vacation

One of the nice things about the French school system is that there are lots of vacations. I've barely started teaching, and I already have two weeks off. I'm in Spain, starting in Barcelona. That's the main reason I haven't written anything here. I may write a bit here or there, but I probably won't be writing much until after the vacations, which finish novmember 5th.

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Liking languages as I do, some time ago I signed up for this thing called MyHappyPlanet. It tries to let you learn languages by matching you with people to practice with on Skype. That´s the theory anyway, I've never actually used it. Sounded like a neat idea though.

Anyway, I just got an email telling me I had a new message. It was rather funny:

"Hello,
My name is Favour.I am a female I was impressed when i
saw your profile today on (www.myhappyplanet.com), and I will like to established a
long lasting relationship with you. In addition,i will like you to
reply me through my private email box (@yahoo.com)
So i can give you my picture, for you to know whom i am and I believe
we can move from here! waiting to hear from you soonest.
(Remember the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
please contact
me here...
(@yahoo.com)

Please correct my message"

breaking down cultural stereotypes - part I

There are lots of good wines and tasty cheeses here.

Bonjour Mesdames et Messieurs

Hi everyone, welcome to my second blog. It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything, as those of you who read my last, Cuban, blog will know. I wrote solidly for a couple of months, then gave it up due to some combination of lack of time, lack of creativity, laziness and dial-up internet. Hopefully I will be able to keep this one going better than the last one.

Officially, this blog will be about my time teaching English in France. Some basic details about that:

I’m teaching at a lycée (high school) in a little town near Switzerland, and has about 8000 people. It sort of reminds me of Sackville (the small town where I went to school), except that it’s French and there are less young people my age. Perhaps 2500 hundred less young people. I haven’t been keeping a strict count.

I’m going to be here for seven months. My actual job is “English language teaching assistant”, which is what it sounds. I’m rotating between five different teachers at school here, mostly working with novels the students are reading. The main goal is to give them practice talking to a real-live, bona fide, genuine English language native speaker, so they can learn that there is a difference between asking:

“Ow eez zee wee-zher in Fredericton?” *

And,

“How is the weather in Fredericton?”

Generally, everyone seems nice. The program is that it’s run by the French government. They have assistants teaching various languages all over France. There are about 6000 of us in total.

So, that’s the official theme. But, some other things will be sneaking in. For one thing, travels, once I do some of those. Also, look forward to some flashbacks from Cuba. I left a fair bit unsaid after I abandoned my last blog. So, I will be posting stories from that in a random order as I feel like it. I’ll probably give them a date and place, and a Cuba tag at the bottom.

Lastly I don't think I'll be able to avoid writing about “le grande Krach des Bourses” as they call it here. The new financial crisis. I was an economics student, after all, and I’ve been spending an unhealthy amount of time following it these past four weeks. Don't worry, I'll do my best to make it interesting.**

That’s the plan. With luck, I will stick to it, as opposed to getting bored within a week and leaving this as the only post and a shameful monument to my neglect.

*try and read this line aloud, it will enhance your blog experience.

** You do all know there is a global economic crisis ongoing, right?

If not, check your newspaper