apologies and apartment pictures

so, considering i've practically been getting harassed and hate emails from all who reads, i want to extend my apologies for my absence on blog. vacation has been going really well! but more on that later :) i will write one big vacation blog when its all over. BUT i did take pictures of my apartment this morning to share with you all who have not seen it yet. so enjoy!

view from the front door

living room/dining room

view from the bathroom door

ladders up to our lofts (mine is on the left) :)

bathroom, pretty standard

at the top of my stairs, my wardrobe

bedroom!

view of the downstairs from my ladder. 

 there you are folks! my home away from home :) its pretty cozy and has become kind of the hang out spot, which is always fun. we are only about a 5-10 minute walk for downtown and all necessities, such as supermarket, bank, etc. it is kinda spendy (340 euros/month, which is about half my income) but i am applying for something called the CAF, which is aid from the government for students/people with low income who rent apartments. it is very common for students in france to not have jobs, and focus mainly on their studies, so the government has this program to make rent more affordable. hopefully i can benefit from it as well! anything helps, right? our landlord is really nice and funny, too! and super helpful.. the other day i was running late to catch my train and i frantically asked him if he had a minute to drive me to the train station and he didn't skip a beat, just jumped in his car and drove me. i was SO grateful for that. 

 well thats all for now friends and family! i'm thinking of you all the time, don't forget to post pics of the kids from halloween! :D and yes, i promise more pics from vacation VERY soon. 

XOXO,

france-y pants

vacation already?

you better believe it! god, i love the french and their vacations. so starting thursday, i am officially on my first vacation, from the 20th-nov 3rd. crazy, right? it feels like i just got here! its been almost a month since i've arrived in france (oh my gosh, time is already flying by!) and everything is going peachy. this week, i've been teaching the kids all about halloween. it has been super fun. the kids are eating it up. i made them little crosswords and flashcards and color sheets and taught them all about jack-o-lanterns and trick or treating. and the kids are so cute and enthusiastic and really love when i come, which makes it all so much better! sometimes, when i leave, they come up to me and give me little kisses on my cheeks and say 'goodbye mamie!' with their cute little accents. melts my heart! i'm really liking it so far, and i think its only going to get better once i get to know the kids more and start getting a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more responsibility. the teachers are super nice too. i've become close to one of my teachers, celine. i teach with her 3 days out of the week and she is super nice. i'm going to be tutoring her 6 year old daughter, adele starting tomorrow. i'm looking forward to it! celine has also offered to lend me her bike, which is very kind of her. so i will find out about all of that tomorrow and let you know how that goes.

i spent the past weekend in rennes visiting alex. he recently found out that he got an AWESOME internship in, drum roll please.. PARIS! it is an auditing internship and he is super excited about it. its four months, from jan-april, so he also gets a long summer break and really nice pay. (lets all cross our fingers that he comes back to the US again for the summer! he is really hoping he can.) :) so i arrived on thursday evening (SO awesome not having to work fridays) and alex picked me up at the train station. that night, he had some friends over for a few drinks and then we went to a little get together at another friend's house. and after conversing and wine drinking, we found ourselves at a bar. it was really nice to put faces to names that alex has been talking about for a while now. they were all so friendly, it was great to meet them all. alex had class on friday, so i spent my day making my halloween lesson plans and  the rest of the weekend we did a little shopping and a lot of relaxing. alex helped me get my new phone, i got a blackberry! i really like it, and it wasn't expensive at all. so i'm excited about that. but it was a really good weekend, and im happy to go back again this weekend. after my weekend in rennes with alex, i am going to head over to laval, a town just 45 minutes east on train where my friend valeria is teaching english. ben and i are going to spend a few days there hanging out and exploring and then head back to la roche sur yon where we are going to make some day trips to nearby cities. money is tight, and we aren't 100% sure when we will be getting paid, but hopefully at the end of the month.

well that pretty much sums it up. if you didn't see, i added some new pictures to a previous post, so check those out! and seriously, i know you all want to punch me through the computer screen about my lack of picture taking, but i really do promise there are more to come. lots of love from france!

XOXO,
france-y pants

life of a primary school teacher: can't escape without marker on your fingers

  so i have started at my schools, and its going really well. the children are absolutely adorable. and they are really intrigued about the fact that i am from the states. for those of you who don't know i am working with primary aged kids, so around age 6-12. they are quite enthusiastic, but their english is very limited. but i am on strict orders to ONLY speak english at all times! so the kids can get a bit annoyed and frustrated, but it is going well so far. lots of games, lots of color sheets.. if you have any suggestions, throw them my way! today i actually had a meeting with the other assistants and two teachers from the region and we were taught different activities and ways to teach effectively, it was quite informative! i'm looking forward to using some of my newfound knowledge on the kiddos. also, the teachers are super nice. i'm excited to work alongside of them, and hopefully be a good asset to their classroom environment. since it was just the first week or so, i wasn't asked to do anything too difficult. mostly just help with pronunciation and singing songs about colors and such. i'm hoping i will be entrusted with a bit more responsibility as we go along. i did have one really awful class that i hope to never be responsible for.. they were throwing things at each other, constantly talking and kicking and hitting each other. it was horrific! but i learned at the meeting a little bit more about discipline and better teaching techniques to keep all children occupied, so they have no time for foolishness. as for all the other classes, the kids are so damn cute! one little boy asked me if i had seen obama, i said no and he told me had! (he probably meant on television, haha); another little girl asked me if i HAD a mother, but i thought she asked if i WAS a mother, so i promptly said no and i think i may have concerned her a bit. and the list of questions goes on and on.. but their little accents and like half of them wear cute little glasses (which makes me think of megan and her big glasses when she was little) and i can't help but smile. all in all, i'm enjoying myself in school, and i am looking forward to getting to know the kids more and sharing the english language with them all.

something on a more social level, it was another assistants birthday this past weekend (mark, from ireland) so anna and i hosted a little get together for all the other assistants to celebrate. it was super fun. although our apartment is pretty small for all 12 or so of us, it worked out just fine (there was even enough room for a beer pong table.. ok don't judge, mark was turning 21 and how can you not teach a crap ton of europeans about beer pong on someone's 21st birthday!?) whilst playing beer pong, we ate dessert and conversed and sipped wine like proper french people and then we went to an 'irish pub' (i swear french bar owners just write irish pub on the front of their building, when in actuality there is nothing irish about it). but it turned out to be really fun. there was even a dance floor, and believe me when i say we danced the night away. it was nice to spend time with some of the other assistants, speak a little french and have a good time. fun was had by all.

i also wanted to say, i told my mom that i dubbed this past weekend picture weekend, but alas i have not taken one picture. I KNOW, I KNOW. you all hate me from afar, but seriously it was gray and ugly all weekend. but i PROMISE pictures SOON! i am going to rennes this weekend to see alex, and i will definitely bring my camera, and when i get back i will be sure to get on the picture taking train.

love you all, hope you enjoyed the update. :) don't forget to update me about things back home.. like i definitely want to see pictures of the kids from halloween, and of course the new addition, princess phoebe. :)

XOXO,
france-y pants

i have arrived again, (but in a different city)! :)

hello everybody, sorry for my brief absence, its been a whirlwind of a week! so much to do, think about, pay for, and to boot, all of this in french! but i feel pretty good about everything. a few downfalls (i am seriously one of the most directionally challenged persons in the world, no doubt about that; ask the bus driver who had to drive me 20 minutes back to the city center) but for the most part, everything is going as expected. i arrived tuesday afternoon, and had to navigate my way to my hostel. of course, i went the wrong way and had to ask a nice gentleman where to go. i seriously, no exaggeration, thought my arms where going to fall off! my luggage was so heavy, even after leaving a good chunk of it back at alex's apartment. but i met up with anna, a girl from london who is also an english assistant and we found our way. we are now out of the hostel and in our new, fully furnished apartment! we found it online, met with the landlord, and the next day we were moved in. it didn't take long, and for that i am thankful. the hostel wasn't ideal and it feels nice to have my own space and settle in to my home away from home. (pictures to come!) most things seem to be falling into place, which is good. i have an appointment on wednesday at the bank to open up my bank account and to apply for housing insurance, in case there were to be a fire or something of the sort, just to be on the safe side. today, i had a rendezvous with some other english assistants who will be teaching in primary school like me. we just went over the main points of what will be expected of us while we are here. i start tomorrow, and im looking forward to it!

 i had a great weekend at the beach with alex! the weather was beautiful, so alex took the train down to see me, and we went to a little city called les sables d'olonne and laid on the beach and even swam in the ocean! it was perfect. :) we had a good time.

miss you all everyday. i see a little something that reminds me of all of you here, and i just wish i could teleport you and share it all! im hoping once my internet is up and working better, i will be able to blog more often. its just been a really busy week but i really do want to keep you all updated! lots of hugs and kisses!

francey pants :)