Way too much has happened lately...

I have this horrible habit – whenever there is a lot going on that is worth writing about, I procrastinate until there is too much to write about and I can no longer do justice to any of it. So, that’s my current dilemma, and I will try to recount the past few weeks’ worth of events without (a) making this entry obnoxiously long, or (b) omitting any of the exciting and/or entertaining events.

My first week back, I was teaching at the middle school. This turned out to be a great transition back to “working life” (can I really call my paid vacation here “work”?) because teachers kept forgetting to send their students to me. I decided not to make them aware of the fact because I was using the open class time to finish reading The Bell Jar and really didn’t mind the peace and quiet. I taught the class that I wrote about previously (see “But, I do not speak zee English!”) for the first time since the “confrontation,” and actually had a fairly positive experience. I think I’m growing on them…they actually participated! Either I’m getting better at teaching or they’re getting better at respecting…maybe both.

Anyway, after a week of cold, wet, slushy snow during the first week back, Molly, Patrick and I decided to migrate south to Nîmes. We did Couch Surfing with a fantastic host named Thomas. He wasn’t able to stay home that weekend, but was willing to leave us his keys for the weekend anyway. It was a great experience – saw some Roman architecture, absorbed as much 60+ degree weather, sun, and cloudless sky as we could, and remembered what it was like to be in a town with a young population and vibrant atmosphere. Needless to say, we will most likely be returning to Nîmes as soon as the cold weather and unbearable wind start to wear on us again.

The next week was one of the most positive teaching weeks I’ve had. I was at my school with the most motivated and participatory students. Demos (the other American assistant) and I started an “English Club” that currently has only two members, but they both seem fully loyal and motivated ☺. I am also starting a letter exchange between students from this school and Columbine’s AP French class to create what will (hopefully) be a long-term connection between Romans and Littleton.

Since Nîmes, my weekends have been spent in Romans and Valence, which actually hasn’t been as monotonous as expected. I spent a day wine tasting with Abi, Patrick and Molly in Tain l’Hermitage, a small town only 10 minutes from Valence by train. The town is surrounded by hills of vineyards, so it is basically saturated with “caves,” or tasting rooms. Romans has been surprisingly “happening” this January – last night, there was even a concert at a bar in town. The bar was still open at 1:30 when we left, which should go down in a book somewhere as an exceptional event in the city’s existence. Of course, this is the first night that Patrick and Molly have hung out in Romans, so they are convinced that my tales of the lacking life in the town are false. If only they knew…

Last Wednesday, the Assistants in the area took advantage of the fact that schools in France close at noon on Wednesdays (logical, right?) and went skiing. The bus embarked from Die (pronounced “Dee,” but still makes for good jokes) and took us to Col de Rousset, a small ski resort in the Vercors mountains. For less than 20 euros, I got a ride to/from the mountain, a lift ticket, and ski rentals. I don’t ski in the States, but I’m pretty sure it’s way more expensive than that. So, I will be taking advantage of that fact and skiing on many of the future Wednesdays I have off of work. Any of you who have seen me try to ski (or can imagine it) can predict the types of stories I have from the day…I won’t get into them hear, but let me know if you want to hear more details from what was an incredibly entertaining day.

Other than that, I have been spending a decent amount of time training for an April 19th half marathon in Annecy. Annecy is a mountain town in the Alps, and the half marathon is along the lake, which is supposedly beautiful. Now, there's a little gang of assistants all planning on running, too, which should be fun. The other day on my run, I saw a falcon (which I originally thought was an owl…I’m not really a bird person…until I was corrected later and verified on Google images that it was, in fact, a falcon). Molly kindly commented, “Oh, you’re lucky it didn’t attack you. We spoke to a teacher yesterday who had a falcon attack his helmet while he was riding his bike.” So, I now have added falcons to my list of fears while running.

This has gotten to be too long, so I will stop rambling. Although this has been a fairly “factual” entry, I do have some funny stories from the past month. So, if you want to hear rants on any of the following subjects, let me know: (a) The boom box-style MP3 player trend amongst French youth, (b) The version of Classism that takes place between different high schools in one town, (c) Current trends in French men’s fashion…more specifically, their blue jeans, or (d) Dealing with Germans in a French context.