Christmas greetings!
I’m sorry this post is quite long, but you have my permission to skip some or all of the Eurostar part if you want!
Magic show
So when Christmas comes around, that gives rise to different things happening in schools. I had the pleasure of not teaching for an afternoon and accompanying pupils to a magic show in Armentieres. It was very enjoyable and fascinating. The magician turned silk handkerchiefs into long sticks, doves into cats and put lots of separate pieces of sharp metal into his mouth for them to come out on a string! But my favourite trick was when his beautiful assistant was all tied up (neck, hands tied twice behind her back and legs too) and the magician got a teacher up onto the stage. There was a curtain on a frame which came round in a box shape and the assistant went in and so did the teacher, but his head had to poke out from the curtains, then after three seconds she was wearing his jacket, inside the tied ropes!! Amazing, and the teacher on stage couldn’t believe it either! Sorry I probably haven’t described it adequately…it’s hard to describe.
Christmas party
I had my little Christmas party with my English club on the last Friday of term after school. We pushed tables together and firstly opened crackers, which they loved. Then I gave them a taste of cheddar cheese on a cracker (the edible variety). After that I started playing Christmas music and set them to work on a Christmas word search and picture crossword to give me a chance to cut up mince pies. Half of them gave mince pies a try and then I showed them a chocolate orange (which I have discovered is very novel in France!) and gave them a piece each. They gave cheddar 10/10 and also said the chocolate orange is very good, but weren’t so keen on mince pies! Then I got them to pack up and gave them a Christmas card and further chocolate treat on the way out. I found it hard controlling so many excitable French schoolchildren, but I think it was a big success.
Eurostar chaos
As many of you know I was one of the thousands of travellers who got caught up in the Eurostar disruptions. Thankfully I was not in any of the trains that broke down. I was supposed to travel home on Saturday in the early evening. On Saturday morning I spent a couple of hours at Lille Europe station trying to work out how to print my ticket and what was going on and what I should do as I’d heard there were disruptions. When I got there they had decided no Saturday trains were running and were putting people in hotels overnight. I knew from my Dad that it wasn’t worth trying to go to Calais for the Eurotunnel or ferry at that point because there was chaos there too. By the Eurostar desk, I met and chatted briefly to two British middle-aged ladies, and just after I said goodbye to them and wished them well on their journey home I thought ‘Maybe I should swap phone numbers with them; I might be able to give them updates’ as I had access to the Internet and they didn’t (and Eurostar said they were putting information up online). So I turned back and they were happy to swap numbers.
I was disappointed but I decided to hold out for Monday, hoping things would blow over by then as I didn’t want to wait in large queues of people in a freezing cold station on Sunday for hours on end, so I got my ticket stamped for travel on Monday. It got to Saturday evening and I knew Eurostar was cancelling all trains for Sunday too. I went to Church on Sunday evening and people were discussing Eurostar and it became apparent that the whole thing was bigger than I thought it would be. I was not the only one there that was hoping to go home by Eurostar. Some said they didn’t think it looked hopeful for getting home for Christmas and it might be worth getting a ferry.
On Sunday after church I rang home and Mum told me that Eurostar had just released the information online that no trains would be running on Monday either! At this point I started to get a bit more stressed out. We decided that the best thing to do was to ring the ferry company when their lines opened in the morning (9am) and check they were taking foot passengers who hadn’t pre-booked, and try and go home via ferry and trains.
On Monday morning at 6.43am I got a text message which woke me up. It was from one of the ladies I’d met on Saturday at the station, saying Eurostar were laying on a train at 8.22am and I should try and get to the station for 8am. I was lying in bed and really wanted to stay there but I thought to myself ‘What have I got to lose?’ so I sprang into action (actually…’crawled into action’ would be more appropriate!) and got myself and my case to the station just in time for 8am.
The train went to Calais, then we got on a coach through thick, thick snow to the ferry port (Praise God for the French drivers who were willing to do that!). We got on the ferry and found out that trains weren’t running from Dover to London so we had to take a coach the other side, so we took a coach which got stuck in a huge traffic jam and eventually made it to Victoria where Dad surprised me and came home on the tube with me. Then a final walk through the snow and into the family home, 14 hours later than I’d set off from my flat, and exhausted but with a smile on my face.
The two ladies I’d met on Saturday became my travel buddies (one of whom is a Christian I discovered on the way), as well as a 65 year-old French lady we met on Monday (who I was able to help out with translation sometimes). One of my friends from church also travelled with us some of the way. The two ladies had originally only come away for a one night break, but it turned into 4 days! There was so much uncertainty along the journey. I’m very glad to have made it home this Christmas time.
The very lovely thing is that I know I could have invited myself to at least 3 homes for Christmas had I been stuck in Lille on my own, even though I’ve only lived there for 3 months…isn’t God good?
Fiona x
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Friday, 18 December 2009
Off home...
I'm back home tomorrow in the evening, travelling by Eurostar for the first time. I can't wait to be home, and in particular I'm looking forward to seeing Katie, but I think it will be strange to be back...we'll see!
(FYI - I will update my blog at least once over the holidays).
Fiona x
(FYI - I will update my blog at least once over the holidays).
Fiona x
Saturday, 12 December 2009
‘It’s a hard life…’
I mean that in both the real and the flippant sense. Friday is my most difficult day of the week as I teach 7 hours (with lunch and two breaks in the middle), normally 14 different groups (as I take half classes). Standing on my feet most of the day and still not getting to grips with many names, trying to keep the enthusiasm up for what I’m doing with the kids and keeping up the concentration to understand what they’re saying to me (when they speak in French or English!), etc is hard. I’m sure there are days at work in many professions which are just as long and tough in different ways.
Now in the other sense…I’ve decided to get myself a little treat from the bakery after school on Fridays...oh what a chore! I love the French bakeries (who doesn’t?!) and it’s great a
s they’re open until late (one near here is open until 9pm!). These last two Fridays I’ve seized the opportunity to buy a little “bûchette de Noël” (a little Christmas log) as they’re not going to be around all year and there is a selection to choose from! They are pictured 
here. Mmm... :)
I don’t want you to think that all I do is teach songs and make boys cry at school do I? So what else have I been up to with the kids?...I’ve talked about Bonfire night, made imaginary towns on blackboards (yes, blackboards…everywhere, with only the occasional whiteboard!), got them to introduce themselves, played blind date, played secret Santa, and lots more! Some things go down better than others of course, but I love it how language learning can involve so many different types of activities. Next Friday after school I’m having a little Christmas party with my English club and I’m really looking forward to it, I hope it goes well as I’ve been planning it for a while.
There’s going to be a nativity play and carols at Christchurch tonight, which I’m looking forward to, all the more because I’m taking part in the nativity (even though I’ve only got a small part – Herod’s advisor)! The play has been written by someone at church and it’s a very good script.
Yours-looking-forward-to-Christmas-ly,
Fiona x
Now in the other sense…I’ve decided to get myself a little treat from the bakery after school on Fridays...oh what a chore! I love the French bakeries (who doesn’t?!) and it’s great a
s they’re open until late (one near here is open until 9pm!). These last two Fridays I’ve seized the opportunity to buy a little “bûchette de Noël” (a little Christmas log) as they’re not going to be around all year and there is a selection to choose from! They are pictured 
here. Mmm... :)I don’t want you to think that all I do is teach songs and make boys cry at school do I? So what else have I been up to with the kids?...I’ve talked about Bonfire night, made imaginary towns on blackboards (yes, blackboards…everywhere, with only the occasional whiteboard!), got them to introduce themselves, played blind date, played secret Santa, and lots more! Some things go down better than others of course, but I love it how language learning can involve so many different types of activities. Next Friday after school I’m having a little Christmas party with my English club and I’m really looking forward to it, I hope it goes well as I’ve been planning it for a while.
There’s going to be a nativity play and carols at Christchurch tonight, which I’m looking forward to, all the more because I’m taking part in the nativity (even though I’ve only got a small part – Herod’s advisor)! The play has been written by someone at church and it’s a very good script.
Yours-looking-forward-to-Christmas-ly,
Fiona x
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Quoi de neuf? (What’s new?/What have you got to tell me?)
I went to see Riverdance at the arena here in Lille last Wednesday with my Scottish friend Nicola and it was amazing! I very much enjoyed a bit of Irish culture in France. I couldn’t get over the fact that they didn’t put a foot wrong! Brilliant dancing and brilliant music.
I made a child cry at school! Yes…you think I don’t have it in me but it happened. Though of course it wasn’t on purpose and I felt very bad afterwards, but he had been warned! There were four pupils messing around in one of my singing classes and I’d already moved them to the front of the room as soon as they stepped in the door because I remembered they’d been chatty last lesson. They were reluctant to move but realised I wasn’t budging on the matter. They were messing around so I said if they carried on I’d take their ‘carnets’ (A carnet is a little book with their timetable on the back and space to write between teachers and parents inside). Taking a carnet means a child is in danger of an ‘observation’ being written in for their parents to acknowledge. They carried on so I took all four, and said that if I move their book from the edge of the table to the middle, it was being written in. The boy (the other three were girls) was playing with glue and got it on his neighbour’s trousers…I hadn’t seen everything but I had testimony/complaint from five girls nearby so decided enough was enough. He was grumpy for the rest of the lesson, and I decided that I had to carry through with my word and write otherwise they’ll think they can get away with anything. So I wrote and he didn’t read it but went out of the classroom crying. It was the first time I’d had the courage to write in a carnet so it wasn’t nice for me…but sometimes these things are for the best!
On Sunday I went to Rochester for the day. I enjoyed myself very much there, visiting with the Frenchies (three teachers and one of their husbands). We went to the Dickensian Christmas festival, and there were many town folk and shopkeepers dressed up in Victorian-style clothes, most of them taking on the particular dress of a
Dickens character. We were supposed to cross paths with other teachers from school, but managed not to see them despite the small size of the town. We wandered round shops, ate well, saw performances and parades and went to a carol service in the Cathedral. It was so lovely and the weather held out well. I found some mince pies to bring back for my pupils to try (only the ones in my English club because you’d have to have the money and the means to bring back mince pies for an army for all the children at my two schools!!) so it will be interesting to see if they like them or not.
On Monday, a very strange thing happened to me. I was coming home from work and got off the train, parted ways with my colleague/friend and then a French girl a couple of years older than me approached me and asked me (in French) if I was English. So I said 'yes' wondering what was coming next. She asked me if I was a languages assistant, so again I said yes. She added that she'd heard me speaking English on the train and that she had been a language assistant in England a few years ago! Her name is Stéphanie, and we chatted for a while and exchanged numbers…it was such a random meeting, but hopefully it becomes fruitful! Just one of those things where you wonder if God has a plan because it was so at chance!
I must pay tribute to Alene Baldock, a wonderful lady who I knew from church, who died on Monday 30th November. I didn’t imagine that I’d come away this term not to see her at Christmas time. She was such an inspiration to me and will continue to be. She has now gone to Heaven to be with her saviour Jesus, in a place of no more suffering :) but I and many many others will miss her dearly :(
Fiona x
I made a child cry at school! Yes…you think I don’t have it in me but it happened. Though of course it wasn’t on purpose and I felt very bad afterwards, but he had been warned! There were four pupils messing around in one of my singing classes and I’d already moved them to the front of the room as soon as they stepped in the door because I remembered they’d been chatty last lesson. They were reluctant to move but realised I wasn’t budging on the matter. They were messing around so I said if they carried on I’d take their ‘carnets’ (A carnet is a little book with their timetable on the back and space to write between teachers and parents inside). Taking a carnet means a child is in danger of an ‘observation’ being written in for their parents to acknowledge. They carried on so I took all four, and said that if I move their book from the edge of the table to the middle, it was being written in. The boy (the other three were girls) was playing with glue and got it on his neighbour’s trousers…I hadn’t seen everything but I had testimony/complaint from five girls nearby so decided enough was enough. He was grumpy for the rest of the lesson, and I decided that I had to carry through with my word and write otherwise they’ll think they can get away with anything. So I wrote and he didn’t read it but went out of the classroom crying. It was the first time I’d had the courage to write in a carnet so it wasn’t nice for me…but sometimes these things are for the best!
On Sunday I went to Rochester for the day. I enjoyed myself very much there, visiting with the Frenchies (three teachers and one of their husbands). We went to the Dickensian Christmas festival, and there were many town folk and shopkeepers dressed up in Victorian-style clothes, most of them taking on the particular dress of a
Dickens character. We were supposed to cross paths with other teachers from school, but managed not to see them despite the small size of the town. We wandered round shops, ate well, saw performances and parades and went to a carol service in the Cathedral. It was so lovely and the weather held out well. I found some mince pies to bring back for my pupils to try (only the ones in my English club because you’d have to have the money and the means to bring back mince pies for an army for all the children at my two schools!!) so it will be interesting to see if they like them or not.On Monday, a very strange thing happened to me. I was coming home from work and got off the train, parted ways with my colleague/friend and then a French girl a couple of years older than me approached me and asked me (in French) if I was English. So I said 'yes' wondering what was coming next. She asked me if I was a languages assistant, so again I said yes. She added that she'd heard me speaking English on the train and that she had been a language assistant in England a few years ago! Her name is Stéphanie, and we chatted for a while and exchanged numbers…it was such a random meeting, but hopefully it becomes fruitful! Just one of those things where you wonder if God has a plan because it was so at chance!
I must pay tribute to Alene Baldock, a wonderful lady who I knew from church, who died on Monday 30th November. I didn’t imagine that I’d come away this term not to see her at Christmas time. She was such an inspiration to me and will continue to be. She has now gone to Heaven to be with her saviour Jesus, in a place of no more suffering :) but I and many many others will miss her dearly :(
Fiona x
P.S. Sorry about the dodgy alignment of the photos...they change position from draft to preview to publish!
Saturday, 5 December 2009
'Christmas show'
Hi everyone!
I hope you're well and trying to stay flu-free! I’m back, just over a week after my previous post, and I promised long-overdue news about school, so here we go…
I’m settling in to school life now and I have to keep reminding myself of what level the kids are at in their learning and try not to be too ambitious with them. But some expectation for them to do things a little bit above what they think they’re capable of is not always a bad thing because some of them might step up to the mark and surprise themselves. Above all (we were told in training) it is important to try and prepare lessons so that there is maximum student involvement and the activity interests them. Easier said than done!
In one school I was told to sing Christmas songs with the sixièmes (Year 7s) and I would take up to 18 of them at a time for an hour. Christmas songs…we think of them as easy songs that everyone knows the words to and are nice to sing…but looking through Christmas songs to sing with 11 year old French pupils is another thing all together! The majority are fast, or they are religious (excluded by the law in schools) or they are just plain complicated! ‘Silent Night’ is your ideal Christmas song for them because it is slow, but no can do! What’s more, we had to practice these songs for a ‘Christmas show’ in front of parents on a Saturday morning, practicing only two hours with each group! Pressure… And I started to panic because although I’ve been in many choirs over my time, I haven’t taught a song.
So I tried teaching ‘The twelve days of Christmas’ to two classes, and although I had complaints about it being difficult and had a bit of trouble explaining the progression of the song, we persevered and managed it when I split them up into 3 groups to do different lines. With a third class I did ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’ and I attempted ‘Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer’ with the final class…but ‘It’s too hard Miss!’ so I switched to ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’ and that went better but they weren’t very engaged with that. I also taught them all ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ because it’s easy and some of them knew it already, the teacher and I thought it could be good for them all to sing that at the end of the show.
Roll forward to ‘show day’…everything was becoming a bit clearer. In fact it was not really a ‘Christmas show’, but a school open morning for parents of primary school children. The kids had to volunteer to come into school on Saturday to sing and act in sketches (what the other teachers had worked on at the same time) in a classroom (to my relief not a stage!) and I wondered how many of my singers would turn up because I knew that we were not fully prepared with the songs so they perhaps didn’t have the confidence to sing them in front of people. I very much enjoyed the sketches that the other children were doing, but when I got there I realised (as I’d feared) that there were not many singers! So in a whole morning of 3 hours (excluding travel time!) I sung ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ twice with a group of kids. It was pretty disappointing. One girl came bouncing up to me and said ‘I’ve learnt the twelve days of Christmas off by heart!’ I said ‘Thank you! Fantastic! But I’m afraid we can’t sing it because there are only three of us here that know it!’ She said ‘Oh yeah…I don’t want to sing on my own’. Ho hum…at least I was there to support them. What I was most annoyed at is that the sketches were nothing to do with Christmas, so in fact I could’ve chosen a non-Christmas song which was easier and more enjoyable to do instead!!
I’m running out of time while writing this, as I’m going to the Christmas market this afternoon with a few friends and then later I’m going round to a lady’s house to eat and stay the night because tomorrow I’m going to Rochester to the Christmas market there with a group of teachers from one of my schools. The reason I’m staying the night is that the trains don’t start early enough in the morning to get to where the lady is setting off from! I’m really looking forward to going back to England for a day but it’ll be weird to not see anyone I know! I’ll be back soon as I’m aware I’ve not actually told you much!
Bon weekend!
Fiona x
P.S. Happy Birthday Jon!
I hope you're well and trying to stay flu-free! I’m back, just over a week after my previous post, and I promised long-overdue news about school, so here we go…
I’m settling in to school life now and I have to keep reminding myself of what level the kids are at in their learning and try not to be too ambitious with them. But some expectation for them to do things a little bit above what they think they’re capable of is not always a bad thing because some of them might step up to the mark and surprise themselves. Above all (we were told in training) it is important to try and prepare lessons so that there is maximum student involvement and the activity interests them. Easier said than done!
In one school I was told to sing Christmas songs with the sixièmes (Year 7s) and I would take up to 18 of them at a time for an hour. Christmas songs…we think of them as easy songs that everyone knows the words to and are nice to sing…but looking through Christmas songs to sing with 11 year old French pupils is another thing all together! The majority are fast, or they are religious (excluded by the law in schools) or they are just plain complicated! ‘Silent Night’ is your ideal Christmas song for them because it is slow, but no can do! What’s more, we had to practice these songs for a ‘Christmas show’ in front of parents on a Saturday morning, practicing only two hours with each group! Pressure… And I started to panic because although I’ve been in many choirs over my time, I haven’t taught a song.
So I tried teaching ‘The twelve days of Christmas’ to two classes, and although I had complaints about it being difficult and had a bit of trouble explaining the progression of the song, we persevered and managed it when I split them up into 3 groups to do different lines. With a third class I did ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’ and I attempted ‘Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer’ with the final class…but ‘It’s too hard Miss!’ so I switched to ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’ and that went better but they weren’t very engaged with that. I also taught them all ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ because it’s easy and some of them knew it already, the teacher and I thought it could be good for them all to sing that at the end of the show.
Roll forward to ‘show day’…everything was becoming a bit clearer. In fact it was not really a ‘Christmas show’, but a school open morning for parents of primary school children. The kids had to volunteer to come into school on Saturday to sing and act in sketches (what the other teachers had worked on at the same time) in a classroom (to my relief not a stage!) and I wondered how many of my singers would turn up because I knew that we were not fully prepared with the songs so they perhaps didn’t have the confidence to sing them in front of people. I very much enjoyed the sketches that the other children were doing, but when I got there I realised (as I’d feared) that there were not many singers! So in a whole morning of 3 hours (excluding travel time!) I sung ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’ twice with a group of kids. It was pretty disappointing. One girl came bouncing up to me and said ‘I’ve learnt the twelve days of Christmas off by heart!’ I said ‘Thank you! Fantastic! But I’m afraid we can’t sing it because there are only three of us here that know it!’ She said ‘Oh yeah…I don’t want to sing on my own’. Ho hum…at least I was there to support them. What I was most annoyed at is that the sketches were nothing to do with Christmas, so in fact I could’ve chosen a non-Christmas song which was easier and more enjoyable to do instead!!
I’m running out of time while writing this, as I’m going to the Christmas market this afternoon with a few friends and then later I’m going round to a lady’s house to eat and stay the night because tomorrow I’m going to Rochester to the Christmas market there with a group of teachers from one of my schools. The reason I’m staying the night is that the trains don’t start early enough in the morning to get to where the lady is setting off from! I’m really looking forward to going back to England for a day but it’ll be weird to not see anyone I know! I’ll be back soon as I’m aware I’ve not actually told you much!
Bon weekend!
Fiona x
P.S. Happy Birthday Jon!
Friday, 27 November 2009
The two month mark!
Two months have passed already; I have done over a quarter of my time here! In some respects I feel like I have been here for no time at all, and in others I feel like I have been here for ages! There are constant reminders that Christmas is coming. A week or so ago I was greeted with flashing green and red lights when I stepped off the train into the station on my way home from work and looked up to see a ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ sign. The lights are actually quite tasteful and I like them, but it never pleases me to see too much Christmas stuff before the end of November! However, I don’t think it’s as bad here as in England, because I was able to buy Christmas chocolates in the English supermarkets before I came in September but it was mid-November before I saw similar things popping up here. There is a Christmas market which is very popular in Lille, I haven’t yet had the chance to visit it but hope to soon.
It has to be said that there are not many bargains in French supermarkets compared to the ones back home. Naturally I look out for the few that there are, in case they’re of interest to me. I’d come to the point where I needed a new deodorant so checked out the shelves to see many labels saying 3€ or more for one. Then I spotted an offer on a cheaper deodorant and it looked alright to me… I worked out I could almost get 2 of those deodorants for the same price as one of the others (buy one get second half price) so I plumped for 2 hoping I wasn’t making a mistake. I got them home and started using one after my other ran out. Normally I only have one deodorant going at any given time (like you, I suppose?) but one day I thought ‘I fancy seeing what the other one smells like’ so sprayed it on and realised to my dismay that it’s a rather masculine smell and I have in fact bought a manly deodorant as well as one with a more feminine odour!! (I had another look at the can, and it’s blue, so that should’ve been all I needed to know, right?!) I left it on thinking that it wasn’t that bad, but smelt the manliness a fair number of times later on in the day. I don’t know whether it was just me being sensitive to it. Anyway, I don’t know whether I’ll be using it again…maybe it’ll come in handy if I get desperate with my Dad’s Christmas present?!
I have seen some interesting school bags in France. It’s mainly primary school aged children I’ve seen with them. They’re normal back packs except for the fact that they have a set of wheels and a handle you can pull out, like for wheelie suitcases! And there’s more…one boy was pulling his along after school and it had light up wheels! Very cool and very practical in my opinion! I think the secondary school kids think they’re ‘too cool’ for them, or maybe they don’t make the handles long enough!
I hadn’t thought that coming to a new country would mean the discovery of other cultures as well as the French one, perhaps naively. But it does mean mixing with other internationals sometimes and it’s very interesting. I enjoyed my first Thanksgiving meal last night with the GBU (Christian Union). We invited friends and ate different traditional dishes together round a big table in a church. Can’t say pumpkin pie shoots to the top of my list of favourite puddings but it was pleasant. I helped Frances, my Canadian-American friend make a dish with sweet potatoes, pecans and marshmallows on Wednesday evening, which was fun.
I’m going in to work at school tomorrow, which is a bit of a shock to the system…school on Saturday?! But there’s an open morning and lucky-old-I get to sing Christmas songs with the 11 year olds whilst prospective parents are looking round. I’m a bit nervous as we’ve not had much time to prepare, but one if the teachers assures me all will be fine! I know I’ve not said much about my teaching experiences at the moment…I apologise if you’ve been wanting to hear more about that. I’ll be back within a week hopefully to say more as this post is already quite full.
Love to you,
Fiona x
It has to be said that there are not many bargains in French supermarkets compared to the ones back home. Naturally I look out for the few that there are, in case they’re of interest to me. I’d come to the point where I needed a new deodorant so checked out the shelves to see many labels saying 3€ or more for one. Then I spotted an offer on a cheaper deodorant and it looked alright to me… I worked out I could almost get 2 of those deodorants for the same price as one of the others (buy one get second half price) so I plumped for 2 hoping I wasn’t making a mistake. I got them home and started using one after my other ran out. Normally I only have one deodorant going at any given time (like you, I suppose?) but one day I thought ‘I fancy seeing what the other one smells like’ so sprayed it on and realised to my dismay that it’s a rather masculine smell and I have in fact bought a manly deodorant as well as one with a more feminine odour!! (I had another look at the can, and it’s blue, so that should’ve been all I needed to know, right?!) I left it on thinking that it wasn’t that bad, but smelt the manliness a fair number of times later on in the day. I don’t know whether it was just me being sensitive to it. Anyway, I don’t know whether I’ll be using it again…maybe it’ll come in handy if I get desperate with my Dad’s Christmas present?!
I have seen some interesting school bags in France. It’s mainly primary school aged children I’ve seen with them. They’re normal back packs except for the fact that they have a set of wheels and a handle you can pull out, like for wheelie suitcases! And there’s more…one boy was pulling his along after school and it had light up wheels! Very cool and very practical in my opinion! I think the secondary school kids think they’re ‘too cool’ for them, or maybe they don’t make the handles long enough!
I hadn’t thought that coming to a new country would mean the discovery of other cultures as well as the French one, perhaps naively. But it does mean mixing with other internationals sometimes and it’s very interesting. I enjoyed my first Thanksgiving meal last night with the GBU (Christian Union). We invited friends and ate different traditional dishes together round a big table in a church. Can’t say pumpkin pie shoots to the top of my list of favourite puddings but it was pleasant. I helped Frances, my Canadian-American friend make a dish with sweet potatoes, pecans and marshmallows on Wednesday evening, which was fun.
I’m going in to work at school tomorrow, which is a bit of a shock to the system…school on Saturday?! But there’s an open morning and lucky-old-I get to sing Christmas songs with the 11 year olds whilst prospective parents are looking round. I’m a bit nervous as we’ve not had much time to prepare, but one if the teachers assures me all will be fine! I know I’ve not said much about my teaching experiences at the moment…I apologise if you’ve been wanting to hear more about that. I’ll be back within a week hopefully to say more as this post is already quite full.
Love to you,
Fiona x
Sunday, 22 November 2009
French Church
Three weeks ago now I tried out a fourth French-speaking church and went along with someone I know who goes there so that he could introduce me to people. He wasn’t that good at introducing me but it didn’t matter. I managed to get talking to some people and we were standing in the passageway which was the way out of the church, and lots of people said hello and greeted me with kisses even though they’d never seen me before. One lady came over, found out that I was a student and asked if I’d like to come round for lunch! I was a bit taken aback by the offer, after my previous experiences of not speaking to anyone in French churches, but thought ‘why not?’, thanked her and accepted the invitation. It turned out she was having all the students to lunch - 12 of us - by herself, and had prepared a lovely 3-course meal! It was a lot for a lady (in her 60s) to take on! But I for one certainly appreciated it and was inspired to see how much time and care one lady had put in for us.
After lunch some people left quite promptly and then Nicole (the lady) asked those who remained if we’d like to play a board game. Out came a choice and the others chose Trivial Pursuit (in French of course)! Normally I avoid this game in English, as it’s so hard, but I thought it might develop my language so didn’t protest! It wasn’t actually that bad playing, because they didn’t expect me to know the answers and there was a smaller group of us (7, split into 3 teams). I managed to win 2 triangles, called ‘slices of camembert’ in French, for my team, one was a maths question and the other a question about French grammar which my native French team mates would’ve got wrong! I was glad they trusted the English girl on a matter of French grammar and quite pleased with myself too!
This is the church I now go to and I enjoyed seeing two baptisms last week.
Fiona x
After lunch some people left quite promptly and then Nicole (the lady) asked those who remained if we’d like to play a board game. Out came a choice and the others chose Trivial Pursuit (in French of course)! Normally I avoid this game in English, as it’s so hard, but I thought it might develop my language so didn’t protest! It wasn’t actually that bad playing, because they didn’t expect me to know the answers and there was a smaller group of us (7, split into 3 teams). I managed to win 2 triangles, called ‘slices of camembert’ in French, for my team, one was a maths question and the other a question about French grammar which my native French team mates would’ve got wrong! I was glad they trusted the English girl on a matter of French grammar and quite pleased with myself too!
This is the church I now go to and I enjoyed seeing two baptisms last week.
Fiona x
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Transport troubles
So, since the holidays things have been quite eventful and not always in a good way. The French transport system and I have an interesting relationship, sometimes I appreciate it a lot, other times I want to curse it! There have been at least 5 mishaps I could tell you about, but I shall tell you the two most recent to save you from boredom.
Just over a week ago I was making my way to work as usual on the train. It was a Friday so I was off to Pérenchies. The announcement of the stops the train was going to make on its journey came over the tannoy, and either I misheard, or the train guard slipped up. It seemed that he announced the stops I would expect - bar one - the stop before mine. So I thought ‘we mustn’t be stopping there today for some reason, so I’d better make sure I don’t miss my stop’. So I got off at the stop before mine without checking the name of the station (I was looking for it but it wasn’t visible on my side). I realised I had got off too early when I was standing on the platform, and swiftly moved back towards the train to re-open the door, but it was too late, the train was departing. Oh dear. I was stranded in some small French village I didn’t know. And I was going to be late for work.
I looked at the train timetable and the next train stopping there was going to be four hours later!! Panic starts to set in. ‘How am I going to get to work?’ The station was closed, so I couldn’t ask anyone there. There was a man in the car park who I asked and he said he didn’t know, but maybe there was a bus, pointing me in the general direction of the bus stop. I also stupidly didn’t have the school’s phone number on me, so I phoned Mum to ask her go on the Internet to find it. She was a good calming influence.
I walked over to the bus stop and found which number bus would take me within walking distance of the school, then phoned the secretary and explained everything to her, she was very nice about it. I then looked at the timetable and ‘L’ was marked next to the time for the next bus. ’What does ‘L’ mean?’, I wondered. It means that the bus has a shortened route at these times, meaning it was only going a few stops on from the one I was at, and not within walking distance of the school! Back to square one. I walked into the small village high street to see if there was any sign of a taxi company or something which might help me. I realised that there was a bus which goes quite frequently to and from Lille city centre. So that was my only option, to go back to the city on the bus in order to take the metro to the end of the line and then either go by bus or by foot for the last part. Complicated and frustrating (where I had to go to take the metro is less than 10 minutes walk from my flat!), but it had to be done. I got into school in break time, with 5 minutes to spare before the next lesson. Phew!
The following Monday, just 3 days later, I had further transport issues. This time I was going to the other school, which is even further out of town. I got to the station and found to my dismay that there was a strike which I didn’t know about and my train was not running, the next one being over an hour later and the previous one having gone hours before. Cue - panick! I looked up the bus timetable for the bus which could take me from the end of the metro line to Armentières, but worked out that if I went that way I’d be late. So I decided in my haste to get some cash out and take a taxi…big mistake! I think I only made such a hasty decision because of my trouble on Friday. I asked the driver to take me to the station at Armentières because I knew it was closer than the school and I could walk from there. It took a long time in the taxi and I was thinking ‘This can’t be good’ (in terms of cost). We got to the station and I asked him how much, and he said 40€!! Ouch. I didn’t have the time, the guts or the language to dispute, so paid up and went on my way. To add insult to injury, I got to school and the lesson I’d made all that effort for didn’t happen because the teacher was off ill! I was out the house 7 hours to teach for one (Me and my colleague had to wait ages to get a train home)! These things happen I suppose, and I’ve learnt from it at least!
Fiona x
Just over a week ago I was making my way to work as usual on the train. It was a Friday so I was off to Pérenchies. The announcement of the stops the train was going to make on its journey came over the tannoy, and either I misheard, or the train guard slipped up. It seemed that he announced the stops I would expect - bar one - the stop before mine. So I thought ‘we mustn’t be stopping there today for some reason, so I’d better make sure I don’t miss my stop’. So I got off at the stop before mine without checking the name of the station (I was looking for it but it wasn’t visible on my side). I realised I had got off too early when I was standing on the platform, and swiftly moved back towards the train to re-open the door, but it was too late, the train was departing. Oh dear. I was stranded in some small French village I didn’t know. And I was going to be late for work.
I looked at the train timetable and the next train stopping there was going to be four hours later!! Panic starts to set in. ‘How am I going to get to work?’ The station was closed, so I couldn’t ask anyone there. There was a man in the car park who I asked and he said he didn’t know, but maybe there was a bus, pointing me in the general direction of the bus stop. I also stupidly didn’t have the school’s phone number on me, so I phoned Mum to ask her go on the Internet to find it. She was a good calming influence.
I walked over to the bus stop and found which number bus would take me within walking distance of the school, then phoned the secretary and explained everything to her, she was very nice about it. I then looked at the timetable and ‘L’ was marked next to the time for the next bus. ’What does ‘L’ mean?’, I wondered. It means that the bus has a shortened route at these times, meaning it was only going a few stops on from the one I was at, and not within walking distance of the school! Back to square one. I walked into the small village high street to see if there was any sign of a taxi company or something which might help me. I realised that there was a bus which goes quite frequently to and from Lille city centre. So that was my only option, to go back to the city on the bus in order to take the metro to the end of the line and then either go by bus or by foot for the last part. Complicated and frustrating (where I had to go to take the metro is less than 10 minutes walk from my flat!), but it had to be done. I got into school in break time, with 5 minutes to spare before the next lesson. Phew!
The following Monday, just 3 days later, I had further transport issues. This time I was going to the other school, which is even further out of town. I got to the station and found to my dismay that there was a strike which I didn’t know about and my train was not running, the next one being over an hour later and the previous one having gone hours before. Cue - panick! I looked up the bus timetable for the bus which could take me from the end of the metro line to Armentières, but worked out that if I went that way I’d be late. So I decided in my haste to get some cash out and take a taxi…big mistake! I think I only made such a hasty decision because of my trouble on Friday. I asked the driver to take me to the station at Armentières because I knew it was closer than the school and I could walk from there. It took a long time in the taxi and I was thinking ‘This can’t be good’ (in terms of cost). We got to the station and I asked him how much, and he said 40€!! Ouch. I didn’t have the time, the guts or the language to dispute, so paid up and went on my way. To add insult to injury, I got to school and the lesson I’d made all that effort for didn’t happen because the teacher was off ill! I was out the house 7 hours to teach for one (Me and my colleague had to wait ages to get a train home)! These things happen I suppose, and I’ve learnt from it at least!
Fiona x
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
A visit from my parents
Hi all,
Following my trip to Besançson, Mum and Dad came to visit me from Monday lunchtime to Wednesday evening. They came on the Eurostar train from London to Lille and they said it was a pleasant journey. On the Monday afternoon and early evening, we chatted a lot, ate and went out for a walk to what I thought was going to be a lovely big park, but which wasn’t at all, to our disappointment. Thankfully Mum and Dad were very understanding!
On the Tuesday, Mum and I went shopping for boots and Dad took himself off to an art gallery which he found was closed. We crossed paths and decided to go for a coffee together. As a treat we decided to go into a really posh, old patisserie. There was a staff member on the phone who waved us on past into a pretty, but deserted, tea room (except for a few used plates and cups on a couple of tables), where we proceeded to wait without any sign of even being given a menu for 15 minutes!! There were plenty of staff busying themselves attending to the shop and goodness knows what else. There were even some who looked like they weren’t doing anything at certain points. It was weird, as if we’d been forgotten, even though we were in plain view. A French couple walked in after we’d been waiting a while and sat down. After they’d waited for about two minutes they got up to leave! At this point we were separately coming to the same conclusion, so there were 5 of us who walked out at the same time, with Dad saying a rather loud “Pas de service, Monsieur?” on the way out! So we went somewhere else and were definitely ready for a drink and a bite to eat by the time we got there. Afterwards, Mum and I carried on with the boots search (and were successful, returning to the very first shop for Mum!) and Dad had a wander round elsewhere. In the evening we had a meal out which was lovely. Mum and Dad ate mussels and chips and I ate roast duck with chips and salad.
On Wednesday mid-morning we went to the local market. We all like going to the French markets but Dad loves them. We bought a roast chicken for lunch and the roast chicken man asked if we wanted a loyalty card for his stand...I thought this was quite funny - to have a loyalty card for one little stand - but it makes sense, as he’s not the only man who sells roast chickens! In the afternoon I had my French class and Mum and Dad occupied themselves. Afterwards I met up with them for a light meal and we popped to the supermarket, then back to the hotel for their suitcases before going to wait for the train in a freezing cold station!
I had such a great time with them. It was good to chat about so many things and for them to get a better picture of where I am and what I’m doing. Their visit made me miss England and my family and friends more, but that’s something that can’t be helped I think.
Thank you for the post and electronic messages you’ve been sending recently, I really appreciate them and feel very loved!
Back soon with post-holiday tales,
Fiona x
Following my trip to Besançson, Mum and Dad came to visit me from Monday lunchtime to Wednesday evening. They came on the Eurostar train from London to Lille and they said it was a pleasant journey. On the Monday afternoon and early evening, we chatted a lot, ate and went out for a walk to what I thought was going to be a lovely big park, but which wasn’t at all, to our disappointment. Thankfully Mum and Dad were very understanding!
On the Tuesday, Mum and I went shopping for boots and Dad took himself off to an art gallery which he found was closed. We crossed paths and decided to go for a coffee together. As a treat we decided to go into a really posh, old patisserie. There was a staff member on the phone who waved us on past into a pretty, but deserted, tea room (except for a few used plates and cups on a couple of tables), where we proceeded to wait without any sign of even being given a menu for 15 minutes!! There were plenty of staff busying themselves attending to the shop and goodness knows what else. There were even some who looked like they weren’t doing anything at certain points. It was weird, as if we’d been forgotten, even though we were in plain view. A French couple walked in after we’d been waiting a while and sat down. After they’d waited for about two minutes they got up to leave! At this point we were separately coming to the same conclusion, so there were 5 of us who walked out at the same time, with Dad saying a rather loud “Pas de service, Monsieur?” on the way out! So we went somewhere else and were definitely ready for a drink and a bite to eat by the time we got there. Afterwards, Mum and I carried on with the boots search (and were successful, returning to the very first shop for Mum!) and Dad had a wander round elsewhere. In the evening we had a meal out which was lovely. Mum and Dad ate mussels and chips and I ate roast duck with chips and salad.
On Wednesday mid-morning we went to the local market. We all like going to the French markets but Dad loves them. We bought a roast chicken for lunch and the roast chicken man asked if we wanted a loyalty card for his stand...I thought this was quite funny - to have a loyalty card for one little stand - but it makes sense, as he’s not the only man who sells roast chickens! In the afternoon I had my French class and Mum and Dad occupied themselves. Afterwards I met up with them for a light meal and we popped to the supermarket, then back to the hotel for their suitcases before going to wait for the train in a freezing cold station!
I had such a great time with them. It was good to chat about so many things and for them to get a better picture of where I am and what I’m doing. Their visit made me miss England and my family and friends more, but that’s something that can’t be helped I think.
Thank you for the post and electronic messages you’ve been sending recently, I really appreciate them and feel very loved!
Back soon with post-holiday tales,
Fiona x
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Besançon/Maîche
I had a fantastic time in Besançon with Emilie and her family. On the Monday I arrived and had a French dish called ‘tartiflette’ for the first time (made of potatoes, cheese and lardons). We went out to the cinema to see a film called ‘Le Petit Nicholas’ in the evening too. The next day, Emilie showed me around Besançon which is a very pretty town and we briefly saw her University campus. Afterwards we went by car to her parents’ house, which takes about an hour and they live in a small town called Maîche. Emilie spends Monday-Friday in Besançon, where she lives in a flat with her two brothers and sister, and then they all travel home for the weekend on a Friday afternoon/evening. This is normal for French students, living near their place of study during the week and travelling back home to be with their family at the weekend (they normally go to the University or college nearest their home though).
The family home
is a good size but still feels very homely. I was given a warm welcome by all the family and loved staying there. On the Tuesday evening we ate a meal called a ‘raclette’, Emilie had requested it especially because I had never tried it. There is a special raclette cooker and you melt portions of cheese underneath the heat but can also cook meat on top of the heat. You pour your melted cheese (which you can cook with onion and/or lardons at the same time) over potatoes and eat cold meats with it too. It was very good!
On Wednesday, I had the treat of going to Switzerland for the first time! The Gigons’ house is very close to the Swiss border, so Emilie drove for around an hour up and down windy hilly roads and we found ourselves in a Swiss town. We had a look around a shopping centre and a supermarket, then a church which was painted red. After this we went for lunch with a family friend of the Gigons and had a very authentic Swiss cheese fondue! I had such a good time there. After that we went for a walk part way round a lake and came away in time to have dinner back at the family home. So a short-but-sweet visit to Switzerland. That evening there was a music practise for church at the family home with amps and mics and everything – good job it’s detached! I enjoyed hearing the French praise and joined in a bit while surfing the Internet.
On the following day, Thursday, I tried honey from the comb for the first time for breakfast - nice! Emilie showed me around the family’s farm which I very much enjoyed and t
hen in the afternoon we went with a couple of her cousins and took a walk to a good viewpoint up in the hills. I learnt that Emilie has around 90 family members (she has LOADS of cousins!) and they all live within two hours of each other, and obviously some much closer. It’s amazing! We would be driving by somewhere and she’d say ‘that’s my Aunty’s house’ and then a few minutes later ‘another Aunty lives there’, etc!
On Thursday evening we travelled back to the flat in Besançon, ate dinner, and I helped Emilie translate her CV into English because she’s looking for work experience for two months in the UK for May and June. We played a few board games with her sister and cousin, who had also travelled with us, and went to bed. The next morning we had a final chat and I left, we were very sad to part.
Unfortunately I was ill with a sore throat/cold/headache most of the week which was frustrating, but we didn’t let it stop us enjoying ourselves. Thanks Emilie for a great week!
Fiona x
P.S. Sorry I’m a bit behind with my news. This was 26th – 30th Oct.
The family home
is a good size but still feels very homely. I was given a warm welcome by all the family and loved staying there. On the Tuesday evening we ate a meal called a ‘raclette’, Emilie had requested it especially because I had never tried it. There is a special raclette cooker and you melt portions of cheese underneath the heat but can also cook meat on top of the heat. You pour your melted cheese (which you can cook with onion and/or lardons at the same time) over potatoes and eat cold meats with it too. It was very good!On Wednesday, I had the treat of going to Switzerland for the first time! The Gigons’ house is very close to the Swiss border, so Emilie drove for around an hour up and down windy hilly roads and we found ourselves in a Swiss town. We had a look around a shopping centre and a supermarket, then a church which was painted red. After this we went for lunch with a family friend of the Gigons and had a very authentic Swiss cheese fondue! I had such a good time there. After that we went for a walk part way round a lake and came away in time to have dinner back at the family home. So a short-but-sweet visit to Switzerland. That evening there was a music practise for church at the family home with amps and mics and everything – good job it’s detached! I enjoyed hearing the French praise and joined in a bit while surfing the Internet.
On the following day, Thursday, I tried honey from the comb for the first time for breakfast - nice! Emilie showed me around the family’s farm which I very much enjoyed and t
hen in the afternoon we went with a couple of her cousins and took a walk to a good viewpoint up in the hills. I learnt that Emilie has around 90 family members (she has LOADS of cousins!) and they all live within two hours of each other, and obviously some much closer. It’s amazing! We would be driving by somewhere and she’d say ‘that’s my Aunty’s house’ and then a few minutes later ‘another Aunty lives there’, etc!On Thursday evening we travelled back to the flat in Besançon, ate dinner, and I helped Emilie translate her CV into English because she’s looking for work experience for two months in the UK for May and June. We played a few board games with her sister and cousin, who had also travelled with us, and went to bed. The next morning we had a final chat and I left, we were very sad to part.
Unfortunately I was ill with a sore throat/cold/headache most of the week which was frustrating, but we didn’t let it stop us enjoying ourselves. Thanks Emilie for a great week!
Fiona x
P.S. Sorry I’m a bit behind with my news. This was 26th – 30th Oct.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Christian Union (GBU) weekend away
I had my reservations about going to the weekend away as I knew the people there didn’t need to feel any loyalty towards me as I’m only around for one academic year and don’t live in the same place as them (it was a weekend for all the groups in the North of France), but everyone was very welcoming and I managed to speak to a lot of different people. I also built up more of a relationship with the two guys I went with from Lille. It’s hard to describe the atmosphere, but it was really loving and I felt at home there. It’s a real shame some of them don’t live closer.
There were some difficult points in the weekend. For example, hardly understanding a word of one of the speaker’s talks because he was talking quickly and the ideas were complicated even if you were a French native (I could tell from the many facial expressions around me and a handout he gave to us)! At this point I was very tired so could happily have dropped off to sleep, but thought this would be rude so I had to do some doodling in my notepad to stop me napping!
Thankfully the games they chose to play were very accessible and non-embarrassing, which was nice for me. There was one game with names of famous people in, however, which I decided not to join in with and I’m glad. It was one of those games with fast description for the first round, one word description second time round and then miming after that, and I would’ve been completely lost had I joined in. While they were playing, I ended up chatting to a Czech man who has lived in France for 10 years and he was showing me some of the cards which weren’t in use, trying to explain various famous people to me. Suffice to say, I have a long way to go in my knowledge of French actors/musicians/etc!
Back soon with news of Besancon. Got Mum and Dad with me for a few days which is great!
Fiona x
There were some difficult points in the weekend. For example, hardly understanding a word of one of the speaker’s talks because he was talking quickly and the ideas were complicated even if you were a French native (I could tell from the many facial expressions around me and a handout he gave to us)! At this point I was very tired so could happily have dropped off to sleep, but thought this would be rude so I had to do some doodling in my notepad to stop me napping!
Thankfully the games they chose to play were very accessible and non-embarrassing, which was nice for me. There was one game with names of famous people in, however, which I decided not to join in with and I’m glad. It was one of those games with fast description for the first round, one word description second time round and then miming after that, and I would’ve been completely lost had I joined in. While they were playing, I ended up chatting to a Czech man who has lived in France for 10 years and he was showing me some of the cards which weren’t in use, trying to explain various famous people to me. Suffice to say, I have a long way to go in my knowledge of French actors/musicians/etc!
Back soon with news of Besancon. Got Mum and Dad with me for a few days which is great!
Fiona x
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Going here and there
The smells of Lille
Sometimes I’m walking in the street and I smell a familiar perfume, that of a friend or my Mum (yes, you Mum :) ) which is nice because it reminds me of certain people, but not so nice because it’s a stranger wearing the perfume and not the person I associate with the smell.
Sometimes I walk in the streets and I smell a really horrible sewer-y smell, but not like the sewer-y smells of England!!
Other times I’m greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries – yum! And highly tempting.
When I walk in to my flat I can often smell food, as if I have just cooked some dinner or other (the smell varies) even though I haven’t. This smell is all the stronger in my bathroom. This is very odd, and I have concluded that culinary scents from below must somehow drift into my flat, my guess being through a vent in the bathroom. I stand to be corrected on this if you know better?!
French lessons
I have enrolled in some French lessons until Christmas at one of the University campuses here and I hope they are going to be really useful. I had my first one last Wednesday and it went well.
Assistants' training
We had some training last Thursday, specifically geared at those of us working in secondary schools and it was surprisingly fun, as we took on the role of pupils, being taught songs and doing ‘exercises with froggie’! We also had to prepare activities in groups to present to the others and take part in the ones that others presented, thinking about the good and bad things and which methods are really useful for the children.
GBU weekend away
It took a bit of persuasion from my sister, but I plucked up the courage to go on a weekend away with the GBU (Christian Union) this weekend. It was a weekend for all the Christian Unions in the North of France, and I was one of three people who went from Lille’s GBU. We (me and two guys – Nathan and Thomas) travelled by car to Compiegne, an hour and a half away. There were about 25 of us at most points in the weekend (some who lived locally popped in and out). I had a great time there. I’ll say more in my next blog as I don’t have much time right now!
Besancon
I’ve not been here that long but it’s the school holidays already :) And I’m lucky because the October half term here is one and a half weeks! I’m off to see my great friend Emilie and her family in Besancon (East France) for 4-5 days and I can’t wait!
Fiona x
Sometimes I’m walking in the street and I smell a familiar perfume, that of a friend or my Mum (yes, you Mum :) ) which is nice because it reminds me of certain people, but not so nice because it’s a stranger wearing the perfume and not the person I associate with the smell.
Sometimes I walk in the streets and I smell a really horrible sewer-y smell, but not like the sewer-y smells of England!!
Other times I’m greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries – yum! And highly tempting.
When I walk in to my flat I can often smell food, as if I have just cooked some dinner or other (the smell varies) even though I haven’t. This smell is all the stronger in my bathroom. This is very odd, and I have concluded that culinary scents from below must somehow drift into my flat, my guess being through a vent in the bathroom. I stand to be corrected on this if you know better?!
French lessons
I have enrolled in some French lessons until Christmas at one of the University campuses here and I hope they are going to be really useful. I had my first one last Wednesday and it went well.
Assistants' training
We had some training last Thursday, specifically geared at those of us working in secondary schools and it was surprisingly fun, as we took on the role of pupils, being taught songs and doing ‘exercises with froggie’! We also had to prepare activities in groups to present to the others and take part in the ones that others presented, thinking about the good and bad things and which methods are really useful for the children.
GBU weekend away
It took a bit of persuasion from my sister, but I plucked up the courage to go on a weekend away with the GBU (Christian Union) this weekend. It was a weekend for all the Christian Unions in the North of France, and I was one of three people who went from Lille’s GBU. We (me and two guys – Nathan and Thomas) travelled by car to Compiegne, an hour and a half away. There were about 25 of us at most points in the weekend (some who lived locally popped in and out). I had a great time there. I’ll say more in my next blog as I don’t have much time right now!
Besancon
I’ve not been here that long but it’s the school holidays already :) And I’m lucky because the October half term here is one and a half weeks! I’m off to see my great friend Emilie and her family in Besancon (East France) for 4-5 days and I can’t wait!
Fiona x
Thursday, 22 October 2009
The story continues...
Catching up
This week I had a great time catching up with both my uni friends, Alison (who is living in Lille, studying at the University here) and Kiki, who I met up with in Paris at the weekend (she is an Assistante like me in Nantes).
A little more about school
I’m contracted to do 12 hours of face-to-face teaching, which I have discovered is actually two thirds of what a normal teacher does. The teachers seem to want to share me round a lot so I’ve been given a 3 week timetable and it could get quite confusing, especially with names!! Plus I’m going to be doing an after school club at one of the schools which is an extra hour. I thought this was going to be the most enjoyable hour of them all, but I have to balance students of all levels (and they’re mainly the youngest ones who don’t know much English) and the club is at 4.30-5.30 on a Friday, after the children have already had 7 hours of lessons, since 8am in the morning! I was in a lesson from 3.35-4.30 last Friday and it was very hard for them to concentrate at that point - never mind an hour afterwards! We shall see…
I’ve started to teach but haven’t done as much as I thought I would have to just yet, which is nice, easing into it. It’s been going well so far. I’ll talk more about this in future posts.
Humour – a hard thing when you’re new or foreign
I have realised that in England I have a number of friends with whom I can have a good laugh and I know that they accept me for who I am. Here, I have to start afresh with meeting people (not forgetting my other friends!), both English and French speakers. It’s hard, especially with the French, as my capacity to say what I want is somewhat reduced, so I can't have a laugh with them that easily and I also miss out on many of their jokes because I haven't understood! I’m sure it will get better.
Carrot cake
I’ve met a lovely Canadian-American girl called Frances who had a meal for her birthday at her flat last night. I went along and it was a great evening. There were about 10 of us in total and Frances had made a carrot cake for pudding, but not the icing. Knowing I also knew about carrot cake, being a fellow “Anglo-Saxon”, she enlisted my help in making the icing. The only problem being that in France, you can’t get the kind of ‘soft cheese’ (like Philadelphia) which goes into the icing and things like cheesecakes. Now Frances, had bought something similar to ‘The Laughing Cow’ cheese, in triangles, (having successfully managed to make a cheesecake with it last Saturday), for us to make this icing with. We tried… and it failed! The icing was fine on first taste, but there was an undeniable cheesy aftertaste which was no good. So we ate the carrot cake by itself or with condensed milk (actually very nice!) or whippy cream!
French pedestrian crossings
There is no need to press a button in Lille for pedestrian crossings; they simply give you a red man or green man. ‘Okay’, you say, ‘what’s so interesting about that?!’ Well, there are some crossings where it says a pedestrian is green to go, but in actual fact it is quite okay for a driver to drive across the crossing too! This is very confusing and means you have to pay lots of attention. I suppose the pedestrian has right of way when it’s green and cars should be looking out for you, but it's a bit unnerving stepping out with cars coming towards you and it can be dangerous where French drivers are concerned!
Fiona x
P.S. I have now got Internet in my flat which is great.
This week I had a great time catching up with both my uni friends, Alison (who is living in Lille, studying at the University here) and Kiki, who I met up with in Paris at the weekend (she is an Assistante like me in Nantes).
A little more about school
I’m contracted to do 12 hours of face-to-face teaching, which I have discovered is actually two thirds of what a normal teacher does. The teachers seem to want to share me round a lot so I’ve been given a 3 week timetable and it could get quite confusing, especially with names!! Plus I’m going to be doing an after school club at one of the schools which is an extra hour. I thought this was going to be the most enjoyable hour of them all, but I have to balance students of all levels (and they’re mainly the youngest ones who don’t know much English) and the club is at 4.30-5.30 on a Friday, after the children have already had 7 hours of lessons, since 8am in the morning! I was in a lesson from 3.35-4.30 last Friday and it was very hard for them to concentrate at that point - never mind an hour afterwards! We shall see…
I’ve started to teach but haven’t done as much as I thought I would have to just yet, which is nice, easing into it. It’s been going well so far. I’ll talk more about this in future posts.
Humour – a hard thing when you’re new or foreign
I have realised that in England I have a number of friends with whom I can have a good laugh and I know that they accept me for who I am. Here, I have to start afresh with meeting people (not forgetting my other friends!), both English and French speakers. It’s hard, especially with the French, as my capacity to say what I want is somewhat reduced, so I can't have a laugh with them that easily and I also miss out on many of their jokes because I haven't understood! I’m sure it will get better.
Carrot cake
I’ve met a lovely Canadian-American girl called Frances who had a meal for her birthday at her flat last night. I went along and it was a great evening. There were about 10 of us in total and Frances had made a carrot cake for pudding, but not the icing. Knowing I also knew about carrot cake, being a fellow “Anglo-Saxon”, she enlisted my help in making the icing. The only problem being that in France, you can’t get the kind of ‘soft cheese’ (like Philadelphia) which goes into the icing and things like cheesecakes. Now Frances, had bought something similar to ‘The Laughing Cow’ cheese, in triangles, (having successfully managed to make a cheesecake with it last Saturday), for us to make this icing with. We tried… and it failed! The icing was fine on first taste, but there was an undeniable cheesy aftertaste which was no good. So we ate the carrot cake by itself or with condensed milk (actually very nice!) or whippy cream!
French pedestrian crossings
There is no need to press a button in Lille for pedestrian crossings; they simply give you a red man or green man. ‘Okay’, you say, ‘what’s so interesting about that?!’ Well, there are some crossings where it says a pedestrian is green to go, but in actual fact it is quite okay for a driver to drive across the crossing too! This is very confusing and means you have to pay lots of attention. I suppose the pedestrian has right of way when it’s green and cars should be looking out for you, but it's a bit unnerving stepping out with cars coming towards you and it can be dangerous where French drivers are concerned!
Fiona x
P.S. I have now got Internet in my flat which is great.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
The second week
Hi everyone!
On Wednesday, I had a day-long meeting with the other language Assistants (those doing the same thing as me) in the region Nord-Pas-de-Calais. There are hundreds of us and we spread out over primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in a fairly large area. It was nice to meet up with people in the same position as me, and it made me very grateful that I’m not American, because it costs them so much to get here and get back that they’re stuck here for the whole 7 or 9 month contract! People have found a whole range of accommodation, ranging from free to costly, countryside to city, with families, flatmates or alone. One girl I met is currently without a fridge and having to keep things cold on a window ledge! Thankfully she’s found somewhere else to move to in a couple of weeks. On hearing this, another girl said if it were like that for her she would’ve turned round and gone home!
As promised, I’ll talk about churches. There is an English-speaking church round the corner from my flat which meets both Sunday morning and evening. I’ve been along to the evening service both Sundays I’ve been here. There’s a meal afterwards which most people stay to, and it’s really good (not just the meal, the service too!). I am determined that I should join in with a French-speaking church too, and I have been to two different ones in the mornings, both of which seemed good, but I didn’t manage to introduce myself to anyone as everyone seems very busy talking to each other at the end or is eager to leave. There’s not tea and coffee like in most English churches. Maybe I’m at fault for not hanging around long enough. Maybe the key is to get there nice and early to try and spy someone out to sit next to and chat with…I don’t know, but I’m not giving up.
Here’s a strange thing – I am constantly in exchanges where I need to use my French, and this means that I often come away from situations having taken a knock to my confidence, as my spoken language and comprehension is only good enough to stumble through. On the other hand, constantly dealing with new things (some of which I have never had to deal with in England before on my own) or perhaps doing something better a second time round means my confidence grows! Again, I am of two minds when it comes to wanting to speak. Sometimes I want to speak all the French possible this year and create extra opportunities to speak French. At other times I just want to hide away and do the minimum speaking possible!
I start teaching on Friday in one school which is a daunting prospect, from the point of view that after only 2 weeks observing and little information from the teachers, it’s hard to really gauge the level of the kids. It’s nice because in this school, they’re giving me the freedom to teach what I want, but with that comes more responsibility. Each first lesson I have with a group will be crucial in setting the standard. I am going to have to be confident with them and more strict than I’m used to being. I’ve been in various positions of leadership before but it’s nearly always been in a pair or team, and/or in a less formal setting.
One hard thing in school here is that the state school system by law is laïque which means that it is secular, and anything religious or political is not allowed in the classroom. You may have heard about the uproar over the banning of Muslim headscarves a number of years ago. By law I am not permitted to say anything about my political or religious views. When I have been involved in so much Christian activity and the music I listen to is mostly non-secular, etc, I have found that I have had to edit my answers to certain questions that the children have asked and not be fully myself.
I’m finding things quite hard at the moment. I don’t know how to explain it all, but encouragement is coming from friends and family and God, so that’s good. There’s so much to do still before I’m sorted with all the French admin…every time I think something is sorted there’s always another part to it! Constantly making first impressions on people is tiring. I’m also feeling quite lonely. Thankfully I’m meeting up (separately) with Alison and Kiki this week, two friends from university.
If anyone fancies it I’d love to have someone/people to stay between mid-November and mid-December.
Fiona xx
On Wednesday, I had a day-long meeting with the other language Assistants (those doing the same thing as me) in the region Nord-Pas-de-Calais. There are hundreds of us and we spread out over primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in a fairly large area. It was nice to meet up with people in the same position as me, and it made me very grateful that I’m not American, because it costs them so much to get here and get back that they’re stuck here for the whole 7 or 9 month contract! People have found a whole range of accommodation, ranging from free to costly, countryside to city, with families, flatmates or alone. One girl I met is currently without a fridge and having to keep things cold on a window ledge! Thankfully she’s found somewhere else to move to in a couple of weeks. On hearing this, another girl said if it were like that for her she would’ve turned round and gone home!
As promised, I’ll talk about churches. There is an English-speaking church round the corner from my flat which meets both Sunday morning and evening. I’ve been along to the evening service both Sundays I’ve been here. There’s a meal afterwards which most people stay to, and it’s really good (not just the meal, the service too!). I am determined that I should join in with a French-speaking church too, and I have been to two different ones in the mornings, both of which seemed good, but I didn’t manage to introduce myself to anyone as everyone seems very busy talking to each other at the end or is eager to leave. There’s not tea and coffee like in most English churches. Maybe I’m at fault for not hanging around long enough. Maybe the key is to get there nice and early to try and spy someone out to sit next to and chat with…I don’t know, but I’m not giving up.
Here’s a strange thing – I am constantly in exchanges where I need to use my French, and this means that I often come away from situations having taken a knock to my confidence, as my spoken language and comprehension is only good enough to stumble through. On the other hand, constantly dealing with new things (some of which I have never had to deal with in England before on my own) or perhaps doing something better a second time round means my confidence grows! Again, I am of two minds when it comes to wanting to speak. Sometimes I want to speak all the French possible this year and create extra opportunities to speak French. At other times I just want to hide away and do the minimum speaking possible!
I start teaching on Friday in one school which is a daunting prospect, from the point of view that after only 2 weeks observing and little information from the teachers, it’s hard to really gauge the level of the kids. It’s nice because in this school, they’re giving me the freedom to teach what I want, but with that comes more responsibility. Each first lesson I have with a group will be crucial in setting the standard. I am going to have to be confident with them and more strict than I’m used to being. I’ve been in various positions of leadership before but it’s nearly always been in a pair or team, and/or in a less formal setting.
One hard thing in school here is that the state school system by law is laïque which means that it is secular, and anything religious or political is not allowed in the classroom. You may have heard about the uproar over the banning of Muslim headscarves a number of years ago. By law I am not permitted to say anything about my political or religious views. When I have been involved in so much Christian activity and the music I listen to is mostly non-secular, etc, I have found that I have had to edit my answers to certain questions that the children have asked and not be fully myself.
I’m finding things quite hard at the moment. I don’t know how to explain it all, but encouragement is coming from friends and family and God, so that’s good. There’s so much to do still before I’m sorted with all the French admin…every time I think something is sorted there’s always another part to it! Constantly making first impressions on people is tiring. I’m also feeling quite lonely. Thankfully I’m meeting up (separately) with Alison and Kiki this week, two friends from university.
If anyone fancies it I’d love to have someone/people to stay between mid-November and mid-December.
Fiona xx
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
First week
So…just over one week has passed and a LOT has happened! But I’ll be selective in what I tell you, so you (hopefully!) don’t get bored.
Arrival
Mum, Dad and I set off early on Sunday morning, went through the Eurotunnel and arrived in Lille in good time. The journey seemed to take an age - even though I slept through part of it - I think it was the anticipation of what was to come. When we arrived at the flat, we received a warm welcome from the couple who own it. It is well-equipped and the couple had tried to think of everything I would need. They got together information about Lille and trains to my schools, as well as baking us a cake and providing some flowers from their garden! I am really pleased with the flat; I don’t think I could’ve done much better.
Japanese
On Monday night I went out for a Japanese meal with Marie, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother. It was really strange to hear French spoken with a Japanese accent and gave me confidence when ordering, because they aren’t as likely (as French people) to know I’m not French!
‘Tagged’!
There’s a massive Carrefour supermarket here and I decided to go in to get a few bits and bobs wearing my backpack (nothing strange about that). So I strolled in to the entrance and got called back by two security guards and I realised that it was something to do with my bag. The only times I’ve known security people to be interested in bags is when they want to check what’s inside, so I started opening it for them to check the contents (I wasn’t sure why they’d want to when I was just going into a supermarket, but hey, I’d go with what they wanted!) and they chuckled at me saying ‘It’s not security!’ (I thought ‘what on earth is it, if it’s not security?!’), so I closed my bag back up and the man proceeded to put a black plastic tag through the zips so I couldn’t open it. Very strange and very annoying! It must be some kind of mechanism to help prevent shop lifting. I groaned when I thought of my reusable carrier bags trapped inside but I presumed they’d be able to do something at the checkout. A little while later, I reached the checkout, gestured at the black tag and said to the cashier ‘I’ve got bags inside’. To which she responded ‘Can you go and ask my colleague over there, I haven’t got anything to undo it with.’ So, panicking inside, but with no option, I approached the cashier she’d gestured towards and interrupted her transaction mumbling ‘excusez-moi madame, mais…’ and holding my bag up to her. Thankfully it didn’t take long and it seemed as though she’d already had to do it 100 times that day!
GBU
I went to Lille University’s GBU on Tuesday night (the equivalent to the Christian Union) and it was really nice and friendly. There were 13 of us packed in to the living room of a flat. I had been told how small Christian groups were in France, but it really struck me that this group was for the whole university, whereas in Southampton on the same night, a group of that size was meeting just from a small hall of residence. I don’t think the GBU is as well known as the CU, but even so…
Schools
I have started at my two schools and for the most part I like what I see. The teachers are friendly, with many of them making an effort to say ‘welcome’ or ‘hello’ or ‘nice to meet you’ in English. It was really nice to find out that most of the pupils enjoy having classes with the English language assistant and a lot of them have been happy to meet me. So that’s a good position to start from. I’m in a period of observation for two weeks, so that I can see how the classes here work and start to gage the level of the kids’ language, etc. It’s really quite different to being in an English classroom.
So far I’ve done some observing from the back of the classroom, but mostly I’ve been standing in front of classes next to the teacher in order that the pupils interrogate me! It’s often been questions and answers in English but some classes (particularly younger ones) have been allowed to speak in French. It’s a bit daunting and the teachers are learning about who I am at the same time as the pupils. You can’t help thinking ‘what are they thinking about me?’…sometimes their reactions are clear (like in one class, when asked ‘Do you like marmite?’ I said ‘yes’, they were all disgusted!) and sometimes they’re not. I was even clapped once for saying that I’d watched a certain French film (a film about the North of France)!
At one point I was sitting in on a double lesson which was not a language lesson, and I was due to leave after the first hour. When the first hour was up the teacher (the librarian!) said the kids could have a 5 minute break and lo and behold, all the girls came crowding round my table, with one girl in particular very eager to ask me questions in English! I just about got to my next lesson on time.
There is a lovely Christian teacher in the English dept at one of my schools, Laurence, who lives about 5 minutes away from me which is great and she has said if I need any help I can go to her :)
Signing off
I went to a French-speaking church and an English-speaking church on Sunday, but this post is long already so I’ll leave talking about churches to another time.
So all in all I’ve had a very good start to my time here. Much better than I thought it would be in fact. And I know that it’s in no small way related to God answering the prayers of many of you, so thank you. I’ve had to face up to a lot of things that are very new or that require me to step outside my comfort zone this week. I praise God for sustaining me and giving me courage to do things I wouldn’t normally do.
A bientot,
Fiona xx
Arrival
Mum, Dad and I set off early on Sunday morning, went through the Eurotunnel and arrived in Lille in good time. The journey seemed to take an age - even though I slept through part of it - I think it was the anticipation of what was to come. When we arrived at the flat, we received a warm welcome from the couple who own it. It is well-equipped and the couple had tried to think of everything I would need. They got together information about Lille and trains to my schools, as well as baking us a cake and providing some flowers from their garden! I am really pleased with the flat; I don’t think I could’ve done much better.
Japanese
On Monday night I went out for a Japanese meal with Marie, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother. It was really strange to hear French spoken with a Japanese accent and gave me confidence when ordering, because they aren’t as likely (as French people) to know I’m not French!
‘Tagged’!
There’s a massive Carrefour supermarket here and I decided to go in to get a few bits and bobs wearing my backpack (nothing strange about that). So I strolled in to the entrance and got called back by two security guards and I realised that it was something to do with my bag. The only times I’ve known security people to be interested in bags is when they want to check what’s inside, so I started opening it for them to check the contents (I wasn’t sure why they’d want to when I was just going into a supermarket, but hey, I’d go with what they wanted!) and they chuckled at me saying ‘It’s not security!’ (I thought ‘what on earth is it, if it’s not security?!’), so I closed my bag back up and the man proceeded to put a black plastic tag through the zips so I couldn’t open it. Very strange and very annoying! It must be some kind of mechanism to help prevent shop lifting. I groaned when I thought of my reusable carrier bags trapped inside but I presumed they’d be able to do something at the checkout. A little while later, I reached the checkout, gestured at the black tag and said to the cashier ‘I’ve got bags inside’. To which she responded ‘Can you go and ask my colleague over there, I haven’t got anything to undo it with.’ So, panicking inside, but with no option, I approached the cashier she’d gestured towards and interrupted her transaction mumbling ‘excusez-moi madame, mais…’ and holding my bag up to her. Thankfully it didn’t take long and it seemed as though she’d already had to do it 100 times that day!
GBU
I went to Lille University’s GBU on Tuesday night (the equivalent to the Christian Union) and it was really nice and friendly. There were 13 of us packed in to the living room of a flat. I had been told how small Christian groups were in France, but it really struck me that this group was for the whole university, whereas in Southampton on the same night, a group of that size was meeting just from a small hall of residence. I don’t think the GBU is as well known as the CU, but even so…
Schools
I have started at my two schools and for the most part I like what I see. The teachers are friendly, with many of them making an effort to say ‘welcome’ or ‘hello’ or ‘nice to meet you’ in English. It was really nice to find out that most of the pupils enjoy having classes with the English language assistant and a lot of them have been happy to meet me. So that’s a good position to start from. I’m in a period of observation for two weeks, so that I can see how the classes here work and start to gage the level of the kids’ language, etc. It’s really quite different to being in an English classroom.
So far I’ve done some observing from the back of the classroom, but mostly I’ve been standing in front of classes next to the teacher in order that the pupils interrogate me! It’s often been questions and answers in English but some classes (particularly younger ones) have been allowed to speak in French. It’s a bit daunting and the teachers are learning about who I am at the same time as the pupils. You can’t help thinking ‘what are they thinking about me?’…sometimes their reactions are clear (like in one class, when asked ‘Do you like marmite?’ I said ‘yes’, they were all disgusted!) and sometimes they’re not. I was even clapped once for saying that I’d watched a certain French film (a film about the North of France)!
At one point I was sitting in on a double lesson which was not a language lesson, and I was due to leave after the first hour. When the first hour was up the teacher (the librarian!) said the kids could have a 5 minute break and lo and behold, all the girls came crowding round my table, with one girl in particular very eager to ask me questions in English! I just about got to my next lesson on time.
There is a lovely Christian teacher in the English dept at one of my schools, Laurence, who lives about 5 minutes away from me which is great and she has said if I need any help I can go to her :)
Signing off
I went to a French-speaking church and an English-speaking church on Sunday, but this post is long already so I’ll leave talking about churches to another time.
So all in all I’ve had a very good start to my time here. Much better than I thought it would be in fact. And I know that it’s in no small way related to God answering the prayers of many of you, so thank you. I’ve had to face up to a lot of things that are very new or that require me to step outside my comfort zone this week. I praise God for sustaining me and giving me courage to do things I wouldn’t normally do.
A bientot,
Fiona xx
Friday, 25 September 2009
Pre-departure
So welcome one and all to my very first blog!
I hope this proves a successful way to keep you up-to-date with my news while I'm away on my year abroad.
It's Friday night before I depart on Sunday morning with Mum and Dad. Katie has gone off in the car with Mum to Southampton tonight to start her second year at uni. The car is weighed down so much that Mum decided to take the real minimum for a night's stay - nightwear, a toothbrush and 3 tea bags - saying she'll borrow Katie's toiletries!
Hearing "see you at Christmas" from my sister's lips came as a bit of a shock...I hadn't realised it was going to be that long til I see her again and it was just a little overwhelming to think of everything that's going to happen between now and then. So I cried and Katie managed to hold off the tears and amazingly was able to say a few things that made me laugh in the middle of me clinging on to her. It's all the more strange because I'm so familiar with where she's heading and all the people that she'll be seeing and I'll be missing. She's off to welcome a new bunch of nervous freshers and I know she'll do a fine job of that.
So more about France...I suppose I've been anticipating the start of my year abroad for a long time, in fact, since the end of 2005 in the upper 6th when I was looking to apply for French at university and found out that the year abroad was compulsory on any course worth doing. With each year the anticipation increased, and for a long while it was a safe distance away. I was not looking forward to it at all. First year passed quickly and then second year followed. During the second year when applying for a post as a language assistant it all became a lot more real, and then it got to June, my place had been confirmed in Lille and it was only the holidays to go. I had to say sad goodbyes to many friends who I knew I wouldn't see for a long time. I was still not looking forward to it and the 3 month holidays still felt like a safe distance - packed with activity and time for preparation. But now the time is well and truly here. And I'm glad to say the dread has dampened a lot. Over this summer I feel God has really been helping to prepare me for what's ahead. I am very apprehensive still, but I'm now looking forward to what's ahead and have a peace about it which I didn't have before. I know that 'the Lord my God is with you wherever you go' (Josh 1:9). And what a great and reassuring truth that is.
I had to hunt for accommodation and God provided wonderfully. I was told the student housing market is currently very tough in Lille. I contacted people from churches in Lille, and the girl who was running the Christian Union at Lille University, and got back 2 temporary and 3 permanent offers of accommodation! I accepted the offer of a lovely flat in the centre of Lille, in which I'll be living on my own. The landlords are a Christian couple who live outside of the city. The flat has just been re-decorated and is near to the train station and metro stops. Through contacting churches about accommodation, I have made many friendly contacts who are looking forward to meeting me!
I was also out at Le Pas Opton (a campsite in the Vendée) for a fortnight very recently and met a lovely French girl, Marie, who will be visiting Lille every 2/3 weeks because her boyfriend lives there and she is very eager that we meet up and discover Lille together.
I start work on 1st October. I'm placed in two secondary schools, in Armentieres and Perenchies (on the outskirts of the city to the NW) and will be doing 6 hours a week in each. I'm not really sure what's expected of me at the moment which is a source of apprehension, but the teachers I have had contact with seem really lovely, which is great.
Right well I must go now, I've still got lots of things to do! I am convinced I will arrive and discover I have left something important at home...there's such a lot to remember, especially where French administration is concerned!!
Please pray that all goes smoothly with the last-minute preparations, meeting the landlords and journey over there.
Love to you,
Fiona
P.S. If you would prefer to receive emails with this stuff right under your nose instead of via a link, let me know and I'll send a message out when I update this.
I hope this proves a successful way to keep you up-to-date with my news while I'm away on my year abroad.
It's Friday night before I depart on Sunday morning with Mum and Dad. Katie has gone off in the car with Mum to Southampton tonight to start her second year at uni. The car is weighed down so much that Mum decided to take the real minimum for a night's stay - nightwear, a toothbrush and 3 tea bags - saying she'll borrow Katie's toiletries!
Hearing "see you at Christmas" from my sister's lips came as a bit of a shock...I hadn't realised it was going to be that long til I see her again and it was just a little overwhelming to think of everything that's going to happen between now and then. So I cried and Katie managed to hold off the tears and amazingly was able to say a few things that made me laugh in the middle of me clinging on to her. It's all the more strange because I'm so familiar with where she's heading and all the people that she'll be seeing and I'll be missing. She's off to welcome a new bunch of nervous freshers and I know she'll do a fine job of that.
So more about France...I suppose I've been anticipating the start of my year abroad for a long time, in fact, since the end of 2005 in the upper 6th when I was looking to apply for French at university and found out that the year abroad was compulsory on any course worth doing. With each year the anticipation increased, and for a long while it was a safe distance away. I was not looking forward to it at all. First year passed quickly and then second year followed. During the second year when applying for a post as a language assistant it all became a lot more real, and then it got to June, my place had been confirmed in Lille and it was only the holidays to go. I had to say sad goodbyes to many friends who I knew I wouldn't see for a long time. I was still not looking forward to it and the 3 month holidays still felt like a safe distance - packed with activity and time for preparation. But now the time is well and truly here. And I'm glad to say the dread has dampened a lot. Over this summer I feel God has really been helping to prepare me for what's ahead. I am very apprehensive still, but I'm now looking forward to what's ahead and have a peace about it which I didn't have before. I know that 'the Lord my God is with you wherever you go' (Josh 1:9). And what a great and reassuring truth that is.
I had to hunt for accommodation and God provided wonderfully. I was told the student housing market is currently very tough in Lille. I contacted people from churches in Lille, and the girl who was running the Christian Union at Lille University, and got back 2 temporary and 3 permanent offers of accommodation! I accepted the offer of a lovely flat in the centre of Lille, in which I'll be living on my own. The landlords are a Christian couple who live outside of the city. The flat has just been re-decorated and is near to the train station and metro stops. Through contacting churches about accommodation, I have made many friendly contacts who are looking forward to meeting me!
I was also out at Le Pas Opton (a campsite in the Vendée) for a fortnight very recently and met a lovely French girl, Marie, who will be visiting Lille every 2/3 weeks because her boyfriend lives there and she is very eager that we meet up and discover Lille together.
I start work on 1st October. I'm placed in two secondary schools, in Armentieres and Perenchies (on the outskirts of the city to the NW) and will be doing 6 hours a week in each. I'm not really sure what's expected of me at the moment which is a source of apprehension, but the teachers I have had contact with seem really lovely, which is great.
Right well I must go now, I've still got lots of things to do! I am convinced I will arrive and discover I have left something important at home...there's such a lot to remember, especially where French administration is concerned!!
Please pray that all goes smoothly with the last-minute preparations, meeting the landlords and journey over there.
Love to you,
Fiona
P.S. If you would prefer to receive emails with this stuff right under your nose instead of via a link, let me know and I'll send a message out when I update this.
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