So its been exactly 2 weeks since the last update. Sorry folks. I am still really enjoying myself here, though I have a crazing for a stuffed crust pizza from Lou Malnatti's and a hotdog with cheese fries from Portillo's. Sigh, you can take the girl outta Chicago, but you can't take the Chicago out of the girl. ;)
Other than that, not much going on. I have officially made my request for my residency card, and I hope to get it before my visa runs out at the end of next month. Besides that, I am currently on Toussaint vacation, and am pretty much waiting to be paid because I am going to be out of money if I keep using my American account. I stocked up on cheap food at today's market, and have promised myself that I will not spend any money for a bit of time. Rumors say that we get paid on Tuesday or Wednesday. I really hope the rumors prove to be true!
So, since I cannot afford to go on vacation, I am instead planning my December vacation. I am going to Strasbourg alone now, and then I will spend 3 or 4 days in Frankfurt. Then, I will fly up to London where I hope to spend most of the vacation. Any of my English friends reading this, I would love to make arrangements to meet you guys somewhere in your lovely country! Email me if you'll be around at the end of December/beginning of January. I am hoping to come back to France via Eurostar and maybe stop in Belgium for a day or two, because I want to visit the EU headquarters and say hi to my lovely Pissing Boy.
Besides this, I have made the decision to extend my contract until the end of June. It may seem foolish but I am honestly loving my time here so much that I simply do not want to ever leave. Damnit, I knew this would happen. I am trying to find ways to stay here for a bit more than this year, but being an American makes it harder than would meet the eye. I have found from some friends that I may be entitled to a German citzenship, but I have to look more into it before I can find out if this is truly a possibility for me. I personally find it hard to believe, since I don't speak German, but you never know unless you ask, I guess. I am also looking into some other ways of staying, but I just have a feeling that it won't pan out. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I am so lucky to have this assistantship opportunity afterall. You gotta take what you can get.
My bank at home is also being super lame. Not gonna go into details but dang it is annoying. Another thing that is annoying is that I have pay all of this money to take the stupid GRE that doesn't even influence my future. Oh and also, application fees are lame. Sigh. I hate money.
Well I am going to leave this internet cafe now and go get my beauty sleep. A plus mes amis!!!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Latest stuffs
I have officially stepped in my first pile of merde this year! It happened to me on Friday night, right before one of my teachers picked me up for dinner. I was about to run back to my apartment to change shoes and clean up the mess, but right when I was about to run back, my teacher arrived. Talk about bad luck! I must have stunk! I cleaned up my shoes the day after and it really reaked! And to think, the French consider it good luck when you step in a pile of dog poop! Disgusting!
My dad phoned me the other day, and told me that I have been summoned for jury duty. Too bad I am out of the country and won't be able to make it ;)
Other than that, I have my doctor's appointment in Dijon on Wednesday. The appointment is required for my carte de séjour so it shouldn't cost me anything. Hopefully, my school will give me the whole day off, so I can spend time with my friends in Dijon instead of having to rush back by 2 to teach a class in Chalon.
Speaking of class, I begin officially teaching tomorrow at 8 AM. Yuck to early starts.
I have a leak in the shower, and I do hope that they will fix it soon. My bathroom is like Lake Michigan! Also, my laptop is broken and I need to get it fixed :( such high maintenance.
The most exciting piece of news is that Kristen and I have booked our hotel for Strasbourg in December! We will be there to visit Christmas Markets and also plan on visiting Germany for one day. I cannot wait to go! After Strasbourg, I will be going up to London to visit a friend. Exciting stuff! After that, I may try to get to Brussels for a day to visit the EU Headquarters, or something like that. I cannot wait to travel!
Well, that's enough for now. Hope all of you back home are doing well and enjoying fall! Write me when you can!
Bisous à tous,
Erica
My dad phoned me the other day, and told me that I have been summoned for jury duty. Too bad I am out of the country and won't be able to make it ;)
Other than that, I have my doctor's appointment in Dijon on Wednesday. The appointment is required for my carte de séjour so it shouldn't cost me anything. Hopefully, my school will give me the whole day off, so I can spend time with my friends in Dijon instead of having to rush back by 2 to teach a class in Chalon.
Speaking of class, I begin officially teaching tomorrow at 8 AM. Yuck to early starts.
I have a leak in the shower, and I do hope that they will fix it soon. My bathroom is like Lake Michigan! Also, my laptop is broken and I need to get it fixed :( such high maintenance.
The most exciting piece of news is that Kristen and I have booked our hotel for Strasbourg in December! We will be there to visit Christmas Markets and also plan on visiting Germany for one day. I cannot wait to go! After Strasbourg, I will be going up to London to visit a friend. Exciting stuff! After that, I may try to get to Brussels for a day to visit the EU Headquarters, or something like that. I cannot wait to travel!
Well, that's enough for now. Hope all of you back home are doing well and enjoying fall! Write me when you can!
Bisous à tous,
Erica
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
update!
Wow, I have abandonned this blog - so sorry, guys! Things here in Chalon are going quite well, though French bureaucracy is quite a pain in the arse!
So, let's see what has happened to me since I last updated this blog...
1) I have been working at my lycée for about a week now and everything is going fairly well. Initially, it was very hard to come up with a schedule that everyone (i.e. all four of the English teachers and myself) could agree with, because at first, I was gonna be cheated out of a day off. I just couldn't have that, so we discussed it further and came up with a compromise. For the moment, I will work each day of the week, but beginning in November, I shall have Fridays off. Not a bad deal.
2) Pour faire quoi que ce soit en France, il faut bien râler! Translation: To get things done in French, you have to bitch! And it is so so true! Two of my good friends here in Chalon had some probs getting their apartment. They thought it was a language barrier, so they took me along with them to the real estate office, and voilà, after I spoke with the lazyasses for 2 mins, the agents in the office agreed to let my friends move in a week earlier. Pas mal, says I.
3) About a week or so ago, I was in Dijon for orientation where I met the other assistants. Everyone is so so sweet and it's going to be fun to get to know some of them better. I already have gotten to know my fellow Chalonnais assistants and we all get along super well. And what is really neat is that we all come from different places and, even though we are all Anglophones, we all learn from each other in diff ways, which is very exciting.
4) I also went to Beaune, France, home of the famous Burgundy wine. I didn't partake in any wine tasting or anything though, because I went by myself, and thought it would be in bad taste to go to a tasting by myself - I am not an alcoholic. ;)
5) This past weekend, I went to Lyon, where I met up with my dear Romanian friend Cristiana for the first time in 3 years! And it was simply magnificent!
6) I have already come up with 3 activities for my lycée students, and I am quite excited about them! Yay!
Photos of all this and more are on Facebook. I know some of you do not have Facebook, so here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure...
Typical architecture in Burgundy...photo taken in Dijon.
Coming back from orientation in Dijon...
Vive les Chalonnaises!
So, let's see what has happened to me since I last updated this blog...
1) I have been working at my lycée for about a week now and everything is going fairly well. Initially, it was very hard to come up with a schedule that everyone (i.e. all four of the English teachers and myself) could agree with, because at first, I was gonna be cheated out of a day off. I just couldn't have that, so we discussed it further and came up with a compromise. For the moment, I will work each day of the week, but beginning in November, I shall have Fridays off. Not a bad deal.
2) Pour faire quoi que ce soit en France, il faut bien râler! Translation: To get things done in French, you have to bitch! And it is so so true! Two of my good friends here in Chalon had some probs getting their apartment. They thought it was a language barrier, so they took me along with them to the real estate office, and voilà, after I spoke with the lazyasses for 2 mins, the agents in the office agreed to let my friends move in a week earlier. Pas mal, says I.
3) About a week or so ago, I was in Dijon for orientation where I met the other assistants. Everyone is so so sweet and it's going to be fun to get to know some of them better. I already have gotten to know my fellow Chalonnais assistants and we all get along super well. And what is really neat is that we all come from different places and, even though we are all Anglophones, we all learn from each other in diff ways, which is very exciting.
4) I also went to Beaune, France, home of the famous Burgundy wine. I didn't partake in any wine tasting or anything though, because I went by myself, and thought it would be in bad taste to go to a tasting by myself - I am not an alcoholic. ;)
5) This past weekend, I went to Lyon, where I met up with my dear Romanian friend Cristiana for the first time in 3 years! And it was simply magnificent!
6) I have already come up with 3 activities for my lycée students, and I am quite excited about them! Yay!
Photos of all this and more are on Facebook. I know some of you do not have Facebook, so here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure...
Typical architecture in Burgundy...photo taken in Dijon.
View of the main street in Dijon... "look at those flags!!"
Coming back from orientation in Dijon...
Vive les Chalonnaises!
Hotel de Dieu in Beaune
Basilique Notre Dame de Beaune
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