
-kelse

London Calling

London was freezing but at the same time, beautiful, energetic, and a great place to end my trip. I arrived Monday afternoon after a quick flight from Edinburgh. I managed to take the DLR train into town and then the Tube to Lancaster Gate, where my friend Jim lives. It was great to be met by a friendly face who kindly lugged my heavy suitcase up several flights of stairs. The first of my five nights in London was low-key, which is what I needed. During my stay, Jim had to work a few afternoons and evenings. We explored together while he was free but otherwise, I did a lot on my own. Here are some of the highlights of places I walked to:
The Horse Tunnel Market in Camden Town was a fun market to walk around but everyone was selling the same stuff. 
The Portabello Road Market in Notting Hill was one of my favorite parts of the city and a great market! :)
Kensington Gardens was literally right across the street from Jim's place - I can only imagine how pretty it is in bloom!
Hyde Park is beautiful (well, they all are - Hyde, Regents, Green, Kensington... I saw them all!)
The National Gallery was a great (free) museum full of artists I knew (Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, Da Vinci, Caravaggio...). I also really enjoyed The British Museum, which had loads of different types of exhibits, including mummies and the Rosetta Stone. 
The London Eye is the tallest Ferris Wheel in Europe and apparently the most paid for attraction in the UK. 
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament 
Westminster Abbey, where Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry in April.  
Buckingham Palace wasn't as opulent or beautiful as I'd hoped but it was cool to walk past nonetheless. 
I know how to read but even though the words " <-- LOOK LEFT" and "LOOK RIGHT -->" where painted everywhere, I was always looking the wrong way! 
I'll be revisiting London in July with my mom and my aunt Tracy, which I am really excited about. I would have loved to shop around more in all the stores on Oxford Street (I loved Selfridges!) and the markets, too, but it's not as fun by yourself! I talked myself out of buying quite a few things that I probably would have bought had they been with me. London is an expensive city but luckily tons of museums are free and if you walk all over town, you save money on transportation (which is expensive, actually). I'm to have had Jim as my gracious host, offering me a spare mattress on his floor! Thanks again, Jim! 

Bisous, 
-kelse

06 March 2011

My new favorite... somehow I found it in Glasgow

While in Edinburgh we decided to take a day trip to Glasgow. It was only a 30 minute ride from where we were staying in Linlithgow and we figured it would be fun. Glasgow is much more industrialized and not nearly as pretty as Edinburgh! If you want to go shopping, it's got a lot to offer... Jesse found a bunch of soccer-related merchandise to buy himself and I did buy myself a scarf and a cheap purse. 

The sightseeing highlights of our afternoon in Glasgow were the city center, St. Mungo's Cathedral, and the Glasgow Necropolis. The Necropolis had a ton of really cool tombstones and statues with interesting inscriptions about where other family members were buried and such. It also had a killer view of the town - too bad it was mostly newer buildings and hardly comparable to the view from the Edinburgh Castle! There was a wedding about to start at St. Mungo's, which was cool to see everyone get dressed up for. Yes, the men in the bridal party were wearing their respective family tartan kilts. Another funny "sight" we saw was a girl in a Boise State sweatshirt. Random.
Glasgow City Chambers
St. Mungo's Cathedral
View from St. Mungo Cathedral's gate 
Glasgow Necropolis 
My highlight of the day trip was lunch at a pub called The Piper. My order of sweet potato, cumin, lime soup was the perfect light lunch... I needed to save room for the dessert I was determined to order at some point in the trip: Sticky Toffee Pudding! I may be dating a French pastry chef but I do have to say that this may be my new favorite dessert! I don't understand why the Brits call it a "pudding", since it's a warm, moist date cake topped with a toffee sauce and served with vanilla ice cream (or custard or cream). Did I mention that it was warm? And there's a toffee sauce on top? This dessert didn't stand a chance and had Jesse asked for a bite, I might have hesitated. If you've ever watched me eat dessert, you'd know that it took me about 40 minutes to eat it, since I savor every teeny-tiny bite. This is a little piece of heaven on a plate! For his dessert, Jesse happily sipped a Belhaven's Best, which is his favorite of the Scottish ales he tested out. 
Sticky Toffee Pudding, my newfound love 
Jesse's new love, Belhaven's Best
After wandering aimlessly around Glasgow, we found a bar to watch the France vs. England rugby match. This took a little work, as every pub we went into was packed and could barely offer standing room... which didn't work for me. The spot we settled into had an interesting mixture of a few people watching the game, groups there just for dinner, and a "hen party" of 30-somethings complete with penis-paraphernalia. This was the first rugby match I'd watched on TV but without the sound, I was lost in my own world (which wasn't so bad, considering I was in Scotland!) It was pretty cool to see Prince Harry in the crowd celebrating England's win!

Next up: Five days in LONDON!
Bisous, 
-kelse

02 March 2011

Bagpipes, Kilts, and Rugby fans

The real reason Jesse came out to Europe wasn't really to see me. While he says he would have come out to visit me anyways, the real reason he came was to go to the Scotland vs. Ireland Six Nations Rugby match at Murrayfield. I'm not complaining since I was invited along for the madness. Sticking to his Irish heritage, Jesse cheered on the favored Irish team while I figured I'd root for Scotland since I was in, well, Scotland! Jesse was so excited but many of his attempts to explain the sport were lost on me. Pictures and diagrams would have maybe helped but I understood what I was going on as it was happening (I think). 

Following along with the swarm of people walking from the city center to Murrayfield, we peeked into a few places looking to feed our empty stomachs but every place we went to was literally bursting with people. Finally we popped into a place that at least had a little standing room. They had a preset menu for gameday: curry and rice or a steak baguette and fries. The steak baguette was calling my name (well, Jesse was telling me I had to get it since I'd already had curry). I stood in line to get food while he got our Strongbows. Once we got our food, our hands were full so we had to down our drinks to free up a hand since there was nowhere to set anything down. Then came the fun part of eating the steak baguette since my teeth aren't razor-sharp... it was an awful site quite hilarious to see me attempt to eat my delicious lunch but somehow I managed to only get half the "French" mustard on me...  

I busted up laughing when I saw this picture... unfortunately this is how I had to resort to eating this sandwich since it was two slabs of steak on top of sauerkraut and a baguette. 
After another Strongbow we rejoined the swarm headed to the stadium, got more drinks (Gaymers Cider for me), and settled into our seats. Everyone around us was wearing either a rugby jersey or a kilt... often times both, and had several beers/ciders in hand (you can buy four at a time there). On our way into the stadium, we had a pretty constant soundtrack of bagpipes to listen to... not always music to my ears. We joked that we were probably two of very few Americans at the stadium... but then at half-time I started talking to the woman sitting right next to me and found out she was from Portland. Her kiwi boyfriend and his Irish friends were hilarious entertainment, too! We had a great time chatting with them while watching the awesome game. 

Last day of our trip and we're still smiling...
Playing the Scottish National Anthem 
Ireland is in green and Scotland is in navy

We had an awesome view of the action
Ireland beat Scotland 21-18 in a well played and exciting game. Afterward, we followed the school of fish away from the stadium - this doesn't even compare to what it's like at a football game. The whole experience was more than I'd expected it'd be. Fans were so into it, super friendly, and I didn't notice any sore losers. Rugby may have just gained a new fan! We ducked into a (jam-packed) bar that we'd passed on our way to the game so Jesse could celebrate his team's win. Then we realized that it was a Sunday night and we needed to get dinner while we still had the chance. I think all the cider clouded my decision making skills (not to say I regret it) but I ordered a chicken, ham, and leek pie with mashed potatoes on the side. The ultimate comfort food, it made me miss my mom's famous chicken pot pie! I will say that it was delicious and worth the calorie splurge. (Mom, let's talk about adding leeks to your pie...) We joked about ordering "spotted dick" for dessert and I shyly asked our server what it was... asking someone what "spotted dick" is is just awkward, even with a menu in hand to point to!

My chicken, ham, and leek pie with Jess'es steak and ale pie in the background
And just like that, our trip was nearly over, though mine continues on to London! Next up: Glasgow for a day. 

Bisous, 
-kelse

Get yourself to Edinburgh

The second leg of our trip brought Jesse and I up to Edinburgh, Scotland. We actually stayed a short train-ride out of the city at his friend Shane's place in Linlithgow. Shane was only there the night we arrived and took us to his team's rugby practice; there was much more rugby to come. Edinburgh is a well preserved medieval city that is very easily explored by foot, though their bus system is very well laid out as well. Once again, we lucked out and were told we were there for the nicest weather they'd had in a while. That being said, we were still very cold but we were very lucky to have missed the rain! 

As expected, I had a very hard time understanding their English when spoken to... though I loved their accents! The Edinburgh Castle sits up on the hill at the top of The Royal Mile. The views from the castle were amazing as well as the pieces within each museum on-site - like the Scottish Crowned Jewels. If you think that kilts and bagpipes are just a Scottish stereotype then you should think again because they're very proudly worn everywhere! 
 
Edinburgh Castle
View from Edinburgh Castle 
View from North Bridge up to Calton Hill 
St. Margaret's Chapel at Edinburgh Castle 
View of Calton Hill from Edinburgh Castle
Scottish man playing bagpipes on The Royal Mile - one of many all over town! 
We really loved walking around this place. The varieties of food offered were mostly centered on British food (bangers & mash, steak & ale pie, haggis, fish & chips...) or tons of curries and Indian/Pakistani restaurants. And of course, there were tons of pubs and bars all over the place. Jesse was quite content to seek out all the beers he can't get stateside while introducing me to Strongbow Cider. Overall, the food was much better than I expected, though I'm totally sick of restaurant food and really just want to cook for myself again! 

Next up, more rugby!! 
Bisous, 
-kelse

01 March 2011

Love the Louvre

My internet access hasn't been stable so sorry for my absence! I'll slowly get you guys updated on my travels. I've been through Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland and am now writing from the pub in London, The Mitre, where my friend and gracious host, Jim, lives and works. First things first, let me wrap up my trip to Paris - the last day was spent at the Louvre. We totally lucked out that we'd planned our museum day for what turned out to be a bleary and rainy day. After spending all afternoon inside we were both worn out and took the metro back to the hotel to stay dry and save time. 

It was crowded but manageable and we enjoyed slowly walking through the exhibits. When we were there in high school we were only allowed two hours there and were limited to the exhibits we could see by our escorts. Not the best way to see the Louvre! This time we saw a greater majority of the exhibits, though not all of them were open. We did pass by the La Joconde, which I think is the most over-rated piece of art ever. For those of you who aren't aware, you have to drop elbows to get close to it and then you realize how small it is! Not worth it. But you know what is worth it? Victory of Samothrace - it's my favorite museum piece. I love it and Jesse laughed at my excitement over seeing it again this trip. The first time I saw it, I had my first "aha" moment. It's not to be missed! There is so much great stuff in the Louvre - from Renaissance paintings, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities, to French sculptures,  and oceanic art - there's something for everyone. 


More to come on Scotland and London... : D 

Bisous, 
-kelse

La Joconde - The Mona Lisa