is not like snow in wisco. saint-étienne finally got a little dusting yesterday, and i’ve seen a couple flakes today. but for the middle of december, i was expecting more. don’t get me wrong, i’m all for a mild winter, but i don’t mind a white christmas either. and i’m used to winter meaning 1 meter of snow.
this is how much snow has covered the rooftops of sainté.
christmas. this is the first year i won’t be home for christmas. but as one of my teachers told me, “there’s always a first year.” and that’s true. when you grow up, maybe you move away, maybe you’re too far away, maybe you get married, maybe you go to your husband’s family’s christmas, most everyone has a first christmas away. most of the assistants in sainté have gone home for christmas, or are traveling elsewhere in europe. i considered traveling around europe, since i didn’t want to be stuck in this town all alone, but it’s expensive to travel anywhere this time of year. i was surprised to see most of the american assistants are even going home. not that it was easy in the least.
not only has sncf (the rail company) been on strike, the security personnel of lyon st-exupery airport are on strike. nice timing! all flights were cancelled on friday after around noon, and the airport closed. all flights were canceled again on saturday, as 100% of the security workers were following the strike, unheard of even in france. and all flights were canceled again for this morning. they’re saying less than 50% of flights will depart this afternoon. i’ve never seen anything like it. the french really do love to strike. pretty rude to do it the first weekend of christmas vacation, though.
waiting
bloqué at lyon st-exupéry
stranded
the plan of action for most was to re-route through geneva, where people do things in an orderly and logistic manner. after a bit of run-around (and some expensive ticket changes), i think everyone made it where they’re going. as disappointed i am that i’m not going home, i’m relieved i didn’t have to deal with that stress.
i have other christmas plans! i’m going to be spending christmas with the prost family, before i move into their apartment. we’ll be celebrating with magalie’s mother in évian-les-bains, in haute-savoie. évian, like the water. évian is about as close to switzerland as you can get, even farther east than geneva. it’s right on the shore of lac Léman, which forms the border between france and switzerland. famous for the water, of course, the french alps, hot springs, and the palais Lumière (the same freres Lumières that started cinema in lyon), formerly a thermal bath center, now a cultural center and congress meeting place, and the villa Lumière, which is now the city hall.
évian
palais lumière
villa lumière
i’m really excited to be part of a real, traditional, french christmas. with a french family. i’m kind of nervous to be plunged into the extended family before i start working with immediate family, before i really know the girls, or before i even move in to their house! but it will be fun, and a good introduction to the family. just be polite and gracious, offer to help, wrangle the kids, help clean up, and don’t be shy. and bring a thank-you-welcome-gift. i’m thinking i’ll make a pumpkin pie- something American, of my culture, homemade, and delicious too.
i’m even more excited about starting in january! don’t get me wrong, 5 day weekends are nice. but it’s kind of getting old. saint-étienne isn’t big enough that i can occupy myself for 5 full days. i’m getting bored. i’m excited to have something to do, all day, monday through friday. i’ll still have weekends to sleep in, be lazy, and lesson plan.
so i’m spending xmas with the family, then we’ll return and i’ll have one last day to clean my apartment, pack everything up, and get ready to leave. i met with the directrice of my apartment to go over what needs to be done to leave. she gave me a document saying i no longer live here, so i can cancel my renter’s insurance, and told me i don’t need to bother canceling my electricity account- she’ll take care of it for me and send me the last bill. who said administration in france was hard? all i have to do is get an attestation d’hebergement so i can change my address on my bank account, social security, and cell phone account, and cancel my assistance from the CAF.
i typed up my demande de prolongation de contrat with my letter of motivation and sent it off to my directeurs. i’d like to get the extension- i don’t need the money, necessarily, but if i don’t extend my contract, i’ll spend may, june, and most of july with only my au pair wage (sufficient, but not extravagant). i can extend my contract until the end of june and have an extra 1600€ in my account. it looks like i could walk away in july with some savings, actually- i get 795€ from tapif, 320€ as an au pair, and i told jmi i’d work 3 hours a month, for 45€. i’ll be making 1160€ with no rent, utilities, or meal expenses. even taking out money for my student loans and credit card bills and “fun” money, i’ll have money left over every month. and coming home with more than i started is a huge success.
the assistants received an email this week with information about contract renewal. i thought when i started this journey i’d want to stay at least another year. either as an assistant, or as a student. but… i don’t. here’s why. first, i want to do TAPIF again. i know this sounds backwards, but i want to re-apply, not renew. the only way to do the program two years in a row is to renew. if you renew, you have to stay in your academie. you can’t renew to another academie. and to re-apply, you have to wait a year, and then go through the whole application process again. and next time, i want to go to a DOM-TOM (overseas department/territory). France d’outre-mer is just that- regions of France not connected to the métropole. like Hawaii to the states. except if hawaii was on the other hemisphere. TAPIF sends assistants to Guadeloupe and Martinique (in the Carribean), French Guiana (in South America), and Réunion (a tiny island east of Madagascar).
dom-toms
second, i miss w. the feelings of separation are not nearly as awful as they were when i was studying abroad in paris, when they were practically paralyzing, but it’s still lonely here without him. i miss our little life, our cozy apartment and our two kitties. i miss the loft, our big bed, and the kitchen with counters. i want to get back, even if it means going back to milwaukee. even if it means lower pay, higher expectations, and more expenses.
third, it doesn’t feel permanent here. i don’t feel like i could see myself calling this my home. i had originally planned on starting a master’s program next year. i thought i’d want to enter the master’s program to sit the concours to become a teacher in french schools, leading to a real job and eventually working on applying for citizenship a few years down the road. but teaching doesn’t even feel permanent. sure, it’s rewarding, i enjoy it, and i especially value its potential for travel. i’m not going to stop being a teacher. but it doesn’t feel like something i want to do continuously for the rest of my life- or even invest two years of education in. as i still don’t know what i’d even want to study, i’m not going to start a master’s in france. at least, not next year.
what do i want to do? for next year, i’m not quite sure. i am interested in taking a spanish course. the assistantship program exists also in spain, and i seriously thought about applying for next year. after spending a week at candeleda, and hearing all the teachers speak so proudly about their islands, i was ready to send in my application. i was sure i wanted to go to the balearic islands. and i still do- i want to do the program, and i want to go to the balearics. but then i got to thinking… i don’t speak spanish. i can read things like labels on food packaging and ask politely where the toilet is or what time it is, and i can say sorry, i don’t speak spanish very well, but i have no grammar skills whatsoever. and one can’t get by on cognates alone. especially in a part of spain where everyone is bilingual, speaking castellano and catalán. and not just catalan, they speak a special dialect of catalan called mallorquín. so that makes at least two languages that i don’t speak. so i think i’ll audit a spanish course next year at uwm. get some background. and then maybe the year after, head to spain. maybe w will come with- he speaks spanish. who knows.
et donc voilà 