The month of November...

I cannot believe how much time has past! I have had a rather busy month working, traveling, and arranging my "French life". First: I have found an apartment! I haven't moved in yet, since we are only getting the electricity (and thus, heat) turned on today, and I still need to buy bedding. There is an IKEA about an hour away, so I'll be heading there this week. I do wish that the apartment were a bit closer to downtown and a bit more French, but it is completely new (converted from an old hotel) and furnished! It's also a little weird leaving all of the other assistants who live with me here in the basement. It will definitely be a new start, but I hope we will be able to see each other as often as we do now. Although I will be living with another American assistant, Brady, and he seems to have a million friends, so that's good.

Before I forget, some guy Ryan from Ottawa commented on my last post, requesting my mailing address. So now I actually have one to give you: 24 rue du General Hulot, 54000 Nancy, France. Of course, the entrance with the mailboxes isn't finished yet... but I should still be able to get mail! I will have to post pictures up on Shutterfly once our lights are on.

So, secondly, I am terribly sorry to be sooooo bad at staying updated on this thing. Although I have had a busy month, that is no excuse! Thanks to those of you who harassed me for an update, it really does help snap me back into reality. So I guess we left off before I went to London at the end of October, wow! The trip was great; hopefully you all saw the pictures already anyway. I spent the weekend in Paris on the way, so I finally got to see all the big landmarks. I have to say that before Paris, it still hadn't sunk in that I was in France at all. But as soon as I came up from the metro near the Champs Elysées, I could immediately see Place de la Concord, with the Eiffel Tower way off in the distance. It was really overwhelming, it just hit me right in the face that I was in PARIS! It was pretty cool, but then also strange to wrap my head around.

So I spent the weekend walking on air around Paris— I started by the Louvre and the gardens near it, and saw the Egyptian obelisk at Place de la Concorde, at the other end of the gardens. Then I stupidly attempted to walk to the Arc de Triomphe, and it was WAY farther than it looked on the map, so I took the metro, and then walked to the Eiffel Tower from there. Then I collapsed at the hostel. It wasn't the best place ever, but I shared my room with some French man and his two adorable French children. They were really friendly and asked me all kinds of questions (just like my students!). I also got to see the underground catacombs (creepy as hell by yourself), Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame... but I didn't really go into anything except the cathedrals, and the Musée de l'Homme (Museum of Man). I will have to go back for the many incredible museums, and the other parts of the city that there just wasn't time for.

England was also pretty amazing! I spent most of the week in Brighton, where my friend
Mike lives. They have a million little independent shops and restaurants everywhere, so it had a really hip atmosphere. And it was so nice to be near water again! I don't know why it matters, but I like knowing it's there. Then London was an hour train ride each way, so I only went one day alone, and one day with Mike. But I got to walk around the West End and Soho where all the theatres are, and see all the ones I studied in theatre history classes. Then there's an area east of that called Covent Gardens, which is exactly like Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market, only bigger. I also went by Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings, and Westminster Abbey. Then Mike came with me to the Tower of London where they imprisoned a great many people (and where they keep the crown jewels!), and the Tower Bridge with its huge engine room, and finally the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which was completely amazing. Mike and I also took a day-trip out to Dover, where they have famous white cliffs that we couldn't really see, but there is also an incredible military fort/castle that we explored for a few hours. So it was a great trip, and great to catch up with Mike and meet all his roommates!

Since then I have mostly been working a lot on lesson plans, and trying to get students to listen to me. Some classes I just stay in the room with the teacher, but some I take half the class by myself. It is very difficult to figure out how much to bring to fill exactly 50 minutes! And it seems like each class is working on a different lesson, or each teacher wants to present the lesson differently, so I always have to create completely new worksheets. Last week I made a crossword of crime-related vocabulary, which I was pretty proud of! They were so quiet, it was great. Mostly though, it is just finding a picture or cartoon online, and making them describe it, and then having a discussion. But it does not always go as smoothly as planned... no major behavior problems though, so I can't really complain. And some of them are so smart they surprise me, and some are just so sweet. I want to bring them all home! (And some days I want to run away, haha!)

This is already turning into a novel (as always) but I should also mention that I went to Brussels this past weekend with Pamela! We were there less than 48 hours, since it was a nice four-hour train ride each way, but it was still fun. We walked around on Saturday and saw a bunch of beautiful buildings and skylines, and ummm, drank a whole bunch. The next day rained all day, which I guess is common for Belgium, so we went to the Atomium, which is basically a gigantic model atom. I thought it would be all about science, but it was actually about life in the 1950s, since it was built for an exhibition in 1958. That was really all we had time for, but we got a little taste, anyway! I have decided that I need to learn more about architecture styles before I continue touring Europe though. I have seen sooo many beautiful buildings, which are all so detailed and ornate, but after a while they are all blurring together in my mind.

Anyways, I'm going to stop myself here! That was a huge pain to write, that'll teach me to wait so long to update. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well, and the Christmas shopping is coming along. I am missing everyone a bunch, I keep thinking that I see some of you on the street, but then I realize that I'm clearly hallucinating or something (I think I need visitors!) Have a good week, everyone!