cheers

In a bit, Beth and I are leaving for London. I'm excited to go, but not necessarily excited to leave here. I found myself really liking Cambridge, which didn't really surprise me but was still a pleasant discovery. It's very international, which I like, plus there's lots of things to discover all over the place. The various colleges within the university are gorgeous, there's green all over even though it is a fairly big city, and there's pubs and shops and a bunch of other little holes-in-the-wall, which have made my time here fun. I do wish it was a bit closer so that I could visit again, but I don't think I'll make it back-there's too many other places to discover.

So over the next few days we'll be exploring London. High on my priority list are Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe (I'm really excited about the latter one). We're going to try to see a show while we're there, but if, what, and when is yet to be determined. Anyhow, I should go finish cramming all my stuff into my bag. I sometimes wish that I was okay with wearing something several days in a row like Europeans, because it would make packing so much easier. Ah well, at least my American self is fresh and clean! ;-p

spot of tea?

Hello from England! That's right, I made it, after a somewhat long and confusing journey. But really, what other way does it ever happen?

Friday night I left Carentan for Ouistreham, where I got on an overnight ferry to Portsmouth, England. I know what you're probably thinking. A ferry? Like I take to Mackinaw Island? You took that across the Channel? I was kind of expecting that myself-a bares bones boat on a slightly larger scale. Nope. The thing was almost like a mini cruise ship. When I first walked on, I was in this lobby type area three stories tall, with hallways jutting off every which way towards cabins and rooms. Upstairs, there were restaurants and stores, and basically a whole slew of things to keep people entertained on our 6-hour ride (they go a bit slower at night, I guess....because they can). I went the cheap route and reserved a reclinable chair, which was actually quite comfortable. There were about 8 rooms with 50 or so chairs in them, and since it wasn't a full boat we were able to spread out all over. I actually slept better than I thought I would, and once during the night I went out on deck to get some air. I couldn't see the water because it was pitch black, but it seemed nice. I'm glad I decided to take the ferry instead of the train, if anything because it was something new and different.

The next part of the journey didn't go quite so well, unfortunately. I had made reservations on a bus (or a coach, as they call long-distances buses here) that would take me from Portsmouth to London for darn cheap. Only problem was that I didn't have a good map, nor was Portsmouth as small or easy to navigate as I had expected. When I first got off the boat, I didn't have any pounds, nor could I seem to find an ATM, so I started walking in the direction of where I thought I should be. Well, a few wrong turns, several conversations with very nice British men, and one ATM stop later, I was still lost. Needless to say, I never found the darn bus. I accepted my defeat and bought a train ticket to Cambridge via London.

Trains in England are just as nice as in France, so I found myself happily cruising along toward London. As I was arriving into the station, I could see the London Eye and some other recognizable sights, which was fun. I went to see what platform my connection was leaving from, and when I didn't see it listed on the board I realized that I needed to go to another train station to catch it. No problem. It was a beautiful day, I'd never been to London before, and there was English all around me. I decided to walk, because it didn't seem too far and I didn't feel like figuring out the Underground right then. The walk turned out to be a little long, but I wasn't in a hurry so I took my time, stopping every now and then when I walked by something fun like Tate Modern or Shakespeare's Globe. Eventually I made it to the station, and luckily a train was leaving a few minutes later, so I hopped on and started thinking about the fun I was going to have in Cambridge with Beth (a friend from UM-we worked together this summer. She's here doing a masters in development studies, in case you're wondering).

Now, I am probably not the only American who sometimes finds British English a bit difficult to understand. Over the train loudspeaker, it's that much harder, so I just kind of tuned it out. A little way into my journey, though, I caught some of what the conductor was saying and realized that about halfway through the ride my train would be replaced by a bus because of work on the rails. Ok, seemed harmless enough. Not so much. The train ride that would have taken 1/2 hour by train took about 1 1/2 hours by bus, after dealing with traffic and random stops and a bus driver that would take a pause for about 5 minutes at every stop we made. It's times like these that I miss the time-driven, fast-paced United States.

Eventually, I made it here and found Beth. She took me to eat and showed me around town. Like Ann Arbor, Cambridge seems to focus around the university, and the environment here is so cool. There's a really diverse population, since students come here from all over the world. There's shops and pubs and things and people everywhere, all through the streets. So far, I'm very impressed.

So, in a bit we're going to church and then to Apple Days at the Botanical Gardens. Tonight I'm going to a wine-tasting thing in Beth's place since she has to work, and tomorrow I'm going to go with her to class, possibly going punting, and then to a dinner at her school. Later this week we're going to head to London for a few days before I leave for Scotland. Oh, I guess I should get going, but I'm already loving my break and in case you're wondering, yes I've had some real British tea!

my name is kristin,

I am twenty-one years old, and I like to read and to watch movies. How many times have I said that in the last two weeks? That is how I make my students introduce themselves, so of course I have to give an example first. The funny thing that I'm starting to notice, though, is that my English is starting to get weird. Sometimes I say things in the wrong order, like my students, and last night on the phone with my mom I was speaking slowly, like I do with my students, even though she speaks English and it doesn't matter. Man oh man.

It's my first day here toute seul (all alone). Evan left this morning. Even though we had talked a lot about it and I watched him pack and everything, it didn't really hit me until I watched him riding way on the train this morning, and I wasn't going with him. Sad. However, right now I'm in the process of booking my trip over break, so that's exciting. I leave for England tomorrow! I decided a night ferry just to see what it's like, so I'll let you know how it goes.

That's it for now. Oh, and thanks for the comments on here-keep 'em coming! It's good to hear from everyone, and I can never have to much American love! :)

bah, oui

From my window, I have an awesome view of the moon tonight. It’s almost full, which is kind of fun. There’s something about full moons and leaves on the ground that makes it really seem like fall. If only I had doughnuts and cider…

On Friday, I got a few welcome additions to my apartment here in Carentan. Anne, one of our contact teachers at the middle school, managed to find both a telephone and a TV for me. So I have a phone, though I still need to finish setting up an account so that it actually works. They go about it in what I consider a pretty asinine way here-I have to know the name of the former resident, so they can reactivate the right account, instead of just setting up a new number and everything. Well, I don’t know their name, so I asked
Anne to call my landlord, because I he talks a lot and I don’t think I would understand him. The teacher who’s lending me a TV also forgot to bring it on Friday, but I hope to have everything and be in business by Tuesday.

My most welcome addition, though, was that my friend Jen came to visit from Caen this weekend! We finally see the Chilean assistant, Yasmin, at school, so we’ve started talking to her and she invited us over for dinner on Friday since her friend Francisca was also visiting from Caen. I think it would be pretty funny to watch a tape of our dinner, though, especially for a French person. Yasmin and Francisca only speak a few words of English, and between Jen, Evan, and I, we speak a few words of Spanish, so we all have to talk in French. I love it, because it gives me a chance to practice without feeling as intimated, since they’re learning too. (Yasmin’s only been studying French for 5 months, and now she’s here-I can’t imagine!) Still, there’s times when we don’t know how to say what we mean, plus I know we’re making mistakes all over the place, plus we don’t always understand what each other is trying to say, so needless to say it made for a pretty interesting evening. Fun times, though, and I can tell that my French is getting better, because I was able to speak much more quickly than normal, and that’s a good sign.

On Saturday, we decided to go on a tour of the D-Day beaches. Evan had really wanted to see them before he left, and the weather was some of the best we’ve seen since we’ve been here, so it worked out perfectly. We took a train to Bayeux, where we got on a bus full of Americans and went to see the American cemetery, Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Utah Beach, and Sainte Mère Eglise. Some of the places I had been to in high school, but I didn’t remember any of them terribly well, except maybe the American cemetery. Our tour guide knew more about World War II than I ever will, so I learned a lot. He did talk a bit more than I would have liked, since I like time to walk around the places on my own, but oh well. It’s almost surreal to imagine what the beaches must have looked like on that day, and actually seeing some of the sites makes you wonder how they ever managed to pull it off. I’m putting some pictures on my site, and I’ll put some stuff I learned on there too. I did find out, though, that Carentan was considered an important occupation town during the war because of it’s position on the main highway, and about 70% of its buildings were destroyed. Unreal.

Today was church, relaxing, and good eating. I just got back from Evan’s, and he was starting to pack, so that was kind of sad. Tomorrow we have to go to some training in St. Lo, and then teaching the rest of the week. Last week before break-I leave for Britain this weekend!!

the sun will come out, tomorrow

Except here in Normandy, where we see the sun about as often as we get locust storms in Michigan. Still, though, something about a good night’s rest and morning tea makes the day that much easier to get through. Today was much better than yesterday, which may be due in part to the fact that I only had one class today, and they were actually quite good. They didn’t really have a lot of questions to ask me, but I can’t blame them, because I wasn’t really interested in talking about myself either. I have lost my ability to come up with activities on the fly, though, so that needs some work.
Evan, however, did not have a better day. He will be leaving next Thursday. As in, going home to Salt Lake City. The selfish part of me is pretty bummed, but I understand. He really hasn’t been that happy since he’s been here, and other stuff is going on at home that he wants to be there for, and it’s just right for him. Life here is going to be much different without him, but I’ll be okay, and he needs to be happy again. We all have to do what’s right for us, and that just means different things for the two of us.
There might be more to say, but I think I’ll wait till next time. So, say a prayer or two for Evan and I, or just keep your fingers crossed if you’re not into that. I think a little home town love might be just what we need right now. :)

momma said there'd be days like these

Today was hard. I’ve been here almost three weeks now, but for some reason today everything just caught up with me and hit me like a ton of bricks. Today was my first day of “teaching,” and in some ways it was very…enlightening. I’m using the term teaching loosely because really we’re there to talk with the students, but we don’t necessarily teach them English in the same way that a teacher would. Today consisted mostly of me talking, answering questions and all that. Let me tell you, I can only talk about myself for so long before I get sick of me. The same questions over and over. “Where do you come from?” “What..um..is your favorite author?” “What do you think of France?” “What do you think of..umm..George Bush?” (giggle giggle) You get the idea. I talked and talked, and I think I’m lucky if any of them understood a quarter of what I said. It was just tough because we’re not supposed to speak French at all, but my instinct all day was to help them understand, and in order to do that, I wanted to explain to them what I meant in a language I knew they would get. My first class was a literary terminale (seniors), so they actually understood most of what I said, and we had some good conversations about cultures and hazing (don’t ask) and stuff. My other two classes, though, were secondes (sophomores), and despite the fact that they’ve been studying English for 5, 6 years, they didn’t get much of what I said. Mostly what I got was confused stares. Essentially, I spent most of my afternoon feeling like an alien. I talked with Evan about his first day, and we seem to feel the same way about our classes. It was just a frustrating experience. I didn’t really know what to expect, and now that I do, I know this class thing is going to be harder than I would have guessed. As we all get used to each other, though, I suppose things will get better. I’m just not used to speaking English s l o w l y and using simple easy words-normally I just speak English without thinking. I know that I felt the same way learning French, but it’s darn tough being on the other side of it and then not even being able to use the native tongue to compensate. Plus, the teacher in me wants so much for them to understand, and we’re just not there yet. Oy.

On a brighter note, I bought some Nutella yesterday that I’ve been downing by the spoonful. I figure if nothing else, there’s always chocolate.

Topless in Paris

Back in Carentan after an eventful weekend. On Thursday, Evan and I left early to get our medical exams in Paris. Since we’re working here for a period of time, we have to become French residents. In order to get our residency cards, though, we have to work our way through a lot of “housekeeping,” as UM professors like to call it, since becoming a resident means paying into the French tax system and getting insurance and all that stuff. It seems as though they scheduled a number of people in our academy on the same day, so we ended up meeting quite a few assistants in Paris. I think it’s stupid that every assistant has to go to Paris for this exam, though. We’re only three hours from Paris, but some people in the South are a good 8-10 hours by train. Not cheap, or practical, especially for what we get paid.
Anyhow, the exam itself was pretty silly. When they call your name, you walk in, a woman gives you a sheet and asks if you wear glasses, and if you’re female, if you’re “waiting for something.” Um, no. Then you get an eye test and weighed and all that good stuff. After that, though, comes what was by far the best part: the chest x-ray. Each person goes into a little stall, which pretty much work like the ones at a race track. You go in, lock the door, strip completely down on your top half, and then stand there all cold and awkward. After a bit, the doctor knocks on the door, you say ok, and he opens it, takes your x-ray, and then sends you back to your stall to put your clothes back on. So it’s a bit less exciting and quite a bit more awkward than a horse race, but it would be an interesting thing to put bets on, eh? From there it’s just a set of questions and answers, although my doctor made us strip down again to get blood pressure and listen to my breathing. Shirt off, shirt on, shirt off, shirt on. Apparently pulling my sleeve up wouldn’t have been good enough. It was also funny because she started the questions in English, then switched halfway through when she found out I spoke French. That seems to be the common thing here. Some man on the street in Paris stopped and offered to help when he saw that we had a map out, then was impressed when we spoke to him in French. I guess it’s better than being annoyed at our accents.
After hanging out in Paris a little while, we headed with my friend Jen back to Caen, where we were staying for the weekend. Caen is a bigger city, a university town actually, and definitely has much more going on than my little Carentan. It was good to be around people again, and we ate really well the whole time we were there. I suppose anything’s better than mashed potatoes and tuna. (Don’t worry, things will be different starting this week. Evan already had to put two extra holes in his belt, and my pants are definitely a bit looser, so we both have to put some weight back on. We plan to bbq tomorrow, so that should help!)
The highlight of the weekend was by far our trip to the beach on Saturday. It was beautiful out, so we decided to head to the coast. We ended up at Ouistreham (or Sword Beach, for you history buffs). It was absolutely gorgeous, and I was so happy to be by the water. The perfection of the day was only slightly tainted by the fact that we missed the last bus back, but luckily we got to take an expensive cab ride back to town with a cabbie who also appreciated our French and refused to believe we were American (because no Americans can speak French, right?) Pictures are up on my photo page, and they pretty much speak for themselves, beginning to end. Which reminds me, I plan to take pictures of my place sometime this week, since I finally got the last of my decorations on the wall. Check for those soon too.
I don’t teach tomorrow, but we’re going to go to both schools to finish some administrative stuff. Tomorrow’s market day too, which means it’s also sausage sandwich lunch day! These are the things I look forward to around here. Really, though, this place means business. The people I buy from have two first place trophies, which translates to “darn good sausage.” Mmmm…..

no longer homeless...

I officially have an address in France! After seeing 5 different apartments and lots of deliberation, I ended up taking the first studio we looked at, and Evan took the last one. Mine is small, but clean and cute. It’s pretty much a hallway, with a little kitchenette, a nice size bathroom, and another room at the end where I sleep and do pretty much everything else. I’ll post pictures of it soon. I’m so relieved to have somewhere of my own to go, but what a pain to figure out. Our contact teacher was so great though. He made all the appointments, came with us to all the viewings and signings, made sure we understood everything that was going on. I know he’s just as relieved that we have places to live. So now I have to do some more paperwork stuff to get the rent subsidized, since my salary is so small, and to get a phone set up and all that.
We spent most of this weekend getting settled and enjoying the fact that we finally live here. This morning Evan and I went to church, which was really cool. We went and found it yesterday, and the pastor was there with his wife and one of his daughters. They invited us in and we talked to them for a bit. It’s a really small church-I think there was about 20 people there this morning. France, and really most of Europe, is by tradition Catholic, but very few people are actually practicing Catholics, even though nearly everyone would call themselves Catholic if asked. Protestant churches are tough to come by, and people who actually go to church are even fewer. The church here is so small that it has a really family-orientated atmosphere; everyone knows each other and they hang out together most of Sunday. In fact, we were there for over 5 hours today. The service lasted awhile, and as it was starting Pastor Vogel, or Uwe (pronounced o-va: they’re German) asked us to introduce ourselves and tell everyone where we were from and what we’re doing here, etc. It was also interesting because they must of prayed for us about 5 times during the service, giving thanks for us being here and asking that we have good experiences in France. After the service, everyone eats lunch together. Four courses, and everything was amazing!! Evan and I haven’t eaten like that in quite awhile. There are actually four British couples who go there, some of whom have moved to France and some who vacation here. I talked with them quite a bit during the meal. There was also a really nice younger German couple that we talked to, who speak German, English, and French. I wish I was that good! The woman, Daniela, has lived here for 8 years and was nice enough to speak to me in French so I could practice. Afterward, she gave us their address so we could call and come visit them when we want to get away for awhile. It was so wonderful to be in a place where people were so welcoming and happy to see us there. It’s nice to have a church to go to here, and to have such a cool way to improve my French, both during the service and talking to people there. It was a really good day.
It’s still amazing to me how nice everyone is here. On Friday, when Evan signed on his apartment, his landlord took us back to his house to give Evan sheets and stuff, and also sent us away with tons of apples-a huge bag apiece. What landlords do that at home? Yesterday, our contact teacher and his wife came to visit me, and then took me to their house to give me everything I needed for my apartment-sheets, plates, etc. He has the flu and they were on their way home from the doctor, plus their daughter was visiting with her family, yet they wanted to make sure I was taken care of. Today, we went to do laundry, and these two really nice ladies came in to dry their clothes (most people have washers here, but few have dryers-too expensive) and took their clothes out early, giving us their dryer with 10 minutes left. These might all seem like small things, but they seem incredibly generous to me, being so far from home. I would say that I’ve experienced just the opposite of anti-American sentiment. When people learn that I’m from the U.S., they want to take me under their wing and help me out. It probably has something to with the fact that I’m in Normandy, and they have a tendency to support the U.S. more because of WWII, but still. In fact, the other thing I think is funny is that no one has yet guessed that we’re American here. We get British all the time, and Canadian and German once, but never American. Not sure why.
Another long entry. If you made it this far, thanks-when I don’t write all the time, I write a lot. More to come later. Today is the first day of "work" for us and I’m sure I’ll have lots to say.