Happy Halloween!

Getting wifi in my apartment was a boon and a very bad thing. I've been spending far too much time online and too little sketching and such. In an attempt to break the habit, I kicked myself out of my apartment yesterday afternoon to take what turned out to be a grueling 25-mile bike ride between here and Plancoët. A colleague Madeleine's (my contact person) lent me the bike to help with the long distances between some of my schools here. The ride was only grueling because I deviated from the main roads a lot and ended up on dirt paths leading goodness knows where through forest and fields, up and down hills without the possibility of changing gears. Entering these tree-covered paths felt a little bit like going down the rabbit hole to Wonderland. I was eager to take them to leave the main roads, though, which are narrow compared to American standards and have no bike lanes. It was scary to have cars zipping by, inches away. I rode through Corseul on my way to Plancoët and stopped to see the Temple of Mars, Roman ruins that look rather neglected between farmers' fields. The height of the main ruins is impressive, considering how old they are. Even more interesting, however, was a little stone oven to the left of the road nearby. It looked in fine condition and probably isn't Roman, but I was so thrilled to be able to poke my head in and see how it was made.
On the way back I stopped for a cup of coffee at a bar called "l'Irlandais" (the Irishman), which was empty except for it's very French owners, a Moroccan, and a French guy complaining that he had no work or money. But they were nice. I then got completely and utterly lost by taking too many side roads, and thankfully ran into a group of children who were more than happy to tell me where to go.

Well, today is Halloween. It isn't a traditional French holiday, and has only really become popular in schools and in stores in the past 5-10 years. Here, it's recognized as a commercial holiday, though the schools enjoy it because it's a chance to teach about other cultures. The store around the corner has been showing off it's cheaply-made Halloween costumes for at least a month. That being said, there's apparently a big Halloween party being held in Rennes tonight, where university students will likely dress up and drink lots of beer. I don't plan on celebrating, but maybe I'll go out and buy a chocolate bar.

Visit to Saint-Malo

I slept in this morning. Nothing happens on Sundays here, anyway. Even the boulangerie nearby is closed. Yesterday I accompanied the other teaching assistants here on a trip to Saint-Malo, the nearest large city to Dinan. Saint-Malo is a short train or bus ride from Dinan. It sits on the edge of the ocean, cornered on the left by the mouth of the river Rance as it meets the sea. It's the ultimate port town; soft, smooth beaches outside of stone ramparts encircling the tightly knit houses and streets that make up the old town. Though it's not obvious at first glance, much of the towers and ramparts around Saint-Malo are new. The city was all but obliterated during WWII, and they spent many years rebuilding it all.
It was a cold but sunny morning when we made the walk from the train station to the port. The gates to the old town are impressive, with the towers of the Hotel de Ville on one side and walls on the other. There, we met the gang of American assistants from Saint-Brieuc, who suggested we visit one of the rocky islands around the city, made accessible by foot at low tide. It was indeed low tide, so we scampered across the sand and over the rocks to the doors of the Fort National, which was closed, of course (the tourist season officially ends  on September 30th in Brittany), but from there we had a very impressive view of the city. The American assistants then left us to explore the city while we attempted to reach the second island, le Grand Bé, where Chateaubriand's tomb lies. Unfortunately, the tide was already lapping up over the path to the island by the time we'd negotiated our way over the sharp rocks to the other beach, so we entered the city walls instead. It's very clear by the number of souvenirs shops and ice cream and sweets stands that Saint-Malo is accustomed to a healthy population of tourists, at least in the old town, but this didn't make the visit any less interesting. We stepped inside the Cathédrale Saint-Vincent, which is curiously asymmetric but has stunning stained-glass windows.
At noon, we returned to the train station to pick up the Italian assistant, Michéle and a Spanish assistant, Nuria, and then went to have a picnic on the beach. It would have been quite pleasant if it weren't for the chilling wind. We stayed, huddled in our coats, long enough to finish our sandwiches and then opted for a brisk walk in town followed by hot chocolate at a café in the sun. It was a good day. Nuria and Michèle accompanied us back to Dinan to spend the night. We played "I spy" on the train home, and made dinner together at the assistant's apartment in the Lycée. Michèle is a good cook. We ate, laughed, and drank wine. It's amazing how being strangers in a strange land can bring a diverse group of individuals so close together. Visiting a new city was fun, but the real point of the outing was just to be together, to enjoy each other's presence.

Internet

 It’s amazing how easy it is to take wifi for granted. Luckily, I have a neighbor in the apartment complex who is eager to share the cost of hooking up a router with me, but for now I'm still having to go to the apartment of the other teaching assistants, across town, in order to do email in peace.

Now where was I... After arriving in Brittany, the assistant teachers gathered together in their separate départements (mine is Côte d’Armor) on october 3^rd for an orientation at which we filled out lots of necessary papers and were given some tips on teaching. It wasn’t quite enough to prepare me for my very first day of class, but I think mine was an extreme case; most assistants don’t start teaching by themselves right away.

I teach in 4 different schools, for a total of 12 hours a week. I teach English in an elementary and middle school in Dinan, and at an elementary school in Lanvallay, the town across the river from Dinan. As ridiculous as it sounds, I’m also teaching Spanish at another elementary school in Dinan, because Lidia can’t yet. There are only 2 students, and although they know almost as much Spanish as I do, I’m getting by all right for now. It helps to have Internet. It’s actually quite fun to dredge my memory for vocabulary I learned in high school.

It seems like school just got started, yet our first vacation is almost here. Toussaints, or “All Saints” vacation lasts from October 22^nd to November 2^nd. I’m still not sure what I’ll do during my week of freedom, but I know the Australian assistants are planning on visiting Bordeaux. I may look into visiting a farm nearby, I’m not sure. It all depends on when I get paid…

            I’ve taken a few pictures of the city. Here you can see the port of Dinan, nestled close to the river Rance. Most of the city is actually up on the hill behind, but there are many nice restaurants and old houses along the river. In the second photo, you can see the bridge I cross to get to Lanvallay. The third photo is of one of the towers on the ramparts, which are still intact.

Hello Brittany!

I flew into France on September 25th and found myself once more in the city of Paris, where I studied 3 years ago. This time, I would not be staying long.
I've been accepted into the Teaching Assistant Program in France, in which young people like myself are temporarily employed by the French government to teach their native language to French public school students. I will be teaching English to primary and secondary school students in a small town in Brittany, northwestern France. My contract is from October 1st to April 30th, though my visa allows a little leeway on either end. To find out more about the program, follow this link: http://www.frenchculture.org/spip.php?rubrique424&tout=ok

It was a blissfully uneventful series of flights that took me from Portland to Seattle, Seattle to Reykjavik, and finally Reykjavik to Paris with Icelandair. I met other teaching assistants in Reykjavik, heading to other parts of France. One of the girls was on her second round of assistant teaching in France.
Once in Paris, I headed straight for Aloha Hostel, located in the 15th Arrondissement. It was the closest hostel I could find to the Montparnasse train station, where I would be taking the train the next day to Rennes, and finally to Dinan. It was a fine hostel, despite the silly name. I picked up a deliciously greasy kebab from a restaurant nearby, found a bank, took out some money, and went so sleep at around 7pm.
The next day, I met with my good friend Nayla for coffee before rushing off to the train station. My contact person in Brittany, Madeleine Reux, came to meet me at the train station in Rennes.  She is the head of languages for the primary school district of Dinan, where she trains teachers to teach English. She is a kind and very funny person, who I've gotten to really like. I ended up staying with her for the next week, as it turned out that the hostel in Dinan, which I had contacted before leaving, had decided to close early.
To make a long story short, I eventually found an apartment with the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs, an organization that provides housing for young people, and have now settled in. I have made friends with the 4 other assistants assigned to Dinan; 2 Spaniards and 2 Australians, but one of Spaniards, Lidia, has broken her foot and will not be able to join us for awhile. I went to visit her in Rennes last weekend. We communicated a lot by email before I left because she is also the only other assistant working in primary schools, like me. The other three work in the high school, where they are also housed.
My first week of classes was a bit rough; I realized how little experience I have actually teaching little kids after my first class with rambunctious 7-year-olds. I left crying after class #2, when I completely lost control of the class. It's not that they are intentionally badly-behaved; they are really sweet kids one-on-one, I just hadn't learned how to handle a class by myself. This week was better, though it's still scary.
Dinan is a lovely town. Surrounded by medieval ramparts, the town center is full of half-timbered buildings, cobblestone streets, and two churches. There's an open-air market on Thursdays, where I do most of my shopping for the week. Cider and buckwheat crepes are the traditional specialties here.

More to come soon, I promise!