[barcelona] day 3 - montjuic

Sometime during the month before break, I finally watched L'auberge espagnole (the title is Pot Luck in English) and was interested to see the sites of Barcelona in the film. To be honest, what was shown of the city of Barcelona (the views, the streets, etc.) didn't captivate me like I thought they would. I did remember that they showed certain places that had amazing views of the city and I know I definitely wanted to check those places out, especially since the weather was simply beautiful during our stay-- sunny and warm (with a bit of wind).

On our third full day in Barca, we decided to check out Montjuic (a hill - translated to Jewish Hill), mainly for the view, but also to see some other things in the area, like the Olympic stadium. Unfortunately, because of some big conference in the area, we didn't go up the supposed normal way by the fountains, but instead had to take side streets. I'm so thankful that they have escalators! Otherwise, it would've been a long(er) and somewhat painful hike to the MNAC (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya). As we ascended on the escalators, I couldn't help but look back and admire the view of the city. It was such a beautiful day and the city was just gorgeous.

We stopped on the steps on the MNAC to eat the sandwiches we bought for lunch, with wonderful view of the city and there was even a man in front of the steps playing the guitar, which definitely added to the ambiance. I remember just sitting there, eating my ham & brie sandwich, basking in the sun (got to pull out my sunglasses, yay!), looking at Barcelona, listening to the guitarist playing "Piano Man," and just feeling so... content. I'm not even sure if content is really the right word, but at that moment, I knew that I loved that city and I was just happy sitting there. It was a feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time (and it definitely wasn't a feeling that I had when looking at Béthune :P).

Eventually, we decided that we couldn't stay there all day, so we took more escalators and headed towards the Olympic Stadium from 1992 (during the tour the day before, I learned the Barcelona wasn't a big tourist town before the Olympics...). We just wandered around the outside, but it was still pretty cool to be standing in a place where the Olympics were held almost 20 years ago!

Afterwards, we made our way to the cable cars to take one up to the top, where the castle is. With my fear of heights, I wasn't exactly comfortable during the ride up, but the view was incredible. I tried to focus on that as the wind shook our cable car, making me even more uneasy.

From the castle, we got good views of the harbor (woo, not terribly exciting) and of course took advantage of the magnificent photo opportunities up there. But once we got to the top of the castle, the view of the city was absolutely breathtaking. I can't even describe how amazed I was, but as soon as we got to the edge of the wall, all you could hear were our murmurs of  "wow" and gasps of amazement.  Being there on top of the castle, taking photos in the wind, is probably one of my most memorable moments of my trip and one of the reasons why I love Barcelona. I know these pictures can't do it justice.

Throughout the day, there were so many "wow" moments and I wish that my camera could've captured everything like how I saw it through my eyes. Unfortunately, my photography skills aren't that great, so even if you think the pictures are good (or not), you actually have to go there and experience it yourself. I highly recommend it.

Bis x
N

[barcelona] day 2 - walking tour + food

For our second day, we decided to go on another free walking tour with some friends that we made at the hostel, this time a tour of the Old City. To be honest, this tour wasn't as memorable as the Gaudi one. I don't remember every little detail and probably couldn't tell you the names of every place we went off the top of my head, but nevertheless, I enjoyed the tour.

We saw all sorts of buildings and tidbits from Barcelona's history, including old Roman columns (still standing!) located in an apartment building, remains of the Roman walls, El Call (the Jewish ghetto), the oldest synagogue in Europe, Caterdral, the steps at Placa del Rel- where Columbus reported to the king upon his arrival from the New World, and just various places around the Gothic quarter.

Remains of the old Roman wall?

It was really (for lack of a better word) cool to walk around the small streets and see things that have been existing for centuries, things that are hidden from the busy touristy squares and streets. (I also liked the fact that I didn't really have to be constantly looking down for dog poop.) 

Catedral

The most memorable part about the tour was the old Roman columns located in the middle of an apartment building. They're not located in some big touristy area-- you have to go down a few side streets to find it. You walk into this doorway leading to a courtyard area and then BAM. Oh hey there Roman columns, almost didn't see you there... It's really unexpected. People that live in those apartments have old Roman columns in their backyard... c'est dingue, ça!

Roman columns

Placa del Rei

After the walking tour, we decided to do a cooking experience session, courtesy of the Travel Bar. When we saw that there was going to be paella, tapas, and sangria, how could we say no? Since we only had 1 1/2 hour to kill before meeting, we decided to wander around the area a bit. First stop was... churros and hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was a lot thicker than your typical hot cocoa. I'm not sure if it was this one place or if it's how it always tastes, but the hot chocolate wasn't great. It wasn't bitter like dark chocolate, but it tasted like it lacked sugar... a bit disappointing, but the churros were yummy!

Afterwards, I really wanted to go to The Mercat Sant Joseph de la Boqueria... or the Boqueria market, after reading an article that my sister sent me. All I can say is DROOL. Through the entrance from La Rambla, you're immediately greeted by piles on piles of sugary goodness... chocolate and all sorts of other candies. After the churros + hot chocolate, I'd reached my sugary limit for the hour, so I was able to resist. Even if I hadn't, I don't know how I would've been able to choose what to buy-- there were SO many options! There were also tons of fresh fruit stands and I ended up buying a mango kiwi smoothie for just 1 euro (nomnoms!).  Further back, there were plenty of other stands, including seafood, eggs, other meats, and olives (although not as many choices as Borough Market in London). I am actually proud of myself for not buying anything (although it was so tempting) except for two sticks -- one with fish balls and the other with some deli meat. 

photo courtesy of Yvonne (also... Dunkin Coffee in the bg?)

As for the cooking experience, we had originally thought we would be learning how to cook paella with a hands on experience. It ended up just being the chef demonstrating, while we ate tapas and drank sangria while waiting for the demonstration to start.  It was delicious! I probably could've eaten all the tapas that was meant for 3 people and luckily, there was enough paella leftover so I got seconds. José (my food baby) was very happy. Maybe one day I'll try to make paella (if I can remember everything)... or maybe I should stick to making sangria-- that's easy enough, right?

Gros bisous x

N

[barcelona] day 1- gaudi

So I'm back from my winter vacation in Barcelona & Marseille. And as requested, I'll be breaking up my adventures/experiences into many smaller entries throughout the next few days (hopefully).

Yvonne and I were super excited to go to Barcelona and were just as excited to finally see some SUN and feel some warmth. Our voyage started off with 2 trains to get to the Paris CDG airport, where we waited around for hours until our flight. When our plane landed in Barcelona mid-afternoon, we were happy to see some palm trees. And of course, it was significantly warmer than le Nord!

Unfortunately, I'd had a cold for days, so traveling all day + lack of sleep made me feel absolutely miserable by the time we reached the hostel. After our first free dinner at the hostel (and my first plate of paella in Spain!), I decided to just take some cold meds and sleep, hoping that I wouldn't be sick throughout my whole stay.

Yvonne & I at the Plaza Real 

The next day, I was feeling much better, but still congested, so after popping more pills, Yvi and I headed to Plaza Real to meet up for a free walking Gaudi tour. To be honest, the only time I really remember hearing about Gaudi before looking up things to do was from an episode of How I Met Your Mother (Ted was teaching about Gaudi and how La Sagrada Familia is unfinished), but a lot of the spots to see in Barcelona are Gaudi-related, so we figured, why not take a walking tour so we can see things and also learn (without having to pay to enter each building to learn stuff about it). On the tour, we saw  the Palau Guell, the Caso Batllo, La Pedrera, and La Sagrada Familia. I haven't decided if I think Gaudi was crazy or a genius (I think I'm leaning more towards crazy), but his architecture style is definitely eccentric, unique, and kind of amazing. I don't know much about art or architecture history, but I do appreciate all sorts of works and I have to say that these buildings by Gaudi are definitely pieces of art. If you look at all the buildings on the same block, Gaudi's houses definitely stick out.

Palau Guell 

Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo was the most interesting of the houses for me and I wish I'd had the opportunity to go back and see the inside. My first thought when I saw the house was creepy, all of it just made me think of bones and skeletons-- the thinner columns, the balconies (although more masks made out of bones).

La Pedrera

La Sagrada Familia - the Nativity façade

La Sagrada Familia- the Passion façade

I have to admit that when I first saw a picture of La Sagrada Familia (the Nativity facade, which I assume is the most popular), I didn't think it was very attractive. It reminded me of something that been underwater for years, eroding, with things growing on it. Seeing it in person changed my mind-- it's amazing with all the details in the façade. The contrast between the two façades is crazy. The Passion one is so simplistic and cleaner, but since it portrays something so serious, it doesn't need tiny details to send the message.

The inside of the church is just as amazing (it was the one place that Yvi and I decided to enter after our tour). I love cathedrals and am always amazed by them,  this one just trumps them all because it is so different, with thin columns and a completely different design concept, which allows so much more light in. I don't think I'm even doing a very good job of describing it, but it's just crazy- in a good way.

After wandering around in awe, Yvi and I then decided to head towards the Arc de Triomf and walk to the Parc Citadelle, which has a beautiful fountain (not Gaudi related), before heading back to the hostel for dinner.

Font de la Cascada

... And that's my attempt at making a short post?

Bis,
N

Mais, vous parlez bien français!

I get so happy when people tell me that. It makes me think that I haven't wasted half of my life learning a foreign language and I didn't waste money and time getting a degree in it...

When I woke this morning, I realized that it's Mardi Gras... Fat Tuesday. So as I was getting ready this morning, I was thinking of what I could eat for lunch to celebrate appropriately. In all honesty, I wanted something that would put me in a food coma, like a steak burrito from Chipotle or a burger, quesadilla, and milkshake from Cookout. But alas, the closest Chipotle is in Paris (and there was no way I was buying a train ticket just for Chipotle... I wasn't that desperate :P) and I'm pretty sure that the closest Cookout is an ocean away.

I eventually decided the the friterie would be the closest thing I could get to cookout and would definitely make it full. I only had one class to teach this morning, so after doing some errands, I headed to the little stand near the Grande Place. My binge meal for the day? A cheeseburger and small fries. Yes, they still call it a cheeseburger... actually just "un cheese." They also have a "burger" sauce... and an "américain" sauce. I've tried the burger sauce before and I want to say it's like a mix of ketchup and mayo, but I'm not sure if it is or they added anything else. And I have no idea what the americain sauce is. I had the ch'ti sauce today.. and once again, honestly don't know what it is. I honestly haven't felt that full in such a long time. I was afraid I was going to throw it up when I went to the gym later. Also, this is France's version of a small fries (it can easily feed 4... so I also want to note that the rest of the fries were my dinner too...):

Anyways, back to the actual point of my post...

The guy at the friterie told me that I have a bit of an accent (thankfully my accent isn't super American and then they automatically know I'm American) and then asked me where I was from and then asked me if I was a student here. This happens a lot, whenever anybody finds out that I'm American, they ask if I'm a student (because otherwise, what would an American be doing in such a small town?) I told him that I'm an assistant at the high school and that I teach English. Then came the phrase I love to hear, "Vous parlez bien français!" "You speak French well!"

Like I said earlier, it's basically a confidence booster. I have days where when I speak, I feel like my accent sounds more American. Also, I know that I'm more conscious about my French when I'm around actual French people. When I'm talking to the other assistants, I don't feel as conscious, but if I'm talking to other teachers, I feel like my brain freaks out a little. There are also just some days where my mind just goes "blah" and I feel like I should go back to French 201. There are time where I'm more conscious of my English. There are times where I don't even notice if I slip in an English word in a French conversation or vice versa. There are times where I just can't think of the word in either French or English. In that case, I feel like my brain just switches between the two languages so often and sometimes it just gets stuck.

Also today in class, a student asked for a synonym of happy. My first thoughts were heureux, content, basically the synonyms in French. And sometimes when French songs come up on my iTunes, I don't realize that it's French/in a foreign language until halfway through the song.

But at least I'm speaking French?

Oh look at that... two posts in two days! See, I'm getting better!

Bis x
N

presque la fin?!

One stereotype about the north of France is that it’s COLD. When it started getting colder, I was surprised… in a good way, I suppose. When everybody else was pulling out their huge bubble or marshmallow coats, I was still fine in my northface or peacoat. However, a few weeks ago, I started to experience the real winter, cold with temperatures constantly in the negatives (in Celsisus). I like to think that I have experienced cold winters and snowpacalypses in Virginia. Sure, it was probably colder when I lived up North when I was little, but for some reason, it just felt oh so cold here… and I was trying to remember if I’ve ever been that cold before. But of course, my feelings of coldness here could be attributed to the fact that at home, I’m used to having central heating and not just one radiator used to heat up one room (my bathroom was absolutely freezing). It’s gotten bit warmer (yay, staying in the positives), but it’s also been cloudy and rainy. At least when it was freezing, it was sunny?

To avoid complete winter hibernation, I joined a gym here so I could bouge un peu. I’ve been going there pretty regularly, doing some classes such as aéro dance (aerobics dance) and zumba! They’re pretty fun… and I still have yet to move my hips like our instructor. One day… one day. Also a few weeks ago, I made a spur of the moment purchase and bought the Dirty Dancing DVD and wait for it… the Dirty Dancing fitness DVD. No shame? I know I’m such an awkward dancer, but I just sometimes have to urge to dance slash at least try. Hmm… maybe after I post this, I’ll do the fitness DVD… (thank goodness I can do this alone in my room)

Since I only have a little more than 2 months left of my contract left (holy crap… it’s almost over?!), I’ve been indulging in pastries, baguettes, and cheese! I seriously could have a baguette and cheese for each meal. Alors, cheese makes my face break out, so I’m trying to cut down on it (or maybe even give it up for Lent?) These are all already on my mental list of things I’m going to miss when I leave France. I am hoping to come back and work/live in France longer… mais, on verra.

Baguette and a religieuse chocolat (filled with chocolate cream!)

Baguette + cheese -- I could eat this all day errday

I guess I’m really starting (or I have been?) to blend in here. One day while walking to Auchan with Melissa, an old lady stopped us and asked for us directions. I think it’s safe to say that we were successful with our direction giving (she could understand us… her response wasn't "oh wait you’re not French…")! Also, one time at the gym, a lady came up to me and asked if I could explain the different machines to her. This time wasn’t as successful… I was hesitating on what to say, because to be honest, even if someone asked me that same question in English, I wouldn’t know what to say. I just use the machines…

This past Saturday, I wandered around Lille with Melissa. It was nice to actually wander around a place bigger than Béthune :P We walked towards the Palais des Beaux Arts (art museum), but didn’t go in because it was still early when we arrived, so we ended up just walking and wandering and ended up in Wazemmes (a suburb) and then eventually made our away back to the centre-ville. On the way, we saw a few churches and did a bit of window shopping before having lunch (I was on the hunt for a new bag—mine broke :( and M was looking for shoes… of course, I was looking at the shoes too…). After lunch, we wandered into this little courtyard where there was a small market selling used books. I feel like I would’ve bought some if I didn’t have to worry about bringing them back and also if I had some recommendations. We did a little more window shopping and wandered over to Vieux Lille. We stumbled across a little shop that sells local/regional beers and food. I bought some Belgian beer… raspberry, cherry, and peach. I haven’t tried them yet, but I’m sure they’re good. I mean after all, it is Belgian.

Palais des Beaux Arts- Lille

This is the last week of school before winter vacation! I’m excited because I’ll be going to Barcelona for almost a week and Marseille for ½ a week. I can’t seriously can’t wait… this week needs to go by faster.

I realized that after break, I only have 6 more weeks of teaching… it’s so crazy. Time really does fly. I’ve also been trying to plan weekend or even day trips for the rest of the weekends until it’s over… Brussels, Arras?, Paris, London?, Germany… oh là.

Also, the school finally gave us internet in the studios so I really should try to update this more often. I know I’ll definitely have some stories in a couple weeks…

And you know how all there's all these sh*t people say videos? I think the one for the French is pretty funny...

Gros bisous x

Nicole 

Who wants to read?

This video is hilarious, probably because it’s true. Cursing seems like it’s no big deal here. The French really do make all those noises with their mouths. After watching this video, I realized that I do it too. I don’t know why, I guess it just feels more natural when speaking French. They also say “ben…” a lot (pronounced more like bah—it’s nasal). Par exemple: “Ben… oui! Ben… regarde! Ben… écoute!”

The other day, I was reading Starter for Ten by David Nichols and since it’s British, I had the urge to try and read a passage out loud in a (horrible) British accent. The result? A French accent. Even as I tried to change it back to sound like I went to Hogwarts, it would just switch back to French, especially with my pronunciation of the ‘r’s. I’ve already randomly said English words with French accent in conversation. I apologize in advance if this ever happens when I’m speaking to you.

Anyways…

With the start of the new year, I’ve restarted the “freak out about my future” cycle. A year ago, I knew that I wanted to do this particular program for 2 reasons. One: I would get to live in France and work on my French speaking skills and two: it’s a test to see if teaching is for me.

I’m about halfway through the program and I still haven’t completely made up my mind about teaching. Naturally, there are good days and there are bad days. There are good lessons and there are bad lessons. Even though I have over 100 students, I’ve gotten to know each group enough to figure out what sorts of lessons work for each of them. One lesson can be really successful with a certain groups, but then a total failure with others. For the most part, the classes that are willing to participate are the ones that voluntarily added an extra hour of English class with me to their schedules. So naturally, the classes/groups that don’t participate are the ones that are sent to me during their normal English class time.

It’s frustrating getting those blank stares from students, especially when I know that they understood because I can hear them translating it for their friends. If no one volunteers, I reach for the roll. Sometimes it works and somebody raises his or her hand right away. But more often than not, I pick a name. The most frustrating lesson I had recently was when I decided to do a comparison between French lycées and American high schools, especially since that was a popular topic. I was telling them about the US education system-- elementary, middle, and high school. I just asked them for the French equivalent. Their responses? Head down, avoiding eye contact, until finally one student spoke up and said that maternelle would be the equivalent to American preschool. I’ve noticed that this mostly happens in the bigger groups. I guess it’s because they all think they can hide, unlike in small groups.

Luckily, I have enough classes that participate to make me not completely hate my job. I’ve noticed that for the most part the terminales (seniors) are the least motivated. I do have a couple good terminale classes, one of them being the only class that I see every single week (I set them up with penpals with my sister’s French class in the US!). My secondes (equivalent to freshmen) are all pretty good. As a matter of fact, this past week, 2 students brought their friends into my class just because they wanted to sit in on my class during their free period (instead of being hoodlums/smoking outside)!

Being a teacher in a completely different school system is definitely an interesting to experience to say the least. One day in the teacher’s lounge, some teachers were saying that it gets harder and harder to motivate their students because they use up all this energy trying to motivate them, but in the end, they get nothing, so then they have to motivate themselves to motivate others. After this conversation, one of my colleagues asked me if I was sure that I want to become a teacher. I told her that I’m not sure. Also, I had dinner with another English teacher recently. It was interesting to hear her thoughts about student and the education systemfrom someone who’s been teaching for 30 years, especially with all the reforms going on. But in the end, despite all of their complaints, they still say that they love teaching.

My experience hasn’t sent me running in the other direction, so I guess that’s a good sign? I’ve also recently had dreams about teaching. I’m just in front of a class, teaching or disciplining. As a matter of fact, in my most recent dream, the students thought I was being too mean. They haven’t been like nightmares, so I guess that’s a good sign too?

I also sometimes wonder if my lack of decision has anything to do with high schoolers. The boys I tutor are a lot more enthusiastic about learning English and they like to show off what they know. So maybe when teaching a foreign language, it’s better to do it when they’re just starting off because they’re more excited? The fact that my secondes are better (participation wise) than my terminales just proves my little theory.

My favorite part of teaching? Writing on the chalkboard and using the copy machineIt makes me feel so… teacher-y.

I need to keep up with my resolution to start updating this more often. I’ll work on that. Hopefully they’ll be more little anecdotes or observations that don’t have to do with teaching.

Bisous x

Nicole (say that with a really French accent)

Bonne Année!

I suppose that it’s finally time to update my blog—it‘s been almost a month. Maybe a new year’s resolution should be to update more often?

I spent mes vacances in England, first visiting my sister in London and then spending the holidays with my cousin and her family in Peacehaven (near Brighton). I found it kind of ironic, because on the train ride to London, my brain was still a bit in French mode and I even chose to listen to Zaz (a French artist) on my iPod. During the first couple of days, I was still somewhat in French mode, especially when I heard people on the bus or in museums speaking in French. Also, I want to say that I love accents and whenever I heard people speaking, I was so tempted to speak back in my oh so fake and horrible British accent. Luckily, I resisted (and avoided embarrassment—maybe I should just stick to my bad French accent).

Going from the small town of Béthune with 30,000 people (according to Wikipedia, but I swear it’s less) to the big city of London (should I even bother to look up this statistic?) was a pretty big change. Walk around Béthune at 9 pm and there’ll barely be any cars or people (if you’re not in the centre-ville, but even then, it can get pretty empty, especially since the Christmas Market is over). Walk around London at 9 pm and it’s completely the opposite. Cars, buses, and people everywhere. I did tell my sister that there were so many Asians (Béthune also isn’t too diverse). But of course, there’s so many of … everybody.

My first full day in London, Tuesday, I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and saw the Power of Making exhibit since it was free, but I didn’t see the Postmodernism one, which I wanted to see. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about taking my sister's ID so I could get in for free. My favorite part in the V&A Museum was probably the jewelry room. I like looking at the jewelry from way back when over the centuries and I can’t help but think how much I would love to wear some of their pieces. They also swords and crowns—so cool! Afterwards, I went to the British Museum, where I saw the Rosetta Stone (of course there was a huge crowd around it the first time I walked through the room), and other things like the remains from the pediments of the Parthenon, and Greek vases. Then, we went out for my sister’s early birthday celebrations and got to listen to some blues. It’s always nice to listen/see live music. :)

V&A Museum

Inside the British Museum

Rosetta stone

Wednesday, I wandered over to Buckingham Palace, took pictures along with other tourists and then walked down the Mall and stopped in the Institute of Contemporary Art for a bit before heading over to Trafalgar Square, where I was touristy once again and took pictures before going into the National Gallery. I saw some impressionist paintings (one of my favorite artistic movements) and some paintings by Camille Pissarro and Georges Seurat. Then I headed over the National Portrait Gallery, where one of my sister’s friends escorted me into the First Actresses for free. The weirdest thing in the NPG is the blood head. At first, I was just looking at it and thought maybe the artist had just used red wax. Nope. It’s his own blood. Kinda creepy, not gonna lie.

Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square

Thursday, we headed to Greenwich. We wandered around the market, and of course we bought some food, sweets, and mulled wine. Noms. Then we wandered around the Old Royal Naval College before trekking up to the Royal Observatory. I wasn’t going to pay 7 pounds just to see the Prime Meridian; so luckily, I was able to take a picture of it through the gate. :P We visited the Queen’s House for a bit and then later that night we saw Chicago, starring America Ferrara! As always, musicals make me wish that I could sing and dance (side note: I wonder if taking dance when I was younger would have helped prevent my old lady foot problem, or if it would’ve just made it worse). That actually reminds me, I’m surprised that I haven’t tried to download the soundtrack yet…



Royal Observatory on top of that hill



 The Prime Meridian

View of London

Friday was Aisa’s birthday, so that meant FOOD. We headed to Bourough Market (omg like heaven for my family ha), where there was TONS of food! We had two delicious sandwiches – one was chorizo and the other had lamb… nomnoms, once again, more mulled wine, and bought some baklava (teehee). Trying to fight the itis, we then went to Tate Modern. I wish I could’ve seen the Gehrard Richter exhibit since from the postcards and books I saw in the gift shop, I would’ve liked his work/probably should have studied him back in high school.

Christmas Eve, we left for Brighton to visit my cousin and her family. It was really nice to be around family and with the Filipino parties and food, it felt more like the Christmas season and a bit more like home (the rest of my family went to Orlando and went to Harry Potter World/Land (?)… kinda jeal!). The week in Brighton/Peacehaven from Christmas to New Year’s involved lots of food and therefore, naps. It was a nice relaxing week. Aisa and I took walks along the coast to try and not be complete bums and try and maybe work off some of the holiday weight (even though we ended up buying chips on the way back…). I also did a bit of post-holiday shopping in the town centre, but I didn’t buy too much (I’m actually being better with my shopping habits now!).

On the coast-- Peacehaven

One day during the week, Aisa and I went into Brighton and visited the Royal Pavilion and the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. I thought the Royal Pavilion was really nice, especially with the Asian influences (although the dragon on top of the chandelier in the dining room was a bit scary). We also had some tea and scones in the tearoom--- my first real cup of English tea! Afterwards, we just wandered more around the shops in town. Brighton is such a nice quaint town and it’s on the coast—so pretty!

Royal Pavilion

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

tea and scones

New Year’s Day we headed back to London… and the wheels on my suitcase broke off. Lesson learned: don’t buy cheap suitcases. But I made it back to Béthune… back to being the only Filipino in the village. I definitely have to visit England again, not only to visit family, but also to do more touristy things (like the Tower of London, the London Eye), and see other parts of England. This is one perk of being in the north of France.

As for teaching, well it’s teaching. There’s not much to update there. Wednesday was my first day back teaching (school officially started on Tuesday, but I didn’t have to teach). For a bit during my first class of the day, I forgot that I couldn’t speak at my normal-having-conversation-with-friends speed since it’s hard for the students to understand me (props to any students who could). If you know me, you know that I speak pretty fast (my family likes to say it’s because I was born in NY), and it’s a bit shocking to hear how slowly I speak to my students. As a matter of fact, a couple of months ago, I found the interview I did for the school on youtube (I’ll have to find it again) and I was surprised at my speed.

For some reason the dreary, windy weather here in Béthune just feels more depressing. Sure, it was rainy and cloudy in England. Maybe it’s because at least in Brighton and London, the streets were still busy and full of life. That’s not really the case here. I feel like the streets only look busy when it’s noon and all of the students are leaving the school to walk that one block to the cafeteria.  

I can’t believe it’s 2012. 2011 was a pretty good year, probably the best that I’ve had in a while. A year ago, I was praying and hoping that I would end up in France after graduation and here I am. I had always told people that I would move here at some point after I graduate, but I didn’t really expect it to come true and so soon!

Here’s to an even better 2012… !

Bises x