Thursday, September 29, 2011

Some Pun-Based Title About 'School'...

I suppose I should say something more about the teaching side of my time here, seeing as how that is the premise as promised.

I managed to repeal my burn notice, which is to say that I got a straight answer about exactly where I'll be teaching (and even at what times!). I'm teaching at one elementary school in Grasse (where I'm living - the apartment is go! - but it's not the school they originally gave me). I've also been assigned to two elementary schools in Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey, a small town about 20 minutes inland (and upward, topographically speaking) by bus.

How often to people speak topographically, anyway?

Anyway, during my meeting with a local school administrator last Friday, I also got my teaching schedule, which works as follows (all classes with kids aged 6-10, variously):

MONDAY:
-7:30: Bus from Grasse to St-Vallier-de-Thiey
-8:30-11:15: 3 consecutive classes at one St-Vallier school
-11:15-1:30: 2-hour-and-fifteen-minute lunch break
-I'm not kidding.
-1:30-3:00: 2 consecutive classes at the other St-Vallier school
-4:30: Bus from St-Vallier to Grasse

TUESDAY:
-Identical to Monday, except my lunch break is three hours and I teach until 4:15

WEDNESDAY:
-No classes.

THURSDAY:
-1:30-4:15: 3 consecutive classes at school in Grasse

FRIDAY:
-8:30-11:15: 3 consecutive classes at school in Grasse
-I had to bargain pretty persuasively to get Friday afternoons off to travel.


So, after braving the slings and arrows of outrageous mis-communication, I successfully sorted this out. As the song goes, I fought the law and the law...

Well, our fight lasted until it was time for a two-hour lunch break, and then everyone was happy.

But it worked out. Given how spread-out Grasse is, the difficulty of reaching St-Vallier, and how many other little things have already gone awry, I am very happy with this schedule. I have also decided that the Official Mascot of Grasse is the mountain goat, given the town's frequent inclines, winding roads, and narrow sidewalks.

The other nice thing I found last weekend was that St-Vallier is way up in the mountains. I was a little peeved when I first found out that I was assigned even farther inland, but then I saw the place, courtesy of a driving tour from the woman running this wonderful B&B. It's up in the mountains! I love the mountains! As we drove back, it occurred to me that I'm within 30 minutes of both the beach and the mountains! Hemingway impression:

They were good mountains, and we were happy. We would have been overjoyed, only they were not great mountains, and as Gertrude observed, there were no bullfighters.

Last week, I also visited my elementary school that's actually in Grasse. Three things immediately set the tone for this place. One: the principal's office is more like a staff break room where all the staff gather. Two: the principal offered to take me around the classrooms and introduce me to the kids herself, in the middle of the day. Three: she explained right off the bat that, in this workplace, everybody refers to each other - not with the standard professional "vous" - but with the informal address, "tu."

It's hard to avoid a dull language lecture in explaining how open and laid-back that last one is.

But probably the most worthwhile thing for me in first seeing this school is that second item, the walk around to the classrooms themselves. Obviously, you can't ditch the formality entirely - kids all stand up and await the "at ease" when the principal shows up to class. The principal showed me each of the three classes where I'll come in and give my 45-minute lesson twice a week while the homeroom teacher basically hands out any materials (and does crowd control if need be).

I introduced myself - tried to be sunny and fun about it, you know - I said hello with a big smile, said was excited to work with them and learn some English together, and asked if they were excited to learn some English. (Some of the more fearless kids answered this pump-up question with "Yes!" instead of "Oui!" Precocious, adorable... same thing, really). Walking from the second classroom to the third, the principal told me that I was energetic and addressed the kids in ways normal teachers don't (and that the kids found fascinating), and that it was good that I was bringing that dynamic.

When she said that last part, I was so glad to be assigned there.

The principal and I did our shtick again in the final classroom. These were the 6- and 7-year-olds (my youngest kids):

PRINCIPAL: "Bonjour, tout le monde!" ["Hello, everyone!"]
STUDENTS: "Bonjour..."
PRINCIPAL: "Je vous présente Monsieur Andy Weiner. Il sera notre assistant d’anglais cette année." ["Allow me to introduce Mr. Andy Weiner. He's going to be our English assistant this year."]
ANDY: "Hello, everyone!"

Silence.

"We'll work on that."

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Monday, September 26, 2011

Home on the Price Range

Mundane and not-specifically-European though they are, I would be remiss in not at least mentioning my recent efforts to find my first apartment. The following is basically my process of elimination:

1.) Don't spend more than 600 euro per month on anything, one-person or flatshare, because net monthly salary is about 780.

2.) Make plans to share a place with a fellow American teaching assistant from Idaho, who seems like a great future flatmate and helps you search for online listings from the U.S.

3.) Ignore anything connected to real estate agencies. They often insist on a fee equivalent to the first month's rent (that's before the equivalent deposit and rent itself through the landlord). They also want you to have a salary of at least three times the monthly rent (well, so do I, but...) and/or a French guarantor (which I can't get).

4.) Scan (hourly) a few trusty internet sites for listings direct from landlords, including BEP, the real estate agency for people who don't want to use real estate agencies. You pay them a one-time charge of 170 euros (which - in my token joke about how bad the exchange rate is - is about how much Obama proposes his new jobs plan will cost). In exchange, you get 5 months of access to regional ads from landlords who post on BEP's website about a week before they post anywhere else. After that, it's between you and the landlords BEP puts you in touch with.

5.) Through the various websites, arrange viewings for studios, because there are no 2- or 3-person apartments in Grasse. (Or, if there are, have fun wondering why the guy has time to re-post his ad every day to keep it on top of the list, but somehow can't manage to return a simple email requesting a visit.)

6.) Visit apartments, all of them one-person studios/multi-rooms. Decide that they could make okay backups, but are too expensive or don't come furnished, or have the inherent future problem of leaving you lonely in a small, quiet town after one month.

7.) After a week and a half of this, finally make contact with the Italian assistant assigned to a high school in Grasse. In addition to seeming very sweet and desirous to share a flat with other assistants (just like you, and by "you" I of course mean "me"), her high school has reserved for assistants the only 3-person apartment in all of southern France. It costs 400 euro per person per month. It is completely furnished (except sheets and plates), has a great big living room and kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big balcony, a pool and tennis courts, top-notch security, a decent location (remember, Grasse's geography forbids any location from being actually convenient). It also offers this view (enlarge by left-clicking the image once, then again when it appears by itself on the screen):




...Aaaannnnd YOU'RE the next contestant on THE PRICE IS RIGHT!



-Andy

Monday, September 19, 2011

Burn Notice

Theatrics aside, I'm okay. From what I've gathered following that Friday morning conversation, I've still got my job, and I'll be teaching at three schools instead of the one I was first assigned. I'm sorry if I freaked anybody out, but - me being me - I saw an opportunity for some nonlinear storytelling and a cliffhanger ending and I couldn't help myself.

Basically, I'm in the process of following every lead I've got to get in touch with local administrators and, through them, to my assigned schools. I've got one very nice regional administrator helping me out, and she keeps giving me numbers to call and names to ask for. Trouble is, bureaucracy that I'm dealing with, each name ends up being a lead to the next name. I'm secondarily hunting for apartments, but until I make sure I am actually working for those three schools, I hesitate to commit to anything. Basically, I feel like ex-spy Michael Westen running leads to the ground and tyring to resolve his burn notice.*

From what I understand at the moment, one of my schools is in Grasse, where I am, and the other two are in St-Valier-de-Thiey. Here's the map. St-Vallier-de-Thiey is very small, reachable either by car, or by a 20-minute bus ride from Grasse. So, when I signed up for this region and the Azure Coast, you can imagine that this isn't exactly what I had in mind.

But that's not to say I haven't made it to the coast anyway. I met up with two wonderful fellow assistants in the region and strolled around Cannes and Nice for several hours each. And now, my first recommendation. This one's in Nice: ice cream at Fennochio on the Place Rosetti, inside the charming winding streets of the old town. Everything you need to know to find it: right here.

And I shouldn't come down too hard on Grasse, because the center of town is fairly charming and has just about everything you could reasonably need. One such thing is a wonderful restaurant called La Grignote, on the Place Aux Aires, located here. I had a terrific dinner there Saturday night: Foie Gras Ravioli in a cream sauce, followed by a tarte-aux-pommes that they simply knocked out of the park. Service was very good, and the outdoor seating is on a nice little plaza with a fountain and old French buildings whose paint and stucco are crumbling in just the right-looking way. I will post pictures of these various places soon.

So, this afternoon brought some decent news. After some more bureaucratic run-around, I finally got in touch with one Mme. Leblanc, an administrator trying to get in touch with my three schools to make sure I'm still wanted. She's also investigating whether the schools have housing set aside for me, and she's working out my schedule (even keeping in mind the bus schedule from Grasse to St-Vallier). None of it's set yet, but I'm meeting with her at her office in Grasse on Friday morning.

"That's not much, Mikey."
"It's not much, Sam. But it's more than we had."


-----------
*Theatrics not aside, I considered starting the post like this:


My name is Andy Weiner. I used to be a teaching assistant. Until...

WOMAN ON PHONE [V.O.]: We don't need any teaching assistants this year.

When you're burned, you've got nothing. No work, no salary, nobody to validate your visa. You're stuck in whatever city they decided to assign you to.

Email from Dad onscreen: "Where are u???"
Andy types: "In Grasse"


You take whatever work comes your way.

Andy scrolls through Facebook, bored.

You rely on anybody who's still talking to you... A few fellow teaching assistants who happen to be in the same time zone.

Andy walks around promenades with Katie Hardy and Soraya. He Skypes with his friend Lauren.

A friendly French woman who's part of the system that changed your placement.

Andy reads email from Mme. Laboz.

Family, too...

RENEE (ON SKYPE): We miss you, kiddo!

...If you're desperate.

RENEE (CONTD.): At least they're not gonna' have a war over there, like when cousin Paul was in the Peace Corps in South America!

Bottom line, until you figure out who can un-burn you... you're not going anywhere.



...If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Life's a Beach

Author's note: There's a link in the next paragraph. Usually, these are bonus material, but this entry will make a lot more sense if you watch the first 35 seconds (or more, if you like).

Andy sits speechless in front of his computer at a breakfast table. A woman's voice bids him "Au revoir" and the Skype call ends. As he sits there, he is reminded of the opening scene of the Firefly episode "Trash."

Three Days Earlier...

Planned Itinerary for Tuesday, 13 September 2011 - Wednesday, 14 September 2011:
--6:25 PM U.S. East Coast Time: Check two bags, fly from Washington Dulles to London Heathrow.
--6:25 AM London Time (12:25 AM Washington): Land at London Heathrow
--7:45 AM London Time: Fly from London Heathrow to Nice, France
--10:30 AM France Time (9:30 AM London Time): Land at Nice airport, collect bags, take bus to nearby train station
--11:45 AM France Time: Take train from Nice: St-Augustin train station (it's one of three in the city) to Grasse
--1:00 PM: B&B proprietor picks me up from the train station in their car, drives me to the B&B.
--3:00 PM: After settling in, see Grasse.


Actual Itinerary for Tuesday, 13 September 2011 - Wednesday, 14 September 2011:
--6:25 PM U.S. East Coast Time: fly from Washington Dulles to London Heathrow. Sit two rows behind a shrieking baby, but take zen approach and fall asleep intermittently while listening to jazz.
--6:25 AM London Time: Land at London Heathrow. Scramble through newly refurbished concrete labyrinth behind slowpoke fellow passengers, just to get to a surprise second security check. Smile, panicked, as the 7:10 gate closing for the flight to Nice draws closer.
--7:00 AM: clear security and blitz to gate A21.
--7:05 AM: Reach A21, board the plane.
--8:06 AM: The captain updates the cabin that something is still wrong with the plane engine.
--9:00 AM: The captain updates the cabin that this plane cannot fly and that another one is waiting for us at the other end of the tarmac.
--10:30 AM: We depart for Nice on the new plane.
--1:30 PM (France time): We land in Nice. I wait at the baggage claim for my bags.
--1:31 PM: My first bag passes into view, and I put it on my baggage cart.
--2:15 PM: I fill out a missing bag form at the baggage services desk. The pretty French woman kindly informs me that, due to the delay on my flight, my second bag wound up on the British Airways flight arriving at 2:40.
--2:20 PM: I use the terminal's free wi-fi (which is, adorably, pronounced "wee-fee" here in France) to check my email and realize the B&B owner was waiting for me at the train station. I send a quick apology email to explain. I will take the 3:45 train and be there at 5.
--2:40 PM: I check for my bag, deciding that if it doesn't show up by 3:10, I'm leaving for the train and letting baggage services drop it at the B&B sometime in the next few days.
--2:41 PM: I realize my clothes for the next two weeks are all in that missing suitcase, but stick to my decision anyway.
--3:06 PM: I pick up my second bag.
--3:20 PM: The bus to the train station arrives, and I board it.
--3:45 PM: As my train leaves for Grasse, I am stuck on the bus with two suitcases as the bus makes every single stop in Nice.
--4:10 PM: I get off the bus near a different Nice train station and find I have 30 minutes until the next train, which will start the 75-minute trip about 15 minutes before the B&B woman goes to pick me up again.
--5:55 PM: I arrive in Grasse, attempt to follow my carefully written walking directions but get confused by the side streets not mentioned on Google Maps, as well as quickly changing elevations of roads. After asking for directions, I pull all 120 pounds of stuff to my name over hills (just hills, sadly-- they don't have dales in France) about a mile and a half to the B&B.
--7:00 PM: I arrive at the B&B to a very nice, understanding French couple, who encourage me to (quite literally) take a load off.
--8:00 PM: I join the couple for dinner: tasty homemade pizza.
--8:45 PM: I tell the couple that I should be up for breakfast at 8:30, apologizing again for the mixup today and hoping they don't think my life is a total mess for it.

--9:47 AM: I wake up and see the clock, which did not sound the alarm I requested.
--9:47:02 AM: "Shit."


Thursday, 15 September 2011

Despite my concerns, I got breakfast no problem. Like I said, the couple running this B&B is very sweet and had the following waiting for me anyway: baguette, cheese and ham, croissant and pain au chocolat, as well as orange juice, hot chocolate (at my request), and jam for any of the above. I ate and then answered a few emails, several related to finding more permanent housing, almost all of them pertaining to actually running my own life.

To appease my uneasiness about, well, that, I took it slow that day and spent it simply getting a feel for the town where I'd be teaching. Much of this was putting what I'd seen last summer in a walking-around context. (Part of "what I'd seen" is - and I'm not making this up - 'The B.O. Cafe'.)

Grasse is a pretty cute town-- lots of little winding streets full of soap and perfume shops (not bad for a local souvenir industry). The town boasts three big-time perfume factories, many standard stores, a movie theater, a live theater, and a fairly steep hillside setting about 45 minutes inland from the beach. I was actually more productive than I thought I would be; I picked up a few things, got a working SIM card for my French cell phone, and even visited a few banks and got some information about opening accounts.

Fellow assistants: If you want a good introduction to opening a French bank account, I highly recommend going to an LCL branch for information. Even if you don't want an account there, ask them to go through their online simulation with you. It's free, and it gives you a good idea of the various options available (as well as their quote for monthly fees). I believe you can also find this feature on their website, although I haven't looked.


Friday, 16 September 2011

Pursuant to a suggestion from one of my very friendly contacts in the regional school system, I called my assigned elementary school to schedule a meeting with the principal this morning as I had my breakfast. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself, arrange a visit before I start working there, get a sense of my duties, and ask for advice about housing, banking, paperwork, etc. I have paraphrased and translated the exchange:

WOMAN: Hello?
ANDY: Hello, is this the Saint-Exupery Elementary School?
WOMAN: Yes, indeed!
ANDY: Oh, good! My name is Andrew Weiner, and I'm going to be the English Teaching Assistant this year.
WOMAN: Yes...!
ANDY: I'd like to schedule a meeting with the principal, if that's possible?
WOMAN: Will you hold, please?
I hold. Children are audible in the background. It sounds like a school! Oh, boy!
WOMAN: Hello?
ANDY: Yes?
WOMAN: We don't need an English teacher this year.
ANDY: Excuse me?
ANDY'S INNER MONOLOGUE: WHAT?!?!?!
ANDY: Madame, I was placed at this school as an assistant. I just want to schedule a meeting with the principal to ask a few questions -
WOMAN: I am the principal -
ANDY: Ah.
WOMAN: All of the teachers here teach English themselves.
ANDY: Right, but I'd be an assistant. I was assigned here by the French government as part of the TAPIF program -
WOMAN: I understand, sir, but we don't need an assistant this year. You should talk to someone else in the administration - I think that would be best.
ANDY: Okay, thank you.
WOMAN: Goodbye.

She hangs up. The Skype window on Andy's laptop closes. Andy sits at the breakfast table, pensive.

ANDY: Yep... That went well.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Re-Orientation

To those of you joining us again for season 2 of me blogging, welcome back. I hope that this provides you with something entertaining to read and a strong means for us to keep in touch. Well, then again, I suppose that's true whether you read the first one or not.

In any case, I might as well put everyone on the same page. Tonight, I begin travel from Washington, DC, USA to Grasse, France (located here). My job (yes, actual gainful employment) begins on October 1, and for it, I will help teach French elementary schoolers English, alongside their actual English teachers.* I should have about 9-12 hours per week of work, for which the French government has promised to compensate me fairly generously.

I should also note that this position is open to lots of people in lots of countries who speak many different languages: TAPIF (Teaching Assistantship Program in France) is a long-running, established, and quite successful French government program that brings in people about my age from around the world to do what I am doing at all levels of the French education system (you request age group and region when you apply, and yes, I did request the Azure Coast over Paris). This is a program I really think the U.S. should pick up.

As for this blog, you can expect more or less what came at the end of the last one, to wit:

--Intermittent (every few days...ly) postings about what I'm up to, what I've seen and done, and how work is going. There will be plenty of stories about funny little French kids.

--Recommendations. I probably recommended too much too soon last time, so I'll try to hold off this time around and save my suggestions for particularly great restaurants or things to do. I do this so that, if you're ever in this part of the world, I can give you a guide more easily. Recommendations will be in bold and I'll label the entry with the word "recommendations."

--Travel episodes. I will travel. I will travel fairly often, I will hopefully travel to a few terrific places, and I will write about it when (or, more likely, after) I do.

--Photos. I will post photos on Facebook and link to the albums here (and try to coordinate the two somehow). Don't worry if you don't have an account-- you should still be able to view them. If this gives anyone trouble, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

--Other random asides. If I see a good movie (like the new Cronenberg movie coming out in February), or if something big pops up in the news, I may give it a paragraph or two. Or six. But only if it's a movie.

--More concision. This entry may be a poor example, but I will try to ramble less this time, so that I can be every bit as offbeat and confusing, but in less space.


...So, just to get the plot rolling a bit, I'm landing in Grasse (the perfume capitol of the world-- and now you know) on Wednesday and staying in a B&B there for a week.** My objective will be to search for my first apartment, which was already going to be fun*** before I knew I'd have to do it in a foreign country. Since I spent about 4 hours in Grasse last summer (touring the Fragonard perfume factory), I didn't give the place much consideration. I'll check the place out and decide if I want to live in this cute, quiet, elevated town slightly off the coast, or whether I'm willing to commute 45 minutes each way by train and live in the lovely town of Antibes where I stayed for all of July in 2010. Also an option is nearby Cannes (home of the film festival, pronounced "con," not "can," and CERTAINLY not "cans").

Regardless of where I choose an apartment, chances are good I will make arrangements to share it with other teaching assistants (of various languages). We've all gotten in touch over Facebook over the last few months. It's like summer-pre-Vassar all over again.

For the record, all of France (and next-door neighbor Italy) is 6 hours ahead of East Coast time, so please keep this in mind when you're thinking about when we should Skype. And we should Skype. With that in mind, here's how else to keep in touch with me over the next academic year:

EMAIL: andy.j.weiner@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/andy.j.weiner
SKYPE: andy.j.weiner.17

I really do want to hear from you about you and what and how you're doing. I'm not sure what my internet capabilities will be right off the bat... could be several weeks until I get a stable situation, but I'll make it work. I'll also keep you posted on my schedule. Pretty sure that covers all the basics.


Well. I'm off.


-------------------
Footnotes
*I've been assigned to one school so far, but my predecessor tells me they surprised her with two more when she arrived.

**To those of you familiar with my screenplay thesis, I assure you that the irony is not lost on me, either.

***That's French for "Oh, bullocks."

****If you're curious, here's a link to my first blog, from JYA spring 2010: (199) Days of Europe