Hi!
I've finished my time out at LPO now, I did a total of 7 weeks out there and loved it again! I've been enjoying a week's relaxation since getting back, catching up on sleep and other bits and bobs.
The highlights of the summer have to be: spending time with old friends and new (especially Jen), having a go on a crepe machine, seeing familiar guests come back, and the pantomime.
The pantomime was written by Jen, with the scene set as the campsite, and was all written in rhyme. We had a baddie, a hero, a dame, a genie and more, with struggles, humour, romance and dances. It was a quality piece of work and took a lot of rehearsal, particularly for the main characters, but was very well casted and was worth it. It was really professional and went down like a storm! I was part of the chorus and really enjoyed being a part of it. We performed it three times as part of the high season two week programme.
I only had to help out with a medical visit once with my language skills, much to my relief. I went off to the doctor with a 15 year old girl and her family at 11pm at night, when she'd badly banged her head on the corner of a trailer. Fortunately she was okay afterwards.
I carried on enjoying my role in the bar. I enjoyed chatting occasionally to the guests and found it nice when they took an interest in me or used my name. It made such a difference sometimes when you were only selling a few items to someone but they came with a cheerful attitude.
I'm getting ready to go back to university now for my final year. The main point of this blog was keeping in touch while in France and unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to keep this blog up while at uni. So it's 'au revoir' for now! Hope you've enjoyed reading.
Fiona x
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Heading into the month of August
Bonjour!
So I've been out here at the campsite for 3 weeks already now...time flies! I would like to have written sooner but my laptop currently doesn't connect to the Internet so I borrow a friend's from time to time to check emails.
My job in the bar is going well in general and I like doing the morning shift for the most part, except starting at 8.30 every day 6 days a week (I'm not a morning person!). I serve pastries, baguettes, coffees, ice creams and sweets a lot, and there is restocking, clearing up and plenty of other bits and bobs to be doing. I also work 1-2 evenings a week. The one main evening I do work is pub quiz - the busiest time in the bar - which is a bit frustrating as I don't feel up to speed with all the drinks and some other things which only happen during evening shifts. There are 4 of us dodging round each other with one till, it's a bit crazy!
Behind the bar the customers ask us all manner of queries and questions. We get new questions all the time which keeps us on our toes and I'm often still serving in the bar during the time when Reception is closed at lunch time. We do our best to help but sometimes it's difficult when we don't know the answers.
Some interesting moments: being interviewed by a radio reporter in French; helping a lady with some French phrases to go to the pharmacy; spilling hot chocolate everywhere (fortunately wasn't boiling); bashing my foot on a hard metal door stopper in my enthousiasm to go over to customers to give them information.
I get along fairly well with my French colleagues and I manage to speak a fair amount, it's really handy to have the language.
Fiona x
So I've been out here at the campsite for 3 weeks already now...time flies! I would like to have written sooner but my laptop currently doesn't connect to the Internet so I borrow a friend's from time to time to check emails.
My job in the bar is going well in general and I like doing the morning shift for the most part, except starting at 8.30 every day 6 days a week (I'm not a morning person!). I serve pastries, baguettes, coffees, ice creams and sweets a lot, and there is restocking, clearing up and plenty of other bits and bobs to be doing. I also work 1-2 evenings a week. The one main evening I do work is pub quiz - the busiest time in the bar - which is a bit frustrating as I don't feel up to speed with all the drinks and some other things which only happen during evening shifts. There are 4 of us dodging round each other with one till, it's a bit crazy!
Behind the bar the customers ask us all manner of queries and questions. We get new questions all the time which keeps us on our toes and I'm often still serving in the bar during the time when Reception is closed at lunch time. We do our best to help but sometimes it's difficult when we don't know the answers.
Some interesting moments: being interviewed by a radio reporter in French; helping a lady with some French phrases to go to the pharmacy; spilling hot chocolate everywhere (fortunately wasn't boiling); bashing my foot on a hard metal door stopper in my enthousiasm to go over to customers to give them information.
I get along fairly well with my French colleagues and I manage to speak a fair amount, it's really handy to have the language.
Fiona x
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
A bit of English time
I can’t believe I’ve not written for four weeks, sorry everybody! If I keep this up, I won’t have any readers left!
When I got back from Lille, I worked solidly on my university project for nearly a week, which in the end pushed me to my limits. But I did enjoy my topic and put in a good effort, so we’ll see what comes of that.
This was followed by having six of my friends from Lille GBU (Christian Union) to stay for the weekend. I went and met them at St Pancras Station late on Friday evening and brought them back to my church, where we were staying for two nights. Just after walking a few paces from the tube station, they spotted a red post box and were delighted! A few steps later and we were next to a black cab, which was equally pleasing, and so it went on! It was really funny for me to see them so interested by simple things like that.
We had a fantastic weekend together, in spite of London transport being awkward (to say the least). On Saturday we took a leisurely breakfast and headed into London. We went on the London Eye and then to a pub for lunch, followed by a walk over to Buckingham Palace and a short trip to Covent Garden. Then we went back to church for tea and chilling out. On Sunday, we attended the church service and had lunch lovingly prepared by Mum at home. We went back to London and saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and that area and went across to St Pancras to say goodbye. They loved it, I saw relationships grow over just two days and it was so lovely to welcome them all. We enjoyed touristy things in London, but equally we enjoyed sharing breakfast and teeth-brushing and a game of ‘Jenga’!
Next off, I went to Southampton for two days and handed in my work, saw my new house properly and had some good time with friends and Katie. This was followed by a quick turn-around, in order to leave for France for ten days. I went to Lille for the weekend (yes I’ve been back already!) and had a great time, then went from there to Besançon to see Emilie.
Emilie and I went to ‘la fête de la musique’ in the town centre on Monday night and it was great, really lively. The French have this day every year where loads of amateurs of all kinds of music can play in the streets and squares, just for the love of music, and there was a community feel to it. The next day we went to the Citadelle and had a fun time looking at the animals, the view, and a couple of exhibitions that were there. There were schoolchildren everywhere but it was really cute because they were all from choirs and they were performing at different time slots in a marquee.
On Wednesday we went across to Switzerland and enjoyed ourselves by a lake and had dinner at a friend’s house. Thursday, Friday and Saturday brought some time spent on the family farm. It was a really busy time because they were making hay, so we helped out. I got a pitchfork and alongside others baled hay into a machine which took it into the barn. We also got the chance to go out on an old tractor which spun the hay into rows and Emilie taught me how to drive it!! It was a lot of fun and she was very patient, thankfully! It wasn’t easy for her to teach me in English but she did very well – goodness knows what would’ve happened if she tried to teach me in French… I’d have had to concentrate on language and tractor driving at the same time!
On coming back from Besançon, I did another piece of university work and was very relieved to finish third year. I dashed off to Manchester, staying overnight, to see a family friend and my Grandma which was really important and I loved seeing them (especially you, Grandma). Once again after that, there wasn’t long and I was back on the train to go to Southampton for a friend’s wedding, which was brilliant.
Which leads me to now, I’ve got less than 4 days before I set off on the journey for the Spring Harvest Holidays campsite where I’m working as a barmaid for the summer. So I’m just preparing, sorting things out and saying goodbye this week and I’m supposed to be resting too.
Fiona x
When I got back from Lille, I worked solidly on my university project for nearly a week, which in the end pushed me to my limits. But I did enjoy my topic and put in a good effort, so we’ll see what comes of that.
This was followed by having six of my friends from Lille GBU (Christian Union) to stay for the weekend. I went and met them at St Pancras Station late on Friday evening and brought them back to my church, where we were staying for two nights. Just after walking a few paces from the tube station, they spotted a red post box and were delighted! A few steps later and we were next to a black cab, which was equally pleasing, and so it went on! It was really funny for me to see them so interested by simple things like that.
We had a fantastic weekend together, in spite of London transport being awkward (to say the least). On Saturday we took a leisurely breakfast and headed into London. We went on the London Eye and then to a pub for lunch, followed by a walk over to Buckingham Palace and a short trip to Covent Garden. Then we went back to church for tea and chilling out. On Sunday, we attended the church service and had lunch lovingly prepared by Mum at home. We went back to London and saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and that area and went across to St Pancras to say goodbye. They loved it, I saw relationships grow over just two days and it was so lovely to welcome them all. We enjoyed touristy things in London, but equally we enjoyed sharing breakfast and teeth-brushing and a game of ‘Jenga’!
Next off, I went to Southampton for two days and handed in my work, saw my new house properly and had some good time with friends and Katie. This was followed by a quick turn-around, in order to leave for France for ten days. I went to Lille for the weekend (yes I’ve been back already!) and had a great time, then went from there to Besançon to see Emilie.
Emilie and I went to ‘la fête de la musique’ in the town centre on Monday night and it was great, really lively. The French have this day every year where loads of amateurs of all kinds of music can play in the streets and squares, just for the love of music, and there was a community feel to it. The next day we went to the Citadelle and had a fun time looking at the animals, the view, and a couple of exhibitions that were there. There were schoolchildren everywhere but it was really cute because they were all from choirs and they were performing at different time slots in a marquee.
On Wednesday we went across to Switzerland and enjoyed ourselves by a lake and had dinner at a friend’s house. Thursday, Friday and Saturday brought some time spent on the family farm. It was a really busy time because they were making hay, so we helped out. I got a pitchfork and alongside others baled hay into a machine which took it into the barn. We also got the chance to go out on an old tractor which spun the hay into rows and Emilie taught me how to drive it!! It was a lot of fun and she was very patient, thankfully! It wasn’t easy for her to teach me in English but she did very well – goodness knows what would’ve happened if she tried to teach me in French… I’d have had to concentrate on language and tractor driving at the same time!
On coming back from Besançon, I did another piece of university work and was very relieved to finish third year. I dashed off to Manchester, staying overnight, to see a family friend and my Grandma which was really important and I loved seeing them (especially you, Grandma). Once again after that, there wasn’t long and I was back on the train to go to Southampton for a friend’s wedding, which was brilliant.
Which leads me to now, I’ve got less than 4 days before I set off on the journey for the Spring Harvest Holidays campsite where I’m working as a barmaid for the summer. So I’m just preparing, sorting things out and saying goodbye this week and I’m supposed to be resting too.
Fiona x
Monday, 7 June 2010
Goodbyes are never easy...
Recently, I’ve realised that I’ve got used to goodbyes, but it doesn’t make them any easier. In the last few days, I had to say goodbye to my friends at Christchurch and to Nathan. I know we’ll be keeping in touch, and we’ll see each other again, but it’s not the same as that regular contact every week or more than once a week in the flesh. I’m happy that soon I’ll be back with some of the people I’ve missed so badly this year, but that’s only to be replaced by missing other people.
Packing up and cleaning up went to plan and we had a journey back without any problems :) So I’m back at home, and have the prospect of unpacking everything, and finishing my university project which aren’t too thrilling. But the GBU are coming this weekend and I’m preparing for that too, which is something to look forward to and I’m glad to be back with Mum and Dad.
I feel quite a sense of achievement at managing a whole 8 months out in France on my own. I’ve coped well, with a great help from my Father in Heaven and His people. It’s going to be interesting to see how it is settling back into British culture. At least the transition will be made easier with a trip to France soon and then 7 weeks in an Anglo-French context over the summer.
I’ll be carrying on my blog for the foreseeable future.
Fiona x
Packing up and cleaning up went to plan and we had a journey back without any problems :) So I’m back at home, and have the prospect of unpacking everything, and finishing my university project which aren’t too thrilling. But the GBU are coming this weekend and I’m preparing for that too, which is something to look forward to and I’m glad to be back with Mum and Dad.
I feel quite a sense of achievement at managing a whole 8 months out in France on my own. I’ve coped well, with a great help from my Father in Heaven and His people. It’s going to be interesting to see how it is settling back into British culture. At least the transition will be made easier with a trip to France soon and then 7 weeks in an Anglo-French context over the summer.
I’ll be carrying on my blog for the foreseeable future.
Fiona x
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Social side of the week
C3
Last Thursday night, I co-lead a successful C3 night, a photo scavenger hunt. We put people into teams with cameras and they went out and about in the local area coming up with photos to suit 15 captions that we had given them. Ranging from ‘It’s a French thing’ to ‘It’s a childish thing’ to ‘It’s a historical thing’. Afterwards we displayed the photos on a projector and judged the photos for a winner. Everyone had a lot of fun taking and looking at the photos.
Dinner with L&H
On Friday, I went to a gorgeous little crêperie, just behind my local supermarket and I would never have noticed it was there unless I was taken! I went out for dinner with Laurence and Hugues. We had a savoury crêpe followed by a sweet one, accompanied by cider and a good dose of friendship :) Laurence and I have been a good support to each other at school and outside of school this past 8 months, we’re going to miss each other.
Bal folk
On Saturday, my friend Nicola and I had pushed our friend Hugues (a different one from the one above) into organising an outing to a bal folk. This is because I knew that Nicola would love it, Hugues goes there often and is good company and we needed a car to get there! So five of us went – Hugues, me, Nicola, Nathan and Natasha. We had loads of fun, and except for nearly dying from the heat inside the room it was a great night out :)
Last Sunday
My last Sunday here was a hard one to stomach. I said goodbye to the Église du Triolo, youth group and Christchurch Sunday evenings. I’m sure I’ll make it back occasionally, but it was fairly definitive, realising that it wasn’t going to be part of my regular activity any more. I got a lovely card from youth group thanking me for my involvement. I’ve got really attached to the group considering I’ve only been part of it for 5 months. One of the girls clung to me and threatened to not let me go! Another of my friends was on about stealing my passport so I couldn’t leave. Aww…. At one point this week I was ready to ring her up and say ‘You want my passport? Come and get it!’
Les profs on Monday
So as I said in a previous blog, I went to say goodbye to the teachers of Armentières. I spent a nice hour or so with them and I really appreciated them taking the time to come and say goodbye. They gave me a necklace and earrings which were well chosen and a bottle of wine called ‘Fiona’! It’s so cool!
Last GBU
For my last GBU, they cancelled the Bible study and had a goodbye evening for me! Lara cooked roast chicken and potatoes with green beans which was delicious, and we had a chocolate cake and apple tart after :) It was a mixture of happiness and sadness, because they’re so dear to me and I was enjoying the time with them, but I didn’t want to leave. The consolation was that half of the group is coming to see me in less than 10 days for the weekend :)
Packing up
So I leave on Saturday and I’m packing, cleaning, saying a few final goodbyes and trying to write my uni project all at the same time. Will write again when I’m back in England…
Fiona x
Last Thursday night, I co-lead a successful C3 night, a photo scavenger hunt. We put people into teams with cameras and they went out and about in the local area coming up with photos to suit 15 captions that we had given them. Ranging from ‘It’s a French thing’ to ‘It’s a childish thing’ to ‘It’s a historical thing’. Afterwards we displayed the photos on a projector and judged the photos for a winner. Everyone had a lot of fun taking and looking at the photos.
Dinner with L&H
On Friday, I went to a gorgeous little crêperie, just behind my local supermarket and I would never have noticed it was there unless I was taken! I went out for dinner with Laurence and Hugues. We had a savoury crêpe followed by a sweet one, accompanied by cider and a good dose of friendship :) Laurence and I have been a good support to each other at school and outside of school this past 8 months, we’re going to miss each other.
Bal folk
On Saturday, my friend Nicola and I had pushed our friend Hugues (a different one from the one above) into organising an outing to a bal folk. This is because I knew that Nicola would love it, Hugues goes there often and is good company and we needed a car to get there! So five of us went – Hugues, me, Nicola, Nathan and Natasha. We had loads of fun, and except for nearly dying from the heat inside the room it was a great night out :)
Last Sunday
My last Sunday here was a hard one to stomach. I said goodbye to the Église du Triolo, youth group and Christchurch Sunday evenings. I’m sure I’ll make it back occasionally, but it was fairly definitive, realising that it wasn’t going to be part of my regular activity any more. I got a lovely card from youth group thanking me for my involvement. I’ve got really attached to the group considering I’ve only been part of it for 5 months. One of the girls clung to me and threatened to not let me go! Another of my friends was on about stealing my passport so I couldn’t leave. Aww…. At one point this week I was ready to ring her up and say ‘You want my passport? Come and get it!’
Les profs on Monday
So as I said in a previous blog, I went to say goodbye to the teachers of Armentières. I spent a nice hour or so with them and I really appreciated them taking the time to come and say goodbye. They gave me a necklace and earrings which were well chosen and a bottle of wine called ‘Fiona’! It’s so cool!
Last GBU
For my last GBU, they cancelled the Bible study and had a goodbye evening for me! Lara cooked roast chicken and potatoes with green beans which was delicious, and we had a chocolate cake and apple tart after :) It was a mixture of happiness and sadness, because they’re so dear to me and I was enjoying the time with them, but I didn’t want to leave. The consolation was that half of the group is coming to see me in less than 10 days for the weekend :)
Packing up
So I leave on Saturday and I’m packing, cleaning, saying a few final goodbyes and trying to write my uni project all at the same time. Will write again when I’m back in England…
Fiona x
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
This deserves a post of it's own!
Every first Wednesday of the month in France, around midday, all the air raid sirens go off! It's to test them, a bit like we'd test a fire alarm from time to time. At first when I heard them I got a bit scared and wondered why I was hearing them. And then it happened again and again (the following months). Finally I remembered to bring it up in conversation with a friend and she very naturally told me the above. I hadn't realised it had been at the same time every month. I guess it makes sense but it's still not very pleasant and I'm not used to it. If ever I was planning to wage war on France though, I'd know when to attack!! There they go again...
Fiona x
Fiona x
Monday, 31 May 2010
J’ai fini!
Last week my hours at one of my schools changed, from Thursday to Tuesday. They needed help with doing oral exams for the Year 10s (Fourth years for some of you amongst my readers) and so they asked me to swap. This was convenient for me and I enjoyed a change of activity. It also gave me a glimpse into another part of being a teacher. For some of the kids the experience was very painful, because they are not used to speaking that much in English and they hadn’t even revised simple things. They had to answer questions about themselves and their family first of all, then they had to talk about a famous person in the past tense (a bibliography, they were given information to go from) and then present a famous person as their friend (again, someone who they were given information about). They had 5 minutes prep time and then came in to sit in front of two teachers. One would be speaking to the child and the other making notes and writing some marks. The rest of the marks would be decided at the end by both teachers.
It brought back memories of preparing, waiting and sitting in front of my old French teachers. It’s not really that nice an experience so I empathised with them. Unfortunately at one point I did unprofessionally burst out into laughter at what a boy said, and so did the other teacher! There were a number of pupils who mixed up ‘he’ and ‘she’ when talking about men and women which was fairly funny, but then one lad seemed to have no concept of ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’ or ‘she’. He came to the last section and had already said a few amusing things along the way, but for this section he was talking about a woman. He had to describe her appearance, including the clothes she was wearing and where she was born, etc. Well, I saw a dress at the bottom of the page, I was pretty certain he wasn’t going to say ‘She is wearing a dress’. Sure enough he started the sentence with ‘I…’ and carried on with ‘am wearing a dress green’!! So it was funny not only because of the actual sentence, but because I had anticipated what he was going to say! My other favourite exchange, this time a girl, was the question “What are your hobbies?” followed by the one-word response “Spider”!
Friday was my last day of teaching, at my preferred school in Pérenchies. I’ve grown a real attachment to the teachers and other staff there; they’re a really nice bunch. I gave some ‘thank you’ cards and presents to the teachers I’m closest too and I made them some cakes (welsh cakes and mars bar crispie cakes), and I got a bit of a shock, because most of them had never seen a cake made with rice crispies!! It’s funny how some things are so much part of what you assume to be common. Anyway…they loved the cakes and I received lots of nice words, verbally and in a card, and a necklace too. I even got a present from the Head teacher, which one of the English teachers said was quite an honour, because it had not happened before with previous language assistants!
A lot of the kids at both schools were sorry to see me go as well, and I them, I’ll miss them. I unexpectedly was on the verge of crying saying goodbye to one of my favourite classes! In various classes, a lot of them (mainly girls) wrote things on the board at the end of the lesson for me and it was really sweet. Even some who I didn’t think like me! There are of course some pupils who I won’t miss…!
This afternoon I’m going to say goodbye to the English teachers at the school in Armentières; they wanted to say a proper goodbye and have invited me for a drink. This, again, hasn’t happened for previous assistants, so I’m really pleased. It shows I’ve done a good job and they appreciate me for it. In turn I want to praise God that he has enabled me to do a good job at the two schools for Him.
Back soon with more news, lots going on at the moment!
Fiona x
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Profitons-en ! (Make the most of it!)
This week has been another busy one, and I don’t think the business will let up until the end of my stay really, the time which is left is filling up fast.
Last Thursday evening I went to Pascale’s house for dinner and to say goodbye. We had an aperitif on the balcony in the early evening sunshine and then a lovely three course meal, with her husband and son. (I’m wondering if I should’ve said four course meal… we had two puddings, because there was a slight misunderstanding and I took one along but she’d made one too!) They’re a friendly family and I really enjoyed my time with them. My cultural knowledge grew when they showed me a clip of a national competition which used to happen every year for around 30 years in France and was really popular but no longer runs. It’s basically a dictation, and the competitors write as the host speaks, trying to not make any errors. The person with least errors wins. Dictation? What’s so interesting and challenging about that? There are lots of endings of words which are pronounced the same but spelt differently in French, and the dictator throws in plenty of difficult words that are not very common. It’s also something for all ages to participate in, as they have a children’s category and many of the French love their language. Whole families used to sit in front of the television giving it a bash. Afterwards the host of the competition goes through the whole text explaining where people have gone wrong and why.
On Friday night, I had my good friend Lucile for dinner and a sleepover. We also attempted baking scones but it didn’t quite work as I’ve got the wrong kind of flour. I’ve always thought of baking as being fairly simple (depending on what recipe you attempt of course!), but it becomes a whole lot more complicated trying to reproduce stuff in a different country. Anyway… we had a really lovely time together.
On Saturday evening it was time for a youth group social, namely a laser game and pizza night. This suited me down to the ground. There were only 7 of us (including 3 leaders) which was a bit disappointing, we found out at the last minute that 3 weren’t coming. Nonetheless we had a great time together; I’m really going to miss the group. I didn’t play the laser game to my usual standard coming 5th out of 7, but it was good to see some of the others happy with their positions! The pizza, cake and ice cream with a few games of Maffia squeezed in afterwards was fun too.
On Sunday, I went to the French speaking church in the morning and headed off to the beach with Nathan and his family afterwards. (The weather last weekend was amazing!) We stopped off for a picnic on the way next to a river and drove on to ‘La Panne’, in Belgium. We strolled along the beach and I dipped my feet in the water, we sat down for a bit of cake and chatter and then later on we walked along the promenade. After that we went to a restaurant and they stuffed up the service quite considerably which spoilt the meal a bit, but what they served was tasty. We had another stroll afterwards and the sun was beginning to set, it was beautiful. It was a fantastic day.
Monday here was a bank holiday and the sun continued to shine. I went to eat lunch at Catherine’s house and her daughter and two grand-daughters were there too. The baby didn’t stop smiling and giggling, which was lovely and very infectious! Afterwards, Catherine and I headed out to a place called Arras which was lovely. We went on a tour of the ‘boves’ (underground tunnels) and up to the belfry to a beautiful view. We also wandered around the town a bit and I got a lesson on architecture and furniture and all sorts. In French of course. I’ll admit, (but maybe you already guessed?) that I didn’t understand everything! Still, she was happy chatting away and I was doing my best to understand!
Over and out for now,
Fiona x
Last Thursday evening I went to Pascale’s house for dinner and to say goodbye. We had an aperitif on the balcony in the early evening sunshine and then a lovely three course meal, with her husband and son. (I’m wondering if I should’ve said four course meal… we had two puddings, because there was a slight misunderstanding and I took one along but she’d made one too!) They’re a friendly family and I really enjoyed my time with them. My cultural knowledge grew when they showed me a clip of a national competition which used to happen every year for around 30 years in France and was really popular but no longer runs. It’s basically a dictation, and the competitors write as the host speaks, trying to not make any errors. The person with least errors wins. Dictation? What’s so interesting and challenging about that? There are lots of endings of words which are pronounced the same but spelt differently in French, and the dictator throws in plenty of difficult words that are not very common. It’s also something for all ages to participate in, as they have a children’s category and many of the French love their language. Whole families used to sit in front of the television giving it a bash. Afterwards the host of the competition goes through the whole text explaining where people have gone wrong and why.
On Friday night, I had my good friend Lucile for dinner and a sleepover. We also attempted baking scones but it didn’t quite work as I’ve got the wrong kind of flour. I’ve always thought of baking as being fairly simple (depending on what recipe you attempt of course!), but it becomes a whole lot more complicated trying to reproduce stuff in a different country. Anyway… we had a really lovely time together.
On Saturday evening it was time for a youth group social, namely a laser game and pizza night. This suited me down to the ground. There were only 7 of us (including 3 leaders) which was a bit disappointing, we found out at the last minute that 3 weren’t coming. Nonetheless we had a great time together; I’m really going to miss the group. I didn’t play the laser game to my usual standard coming 5th out of 7, but it was good to see some of the others happy with their positions! The pizza, cake and ice cream with a few games of Maffia squeezed in afterwards was fun too.
On Sunday, I went to the French speaking church in the morning and headed off to the beach with Nathan and his family afterwards. (The weather last weekend was amazing!) We stopped off for a picnic on the way next to a river and drove on to ‘La Panne’, in Belgium. We strolled along the beach and I dipped my feet in the water, we sat down for a bit of cake and chatter and then later on we walked along the promenade. After that we went to a restaurant and they stuffed up the service quite considerably which spoilt the meal a bit, but what they served was tasty. We had another stroll afterwards and the sun was beginning to set, it was beautiful. It was a fantastic day.
Monday here was a bank holiday and the sun continued to shine. I went to eat lunch at Catherine’s house and her daughter and two grand-daughters were there too. The baby didn’t stop smiling and giggling, which was lovely and very infectious! Afterwards, Catherine and I headed out to a place called Arras which was lovely. We went on a tour of the ‘boves’ (underground tunnels) and up to the belfry to a beautiful view. We also wandered around the town a bit and I got a lesson on architecture and furniture and all sorts. In French of course. I’ll admit, (but maybe you already guessed?) that I didn’t understand everything! Still, she was happy chatting away and I was doing my best to understand!
Over and out for now,
Fiona x
Monday, 17 May 2010
A picnic in Belgium, a bank holiday and other bits of news
On Wednesday I went for lunch with my friend Nicola and one of her friends from home. I thought it was just going to be lunch somewhere in Lille, but she phoned me up and suggested we go to the end of the metro line and walk into Belgium from there, and we’d take a picnic and eat it somewhere when we got there. This was a novel idea, so I agreed and off we went. Thankfully Nicola knew the way as she’d done it before, but it was really cold and although there were a few shops here and there, we didn’t find anywhere to sit down. It seemed better to eat our lunch while walking anyway, because if we’d sat down for any length of time we’d have been even colder. We got excited at the idea of a hot drink in McDonalds when we saw a sign, but there were signs pointing in two different directions and we didn’t find it! We did enjoy a browse around a chocolate shop and an amazing cake shop, and decided to head back to Lille for a drink. It was lovely to spend time with the pair of them and Nicola had made a tasty packed lunch which made up for the walking-while-eating!
On Thursday, it was a bank holiday in France. I worked in the morning (in my flat) and then I went off to join a ‘rally’ with my French church in the afternoon. We drove out to a picturesque village in the countryside and someone had diligently prepared a set of quiz questions and we went round in teams to fill it in. There was even a coffee stop, with someone from the church manning a picnic table with drinks and biscuits!
Half way through the route we came to a hall, where we played ‘la bourle’, a traditional game of the North region of France. It’s a game where you roll 1.5kg cheese-shaped r
ounds and there are different point zones, depending on how far you roll it. If you roll it too far though, it ends up in the zero point zone at the end of the alley! The alley is curved too, which adds an extra dimension to the game. I hope the picture helps. Each team threw 12, and there was first a trial, then the real go. The maximum number of points was 4 for each item, so maximum total 48. Our team did better in the trial – typical! We ended up with 23. I loved having a go, it was very enjoyable. I was told by a friend to ‘throw for England, throw for the Queen’! I am sure there are more complicated versions of the game than the one we played. I wonder whether a Frenchman came up with it while rolling cheese once upon a time!
Thursday evening saw the British cultural evening at C3, for which we did a presentation, put together a good spread of British food, and I prepared two games with British coins, toss-a-penny and shove-a-2-pence! There was a really good turnout and we saw a number of new people, I think that was down to the theme.
On Friday I went to work as usual, even though a good number of Frenchies were ‘doing the bridge’…i.e. because they had a bank holiday fall on a Thursday, they decide to say ‘au revoir’ to Friday to make a four day weekend (typical French attitude). And it’s certain whole schools or workplaces which do this. Needless to say, the station and streets were looking a bit bear on Friday morning! Friday at Pérenchies (my preferred school out of the two) went very smoothly, which I was grateful for. Then in the evening I met up with my friend Marie who’s in Lille just from time to time, with her boyfriend Ludovic. We went to a mussel restaurant, so there wasn’t much choice for me not being keen on seafood, but it was a nice evening out.
On Saturday, I did various bits and bobs and then headed round the corner to the celebration for ten years of evening services at Christchurch. It was so lovely to hear how it started up and think about those who had gone before us, laying down the foundations for the evening service which is now very popular, and from which I have benefitted a lot in my time here. The evening was loads of fun, starting with a service and then onto food, chatting, a short quiz, and dancing.
On Sunday amongst other things, I sorted out my accommodation for next year in Southampton :) I’ll be living in a nice house with 3 other Christian girls, Rosie, Jo and Sarah. It’s a relief to have this sorted and I’m really at peace about it, I think I’ll be happy there.
Sorry for so much news at once, good job I didn’t fill you in on the smaller details of all the admin and other stuff I’ve been up to!
Fiona x
On Thursday, it was a bank holiday in France. I worked in the morning (in my flat) and then I went off to join a ‘rally’ with my French church in the afternoon. We drove out to a picturesque village in the countryside and someone had diligently prepared a set of quiz questions and we went round in teams to fill it in. There was even a coffee stop, with someone from the church manning a picnic table with drinks and biscuits!
Half way through the route we came to a hall, where we played ‘la bourle’, a traditional game of the North region of France. It’s a game where you roll 1.5kg cheese-shaped r
ounds and there are different point zones, depending on how far you roll it. If you roll it too far though, it ends up in the zero point zone at the end of the alley! The alley is curved too, which adds an extra dimension to the game. I hope the picture helps. Each team threw 12, and there was first a trial, then the real go. The maximum number of points was 4 for each item, so maximum total 48. Our team did better in the trial – typical! We ended up with 23. I loved having a go, it was very enjoyable. I was told by a friend to ‘throw for England, throw for the Queen’! I am sure there are more complicated versions of the game than the one we played. I wonder whether a Frenchman came up with it while rolling cheese once upon a time!
Thursday evening saw the British cultural evening at C3, for which we did a presentation, put together a good spread of British food, and I prepared two games with British coins, toss-a-penny and shove-a-2-pence! There was a really good turnout and we saw a number of new people, I think that was down to the theme.
On Friday I went to work as usual, even though a good number of Frenchies were ‘doing the bridge’…i.e. because they had a bank holiday fall on a Thursday, they decide to say ‘au revoir’ to Friday to make a four day weekend (typical French attitude). And it’s certain whole schools or workplaces which do this. Needless to say, the station and streets were looking a bit bear on Friday morning! Friday at Pérenchies (my preferred school out of the two) went very smoothly, which I was grateful for. Then in the evening I met up with my friend Marie who’s in Lille just from time to time, with her boyfriend Ludovic. We went to a mussel restaurant, so there wasn’t much choice for me not being keen on seafood, but it was a nice evening out.
On Saturday, I did various bits and bobs and then headed round the corner to the celebration for ten years of evening services at Christchurch. It was so lovely to hear how it started up and think about those who had gone before us, laying down the foundations for the evening service which is now very popular, and from which I have benefitted a lot in my time here. The evening was loads of fun, starting with a service and then onto food, chatting, a short quiz, and dancing.
On Sunday amongst other things, I sorted out my accommodation for next year in Southampton :) I’ll be living in a nice house with 3 other Christian girls, Rosie, Jo and Sarah. It’s a relief to have this sorted and I’m really at peace about it, I think I’ll be happy there.
Sorry for so much news at once, good job I didn’t fill you in on the smaller details of all the admin and other stuff I’ve been up to!
Fiona x
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
I'm not sure how we're nearly half way through May, but hey, here goes...
Le Pas Opton
This weekend just gone I went to Uckfield, in Sussex, for a training weekend for the summer. It’s the first time that they’ve tried doing something like this before the season, and it’s a good idea in my opinion. It should hopefully mean people will be a bit less clueless when they get out there. The two main managers were there (the MD and the Site Manager), and they really encouraged us and challenged us to give excellence this summer, following in the footsteps of Jesus, and growing in faith in the mean time.
Other happenings…
Last Tuesday I did the Bible study with Marie and I think it went quite well. At first I was pretty nervous, but thankfully it wasn’t too big a group and I managed ok.
Yesterday evening I went to my French minister’s house for dinner. It was really lovely to spend a few hours with him, his wife and his two young children, getting to know them a bit better.
The weather has been really cold recently. We had a short bout of summer weather, and now we seem to have spring weather back, but with an added chill. It’s confusing, n’est pas?!
The countdown begins…
I’m really unsettled at the moment, because I know that I finish work in three weeks and I leave just a week after that for good. I’m starting to say goodbye to some of the kids this week, but the next two weeks will be harder. Because I’m drawing close to the end, I have loads of things to do, including my university project. I’m making progress with it but not as much as I’d like. There are various people to meet up with to say goodbye to as well.
I have a few regrets about places I haven’t visited and things I haven’t done which I hoped to, and people I haven’t spent more time with. But from another point of view, there's only so much time available, I always knew that it wasn’t going to end up that long a time frame, especially after you take out the settling down period. I’ve packed a lot in, I’ve met some wonderful people and seen some great things. I’m glad that I’ve enjoyed it more than I ever imagined and I’ll make the most of the rest of my time here.
Fiona x
This weekend just gone I went to Uckfield, in Sussex, for a training weekend for the summer. It’s the first time that they’ve tried doing something like this before the season, and it’s a good idea in my opinion. It should hopefully mean people will be a bit less clueless when they get out there. The two main managers were there (the MD and the Site Manager), and they really encouraged us and challenged us to give excellence this summer, following in the footsteps of Jesus, and growing in faith in the mean time.
Other happenings…
Last Tuesday I did the Bible study with Marie and I think it went quite well. At first I was pretty nervous, but thankfully it wasn’t too big a group and I managed ok.
Yesterday evening I went to my French minister’s house for dinner. It was really lovely to spend a few hours with him, his wife and his two young children, getting to know them a bit better.
The weather has been really cold recently. We had a short bout of summer weather, and now we seem to have spring weather back, but with an added chill. It’s confusing, n’est pas?!
The countdown begins…
I’m really unsettled at the moment, because I know that I finish work in three weeks and I leave just a week after that for good. I’m starting to say goodbye to some of the kids this week, but the next two weeks will be harder. Because I’m drawing close to the end, I have loads of things to do, including my university project. I’m making progress with it but not as much as I’d like. There are various people to meet up with to say goodbye to as well.
I have a few regrets about places I haven’t visited and things I haven’t done which I hoped to, and people I haven’t spent more time with. But from another point of view, there's only so much time available, I always knew that it wasn’t going to end up that long a time frame, especially after you take out the settling down period. I’ve packed a lot in, I’ve met some wonderful people and seen some great things. I’m glad that I’ve enjoyed it more than I ever imagined and I’ll make the most of the rest of my time here.
Fiona x
Monday, 3 May 2010
C3, a challenge and a catch up
C3
First of all, it’s high time that I filled you in on what I get up to on Thursday evenings. At the English-speaking Church, we’ve started up something which is called C3 (Christ Church Café). This is similar to the International café I’m involved in with the Christian Union in Southampton. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, or a vague idea, I’ll try and explain. It’s an event for International students, and every week there are different themes for the evenings. Students come and chill out, speak English, drink tea (or other beverages), eat cake and make friends. It’s normally a really nice atmosphere, with different nationalities and cultures coming together. And of course God’s backing goes a long way. The ‘themes’ I talk about are anything, from team challenges to ice cream, and from British culture to food from around the world… There are group trips out and about too. Making friends with people and providing a fun place to hang out, we pray for opportunities to share our faith and our lives with the people that come. At the Southampton CU International café there are optional Bible studies every week now, for which there is a good level of participation. It’s early days for C3, as it started in February, and we pray that there will be a good team to carry it on and give it a new level of publicity in September.
The ‘give something up’ challenge
In youth group at the English-speaking church, we’ve been given the challenge to give something up for a week. The point is to give up something which perhaps hinders us in our relationship with God and every time we thought of that thing to praise God instead, an activity off the back of a study on the 'rich young man' story in Matthew, where he asked about how he could get eternal life and was living in line with commandments but not able to give up his wealth/possessions. I suggested to the other two leaders when we were preparing that we give up something the week before we set the challenge to the kids, so as we could understand what it would be like and show an example to them. I chose to give up facebook* because I know I waste time on there. It was hard, but a good and useful exercise to give it up. By the end of the week it became easier and I began to think I could manage with a bit less of it more often. This week the challenge continues as we carry on with the kids, but I’m changing from facebook to attempting to give up criticism…not at all easy, and already broken, but I’m going to do my best and I know I’ll learn from it!
*For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a website where you can send messages to your friends and share photos and various other things.
The rest of the week in brief
I’ve had a pretty busy week; on Tuesday evening I went to a concert that Marie from the GBU was in. It was done by an orchestra composed of students from all three universities of Lille and was very enjoyable. I’ve started to make headway transcribing the interviews I did for my university project, but it takes a long time. My teaching went fairly well in both schools this week, for which I am grateful. I also prepared a Bible study in French with Marie which we’re going to do this week on Tuesday. The weekend was full up, going to a French-Polish church to support a youth meeting there which someone from the GBU was involved in, and afterwards spending time with Nathan and his family. It’s also been nice to catch up with some people on the telephone.
Bonne semaine à tous ! (Have a good week everyone!)
Fiona x
First of all, it’s high time that I filled you in on what I get up to on Thursday evenings. At the English-speaking Church, we’ve started up something which is called C3 (Christ Church Café). This is similar to the International café I’m involved in with the Christian Union in Southampton. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, or a vague idea, I’ll try and explain. It’s an event for International students, and every week there are different themes for the evenings. Students come and chill out, speak English, drink tea (or other beverages), eat cake and make friends. It’s normally a really nice atmosphere, with different nationalities and cultures coming together. And of course God’s backing goes a long way. The ‘themes’ I talk about are anything, from team challenges to ice cream, and from British culture to food from around the world… There are group trips out and about too. Making friends with people and providing a fun place to hang out, we pray for opportunities to share our faith and our lives with the people that come. At the Southampton CU International café there are optional Bible studies every week now, for which there is a good level of participation. It’s early days for C3, as it started in February, and we pray that there will be a good team to carry it on and give it a new level of publicity in September.
The ‘give something up’ challenge
In youth group at the English-speaking church, we’ve been given the challenge to give something up for a week. The point is to give up something which perhaps hinders us in our relationship with God and every time we thought of that thing to praise God instead, an activity off the back of a study on the 'rich young man' story in Matthew, where he asked about how he could get eternal life and was living in line with commandments but not able to give up his wealth/possessions. I suggested to the other two leaders when we were preparing that we give up something the week before we set the challenge to the kids, so as we could understand what it would be like and show an example to them. I chose to give up facebook* because I know I waste time on there. It was hard, but a good and useful exercise to give it up. By the end of the week it became easier and I began to think I could manage with a bit less of it more often. This week the challenge continues as we carry on with the kids, but I’m changing from facebook to attempting to give up criticism…not at all easy, and already broken, but I’m going to do my best and I know I’ll learn from it!
*For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a website where you can send messages to your friends and share photos and various other things.
The rest of the week in brief
I’ve had a pretty busy week; on Tuesday evening I went to a concert that Marie from the GBU was in. It was done by an orchestra composed of students from all three universities of Lille and was very enjoyable. I’ve started to make headway transcribing the interviews I did for my university project, but it takes a long time. My teaching went fairly well in both schools this week, for which I am grateful. I also prepared a Bible study in French with Marie which we’re going to do this week on Tuesday. The weekend was full up, going to a French-Polish church to support a youth meeting there which someone from the GBU was involved in, and afterwards spending time with Nathan and his family. It’s also been nice to catch up with some people on the telephone.
Bonne semaine à tous ! (Have a good week everyone!)
Fiona x
Friday, 23 April 2010
Recent happenings
Congrès GBU
When I got back from England, I went on a weekend away to Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon. It was for the national conference of GBUs in France, and I found it really interesting. It hit me afresh as to the stark difference between the number of Christian students in England and in France. The number of people there was the same number we’d expect in the Southampton lecture hall on a Friday night! (Admittedly, there’s a difference between wandering 15 minutes onto campus and being available to come away for a weekend, pay and travel many miles to get there!) If the same weekend had been organised by English people, it would’ve been done very differently too. I’m constantly learning about the French nation!
But anyway… it was very inspirational. The first time I’ve properly heard preaching and other stuff directed at the student context in France. I remember a number of things, but the speaker used the student mobilisation of May ’68 (specifically French context) to encourage us to imagine what’s possible if we take action. We heard of some inspirational stories of Christian students round the world and we were looking at Daniel and his friends from the Bible and the example they show us of people sticking up for God (and doing that whilst not living in their homeland!)
It was a very long car journey down and back, but well worth it. Lille GBU
was represented by five of us – four guys and me! I don’t normally find myself in all male company, but I enjoyed spending time with the boys, they’re a decent group and have some interesting stuff to say (there were still plenty of females at the conference). We spent some time chilling out in the sun which did me a lot of good. Another thing which was really nice was that I saw people again from back in October, when I went to the regional GBU weekend away.
I was really encouraged by this weekend and want to see the Christian Unions in France grow.
The beginning of the end in Lille
This week I met up with, and said goodbye to, two of my friends who are both English language assistants like me, who stop teaching in just a week. One will leave straight away and the other leaves a week after. It seems strange to think that that could easily have been me, I’m glad I’m not leaving so soon. Also today I had the last session of my English club. We made greetings cards and ate shortbread, and I gave them an encouragement each. I don’t think it’ll hit me until next week that that one’s over. I hope they’ve appreciated all the effort I’ve put in with them, but I’m not sure. Maybe they’ll look back in years to come and remember?! I’ve really liked seeing the group every week because they’re some of the only kids I’ve really been able to get to know a bit, and it’s nice to have a bit of a constant in all the mayhem of the time table that I’ve got! I’ll enjoy leaving school at half four on Fridays for the last few weeks, that’s for sure, especially with the nice weather.
Fiona x
When I got back from England, I went on a weekend away to Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon. It was for the national conference of GBUs in France, and I found it really interesting. It hit me afresh as to the stark difference between the number of Christian students in England and in France. The number of people there was the same number we’d expect in the Southampton lecture hall on a Friday night! (Admittedly, there’s a difference between wandering 15 minutes onto campus and being available to come away for a weekend, pay and travel many miles to get there!) If the same weekend had been organised by English people, it would’ve been done very differently too. I’m constantly learning about the French nation!
But anyway… it was very inspirational. The first time I’ve properly heard preaching and other stuff directed at the student context in France. I remember a number of things, but the speaker used the student mobilisation of May ’68 (specifically French context) to encourage us to imagine what’s possible if we take action. We heard of some inspirational stories of Christian students round the world and we were looking at Daniel and his friends from the Bible and the example they show us of people sticking up for God (and doing that whilst not living in their homeland!)
It was a very long car journey down and back, but well worth it. Lille GBU
was represented by five of us – four guys and me! I don’t normally find myself in all male company, but I enjoyed spending time with the boys, they’re a decent group and have some interesting stuff to say (there were still plenty of females at the conference). We spent some time chilling out in the sun which did me a lot of good. Another thing which was really nice was that I saw people again from back in October, when I went to the regional GBU weekend away.I was really encouraged by this weekend and want to see the Christian Unions in France grow.
The beginning of the end in Lille
This week I met up with, and said goodbye to, two of my friends who are both English language assistants like me, who stop teaching in just a week. One will leave straight away and the other leaves a week after. It seems strange to think that that could easily have been me, I’m glad I’m not leaving so soon. Also today I had the last session of my English club. We made greetings cards and ate shortbread, and I gave them an encouragement each. I don’t think it’ll hit me until next week that that one’s over. I hope they’ve appreciated all the effort I’ve put in with them, but I’m not sure. Maybe they’ll look back in years to come and remember?! I’ve really liked seeing the group every week because they’re some of the only kids I’ve really been able to get to know a bit, and it’s nice to have a bit of a constant in all the mayhem of the time table that I’ve got! I’ll enjoy leaving school at half four on Fridays for the last few weeks, that’s for sure, especially with the nice weather.
Fiona x
Sunday, 11 April 2010
The holi-holidays
I’ve been pretty ill since last weekend, and it’s just a simple cold, but it’s been strong and with tiredness added in (more tiredness than I realised) it kind of knocked me for six this week. I’ve managed to see some of my lovely home friends despite this and it’s been good to catch up. Simple pleasures have been even better than normal, having been away from them…for example hanging out in Costa coffee. And the weather is looking up which is always a bonus.
Katie’s boyfriend Josh came to stay here and it was really nice spending time with him. I helped Mum clear out some stuff on Thursday and made a French dish for dinner, called tartiflette, which turned out well, so I was happy. I’ve been relaxing too, something which I find difficult to do, but hey, it’s the holidays and I need it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCYgQWLO8vY - I really like this song at the moment, about pushing on in Christian life, trusting God, even when times are tough.
Fiona x
Katie’s boyfriend Josh came to stay here and it was really nice spending time with him. I helped Mum clear out some stuff on Thursday and made a French dish for dinner, called tartiflette, which turned out well, so I was happy. I’ve been relaxing too, something which I find difficult to do, but hey, it’s the holidays and I need it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCYgQWLO8vY - I really like this song at the moment, about pushing on in Christian life, trusting God, even when times are tough.
Fiona x
Monday, 5 April 2010
Assistantship contract and Easter
I heard some very good news nearly a week ago now, namely that my contract has been extended a month, so I finish teaching at the end of May. It's exactly what I hoped for, and I got the news before the school holidays, praise God!
At the moment, I'm back home for just under two weeks for the Easter holidays and it's great to be here. Yesterday my Aunty Sheila and Uncle Pete came to see us in the evening. They live in Manchester and I don't get to see them very often, so I had been looking forward to it for a long time. It was great to spend time with them. We had a delicious roast lamb meal (Thanks Mum!), followed by a selection of small bites for pudding, made up of goodies I carried home from France and Katie's chocolate brownie (top notch!).
Fiona x
At the moment, I'm back home for just under two weeks for the Easter holidays and it's great to be here. Yesterday my Aunty Sheila and Uncle Pete came to see us in the evening. They live in Manchester and I don't get to see them very often, so I had been looking forward to it for a long time. It was great to spend time with them. We had a delicious roast lamb meal (Thanks Mum!), followed by a selection of small bites for pudding, made up of goodies I carried home from France and Katie's chocolate brownie (top notch!).
Fiona x
Friday, 26 March 2010
The visit of the sister and other things...
Hi all,
Still no news on whether I’m going to be carrying on working past the end of April or not. I really want to know, because if I’m not staying on, it means that I’ll be entering the last three week cycle of my timetable next week (Easter hols take up two weeks of April), so I want to know whether to say goodbye to some of the classes or not! It would also be useful to know for other reasons.
I had a real life written translation (as opposed to a translation you do in the classroom for your teacher) to do this week, which I enjoyed a lot. One of the teachers had asked for my help, because she had been asked for help by her God-daughter to translate a text about osteopathy, and it was a bit complicated. I loved the challenge and the fact that it was going to help out this really nice teacher and that it would be of use in the real world. She was very pleased when I sent it to her.
Last night around 10.50pm, I heard drumming outside. It was a really loud drumming of many drums, and I couldn’t see anything when I looked out my window, but I could tell which direction it was coming from. It struck me as being very strange, due to the time of night, and continued for over half an hour, I don’t know when it stopped. The drumming in itself was quite tasteful, but it annoyed me that it was so late at night and I didn’t know the reason for it!
Katie came to stay with me for four days from Saturday to Wednesday, which was chouette ! Where should I start with everything we got up to? On Saturday the lovely one arrived and I’d managed to make it to the right point on the platform. She was so tired out that she’d been sleeping, to wake up to an announcement by a chap who got his numbers mixed up in English and said 8 o’clock-something instead of 18-something and she got worried she’d missed Lille and ended up in Belgium! We chilled out with pizza, salad and a film for the night. On Sunday we had a bit of a lie-in and made our way to Wazemmes market, which had been recommended to me and I hadn’t had the chance to go until this point. There were hundreds of stalls
, selling clothes, jewellery, plants, and of course plenty of food. There were also hundreds of people, and what felt like hundreds of exits when we came to leave!!
Later on, we ate lunch and I went to lead youth group while Katie stayed at mine and wrote an application letter for something for the summer. I popped back to collect her for the evening service which was really good, and we stayed on to eat carbonara and ice cream, so I had the opportunity to introduce her to many of my friends at Christchurch :)
On Monday, we had a walk out around Lille, ate lunch, and then I disappeared off for the afternoon to go and teach while Katie chilled out in my flat. It did her good to have a bit of space to herself because things are often ‘go go go’ for her at university. I returned and we met up with Nathan for a coffee, before the pair of us ate a nice meal at a restaurant.
On Tuesday, we went for a walk around Lille zoo, the most memorable part being s
eeing two rhinos fighting big time, it was impressive! It wasn’t just a play fight either, as I had first thought, we saw blood emerge on both of their faces. We wondered if a keeper would ever try and come and split it up, and, on quick second thoughts, concluded probably not! You’d be crushed pretty quickly if you tried to intervene…
Still no news on whether I’m going to be carrying on working past the end of April or not. I really want to know, because if I’m not staying on, it means that I’ll be entering the last three week cycle of my timetable next week (Easter hols take up two weeks of April), so I want to know whether to say goodbye to some of the classes or not! It would also be useful to know for other reasons.
I had a real life written translation (as opposed to a translation you do in the classroom for your teacher) to do this week, which I enjoyed a lot. One of the teachers had asked for my help, because she had been asked for help by her God-daughter to translate a text about osteopathy, and it was a bit complicated. I loved the challenge and the fact that it was going to help out this really nice teacher and that it would be of use in the real world. She was very pleased when I sent it to her.
Last night around 10.50pm, I heard drumming outside. It was a really loud drumming of many drums, and I couldn’t see anything when I looked out my window, but I could tell which direction it was coming from. It struck me as being very strange, due to the time of night, and continued for over half an hour, I don’t know when it stopped. The drumming in itself was quite tasteful, but it annoyed me that it was so late at night and I didn’t know the reason for it!
Katie came to stay with me for four days from Saturday to Wednesday, which was chouette ! Where should I start with everything we got up to? On Saturday the lovely one arrived and I’d managed to make it to the right point on the platform. She was so tired out that she’d been sleeping, to wake up to an announcement by a chap who got his numbers mixed up in English and said 8 o’clock-something instead of 18-something and she got worried she’d missed Lille and ended up in Belgium! We chilled out with pizza, salad and a film for the night. On Sunday we had a bit of a lie-in and made our way to Wazemmes market, which had been recommended to me and I hadn’t had the chance to go until this point. There were hundreds of stalls
, selling clothes, jewellery, plants, and of course plenty of food. There were also hundreds of people, and what felt like hundreds of exits when we came to leave!!Later on, we ate lunch and I went to lead youth group while Katie stayed at mine and wrote an application letter for something for the summer. I popped back to collect her for the evening service which was really good, and we stayed on to eat carbonara and ice cream, so I had the opportunity to introduce her to many of my friends at Christchurch :)
On Monday, we had a walk out around Lille, ate lunch, and then I disappeared off for the afternoon to go and teach while Katie chilled out in my flat. It did her good to have a bit of space to herself because things are often ‘go go go’ for her at university. I returned and we met up with Nathan for a coffee, before the pair of us ate a nice meal at a restaurant.
On Tuesday, we went for a walk around Lille zoo, the most memorable part being s
eeing two rhinos fighting big time, it was impressive! It wasn’t just a play fight either, as I had first thought, we saw blood emerge on both of their faces. We wondered if a keeper would ever try and come and split it up, and, on quick second thoughts, concluded probably not! You’d be crushed pretty quickly if you tried to intervene… Following this we enjoyed a beautiful cake each from ‘Meert’, an old and posh boulangerie/patisserie, and we went shopping around Lille. We returned to my flat to do a few bits and bobs, before welcoming the GBU for the evening. I was very pleased that Katie was up for participating in the GBU and meeting my friends there, because even though the group is very nice, I knew she would be out of her comfort zone with all the French language going on. As it happened, my Canadian-American friend, Frances, revelled in the opportunity to translate the Bible study for her and her level of French is better than mine, so I was happy to let her do it. After the Bible study we enjoyed eating together and some of the others tried a bit of their English out.
On Wednesday morning, I was up and out for work before Katie knew it was Wednesday, and we met in the city at 11.30 to spend the last couple of hours together before her departure. We went for lunch in ‘Paul’, a bakery and it was delicious.
So there you have it! I think I’m going to go away now, that’s enough of me for one go.
Love to you,
Fiona x
On Wednesday morning, I was up and out for work before Katie knew it was Wednesday, and we met in the city at 11.30 to spend the last couple of hours together before her departure. We went for lunch in ‘Paul’, a bakery and it was delicious.
So there you have it! I think I’m going to go away now, that’s enough of me for one go.
Love to you,
Fiona x
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
A busy 5 days
The day I turned 22
Last Tuesday night I had my friend Nicola to sleep over, so that I wouldn’t be on my own on my birthday morning (If that sounds a bit silly to you…I would’ve been ok if I’d been on my own but I had the opportunity to not be, so I embraced it!). We took things leisurely and I opened my cards and phoned my parents (bit of a surprise for Dad at work at 8.15am in the morning, but once he got over his confusion he was on top form!). We went into Lille for a late breakfast at a boulangerie. Then the plan was then to do some shopping, but we’d been a bit too leisurely so we only had time to go into one shop before it was time to head back to mine to have lunch (I needed to be at my French lesson by 2pm)! The morning was just lovely; Nicola and I get along really well. From 2-5pm I went to my French lesson at the university and that was good as usual. Then I popped home to have a peek at the Internet and get ready for the evening.
I had invited 11 friends out for a meal in a restaurant to celebrate, but we ended up as 10 including me, as there were 2 missing (one due to illness, the other miscommunication). It was such an enjoyable evening and I feel so blessed by God to have been able to have that many friends happy to celebrate with me after only being here for five and a half months. They came from 4 different places, and were a mixture of Anglophones and Francophones, but I was confident the mix would work well because they’re all so lovely. And it did! :)
It was always going to be a bit strange being in a different country for my birthday for the first time, but I felt at home because my friends here are great and I still got lots of nice cards and messages from my favourite island! (Except my Mum and Dad’s parcel still hasn’t arrived, so if you know of its whereabouts, please do give it a kick in the right direction!!)
London for a day
Thursday morning I was up bright and early (or should that be dark and early?!) because I had to leave my flat at 4.45am in order to meet Laurence (friend and colleague) to go in the car to Armentières, for a school trip to London. I walked to Laurence’s and along the way saw something I wasn’t impressed with…plenty of fresh man tracks…by that, I mean there were numerous suspect liquid trails coming away from various sides and corners of buildings, particularly next to the theatre. Poor theatre. It hadn’t even been a weekend night the night before!
I’m not sure how I did manage such an early start, but I did, and the excitement began. We met up with the other English teachers and the kids (around 50) on the coach and after waiting for the late-comers and one who hadn’t turned up for 20 minutes which we went without, we set off – 5.50am. One of the boys when stepping on had said that this time in the morning was ‘not human’ and I sympathised with him! Anyway…journey over land and through the Eurotunnel and we got to our destination, the Tower of London, around 10.30 (British time) and spent a couple of hours going round in groups. Unfortunately, the kids (despite being a good bunch) didn’t seem that interested, and I was ready with some interesting stuff to tell my group about various things to do with the tower, but I didn’t think they’d listen so didn’t bother after one or two attempts. I really enjoyed the visit, but the kids were in need of something like a questionnaire so they could be more active and involved. I suppose it was natural that I was more interested than them, as it’s my history and I can understand what’s written (although I did look to read the French information paragraphs on more than one occasion!).
By 12.30pm, namely 1.30pm French time, the kids were really hungry, so we ate our sandwiches then proceeded to take a long walk along the River Thames, for an hour and a quarter. The kids aren’t used to walking that far and were pretty tired out by the end of it, poor mites were complaining next to me and I couldn’t even tell them how far we had left! I was a bit disgruntled as well because my shoulder bag had broken and I had to carry it around for the rest of the day, but thankfully my feet weren’t hurting. Destination: Covent Gardens. Mission: Let the kids loose and relax for a bit! We waved the pupils off to do some shopping for two hours and the teachers and I went for a coffee (In a crêperie, no less!). I selected a smoothie to drink and the other teachers all thought I was mad cos it was really cold…next time I’ll play it safe and have a hot chocolate I think, they really weren’t impressed! We then split up to have a mooch around ourselves, I stayed with Laurence.
We went in to M&S, joy of joys, and I bought a BLT sarnie, salt and vinegar crisps and yummy cookie to go with the apple I already had for the journey back. We got back to Lille at around 10.30pm, so a very long day! We were pretty cold during the day, being outside for so long, but I am reliably informed by my Dad that it was the best day to go as it was much windier before and wet the day after. I’m very pleased I had the opportunity to go, to see a school trip from a teacher’s point of view and for the trip itself, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as I thought it would be.
Friday/Saturday
The following Friday I taught at the other school all day long and was pleased with how the day went considering how tired I was. On Saturday I spent some time with a German teacher – ambiguous…is she German or does she teach German or both?! – answer…she teaches German. We had lunch with her husband at their house, then we took a trip out to Belgium for a couple of hours (I was bothered we’d get stopped as I didn’t have my passport, but not really much border control goes on where we crossed) and we returned to their house for a cup of tea and video of the grandchildren (one of their passions!) before she brought me back to Lille and went off to do something. They are such a welcoming couple and it’s really nice they invited me over.
Le cirque
The highlight of Sunday was going to the circus in the afternoon! I learnt just before Christmas that one of my colleagues at Pérenchies has a hobby as a trapeze artist! This, of course, intrigued me greatly and she said that she’d let me know when she was going to be in a show and I could go and watch her. So I said that I’d love to and I would. This Sunday the opportunity came round and I was there. It was a smaller tent than I had envisaged but it still fit a good 250/300 spectators in. It had a community feel to it, very friendly. I was sat among a reserved area for school because one of the teachers had organised tickets. So I was next to some of my pupils and their families and also some teachers and their families. It was strange to see them out of school. Brigitte, my colleague, did very well in her act. Amazing flexibility and balance (more than me I’d imagine and she’s mid-40s at a guess!). I was actually quite attracted by the idea of doing the trapeze myself! They make it look easy though. The show lasted 2 hours plus an interval. I got a lovely surprise to actually see some of my pupils in the show too! I was really impressed by them and will tell them so when I see them.
Well that’s all for now,
Fiona x
P.S. I’m sorry, it must be really hard to keep up with all these teachers flying round everywhere! Photos coming soon hopefully.
Last Tuesday night I had my friend Nicola to sleep over, so that I wouldn’t be on my own on my birthday morning (If that sounds a bit silly to you…I would’ve been ok if I’d been on my own but I had the opportunity to not be, so I embraced it!). We took things leisurely and I opened my cards and phoned my parents (bit of a surprise for Dad at work at 8.15am in the morning, but once he got over his confusion he was on top form!). We went into Lille for a late breakfast at a boulangerie. Then the plan was then to do some shopping, but we’d been a bit too leisurely so we only had time to go into one shop before it was time to head back to mine to have lunch (I needed to be at my French lesson by 2pm)! The morning was just lovely; Nicola and I get along really well. From 2-5pm I went to my French lesson at the university and that was good as usual. Then I popped home to have a peek at the Internet and get ready for the evening.
I had invited 11 friends out for a meal in a restaurant to celebrate, but we ended up as 10 including me, as there were 2 missing (one due to illness, the other miscommunication). It was such an enjoyable evening and I feel so blessed by God to have been able to have that many friends happy to celebrate with me after only being here for five and a half months. They came from 4 different places, and were a mixture of Anglophones and Francophones, but I was confident the mix would work well because they’re all so lovely. And it did! :)
It was always going to be a bit strange being in a different country for my birthday for the first time, but I felt at home because my friends here are great and I still got lots of nice cards and messages from my favourite island! (Except my Mum and Dad’s parcel still hasn’t arrived, so if you know of its whereabouts, please do give it a kick in the right direction!!)
London for a day
Thursday morning I was up bright and early (or should that be dark and early?!) because I had to leave my flat at 4.45am in order to meet Laurence (friend and colleague) to go in the car to Armentières, for a school trip to London. I walked to Laurence’s and along the way saw something I wasn’t impressed with…plenty of fresh man tracks…by that, I mean there were numerous suspect liquid trails coming away from various sides and corners of buildings, particularly next to the theatre. Poor theatre. It hadn’t even been a weekend night the night before!
I’m not sure how I did manage such an early start, but I did, and the excitement began. We met up with the other English teachers and the kids (around 50) on the coach and after waiting for the late-comers and one who hadn’t turned up for 20 minutes which we went without, we set off – 5.50am. One of the boys when stepping on had said that this time in the morning was ‘not human’ and I sympathised with him! Anyway…journey over land and through the Eurotunnel and we got to our destination, the Tower of London, around 10.30 (British time) and spent a couple of hours going round in groups. Unfortunately, the kids (despite being a good bunch) didn’t seem that interested, and I was ready with some interesting stuff to tell my group about various things to do with the tower, but I didn’t think they’d listen so didn’t bother after one or two attempts. I really enjoyed the visit, but the kids were in need of something like a questionnaire so they could be more active and involved. I suppose it was natural that I was more interested than them, as it’s my history and I can understand what’s written (although I did look to read the French information paragraphs on more than one occasion!).
By 12.30pm, namely 1.30pm French time, the kids were really hungry, so we ate our sandwiches then proceeded to take a long walk along the River Thames, for an hour and a quarter. The kids aren’t used to walking that far and were pretty tired out by the end of it, poor mites were complaining next to me and I couldn’t even tell them how far we had left! I was a bit disgruntled as well because my shoulder bag had broken and I had to carry it around for the rest of the day, but thankfully my feet weren’t hurting. Destination: Covent Gardens. Mission: Let the kids loose and relax for a bit! We waved the pupils off to do some shopping for two hours and the teachers and I went for a coffee (In a crêperie, no less!). I selected a smoothie to drink and the other teachers all thought I was mad cos it was really cold…next time I’ll play it safe and have a hot chocolate I think, they really weren’t impressed! We then split up to have a mooch around ourselves, I stayed with Laurence.
We went in to M&S, joy of joys, and I bought a BLT sarnie, salt and vinegar crisps and yummy cookie to go with the apple I already had for the journey back. We got back to Lille at around 10.30pm, so a very long day! We were pretty cold during the day, being outside for so long, but I am reliably informed by my Dad that it was the best day to go as it was much windier before and wet the day after. I’m very pleased I had the opportunity to go, to see a school trip from a teacher’s point of view and for the trip itself, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as I thought it would be.
Friday/Saturday
The following Friday I taught at the other school all day long and was pleased with how the day went considering how tired I was. On Saturday I spent some time with a German teacher – ambiguous…is she German or does she teach German or both?! – answer…she teaches German. We had lunch with her husband at their house, then we took a trip out to Belgium for a couple of hours (I was bothered we’d get stopped as I didn’t have my passport, but not really much border control goes on where we crossed) and we returned to their house for a cup of tea and video of the grandchildren (one of their passions!) before she brought me back to Lille and went off to do something. They are such a welcoming couple and it’s really nice they invited me over.
Le cirque
The highlight of Sunday was going to the circus in the afternoon! I learnt just before Christmas that one of my colleagues at Pérenchies has a hobby as a trapeze artist! This, of course, intrigued me greatly and she said that she’d let me know when she was going to be in a show and I could go and watch her. So I said that I’d love to and I would. This Sunday the opportunity came round and I was there. It was a smaller tent than I had envisaged but it still fit a good 250/300 spectators in. It had a community feel to it, very friendly. I was sat among a reserved area for school because one of the teachers had organised tickets. So I was next to some of my pupils and their families and also some teachers and their families. It was strange to see them out of school. Brigitte, my colleague, did very well in her act. Amazing flexibility and balance (more than me I’d imagine and she’s mid-40s at a guess!). I was actually quite attracted by the idea of doing the trapeze myself! They make it look easy though. The show lasted 2 hours plus an interval. I got a lovely surprise to actually see some of my pupils in the show too! I was really impressed by them and will tell them so when I see them.
Well that’s all for now,
Fiona x
P.S. I’m sorry, it must be really hard to keep up with all these teachers flying round everywhere! Photos coming soon hopefully.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Squash, a swimming pool and a surprise...
A couple of hours ago the one thing which would’ve made me really happy was a glass of apple and blackcurrant squash. Unfortunately I had none. This is the kind of thing which sometimes hits you in a foreign country! I have way too much to tell you in one go, so for the sake of your eyes and my fingers/brain, I’m going to try and catch up with the last week or so in a couple of posts. I’ll just put the interesting bits in, but I have been working as well!
Unusually I didn’t have to work a week last Thursday (4th), so I went to ‘La musée de la Piscine’ (‘The Swimming Pool Museum’) with a French lady I met back in December on the trip to Rochester. In Roubaix, where the museum is situated, there used to be a large textile industry. The museum is in the original building they used for a swimming pool for factory workers and they’ve kept the original layout. So you can see showers and bath tubs and there’s a shallow and thin pool stretching down the middle (they have filled in a lot of the pool, but it’s nice the way they’ve done it). There were interesting paintings and sculptures and textiles there and we sat down for a drink and cake stop half way through, so it was lovely.
On Friday night (5th), I celebrated the birthday of one of my friends, Emma-Liisa, round someone’s house (not a typo, a nice Finnish name). Nicola was meeting Emma-Liisa in order to ‘go to a restaurant together’ and she faked a bad ankle, in order to merit going to Sarah’s flat to get a bandage. At this point, Emma-Liisa suspected there’d be a group of us waiting for her, but when no one was there and Sarah was more concerned about Nicola’s ankle than Emma-Liisa’s birthday, she doubted her former thought. When Nicola and Sarah slipped the word ‘duster’ into the conversation (yeah random, but impressive!), we all jumped out and said ‘Surprise!’. The poor girl got quite a shock because people and balloons descended from stairs up opposite her and me and another girl jumped out from the curtain directly above and behind her. The two of us behind the curtain nearly gave the game away as we’d started to giggle, but thankfully she hadn’t heard. The evening proceeded with nibbles, chatter and games – great!
On Saturday I had a nice dose of fresh air, with a walk around the Parc du héron with Nathan. Then on Sunday evening I organised a bowling evening for the GBU,
which went down a storm. We ate at my place first and then had two games of bowling for a good price. It was great fun to enjoy some time together outside of the usual Tuesday night slot. This isn't the whole group, but I think it's fair to say we're the regulars. :)
I’ll be back asap as I know you probably want news of my birthday, but I’ve got so much going on at the minute and I’m very tired out by it all.
Fiona x
Unusually I didn’t have to work a week last Thursday (4th), so I went to ‘La musée de la Piscine’ (‘The Swimming Pool Museum’) with a French lady I met back in December on the trip to Rochester. In Roubaix, where the museum is situated, there used to be a large textile industry. The museum is in the original building they used for a swimming pool for factory workers and they’ve kept the original layout. So you can see showers and bath tubs and there’s a shallow and thin pool stretching down the middle (they have filled in a lot of the pool, but it’s nice the way they’ve done it). There were interesting paintings and sculptures and textiles there and we sat down for a drink and cake stop half way through, so it was lovely.
On Friday night (5th), I celebrated the birthday of one of my friends, Emma-Liisa, round someone’s house (not a typo, a nice Finnish name). Nicola was meeting Emma-Liisa in order to ‘go to a restaurant together’ and she faked a bad ankle, in order to merit going to Sarah’s flat to get a bandage. At this point, Emma-Liisa suspected there’d be a group of us waiting for her, but when no one was there and Sarah was more concerned about Nicola’s ankle than Emma-Liisa’s birthday, she doubted her former thought. When Nicola and Sarah slipped the word ‘duster’ into the conversation (yeah random, but impressive!), we all jumped out and said ‘Surprise!’. The poor girl got quite a shock because people and balloons descended from stairs up opposite her and me and another girl jumped out from the curtain directly above and behind her. The two of us behind the curtain nearly gave the game away as we’d started to giggle, but thankfully she hadn’t heard. The evening proceeded with nibbles, chatter and games – great!
On Saturday I had a nice dose of fresh air, with a walk around the Parc du héron with Nathan. Then on Sunday evening I organised a bowling evening for the GBU,
which went down a storm. We ate at my place first and then had two games of bowling for a good price. It was great fun to enjoy some time together outside of the usual Tuesday night slot. This isn't the whole group, but I think it's fair to say we're the regulars. :)I’ll be back asap as I know you probably want news of my birthday, but I’ve got so much going on at the minute and I’m very tired out by it all.
Fiona x
Thursday, 4 March 2010
To Belgium and beyond...
Further to last week, Thursday and Friday did go much better at school thankfully. I also have two ‘Yes’s from the Heads of the schools, so my request to stay, with their letters included, is sitting by the door ready to post.
Last Saturday I went to Belgium for the day, to Gent and Bruges, with a group from Christchurch. I had wanted to go on a day trip to Belgium since nearly the beginning as it’s so easy from here, and this day didn’t let me down. There were sixteen of us and we went over in cars. First, we took a stroll around the town and cathedral in Gent. It is a very pretty town, even when you have to dodge the building works going on in the middle! Then we moved on to Bruges, again very nice, we walked around and stopped off for a late lunch in a friendly little pub.
To my amazement there wasn’t much interest in the chocolate shops coming from my friends, but I decided to go in to one to get a little something for someone (Can’t mention who, they haven’t received it yet…and sorry I couldn’t buy you all chocolate!) We wandered into another shop where they offered us a taste of a nice raspberry jam filled biscuit, which I happily tried, and liked, but didn’t buy! In the same shop there were chocolate ‘olives’. At first, one of my friends hadn’t understood that they were chocolates made out to look like olives and they didn’t actually have olives inside, so she turned to me and exclaimed at what she had come across, to which I swiftly looked for an explanation and found one. Almonds or some other nut covered in chocolate, covered in an iced coating, painted various shades of green and brown called ‘olives’. Then we carried on the joke in trying (and almost succeeding) to kid our other friends that the Belgians have some strange olives in a confectionery shop!
Going to Belgium and seeing so many things written in Flemish made me feel pretty lost (even though it was quite touristic and I knew I could speak English to people there). It made me very glad to realise how much I have learnt of the French language. I also thought that how I see Flemish must be how some people see French or English and so I need to be sensitive to that when other people don’t know these languages.
After returning from Belgium, it was straight on to a youth group outing to play a laser game in the evening. This was lots of fun (I always enjoy that game!) and played in good spirits, even if I did receive some death threats at the end from one girl I’d hit a good number of times! My team came first, which was a plus :)
Sunday was a very pleasant day, going to l’Église du Triolo in the morning, lunch with a French family, youth group prep and then Christchurch evening service/meal! On Monday evening I had a lovely chat with my sister which gave me a real boost and also Mum and Dad.
Next Thursday I have been given permission (after initially being overlooked) to join a school trip to the Tower of London, which I am very happy about, even if it means getting up at stupid-o’clock! It’s a nice group of kids, I know a good number of them and the Tower of London is one of my favourite attractions.
Over and out for now,
Fiona x
Last Saturday I went to Belgium for the day, to Gent and Bruges, with a group from Christchurch. I had wanted to go on a day trip to Belgium since nearly the beginning as it’s so easy from here, and this day didn’t let me down. There were sixteen of us and we went over in cars. First, we took a stroll around the town and cathedral in Gent. It is a very pretty town, even when you have to dodge the building works going on in the middle! Then we moved on to Bruges, again very nice, we walked around and stopped off for a late lunch in a friendly little pub.
To my amazement there wasn’t much interest in the chocolate shops coming from my friends, but I decided to go in to one to get a little something for someone (Can’t mention who, they haven’t received it yet…and sorry I couldn’t buy you all chocolate!) We wandered into another shop where they offered us a taste of a nice raspberry jam filled biscuit, which I happily tried, and liked, but didn’t buy! In the same shop there were chocolate ‘olives’. At first, one of my friends hadn’t understood that they were chocolates made out to look like olives and they didn’t actually have olives inside, so she turned to me and exclaimed at what she had come across, to which I swiftly looked for an explanation and found one. Almonds or some other nut covered in chocolate, covered in an iced coating, painted various shades of green and brown called ‘olives’. Then we carried on the joke in trying (and almost succeeding) to kid our other friends that the Belgians have some strange olives in a confectionery shop!
Going to Belgium and seeing so many things written in Flemish made me feel pretty lost (even though it was quite touristic and I knew I could speak English to people there). It made me very glad to realise how much I have learnt of the French language. I also thought that how I see Flemish must be how some people see French or English and so I need to be sensitive to that when other people don’t know these languages.
After returning from Belgium, it was straight on to a youth group outing to play a laser game in the evening. This was lots of fun (I always enjoy that game!) and played in good spirits, even if I did receive some death threats at the end from one girl I’d hit a good number of times! My team came first, which was a plus :)
Sunday was a very pleasant day, going to l’Église du Triolo in the morning, lunch with a French family, youth group prep and then Christchurch evening service/meal! On Monday evening I had a lovely chat with my sister which gave me a real boost and also Mum and Dad.
Next Thursday I have been given permission (after initially being overlooked) to join a school trip to the Tower of London, which I am very happy about, even if it means getting up at stupid-o’clock! It’s a nice group of kids, I know a good number of them and the Tower of London is one of my favourite attractions.
Over and out for now,
Fiona x
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
The future and the past (week)
Hi all,
There’s still plenty of stuff going on from day to day here, but I’ve been feeling a bit lonely because of the intensity of time I spent with people when I was on holiday.
I’ve been concerned about planning ahead a bit as my contract finishes in little more than two months!! So the latest news on that is that I’m applying to extend my contract at the schools until the end of May/mid-June. I have to pluck up courage to speak to the two Heads this week about that, I need a ‘Yes’ from each of them, plus then a ‘Yes’ from the local education authority. It’s not necessarily easy to get that, but I’d really like to stay on.
I have just received some good news regarding the summer. I will be going back to Le Pas Opton to work there for the main summer holiday period which I’m really happy about. If you don’t know, it’s a holiday campsite in the Vendée region of France (think roughly half way down the West coast of France and it’s not far from there) which is run by a UK organisation called Spring Harvest Holidays (linked to Spring Harvest, but not that similar!). It’s mainly British Christians who go there on holiday and it’s a fantastic place. If you want to know more, don’t hesitate to ask me, I love talking about it!
Over the past week I’ve had lots of sleep and done varying enjoyable and not-so-enjoyable activities, not getting as much work done as I wanted but making some progress. The weekend just gone was great. On Friday night I had Laurence and Hughes round for dinner. Then on Saturday I hung out with a friend from CU and church, Nathan, we ate lunch then went for a walk around the citadel and zoo. Later on I went to a crêpe party and sleepover at my friend Lucile’s flat. What was supposed to be four girls in the initial planning turned out to be two of us, but we still had a great time together :) On Sunday I went to church twice and had youth group planning.
On Monday afternoon I went back to school and unfortunately one of the teachers who I was supposed to be with had forgotten me and had planned to go off with her class to take part in some interaction project and I asked her if I could help but apparently there wouldn’t have been any point in that. It’s not the first time I’ve been forgotten as it’s hard for the teachers to keep up with my three week timetable. It’s now getting on my nerves because of the amount it’s happened. I know it’s nothing personal, but hey… So I was at school for three hours and taught one, which didn’t even go that well. Here’s to Thursday and Friday going better!
Fiona x
There’s still plenty of stuff going on from day to day here, but I’ve been feeling a bit lonely because of the intensity of time I spent with people when I was on holiday.
I’ve been concerned about planning ahead a bit as my contract finishes in little more than two months!! So the latest news on that is that I’m applying to extend my contract at the schools until the end of May/mid-June. I have to pluck up courage to speak to the two Heads this week about that, I need a ‘Yes’ from each of them, plus then a ‘Yes’ from the local education authority. It’s not necessarily easy to get that, but I’d really like to stay on.
I have just received some good news regarding the summer. I will be going back to Le Pas Opton to work there for the main summer holiday period which I’m really happy about. If you don’t know, it’s a holiday campsite in the Vendée region of France (think roughly half way down the West coast of France and it’s not far from there) which is run by a UK organisation called Spring Harvest Holidays (linked to Spring Harvest, but not that similar!). It’s mainly British Christians who go there on holiday and it’s a fantastic place. If you want to know more, don’t hesitate to ask me, I love talking about it!
Over the past week I’ve had lots of sleep and done varying enjoyable and not-so-enjoyable activities, not getting as much work done as I wanted but making some progress. The weekend just gone was great. On Friday night I had Laurence and Hughes round for dinner. Then on Saturday I hung out with a friend from CU and church, Nathan, we ate lunch then went for a walk around the citadel and zoo. Later on I went to a crêpe party and sleepover at my friend Lucile’s flat. What was supposed to be four girls in the initial planning turned out to be two of us, but we still had a great time together :) On Sunday I went to church twice and had youth group planning.
On Monday afternoon I went back to school and unfortunately one of the teachers who I was supposed to be with had forgotten me and had planned to go off with her class to take part in some interaction project and I asked her if I could help but apparently there wouldn’t have been any point in that. It’s not the first time I’ve been forgotten as it’s hard for the teachers to keep up with my three week timetable. It’s now getting on my nerves because of the amount it’s happened. I know it’s nothing personal, but hey… So I was at school for three hours and taught one, which didn’t even go that well. Here’s to Thursday and Friday going better!
Fiona x
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Half term
So it’s definitely blogging time again after being absent for nearly two weeks. I have been off a-travelling through England and have a fair amount to share with you, so here goes…
Eurostar mishap of a non-snowy nature!
I was sitting on the Eurostar train from Lille to London and heard an announcement come across the tannoy. Normally you think it’ll always be for someone else, but lo and behold, the announcement clearly stated my name. The train guard requested that I go to carriage number 1 to speak to the train management. I went through fifteen carriages and over fifty doors wondering why they would want to speak to me and hoping it was a good reason as it was taking such an effort to get there! As it turns out, the man had my passport and I’ve no idea how it got there but was extremely glad to have it back safely! I must have got through passport control and then dropped it at some point but not noticed because I was chatting away to a French girl who I’d met in the queue.
Southampton
Being back in Southampton was very strange. There was a hive of activity all around me which I knew so well, yet I wasn’t part of it. That said, I spent a very pleasant three days there. On Saturday I went to Anne’s baptism which was lovely. The same day I had a nice surprise when I learnt that two friends from home, Afua and Ian, were making the journey to Southampton for the day to see Katie and me, so we had a good catch up. Later on in the evening I met up with another friend, Jo. On Sunday I went to Katie’s church, over to Anne and Liz’s for lunch and then back to Katie’s for some sister time. Monday came along and I met up with lots of lovely people during the day before paying a visit to International café in its ‘new’ location (not that new anymore but new for me!) which was great fun. Tuesday morning was an early one, with a special breakfast for my friend Ellie’s birthday and then onto the library (Hartley was missing me… it would’ve got upset if I’d missed it out) and lunch with Jo before hopping on the train to destination two.
Home
I spent three days at home and enjoyed chatting, good food and sleeping. Mum took a day off work on Thursday and we went swimming and had lunch and a wander in Brentwood. The British shops excite me a lot at the moment, mainly because I know what I can find where and normally at a much better price than French shops. My time at home was great.
Coventry
So on Friday I arrived in Coventry to Sally and Hazel’s house. They are two girls I met while working at the Spring Harvest Holidays campsite in summers 07/08. Jen and Sioned (not a typo, it’s a nice Welsh name), two other friends from the campsite joined us too. We ate pizza and chatted until the early morning. On Saturday we had a leisurely morning and then headed to Solihull where a pub lunch awaited us followed by the choice of watching the Wales vs. Scotland rugby match or shopping, and then in the evening we had a delicious roast dinner. Sunday came round and we went to Hazel’s church followed by another lovely meal and a sad goodbye before the journey back to Lille via London. Got back without any stress except the last 5 mins or so of the journey when I was desperate for the toilet, so dragged a heavy case along the street pretty swiftly!
So I’d say I’ve had one of the best weeks of my life right there. It’s the people that made it so special. :)
Love to you,
Fiona x
Eurostar mishap of a non-snowy nature!
I was sitting on the Eurostar train from Lille to London and heard an announcement come across the tannoy. Normally you think it’ll always be for someone else, but lo and behold, the announcement clearly stated my name. The train guard requested that I go to carriage number 1 to speak to the train management. I went through fifteen carriages and over fifty doors wondering why they would want to speak to me and hoping it was a good reason as it was taking such an effort to get there! As it turns out, the man had my passport and I’ve no idea how it got there but was extremely glad to have it back safely! I must have got through passport control and then dropped it at some point but not noticed because I was chatting away to a French girl who I’d met in the queue.
Southampton
Being back in Southampton was very strange. There was a hive of activity all around me which I knew so well, yet I wasn’t part of it. That said, I spent a very pleasant three days there. On Saturday I went to Anne’s baptism which was lovely. The same day I had a nice surprise when I learnt that two friends from home, Afua and Ian, were making the journey to Southampton for the day to see Katie and me, so we had a good catch up. Later on in the evening I met up with another friend, Jo. On Sunday I went to Katie’s church, over to Anne and Liz’s for lunch and then back to Katie’s for some sister time. Monday came along and I met up with lots of lovely people during the day before paying a visit to International café in its ‘new’ location (not that new anymore but new for me!) which was great fun. Tuesday morning was an early one, with a special breakfast for my friend Ellie’s birthday and then onto the library (Hartley was missing me… it would’ve got upset if I’d missed it out) and lunch with Jo before hopping on the train to destination two.
Home
I spent three days at home and enjoyed chatting, good food and sleeping. Mum took a day off work on Thursday and we went swimming and had lunch and a wander in Brentwood. The British shops excite me a lot at the moment, mainly because I know what I can find where and normally at a much better price than French shops. My time at home was great.
Coventry
So on Friday I arrived in Coventry to Sally and Hazel’s house. They are two girls I met while working at the Spring Harvest Holidays campsite in summers 07/08. Jen and Sioned (not a typo, it’s a nice Welsh name), two other friends from the campsite joined us too. We ate pizza and chatted until the early morning. On Saturday we had a leisurely morning and then headed to Solihull where a pub lunch awaited us followed by the choice of watching the Wales vs. Scotland rugby match or shopping, and then in the evening we had a delicious roast dinner. Sunday came round and we went to Hazel’s church followed by another lovely meal and a sad goodbye before the journey back to Lille via London. Got back without any stress except the last 5 mins or so of the journey when I was desperate for the toilet, so dragged a heavy case along the street pretty swiftly!
So I’d say I’ve had one of the best weeks of my life right there. It’s the people that made it so special. :)
Love to you,
Fiona x
Thursday, 4 February 2010
“N’importe quoi!”
The title here is my favourite French phrase at the moment. It’s something which the kids at school say to each other and sometimes a teacher will say it to a pupil. It means ‘You’re not thinking before you speak, you’re just saying whatever comes into your head first and it’s annoying!’
Apparent name change
I got a letter last week which told me that I’ve been allocated a new social security number because they’ve decided to change my surname from being correct, to putting a gap in it! Crazy. My name has never had a gap and never will do thank you Mr French administration! It was clear on the copies of two identification documents, and why have you decided to change it now, after a couple of months of being happy with it? It now requires hassle one way or the other, to leave it changed and change other things, or to make it go back to how it was. This really confused the secretary at my school too when I showed her. She’s never seen anything like it and went on the phone to try and sort it out, but I have to go in person to an office, which is fortunately not that far from here but I could do without the hassle. The poor old Frenchies obviously aren’t used to dealing with Scottish names!
University project
I have to do a project this year for university, to keep that academic part of the brain ticking over! It’s 5000 words in French on a subject of our choice, but one which can only realistically be carried out in France and doing interviews with French people. I’ve chosen to look at the French way of eating as it interests me a lot because it’s so different, and it doesn’t seem that there are many fat French people! So I’m looking more specifically at 13-14 year olds and their attitudes towards food and sport, linking that to obesity.
Soirée de prière
I went to a prayer evening last night which was called ‘100 minutes for 100 000 students’. It was organised by the GBU (Christian Union) and another Christian student group, the FEU. People from churches in the area were invited to join us as well. So we prayed for around an hour and forty minutes about all manner of things student-related and it was great to be able to do this. It seems pretty daunting when you think that there are nearly 100 000 students in Lille, and not many of them know the life that can be found in Jesus, but God can bring great things out of small things. Please do pray for Christian and non-Christian students in Lille if you get the chance.
Holiday time
I have two weeks holiday starting this weekend – lucky me! I’m back to England for the first week and returning to France for the second. I’m going to do a little tour – first Southampton (University), next to Mum and Dad and then to Coventry (Some friends live there) :)
Fiona x
Apparent name change
I got a letter last week which told me that I’ve been allocated a new social security number because they’ve decided to change my surname from being correct, to putting a gap in it! Crazy. My name has never had a gap and never will do thank you Mr French administration! It was clear on the copies of two identification documents, and why have you decided to change it now, after a couple of months of being happy with it? It now requires hassle one way or the other, to leave it changed and change other things, or to make it go back to how it was. This really confused the secretary at my school too when I showed her. She’s never seen anything like it and went on the phone to try and sort it out, but I have to go in person to an office, which is fortunately not that far from here but I could do without the hassle. The poor old Frenchies obviously aren’t used to dealing with Scottish names!
University project
I have to do a project this year for university, to keep that academic part of the brain ticking over! It’s 5000 words in French on a subject of our choice, but one which can only realistically be carried out in France and doing interviews with French people. I’ve chosen to look at the French way of eating as it interests me a lot because it’s so different, and it doesn’t seem that there are many fat French people! So I’m looking more specifically at 13-14 year olds and their attitudes towards food and sport, linking that to obesity.
Soirée de prière
I went to a prayer evening last night which was called ‘100 minutes for 100 000 students’. It was organised by the GBU (Christian Union) and another Christian student group, the FEU. People from churches in the area were invited to join us as well. So we prayed for around an hour and forty minutes about all manner of things student-related and it was great to be able to do this. It seems pretty daunting when you think that there are nearly 100 000 students in Lille, and not many of them know the life that can be found in Jesus, but God can bring great things out of small things. Please do pray for Christian and non-Christian students in Lille if you get the chance.
Holiday time
I have two weeks holiday starting this weekend – lucky me! I’m back to England for the first week and returning to France for the second. I’m going to do a little tour – first Southampton (University), next to Mum and Dad and then to Coventry (Some friends live there) :)
Fiona x
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Another week in the life of me...
The other day I was sitting in the station and had one of those pinch-yourself-to-see-if-it’s-real moments. This occasionally happens here. I was watching the world go by waiting for my train and had to remind myself that yes, I was sitting in a French station and yes, I’d managed to set up home in France for several months and yes, I was off to teach in a school. It felt so normal yet so surreal. I had sudden feeling of dauntedness, but then proceeded to remind myself that I needed to shed that feeling because I’m used to my job and am capable of the role.
I’ve had a very busy time since Anne and Liz’s visit. In fact, this last week I’ve hardly eaten on my own which has been great, though does show I’ve been doing a lot (probably too much, but I wanted to make the most of what came my way). On Wednesday evening I went out for dinner with the English teachers from Armentières and we went to a lovely little crêperie in Vieux Lille. It had a really homely atmosphere, though we were quite squashed in and behind us was a rather loud bunch of men, which didn’t help my comprehension. There is a famous cheese in this region which is called Maroilles, and the teachers made me try some Maroilles sauce to see if I liked it. I’m not a lover of strong cheeses, and this one’s quite strong. I was happy to try it as I’d heard about it and seen it around, but unfortunately I didn’t like it, so with the expectant eyes of five French people on me, I wrinkled up my nose at the taste! They chuckled and one of them said ‘Once English, always English!’ I’m sure there are some English people who would love it, it’s just my cheese palate isn’t that advanced.
On Friday evening, I met up with Marie, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother (Marie is my friend who currently lives in Bordeaux who comes to see her boyfriend now and again). We had a raclette meal (potatoes with melted cheese and assorted cold meats) round at her boyfriend’s brother’s flat and then went bowling. Here came a cultural shock, because we only started eating around 9.15/30pm and when we finished it was around 11.10pm and they said ‘So are we going bowling then?’ I was convinced the bowling alley would be shut or shutting, and the others weren’t sure either, but we walked in at around 11.30pm and everything was still in full swing! We had one game and then another which were very enjoyable, but suffice to say, I had a late night…and the bowling alley is open to a very late hour!
On Saturday evening I went out to a restaurant followed by hanging out at someone’s house to celebrate the birthday of a friend from Christ Church (The English-speaking one), which was a lot of fun and good conversations were had.
Since the New Year, I’ve started helping out at Christ Church’s youth group which takes place on a Sunday afternoon. There are two other leaders, James and Anne-Marie, and so far I’ve met seven young people who attend. It’s a really nice group and we spend around an hour playing games and then around an hour focusing on a topic looking at the Bible and doing activities related to it.
I have a lot of things to think about at the moment. My year abroad project (which I’m not sure I’ve mentioned yet), the summer, and housing for next year are all important things to sort out and potentially quite stressful, so I’d appreciate prayer for those if you can.
Fiona x
I’ve had a very busy time since Anne and Liz’s visit. In fact, this last week I’ve hardly eaten on my own which has been great, though does show I’ve been doing a lot (probably too much, but I wanted to make the most of what came my way). On Wednesday evening I went out for dinner with the English teachers from Armentières and we went to a lovely little crêperie in Vieux Lille. It had a really homely atmosphere, though we were quite squashed in and behind us was a rather loud bunch of men, which didn’t help my comprehension. There is a famous cheese in this region which is called Maroilles, and the teachers made me try some Maroilles sauce to see if I liked it. I’m not a lover of strong cheeses, and this one’s quite strong. I was happy to try it as I’d heard about it and seen it around, but unfortunately I didn’t like it, so with the expectant eyes of five French people on me, I wrinkled up my nose at the taste! They chuckled and one of them said ‘Once English, always English!’ I’m sure there are some English people who would love it, it’s just my cheese palate isn’t that advanced.
On Friday evening, I met up with Marie, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s brother (Marie is my friend who currently lives in Bordeaux who comes to see her boyfriend now and again). We had a raclette meal (potatoes with melted cheese and assorted cold meats) round at her boyfriend’s brother’s flat and then went bowling. Here came a cultural shock, because we only started eating around 9.15/30pm and when we finished it was around 11.10pm and they said ‘So are we going bowling then?’ I was convinced the bowling alley would be shut or shutting, and the others weren’t sure either, but we walked in at around 11.30pm and everything was still in full swing! We had one game and then another which were very enjoyable, but suffice to say, I had a late night…and the bowling alley is open to a very late hour!
On Saturday evening I went out to a restaurant followed by hanging out at someone’s house to celebrate the birthday of a friend from Christ Church (The English-speaking one), which was a lot of fun and good conversations were had.
Since the New Year, I’ve started helping out at Christ Church’s youth group which takes place on a Sunday afternoon. There are two other leaders, James and Anne-Marie, and so far I’ve met seven young people who attend. It’s a really nice group and we spend around an hour playing games and then around an hour focusing on a topic looking at the Bible and doing activities related to it.
I have a lot of things to think about at the moment. My year abroad project (which I’m not sure I’ve mentioned yet), the summer, and housing for next year are all important things to sort out and potentially quite stressful, so I’d appreciate prayer for those if you can.
Fiona x
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
My weekend with Anne and Liz
Arrival
Anne and Liz arrived at 10pm on Friday and I’d made it onto the platform in time to see their train pull in, but only then did I realise it was highly unlikely I was going to find them on the platform, as the train was so long I couldn’t see both ends, and there was more than one exit off the platform. As well as this, the announcement came over “this train is stopping for two minutes”…I thought ‘they’d better get off!’…I managed to find them upstairs looking a bit lost (and they weren’t the only ones) but all was well when the relief kicked in that we had found each other. Then they told me they had been lucky to get off the train cos they had to ask someone if it was Lille or not due to the dodgy train announcement which had announced ‘Lille Europe’ inaudibly! So my thoughts of hoping they’d get off hadn’t been that silly after all! We went straight to my flat and had a piece of apple pie, a drink and a nice chat before heading to bed.
Saturday
On Saturday we got up and took our time, heading to the boulangerie round the corner to buy some pastries for breakfast. We chose three and split them between us…delicious! Later that morning we went out to have a look around the market and buy a roast chicken for lunch. At this point the weather had turned and it was raining and very cold so we didn’t venture much further and came back to have lunch. After lunch the plan had been to head into the main city centre to show the pair of them the sights and shops and have a coffee, but the weather wasn’t improving so we checked the weather forecast for Sunday and it was better, so we decided to stay in. We played a card game called Irish snap, which was great fun and lasted an hour or so! Then we watched a film. After that we got ready to go out for the evening and walked round to my friend Laurence’s to join her and her boyfriend and another couple for soup, bread, ham and cheese before going in their car to a French folk dancing evening.
Folk dancing
I think Anne and Liz were very brave for taking this on as they do not speak much French. I was also very nervous and glad of their company because we didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for! The evening was running from 9pm until around 2am…hard core (for those of you a bit older, that means ‘serious stuff’)! It was in a school hall and when we walked in at about 9.50pm it was packed! We were a bit squashed when we joined in at the beginning, but later it improved. The first one we joined in with was thankfully a straightforward group dance, but we hadn’t heard all the instructions so still managed to mess up occasionally!
The second dance was a couple’s dance and so Liz said she was happy to sit out while Anne and I danced it together. However, two French men came over and suggested that we split up and dance with them. We obliged as we were encouraged by my friends next to us and they were fairly insistent. I think the look on my face was quite a picture, as I was bothered about being able to hear the instructions, watch what the French were doing in response to the instructions, check Anne had understood and now I had the pressure of dancing with a French man! It turned out to be my least favourite dance of the night as you had to wander round the middle and choose a new partner to dance with or be left on the edge and be chosen by a partner at numerous points in the dance. Liz was taking photos and killing herself laughing, very glad she’d sat out!
There were a lot of dances that followed and we joined in or sat out as we felt like it. We got asked at varying points to dance with men (of varying types!). Anne ‘took one for the team’ when there was a certain French man who we’d already refused earlier in the evening being very insistent…Liz suddenly (and conveniently) disappeared and at the same time I was being approached by two men we’d previously danced with who wanted to join the pair of us. I spotted this as a solution and gratefully accepted on behalf of the pair of us but at the same time Anne was being pulled off by the other man. He was happy to try out his English too, explaining the instructions to Anne ahead of the man on the mic!
There was a lovely selection of cakes, crêpes and drinks there and we all enjoyed one as a nice break. We left around 1am when it was mainly the crowd-that-knew-what-they-were-doing dancing. I think the girls would agree that the evening was great fun.
Sunday
On Sunday we had pancakes for breakfast, a prayer time, a pack up and went off to see the city centre and grab some lunch on the way to the station. I love those girls... thanks again for coming :)
Fiona x
Anne and Liz arrived at 10pm on Friday and I’d made it onto the platform in time to see their train pull in, but only then did I realise it was highly unlikely I was going to find them on the platform, as the train was so long I couldn’t see both ends, and there was more than one exit off the platform. As well as this, the announcement came over “this train is stopping for two minutes”…I thought ‘they’d better get off!’…I managed to find them upstairs looking a bit lost (and they weren’t the only ones) but all was well when the relief kicked in that we had found each other. Then they told me they had been lucky to get off the train cos they had to ask someone if it was Lille or not due to the dodgy train announcement which had announced ‘Lille Europe’ inaudibly! So my thoughts of hoping they’d get off hadn’t been that silly after all! We went straight to my flat and had a piece of apple pie, a drink and a nice chat before heading to bed.
Saturday
On Saturday we got up and took our time, heading to the boulangerie round the corner to buy some pastries for breakfast. We chose three and split them between us…delicious! Later that morning we went out to have a look around the market and buy a roast chicken for lunch. At this point the weather had turned and it was raining and very cold so we didn’t venture much further and came back to have lunch. After lunch the plan had been to head into the main city centre to show the pair of them the sights and shops and have a coffee, but the weather wasn’t improving so we checked the weather forecast for Sunday and it was better, so we decided to stay in. We played a card game called Irish snap, which was great fun and lasted an hour or so! Then we watched a film. After that we got ready to go out for the evening and walked round to my friend Laurence’s to join her and her boyfriend and another couple for soup, bread, ham and cheese before going in their car to a French folk dancing evening.
Folk dancing
I think Anne and Liz were very brave for taking this on as they do not speak much French. I was also very nervous and glad of their company because we didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for! The evening was running from 9pm until around 2am…hard core (for those of you a bit older, that means ‘serious stuff’)! It was in a school hall and when we walked in at about 9.50pm it was packed! We were a bit squashed when we joined in at the beginning, but later it improved. The first one we joined in with was thankfully a straightforward group dance, but we hadn’t heard all the instructions so still managed to mess up occasionally!
The second dance was a couple’s dance and so Liz said she was happy to sit out while Anne and I danced it together. However, two French men came over and suggested that we split up and dance with them. We obliged as we were encouraged by my friends next to us and they were fairly insistent. I think the look on my face was quite a picture, as I was bothered about being able to hear the instructions, watch what the French were doing in response to the instructions, check Anne had understood and now I had the pressure of dancing with a French man! It turned out to be my least favourite dance of the night as you had to wander round the middle and choose a new partner to dance with or be left on the edge and be chosen by a partner at numerous points in the dance. Liz was taking photos and killing herself laughing, very glad she’d sat out!
There were a lot of dances that followed and we joined in or sat out as we felt like it. We got asked at varying points to dance with men (of varying types!). Anne ‘took one for the team’ when there was a certain French man who we’d already refused earlier in the evening being very insistent…Liz suddenly (and conveniently) disappeared and at the same time I was being approached by two men we’d previously danced with who wanted to join the pair of us. I spotted this as a solution and gratefully accepted on behalf of the pair of us but at the same time Anne was being pulled off by the other man. He was happy to try out his English too, explaining the instructions to Anne ahead of the man on the mic!
There was a lovely selection of cakes, crêpes and drinks there and we all enjoyed one as a nice break. We left around 1am when it was mainly the crowd-that-knew-what-they-were-doing dancing. I think the girls would agree that the evening was great fun.
Sunday
On Sunday we had pancakes for breakfast, a prayer time, a pack up and went off to see the city centre and grab some lunch on the way to the station. I love those girls... thanks again for coming :)
Fiona x
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Mid-January
Galette des rois
The French have a tradition with something called a ‘galette des rois’ to celebrate epiphany. It’s a round, flat-ish pie which is filled with almond paste or apple. Hidden inside the pie is a ‘fève’, a tiny porcelain figure (but I think it can be other things). Some people hold to the tradition that the youngest person present goes under the table to decide who gets which part of the pie so there’s no cheating! When the pie is eaten, someone will come across the fève and they become the king/queen and have to wear a golden paper crown and keep the fève. I’ve been able to join in 3 times with different people and it’s very enjoyable. I even got the fève once!
Emilie’s visit
Saturday morning came around, and with it the visit of my favourite French person. Emilie and I had a brilliant time together. This year we’re mainly speaking French to each other, last year we mainly spoke English. Things always seem to take longer than usual when the pair of us are together, because our talking slows us down. It’s either because of my constant French language stumbling or the fact that we frequently bounce off each other in conversation! Maybe a mixture of the two. She’s very patient with me when I start a sentence to realise that I don’t know most of the vocabulary to finish the sentence! Thankfully she’s seen an improvement in my language since October when we last saw each other.
We went for a walk and chilled out on Saturday, and on Sunday Emilie came to both my churches and we didn’t do a lot in between. After church in the evening we talked to Melanie and Emily (two university friends in Southampton) on Skype with webcams, which was lovely…as if the four of us were in one room again (almost)! Then on Monday we had a relaxed morning before I went off to work and Emilie had a very long walk around Lille, discovering the city (and the sales!). In the evening again we took things fairly easy. On Tuesday we went to the supermarket to get a few bits and bobs, I showed Emilie how to make drop scones, and later on hosted the GBU (Christian Union) at my flat. I’m sure we did other things that I can’t remember too. She left yesterday morning and is safely back in Besançon, with smelly cheese from the ‘nord’ region!! (Each region in France has its specialities so Emilie wanted to take back some cheese and stuff for her family, and at least one of the cheeses was very pungent and I teased her about it staying in my fridge for a night…still winding her up about it right now in fact, when she reads this!)
Snow
Here are some belated pictures of snowy Lille which were taken in December, except the little snowman, who sat just outside my window yesterday morning. I invited him in, but he declined for fear that his life would be shortened.
Fiona x
The French have a tradition with something called a ‘galette des rois’ to celebrate epiphany. It’s a round, flat-ish pie which is filled with almond paste or apple. Hidden inside the pie is a ‘fève’, a tiny porcelain figure (but I think it can be other things). Some people hold to the tradition that the youngest person present goes under the table to decide who gets which part of the pie so there’s no cheating! When the pie is eaten, someone will come across the fève and they become the king/queen and have to wear a golden paper crown and keep the fève. I’ve been able to join in 3 times with different people and it’s very enjoyable. I even got the fève once!
Emilie’s visit
Saturday morning came around, and with it the visit of my favourite French person. Emilie and I had a brilliant time together. This year we’re mainly speaking French to each other, last year we mainly spoke English. Things always seem to take longer than usual when the pair of us are together, because our talking slows us down. It’s either because of my constant French language stumbling or the fact that we frequently bounce off each other in conversation! Maybe a mixture of the two. She’s very patient with me when I start a sentence to realise that I don’t know most of the vocabulary to finish the sentence! Thankfully she’s seen an improvement in my language since October when we last saw each other.
We went for a walk and chilled out on Saturday, and on Sunday Emilie came to both my churches and we didn’t do a lot in between. After church in the evening we talked to Melanie and Emily (two university friends in Southampton) on Skype with webcams, which was lovely…as if the four of us were in one room again (almost)! Then on Monday we had a relaxed morning before I went off to work and Emilie had a very long walk around Lille, discovering the city (and the sales!). In the evening again we took things fairly easy. On Tuesday we went to the supermarket to get a few bits and bobs, I showed Emilie how to make drop scones, and later on hosted the GBU (Christian Union) at my flat. I’m sure we did other things that I can’t remember too. She left yesterday morning and is safely back in Besançon, with smelly cheese from the ‘nord’ region!! (Each region in France has its specialities so Emilie wanted to take back some cheese and stuff for her family, and at least one of the cheeses was very pungent and I teased her about it staying in my fridge for a night…still winding her up about it right now in fact, when she reads this!)
Snow
Here are some belated pictures of snowy Lille which were taken in December, except the little snowman, who sat just outside my window yesterday morning. I invited him in, but he declined for fear that his life would be shortened.
Fiona x
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Bonne Année 2010!
I had a really good Christmas break after recovering from the initial stress of getting home. It definitely went too quickly in my opinion though! Over the holidays I caught up with some lovely friends in the local area and in London and appreciated the time spent at home with my family and browsing British shops!
I’m cracking into my British food supplies quite a bit this week. Missing home a lot but I think that’s only natural after enjoying twelve days at home in my family and with familiar friends. But going back to school has gone well. I was really pleased to see some eager 11 year-olds accosting me in the canteen earlier to ask me if they were with me today! I had to tell them they weren’t and they protested but soon bounced back and didn’t seem too bothered!
I saw something very strange as I was walking home today – someone had written in the snow on a car bonnet ‘snow sucks’ with a couple of love hearts for good measure! I had to think twice to realise that was a very English phrase on very French soil! I have noticed a LOT of English words about, in speech and in writing, and the French listen to many English songs, but this still surprised me. Was it written by a Frenchman or a native English speaker? I will never know, but these things intrigue me!
Two things that I’ve remembered afresh now I’m back here: 1: The French park anywhere! 2: They cycle in the most impractical clothes/shoes, carrying all manner of objects, come rain, shine or snow!
My friend Emilie is coming to stay from Saturday to Wednesday, and following that two friends from university, Anne and Liz, are coming for the weekend. I can’t wait to see them! Please pray the weather doesn’t stop them all from travelling safely to and from Lille.
Fiona x
I’m cracking into my British food supplies quite a bit this week. Missing home a lot but I think that’s only natural after enjoying twelve days at home in my family and with familiar friends. But going back to school has gone well. I was really pleased to see some eager 11 year-olds accosting me in the canteen earlier to ask me if they were with me today! I had to tell them they weren’t and they protested but soon bounced back and didn’t seem too bothered!
I saw something very strange as I was walking home today – someone had written in the snow on a car bonnet ‘snow sucks’ with a couple of love hearts for good measure! I had to think twice to realise that was a very English phrase on very French soil! I have noticed a LOT of English words about, in speech and in writing, and the French listen to many English songs, but this still surprised me. Was it written by a Frenchman or a native English speaker? I will never know, but these things intrigue me!
Two things that I’ve remembered afresh now I’m back here: 1: The French park anywhere! 2: They cycle in the most impractical clothes/shoes, carrying all manner of objects, come rain, shine or snow!
My friend Emilie is coming to stay from Saturday to Wednesday, and following that two friends from university, Anne and Liz, are coming for the weekend. I can’t wait to see them! Please pray the weather doesn’t stop them all from travelling safely to and from Lille.
Fiona x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)