I'm So Paid (but most of this was prior to that)

Lots of things have changed since I last posted here: I've taught some classes, I've had some time to explore Le Havre, I've definitely gotten settled in, and yes, I finally got paid so I'm not living off the French equivalent of ramen noodles.

Classes. First thing you notice is that French kids never shut up. It's very different from anything I've experienced in the US, but it's one of those things I guess I'll just have to deal with. I typically teach half the class for half the period and then switch, although some professeurs do prefer to take half the class for the whole hour and switch the next week. That makes planning lessons a bit more difficult as I have to keep track of which class has done which lesson. I teach Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the high school, and Thursday and Friday at the middle school. I'm on my own with the students in the high school, but the teacher stays with me in the middle school classes. The students may not know all the vocabulary for any given lesson, so it is very handy to have the teachers around. I've talked with most classes about myself, where I come from, my family, and so on. I've shown pictures of Vermont, my high school, and drawn some crude representations of my family on the board. Last week, I talked about Thanksgiving in all but one of my classes. I put together a little slideshow that went over the history of Thanksgiving, how it is celebrated, what we eat, and some of the cultural events associated with it. I did a few activities with the students as well, which they often have difficulty with. Many are nervous, so I usually give the marker to one of them and make them go. It's easier that way. But that's enough about work, no one wants to hear that.

We had a training day on Friday; we did some administrative stuff in the morning and swapped ideas with other assistants, and then had more specialized sessions in the afternoon. All in all it was more useful than the first session, and now we have no more so that’s good. Afterwards, a bunch of the assistants went out for beers, and then we got some Indian food which was delicious. I had an amazing curry, though portions were smaller than I had hoped. Lisa had chicken with some coconut and other stuff, which was very tasty as well. We then went to the apartment of another assistant and hung out until the early hours of the morning. A good time was had by all. Today (Saturday), we’re planning to get together and go skating; they’ve made a small rink in front of the Hotel de Ville and you can rent skates and have fun. I’m sure there will be pictures later.

So, I've been doing a bit of exploring around Le Havre when I've had nice (light rain or better) weather and some free time. Most often, this is weekends with Lisa, but I do occasionally get out and about during the week. Picture time! Enjoy!

This was taken before I got paid, so I had to use a lot of willpower not to go in here. I'll probably stop in and buy some overpriced yet delicious piece of sugary confection. This picture is mostly for Paul.



This is the Notre Dame church in Le Havre. We went in on Sunday to a free organ concert. The music was great but some old guy spent half the time explaining everything about the piece before the organist (who was younger than me) got to play it and that was a bit annoying. I think this is the oldest building in Le Havre, 16th century maybe? Fairly young as far as France goes.



There are lots of stained glass windows and arches and columns and other typical church things.



On Wednesday, which in France is always a half day, I had some sunshine so I decided I'd go down and check out the docks and shoreline and whatever else happened to catch my interest. Sadly I cannot show you all of these photos now but a few will give you a taste. The sun and clouds looked amazing; the colors here, while pretty, are but a shadow of what you could see with your own eyes.



There was a giant freighter coming in, and I happened to catch the sunlight glinting off the containers. I adore this picture.



This giant church is probably the most visible landmark in downtown Le Havre. Shame it's so ugly.



The inside is almost completely open and all of the windows are stained glass. It's pretty cool, and yes, that is a spiral staircase going up the tower. I have resolved to climb that staircase one way or another.



That weekend, Lisa came up and we did some more exploring. Le Havre seems to have an unusually high number of cool bridges in random spots throughout the city.



As it got darker, the bridge lights came on and made for more fun pictures. It was very windy and as near to a bitter cold as you can get here in Le Havre, so we didn't stay too long.



Yeah, OK, last photo of the bridge.



I took this picture on the bus home. It was just awesome.



We bought some Christmas lights to festivize my prison cell. One 10 metre string of rope lights and a 10 metre loop of blue lights. The rope lights run along two walls, through my closet, and across my window.



We also bought a 1.5 metre fake tree (I know, I KNOW!) for Lisa's apartment, and some lights and ornaments. We put it up and it's really not bad considering that it only cost 7 euros. It even sheds needles like a real tree! There are some presents under it already and it's in the window in the living room so people outside can see our pretty tree! Pictures will come later.

That's about all I've got for now.