Goals

So first, in the human events section- Maria, the Spanish assistant has left Bordeaux and La Reole entirely to head back to Spain for a real job that pays a heck of a lot better than being an assistant. Which is great for her, and not unexpected- but a real shame for me. Because she was really cool, and was essentially my French teacher. Oh well, I'm sure I can find other people to learn French from. On the positive side though, now I have some place to crash if and when I visit Spain.


Anyway... I've had to readjust my outlook a tad since I hopped the pond.

I had a bit of a pie in the sky attitude towards my ability to survive in France before I left. I really liked the idea of being fluent in French, and perhaps really soaking up life in a small town. I really didn't appreciate how crappy my French skillz truly were. I conveniently ignored how much trouble I had understanding simple spoken conversation in French when I was studying it at FSU. I think I assumed that now that it was "real" and "submersion" I would just jump on in and "get it" and whatever other buzz words I can through out.

I think that I also didn't grasp the gravitas of what an immersion experience really is. My fault.
I think that the first time I recall feeling meaningfully frustrated with my immersion is when I had to come to terms with the fact that I couldn't be as funny as I wanted to be. Thats not to say that watching me make a fool of myself isn't humorous, at least a little- but what I'm talking about is the ability to be intentionally funny. Thats the rub.

Looking back over the past couple months, I think the happiest I've been with the French is when I can make them chuckle by appropriately using their language in conjunction with my wit to make something both (reasonably) grammatically correct, and at the same time ammusing. Yeah... it doesn't happen often- but occasionally there is a serendipitous juxtaposition between something funny I want to say, and a way for me to say it with my somewhat petite vocab... and those times have made my stay worth it.

However, while Ino longer attempt to both break laws of grammar and physics at the same time (see: j'ai arrive demain) I am not excactly speaking french couramment. So, I am working on not being so timid, and just putting myself out there more and more, because if I don't speak and make mistakes and accept correction and learn and blah blah blah ........ I will never get better, but instead just remain more and more afraid to learn. Ah well, no biggie.
So, I have updated what I want from the near future between me and Francais: dans le futur proche.


1. I need to eventually learn to say voila without feeling like a complete tool. I blame American's poor usage of the word, because it's soooo tacky when thrown in randomly in an English conversation. However, within its legitimate context, its absolutely invaluable- I just can't normally bring myself to say it without either doing it quite haultingly, or feeling like a phony.

2. I should probably sit down, just me and a text book and unlock the mysteries of venir (the verb, to come) . It would be so useful, but I have only passing familiarity with its uses and conjugation. Which is a real shame since i attempt to use it daily, and i typically don't usually completely follow right away when someone uses it in conversation- then I feel dumb.

3. The French have much cooler and more concise phrases, but, just like my problems with voila I can't help but feel silly using them. For example Bon Appetite, I know its polite to wish it to people when you eat, but all I can think of is the damn food magazine- so yeah. I need to get over that. But there are other good ones. Of course there's bon week-end, bonne journee, bon apres-midi & bonne soiree. But my favorite has to be bonne continuation- its just so no nonsense.

4. Just in general, I need to work in some more adjectives into my daily speech, and it would be cool if I could eventually wean myself off of the cognates. Because not everything is superbe, or fantastique after all. But at the same time, I feel pretty cool and American when I refer to most things as c'est cool. I hope that it burns into their heads that cool is our word first, and only theirs on loan. Either that or its our way of saying thanks for rendez-vous, encore and menage-a-trois.

We'll call it even.

I Have

Where to begin?

Strange times are afoot here in France. I'm in that 6 weeks of nonvacation that afflicts me from time to time. So, what do the French do when they have to work? Well, sometimes they go on strike. Voila! Thats what we have going on at the moment. That and I am enjoying my first real Autumn in years. Finally, the seasons actually, visibly change. The colours are incredible, and being from Florida, its nice to experience some cold weather for once.

Me, I have been hit with the double whammy of a teacher's strike at the same time as my 3rd rail strike in as many months in the country. Because they can't help but fullfull steriotypes. Its not really a big deal, just fun to observe. It really wouldn't feel like the truest french experience if not for the greves. At any rate, life marches on, even when the trains don't.

Since vacation ended, I've been back in La Reole during the week and spending less and less time out and about. I tend to prefer doing things when I am in Bordeaux. I think the charm of a small village is lessened a bit due to my French prohibiting me from taking full advantage. That and everyone at my school encouraging the hell out of me to get away on the weekends. So, there has been no real attempt to get to know the town, other than the occasional cafe and trips to the supermarche.

The final straw in this regard was that Maria, the Spanish assistant moved to Bordeaux. Now, I really am tout seule here. Oh well. My friends in Bordeaux, Shannon and Danielle bought a futon, which they refer to as "Mitch's futon"... nice. But despite having friends willing to put up with me on weekends, I really need to find a place of my own after Christmas- so I can have a place for people to visit me. Sweet.

Classes continue to get better and better. I feel sorry for the students I had in the first couple groups, because I really had no idea what I was doing in front of a room of students. Now, I kinda sorta do, which I suppose is an improvement. That, and my communication with the students has improved. Before when the kids spoke French, either to me or to eachother, I had a hell of a time trying to decipher. Now I'm a bit better, which tends to make things go smoother I hope.

I do intend on doing this next year, but that all depends on where I get placed. I really would like to go to Bordeaux again, but I suppose at the same time I should plan on moving on with my life, and doing grad school before I get too old. Hehe. Whatever.

Recently, Bordeaux has gotten fun. I went to my first show since I got here. Devendra Banhart. If you are unfamilliar, he is a folk singer from San Fransico, and very cool. The show was a bit expensive, but it turned out to be worth it. They played for a solid 2 or so hours, and the best part besides the music of course was that the between song banter was in English- so me and Katie- who went with me were about the only ones who knew what was going on. Good times.

So, thats about it. I'm not so much in a rut as I am in a comfortable place. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I am working. Oh well, I'll try to do something seasonal I guess. Who knows. Ciao.

Life (How to Look, Feel, Act and Smell Homeless for only 100 Euro's a Day)

I think the most plausible reason for my prolonged absence here lately has to be that after my pilgrimage to Oscar Wilde's grave I had to face the reality that I will never be even half of his stature as a writer. So, i spiraled into depression, and every time I tried to write, I couldn't go through with it.

Either that or I have been too busy living la vie francaise to stop and write about it.
Maybe a synthesis of the two.

At any rate, sorry to all who still check here, in (almost a) month since my last post. Rest assured, my life is still amazing, and I am both alive, and frenchish. See, the thing is the French schools have a lot of paid vacation during which I am practically forced to travel. Oh well, it could always be worse.

So, since I have let so much time slip away, I am not sure of the best way to systematically update the masses on my life. I think bullet points are necessary, then a brief exposition shall follow.

• Teaching is still pretty good- the good kids make it all worth it, those who really want to learn. In general its pretty easy, and I have been somewhat lazy when it comes to prepping for classes. Oh well.
• Vacation was amazing. I went to Paris for 4 days, which was what I expected it to be-- Big (too big) and packed with stuff you have to see when you go to France. Though by the end of the trip there I was ready to head back "home" to Bordeaux
• Also during the Vacation I spent 3 days in Lourdes, in the Pyrenees. It was amazing, and I took an excursion even deeper into the mountains. It was really important to me to see the mountains again before it got too cold. Cirque de Gavernies is something everyone should try to see.
• Bordeaux feels like home now. I know the city well, and I am there literally every weekend. Myself and several English assistants have settled into a solid core of friends. Its a good thing. I am now completely certain that I will be moving into the city after Christmas.
• I climbed the tallest sand dune in Europe, then ran down it to the Ocean. hell yeah

So yeah, thats my life in summary. That and I've been drinking alot of wine. Its been alot of fun. I've given up on drinking beer simply due to economics. I bought a 7.50 E beer in Paris, which pretty much convinced me that I would never live in Paris. But since thats about the only negative I have to report, things must be going well.

So I lied. The other negative is FSU football. But isn't it always like that this time of year? You can set your watch to it. Oh well, by October, I am used to looking forward to Basketball season, which should probably be a solid 20 win season for the third year in a row, not that it matters, since we will still just be in the NIT. Because we are FSU.

As described above, my vacation pretty much kicked ass. What I failed to mention is that I was literally forced by my school to live on the road for the duration. Right before the vacation commenced, I made what I believed to be small talk with the people at my school about my plans for vacation. I told them I would be out and about, which they mentioned to be a good
idea.

What they didn't tell me was that the internat would be locked up and inaccessible during the holidays so unbeknownst to me, the things I took in my backpack that friday would have to last me for two weeks. Glad I brought a change of clothes. So, i lived on the kindness of friends, and hotels for vacation.

Evan and I went to Paris, and did all of the necessary things there.
We climbed the Eiffel Tower, because you know its so much better than taking the elevator. Sans doubte. Did the Louvre for a solid six hours. It was neat and all, but by the end it was just a painful walk through.

I did experience something crazy though, as I was leaving the Eiffel Tower, Evan and I ran into our friend Esther from Bordeaux. How do you have a chance meeting like that in a city of 5 million? Then to top it off, when I was in Arcachon with some friends to see the Dune De Pyla, we ran into Esther there! Crazy.

So, after Paris, and a couple more days in between in Bordeaux, I was ready to go to the mountains again to pass the time. So i headed to Lourdes in the Pyrenees. It happens to be the largest Catholic pilgrimage site in France. Wow, the cheese factor was high there, enough kitsch to make Christian bookstore owners blush. But the mountains were incredible, and the train ride into the city was amazing as well. Unfortunately, my camera, which i did not charge before the holidays died before I saw the truly impressive stuff past Lourdes. Oh well, I guess i'll have to go back sometime.

So that was my vacation. Now i am back in La Reole for school, and yeah... I am moving into the city after christmas. I'd only be there for the weekend, but its quite awkward begging for couches from friends literally every weekend. So i am going to get a room at one of the Youth Foyers, and still sleep at the internat during the school week, and then have a place to live on the three day weekend in Bordeaux. I think it will be worth it, since my life really is in Bordeaux, and I have made plenty of friends. Yeah, sweet.

Upcoming... Mr. Jon Boyette will be moving to Europe in December. He'll be in England for his job, but you best believe he'll be visiting, and me the same. But before he starts the job, he's going to stay with me for a week or so in France and then we are gonna do it up in Paris before Christmas. Its going to rock.


So, sorry about the infrequency thing. Paix.