Live life and always be true...

Every Wednesday, I become a babysitter for a little French girl. The goal is that she learns to speak English. We spend the day together doing the regular playing, just in two languages. It is fascinating to me that sounds that mean nothing to her speak volumes to me, while she understands the world in a completely different set of sounds. I cannot wrap my mind around it. There are other differences also, such as the necessity of slippers, that I never really considered. In France, in the house, everyone (or most people) wears slippers. I also have realized how informal American culture is, in many aspects. We write our letters and numbers differently, in more modern and easier fashions. We don’t greet each other and say goodbye to each other with kisses. We don’t think of yogurt or fruit as dessert (I don’t know if that is a part of a more informal culture...). As I live in a different culture, I realize how ingrained my American mentality is. I can appreciate differences, and enjoy some of them, but I measure my life in the parameters of the culture that I understand. I think that most people probably do, I just have never been confronted with my Americanness so strongly at any point in my life as I am now. I innately know that today I should be eating turkey in Nebraska. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I think that I’ll go buy some slippers.

Email Problems...

Hotmail is not working for me. For these past two days, I have tried to access my email, and it won't open. I am not meaningfully neglecting anyone who has written me. I am going to try later at an internet cafe; maybe the problem is the computers at the school.

The French Response...

Thank you for providing me with stereotypes, my students liked them. The girls want everyone to know that they do shave their armpits...they were very emphatic about that. Something that French people apparently don’t do, however, is floss. I love to floss my teeth. I think it started at Love Hall when Rachel was around and would floss her teeth. Now, I have to floss everyday or I feel like my teeth are really dirty. I went to the store here to get some, because I ran out, but there wasn’t any. I went without for a week until I was at a store with Kate and she found some. It works, but it’s not minty.
Here are my students’ stereotypes about Americans:
They are patriotic
They eat pizzas all the time
They don’t like the French
They are alcoholics
They are egotistical
They are eccentric
They are religious
They are fat
They have good movies and singers

What do you think?

Reflections on Life in France...

It has been over 5 weeks since I first arrived in Paris. I am getting adjusted to my life here little by little. My paperwork is nearly finished and I am getting situated in a new apartment. I want to give a brief rundown of what has happened since my arrival here. When I came, I had no idea where I would live. I stayed with a friend for the first few days and found out that my school would house me for free, which is a huge blessing. The school is under construction and so a new apartment was built for the assistants and I just moved in a couple of days ago. It is wonderful! I started teaching my second week here. I work about 12 hours a week in 12 different classes. The students are excited, for the most part, about learning English, and it has been fun to teach them. I have quite a bit of free time, which has been really nice for getting settled and visiting Paris. I am excited to really get to know the city and to feel like it is my home. It is such a beautiful place. My French is getting better every day, I think. :) I feel like I understand more and am much more comfortable having conversations than I was when I came. I have a pretty good life here. And, although I am northwest of Paris, so far I haven’t seen anything as far as riots are concerned. I hope that there will be a solution, but unemployment is such a huge problem here, I don’t know what will remedy it. I miss my family and friends at home, but am so thankful for this opportunity. What a great way to spend a year!

Coming Soon...

Hi Friends! Thank you for your help with my assignment. I will let you know what my students think. After 2 weeks of 10 hours of work each week, the French department of education found that a 10 day vacation was in order. I agreed. I have just returned from traveling to the Loire Valley, Normandy, and Brittany with my friend Kate. I will update you all on this trip with photos and stories soon!!
A heads up for all of you now: I am planning to come back to Nebraska for Christmas; so I hope that I will be able to see everyone. And, anytime you want to come to France, just let me know!