As I went out to meet some other fellow assistants on Sunday, typically the laziest day of the week in France, I had no idea that I would be witnessing a Christmas celebration unlike any other I have ever seen. The day started innocently enough, with me inviting a few friends to share a coffee before we all went on our separate ways for the holidays. So around 2:30, we met down by the port, and searched for a cafe to relax in.
This was where the fun began. Normally, Sunday is a quiet day here in Vannes. Few businesses, if any, are open and the streets are quiet. However, this being the Sunday before Christmas, it was not your usual Sunday. Already, I knew something was up as I walked to the port. When I passed city hall, there was a large outdoor ice skating rink that had been set up and was slowly melting away under the heat of the sun and the hundreds of children skating over it. Down by the port, the holiday festivities continued, with a makeshift putt putt course, various wooden children's games such as a form of wooden air hockey, and Christmas carolers. But the best surprise of all was a giant wooden, mechanical camel, some twenty feet tall, that paraded through the streets with Santa on his back. Now, I don't know if the French missed the memo about Santa's reindeer, but whatever the case may be, this camel was certainly big enough to haul Santa's sleigh all by himself.
The rest of the day was spent fighting through the crowds, as it seemed every resident of Vannes had made their way to the port to get a glimpse of this monstrous camel. Along the way, we passed multiple puppet shows, an ice sculptor, and eventually found ourselves waiting an hour in line for a taste of "chichi", which is basically a funnel cake type doughnut. And it was totally worth it. If you have ever had chichi, or funnel cake for that matter, you understand. So what commenced as a simple afternoon coffee, turned into a full day of Christmas miracles!
As you can probably guess by now, I am officially on vacation and have been since my last class on Thursday evening. I was tempted to post right when I got home, just to brag about finishing my work, but now I am glad I held off so that I could share this experience with you all. Unfortunately, me being the genius that I am, one who always learns from his mistakes, I failed to bring my camera with me to the port on Sunday. So I cannot visually share this day with you as I would like, and it is up to you to use your imagination to picture this camel. But it's good for you, imagination exercises the brain.
Tomorrow is my last day in Vannes, and then I am off for a big ten day trip for Christmas and New Years. First, I will be heading to London to spend Christmas and Boxing Day with my sister, Gabe, brother-in-law, Dave, and his family. Afterwards, I will be taking a bus to Brussels, where I will stay with my friend Ophir for four days and ring in the new year at his home! So with that, I will be leaving you until 2012. Have a safe and happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years! Till next year.
Tommy
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Validated, just in time for the holidays
As you can see from my title, the Christmas holidays here are fast approaching. Now, this is not to be confused with winter break, as that happens in February. It might sound like the same thing, and if I was living in America, you would be right; but here, those are two separate vacations. So as I write to you on this Monday evening, I have three more days of work and then I am officially on holiday until school returns on January 3rd. In addition, I write to you tonight as a fully legal French resident, as of this past Thursday.
How did I obtain this honor? On Thursday I traveled to Rennes, which is the biggest city in Bretagne and the capital of the region. I was summoned to the French Office of Immigration and Integration, where I was thoroughly examined by a doctor and deemed to be fit and healthy enough to reside in France. This meant checking my immunization record, doing the usual tests that one gets at a physical, and randomly enough, taking a lung x-ray. Once this was all completed, my passport was labeled and my visa officially validated, enabling me to stay in France for the rest of my contract.
Since I was attending a compulsory appointment in Rennes I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the city. I took a very early train and stayed much later than I needed so that I would have a full day to get my tourist urges out. The city reminded me of a smaller version of Lyon, where I lived two years ago in the opposite corner of France. Both are not nearly as large as Paris, yet each has its own metro system and is by all definitions a bustling city. However, Rennes is unique because of its wooden architecture. The buildings in the original city were all made of wood from the forests nearby, and while there was a huge fire in 1720 that destroyed much of the city, some of its wooden structures remain. The pictures posted on this blog are all from my day in Rennes.
In addition to walking the beaten tourist path in town, I stumbled upon a few holiday surprises. Two markets attracted my attention during the day; one was an artist's exposition, with anything from wooden to glass masterpieces while another was a traditional Christmas market. Most of my time was spent at the Christmas market, where I actually had a chance of affording what was being sold, which was mainly food for me. And I did not resist. I also did not want to miss a chance to buy myself a present, so I am now a part of the world of owners of cool Nepalese hats. For those of you left out, these are basically large beanies that cover your ears and have strings to tie at the bottom.
My holiday spirit was revved up a bit today at school as I showed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to a class. While they may not have understood much of what was said, I thoroughly enjoyed reliving my childhood. I forgot just how much of Dr. Seuss' writing is not actually English and is hard enough to understand when you are a native speaker. Nonetheless, the movie is easy enough to follow, and they enjoyed this taste of American pop culture.
My computer clock, still set on Eastern time for no good reason, tells me it is 12:40 pm which means it is time for me to make dinner here. So I leave you with those anecdotes, and I will check back in one more time before I leave for my holiday travels!
A bientot
T.A.B.
How did I obtain this honor? On Thursday I traveled to Rennes, which is the biggest city in Bretagne and the capital of the region. I was summoned to the French Office of Immigration and Integration, where I was thoroughly examined by a doctor and deemed to be fit and healthy enough to reside in France. This meant checking my immunization record, doing the usual tests that one gets at a physical, and randomly enough, taking a lung x-ray. Once this was all completed, my passport was labeled and my visa officially validated, enabling me to stay in France for the rest of my contract.
Since I was attending a compulsory appointment in Rennes I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the city. I took a very early train and stayed much later than I needed so that I would have a full day to get my tourist urges out. The city reminded me of a smaller version of Lyon, where I lived two years ago in the opposite corner of France. Both are not nearly as large as Paris, yet each has its own metro system and is by all definitions a bustling city. However, Rennes is unique because of its wooden architecture. The buildings in the original city were all made of wood from the forests nearby, and while there was a huge fire in 1720 that destroyed much of the city, some of its wooden structures remain. The pictures posted on this blog are all from my day in Rennes.
In addition to walking the beaten tourist path in town, I stumbled upon a few holiday surprises. Two markets attracted my attention during the day; one was an artist's exposition, with anything from wooden to glass masterpieces while another was a traditional Christmas market. Most of my time was spent at the Christmas market, where I actually had a chance of affording what was being sold, which was mainly food for me. And I did not resist. I also did not want to miss a chance to buy myself a present, so I am now a part of the world of owners of cool Nepalese hats. For those of you left out, these are basically large beanies that cover your ears and have strings to tie at the bottom.
My holiday spirit was revved up a bit today at school as I showed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to a class. While they may not have understood much of what was said, I thoroughly enjoyed reliving my childhood. I forgot just how much of Dr. Seuss' writing is not actually English and is hard enough to understand when you are a native speaker. Nonetheless, the movie is easy enough to follow, and they enjoyed this taste of American pop culture.
My computer clock, still set on Eastern time for no good reason, tells me it is 12:40 pm which means it is time for me to make dinner here. So I leave you with those anecdotes, and I will check back in one more time before I leave for my holiday travels!
A bientot
T.A.B.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Post-birthday blues
This week's post comes at you from the other side of my 23rd birthday. It has been a few weeks since my last entry, and for that I truly am sorry. I had no intention of leaving you all hanging for so long, waiting with bated breath for the next installment of my tales, like, for example, the Walking Dead series finale. The past few weeks have been rather busy, but now time slows down for the next two weeks as I grind out the end of this semester of school.
As I wrote in my last post, I took a long weekend trip to Rome two weeks ago, where I met up with my friend Haley. This was a fantastic weekend, although it did have the obvious side-effect of making returning to school that much more difficult. I left Vannes on Wednesday, spent a night in Paris, and then flew to Rome on Thursday and returned Sunday. All in all, a whirlwind weekend, filled with scrumptious pizza, pasta, paninis, and, best of all, enough real-life history to satisfy a history major's cravings. From the Colosseum, to the Roman Forum, and of course, the Vatican, I was constantly trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing. As a result, this weekend, the one directly before my birthday, upstaged my excitement for my birthday weekend-but that should in no way be considered a complaint.
Now, I am sure you all are well aware that my birthday was last Friday, the 25th, and that you celebrated accordingly back home. If not, I will safely assume that while you may call the feast you ate on Thursday 'Thanksgiving,' it was in fact a giving of thanks for my arrival into this world. At any rate, my birthday was also filled with amazing food and good friends. I had a visitor-my friend Abby from Paris-as well as an Indian dinner with Francoise and a few other assistants here in Vannes. Meanwhile on Saturday we all celebrated Thanksgiving, and yours truly felt it his duty to out-eat everyone present. While the idea certainly seemed entirely logical and warranted at the time, three hours later, when none of this food had been digested, I began to question my decision. Still, the evening was a great success, and I was truly thankful to have a Thanksgiving celebration here in France.
Now for a quick beard update: many of you may have seen photos of me since my arrival here, and you will note that I have been growing out my facial hair. While most of the early reactions were quite positive, lately the mood has changed; rather than encouraging remarks about the beard, I received many polite expressions of dismay at the length that it had become. So with that in mind, my parents were kind enough to give me a set of clippers for my birthday, complete with more attachments, extensions, moving parts and capes than I know what to do with. But the bottom line is that I have trimmed back my facial hair extensively, with Abby's help, so that I hope it pleases the doubters out there. I will do my best to keep it in line.
This week at school I had another great cultural experience. On Tuesday I ate lunch at the school restaurant with the English teachers, the Assistant Principal and the Principal. This restaurant is where all of the cooking and serving students work and is open to the public. It is similar to getting a haircut at a beauty school, in that you get the quality and experience of eating at a fine restaurant for a fraction of the price. For less than 8 euros, I had an aperatif, fresh oysters, a delicious fried fish entree with salad, and a coffee. Of course, the experience means one must eat with the required etiquette, which was a bit foreign to me. A good portion of my meal was spent sharpening my peripheral vision to check out what my fellow diners were doing. But I made it through the meal without any faux-pas, and now I can add that to my list of experiences.
On the same day at school, I had what I consider to be a very typical French experience, though not nearly as positive. My classes finished at 5:30, which is the last hour of class for everyone. So naturally, I left my backpack in the teacher's lounge, as myself and other teachers do everyday, expecting to pick it up after class and leave. Only the school did not have the same plans, and they found it entirely logical to lock the doors to the teacher's lounge at the end of class before I had a chance to walk there from my classroom. However I am becoming a pro at handling these kinds of detours, as they seem to happen quite often here. Rather than get angry, I managed to find the one lady in the entire school with keys to the building. One person with access to the room, but again, why should that be surprising here? Luckily, I caught her just before she was on her way out, and persuaded her that my bag was indeed important enough to unlock the door again. So, no harm no foul, I left school that day with everything I came with, and a new anecdote to tell to you all!
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| Sistine chapel ceiling..shh don't report me |
Well, as this blog is dragging on, I will wrap it up with a glimpse of what is to come. I hope to spend this weekend booking travel plans for Christmas break. While the details are still up in the air, I will be heading to London to see Gabe, Dave, and his family for the holiday, with hopefully an extension of the trip either before or after they leave. More on that to come, once all is booked. Keep it real everyone, Go DAWGS this weekend, and enjoy the link I am posting below to my last article for National Geographic.
A plus friends,
Tommy
Tommy
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Writing, writing, and more writing
Salut faithful readers,
My adventures this week are not nearly as exciting as those reported last week, where I recounted my life story-well, just the October vacation part-in as many words as possible. And then followed that up with another anecdote explaining my new writing gig. Really, most of my work this week concerned my correspondence with National Geographic.
As a bit of future background for you, I should explain that next weekend I am going to Rome! I leave Wednesday afternoon for Paris, where I will stay with my friend Abby at her new apartment. Then on Thursday morning bright and early I catch a flight to Rome, where I will spend the weekend travelling with another friend from my October vacation, Haley. So, what with my week being cut in half, I had to prepare extra articles this past week so that I don't have to spend my first trip in Italy on my computer, researching and writing in French. That would be a slight buzz kill, in every sense of the term.
I ended up preparing three articles this week. One was posted on the website yesterday. It is about a class at my school that is travelling to Senegal to complete a two year project, where they created tricycles for handicap Senegalese children and now have the opportunity to present them face to face. I will post the link to this article below, so if you did not get enough of me in English you can read even more from me in French! Or at least check out my new photo for the website. The other articles I will not reveal here, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for you. Looks like you'll just have to keep checking back for updates.
Now you might be wondering, with all of this time and energy spent on researching, interviewing, and writing for a National Geographic position that is not my actual job, do I spend time working at all on teaching? And the answer is yes...but not as much as you might think. This is through no fault of my own; you see, half of my classes were cancelled this week due to various teacher absences, few of which I knew of ahead of time. So while this freed up additional time for me, I mostly spent it working on writing anyway. However, I am excited for a new project in two of my classes, where the students will be studying different aspects of their own choosing of American culture. Some topics include cinema, sports, food, presidents, etc., and they will be writing letters to various sources in the United States for information. It should be fun to hear what their take on American culture is when they have finished.
I witnessed an amazing cultural experience here this week. On Tuesday, I was invited to a wine and cheese tasting adult education class, which is normally quite expensive but I attended for free. The teacher works at my school, and is an incredibly friendly and gracious host. So I learned more about wine on Tuesday night than all my other nights, ever, combined. And this was the whole French experience; observing the color first, then smelling the wine to determine its composition, then swirling the glass and smelling again, to finally tasting it, with and without cheese. I have never felt so French in my life, and I can say it was one of the coolest things that I have had the pleasure of doing since I arrived. A close second was seeing the Adventures of Tin-Tin last night; the movie is a Spielberg film that is yet to be released in America, so ha! I saw a movie before you all! Never mind that it was dubbed over in French...but the animation is incredible, and I would recommend seeing it when you slow pokes back home have the opportunity. So that's all for now, quite enough I am sure, and hopefully the next time I write will be post-Italia!
Here is this week's National Geographic article: http://www.nationalgeographic.fr/actualite/un-americain-a-vannes-episode-2-voyage-en-afrique/7912054/
That's all folks
Tommy
My adventures this week are not nearly as exciting as those reported last week, where I recounted my life story-well, just the October vacation part-in as many words as possible. And then followed that up with another anecdote explaining my new writing gig. Really, most of my work this week concerned my correspondence with National Geographic.
As a bit of future background for you, I should explain that next weekend I am going to Rome! I leave Wednesday afternoon for Paris, where I will stay with my friend Abby at her new apartment. Then on Thursday morning bright and early I catch a flight to Rome, where I will spend the weekend travelling with another friend from my October vacation, Haley. So, what with my week being cut in half, I had to prepare extra articles this past week so that I don't have to spend my first trip in Italy on my computer, researching and writing in French. That would be a slight buzz kill, in every sense of the term.
I ended up preparing three articles this week. One was posted on the website yesterday. It is about a class at my school that is travelling to Senegal to complete a two year project, where they created tricycles for handicap Senegalese children and now have the opportunity to present them face to face. I will post the link to this article below, so if you did not get enough of me in English you can read even more from me in French! Or at least check out my new photo for the website. The other articles I will not reveal here, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for you. Looks like you'll just have to keep checking back for updates.
Now you might be wondering, with all of this time and energy spent on researching, interviewing, and writing for a National Geographic position that is not my actual job, do I spend time working at all on teaching? And the answer is yes...but not as much as you might think. This is through no fault of my own; you see, half of my classes were cancelled this week due to various teacher absences, few of which I knew of ahead of time. So while this freed up additional time for me, I mostly spent it working on writing anyway. However, I am excited for a new project in two of my classes, where the students will be studying different aspects of their own choosing of American culture. Some topics include cinema, sports, food, presidents, etc., and they will be writing letters to various sources in the United States for information. It should be fun to hear what their take on American culture is when they have finished.
I witnessed an amazing cultural experience here this week. On Tuesday, I was invited to a wine and cheese tasting adult education class, which is normally quite expensive but I attended for free. The teacher works at my school, and is an incredibly friendly and gracious host. So I learned more about wine on Tuesday night than all my other nights, ever, combined. And this was the whole French experience; observing the color first, then smelling the wine to determine its composition, then swirling the glass and smelling again, to finally tasting it, with and without cheese. I have never felt so French in my life, and I can say it was one of the coolest things that I have had the pleasure of doing since I arrived. A close second was seeing the Adventures of Tin-Tin last night; the movie is a Spielberg film that is yet to be released in America, so ha! I saw a movie before you all! Never mind that it was dubbed over in French...but the animation is incredible, and I would recommend seeing it when you slow pokes back home have the opportunity. So that's all for now, quite enough I am sure, and hopefully the next time I write will be post-Italia!
Here is this week's National Geographic article: http://www.nationalgeographic.fr/actualite/un-americain-a-vannes-episode-2-voyage-en-afrique/7912054/
That's all folks
Tommy
Friday, November 4, 2011
National Geographic comes calling
Just in case you did not get enough of me yesterday, I am back once again to whet your appetite for more information from France. Now, I know what you are thinking-how could I possibly have more to say? Well, trust me, this will be short, but it is important to me so I want to share it with you all.
In my haste to describe the past two weeks, I left out one major detail from my trip in Paris. While there I had the chance to meet with Francois Marot, the editor of National Geographic France. Many thanks to Ann Woolner for helping facilitate this rendez-vous. Monsieur Marot offered me the incredible opportunity to become the magazine's American correspondent in Brittany. This means that every week I will post a short article to the website, focusing on the many amazing cultural and intellectual facets of French society that I discover during my time here. I am so thankful for this chance, and while I do have to write in French, which is a work in progress, I am excited for the opportunity.
So, my first article is up on the website, and I wanted to post the link here for those that are interested. It is written in French, but at the least you can see my beautiful photo (which will eventually be replaced with a better one, hard to believe I know) and see my name printed at the bottom. And for those ambitious ones out there, I imagine a quick Google translate will allow you to get the jist of the article. This first one is about Ultimate Frisbee in France; surprising I know, that I would write about Frisbee, but as it is relatively unknown here I figured it was a good starting point. Well hope you enjoy, and in the future a new article will be posted every Friday to the website. If you go to nationalgeographic.fr, then click on the link actualites, you will see the headline posted.
http://www.nationalgeographic.fr/actualite/un-americain-a-vannes-episode-1-lultimate/7911892/
Your friendly American-Brittany correspondent
In my haste to describe the past two weeks, I left out one major detail from my trip in Paris. While there I had the chance to meet with Francois Marot, the editor of National Geographic France. Many thanks to Ann Woolner for helping facilitate this rendez-vous. Monsieur Marot offered me the incredible opportunity to become the magazine's American correspondent in Brittany. This means that every week I will post a short article to the website, focusing on the many amazing cultural and intellectual facets of French society that I discover during my time here. I am so thankful for this chance, and while I do have to write in French, which is a work in progress, I am excited for the opportunity.
So, my first article is up on the website, and I wanted to post the link here for those that are interested. It is written in French, but at the least you can see my beautiful photo (which will eventually be replaced with a better one, hard to believe I know) and see my name printed at the bottom. And for those ambitious ones out there, I imagine a quick Google translate will allow you to get the jist of the article. This first one is about Ultimate Frisbee in France; surprising I know, that I would write about Frisbee, but as it is relatively unknown here I figured it was a good starting point. Well hope you enjoy, and in the future a new article will be posted every Friday to the website. If you go to nationalgeographic.fr, then click on the link actualites, you will see the headline posted.
http://www.nationalgeographic.fr/actualite/un-americain-a-vannes-episode-1-lultimate/7911892/
Your friendly American-Brittany correspondent
Back to School
Hello all,
For those of you following my blog, you may have noticed that there has been a longer break than usual between posts. I know you have been anxiously awaiting my return, and here I am ready to cure your misery and keep you waiting no longer. It has been an eventful two weeks for me, as I had my first French school vacation and used it go to some nearby attractions in Brittany as well as a four day excursion to Paris.
The beginning of my hard-earned holiday was a one day trip to L'Ile de Groix, an island accessible by ferry from the town of Lorient, which is a half-hour train ride from Vannes. So yours truly woke up at 5:30 am on a Saturday morning-shocking for those of you that know my sleeping talents-and caught the 6:30 train to Lorient. Though at the time I was seriously debating the merits of my decision to unravel myself from my cozy comforter, I can now say that this was one of the best decisions I have made since my arrival in France. The island was absolutely gorgeous; wonderful hiking and bike trails all over, soaring cliffs, crashing waves, and clear blue water. This kind of environment is one of my all-time favorites to see, as the coast here is so different than anything one finds in Georgia or Florida. Needless to say, I had way too much fun taking pictures and finding the inner photographer in me. After more than ten miles of hiking and several wrong turns, I made it back to my apartment exhausted but totally satisfied with my day.
The next big trip I took was to that city featured in the movie Ratatouille: Paris. Whereas my first trip was a solo adventure, this one was made with the company of two old friends, one from camp-Haley, and one from my previous study abroad experience in France-Abby. It was fantastic to see the city for a second time and travel with such good company; in addition to seeing the most popular sites-Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower-we also visited Montmartre. This area instantly became my favorite part of the city. It is famous for its art, as many of the world's most celebrated painters resided here at one point or another. It also houses Sacre Coeur, a beautiful church that provides a fantastic view of the city, as well as one street performer who can not only juggle a soccer ball in any way imaginable, but can do it while hanging like a monkey forty feet in the air from a street pole. And that is no exaggeration; I have pictures to prove it. I can also honestly say that the Eiffel Tower is tall. Perhaps that is the most obvious statement I will ever post in this blog, but the immense height of the tower cannot be understated when you are standing on the top. The soccer team that practiced below us resembled a game of FIFA, where the players are so tiny they hardly look real.
As if the memories of Paris were not enough, my hotel also felt compelled to leave me with one last parting souvenir of my vacation. They sent me on my way with my own collection of microscopic pets. These pets take care of themselves, and they always say hello every now and again just to make sure you don't forget about them. That's right, for those of you bewildered by this reference, that means they sent me home with bedbugs! What would a European experience be without these guys? So the last few days have seen a complete decontamination of myself and my apartment; I am talking an all out war, me and Francoise on one side, and an army of unseen beasts on the other. I am confident though that I will win, and your words of support will be much appreciated.
I also went with Francoise, my ally and teacher/mentor, to the largest used boat show in Europe on Monday. Sailboats, motorboats, kayaks, canoes, you name a boat, and it is there. Pick any kind of boat-related merchandise, or non boat-related merchandise for that matter, and it is for sale. Now, I am not much of a shopper, and I am not easily persuaded to spend money on clothing frivolously; but on this occasion, I did buy a new scarf and nearly splurged on a jacket. This time, it was Francoise who talked sense into me and persuaded me that a jacket that shows my belly button with arms raised into the air is probably not the best investment. So my hunt for a new winter jacket continues.
Finally, as I know this post is dragging on, I will quickly explain how today showed both the best and worst sides of my experience in France. On the one hand today was supposed to be my first day back at work after the holidays, but all of my classes were cancelled. Since I don't work Fridays, this means that I end up not having my first classes until Monday. However, on the flip side, none of this was planned. So I showed up at work today, ready for four different classes having prepared presentations for each of them. One by one, I discovered that none of my classes were happening today for various reasons. The common thread unifying these cancellations was a lack of communication to me, so that I had no idea until I arrived at school today. But understand, I am not complaining too much as I now have a four day weekend and no class until Monday.
Well that about does it for the first blog of my second month in France. I have now established a new blog record in length, and I hope you made it out to the end alive, and not quite as tired as me. Hope to post again soon, and until the next time, ciao
Tommy
For those of you following my blog, you may have noticed that there has been a longer break than usual between posts. I know you have been anxiously awaiting my return, and here I am ready to cure your misery and keep you waiting no longer. It has been an eventful two weeks for me, as I had my first French school vacation and used it go to some nearby attractions in Brittany as well as a four day excursion to Paris.
 |
| L'Ile de Groix |
The next big trip I took was to that city featured in the movie Ratatouille: Paris. Whereas my first trip was a solo adventure, this one was made with the company of two old friends, one from camp-Haley, and one from my previous study abroad experience in France-Abby. It was fantastic to see the city for a second time and travel with such good company; in addition to seeing the most popular sites-Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower-we also visited Montmartre. This area instantly became my favorite part of the city. It is famous for its art, as many of the world's most celebrated painters resided here at one point or another. It also houses Sacre Coeur, a beautiful church that provides a fantastic view of the city, as well as one street performer who can not only juggle a soccer ball in any way imaginable, but can do it while hanging like a monkey forty feet in the air from a street pole. And that is no exaggeration; I have pictures to prove it. I can also honestly say that the Eiffel Tower is tall. Perhaps that is the most obvious statement I will ever post in this blog, but the immense height of the tower cannot be understated when you are standing on the top. The soccer team that practiced below us resembled a game of FIFA, where the players are so tiny they hardly look real.
 |
| Notre Dame |
I also went with Francoise, my ally and teacher/mentor, to the largest used boat show in Europe on Monday. Sailboats, motorboats, kayaks, canoes, you name a boat, and it is there. Pick any kind of boat-related merchandise, or non boat-related merchandise for that matter, and it is for sale. Now, I am not much of a shopper, and I am not easily persuaded to spend money on clothing frivolously; but on this occasion, I did buy a new scarf and nearly splurged on a jacket. This time, it was Francoise who talked sense into me and persuaded me that a jacket that shows my belly button with arms raised into the air is probably not the best investment. So my hunt for a new winter jacket continues.
Finally, as I know this post is dragging on, I will quickly explain how today showed both the best and worst sides of my experience in France. On the one hand today was supposed to be my first day back at work after the holidays, but all of my classes were cancelled. Since I don't work Fridays, this means that I end up not having my first classes until Monday. However, on the flip side, none of this was planned. So I showed up at work today, ready for four different classes having prepared presentations for each of them. One by one, I discovered that none of my classes were happening today for various reasons. The common thread unifying these cancellations was a lack of communication to me, so that I had no idea until I arrived at school today. But understand, I am not complaining too much as I now have a four day weekend and no class until Monday.
Well that about does it for the first blog of my second month in France. I have now established a new blog record in length, and I hope you made it out to the end alive, and not quite as tired as me. Hope to post again soon, and until the next time, ciao
Tommy
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| My new ride |
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| See, I'm not lying-incredible soccer dude |
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| Eiffel 65 |
Friday, October 21, 2011
When you're living in a Vannes, down by the river
Hello all
After three weeks of hard work, I am currently enjoying the first day of what will be a twelve day vacation from school. In France when one goes on vacation, one really goes on vacation. Rather than the American style, where you would have a three or four day weekend here or there to break up the monotony of the school calendar, the French system is much more consolidated. Just put all of those days together, throw in a few extra for good measure, and you have a recipe for a wonderful break. This particular holiday is called the "Vacances de Toussaint," as Toussaint (All Saints' Day) is on November 1st and falls toward the end of the break. It is a glorified fall break, halfway through the semester; so for those UGA students who remember what it was like to have both Thursday and Friday off for Georgia-Florida weekend and are still bitter over the loss of Thursday, just think that if you worked here you could start your pregame festivities an entire week before the game. And then continue for another five days after, regardless of the outcome.
So I decided to kick off my fall break with one of the most daring things I will ever do while I am here. I got my haircut. You may think I am exaggerating, but my last haircut in France officially ended my four year foray into the world of long, shoulder-length hair. Though it was probably a move for the best, at the time it was completely unintentional, unplanned, and ruined my confidence in foreign hair cutters.
I can proudly say that I not only survived my second French haircut, but came out of it positively impressed...well, at least I was not running home with my head in a hood this time. It may not quite meet the standards of say, Mr. Haircut in Athens, but it comes close enough that I know where I will go when it is time to do battle again.
Tomorrow marks the first of what I hope will be many exciting adventures and new experiences over this vacation. I have a trip planned to a beautiful island called L'Ile de Groix that is close to Vannes and is only accessible by ferry. Next week, I will be in Paris for four days, taking in the sights and seeing a couple of friends. After all of that, I still have five days left on break, with which I hope to do some sailing around Vannes, as well as a few other day trips to some incredible spots in Brittany. More on all that later, as it is time for me to hit the sack before I start my journey with a 5:30 am wake up call.
Salut
Tommy
p.s. A special thanks to Dave for credit where he knows is due
After three weeks of hard work, I am currently enjoying the first day of what will be a twelve day vacation from school. In France when one goes on vacation, one really goes on vacation. Rather than the American style, where you would have a three or four day weekend here or there to break up the monotony of the school calendar, the French system is much more consolidated. Just put all of those days together, throw in a few extra for good measure, and you have a recipe for a wonderful break. This particular holiday is called the "Vacances de Toussaint," as Toussaint (All Saints' Day) is on November 1st and falls toward the end of the break. It is a glorified fall break, halfway through the semester; so for those UGA students who remember what it was like to have both Thursday and Friday off for Georgia-Florida weekend and are still bitter over the loss of Thursday, just think that if you worked here you could start your pregame festivities an entire week before the game. And then continue for another five days after, regardless of the outcome.
So I decided to kick off my fall break with one of the most daring things I will ever do while I am here. I got my haircut. You may think I am exaggerating, but my last haircut in France officially ended my four year foray into the world of long, shoulder-length hair. Though it was probably a move for the best, at the time it was completely unintentional, unplanned, and ruined my confidence in foreign hair cutters.
I can proudly say that I not only survived my second French haircut, but came out of it positively impressed...well, at least I was not running home with my head in a hood this time. It may not quite meet the standards of say, Mr. Haircut in Athens, but it comes close enough that I know where I will go when it is time to do battle again.
Tomorrow marks the first of what I hope will be many exciting adventures and new experiences over this vacation. I have a trip planned to a beautiful island called L'Ile de Groix that is close to Vannes and is only accessible by ferry. Next week, I will be in Paris for four days, taking in the sights and seeing a couple of friends. After all of that, I still have five days left on break, with which I hope to do some sailing around Vannes, as well as a few other day trips to some incredible spots in Brittany. More on all that later, as it is time for me to hit the sack before I start my journey with a 5:30 am wake up call.
Salut
Tommy
p.s. A special thanks to Dave for credit where he knows is due
Friday, October 14, 2011
Live from Joan of Arc Street
Good evening ladies and gents,
This edition of "Where in the World is Me" comes from rue Jeanne d'Arc, which translates to Joan of Arc street for all of you uni-lingual English speakers. Rue Jeanne d'Arc is the street that I live on, and I am currently writing from my bed in my studio. Which means, as you may have put two and two together by now, that I finally have internet access here! It is a big moment for my France experience. You see, today is October 13th, and I arrived in France on September 25th; therefore, a little math tells me that I got internet set up in less than 19 days. So I suppose I have to give some credit to the internet company here, SFR, for beating their own deadline and connecting to me the vast world wide web in less than three weeks.
This has been a busy week for me. With the recent wifi addition to my apartment, I have been filling my free time with catching up on missed television shows, surfing the web, and of course, long skype sessions with more than a few friends and family. For those of you that are interested in not only reading my words but hearing my voice, feel free to send me your skype information so we can chat sometime. In addition to all of that, I finally have a fully operational bank account here, complete with debit card and pin number. Those two elements may seem complementary, but I received them separately; this meant that there was an awkward window of a few days where I had a card but no way of actually using it. However, all of that was resolved Tuesday, and now I am the proud owner of a Visa "Carte Bleu".
Most importantly though, this was my first full week of classes. I taught 12 hours, spread out working with 5 different English teachers over 12 different classes. So, as you can imagine, this involved many, many introductions, both on my part as well as the students. I have only come away with a few names memorized; they were either the ones who were particularly interested in English, or the one boy blessed with the same name as me. I am finding that my American accent poses problems for their comprehension, but having a white board on which I can write my words seems to work as a great neutralizer. I worked in small groups with some classes, entertaining questions about America and asking my own questions about Vannes and Brittany. In another class, I played a Phish song for the students, gave them the lyrics and had them fill in the missing words. I also watched a video presentation of the chef Jamie Oliver and had almost as much trouble as the students in deciphering his British accent.
My work week is now finished, as I requested my Fridays off. But for all of you worried about me becoming lazy, rest assured I plan to spend the day taking care of pressing laundry needs, as well as planning a Halloween presentation for next week's classes. So while the morning will certainly be spent underneath the covers with some well-earned sleep, the whole day will not be a wash. I hope to be back soon for another update before I head out for vacation, which starts next Friday for me. Until then, don't miss me too much, and holla at me if you feel an urge to tell me how your life is going.
Tommy
This edition of "Where in the World is Me" comes from rue Jeanne d'Arc, which translates to Joan of Arc street for all of you uni-lingual English speakers. Rue Jeanne d'Arc is the street that I live on, and I am currently writing from my bed in my studio. Which means, as you may have put two and two together by now, that I finally have internet access here! It is a big moment for my France experience. You see, today is October 13th, and I arrived in France on September 25th; therefore, a little math tells me that I got internet set up in less than 19 days. So I suppose I have to give some credit to the internet company here, SFR, for beating their own deadline and connecting to me the vast world wide web in less than three weeks.
This has been a busy week for me. With the recent wifi addition to my apartment, I have been filling my free time with catching up on missed television shows, surfing the web, and of course, long skype sessions with more than a few friends and family. For those of you that are interested in not only reading my words but hearing my voice, feel free to send me your skype information so we can chat sometime. In addition to all of that, I finally have a fully operational bank account here, complete with debit card and pin number. Those two elements may seem complementary, but I received them separately; this meant that there was an awkward window of a few days where I had a card but no way of actually using it. However, all of that was resolved Tuesday, and now I am the proud owner of a Visa "Carte Bleu".
Most importantly though, this was my first full week of classes. I taught 12 hours, spread out working with 5 different English teachers over 12 different classes. So, as you can imagine, this involved many, many introductions, both on my part as well as the students. I have only come away with a few names memorized; they were either the ones who were particularly interested in English, or the one boy blessed with the same name as me. I am finding that my American accent poses problems for their comprehension, but having a white board on which I can write my words seems to work as a great neutralizer. I worked in small groups with some classes, entertaining questions about America and asking my own questions about Vannes and Brittany. In another class, I played a Phish song for the students, gave them the lyrics and had them fill in the missing words. I also watched a video presentation of the chef Jamie Oliver and had almost as much trouble as the students in deciphering his British accent.
My work week is now finished, as I requested my Fridays off. But for all of you worried about me becoming lazy, rest assured I plan to spend the day taking care of pressing laundry needs, as well as planning a Halloween presentation for next week's classes. So while the morning will certainly be spent underneath the covers with some well-earned sleep, the whole day will not be a wash. I hope to be back soon for another update before I head out for vacation, which starts next Friday for me. Until then, don't miss me too much, and holla at me if you feel an urge to tell me how your life is going.
Tommy
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Coming at you from my favorite internet bar
Hello all
Welcome back to Vannes! I know you have missed me over the past few days, so I thought I would check in again just to let you know that all is well here. It has been a busy week for me, filled with work, orientation, and you guessed it, more French paperwork. The bureaucracy is rather impressive; I came here with an entire folder filled with photocopies of all of my important documents, and my stocks are depleted daily. I think filling out forms is some kind of national addiction. They just cannot get enough of it over here.
So my first week of work consisted of two long days at the high school. Now just a bit of background, this is a professional high school, which means that the students are all learning a vocation. Some are training to become chefs, waiters, mechanics, electricians, accountants, etc...the list goes on and on. What that also means is that these kids are not the academic types. In fact, many of them dropped out of other high schools to come here, and they are being prepared for a profession so that they do not have to go to college.
My first days involved me getting to know them a bit and answering questions about myself. They are very shy about speaking in English, but in each class there were at least a few kids who were outgoing and helped translate for the rest. I was open and honest, and of course, faced more than a few embarrassing questions; some of the more curious students wanted to know about my social life, and for the girls, whether I had a girlfriend or not. I fulfilled their dreams with each time I had to answer no.
Today I had an orientation with all of the other teaching assistants in the French department I live in. There are about forty of us teaching English, Spanish, and German. It was a good opportunity to meet some other young people living in the area and receive tips on how to approach the job. And for the French administrators presenting the information, it offered them the chance to get their "fix" of paperwork. I'm talking Social Security, additional health insurance plans, salary advances...you name it, and they've got a form for it.
Unfortunately, while there are many assistants in the department, only a handful actually live in Vannes. So my mission for tomorrow, which is my day off, is to head to the youth center here and find out where I can play sports, and see if this town offers any clubs suited to my cultured tastes. And if I get really lucky, maybe, just maybe, I can find someone in this town who knows how to throw a frisbee. More on that later; hopefully good things to report the next time I can find internet. Well with that, and my daily internet beer dwindling to its dregs, I bid you goodnight. Time for dinner, a good read, and some dvds before I call it a night.
Welcome back to Vannes! I know you have missed me over the past few days, so I thought I would check in again just to let you know that all is well here. It has been a busy week for me, filled with work, orientation, and you guessed it, more French paperwork. The bureaucracy is rather impressive; I came here with an entire folder filled with photocopies of all of my important documents, and my stocks are depleted daily. I think filling out forms is some kind of national addiction. They just cannot get enough of it over here.
So my first week of work consisted of two long days at the high school. Now just a bit of background, this is a professional high school, which means that the students are all learning a vocation. Some are training to become chefs, waiters, mechanics, electricians, accountants, etc...the list goes on and on. What that also means is that these kids are not the academic types. In fact, many of them dropped out of other high schools to come here, and they are being prepared for a profession so that they do not have to go to college.
My first days involved me getting to know them a bit and answering questions about myself. They are very shy about speaking in English, but in each class there were at least a few kids who were outgoing and helped translate for the rest. I was open and honest, and of course, faced more than a few embarrassing questions; some of the more curious students wanted to know about my social life, and for the girls, whether I had a girlfriend or not. I fulfilled their dreams with each time I had to answer no.
Today I had an orientation with all of the other teaching assistants in the French department I live in. There are about forty of us teaching English, Spanish, and German. It was a good opportunity to meet some other young people living in the area and receive tips on how to approach the job. And for the French administrators presenting the information, it offered them the chance to get their "fix" of paperwork. I'm talking Social Security, additional health insurance plans, salary advances...you name it, and they've got a form for it.
Unfortunately, while there are many assistants in the department, only a handful actually live in Vannes. So my mission for tomorrow, which is my day off, is to head to the youth center here and find out where I can play sports, and see if this town offers any clubs suited to my cultured tastes. And if I get really lucky, maybe, just maybe, I can find someone in this town who knows how to throw a frisbee. More on that later; hopefully good things to report the next time I can find internet. Well with that, and my daily internet beer dwindling to its dregs, I bid you goodnight. Time for dinner, a good read, and some dvds before I call it a night.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Vannescast
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! This page will be your access to all things my life for the next seven months. I will try and keep it short, concise, and interesting so as not to bore you, or fill you with too much jealousy, but as you are taking the time out of your day to read about my life, I assume you must have some kind of interest in my whereabouts. I have never blogged before, so you will have to bear with me as I get used to this new-age concept...and maybe my posts will improve over time to keep you entertained.
I know there is at least one reader out there who gets my title, (that's a shout out to you, Buck) and I hope there are more. For those of you that do not, I will not explain it other than to say I am sorry, and just know that you will find regular updates here on my experiences and attempts at making it in my new hometown of Vannes, France.
This blog has been a long time coming, mainly because France is not shall we say the most consumer-friendly country in the world. I am currently writing from a bar/cafe around my corner that has free wifi-with the purchase of a beer-because I do not have internet yet in my apartment. And it could take up to three weeks for that to happen, though I put in the order three days ago. You see, rather than serve their customers immediately here, the French internet service prefers to wait, have a coffee, watch some passersby, and smoke a cigarette. Then repeat as many times as they like for the next 21 days. So my posts might be irregular for some time, but I hope that situation will be resolved soon and I can pester you with updates on my life as much as I like.
So my week in a nutshell...Started with a stay for 5 days at Francoises' house, a fellow teacher and mentor at the school here. Her family was incredibly gracious to me, served me their delicious French food, and housed me with my own private shower until I got my own apartment. And I have to admit, I cannot give myself much credit for that, as I am renting a studio that she owns in town. So really I owe her everything for making my first week go as smoothly as possible.
I had my first day of work today, which was long and somewhat bewildering but nonetheless I sit here sipping on a Leffe feeling accomplished. Five hours of class later, no terrible experiences to recount, and just a lot of introductions to remember. Apparently, being an American here is a hit with the young ladies, or so every teacher feels compelled to tell me....never mind the fact that they are all fifteen years old. You hear that, my fellow American dude friends, you should come to Vannes!
Well there is much more I could recount, many small anecdotes that I am sure I am forgetting now but will remember as I sit in my apartment. Too bad for you, I do not have internet there so I won't be able to post them all. So if my goal is not to bore with too much information, then maybe the French internet is subtly helping me. With that in mind, as well as a strong desire for some chicken, I am out. Hope you enjoyed your read, give me some feedback, and kick it well for me back home.
Au revoir
Tommy
I know there is at least one reader out there who gets my title, (that's a shout out to you, Buck) and I hope there are more. For those of you that do not, I will not explain it other than to say I am sorry, and just know that you will find regular updates here on my experiences and attempts at making it in my new hometown of Vannes, France.
This blog has been a long time coming, mainly because France is not shall we say the most consumer-friendly country in the world. I am currently writing from a bar/cafe around my corner that has free wifi-with the purchase of a beer-because I do not have internet yet in my apartment. And it could take up to three weeks for that to happen, though I put in the order three days ago. You see, rather than serve their customers immediately here, the French internet service prefers to wait, have a coffee, watch some passersby, and smoke a cigarette. Then repeat as many times as they like for the next 21 days. So my posts might be irregular for some time, but I hope that situation will be resolved soon and I can pester you with updates on my life as much as I like.
So my week in a nutshell...Started with a stay for 5 days at Francoises' house, a fellow teacher and mentor at the school here. Her family was incredibly gracious to me, served me their delicious French food, and housed me with my own private shower until I got my own apartment. And I have to admit, I cannot give myself much credit for that, as I am renting a studio that she owns in town. So really I owe her everything for making my first week go as smoothly as possible.
I had my first day of work today, which was long and somewhat bewildering but nonetheless I sit here sipping on a Leffe feeling accomplished. Five hours of class later, no terrible experiences to recount, and just a lot of introductions to remember. Apparently, being an American here is a hit with the young ladies, or so every teacher feels compelled to tell me....never mind the fact that they are all fifteen years old. You hear that, my fellow American dude friends, you should come to Vannes!
Well there is much more I could recount, many small anecdotes that I am sure I am forgetting now but will remember as I sit in my apartment. Too bad for you, I do not have internet there so I won't be able to post them all. So if my goal is not to bore with too much information, then maybe the French internet is subtly helping me. With that in mind, as well as a strong desire for some chicken, I am out. Hope you enjoyed your read, give me some feedback, and kick it well for me back home.
Au revoir
Tommy
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