VICTORY!

Not much going on this week, it's the last week before the Vacances d'Hiver (2 week vacation), and I've been sick, so I've unfortunately been confined to my room the past two days. However this past weekend was really nice, the weather was not too cold, there was no snow, and I went to Nancy and met a lot of the Nancy assistants at a Crepe Party. Unfortunately, Tuesday night, I started to not feel so great, and it was worse Wednesday morning. I won't bore anyone with details, but I will say that living alone and being sick is not fun. But I think I'm on the way up thanks to Extra Strength Tylenol, Motrin, Mucinex, lots of water, and even more sleep.

However, Tuesday afternoon, when I was feeling alright, I helped with a class of fifteen-year-olds for two hours. The assignment from their teacher was to have rehearsed a quick skit about the calm, dry British sense of humor (and as I've learned here, because English is my native language, I naturally am expected to know everything about Britain, British culture, British history, the British Accent, etc.). The play was actually quite funny, about two British men in a hotel room and a bellboy who comes to tell them that the hotel is on fire and how calmly and skeptically they take the news. So, I'm sitting there, listening to the different groups act out the same skit in front of me several times, and all of a sudden, I hear it. Yes, I have achieved what many actors have tried (very unsuccessfully, I might add) to master. I heard a distinctive southern twang on several key words acted out by my students. I am not kidding. For example, the word "ought." I heard "awwt." YESSSSSSS. And somehow, I just can't find the heart to correct them. Just thought I'd share..

i've officially experienced the other side

So, how many times in my life have I sat in a room taking a standarized test and regarded the proctor with jealousy because all he/she has to do is sit there and read a book and make sure all of us students aren't cheating? Probably at least 50, and stretching back to ITBS tests in the 4th grade all the way through the LSAT that I took in Paris in December. I always wondered what it would be like to be in a classroom where you were the only person not completely absorbed by the monotony that is standardized testing, and to simply read a book while all the students around you were stressed out and wracking their brains to remember everything they had learned in school in order to move forward in their educations. Yesterday, I went over to the other side, and found sweet bliss. I may never be able to take another standardized test again.

Last week, I checked my cubby hole/mailbox at the school, and found a printout of what resembled my schedule except with a new block added to 8 am on Thursday of this week: BAC-BLANC. Attached, was a note from the Proviseur-Adjoint (Asst. Principal) telling me that they were having pretests for the Baccaulaureate this week and that all teachers would be helping to "Surveiller" or Proctor. For those who are not familiar with France, the Baccaulaureate (le Bac) is the major exam that all French students must take in June of their final year in high school. It covers all classes that the students are specializing in and takes about 10 days with different sections. It is a kind of 'Rite of Passage,' and my students (the serious ones, at least) are already freaking out about it. We have nothing like this in the US - imagine being forced to take a standardized test in Calculus or Literature or Chemistry, history, or even a foreign language -- and in June after senior year! They even have one on Art. The closest would be the ACT or SAT, but we take that long before the end of senior year, and it basically has nothing to do with what we've learned in high school because on top of studying for your classes you have to learn how to take these tests as well. Also, if they fail it, they're basically set up to fail in life. They can take it again, but they have to pay for it (it's over 100 euros, I believe) and who wants to put that they failed the Bac on a job application? So what I helped with yesterday could probably be equivalent to the PSAT or the PLAN because it's the same format and everything, but it's just practice and it gives the students an idea of what their score will be and what areas they need to work on.

So, the note said I needed to be there ten minutes early to get all the test booklets to take to the class. Our school starts at 8:15 but one of the teachers told me she thought the Bac-Blanc would start at 8 because that's how the real Bac will be. So I got myself up early and was at the school at 7:50. I was so nervous! I couldn't believe they would trust me to be in charge in a testing room. The Proviseur-Adjoint laughed at me because I was 25 minutes early, because we were not to begin until 8:15, but I think he was impressed (YAY brownie points!). He handed me the tests, told me the room I was supposed to be in, and told me that they were not to leave until 10 am. He also said he thought that this would be a good opportunity for me to see how the French testing system works and that it was too bad I wouldn't be there to proctor the real Bac (thank goodness). Then he said that this is very serious and that we need to make it as much like the conditions of the real Bac as possible, so don't have my nose buried in a book the whole time, look up and make sure they are testing from time to time. So I thought, Ok, that's just great, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do or say, and this is super important for all of these kids, but maybe there will be a proctor sheet telling me what to do in the room. That's all he told me. I, who had never been on this side of the equation before had no idea of any other questions, so I left it at that and went to find the room. When I got there, it was locked, and of course I did not have the correct key. So it got closer and closer to 8:15 and the students were waiting outside and we couldn't get into the room! Finally, a fellow teacher walked through and unlocked it, shaking her head at my "amateur-ish" ways. So we got in, and the students started to settle into the classroom. It quickly became apparent that I had no idea what was going on, especially when the only proctor sheet told me that they couldn't leave the room under any circumstances and that they couldn't smoke or use cell phones. Duh. There were different-colored sheets of paper on the desk, and two different-colored answer sheets on the desk, and I had no idea which was the correct one. I tried to play it cool and circulate the signature sheet while figuring out what to do next in my head. By this time the 8:15 bell had already rung and the serious students were getting antsy. They had pulled out tissues, snacks, water, etc (I had no idea of they were supposed to have all that on their desks or not, but I didn't want to be mean and take it away if it was ok). One of my English students I guess could tell that I was struggling and raised her hand and offered to help pass things out. Then three other (also intense) students hopped up and in less than thirty seconds all answer sheets and (I guess) scratch paper were passed out. I hope it was all correct, but if not just chalk it up to the clueless American Assistant. Then, I passed out the tests and they got started. Turns out it was a math test, and I had one extra when I finished so I flipped through it. It made me nauseous. It had all kinds of triangles with sin, cosin, and tan in the answer choices and angles and all that disgusting stuff that I sort of knew how to do five years ago. So I sat at the desk at the front of the room and looked out at all the students and my heart really went out to them. I noticed they were writing what looked like essays under math problems. What is there to write about math? I continued to feel nauseous. I felt like I was right there with them, then I remembered "No, I'm the Proctor!" So I pulled out my book and started reading. It was wonderful, the sick feeling went away and I soon forgot about all of the disgusting math problems that were being solved in front of me as I plunged myself into my book (of course, coming up for air every few paragraphs to make sure they weren't cheating). It was quite lovely, and very conducive to reading, and everything that I thought proctoring would be. About halfway into the hour, one of my English students raised her hand to see if she could go to the bathroom. I looked at the proctor sheet one more time to make sure it didn't say anything about using the toilet, but it didn't, so I told her no, sorry. But she didn't argue and went straight back to testing. Oh well, hopefully her bladder didn't explode. I went back to reading. The hour went up pretty quickly, and I was actually a little sad when the next teacher came to relieve me. But then, it was a beautiful day outside so I went for a walk, and briefly thought about the poor students stuck inside solving impossible math problems, and felt a tinge of guilt for enjoying such a nice day. Then I remembered the hours of my life I have spent in the same place and the guilt quickly went away and I went into town to shop the sales and enjoy the weather. Maybe if law school doesn't work out, I could become a professional proctor??

the stereotype of smelly french people hit a new low today..

When you've been living somewhere for a lengthy period of time, and when you begin to have a sort of routine in that place which causes you to traverse the same places at roughly the same times, you begin to see the same people at those times. It's like at Ole Miss, when you pass the same people at the same time at the same place between classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You can always rely on seeing that person and saying hey or grabbing a coffee.. it's a great way to "run into" people you're crushing on... etc. Anyways, I have begun to have such experiences in and around Metz. Disclaimer: I am not poking fun at any person or animal in what I'm about to type, I'm simply sharing a part of what has (unfortunately) become a regular occurrence in my day-to-day life with people who are not here to experience it with me.
Last Sunday, I was minding my own business, riding back to my room on the bus, and all of a sudden smelled quite possibly the worst scent I've ever smelled in my entire life. It was part B.O./dog B.O./wet dog/wet person/sour milk/something else... I wish I possessed the words to describe it. It completely filled up the bus I was riding, everyone was completely abandoning propriety and lunging for scarves, coats, gloves, ANYTHING that might block the smell. I looked around for the culprit and spotted a greasy looking woman with a German Shepard-looking dog on a leash and in a nuzzle standing in the back of the bus. She was probably the only person on the bus who wasn't about to gag, so I knew it had to be her. I felt bad for her because maybe she's unemployed and can't pay for water to bathe herself or her dog or wash her clothes.. but still the stench almost knocked me (and probably several others) out. Unfortunately, she got off two stops before mine, meaning that I had had to ride the bus with the smell for about 15 minutes. But then, she got off, the smell went away, and I forgot about it... until last night. I was in the train station, headed to a nearby town to see a friend for dinner, and I passed the same woman and the dog! At first I was like "Woah that's twice in one week, never thought I'd see her again!" Then, the stench hit. And it lingered. It was at least 50 times worse than Sunday night, and it lingered for a couple of minutes after she was long gone. I did not know that such lingering was possible. I then proceeded to buy my tickets and put it out of my mind. However, I decided this was worthy of a blog post tonight, when I saw her and the dog a THIRD time as they were getting on my bus at the train station. It did not take long for the smell to completely permeate the bus. It was like being in Sephora and being completely overpowered by the smell of perfume, only it was B.O., etc. However, it was interesting to look around and see how different people handled the situation. From my experience, French people seem to be oblivious to bad smells, but at the same time, this one was impossible to miss. No one was outright rude or anything, but one man had the lower half of his face wrapped in has scarf and was looking at the floor, a woman near me had pulled out a perfume tester strip from Sephora and was holding it up to her nose. I myself pretended to have a runny nose and held a tissue that I had taken from Sephora this afternoon to my nose for the entirety of the busride. It was actually scented and smelled quite good. There was, however, a respectable looking guy to my left who was very stoic throughout the 15 minute busride and never once made a face or put his hands in front of his nose. Maybe he had no sense of smell.. The woman got off towards the end of the busride, as before, but, like last night, the stench remained. Like I said before, she may have a really sad situation and can't help it. In fact, that's probably the case. I, in the meantime, however, will be taking a different bus.

note to self: don't forget your passport when traveling

So this past weekend, I thought I would do something out of the ordinary and go to Luxembourg for the afternoon on Saturday. It's about a 45-55 minute train ride, depending on the train you catch, and so can therefore be a very nice, easy jaunt when a person wants to escape the everyday life of Metz. Forgetting that even though it's such a short distance from here it's another country, I forgot to grab my passport. To be fair, I also forgot to grab my 12-25 card (for percentages off on train tickets). I considered inviting a friend to come along, but decided that it would be nice to be completely at my leisure to do what I want, and eat where I want. So I got myself up Saturday morning with the intent of leaving on the 11 o'clock train in order to arrive in Luxembourg just before noon. However, I'm still getting used to having to actually be on time for trains and such, so naturally, I just missed it. But that was ok because I was able to get some stuff organized before I went. My main goal in going to Luxembourg was to go to this bookstore I had been to before to look at guidebooks in English. I had also seen a restaurant that I was eager to try out called Wengé. So, I ended up arriving in Luxembourg around 1pm, and it was absolutely frigid. I walked from the train station to the center of town, where you can find Louis Vuitton, Hermés, and Cartier all within a block of each other, which was also where the restaurant and bookstore happened to be. I had a delightful lunch, great wine, and amazing chocolate mousse and vanilla ice cream dessert, and I even made friends with the British people sitting next to me, who told me they thought I was French because I spoke French so well. I thanked them profusely, that really was a compliment because I feel like I never get to speak French since I live alone, but go figure. Anyways, I then found my bookstore and spent an hour and a half pouring over guidebooks in English and in French, all of which were way overpriced (everything in Luxembourg is supposed to be cheaper because they don't really tax things because the country is so wealthy it doesn't need the extra income). I ended up deciding to buy one on Budapest, and another on Prague. I also flipped through one on Morocco and realized this trip was going to require some planning, which I immediately got onto the next day. After making my purchases, it was about 4pm and I decided to head back to Metz, so as to not get there too long after dark so that I would have time to go to the grocery and take the bus back to my room before it quit running. I bought my train ticket, got settled on the train, and began flipping through the Budapest book (I'm SUPER pumped about Budapest, but more on that later..) and the train gets going and all of a sudden a French policeman starts making his way through the car. He's checking passports. My heart goes to my stomach. My thoughts were racing.. I was imagining getting stuck on this train forever like in that Tom Hanks movie when he was stuck in the airport for a couple of months because his passport was invalid.. then I got worried I'd have to pay a huge fine... or imprisonment.. I started thinking about which one of the English teachers would be most likely to sympathize with my situation and come help me... then he approached me. I explained, in the best French I could, that I had completely forgotten my passport and that I was an American but was living in Metz and that I had just gone to Luxembourg for the afternoon. I then handed him my Mississippi Driver's License (HAHAHA) and said that was the only bit of identification I had, trying to muster up some tears in case they might be necessary. He looked at it with a quizzical brow, then took a deep breath and lectured me about the importance of ALWAYS carrying a passport when I travel and how I could be in so much trouble with huge fines (thank goodness not stuck on a train for the rest of my life...) etc etc etc. Then he carried on, and I was left to discreetly make it past the next French police officers who came on board with the same purpose when the train stopped at Thionville. So, Moral of the Story: ALWAYS travel with your passport, even if it's just the next country over and only a few minutes of the train tracks. And thank the Good Lord that I'm not having to make a home on the train between Metz and Luxembourg à la Tom Hanks.

Pictures of snow, etc.

april in auschwitz (well, one day of it at least)

I'm having a great day - despite the fact that the most snow I've ever seen before fell this morning and as a consequence I've been in my room all afternoon. However, this needed to happen because I have lots of work to do on law school applications and was able to finally finish one of my essays for the Tulane application. SO, why was today so great?? Aside from the fact that I got a lot done, I just found out that my dear "older"(hehehe) friend KATY BRADEN is COMING to VISIT ME in APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!! We are meeting in Berlin on April 10, then going to Krakow, Poland via overnight train at some point. While in Krakow, we will see Auschwitz (hence the title of today's post) and then we will take another overnight train to Prague for the remainder of the trip (the 18th). I've been wanting to visit all of these places for years -- I have a slightly morbid fascination with the Holocaust and it will just be very good to finally visualize these places that I've so often read about. Plus, I feel like concentration camps are something that everyone should experience at least once, they make you value life, and appreciate the small things like actually getting to have a normal one, even if it doesn't always go the way you want it to. But anyways, enough with lecturing.. I'm just trying to make KATY BRADEN famous by mentioning her on my blog.

neige. (snow)

So it's been like a month and a half since I last posted. It's been a busy month and a half: LSAT, Christmas shopping, Christmas markets, going home for Christmas, jetlag, going to Tennessee 3 times in 2 weeks, coming back to France, jetlag that just today finally went away. Aside from that not much has gone on. It has, however, snowed. A lot. I feel like it's following me. On December 18 I was worried it would prevent me from leaving my room, then from leaving Metz, then Paris, then Philadelphia. It did give me two weeks break because of naturally it would NEVER snow when I'm in Brookhaven, never ever. But it found me again upon my return to Metz. I have pictures but they won't upload for some reason or other. I'll try again tomorrow. Other than that, not much is new.. I had a very relaxing weekend in a nearby town with friends, we watched two chick flicks and drank wine and stayed in pj's all day saturday while it blizzard-ed outside -- fabulous. Today I've been working on law school essays and applications and planning lessons. I can't wait for it to be February for two reasons: one being that it will be almost March and therefore almost spring, and the other being that I have the last two weeks off!! So far, my plans are to go to Budapest for the first week, and then to southern Spain and Morocco for the second -- it's going to be AMAZING! I have decided that I am cold-blooded and need to be either in hibernation at this time of year or always live close to the equator. Or a combination of the two. Other than that, really and truly no big news, I'm going to brave the cold this week and try to find an art class that I can sign up for. À bientot!