Start of a New Week

So far, my week has been going quite smoothly, if not terribly exciting!
Yesterday, I once again went to my high school to volunteer with a couple of English classes. I might be taking on an extra one from 9am-10am as well, which will be nice. In the first class, the students were presenting their press reviews. Basically, they were given an article which they had to summarize and give their opinion on. Armed with a marking criteria, I actually got to make notes about things like their sounds, intonation, accentuation, and flow/speed. It was really interesting trying to listen for such things as these, because I really don't ever do that... I think it will be helpful when I'm actually a French teacher. The two biggest things that I noticed were that the students mispronounced "h" and "th", and that they often said their phrases in a questioning tone, rather than a declarative one. In the second class, I just walked around and helped correct what they were working on. I also learned the difference between the passive voice in English and the passive voice in French, and how they are really hard to give a direct translation. For example, if you wanted to say "I was asked..." you would say "on m'a demandé", which directly means "it was demanded of me". So it was interesting to learn.
After, I went for my long run, about an hour, which felt not too bad.
Then, I worked on my philosophy essay which is due on Thursday and studied for my history test. The test was this morning, and I think it went pretty well. I actually liked studying for it; it brought back some good studying memories from the past two years... although there wasn't near as much to study. And like I said, the test wasn't that bad. We were given a document to read and then four questions. All we really needed was a bit of background knowledge to put it into context.
Later on today, in our literature class, we get to watch the film of the book we're reading, "Barrage Contre le Pacifique." I hope it is good and explains the book well.
Other than that, not too much is happening! It is beautiful and sunny, about 15 degrees, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to get cold shock when I'm home for Christmas.
I'm also really looking forward to this weekend; I will be going to Angers, a city not too far away, to visit my friend and exchange student from the last time I was in France. I'm really looking forward to catching up with them! It's been almost four years!
Have a great Tuesday :)

Host Family

Yesterday, I got to spend a wonderful afternoon and evening with my host family. It had been quite awhile since I'd seen them, due to busy weekends for both of us, so it was great to get together again. When I arrived around 5pm, we went to watch their youngest daughter's basketball. Unfortunately, her team was playing a much more experienced and taller team, so they lost pretty badly... I think it was something like 62-12... they tried really hard though and it was very enjoyable. Once again, people were shouting and cheering throughout the entire game, despite these girls only being around 10-12 years old... I am always amazed at the ambiance at sporting events over here!
We didn't get out of the gym until about 7:30, so we went straight back to their house to have dinner. Of course, we started with an aperatif, which was cucumber, sausage, zucchini, crab meat, and some cheesy things. They also made sangria, which was the strongest sangria I have ever had! I brought a USB key and showed them my pictures from my Italy trip, which was nice. I also played a board game with Melanie (the youngest) before dinner. We didn't actually start eating until around 9:15!
For dinner, we had something really delicious that I had never heard of before... meat fondu! Basically, you take a bunch of pieces of raw beef and put them on your plate. They heat up a bowl of oil, and then put the oil on a fondu burner in the middle of the table. Then, you skewer your piece of meat and cook it in the hot oil. The nice thing about this was that you could cook it as much or as little as you wanted, which was nice for me because the French definitely don't cook their meat like I do... I always have no pink in mine (although I must say that pink in the middle is actually starting to grow on me). We also had fries and salad. The meat was delicious, and it was also much needed because I honestly can't remember the last time I had red meat over here... so it was great to eat it again. For dessert, we had a bit of ice cream, baked apples, and some little confectioneries from somewhere in the south of France.
After dinner, we began to watch a movie, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and I left around 11pm. It was a great evening and lots of French speaking was had!
Today my day is pretty much dedicated to homework and researching hostels for my trip before Christmas.
Speaking of Christmas... I may or may not have started listening to Christmas music... it is making me very excited for the holiday season!!

A few average days

Hello there!
This post comes to you from the land of 16 degrees and sunny. I have been bombarded with Facebook statuses from home talking about all the snow you're getting, so I just had to share what our weather was. Although I love the white stuff, I can't say that I really miss the cold. Plus, I get to see snow when I go home for Christmas (just a little over a month now... where has the time gone??).
Anyways, this post is more or less a "hello" to everyone, as not much has really happened over the past couple of days. Life has been pretty regular! On Thursday, we had our regular class. Our language teacher kind of terrifies us all, because we don't really understand her marking. She marks really hard, and we can't tell if she's giving us a Canadian grade or a French one. We need to figure it out though...
The marking over here is very different. Everything is graded out of 20, but it is not a percentage like we have. For example, 10/20 doesn't translate into a 50%, it is a 70%. 12/20 is considered pretty good. So you can imagine our confusion... oh well, we're all doing decently right now, so we'll see how grades get transferred over.
In the evening, 2 other girls and I got together with 3 of the American girls from the big American group that goes to our church. We have been meaning to hang out, but at the beginning of the trip it was so hard to coordinate. Thank goodness we finally did though, because it was so great chatting with them! They took us to an Irish Pub, one of their favourites, and it was pretty fun. We just sat around and chatted. They told us all about their program, which is actually really neat. Most of them are engineers, from the Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Every first semester, the school sends students over here to live in France for a cultural experience. They take their engineering classes via webcam from home, and also take French classes with one of their profs over here. They live in 2 houses, with a married couple from the States who are also their professors, and who have been doing this for a few years. It is a pretty neat program.
Yesterday, I went for a run with my friend who I'm doing the half-marathon with, which was nice. I also went downtown for a bit, and then returned to do homework! I went over to my other friends' residence, because they were doing homework and I thought it might motivate me. We actually have a decent amount of stuff due soon: this week, we have a history test and a philosophy essay due, the week after that we have a philosophy test, and the last week of school we have a literature test, and sociology essay, and a language essay due. So it looks like I will be keeping busy!
It might be strange to say, but a part of me actually misses my history classes at Trent... even though I probably complained about the workload, I really did enjoy writing my essays and participating in seminars. And I loved lectures (I had the best history profs last year)! So it is strange for me to not have as intensive a workload as I'm used to. I should enjoy it though, because I'm probably going to die in a pile of books next year (one 3rd year history, two 4th year histories, 2 french classes, 1 con-ed class). Plus, I have been learning so much outside of the classroom this year... whether learning about history on a trip, learning about cultural differences just by living in the city, or learning about myself in new situations, I can't say that I haven't been constantly learning something over here. I think that's what makes it so exciting!
Last night was spent doing not much... I did more homework, hung out with a friend, and then curled up to watch an episode of Friends before bed.
This morning, I woke up and went for a run, and have now made an ambitious list of things to work on. Bring it on, philosophy essay! Around 5pm, I'm going to go over to my host family's for dinner. I haven't seen them in a while, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Have a great Saturday everyone... and if you have snow, ENJOY!!

Cultural Differences

If there is one thing that I have learned since coming to France, it is this: we might all be human beings who share the same planet, but the differences between cultures can be so astounding sometimes!
Last week, when I met my friend for coffee, he asked me what the biggest difference is between France and Canada in the business world. I had to think for a minute, but then it came to me: administration and customer service. Now I've already had my moment on this blog with French administration (which, by the way, continues to be never ending. Our carte de sejour, which allows us to stay in France once our Visa expires, still hasn't come in yet because there is someone new working with the documents and they don't know what they're doing. Don't worry, we get some temporary thing if it's not in on time, but SERIOUSLY!)... so I decided that it had come the time to discuss another little difference which I find bizarre, but which also makes me reflect on my own attitude: customer service and efficiency.
The word efficient? I don't think it is in the French dictionary. Ok, it is, but I don't hear it very often. Things really get done at their own pace... no matter how slow. 2 hour lunch break? Check.
I'm going to write about two experiences I've had, one today and one everyday, and bear with me until I get to the end, because I'm going to reflect on the events and hopefully not sound like an impatient and entitled little North American.
Event #1: Each night, my kitchen closes at 10h30 and reopens at 6h30 in the morning. Every morning I use the kitchen to heat up my oatmeal (oats+milk+peanut butter+banana=awesomeness), usually between 7h30 and 8h30. In Canada, cleaning of public spaces (like kitchens) always occurs when things are closed, so as not to inconvenience the "customer" (for lack of a better word). Here, though, my kitchen is always cleaned right around the times I want to use it, so I either have to go in awkwardly and be in the way and feel bad, or if the floor has already been mopped I have to go to a different floor to use their microwave. This is only awkward when I am still in pajamas... it is so convenient just walking across the hall instead! And I always feel bad, because the cleaning lady is so nice, and she always makes sure she's out of my way, but then I feel like I'm inconveniencing her... anyways.
Event #2: Today, while in line for the grocery store, I finally made it to the front of the line and then proceeded to wait for quite a few minutes while the cashiers took their time switching places (which is understandable) but then proceeded to stand there and talk about what time they were getting off work, what a day it had been, yada yada yada. Meanwhile, I am waiting for them to ring me through. And no apology about it either! That just wouldn't fly in Canada. And the other day my friend paid in cash at the grocery store, with a bill, and they asked if she had 87 cents so that they wouldn't have to give as much change. Umm. Why yes, of course I have 87 cents, let me just dig around for it for a while??? If I had 87 cents, I would have given it to you the first time I paid!
Event #3: My two friends went to go get some train tickets for our upcoming holiday trip. First they went to the boutique downtown, which was closed for lunch and had no sign saying when it would reopen. They decided to go to the actual train station, so they took a tram there and waited in line for half an hour, only to find out that they couldn't do international trains at their present desk, they had to go to a different one. Back in line. Another 30 minute wait. This time, they got up to the counter and began to question about getting their tickets. The first one they tried was from Munich to Strasbourg. The attendant said, "well, there is a stop over on this train."
"Yes," says my friend, "we know."
"Well," says the attendant, " I need to know the stopover."
"We don't know it."
"I'm sorry, I can't do anything. You have to come here with all of your information ready to give to me."
My friends look at each other. They look back at the man. "Well, we found the trains online, can't you do the same?" they inquire, while thinking that it would only MAKE SENSE if the train station, who was selling the tickets, knew all the stopovers...
"No. We don't have internet here."
Excellent customer service, right there.

Which brings me to my reflection part. In Canada, we are always so worried about the customer not getting offended and about whipping people through in the most efficient manner. Cashiers are either completely passive or over the top bubbly. Pleasing the customer is always important... they are never wrong, even when they are rude and complain.We have custodians who clean late into the night or early in the morning so that they don't get in our way during the day. And this kind of system is one that I am used to, one that I've never questioned.
But maybe we're too rushed in Canada? Maybe the fact that I feel impatient and inconvenienced shows that I have been too spoiled with excellent customer service over the years that I've just come to expect to be put first in a business setting. Is it really something to get irritated with? Or is it an opportunity to practice patience and learn how to relax for two seconds? I mean, it is their job to serve the customers...
Who knows!
Anyways, that's my little cultural spiel for the day. Hopefully I didn't sound too entitled. I really do enjoy the relaxed attitude over here, it is just different. I have been learning a lot, but there is still so much more to learn.

Night at the Theatre

Today, we had our usual 6 hours of class, but in the evening we had to attend a theater performance for our language class. It was... interesting. It made me realize that even though I can converse fairly well, and understand announcements and classroom remarks, I still have a long way to go before I am a French master. I, as well as many of my classmates, failed miserably at understanding what the play was about.
We knew before that it had something to do with Africa and that it was written collectively by the students who produced and acted in it. There were 6 actors.
Afterwards, we flocked around one of our classmates who had actually understood the piece, but we are also going to talk about it tomorrow in class. The gist of it was that there was some sort of business group working in Africa where there were no dark-skinned people, only whites, and they were trying to create a market for these bizarre products that people would have no need for. There was a bar in their workplace, and they had their days all planned out for them and didn't need to do anything outside of work. There was also a woman who had moved again from Asia for her husband`s work and wasn't adjusting to the new culture well. There was also a rebel force working against them for some reason...
Yeah, if you`re confused, please try to imagine all of that taking place in FRENCH with multiple entries into the work of absurd theater. My brain is tired.
But it was a good experience, and the audience really appreciated the show. Instead of a standing ovation, they just kept clapping until the actors came back out and took another bow. Our teacher also said that she was very moved by the piece, so I`m hoping that when we discuss it tomorrow I can better understand it.
Happy Tuesday!

The Teacher's Lounge

I just got back from my second day of volunteering in a French Lycée (high school) and I just have to write about the teacher's lounge!
Now, I have completed two placements thus far in my university career as well as a few other volunteer positions, so I'm no stranger to how teacher's lounges work in Canada. In the ones that I've been to, teachers bring their own lunch, stay in the lounge for about 15 minutes to eat, and then head out to finish marking or planning their lessons. I often find the teacher's lounge a little awkward as a student teacher, because as a student teacher you don't have to leave to do work... so I usually end up finishing homework or reading at the end of lunch. Last year's placement was even more interesting for me, as I had a different host teacher in the morning than in the afternoon, so I had to go into the teacher's lounge all alone. I eventually found some teachers to eat with each week, but at the beginning it was very awkward. I actually found that the younger teachers were much colder whereas the older teachers were much more welcoming.
In France, the teacher's lounge is very different. The students have about 2 hours off (they start earlier and end later though) and so do the teachers. Very few teachers bring their own lunch, as you can purchase meal tickets and get a meal very similar to the ones I can get in the student cafeteria. It consists of a salad, a main course (usually cooked veggies, some sort of meat, and either pasta/rice/fries), bread, and a dessert and fruit. You can also get an espresso along with that (I am now a fan). It is a pretty complete meal! Then, the teachers take about an hour to eat and catch up. Another interesting addition to the French teacher's caf: wine! They actually have bottles sitting out and the teachers are free to drink if they so choose. I saw one teacher down a whole glass of wine before heading out today. Bizarre!
As for the conversation, well, it's pretty much the same. The one difference is that at my school here, there are about 1200 students, so the teachers can't possibly know each student. Today, the conversation revolved around American movies, laws against hitting children (at home, not at school), where to put your meal tickets when you don't have pockets, an award my teacher won, different units, and girls who dressed up too much for school.
Which brings me to another interesting point: the teacher's dress code. Or lack thereof! In Canada, we are pretty much required to dress professionally (or at least, I've had to thus far in my placements), and jeans are a definite no-no. Here, you can basically wear whatever, your hair can be whatever, it doesn't really matter. But in general, I feel like in Canada we try really hard to make ourselves look good... over here, they don't really do much and they always look really well put-together, even when you can tell they didn't really try. The casual French fashion... coveted by the rest of the world!
I really enjoyed the teacher's lounge. Sometimes I wasn't able to understand everything, as they spoke pretty quickly and about topics I wasn't familiar with, but they tried to include me which was nice. And they were very animated, so even when I didn't understand I could pretend.
I am continuing to enjoy learning more about the French school system, and in particular how language is taught.
One more fun fact: did you know that we have two different pronunciations for the "th" sound? There is one as in : the, this, there, etc. and one as in : think, thank, etc. One is more open and one comes from the throat. I never knew! It is one of the sounds that the French students really struggle with. The others are "r" and "h". For us, we struggle with "r" and some vowels apparently.
And now it is a beautiful, 15 degrees and sunny day, so I'm going to head out for a run... in shorts and a t-shirt.  I could get used to this in mid-November!

Lest We Forget

This past Friday, November 11, I had the honour and privilege of going to Juno Beach in Normandy, France, for Remembrance Day. After staying over in Caen, a city just inland of the beach, my friends and I caught a green line bus with a few other Canadians to  Corseulles-sur-Mer, the town where Juno Beach is located.
After researching online, I found out that there was a Canadian Museum called the Centre Juno Beach, and that they would be having a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony at 3pm on November 11. Obviously we had to make it!
When we first arrived, we took a moment to walk along the beach and enjoy the sights. It is very different seeing the beach and knowing what happened there on the morning of 6 June 1944... it is really a gorgeous beach, so therefore very difficult to imagine the horrors that took place there!

Posing with the Canadian and French flags

Centre Juno Beach

Juno Beach

Me and Juno Beach

After we took in the sights, we made our way to the center to look around a bit before the ceremony started. Outside of the center, there are all of these plaques that people/groups who have donated to the center can purchase. I actually found one from home, from the place where my Dad (and basically my whole town) works.

Pretty neat!
Before the ceremony, we had time to quickly view a temporary exhibit and watch a short video that takes images from the archives of Canada and tries to show what it was like for our soldiers who landed on the beaches. It was very well done.
The ceremony took place outside, and I must say that it was one of the best ceremonies that I have ever been to. Maybe it was because I was in France and hadn't had much exposure to Canadian traditions in a few months, but it was very well done. And it had been a while since I had seen so many Canadians!
We began with a song by a boys' choir from a Toronto School. They were excellent! They sang two songs during the ceremony, the first one and then Amazing Grace at another point. After, there was a welcome (in France and English) from the director of the center. She pointed out some important people who were attending, such as the mayor of the town, the Toronto group, the representatives of the First People's of Canada, and some Afghanistan veterans. She also pointed out an older gentleman, who was a Polish soldier during WWII and is now a French citizen. He had actually fought in the Battle of Normandy! When she recognized him, everyone clapped and he stood up and shook his hands together for everyone. It was pretty remarkable, and I found that he received a warmer welcome here than our veterans at home. Makes you realize how little we are actually appreciating what they did!
 After the welcome, there was the second song by the choir, some speeches, and then the Last Post. They also read the Act of Remembrance and we had a minute of silence. As per tradition, we had a wreath laying and then we sang the French and Canadian national anthems. It had been awhile since I'd sang O Canada, so I felt rather patriotic! Especially singing such a proud and peaceful anthem after one that sang about "the foreigner's blood watering our crops" (see my previous post "Mardi..." etc. about the French national anthem).
After the ceremony, we had a chance to explore the museum. We could have stayed there for much longer, but it unfortunately closed at 5pm so we only had an hour. It was a great review for me, and I enjoyed reading all of the displays and listening to the audio recordings. One room had all of these old radios with the broadcasts made by various world leaders on the eve of World War II. I listened to Hitler, King George V (like in the movie "The King's Speech"), and our very own Mackenzie King give their addresses. I enjoyed all of the information about King, after having studied him intensely last year in one of my history courses.

WLMK is sitting on the right.

We got to have one last stroll along the beach as the sun was setting. As it set, I couldn't help but think again about how gorgeous the beach was... but how terrifying it must have been for all of those young men who fought bravely to capture it. I can't imagine how they must have felt, and I hope that I never see a war where so many of our young men and women have to be in the same position again.
Lest we forget!

Our two flags again.

The beach at sunset

What a view!