“Pour votre santé, pratiquez la physique regulière"

 For your health, exercise regularly.

This phrase shows up at the bottom of the screen during a McDonald’s commercial. Even for commercials advertising other types of food, even a cheese spread, they have a little note that says to eat fruit and vegetables regularly. At least the French encourage a healthy lifestyle?

Speaking of McDonald’s, I had a lot of questions about McD’s in one of my classes last week. The teacher also asked if I could tell the students about the other fast food places in the US. As I started listing them, they were so surprised that’s more than just McDonald’s, Subway, and KFC. Also, I feel like I confirm some American stereotypes when I say that I do like burgers and pizza.

iamsterdam

So this past weekend, I met up with Aisa in Amsterdam! It’s so pretty with the architecture and canals and everything…! On Saturday, we went to the Rijksmuseum and then we got to see two Brazilian music ensembles perform at the Concert Hall. Sunday, we went to the Van Gogh museum and took a canal boat tour of the city. Everybody bikes there, so it definitely took me a while to make sure that I was on the sidewalk and not in the bike lane. At least they ring their bells… I just didn’t want to get run over!

Stage at the Concert Hall 

 Visiting the museums made me realize that I really do love art museums. I mean, I’m not a big art person and I don’t know a bunch of artists, movements and their styles, but I just love walking through the museum, looking at the art, and even comparing it to artists and styles that I do know. I found myself analyzing art somewhat, but I guess that’s a result from IB Art in high school with all our gallery critiques and workbook assignments.

This weekend, Aisa told me that I dress like a teacher (at least I am one… err, an assistant at least). I would love to buy some clothes and/or other accessories, but that’s going to have to wait until after I get paid. Also, I’ve discussed this with Melissa. Even though the dress code is casual at school, I feel like I need to dress up a bit, especially since I’m working with students that are not that much younger than me. I’m actually also working with students who are around my age because of the BTS program that they’re doing (I would say it’s comparable to doing technical or vocational school). I don’t want my students slacking off or not taking me seriously, just because I’m not that much older than them. I want to make sure they respect me, so I feel like it’ll be alright if I look like a teacher… at least during school hours.

I’m on break now (Vacances de Toussaint) and I’ll start teaching my own classes right after! I’m excited and also nervous, which means that I’ll be spending some of my break coming up with some lesson plans. I also have to make sure that they can be adjusted for different language levels, because even if they are in the same grade, some of the classes seem weaker than others.

So for the rest of break will probably be small trips to towns around here to see what they have, especially since I already took a big trip. Yesterday, I did some grocery shopping and got some school supplies, so I was finally able to hang stuff up on my walls… it’s just maps and postcards, but at least it’s better than being just plain white! I also went to the library and checked out a French movie, Celle que j’aime and got The Hunger Games (in French of course).  I had heard from Cheryl that it’s a good book, so I’m hoping that it’ll be just as good in French. I started reading some of it, and it’s kind of annoying when I look up words every now and then, but this will be my little project for the next 3 weeks. Today, Melissa and I took a bus to Bruay, a town just outside of Béthune. It seems to be a bit more suburbian, with malls, and cheaper stores. We found a few that we'll definitely be visiting after we get paid. I already know that one of them is going to be my favorite... so many cute clothes, shoes, and purses! 

I need to find some sort of project or hobby to do during my free time here. I wish I had a guitar or keyboard here, I’m pretty sure I could find one to rent (for the guitar at least), but then I also don’t want to disturb my neighbors, especially since I’m basically in a dorm room, and one of my neighbors is a teacher whose apartment is right next to mine. We’ll see what I end up doing. I used to write when I was little, I did art in high school, I’ve played piano… so I wonder if I should try to revisit one of those hobbies or find something completely new. I’m also hoping to wander around the university area sometime during break to see if they have any classes, groups, or anything I could join. I wonder if I could do a conversation exchange (French & English)… I think it’d be beneficial, but like I said… we’ll see... on verra!

I’ve been for a month… it’s crazy! A month ago, on September 25^th, I was in Paris. It feels like I’ve been forever, but then at the same time, it feels like I haven’t been here for that long… Also, I finally got my French social security number and I have my doctor's appointment next month, so soon my visa will be validated! 

À plus! xx