Madame!

I have to admit that I have been pretty lazy in updating my blog and I am literally forcing myself to write this entry.

All Saints Day is an official holiday here, so a lot of places were closed, and the church was actually packed. It’s interesting that a religious holiday is a countrywide official holiday, considering the fact that France is all aboutlaïcité and keeping church separate from state. All Souls Day also seems to be more important here. Flowers were being sold all over the place during break.

For the rest of the break, I explored a bit of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. I also went up 3 beffrois, (I’m pretty sure there’s one in almost all of the major towns in this region), which means there were a lot stairs to climb up and down: in Arras, Béthune, and Dunkerque. Luckily each day I went, it was pretty sunny and not raining or too many clouds.

Arras – view of the Grande Place

Béthune – my studio is just down this road

Dunkerque – I think that’s the port

In Arras, we had a guided tour of les boves – the area underground that people lived in, was used during the wars, and merchants even used it for storage. We also visited the Saint VaastCatherdal and a cemetery (I believe it was British?). It was so nice to actually get to see a slightly bigger city and get out of the small town of Béthune.

I think I would have liked to live in Dunkerque, a town on the coast. Not only are there beaches, but there seemed to be a good amount of shopping. They have an H&M and if I spent more time in there, I probably would have walked out with plenty of bags and a good amount of my first paycheck spent. Surprisingly, I walked out of there empty handed. Besides the beach and the shopping, we visited the Saint Eloi church and then the Port Museum and got to tour 3 ships.

Aside from the day trips around the region, I also discovered Bruay-La-Buissière, a small town right outside of Béthune. It seems more like suburbia and has a shopping center, which consists of a movie theater, a bowling alley, various restaurants, and shopping! Luckily, this is more affordable shopping! There are many shoes stores (comparable to Payless or Shoe Carnival) and even clothing stores (comparable to Marshalls or TJ Maxx) that are pretty cheap! And everything is really cute… I just want to buy everything. Going with Melissa on her search for boots, depresses me a little, because I just want to buy my own boots. One of the stores has so many boots—there are so many black boots, but they’re all somewhat different, whether it is a slight difference in the heel or the point of the toe… but there are so many and I don’t know how I would be able to pick just one pair! Also, a thicker heel is more common here; a thin, more stiletto-like heel is rare. I guess it makes sense though, especially with all the cobblestone sidewalks. I feel like eventually, I will give in and buy a pair… or at least sometime before I leave. Also, heels in general are just more popular… I’ve seen a lot of the sneaker heel.  Despite all the (very cute) clothes and shoes tempting me, my only purchase during break (other than postcards, food, and train/bus tickets) was a (very cute) purse.

I’ve begun teaching by myself and it is a bit scary and nerve wracking, but I’m glad that I get smaller groups (on average 10 students). I realized that one hour is not super easy to plan for and that some students really do not like speaking English at all. I’m definitely going to have be more strict with only speaking English, but it is hard when they don’t understand and sometime slowing down and using simple words doesn’t cut it. Some teachers have told me that their classes are weak, but they all have to take the bac at the end of the year, so they need to pass (although apparently failing/repeating a grade is more common here). During my observations, I was also surprised at how much French was spoken in the classroom. If I remember correctly, we had to speak French all the time in high school classes and English… c’étaitinterdit (forbidden)! I also find it kind of funny that I was the student that barely ever participated, but now, I’m the one that has to force the students to participate. Now I know how teachers feel when nobody raises their hand or volunteers.

I only had 3 classes yesterday and one today. For one, I was just sent groups of students to help them with their pronunciation. So we’ll see how everything goes next week, when I have my first full week. I also realized that I’m going to have to brush up on current US events/news because one teacher wants me to work a bit with current events in the US. I love how as I type this, I’m watching the French news.

Donc, c’est tout. Bon week-end!

Bises x