On Fait La Grève! And Other French Goings-On

I've been in Nevers now for three weeks, but I haven't written much here because I've been having such a hard time and didn't want my pessimism to bring down the mood of the blog. Now, though, I've gotten a bank account, social security, a phone, AND I've gotten better from being sick, so I'm here to bring you the juicy details of a Year in France :)

First, some photos of my new friends in France.  Before we started working, we had loads of free time, so we went exploring along the river...

and in front of the Palais Ducal, which now houses the Mayor's office, Tourism Office, and a ceramics musem. 

We came across a street market one Saturday that was full of people selling their homemade stuff; there were cheese and sausage makers, booksellers, cake bakers and woodworkers, even a blacksmith, all out in the street showin' off their skillz.  There was even a contest to guess the weight of a dried, cured ham, and if you guessed right, you got to take home the ham.  Of course I entered it :)

Then there was this guy, who was playing a SAW as a musical instrument!  Now THAT'S talent :) 

A couple of weeks ago we traveled to Dijon for our pedagogical training; the visit was short, but we got a nice little glimpse of Dijon.  Mostly we hung out by the cathedral and rubbed the owl repeatedly, who is said to bring good luck.  Looks like he's brought a lot of luck; his poor features have been rubbed into blobbiness.

Last week we observed in our classrooms before actually starting teaching. I was surprised at how little English the students knew, even the CM1 (the equivalent of 5th grade). When I said, "Good morning!," they said "Hello," but when I asked, "How are you?" they all said, "Yes." I still don't understand that one :P There were a couple of widespread language mishaps--"ten, eleven, twelve, twelvety-one"--so it looks like I've got my work cut out for me! Still, I've committed myself to the mantra that, even though my work may not necessarily help them learn English, as long as I make the learning fun, they'll remember something.

I hope.

Either way, this is going to be fun! It's interesting to think back on what I remember from school when I was their age--obviously not a foreign language because that's not part of the general public curriculum in the States--but other things that stuck out (the Shirley method, the 50 states song, etc.) that might help them remember some things from their English studies. Then again, when teaching a second language to 5th graders, you have to operate at about a 1st grade English level. Still, I'm getting the hang of speaking slowly, using gestures, and resorting to French in the classroom when I get blank, glassy-eyed stares.

So far I've only actually been in the classrooms of two of my three schools, because last week one of them was closed (and had the courtesy to tell me beforehand, unlike any of the other poor girls' schools!) for la grève--the STRIKE. Even people who know nothing about French culture know that they're famous for their strikes--they strike when the mood strikes them, you could say ;) On Tuesday, everyday life shut down all over France when people demonstrated against raising the retirement age from 60 to....wait for it......62.

This relatively simple legislative slip-up got us all a day off work, though, so we can't complain too much :P The main road in Nevers was blocked off to traffic, there were bands and DJs in the streets, and everyone had bright orange vests and stickers and flags--it was amazing to see so many people come together to support the same cause. Of course, we wondered about the effectiveness of it--if you're always on strike, who takes strikes seriously? But this strike in particular interrupted the train and bus system, as well as fuel reserves in big cities, so it's demanding action NOW or the merde is going to hit the fan!

To save money we've been having a lot of "Bread Wine and Cheese" nights--usually at my apartment because it came with 2 chairs instead of 1 (classy!).  Sometimes we even watch episodes of Glee :)  It's so nice to have other English-speaking people here, and the other assistants are SO nice--they really are a saving grace in what can sometimes be a dreadful cultural cesspool. 

Even Diesel likes wine and cheese night :)

Speaking of my apartment, I have some photos of that, too--it's so typically French it's laughable!  One full wall is made of corkboard...

 

And it has the smallest kitchen....

 ...and bathroom...

that I've ever seen.  Still, it's a perfect size for one person, though there are some couples who stay here together and I can't see how they do it! 

Next week is the Toussaint holiday (10 days!) and we're really hoping we can make some travel plans that aren't interrupted by la grève!  We're thinking Grenoble, or maybe Bordeaux...really, the whole of Europe is our oyster :)