La vie

Back in the U.S.A.

2006-09-05T01:07:00.000+02:00

I haven't updated in a while because I'm now back in the States and doing things that are a lot less exciting. To make it short, I'm back in school, training for the Detroit Marathon, catching up with old friends, and getting nostalgic about life in France every once in a while.

If you'd like to contact me, send me an email or comment if you don't have my e-mail address. I hope my writing over the past year was entertaining and maybe a little bit informative.

English quiz

2006-06-23T19:11:00.000+02:00

I've been told that my accent makes it very difficult to understand my English several times this year, but sometimes when I talk to my British/Irish friends I can't understand them. Back in April, I spent a weekend in Paris with Meredith, Dan (from Liverpool), Kim (from Dublin), and Julia (from Cardiff). There were several times when the conversation just stopped due to someone's unintelligible accent -- but we had a great time teasing each other!

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

15% Yankee

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Quick update

2006-06-22T18:34:00.000+02:00

Evidently I've gotten quite lazy.

Friday night I ran another 5000m on the track. Again, the men and women were combined because there were only 4 women and also because Stephanie was chasing a national class time and needed some competition. I wound up running alone and finishing in 19:46 with some really even splits, a 51-sec improvement over last time. To give an idea of how much of a time trial this was, Stephanie ran 17:51, the woman in second ran 18:46, and the fourth place woman ran 20:51. Another woman dropped out. This Saturday I'll race another 1500m and hopefully hit a PR.

We did make the trip to Kaiserslautern. FIFA had set up a couple big screens in town squares and there were thousands of people without match tickets who gathered to watch. Afterward the area turned into sort of an outdoor dance club. It was really cool to see everyone in their patriotic outfits dancing together.

Eventually the dance party wound down so Meredith and I wandered around to seek out a bar or club that would stay open late. After a couple failed attempts, a trip to Subway and some falafel we wound up sleeping on the floor of the train station with a couple hundred other soccer bums. There were so many people it was hard to find floor space!

This is my final week of teaching so I've been saying goodbye to my students. Some of them still think I am from England. A lot thought I would return next year. I've given them my address, so it will be interesting to see which ones actually follow through with writing me (in French).

My parents arrive next week!

Planning some spontaneity

2006-06-14T17:06:00.000+02:00

I just bought train tickets to Kaiserslautern, Germany, for Saturday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Italy. We've got no match tickets and no hotel, so this should be quite a fun night!

To fill in some details of the past few weeks...
After flying back to Paris from Istanbul, I arrived in Dublin to meet my sister. Unfortunately, she has yet to send me the photos electronically so I can't provide any interesting details. (Pictures are so much better than babbling!)

Molly and I spent a few days in Dublin before flying back to Paris where we spent a night in the worst hostel in Paris (Don't stay at the BVG near the Louvre!) before arriving back in Montlucon barely in time to teach Thursday. We went back to Paris Saturday and sped through the sights before she flew back home to start her last semester of college.

After Molly left, Meredith's parents arrived and we spent some time showing them around Montlucon and taking various day trips around Auvergne. I'd been to Vichy a couple times for races, but never to really see the city and I found I really liked it. Technically it's similar to Montlucon (just a little smaller, but in the same department, and located right on a river) but it is so much prettier and livelier. It is a popular vacation spot for French tourists and it has an excellent sports and recreation park, not to mention free tastes of the hot springs! (As Molly would say..."Smells like farts.")

In addition to the track 5k a couple weeks ago, I also raced a 1500m Sunday evening in Clermont. I'd never run the 1500 before -- just 1600m five years ago in high school -- so it felt really foreign to me. In fact, my only strategy was just to sprint from the start! What really happened is that I was knocked around a bit at the start and wound up in last place for the first 300m. I managed to move up in the second lap (more accurately, a couple women went out to fast and got passed) and then made a move with 700m left to drop the pack I'd been following. I finished in 5:20 (5:44 or so for a full mile -- I ran 5:52 1600m in high school) so I was really happy with my race. This Friday I'll race 3000m in Moulins. I really like these short quick races after spending so much time running long!

A visual summary of my trip to Turkey, part 4

2006-06-01T21:25:00.000+02:00

BACK TO ISTANBUL

Turkey turned out to be my favorite travel destination. Istanbul was exciting, with so much to be seen. Obviously the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, and Topkapi Palace are highlights, but I also really enjoyed a short cruise up the Bosphorus to where it dumps into the Black Sea. The Grand Bazaar was overwhelming, as were the numerous street vendors. I tried unsuccessfully to pretend I spoke only French, but it turned out that they were all multi-lingual. In addition, there were several people sitting on the sidewalks with bathroom scales before them, willing to take your money to tell you your weight.

Selcuk was an astonnishingly friendly town. After eating dinner at a restaurant once, our waiter said hello to us every time we passed by after. Then we ate at a different restaurant three nights in a row; I highly recommend Turkish pizza!

From Selcuk, we visited Pamukkale and Ephesus, both definitely worth the time, although it was frustrating to have the restraints of a group tour at Pamukkale. We also hiked 6k up to Mary's House (accompanied by several, 'What are you thinking?' looks) and sort of found a way to sit on the ancient city walls of Ephesus. That involved some, uh, off-trail hiking. One day began rainy, so we took a train to Sirence to see the train museum (where we were the only two patrons and proceeded to climb on all the trains) and spent the afternoon at a Turkish bath.

After a nausea-inducing bus ride into Goreme, Meredith and I spent a hot afternoon at the Goreme Open-Air Museum, a collection of churches carved out of the soft rock and decorated with fading frescoes. The next day we hiked up one of the many valleys to Uchisar, originally accompanied by two playful dogs. The dogs abandoned us in favor of a group of French tourists however when they (in a comical effort to discourage the dogs from following them) threw food away from their group. Obviously the dogs were smart enough to follow the people who fed them! After the ascent to Uchisar we ascended to the top of the fortress for an awesome view of the area. While searching for a place to eat lunch we ran into a French speaking tour guide who recommended a tiny restaurant with an open air deck facing the valley and excellent Turkish food.

Meredith and I had discussed renting a moped to explore more of Cappadocia on our own, and while asking for information at a small rental company, the owner convinced us it would be fun. The fact that he served us apple tea while we talked business didn't hurt, so the next day we found ourselves on a bike - despite the cold rain. Our first stop was Derinkuyu, an eight-level underground city. From there, we attempted to go to Urgup, missing a turn and adding 20 minutes to our trip. This is when the hail began. I was so happy to arrive at a nice warm restaurant and to drink several more cups of tea. Fortunately the sun came out after that misadventure, so we felt better about continuing on the bike to Avanos and Zelve.

Food was definitely a highlight of Turkey! I accepted all offers of apple tea and found that I could buy freshly squeezed orange juice on the street in Istanbul for just 1.5YTL. Kebabs are best in Turkey, of course, and Turkish pizza is very tasty. In Goreme I had an excellent meal cooked in a sealed pot and then broken to pour the food on my plate.

Championne de l'Allier

2006-05-29T11:12:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I raced on the track for the first time in 5 years. My choices were the 1500m or the 5000m. I decided I'd really get my butt kicked in the 1500 so I chose the 5000.

There were only three women entered so we ran it with the men. After having run the marathon just over a month ago, I'm not really back in shape yet, but I finished second in 20:37. I was lapped three times by the male winner!

The funniest part was that I was the only senior in the race and because this was the Championnat de l'Allier I was awarded a medal and the title of championne. So the woman who finished first was the espoir champion and the third woman was veterane champion.

One of my students was at the track meet with Montlucon Athletisme's ecole d'athletisme, the children's program in which they try out something like six track and field events. She was really excited to see me and introduced me to her friends.

I also made a few more friends, fustrating since I'm leaving in five weeks. One high school kid shamelessly used me for English practice for next month's bac exam, which turned into a good conversation.

A visual summary of my trip to Turkey, part 3

2006-05-24T20:38:00.000+02:00

GOREME and CAPPADOCIA

A visual summary of my trip to Turkey, part 2

2006-05-24T20:23:00.000+02:00

SELCUK, PAMUKKALE, EPHESUS

A visual summary of my trip to Turkey, part 1

2006-05-24T20:09:00.000+02:00

ISTANBUL

Lyon Marathon recap

2006-05-19T22:15:00.000+02:00

Before & After

This will be a short summary of the marathon debacle which took place almost a month ago. Marathon morning turned out to be warm and sunny and a great day to be had on a beach. I am not usually too bothered by warm weather so I wasn't overly concerned, but just reminded myself to drink water whenever possible and pour the rest on my head. Fortunately this is a fairly simple task to carry out, even with screw-top water bottles that European marathons insist on using.

What's not so simple is actually running 26.2 miles at my goal pace. The starting line was terribly crowded and shockingly disorganized. I don't think anyone had lined up properly based on expected pace so the first couple miles were stressful trying to dodge slower runners.

My legs didn't feel good from the beginning, but I chalked that up to needing a bit more of a warmup and nerves. Then my hamstring started complaining. By kilometer 15 it was becoming more than just an annoying twinge, and although we were close to goal pace, I was beginning to slow. I had to stop to walk a bit before km 16. At km 17 my hamstring was cramping and pretty painful. Meredith walked with me a bit and I knew I had to make a decision whether to continue the marathon or not. I convinced Meredith to continue without me, gave him my watch, stepped off the course, took off my bib, and cried.

Eventually I stretched a bit and realizing that there were no race officials nearby and I had no idea how to get back to the starting line other than walking 15k or so, I decided to try running slowly. I pinned by bib back on (using only two pins, so it wouldn't be as embarrassing the next time I decided to drop out and remove it) and stepped back onto the course.

It shouldn't really be surprising, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that my leg felt much better after stretching. My slower pace probably helped as well. I made it to the aid station at km 20 and decided to continue, though I needed to stop and stretch pretty regularly.

The walking and stretching intervals became more frequent, but I was still moving along without any real pain. There were no clocks on the course and having given up my watch I had no idea of my pace. I decided I really liked that feeling.

Meredith didn't know I'd decided to restart, so I was really happy to see him running the other way on an out and back portion near 35k. He had lost a lot of time walking and stopping with me and ended up chasing my PR of 3:23. He fell just short, finishing in 3:24, though without my hindrance he could have clearly bettered my mark. I finished in 3:39, pretty happy with my effort, though unsatisfied with the time.

I'm back...

2006-05-17T22:30:00.000+02:00

...but busy! Molly visited me last week and now Meredith's parents are here. I promise some big updates within the next week.

Busy!

2006-04-21T17:57:00.000+02:00

I leave for Lyon tomorrow. Sunday morning I will run the marathon and then Meredith and I catch a train to Paris. We fly to Turkey Monday morning. We'll spend a couple days in Istanbul before going to Selcuk (via Izmir), near the Mediterranean coast. From Izmir we fly to Kayseri and stay in Goreme, in the Cappadocia region. Then we return for another couple days in Istanbul before I fly to Dublin to meet my sister. Molly and I will spend four days there and then return to Montlucon so I can teach. Before she leaves, we're spending the weekend in Paris. I'm excited!

Perspective

2006-04-18T19:40:00.000+02:00

Meredith created a new activity a couple weeks ago in which he dictates letters to the students in order to spell words or a sentence. He introduced it to his students as a sort of self-quiz exercise.

Of course I copied the idea with my students, and after seeing that the first class didn't really hate the 'quiz,' I introduced the exercise to other classes as a game: Try to decipher the secret sentence! They love it!

Weeks fourteen and fifteen

2006-04-16T22:20:00.000+02:00

Week fourteen
M - 7 miles
T - 0
W - 5 morning / 8.5 evening
R - 13.5
F - 13
S - 0
S - 0
Total: 47 miles

Week fifteen
M - 0 miles
T - 0
W - 0
R - 5
F - 6.5
S - 7
S - 15
Total: 33.5 miles

Year to date: 814.5 miles

I just have one week left until the Lyon Marathon and then vacation. I still need to come up with a reasonable goal, pack, and shake the last vestiges of this cold.

I have been watching so much Scrubs that the Todd made a cameo in my dreams last night.

Goodbye, CPE

2006-04-11T20:28:00.000+02:00

France Puts End to Controversial Jobs Law

but France faces more protests

In more personal news, this past weekend was a lot of fun. Friday night Daniela made dinner for all the Montlucon assistants for our last real night together. On Saturday Meredith, Dan and I, plus Kim and Julia from Clermont went up to Paris. The marathon expo was a bit disappointing, but we had a good night out on the town. Unfortunately, I woke up Sunday with a terrible cold. Really, I can't accurately say "wake up" because I didn't sleep the night before because I couldn't breathe out of my nose.

Now I'm just working on getting well, eating lots of veggies, drinking litres of water, and being a good teacher, as well as watching every episode of Scrubs with Meredith in random order. Really, it's quite the ideal lifestyle without the cough and snot and with the addition of running.

2006-04-07T12:38:00.000+02:00

AP photos of French protests this week

I'm spending part of the weekend in Paris to spend time with friends from Montlucon and Clermont-Ferrand. I'm hoping to check out the marathon expo and watch at least part of the race Sunday morning as well.

No news

2006-04-06T21:55:00.000+02:00

Today I failed to negotiate a protected bib at the Lyon Marathon. The website states that the 'preferential' bib standard is a 3:15 but after emailing the race director, they don't accept projections from half-marathon times. I wasn't planning to take advantage of the special corral (because I'm running with Meredith) and I don't think it would make a real difference in my result, but if there's, say, special food somewhere or massages, I would have definitely taken advantage of the bib.

Last night we did go out to Buffalo Grill to celebrate the half-marathon, though. If you come visit me, please be advised that I consider it to be a highlight of Montlucon and dinner there is therefore required.

I also found out yesterday that my CAF rent assistance came through -- and has been paid to the rental agency since December so they now technically owe me. I feel like I have come into a lot of money recently, although having such a meager salary makes any financial gain seem significant.

Quote of the day (in translation):

Does your husband play rugby?
-my nine-year-old student Alexei to me

Games we play

2006-04-04T23:33:00.000+02:00

The number game
Two students stand in front of the chalkboard. I say a number in English and they must quickly write the numeral. Fastest kid wins and takes on a new opponent. Tricks: distinguishing thirteen from thirty, fourteen from forty, etc.

The letter game
Same concept as the number game, except I say a letter of the alphabet in English. Tricks: A vs. H, I vs. Y vs. E, G vs. J, and (to my surprise) O vs. R.

The school supply game
Students are divided into two teams and told to choose two school supplies that we've learned, such as a pen and a pencil sharpener. Each team sits in a line with me in the middle and with the collection of things at the back of the line. I say the name of an item and student at the back of the line must choose the correct item and then the team must relay it to me. First team to give me the correct item gets a point. Tip: Don't allow scissors.

The emotion game
Students are divided into two teams. A representative of each team comes to the front of the room. I tell them an emotion to mime. We all say together, "How do you feel?" and the two students (silently) demonstrate that emotion while their teammates guess. The first team to guess correctly gets a point.

Number bingo
Students make a 5x5 card and write in any numerals of their choosing from, say, 1-99. I say the numbers and they mark the corresponding numeral. First kid to get a line of 5 numbers in a row wins but must read the numbers in English to claim his/her prize. Tip: Make sure they're crossing out the correct numerals.

Letter bingo
This has the same premise as number bingo. The main difference is that I distribute pre-made bingo cards which the students must color according to our phonetic color code. When we start playing, this allows for some self-checking: If students are confused about the letter I've said, other students can tell them the color as a hint.

Week thirteen + Riom 1/2 Marathon

2006-04-02T21:26:00.000+02:00

M - 17 miles
T - 3.5 (morning) / 7 (evening)
W - 10.5 (5k tempo)
R - 6
F - 7
S - 5
S - 15 (Semi-marathon de Riom)
Total: 71 miles
Year to date: 734 miles

This morning I raced the Semi-marathon de Riom with Meredith. My main goal was to break my previous PR (1:32:36, set on an absolutely perfect course). I really wanted to dip under 1:30, though, so I had 1k, 5k, 10k, 15k, and 20k splits for a 1:30 finish written on my arm.

We got up obscenely early to drive to Riom, although the discomfort of the early hour was mitigated by the beautiful scenery of the Massif Central. We got a little lost once we got to Riom, but a guy taking an early morning Sunday stroll set us in the right direction.

After a short warm-up we lined up with the other runners. There was no countdown before the gun went off so the start was a bit of a shock. About four women took off in front of me, but before even hitting the 1k mark I had moved into 2nd place.

The course was 3 loops of rolling terrain with only a few flat stretches so it was hard to maintain even splits. Through the first loop we were more or less right on pace for a sub-1:30 finish.

In the second loop a wind started blowing, and somehow it never became a tailwind. At some point in here, some guy tucked himself behind me and drafted for a good 6k, letting me pace him, which always feels like a drain on my mental energy. I was pretty annoyed, and just about to ask him if he wanted to take a turn in the wind when he passed me fast. No matter: I blew by him in the last 4k.

I began the 3rd loop by setting a 15k PR. I knew I'd have to do this to hit my goal, and although it wasn't as fast as I needed for sub-1:30, it was a good confidence boost as the wind picked up. I knew I'd really have to run hard in the last 6k to break my old PR.

The last few kilometers of the loop were uphill, and I really struggled toward the end. Meredith was yelling at me and trying to coax a kick out of my poor legs, but they were awfully tired. I think that's normal, considering the distance and pace!

After 300m on the track we finished together in 1:31:51. I promptly bent over and puked on the track. I managed to make it through the chute, but before claiming my t-shirt, I spent a few more minutes on my hands and knees on the infield grass vomiting some more. I was pretty embarrassed, but I felt much better after.

I was the 2nd woman overall, and the 1st senior woman. This netted me a trophy, a rose, and a decent amount of cash. I was really excited to be called up to the podium until I saw the men's podium: The emcee insisted on interviewing the top finishers. I am still shaky with my French skills and certain I was going to embarrass myself, but he was very kind and spoke slowly with me.

All in all, I am very happy with the way the race turned out. Although I didn't break 1:30, I think it's definitely within my ability, especially on a flat windless course.

Chirac speaks

2006-04-01T11:03:00.000+02:00

Chirac Offers Compromises on Jobs Law
I watched his address on the evening news last night. Embarrassingly enough, my strongest reaction was wondering how this man was elected President: He is a mediocre public speaker and his voice made me want to go to sleep! I also got the impression that he really didn't understand or empathize with the frustration of the young people and was just trying to please everyone.

Key Events in the Standoff Over French Law
This article provides a good timeline of the CPE conflict in France, although it's notable that some of the details of the electrocutions in Clichy-sous-Bois are completely glossed over.

A Look at France's Divisive New Labor Law

France faces more protests next week that could snarl train, road travel

More news from France

2006-03-29T20:07:00.000+02:00

French Unions Try to Figure Out Next Move
"In the meantime, Julliard [head of France's main student association] added, students plan to diversify their protest tactics by stepping up efforts to blockade public transport centers such as airports and train stations."

French Unions Call for New Strikes

Mass protests disrupt France

Over million demonstrators take to streets across France

CPE : polémique autour de l’évacuation des lycées bloqués

Le front anti-CPE prend date

Montlucon was very quiet yesterday. I went running in the morning and saw that there were people gathered in the main plaza downtown, but when I walked back to get lunch at Pat a Pain, no one was out protesting. Rather, there was quite a line of people wearing anti-CPE stickers in the restaurant.

Only a few trains were running out of our train station and the public buses were absent from the streets. I believe that the post office, electricity and gas companies were closed, but I'm not sure. Several schools (mostly secondary schools and universities) were closed, and some only had a fraction of teachers present. My school was indeed open.

Other than the long line for lunch, however, my day was largely unaffected. According to the news, another strike will occur next Tuesday.

Week twelve

2006-03-26T16:03:00.000+02:00

M - 8 miles
T - 4
W - 13
R - 3.5 morning / 9.5 evening (workout)
F - 4.5
S - 10.5 morning (workout) / 4 evening
S - 9

Total: 66
Year to date: 663

P.S. Does anyone else fall victim to the delusional belief that writing workout splits on your hand automatically means you'll hit every single one?

Silly kids...

2006-03-25T18:24:00.000+01:00

I have a few funny stories from a couple classes this week.

I always begin class with "Good afternoon (morning). How are you?" Thursday one of my students (an endearing troublemaker, if you can imagine the type) demonstrated that he has been learning English from other sources besides my class. "I'm sexy!" he announced.

The topic of the day was parts of the body. He continuously begged me to teach them how to say "butt," pointing just in case after almost 7 months in France I hadn't figured out the word "fesse." Then everyone giggled when I taught them "face" - because it sounds awfully similar to "fesse."

My mistake du jour was teaching them how to say "lungs." No, that's not quite accurate. The real mistake was not thoroughly demonstrating lungs (by breathing and pointing - I refuse to teach them words by simply giving the French equivalent) before drawing a picture on the chalkboard. The kids started giggling as I tried to figure out which of the five body part word-drawing pairs had a silly equivalent in French. Then I realized that my lung illustration bore a striking resemblance to strangely shaped breasts.

Manifestation

2006-03-24T19:14:00.000+01:00

My morning class was cancelled today so I slept in. I was awakened by students parading against the CPE down my street.

Yesterday was the 'official' day for the anti-CPE demonstrations, but all I saw here was a small gatheriing of maybe 20-25 people downtown. Their banner identified them as EDF/GDF (the national electricity and gas company) workers, but they weren't doing much except milling around and forcing traffic to be rerouted.

Last night's news showed some of the protests in Paris, Bordeaux and other cities. Evidently there has been a fair amount of violence. Many universities, including the Sorbonne, are not holding classes right now because the students are striking.

On my way to one of my schools I pass by a high school which has a sign outside declaring a greve (strike) to protest the CPE, but it's not clear whether the students or the teachers or both are striking. There seemed to be too many people hanging out around the school for a strike to be happening, however.

This cominig Tuesday is the 'official' day for unions across France to strike. The teachers at one of Meredith's schools are participating, but the school where he teaches in the afternoon will be in session. I need to find out what the teachers at Balzac are planning.

I only have a basic understanding of what they're protesting so I'll leave some news links for those who are interested:

French labour law talks deadlock

France set for new student unrest

France's Chirac stands firm on youth job law

French Student Protests Turn Violent

France's political musketeer, Villepin plays high stakes in jobs row

Villepin veut croire à une reprise du dialogue autour du CPE

Next destination...

2006-03-23T10:12:00.000+01:00

Turkey! We just bought plane tickets to Istanbul for the next two-week break.

Week eleven + Vichy 10k

2006-03-20T21:01:00.000+01:00

M - 7 miles
T - 5 morning / 7 evening
W - 11
R - 9.5 (workout)
F - 5
S - 6.5
S - 13 (Vichy 10k)

Total: 64
Year to date: 497

I raced a 10k in Vichy yesterday. After battling the flu last weekend, I developed a cough. I didn't think it would really affect me, but I think my body has been weakened by whatever bug this is.

The short story is that I struggled right from the gun. My first 2k were a decent pace (3:56, 4:00) but after that every kilometer was slower than the last. It didn't help that we ran a long stretch into a stiff headwind.

Meredith ran with me the whole time and, in addition to the wind and his own cough, he had to battle my bad attitude, encouraging me the whole way. We finished together in 42:12 -- a two second PR -- but still disappointing. I was the 5th woman overall, and the second senior.

My next race will be a half marathon in Riom. Until then I will be drinking massive amounts of water, eating lots of vegetables, and sleeping much better than I have been.

More protests in France

2006-03-19T10:22:00.000+01:00

...including Clermont-Ferrand, where I spent Friday night.

When Meredith and I arrived back in Montlucon on Saturday, we took the long way home because there is some sort of carnival going on here. Just around the corner from our apartment, we came across a huge group of people parading. They weren't young college students like the main protesters right now, but they were clearly protesting something.

Suddenly, and old man was thrown down into the street in front of us. His hat came off and his head started to bleed. He pushed himself back up onto his knees and then onto his feet, looking stunned and starting to walk away. The man who pushed him and two others grabbed him and forced him up against the wall of a nearby restaurant, pushing his face into the window glass and twisting his arms behind his back as if they were arresting him.

A policeman strode over and -- instead of dealing with the three men who were treating this old man quite roughly -- handcuffed the old man. Two of the guys (not police officers) took him by the elbows and ran with him across the street, continuing to run, even when the old man stumbled and scraped his knee on the ground. They stuffed him into the backseat of a hatchback car (with no police markings) and drive away.

As far as we could tell, this old man had done nothing, except perhaps shout something negative at the protestors. It was a really bizarre and disturbing scene to witness, especially because he appeared nonviolent, yet was treated so roughly.

Bird flu

2006-03-16T16:33:00.000+01:00

Today I worked on body parts with a CM2 class. After a sort of 'Simon says' game I told them that once we got through body parts we'd learn illnesses. The kids got really excited. "How do you say grippe aviaire in English?" one kid wanted to know.

"Bird flu," I told them, and wrote it on the blank chalkboard. They enthusiastically copied the phrase into their notebooks.

At this moment their teacher (who speaks English) and the other half of the class walked in. The first thing she saw was "bird flu" printed in big block letters alone on the chalkboard. "Bird flu!" she said, and just started to laugh.

I felt compelled to explain why I had written "bird flu" on the chalkboard, and to justify that it actually had to do with the day's lesson.

This of course got the second half of the class excited about learning diseases soon and -- after they had copied down "bird flu" in their notebooks -- they began asking me to translate all sorts of obscure illnesses into English.

Week ten

2006-03-14T10:53:00.000+01:00

M - 5 miles
T - 4.5 morning / 8 (workout) evening
W - 5.5
R - 7
F - 0
S - 4
S - 11

Total: 45
Year to date: 533 miles

Travel anecdote #1

2006-03-11T21:02:00.000+01:00

Uncle Jim and I only spent an afternoon in Venice because, although it's a beautiful city, it's uncomfortably crowded. Still, in that small period of time, we managed to get ourselves thoroughly lost. Without a map (not a smart idea) the only option was to ask for directions back to the train station. I can understand bits of Italian and decided that I'd just try to figure out the first couple instructions someone gave me and then ask someone else, so I fake some Italian with the only person in sight.

Me: Prego, stazione Santa Lucia?

The random man responds in rapid Italian, indicating that we are indeed quite lost. I understand the basics of the beginning of his instructions ('follow that road...') but soon it becomes evident to him that I don't actually speak Italian.

Man: Ahhh, français?

Me: (Relieved and proud to be able to speak French with him.) Oui, ça marche.

He begins giving me the directions in French, but after a minute or so, pauses and asks, "Parlez-vous anglais?"

Me: Oui, je suis américaine.

Man: Comment dit-on 'bridge' en français? (How do you say 'bridge in French?)

Me: Pont.

And he proceeded to finish the directions in French.

Sick

2006-03-10T18:48:00.000+01:00

I think I have the flu. I am tired and achy, and I keep coughing -- so I am spending the evening watching TV en lieu of anything more interesting.

I came home early from teaching today because of a very frustrating mix-up so I was able to see the entirety of New York: police judiciare (Law and Order). I've become quite a critic of voice-dubbing, and this show is an excellent example of good dubbing. You can tell when a TV show or a movie is dubbed well if you can listen to it (without watching) and still be able to follow the plot; it is essential to be able to distinguish each individual's voice. In addition, all of the actors with very distinctive voices have similar voices in the French version.

After New York: police judiciare comes Las Vegas, which depends so much on the unnatural prettiness of its characters that the plot is less important. After that is Cresus, a game show at such a low level that even I (barely speaking French) can answer the trivia questions. It is really not very entertaining and if I weren't sick, I would not bother to sit in front of the TV for this program, not even for the French practice.

Finally, I am now watching my favorite show on French TV, and it's going to sound incredibly silly! It's a game show called A prendre ou a laisser (Take it or leave it) where there is one contestant from each region of France and each is given a numbered and sealed box. The boxes contain from .01E to E100,000, or gag prizes like a windshield wiper, a crutch, or a baseball cap. One contestant is chosen to join the host and have the opportunity to win whatever is in his own box.

The game progresses as the contestant chooses which of the others' boxes to open, therefore eliminating possibilities of what is in his own box. At dramatic intervals (with dramatic music and sometimes a dramatic dimming of the lights) the 'bank' calls the host and offers the contestant a sum of money if he quits. Rarely does anyone quit, but people do talk at length about their families, hug the other contestants, kiss the other contestants, and cry.

Warsaw (March 1-4)

2006-03-06T21:44:00.000+01:00

Krakow (February 25-March 1)

2006-03-06T21:40:00.000+01:00

Bratislava (February 23-24)

2006-03-06T21:31:00.000+01:00

Ljubljana (February 21-22)

2006-03-05T22:42:00.000+01:00

Zagreb (February 20-21)

2006-03-05T22:36:00.000+01:00

Milan and Venice (February 18-19)

2006-03-05T22:23:00.000+01:00

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Il Duomo

Weeks seven, eight, and nine

2006-03-05T10:55:00.000+01:00

February 13-19
M - 9 miles
T - 9 morning / 4.5 evening
W - 7.5
R - 8
F - 9
S - 5 (Milan)
S - 8

Total: 60 miles

February 20-26
M - 7 miles (Zagreb)
T - 3.5
W - 0
R - 8 (Bratislava)
F - 10.5
S - 10 morning / 4 evening (Krakow)
S - 11

Total: 54 miles

February 27-March 5
M - 0
T - 9 morning / 4.5 evening
W - 7
R - 13.5 (Warsaw)
F - 8 morning / 4 evening
S - 5
S - 17 (Montlucon!)

Total: 68
Year to date: 488 miles

In Krakow

2006-02-27T20:44:00.000+01:00

I have almost made it to my final destination. Currently I am in Krakow with Uncle Jim. Wednesday he leaves early to fly home via London and I'll take a train up to Warsaw. I'll be back in France Saturday night and back to work on Monday!

Vacation time

2006-02-17T13:55:00.000+01:00

I leave in two hours for Milan, via the most obscure train station in Paris. Did you know it takes less time to fly to Milan from Ohio via London than it does to get from Montlucon to Milan?

Must run over to Carrefour to get a lock so I can leave my bag alone on the overnight train when I need to use the bathroom. I'll be back in March!

Not Valentine's Day - Halfway Day

2006-02-15T21:36:00.000+01:00

Today marks the halfway point of my time in France: Four and a half months behind me and I still have four and a half months before my contract is done.

I only celebrated Valentine's Day with one class. My Monday CM2 kids are just so cooperative and fun to teach that I couldn't resist having a small celebration with them. My parents had sent me conversation hearts and I thought the English messages on them would be a perfect tie-in. After going through a normal lesson on food (and conjugating the verb "to eat") we learned "Do you like (onions/carrots/fish/etc)?" "Yes, I like (xxx)," "No, I don't like (xxx)." Of course then I asked them, "Do you like candy?" and distributed the candy.

I don't think French kids eat many sweets because they always get excited when I bring even small pieces of candy to class, and these kids were no exception. They acted like the hearts were a delicacy (though coming all the way from the U.S. might make them so...) and wanted to know if they were expensive.

They were also fascinated by the little messages, and we dug through the bag so everyone could have a heart saying "LOVE YOU." I gave rough translations of the other messages. One boy threw his heart away when I explained what "kiss me" meant!

Week six

2006-02-15T21:32:00.000+01:00

M - 8 miles
T - 7 morning / 4.5 evening
W - 7 (8 x 500m workout)
R - 10
F - 4
S - 6
S - 8.5 (6.4k xc race in 26:21)

Total: 55
Year to date: 296 miles

After speaking with my coach this evening I've found I have two more races on the calendar. Five weeks before the Marathon de Lyon, I'll race a 10k in Vichy. Two weeks after that I'll go for a half marathon PR in Riom.

Semi-championnat de France

2006-02-13T20:10:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I raced in the Semi-Championnat de France for cross country in Mably, near Roanne. They had changed the distance of all of the races that day so my race was actually 6.423k. The apparent precision of yesterday's races makes me question the accuracy of the other cross country distances I've run here, but that's beside the point.

After hanging out and watching some of the other races to try to orient myself as to exactly how the loops would be traversed I did a nice long slow warmup. It was pretty cold (about 35*) but I felt nice and loose after a mile or two.

The starting line was away from the rest of the course which was generally one huge loop (grande boucle) that could be shortened to make a medium sized loop (moyenne boucle) and a short loop (petite boucle). My race was one petite boucle followed by two grande boucles and then the finishing stretch.

This was easily the biggest race I've run in France. I had no idea where to place myself on the line, so I stepped in behind Stephanie, but as we waited for it to be exactly 2:15 I lost a lot of my personal space. The first 50m or so of the course was a mud pit so I was nervous about falling down (again). Although I was passed by nearly everyone as the gun went off (French women start races fast!) I fortunately did managed to stay on my feet.

In the other races I've run, the field has immediately strung out so within 1k or so I've been alone. This time it was strange to have other women directly in front of me, behind me, and others' elbows nearly hitting my sides. It was definitely a hindrance as the course narrowed and we took a couple of sharp (muddy) turns on the PB, but as the race progressed and the course was less sloppy, I really appreciated having others to push me.

Other than the patchy mud in one place on the GB, the rest of the course was fairly dry flat dirt. There were three short but sudden hills that we traversed three times, but they wre minor and the course as a whole awas pretty fast. I kept passing women through the race, and in the last 200m I actually dug up a finishing kick and passed several more before the finish line.

I finished 58th out of 151 women. I was just 10 places (15 seconds) out of qualifying for the national meet, which sounds close, but I was not really anywhere close. Stephanie finished 3rd with Cecile in 26th and Martine in 34th; they all easily qualified.

The photos I'm inserting were taken by Meredith, who managed to see me several times to cheer for me loudly in English. I'm really lucky to have him as a roommmate. He ran in the men's short course (3.78k) finishing in 12:57, which is a huge time improvement from his last races. The best part aside from his huge improvement was that he forgot his uniform at home and had to wear mine!

Tomorrow's race

2006-02-11T17:39:00.001+01:00

Tomorrow I am running in the Semi-finale du Championnat de France for cross country. I am entered in the senior women's long course, which is 7.046k this time. The race is in Mably, sort of between Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon. All of the qualifiers from the Championnat d'Auvergne will race, as well as qualifiers from the championship of the Rhone-Alps region.

This will be my last cross country race of the season unless miraculously manage to qualilfy to the national xc championship. Based on last year's results, however, I am going to get my butt kicked by the women of the Rhone-Alps!

Wednesday night Cecile and I did what may be one of our last track workouts together, as I'll start focusing more on the marathon and she'll be racing middle distance. The original workout was 10 x 500m with 90 sec rest, but after we'd done three intervals, Christian decided 10 would be too much with the cold and rain and cut it down to 8.

My goal time was 1:52, and after a sloppy and slow first attempt (1:56, ouch) I stayed between 1:50 and 1:52 for the rest. I love doing track work with Cecile because she is very steady and consistent and doesn't mind me keying off her tempo. She led me through the last 500 a little quicker (1:48), though, and afterward announced happily, "I could do two more!" I hushed her so Christian wouldn't hear and said, "I could use a hot shower." So this makes another way I can tell my French is improving: I can now good-naturedly complain about track work.

La blonde

2006-02-10T17:39:00.000+01:00

One interesting difference between living in Spain (as I did two years ago) and living in France now if my ability to blend in. Except perhaps in the biggest cities, I clearly stick out as a foreigner in Spain. The blond hair is a dead giveaway. In France, however, as long as I keep my mouth shut and resist the temptation to wear my comfy running shoes I can pass as French. Several times after getting into conversations with hotel clerks or museum workers or strangers on the street, I've been interrupted by a surprised, "You're not French!" Sometimes the phrasing is such that I can't tell if the person is making a statement or asking a question, and I usually respond as if it were a question ("No, I'm not. I'm American.") though I've been tempted to insist on my 'Frenchness' just to see if I can get away with it.

Today (after calling my dad before 8 am on his time...) I finally bought my return ticket to France for after this upcoming vacation. After my uncle Jim leaves from Krakow on March 1st, I'm going up to Warsaw for a few days before flying back to Paris on the 4th. The best ticket (by 'best' I mean available and cheap) was on Wizzair, a new budget airline based in Eastern Europe. Either because it is very new or because it generally only serves European customers, when I was directed to select my country from a pull-down menu the United States was not an option!

Meredith's car

2006-02-09T17:56:00.000+01:00

Yummy dessert

2006-02-09T17:52:00.000+01:00

...but click on the photo to enlarge it and check out the name of the second product.

The Carp Forum, an annual event

2006-02-09T17:49:00.000+01:00

Coke light

2006-02-07T22:37:00.000+01:00

On Fridays I rotate two classes with a French English teacher. That is to say, Emilie is a French woman who speaks nearly flawless English. We divide a full CM2 class and each teach half and then switch kids. She plans the lessons, so all I have to do is show up, which is really a nice treat on Fridays.

The story here is last Friday's lesson on synonyms and antonyms. Emilie had me distribute a crossword puzzle with clues (and answers) such as "opposite of big" (small), "opposite of ugly" (beautiful). Unfortunately, the worksheet was well above their current level of English so we had to do the crossword puzzle as a group. We started with the words they were acquainted with (big) and moved onto harder ones, giving the definition for the clue word and then thinking of the asnwer before using both in a sentence.

I had saved "opposite of light" (heavy) for one of the last, thinking they wouldn't know the word at all. I was surprised when nearly all the kids' hands shot up to define "light." The consensus: "Sans sucre (Without sugar)!!!"

Week five

2006-02-06T17:37:00.000+01:00

M - 9 miles
T - 9
W - 0
R - 0
F - 0
S - 0
S - 8

Total:26
Year to date: 241 miles

Ii really hate the way all those zeros look. On Tuesday near the end of my run, I experienced a sharp pain in the top of my right foot that reduced me to walking home. Later, it swelled up slightly and turned into a bruise. I had Meredith poke at it, and then Wednesday I stopped by practice to talk to Christian about it. One of the other runners is a kinesiologue so he looked at it, also. Neither of them thought it was a stress fracture (that was my first fear, except for the suddenness of the pain) but Joel gave me some analgesic cream and we decided it was best to rest it awhile. By Sunday, the bruise had faded and the area wasn't even sore if I poked at it, so I went out on a test run with Meredith and it felt fine!

Ramblings

2006-02-03T13:44:00.000+01:00

Recent lessons

I've started to teach the alphabet to a few of my classes in the past few days. This is a very boring topic; what can you do but repeat the letters over and over and eventually make the kids practice spelling things? I did manage to add a little more interest to the lesson, however, with colors and Bingo. After introducing the English pronounciation of all the letters, I organized them into the following color-coded groups:

Q U W (blue)
A H J K (gray)
B C D E G P T V Z (green)
F L M N S X (red)
I Y (white)
O (yellow)
R (purple)

Get it? The vowel sound of the color corresponds to the vowel sound in each letter group. (The 'R' is imperfect, but it's as close as it gets.) French kids have special difficulty distinguishing 'A' from 'I,' remembering how to say 'Y,' and mixing up 'G' and 'J' because they are pronounced the opposite way in French. After sorting the letters into groups, I distributed a 5 x 5 Bingo card of letters, but before playing the game, the students colored in the squares. They know the color names fairly well, so I'm hopeful the coding system will help them remember the letters, and playing Bingo is always a good activity.

In one class yesterday, I was asked to translate part of the new Madonna song ("Time goes by so slowly...") and then a different boy wanted me to tell what the phrase "pump it up" meant. I took this very seriously, and explained that "pump" could mean three different things. First of all, that phrase probably refers to raising the energy level of, say a sports team. Second, it can refer to weight lifting. Third and finally, it can simply mean inflate, such as in the case of tires. I think they enjoyed this more than the real lesson I had presented.

Foreign food

I've been buying dehydrated soup mixes at the grocery store because they are easy and quick to prepare. Yesterday Meredith and I had Moroccan chorba which had bits of lamb and was slightly spicy. Today we made a mix that I had picked up in Budapest with some of my extra forint, gulyasleves, which was also really good.

I had made a trip down the foreign foods aisle at the supermarket last week to pick up supplies for our fajita night and I'd come across a box of pancake mix. After sleeping in on Wednesday, we started the day with 'American' pancakes. For lack of maple syrup (not even imitation!) we used honey and raspberry jam. The box the mix came in explains that there are the same number of states as stars on the flag, and features a drawing of the Statue of Liberty.

My birthday

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! My students were very excited to wish me a happy birthday, and one class sung to me. I received a few drawings and cards from them. One little girl decorated hers with real lipstick kisses.

My assistant friends gave me a card and we went out for drinks and dancing. Other than Meredith, their contracts finish at the end of April, so we've been trying to plan fun weekends before then, and reunions after they leave.

And now

This morning I ate leftover chocolate cake for breakfast before rushing off to teach a class I had rescheduled. Meredith and I are taking off for Grenoble for the weekend (his birthday was Monday!) so I should be getting going to pack and clean up now. Have a great weekend!

Happy Groundhog Day!

2006-02-02T16:36:00.000+01:00

I think I have received a record number of emails commemorating today's holiday.

Happy birthday, Uncle Jim!

2006-02-01T19:24:00.000+01:00

I have two weeks of vacation at the end of February and my Uncle Jim is coming to travel with me. Two years ago at the end of my study abroad program in Spain we went to London, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Berlin and had a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to this trip.

We're meeting in Milan, Italy, where I'll arrive obscenely early on an overnight train from Paris. The only other certain plan we have right now is a visit to Krakow, Poland, where Uncle Jim will leave to fly home.

In between the two, my rough idea is to visit two out of three of these cities: Venice, Italy; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Zagreb, Croatia. After that, we'll take a train north to Bratislava before winding up in Krakow. I have had no luck in finding any trains to Bratislava from any of those three previously named cities, so there will probably be an intermediate stop in there.

Then after Uncle Jim leaves, I have four or five days before I have to be back in Montlucon. I have no ideas yet what I'll do with that time, and my only stipulation is that I finish my trip in a city that has cheap flights back to Paris or some other French city. Any suggestions?

Week four

2006-01-30T18:04:00.000+01:00

M - 10.5 miles
T - 10
W - 7 miles (workout)
R - 6.5
F - 0 + country line dancing (haha, Dad!)
S - 5
S - 8 (6k xc race in 24:56)

Total: 47 miles
Year to date: 225 miles

Championnats d'Auvergne

2006-01-29T21:06:00.000+01:00

Today's cross country adventure took place in Thiers, an Auvergne town famous for its cutlery. Despite the hilliness of the region, the race venue was very flat and probably would have been a very fast course had it not been blanketed in snow which turned to thick mud in parts.

My race was the 'elite' women's long course, a 6010m race consisting of three different loops, torn up by the spikes of half a dozen previous races. Only the 'eilte'men raced after us. Meredith had run the men's short course (4.1k) in 15:24.

Fortunately, Cecile loaned me a pair of her old spikes, so I felt more, um, steady than I did last time.

The race opened with the petite boucle (short loop) where we ran up a hill and turned back toward the spectators. At this point I was probably mid-pack heading into the moyenne boucle, which was pretty sloppy. Sometime in here, I reqlized that my borrowed spikes were just slightly too small, as they were rubbing hard against my big toe. This loop curved us back toward the spectators, and there was a huge group of Montlucon runners cheering for us.

Just after beginning the grande boucle I had passed several women, most of them decisively, but one woman was hanging right behind me. This was a really lonely part of the course as it took us out past the lake and away from the spectators. All I could really think about was her footsteps behind me and the obviously consistent distance she was keeping. I tried to make a move to accelerate steadily to lose her, but she held on. With about 500m to go, coming back near the staging area she surged by and I was left chasing her around the last curves.

I finished in 10th place in my race, which made me the 3rd senior female. My time over 6010m was 24:56, only 20 seconds behind my best 6k run in significantly better conditions. I also qualified for the interregional championship February 12, which is the last step before the Franch National XC Championship.

Stephanie won the race after pulling away easily from two other women. Cecile placed 6th (2nd espoir), and Martine 8th (3rd veterane).

Sunday's race info

2006-01-27T14:02:00.000+01:00

Information about Sunday's Championnat's d'Auvergne can be found here.

My race is the élites féminines (also known as the women's long course race - 'elite' is probably a misnomer for the majority of us in the race) at 2:50 p.m. It's 6010m, so just about 3.75 miles.

Driving to Lyon last weekend, we passed just outside Thiers, and I'm afraid it's hilly. There's also a significant layer of snow on the ground here in Montlucon, so I imagine at the higher altitude in Thiers, it will be even snowier.

Enough whining: Time goals are irrelevant, and I just want to qualify for the inter-regional championship in another two weeks.

Fajita night

2006-01-26T17:24:00.000+01:00

I think my coach either has me confused with someone faster, or he knows exactly who I am and he's simply trying to kill me. Here's the evidence: Last night's workout consisted of 10 x 400m repeats in 1:24 with 75 seconds gasp-walk-jog rest between each. I managed to do it all successfully, but not without nearly vomiting.

The second piece of evidence is that he thinks I can run the Lyon Marathon between 3:00-3:05. This is clearly unrealistic considering I've never run under 19:00 for 5k, and my half-marathon best is 1:32:36. I should mention also that the training he has mapped out for the next few months is based on this fantasy objective. I am going to get my butt kicked.

As far as teaching goes, today I ran into trouble trying to explain the concept of "it" to children who are used to every object having a gender.

On Tuesday, one of my little eight-year-olds asked me if I'd be at her school next Thursday. "Yes, but I don't teach your class; I teach the others." Well, she told me, "I know it's your birthday, and there might be a surprise."

Another little boy gave me a sheet of paper with two bizarre paragraphs written on it. It's from a computer game, he explained, and could I please translate it into French so he could understand?

Death worm = The most vicious and effective weapon the clagnor have ever made, intelligent, fast and deadly, very few have survived to describe the beast.

Tonight Meredith and I are making fajitas, so I should be off to start making guacamole!

Spontaneous trip to Lyon

2006-01-24T21:38:00.000+01:00

This story really begins last Tuesday, when I came home from teaching in the afternoon and was surprised to find that Meredith wasn't at home when I arrived. A couple hours later he showed up - having spent the afternoon negotiating a deal on a 1989 Citroen AX.

The weekend plan that developed was a ski trip in the Alps for Meredith, and he could drop me off in Lyon on the way. Unfortunately, the most logical (or cheapest) way of carrying this out was to leave Saturday morning at 3 am. After a 5 hour nap we were on the road. Meredith dropped me off at the airport around 6 am where I slept on a bench for a couple hours before taking a bus into the city.

It had been drizzling lightly as we'd driven through the night and I was annoyed at myself for forgetting my umbrella, but fortunately at this time the clouds had gone away and the sun was shining brightly. After hiking up the hill (which did not give me good feelings about April's marathon...) I found a hostel and left my bag before heading out into the city.

I spent some time shopping (something that doesn't really exist in Montlucon) and saw some of the general city sights - the Saone and Loire Rivers, the Opera House, the Hotel de Ville, etc. After lunch I walked back up the hill to the Roman ruins and wandered around. As I was taking pictures, some guy asked me if I were a journalist. I laughed and said, "Non, pas du tout (not at all)." "Vous n'etes pas francaise (you're not French)!" he said. I confirmed this and explained that I did, however, live in France, after which he complimented me on my good French! Then, when I went inside to buy a ticket to visit the museum, I was again complimented on my French.

I was really flattered, but you have to remember that speaking 'travel French' ('I would like a room for two nights,' 'One student-rate ticket please,' 'Where is the train station?') is a lot simpler than speaking real conversational French. So, although I can easily talk my way around while traveling through France, I can't really have a meaningful conversation. In addition, people in Lyon are probably very accustomed to tourists who might even speak less French than I do, so by comparison I sound good.

Back to my Lyon adventure: After the Roman ruins and museum I walked even farther up the hill to the Basilique Notre-Dame, which is pretty from the outside but has a terribly overdecorated interior. The view of the city from its vantage point was great though.

By this time it was late afternoon and I had been up since 2:30 that morning. I walked back to my hostel, changed into my running clothes and ran along the Saone River for about eight miles.

Back at the hostel I showered and started reading Cold Mountain in the common room. There I met a couple people from UNC who invited me out to get pizza with them where the proprietor complimented me on my French and and then gave me a free cup of hot sweet tea. The three of us stopped by a Spanish bar before meeting their friends at another place for a drink before going back to the hostel.

I didn't get nearly enough sleep Saturday night, as I had to wake up early enough Sunday morning to take advantage of the free breakfast and check out before 10 am. I spent Sunday visiting the Cathedrale Saint-Jean, strolling through a street market, learning that the Musee d'Art Contemporain was 'exceptionally' closed, and wandering slowly through the Musee des Beaux-Arts which had a disappointingly small collection of contemporary art.

I met Meredith back at the airport to make the three-hour drive back to Montlucon. We entertained ourselves by singing along with the radio, singing along with radio static, and laughing at some road signs we found exceptionally silly in our sleep-deprived state. For example, the slogan of the town of Thiers is "300 years of cutlery." Later, there was a series of two signs, the first stating, "One dash: Dangereux!" and the second, "Two dashes: Securite!" referring to following distance. Another favorite of mine was a truck with an overside load, labeled an "exceptional" vehicle. I am advocating that the Citroen should get an "exceptional" label to complement the "I (heart) Denmark" sticker.

Week three

2006-01-22T23:47:00.000+01:00

M - 11 miles
T - 8 (morning) 4 (evening)
W - 4.5 (morning) 7.5 (workout)
R - 8
F - 4 (morning) 6 (evening)
S - 8
S - 0

Total: 61 miles
Year to date: 178 miles

I found myself in Lyon this weekend, and I'm exhausted from the trip right now, so I'll write about the weekend tomorrow.

Heard in class...

2006-01-20T13:57:00.000+01:00

Today
Me: Where are you from? Where do you come from?
Student: My comefrom is...

Yesterday
Me: Please say the days of the week.
Student: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Fursday (ok, close enough), Friday, What's-today, Sunday.

I'm American

2006-01-18T21:45:00.000+01:00

For some reason I have felt very American the past couple days.

Last night a few of the other assistants and Marie came over to watch Team America: World Police a highly entertaining and brilliant satire (if potentially offensive).

This afternoon I met Joe, Dan, and Jen for lunch at Buffalo Grill, a chain of American-style restaurants. Before arriving I had been skeptical of the French take on an American restaurant, but as soon as I walked in the door, I wanted to laugh. I'm not sure exactly what it was about the place but it felt like I was back in the U.S., minus the French on the menu. They even gave us a basket of rolls that could be refilled!

After having eaten so much I wound up with a cramp on the five minute walk to Spanish class. Once there, (and after I'd knocked on the bathroom door instead of the classroom door - with several witnesses) we went over the future tense and some other grammar points that came up before doing a translation from French to Spanish. That was hard. At one point someone asked me when and how long I had been in Spain. Of course I began my answer with "ummm" and the teacher thought that was just hilarious - "That's very American!"

I've decided that I can speak okay French and a little better Spanish, but when I try to make transitions between the two, it's a complete mess. And when the others in my class speak, I have to think really hard to decide exactly which language they're speaking, especially difficult when they switch back and forth in the middle of a sentence! Then at times, Marie-Claire (our teacher) or another woman will toss in an English phrase just for kicks. All in all, it's mentally exhausting and thorouhly entertaining.

At the end of the class, we were discussing what we'd do next week. Marie-Claire decided that two women who had been to Spain recently would bring in their photos and tell about their vacations. I, however, am to bring photos of America and talk about Ohio.

Finally, my friend Joe is just fascinated by the U.S., especially country music and cowboy stuff. He and a friend are planning to spend about three weeks this summer traveling around California and to Las Vegas, but after he graduates in another year he wants to take three months to travel around. His plans include Texas and Memphis (because there are a lot of songs about it) and Kentucky for some fried chicken. I've suggested Nashville, Niagara Falls, and Toledo.

Here's your chance to participate: If you were to advise a young English guy where to go on a three-month trip to the U.S., what would you suggest?

I love my bike

2006-01-17T17:00:00.000+01:00

I bought a bike a couple months ago, but until this week I had yet to use it for anything other than riding to and from running practice.

Saturday, however, day broke so brightly it felt like the sun had moved in next door. Meredith and I had gone to bed at the same time Friday night, so the door between our bedrooms was open for once and we were both awake early.

We rode over to Neris-les-Bains, the next town over from Montlucon, about 6-8k away from my apartment. The trail to Neris is the same one where I usually run and although I had noticed before that it's slightly uphill on the way out I didn't realize just how unrelenting the hill is until I had to climb it on a bike. I had stripped off several layers of clothing and sweated through the rest by the time I arrived in Neris - and not much faster than I've done it on foot! After turning around to ride back to Montlucon, however, I didn't pedal for a good 15 minutes and had to stop to redress myself. The trail was also pretty muddy, so I had splatters all over my legs, back, and even in my hair. All in all, it was a beautiful ride, but I think I am going to have to find someplace flatter to ride, or at least a trail with more evenly placed hills.

The school where I teach on Mondays is 2.5-3 miles away and I usually get a ride with another teacher. Yesterday, however, he couldn't, so I packed my supplies in my backpack and took my bike there. Again, because Montlucon is in a valley the way to the school was all uphill and I was left sweating in my teacher clothes. The way back was especially fun not only because I barely had to pedal, but because I think I got home faster than I would have in a car!

Nearly all my students saw me arrive/depart on bicycle so I like to think I was setting a good example, especially with my helmet. Dad, does this make up for Friday night's scandalous line dancing?

Week two

2006-01-16T11:45:00.000+01:00

M - 8 miles
T - 8 (morning) 4 (evening)
W - 7 (workout)
R - 9
F - 0
S - 5 + strides, 11 miles biking
S - 6 (4.1k xc race in 17:05)

Total: 47 miles
Year to date: 117 miles

Championnats d'Allier

2006-01-15T20:29:00.000+01:00

Today I ran in the Allier XC Championship race in Commentry, about a 20 minute drive from Montlucon. Cecile and Pascale picked up Meredith and me, so we arrived just in time to pick up our race bibs, talk to Christian, and walk around a bit before warming up. The weather was beautiful here today - about 50 degrees, blue skies and sunshine. I even wore sunglasses.

The Commentry course for the senior women was 4.1k, so two hilly, muddy loops around the woods. It was muddy enough that the starting line had nearly been erased by the time the younger runners had raced.

After a short delay while the race officials looked for their stopwatch, we were off -- except me. As soon as the gun sounded, I slipped and found myself hands and knees in the mud. With one knee aching a little bit, I picked myself up and chased the pack. There were lots of spectators at the race and I could hear several people cheering for Montlucon and for me through the first loop.

None of the hills on the course were very long, but there were a couple steep slopes, including one with logs set into it like stairs. That in addition to several sharp turns and some mud made this a fairly difficult course. The downhills were very gentle for the most part, however, so I used that to my advantage to gain back some speed each time we descended.

At the beginning of the second loop I could see several other women strung out in front of me, including Cecile three places ahead and Martine a slot behind her. I knew Stephanie had a shot at winning, but she was too far ahead to see at that point. Halfway through the second tour, I passed another woman and a spectator shouted out our places - 7th and 8th. On the following downhill, I opened up my stride and lost her. After a couple more hills and two sharp turns I crossed the finish line in 7th place.

Stephanie had finished 2nd, Cecile 4th, and Martine 5th. Another woman (who I'd never met before) had also competed in the Montlucon singlet, but I'm not exactly sure where she finished. European cross country scores the first four team finishers, so if the race had been scored by teams, we would have easily won.

My hands had been covered in mud when I fell and my knee was becoming a crusty mess of drying mud and blood. There were actually blood spots on my shoe! Christian made me go to the ambulance and have the paramedics clean me up, but it was really just a superficial scrape now turning into a bruise as well.

After cleaning myself up, Celine and I ran a short cooldown and watched the men's race, where Manuel finished 4th and Pascal 11th, and several others placed highly as well.

My next race is the Championnats d'Auvergne (the regional championship) in two weeks!

Edited to add: Results are available at this site. I'm listed as 6th place because there was a junior woman who finished in front of me, so she's scored in a different category.

Where am I?

2006-01-14T00:16:00.000+01:00

Tonight I went country line dancing and then to a cabaret show.

Yesterday and today

2006-01-12T20:51:00.000+01:00

I am still not sure what to do with my day off every Wednesday, and yesterday I wound up doing nearly nothing.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I did go to my first Spanish lesson here, which was a lot of fun. The first hour was technically for the debutants but Meredith was going and, honestly, I was curious to see how the teacher worked with beginning students with different levels of proficiency. The second hour was the conversation class, which was a lot more interesting than basic grammar. I have to confess I am taking advantage of all the French I can learn in these lessons, as well!

After Spanish class, it was time for running practice. I arrived late and Cecile had arrived early so I did the workout myself: Three sets of 500m (1:50), 400m (1:28), 300m (1:02), and 200m (:40) with equal time jog rest after each interval and four minutes jog rest between each set. I hit every split but the first one (which I ran without a watch and without knowing the goal pace in 1:51) and got a touch faster with each set. Normally I dislike track workouts, but I felt really satisfied with this one and more confident for Sunday's race.

This morning I did my first-ever seasons and weather lesson, which went over decently. I'm planning to repeat weather at the beginning of every lesson from now on so hopefully they practice the usage of a variety of weather conditions. The best part of class was blowing over one kid's nametag while trying to demonstrate Th-th-thhhhhhursday, and then later blowing over two other nametags to illustrate "windy."

On Thursday afternoons I have three classes. Two of these classes are normally one full class with one teacher that she splits along ability levels for English (with me) and reading (with her). The smarter half of the class is a lot better behaved, but I have ben really frustrated teaching them recently because they hardly talk at all. Even though I have some discipline problems in the other half, they are much more enthusiastic participants and a couple of them have a great sense of humor. Last week I asked them to bring in a self-portrait to use in class today and one kid unfolded this huge sketch which had required extra sheets of paper to be taped to the original to illustrate his arms and legs. Last time they insisted on learning how to say "coconut."

In my last class I got the following note in English from a little boy's mother:

You run very well. My parents and me have seen you on "the quai de la Liberation" with your walkman Sunday.

Other students said that they too had seen me out runnning. I have yet to go to the grocery store without seeing a student. If I haven't mentioned it before, this is definitely a small town!

The impossible English language

2006-01-11T21:05:00.000+01:00

Because just about a year ago I started my first French class...

and because today I went to my first Spanish conversation class in France...

take a moment to pronounce these English words aloud:

through
though
tough
thought

I am thankful that I am a native English speaker!

It's funny because it's true

2006-01-10T20:53:00.000+01:00

Quick story illustrating my roommate's opinion about me:

Meredith's friend Vanessa is flying to France to run the Lyon Marathon and to spend a week traveling with us. "I think you'll like her. You're both runners and speak Spanish. Plus you sort of eat the same," he told me.

"Oh really? She eats a lot of chocolate and cheese?" I responded.

"No, I mean messily."

Three stories in reverse chronological order

2006-01-08T17:10:00.000+01:00

Last night I went over to Jen, Flor, and Daniela's house for a poker night with the other assistants. We had beer, chips, and red absinthe. I abstained from the absinthe (is it really a good idea to consume something with a label that begins "Danger! Do not drink neat..."?) but according to Dan, it just made him sleepy. "Maybe I should drink this stuff every night," he considered.

Flor had never played poker before so we had to teach her the rules to Texas Hold 'Em. She's from El Salvador (and Daniela from Germany) so the common language here is French, which isn't a problem when explaining which cards and combinations of cards are more powerful, but saying, "Je fold" to back out of a round didn't sound quite right. Jen looked up "fold" in her dictionary, but the first definition was "plier," as in to fold a piece of paper. She looked again and found another translation, this one referring to a business. We spent the rest of the evening taking turns announcing, "Je ferme ma boutique (I'm closing my shop)."

These next two stories will be told in dramatic form.

Scene: My apartment. Joe has stopped by to check is bank account balance online. To picture this scene most vividly, you must imagine Joe with his very proper British accent and me stuffing pizza into my mouth.
Joe: Damn, I can't check my account. It says my password is grillé.
Me: Doesn't that mean "grilled"?
Joe: Yeah, that's what I thought.
Me: (Checking the dictionary.) No, we're wrong. The first definition is "to toast."
Joe: %&$#, my account's been toasted.

Final scene: The grocery store. I'm shopping in the produce section just like anyone else when I run into one of my students, an especially enthusiastic eight-year-old.
Me: Hello!
Student: (Excitedly) Hello!
Me: How are you?
Student: I am from France!

Week one done

2006-01-08T17:03:00.000+01:00

I'm racing the Championnat d'Allier (my departmental championship) a week from today, so the first week of Marathon de Lyon training had to be moderate so I'll be in decent racing shape Sunday.

M - 8 miles
T - 7 (morning) 4 (evening)
W - 7.5 (hill workout)
R - 8
F - 7.5 (workout)
S - 8
S - 10

Total: 60 miles

My new secret weapon

2006-01-07T16:19:00.000+01:00

Thanks to my parents I now have a collection of great illustrations for nearly all of the vocabulary that I plan to teach for the rest of the year! This has already cut down drastically on planning time. On Thursday I introduced emotions to one of my CM2 (fifth grade) classes and it was a huge hit. They each had a handout with twelve illustrations (excited, happy, hot, hungry, mad, sad, sleepy, afraid, bored, cold, curious, dizzy) and we repeated each item expressively. In fact, when I taught the second half of the class, the teacher informed me later that she could hear us next door - I think that means I did well in getting the kids excited about learning. :)

After several times practicing the pronounciation of each word, I taught them how to use them in context: "How do you feel?" "I feel ___." "How are you?" "I am ___." Of course, they were required to do this expressively, also. The boys especially loved saying, "I feel MAAAAAAAAD!"

Finally, we came to the best part of the class: charades! I divided them into two teams and a representative of each came to the front of the room where I assigned an emotion to pantomime. The kids were really excited about the game and kept shouting the answers, as if I would give a point to the loudest team. I was especially happy that by the end of the 45 minute session they were rarely looking at their illustrations to find the answers.

I am going to use this model for all my lessons from now on. It involves visual, oral/aural, and kinesthetic learning, which is important to me, and more importantly, the kids had a great time!

Up and down

2006-01-04T22:30:00.000+01:00

Tonight I had a terrible running workout. After a warmup we ran two sets of eight 45 second repeats up a steep hill near the Hippodrome. Obviously, it's not one of those workouts that's intended to be fun, and I'm sure my terrible attitude didn't help at all! It's about time to get serious about training for the Lyon Marathon, so I suppose a hill workout was good for me.

In more exciting news, I joined the Montlucon Spanish association, so now I am going to take Spanish lessons. I feel like a good portion of these classes are going to be French lessons for me, but I can't complain about that!

Same old routine

2006-01-03T20:14:00.000+01:00

No more vacation, I'm back to school.

Meredith got back to Montlucon yesterday. We exchanged holiday stories, unpacked, and he gave me the two pairs of running shoes I had shipped to his house in the US. For the record, I now have five pairs of running shoes in France. I made guacamole earlier in the day so we settled in to try to watch Good Will Hunting over the sounds of crunching tortilla chips.

If you've ever tried to learn another language, you'll understand that some sounds are just impossible for non-native speakers to produce, and there are some sounds that seem identical to a non-native speaker. That said, the trouble for French kids learning English comes with "th" and the English "r" (which is nearly a vowel, as opposed to a growly French or Spanish rolled "r"). That said, today I taught one of my classes of eight year olds the days of the week and this is the result:

"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday."

Ah, well, we'll work on it again next, uh, Tuesday.

My dad's running stat

2006-01-01T11:37:00.000+01:00

Background:

My dad always runs at the park behind our house, which is very popular with area runners. During every run he counts how many runners he passes as well as the number who pass him. This becomes a cumulative yearly total.

I won't go into all of his strategies for keeping this number favorable, but I will say that they are numerous and top secret.

I received this email from him yesterday.

Passes 164
Passed by 16
91.111111% passing rate.

This includes the disasterous day when 5 people (and a dog) passed me all at once.

I have not counted the dog in my final 2005 statistics.

Dad

The year in running

2005-12-31T14:02:00.000+01:00

Total miles: 2,395
Average miles per week: 46
Highest mileage week: 80
Lowest mileage week: 0
Number of races: 14
Number of wins: 4

New personal records
5k: 19:27
4 miles: 25:38
10k: 42:14
15k: 1:05:51
Half marathon: 1:32:36
Marathon 3:23:37

Complete race results
February 19 - Lake Erie West Winter Fun Run 5k - 20:02 (1st place)
March 20 - Churchill's Half Marathon - 1:32:36 (PR, 3rd place)
May 1 - Flying Pig Marathon - 3:23:37 (PR, 13th place)
May 7 - Tulip Time 5k - 19:27 (PR, 3rd place)
May 14 - Vicksburg Hearty Hustle - 19:44 (1st place)
May 30 - Kip Boulis 5k - 19:33 (3rd place)
June 18 - Camelback 4 miler - 25:43 (PR, 1st place)
June 26 - Lenawee Hospice 10k - 42:14 (1st place)
July 9 - National Cherry Festival 15k - 1:05:51 (PR, 9th place)
July 31 - Dave's Ohio/Michigan 4-miler - 25:38 (PR, 6th place)
September 25 - Toledo Classic 10k - 44:41 (4th place)
November 11 - Cross d'Arnay le Duc 5.45k - 22:17 (14th place)
December 4 - Cross National du Limoges 5.9k - 25:33 (9th place)
December 18 - Cross des Iles 4.75k - 20:18 (7th place)

2006 goals
Semi-marathon de Paris: 1:30
Marathon de Lyon: 3:15
National Cherry Festival 15k: 1:03
10k road: 40:00
5k road: 19:00

Christmas vacation summary

2005-12-30T21:24:00.000+01:00

First stop: Paris

My Christmas vacation began at 4:15 am on the 19th as I woke up to do some last-minute packing and cleaning before rushing off on a train to meet Mark in Paris. I had to change trains in Bourges and I was worried that one or both of my trains might be late but fortunately I arrived on time and found my way from the Gare d'Austerlitz to our arranged meeting point at the Gare de Lyon quite easily.

Unfortunately, Mark's flight was delayed and the Air France bus to the Gare was slower than anticipated, so I wound up waiting in the cold train station for several hours. I did, however, get to witness the emergency precautions taken at the discovery of an unattended piece of luggage: All of a sudden there were more gendarmes with guns than usual milling around and before I knew it, they had blocked off a significant portion of the train station, forcing people to figure out alternate routes to the platforms and of course, to stop and gawk. At one point, several people, apparently oblivious to the crowd, the barriers, and the guns decided to walk through the forbidden area. This was the best part of the morning: The gendarmes blew their whistles and yelled at them to get out. Obviously, this story ends inconsequentially, except for the destruction of the suspicious package, but nevertheless it kept me entertained for a good hour or so.

Once Mark arrived, we hopped on the metro to our hostel, which turned out to be the the same one where I stayed two years ago. After settling in, we started our day at the Notre Dame, just a few minutes away. This was Mark's first cathedral visit, and a very impressive one to begin with. Although I had previously visited the Notre Dame de Paris as well as innumerable European cathedrals, I definitely appreciated it a lot more this time around knowing more about French cathedrals in general and this one in particular.

Obviously a main signt-seeing goal of ours in Paris was the Eiffel Tower. Although the metro is a really convenient mode of transportation, sometimes it takes the fun out of really seeing a city, so we walked, passing by the Louvre on the way. When we got to the Tower, the lines to ascend weren't too long, but the day was foggy so we decided just to take the stairs to the first level, which still offers a great view. Before I had ever seen the Eiffel Tower, I had thought that photos of it were sort of clichéed; however, after visiting and attempting my own photos, I realize that it can be very difficult to get a shot with good perspective and I appreciate the ones I do see, which are obviously not my own.

We wandered some more through the city and the streets of the Latin Quarter before setting on a cheap Greek restaurant for dinner and then, since we were both lacking in sleep, an early bedtime.

The next day, following the free hostel breakfast, we wandered some more around the Latin Quarter, stumbling on an SNCF (the national railway company) office. Originally, I'd planned on metro-ing over to a train station to buy our tickets to Amsterdam, but this was obviously more convenient. The tickets, however, were shockingly expensive: 94 euros each for second class! I have a suspicion that I could have found airline tickets for a better price, with less travel time.

After the massacre of our wallets, we took the metro up to the Abbesses station in Montmarte. We took a roundabout way to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur where we alternately admired the church and the view of Paris from the church. I insisted on finding the Moulin Rouge, and though neither of us knew the way nor that it was that far from the Sacre Coeur, we managed to find it, along with the Pigalle district. Unfortunately, one can only admire the Moulin Rouge from the outside without paying about 100 euros for a show, and there was a semi truck parked outside, so there are no photos.

We took the metro back to centre-ville to pop up conveniently in front of the Arc de Triomphe for a walk down the Champs-Elysées back toward our hotel. I had read that the Louvre offered discount admission after 3 pm, so we went Greek again (but a different restaurant) for a leisurely lunch before discovering that the Louvre closes on Tuesdays - oops. The Musée d'Orsay served as a decent replacement, and although I don't really appreciate any art but the really modern stuff, I was interested enough.

Amsterdam

Our train left Paris at the obscenely early hour (which seems to be a theme in my travels...)of 7 am arriving in Amsterdam just over four hours later. The train was comfortable enough, but I was surprised by how many people answered cell phone calls during the trip. Sometimes people were polite enough not to answer, but instead of silencing the ring, they allowed it to continue beeping until voicemail picked up.

Regardless, we arrived in Amsterdam without incident and found a cheap hostel just outside the infamous Red Light District. Mark took a short nap while I took a walk to get my bearings. I easily found several canals (not a difficult task), the flower market, and some excellent falafel. After Mark woke up, we walked some more around the canal district before going to the Heineken Experience, the Amsterdam attraction rated the most highly by my friends who have been to the city. Unfortunately, it was 5:03 and the last admission was at 5:00 so we were turned away. By this time it was dark already (in retrospect, it was the winter solstice, my least favorite day of the year) so after a short walk through the Red Light District we went back to the hostel for hot chocolate and a snack.

The next day we went into ambitious tourist mode, hitting the Old Church, the Waag, and some other church before finally finding the Anne Frank House, which I highly recommend.

I had enjoyed the Wednesday's falafel so much that I insisted on eating it again on Thursday, but after that we were off to the Heineken Experience, which lived up to its reviews. I found it really humorous at times because the displays seemed overly serious: A photo of the founder's mother, the actual booth from the World's Fair in Paris where Heineken won the gold medal, and a staircase made out of green bottle glass. There were also some interesting uses of technology, including a room where you can run a music/lights show and the opportunity to send a photo or video email from the museum. The best part was a virtual roller coaster type ride from the perspective of being bottled. Of course, there was free beer, but I really dislike Heineken so I enjoyed the orange soda. I know it sounds really frivolous and silly, but if you go to Amsterdam, you shouldn't miss the Heineken experience.

Christmas in Belfast

We flew to Belfast on Friday to stay with the talented, beautiful, and always fun (not to mention vegetarian)Sandra and her wonderful housemates. I think that this part of the vacation can be told using only photos, and not just for the reason than I am getting tired of writing:

Last stop: Budapest
I flew to Budapest Monday after getting only two hours of sleep the night before. I have to confess that is entirely my own fault: Had I realized my cell phone was still on continental time and set the alarm properly, I could have gotten a full three hours of sleep. Two flights with a long layover in London and a late arrival in Budapest made Monday an entirely forgettable day.

On my first real day in Budapest I walked straight to Old Buda and the Castle Hill District, with a pause at the Chain Bridge. If I hadn't already overloaded my readers with photos from Belfast, I would narrate this part purely visually as well, but this time around I'll try to use words. My first destination in Old Buda was Fisherman's Bastion, with great views of the city and the river, not to mention the exotic-looking (to someone used to Western European architecture) St. Matthias Church. St. Matthias only gets better upon entering, and it was every bit as striking as I remembered it from two years ago.

When I came out of the church it was started snowing. I made my way over to the castle, now used to house several museums. I chose the Hungarian National Gallery, the free one. I skipped past all the exhibitions of art prior to 1945 and found that the museum had a decent collection of modern art by Hungarian artists I never knew existed.

I spent some more time wandering around the Castle Hill area in the snow before walking back toward my hostel by way of the Christmas market and Vaci utca, a street known for its shopping.

My second day in Budapest began with a visit to the Grand Market Hall, where I found whole dead pigs slit from neck to tail, absinthe, and Christmas presents for my family, which will remain a secret until they safely arrive in the USA.

After dropping off my packages at my hostel (where they kindly let me stow my baggage even though I wasn't staying there that night) I visited St. Stephen's Basilica -- where I saw the real mummified right hand of St. Stephen himself --and took a long walk out to Heroes' Square. I had planned to also visit either the Parliament,the synagogue or the Mueseum of Applied Arts, but both closed early, so I settled for seeing the outside of the synagogue.

My flight from Budapest to Paris left early the next morning and I decided that it wasn't worth spending money to stay at the hostel that evening only to sleep for a few hours and stress about getting a taxi at 4 am, so I made the decision to spend the night at the airport, which wasn't as bad as it sounds. I had also decided to take public transportation (the metro and then a bus) to the airport, and I felt really proud of myself for succeeding. Some passengers had been kind enough to leave their magazines behind instead of throwing them away and I discovered that my iPod has solitaire on it, plus I had packed plenty of snacks to keep me occupied. I was a little concerned because their was a family of six who were also spending the night at the airport -- with two kids under ten years old. If they can afford plane tickets, they could clearly afford a taxi in the morning, and, although I was the only one to suffer from my decision to "sleep" there, it seemed a little irresponsible to make the kids stay there overnight.

Anyway, I slept for most of the flight and caught the RER (commuter train) into Paris and the metro to the Gare d'Austerlitz. From there I hopped on a train back to Montlucon where I was surprised by a layer of snow over the city.

The internet is psychic, and I am a big dork

2005-12-30T20:56:00.000+01:00

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated.

You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

Last silly quiz, I promise.

I am reassured by a silly internet quiz

2005-12-30T09:32:00.000+01:00

You scored as Psychology and Sociology. You should be a
Psychology or Sociology major!

Psychology

100%

Sociology

100%

Mathematics

83%

Theater

83%

Engineering

83%

Anthropology

83%

Linguistics

75%

Philosophy

67%

Art

67%

Dance

67%

English

58%

Journalism

58%

Biology

58%

Chemistry

50%

What is your Perfect Major?
created with QuizFarm.com

Hello from Budapest!

2005-12-27T17:55:00.000+01:00

I am in Budapest right now, which will be my last stop on my modified travel plan. I will be heading home to Montlucon (via Paris of course) on Thursday. Today it began to snow a lot as I was wandering around Old Buda and it was so pretty that I didn't mind too much that my fingers were freezing. In fact, it was a good excuse step inside the shops to check out the post-Christmas sales.

Christmas in Belfast was great, better than I had even imagined and I'm so grateful to Sandra and her friends for making me feel so welcome there. We had an amazing time, including one of her Northern Irish friends giving me a spontaneous haircut after a couple glasses of wine. Of course, that is just a teaser, and the real stories and photos will come once I am back chez moi.

Hello from Amsterdam!

2005-12-21T19:09:00.000+01:00

We arrived in Amsterdam this morning after a long early train ride from Paris! Stories will come later.

Off to Belfast for Christmas in two days!

Cross des Iles (Moulins)

2005-12-18T19:15:00.000+01:00

Once again it was freezing cold for a cross country race here in France with the temperature hovering just above freezing. I borrowed spikes from one of the cadettes because the course was really muddy, especially some steep hills on the back part of the loop.

I have to confess up front that there weren't very many women in my race. I expected a lot more than 17, but I'll just pretend that those who stayed home would have finished behind me anyway (except for Cecile). So when the gun went off I was initially surprised to be in the front pack, until I remembered that there were actually fewer people behind than in front of me.

After the first 100m or so I settled into seventh place. I could see Stephanie chasing the lead woman and another woman from Montlucon Athletisme (whom I had never before met) running in fourth. Even before we turned to go out to the back part of the loop, the field was already spread out, but I could tell I was gaining on sixth place. I slipped backward on the hills and spun out on the turns in the muddiest part, but I moved into sixth place just before turning to repeat the loop. Unfortunately, a different woman passed me a couple minutes into the second tour.

I stayed on my feet and held my position through the second loop before finishing the 4.75k course in about 20:18. It's nowhere near the equivalent of a PR performance, but with the conditions, I'll take it.

After getting my clothes back on and doing a short cooldown, Anne and I watched the senior men's race. The guy who won was the French junior cross country champion and no one challenged him for the win.

Now here comes the really French part of the story. Christian, Guy, and Yannick had apparently decided that I had to try vin chaud -- hot wine. I was a little apprehensive -- I don't even like normal temperature red wine very much -- but I agreed to give it a taste. Turns out this stuff is delicious! It contains sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of orange or lemon and hardly tastes like wine, more like apple cider. I may have to learn to make it myself.

Just before we left to go back to Montlucon, the awards ceremony began. Turns out, although I had finished 7th in my race, I had finished 5th among the senior women (excluding the veterans and juniors in the race) so they called me up to the podium! I received a bag of goodies including a decorative thermometer, oven mitts, and a salt grinding mill. It was really cool to be up on the podium, although I ignored the fact that after they honored those who won the veteran and junior categories nearly half of the women in my race had made the podium.

Now it's time to finish packing, run over to the train station to buy a ticket to Paris, and clean the apartment. I have to catch my train at 5am to meet Mark, and then we are off on a two week tour of Europe!

Enjoy your vacations! Merry Christmas!

I'm famous in Montluçon

2005-12-17T23:32:00.000+01:00

I made it into La Montagne for the third time earlier this week. The first two were just blurbs about the Arnay le Duc and Limoges cross country races, but this time it was a real article with a photo! When the two of us arrived at practice Wednesday evening, Guy had tacked up a copy of the article to the bulletin board and presented us each with a copy that says "Vive l’amitié franco-américaine!" and signed by the other runners

In essence the article states that Meredith and I are the first Americans to run for Montlucon Athletisme and, no, we are not ringers imported to improve the club's standings, we are here legitimately as English instructors. Meredith is quoted as saying about his first cross country race, "Je suis tombé, j’ai eu froid, mais bon, je n’étais pas dernier (I fell, I was cold, but I wasn’t last)!” This was chosen as phrase du jour the following day!

Today I did laundry, went shopping, and started packing for my Christmas vacation. I leave Monday morning to meet Mark in Paris for two weeks of travel. Tomorrow, however, I will be racing another cross country race in Moulins, so I better get my clean sheets on my bed and go to sleep!

P.S. Results of the race should be posted at this website. I recently discovered that you can click on a runner's name and find out all of their other race results, which makes it easier to evaluate my performance over unusual distances and tough courses.

I am a bad teacher!

2005-12-16T22:48:00.000+01:00

Today was my last day of class before winter break. I am sticking around Montlucon, however -- except for a short trip to Moulins Sunday to race! -- until Monday and with Meredith gone, I'm a little bored. Hopefully I can use this time to update a little more than I have been.

On Fridays I teach two classes 'with' a real licenced English teacher. She's actually French but the first time I met her I was sure she was English: Her accent is perfect and she speaks very naturally. When we work together, she plans the lessons and then we split the class so we each have half for 45 minutes and then switch. It works out quite well for me because all I really have to do is show up and talk.

Today when I took the first half of the class, I only had six students. We were working on Christmas vocabulary and, while they were filling in a worksheet, I got a little bored and drew a picture of a doorway with mistletoe on the chalkboard. Of course, my drawing was pretty terrible (how does one draw a mistletoe anyway?) so I had to explain to the kids what I was trying to show. My French was working really smoothly today, so it was really easy to explain that mistletoe is a plant that we hang above a doorway during the Christmas season. Where I got into trouble, however, is when I explained that people have to kiss when they find themselves underneath it together. In French, the noun 'kiss' is not very similar to the verb 'to kiss.' It is, however, very similar to a certain four-letter word that can be used as a verb. I stumbled over this part of the explanation, and the kids all gave me blank stares. I panicked for a moment thinking I'd spit out the wrong word. Turns out I hadn't, and they taught me how to say mistletoe in French: houx

In addition, this was the more advanced half of the class so we ran through the Christmas lesson quickly and the kids ended up just coloring the worksheet while I asked them what they were doing for Christmas. This turned just plain gossip when one of the girls asked if I had a boyfriend and then they proceeded to tell me about some of the boys who have crushes on me, and then about who likes who at this school.

Internet advertising

2005-12-16T18:53:00.000+01:00

When I first logged onto my wireless connection chez moi back in October, I was automatically directed to Google France when I entered www.google.com. Also, when I check my email or read the news online, the various advertisements displayed on the page are in French. My two favorites are Voulez-vous bloquer le spam? (Would you like to block spam?) and various advertisement for getting an American green card.

The cast of characters

2005-12-15T21:01:00.000+01:00

For those who are interested, here's a group photo of the Montlucon teaching assistants, without me and Flor: Joe, Dan, Emma, Meredith, Jen, Daniela.

I promise I will actually write something (as opposed to taking the easy way out and posting photos) before Christmas vacation begins!

Christmas market

2005-12-15T20:54:00.000+01:00

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Part five of a series of Montlucon scenes.

Weekend in Clermont

2005-12-12T18:14:00.000+01:00

I spent this past weekend in Clermont with six (out of seven) of the other assistants in Montlucon. Emma had rented us an apartment-style room at the Home Dome (whose name still makes me giggle) so we got to live sort of family-style for the weekend. Meredith and I arrived by train and went to McDonald's before meeting the others at the hotel. Then we went to McDonald's again. Back at the Home Dome (haha) we had a few drinks and bonded before meeting up with our Clermont friends at Cafe Pascal near the cathedral. I ended up going home around 1, and no one woke up until Julia called at noon!

After we woke up and got dressed Saturday we met Julia and the other Clermont assistants at McDonald's before visiting the cathedral and the Christmas market. Then we took advantage of one of the many things lacking in Montlucon - a shopping mall complete with FNAC and Zara.

We met Alan for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. Alan is an Irishman who has been living and teaching English in Clermont for about eight years. He is affiliated with the assistantship program and spoke at our training session. He has amazing energy (in terms of both quantity and positivity) and thoroughly entertained us through the meal as we regained our energy.

We stopped at Bam (bar aux mecs) for a drink before meeting the other assistants back at Home Dome (haha) where singing, dancing, and, um, a complaint about our noise level resulted - so we left and went to an an Irish bar on the newly-opened (as in two hours before) Place Jaude. We met more friends there and I had good talks with Emma and Alan.

The next stop was Cafe Pascal again, but only for about 20 minutes because they were in the process of closing. The last stop for the evening was a dance club, where I waited nearly 15 minutes to check my coat before deciding it was a waste of time and money. This turned out to be a good thing as the coatroom turned into a disaster and managed to lose nearly everyone's coat. My friend Julia was let in to search for hers - and spent an hour digging before she found it!

"Montlucon" and Alan left together around 3 feeling very much like the family we've become. We decided that although it was amazingly fun living together for the weekend, we'd have too much fun to get anything accomplished if we were all roommates in real life!

The Cher River

2005-12-11T19:12:00.000+01:00

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Part four of a series of Montlucon scenes.

Across the river

2005-12-11T19:10:00.000+01:00

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Part three of a series of Montlucon scenes.

Grammar question

2005-12-08T17:25:00.000+01:00

If I plan to introduce activities to my students in the form of "I like ____" "I don't like _____," should I use the infinitive or gerund form of the verb? In other words, which will give the kids a better foundation for eventually conjugating and using the verb:

"I like to run (to play basketball, to watch tv, etc)."
"I like running (playing basketball, watching tv, etc."

Teaching anecdotes and ramblings

2005-12-06T20:35:00.000+01:00

Over the past several weeks of teaching I have found that each class in its entirety has a personality of its own. For the most part, I have enthusiastic students who enjoy learning English and look forward to having some fun in my class.

I have two classes (one class split in two halves), however, where the majority of the students pay almost no attention and instead spend their energy trying to annoy each other and, therefore, annoying me. I spent nearly all of class time trying to get them to stop whispering, making faces, and touching others' belongings. Because of this, the students in the CE2 class at the same school -- who are a year younger -- have learned a lot more English. I hate yelling at kids, and I hate that I can't make the class fun for them. I have no idea why I have so much trouble with this group; they were difficult from the start. I really dread going to teach them every week.

On the bright side, I do get to practice a lot of my French with them. I have learned all sorts of good scolding vocabulary and I have come up with such gems as, "You write with your hands, not with your mouth." Also, I begin class every day by telling them our goals (today was days of the week and months of the year) and letting them know that we can play a game if we they behave.

Enough of the complaining - my other classes are really great!

I always love going to Ecole Jean Moulin on Mondays. The CM2 class (10 year olds) have had a couple years of English and I am always so impressed by how smart they are. They are exceptionally focused and whenever I introduce a new concept or phrase, I can hear them whispering and trying to figure it out together. It's really satisfying to have such self-motivated students and I have really high hopes for their progress this year.

I always get a huge ego boost in my CM1 class at that same school. After class every week without fail, the students ask for my autograph! This in addition to nearly all my students at all the schools referrring me as "le prof (professor) d'anglais" really keeps my self-esteem at a pretty high level.

On Friday I was working on school supply vocabulary with a group of CM2 students at Ecole Anatole France. One of the words on the worksheet was 'basket' (wastebasket). In France, regular athletic shoes are called "baskets" (stemming from basketball, I assume) so there was a lot of confusion as to why one would refer to the trash as shoes.

Later, the phrase "sheet of paper" caused a lot of giggling among the students. "Isn't that a bad word?" one of them asked. I explained in French that it was only the mispronounciation of a certain four-letter word that made it sound like "sheet." They looked confused. Finally one boy pantomimed smoking, and explained to me that a similar-sounding word referred to a marijuana cigarette. So, class was successful in that I managed to learn French drug slang and I accidentally taught my students how to swear in English.

Cross national du Limoges, also known as a mud bath

2005-12-04T22:13:00.000+01:00

Knowing that one of the main purposes of joining Montlucon Athletisme is practicing my French, I willsay this: If I knew how to swear properly in French, I would have gotten in a lot more French practice today.

That said, I'll start at the beginning of the story. Pascal picked me up just before 10 and we met everyone else at the Hippodrome. Cecile wasn't coming because she had to study, he explained, so Stephanie and I were the only senior women racing.

The drive to Limoges took about and hour and a half. I slept part of the way because I was a little tired from having gone out for a couple hours the night before. It had been raining all morning, and it rained all the way up until when Stephanie and I began our warmup.

My spikes are still back in Ohio, but Christian managed to convince some random person to loan me a pair. I was a little nervous since my own spikes usually tear my feet up and leave them feeling bruised, but they were actually fairly comfortable.

The senior women's long course race was one of the last, so because of the rain and hundreds of pairs of spikes, the course was really sloppy by the time our race started. Parts of it were ankle-deep in thick mud, other parts were flooded, and the back loop was stone. In addition, the start was downhill, with an immediate right turn and followed by a few more curves before a series of three hairpin turns in a (flooded) gravel parking lot that we repeated four times. Clearly this was not a course to run an all-time PR!

As usual, I started in the back of the pack, careful to stay on my feet down the first hill, around the corner (I slid) and through the first mud pit. I gradually moved up through the field, and on one of the loops I could see the leaders - a Kenyan woman followed by three others (Russians, according to Christian, as I found out later) and then Stephanie in fifth.

After an out and back portion on the side of a hill we ran through the gravel parking lot with the three hairpin turns, up a hill and into the woods. Then we repeated that loop before, um, repeating it again with a longer portion added on.

The cadettes (14-15 years old) were running in our race up until that point and when they turned off to finish I could see that I was all alone in ninth place, about 100m behind two women and that 10th place was a good 300m behind me. I couldn't help but think that it was unlikely that I could move up nor that the girl behind me could catch me. This was also about the time it started to rain again. Needless to say, I didn't really have the best attitude at this point.

We repeated the large loop again, with the mud splashing all the way up to my waist. There were several times I slide several feet and I nearly lost a shoe in the muck, but I managed to make it to the finish with both spikes and without falling, which was a huge vistory in itself.

When I got back to our little team camp, I realized the temperature had dropped since the race had begun. My fingers were cold and it was difficult to pull my tights on over my muddy legs. Then it started to hail.

We watched the cadets (14-15 year old boys) race before heading for home. They took 1st, 2nd and 4th in that race. The men ran 1st, 3rd and 5th in the short course and the two cadettes had taken 2nd and 3rd. Along with my 9th and Stephanie's 5th place finish, it was a good day for Montlucon Athletisme.

I race again in two weeks in Moulins, which will be my first race within our region. The Championnats d'Allier are in January after winter vacation so that will be a good motivation to run at least a little while I travel!

Chez moi, a bird's eye view

2005-12-03T16:48:00.000+01:00

Thank you, Google Earth! As always, click on the image to view a larger version.

The river cutting through the center of town is the Cher. Just past the bridge that is east of my apartment there is a dam which makes the river seem bigger than it is.

The train station is visible in the photo and Carrefour (where I do all my grocery shopping) is across the river directly northeast.

To the east is the medieval centre-ville surrounded by the boulevard loop. This is where the Chateau des Ducs de Bourbon is located.

This map gives some street names (strangely enough lacking the two major road names, however!) and I also pinpointed the locations of two of my schools. It takes me 10-15 minutes to walk to Balzac and 20-25 minutes to walk to Anatole France, if that gives you any idea of distance.

And, finally, here is Montlucon in the grand scheme of France.

Business

2005-12-02T21:22:00.000+01:00

I finally obtained my carte de sejour just in time since my visa expires on the 14th. Now I can stay in France legally until October 4th! I can also get French Social Security benefits (namely medical care) and get my athletisme license.

The funny part about this is that the return address on my summons to the sous-prefecture to pick it up was "La Republique Française” with the slogan “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.” Who gets mail from the French nation? What does the logo of the U.S. look like?

Last month I began the application process for federal rent aid with the Caisse des Allocations Familiales (la Caf). According to the website I should be getting a decent chunk of money given that I had no income in 2004, I am under 25, and I have no one else supporting me. I just received a notice in the mail telling me I had an appointment with a representative Friday at my apartment for the final (I hope) step of the process. I am not sure exactly what this entails, but I expect it will be less than interesting!

Track workout

2005-12-01T13:10:00.000+01:00

Last night I did a real track workout with Montlucon Athletisme. I warmed up with Cecile and Anne before doing crazy drills with Cecile and the two men. One drill involved wearing a velcro belt. Another person held onto the attached strings and pulled back to make it hard to run fast. It is actually harder than it sounds, and I provided some humor for the rest of the team with my attempts.

After the warmup and drills Cecile and I did intervals of 500m, 800m, 1000m, 400m, 1000m, and 500m. As usual, she kicked my butt, and the hard icy track didn't help me to feel quick, but I was surprised how fast my times were. I expected my 800 to be around 3:10, but I ran 2:54 and the 400 was 1:26.

In more exciting news, I am running another cross country race on Sunday in Limoges. Also, a reporter from the local paper (La Montagne) is coming to practice next Wednesday to interview Meredith and me. Guy, the club president, is really excited to have Americans on the team and has bent over backwards to make us feel welcome (as have the other members of the team) and he arranged the interview. I am really flattered and definitely nervous to have to speak French to be published!

During the day yesterday the weather was beautiful; the sun was shining brightly and it was (relatively) warm, so when I left for practice on my new bike (!) it was more than reasonable to wear shorts. By the time practice really started in the evening, the temperature had started to drop to near freezing. Everyone stared at my legs when I took off my warmup pants and I had to keep trying to convince them that I was fine in shorts. I had to explain to everyone that 30-35 degrees Fahrenheit really isn't that cold when it can dip below 0 in Toledo. At one point during a drill, I heard my coach shout "Elle est de l'Ohio! (She's from Ohio!)"

Chateau des Ducs de Bourbon

2005-11-29T20:00:00.000+01:00

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Part two of a series of Montlucon scenes.

Marx Dormoy, militant socialist

2005-11-28T19:45:00.000+01:00

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Part one of a series of Montlucon scenes.

Belated Thanksgiving meditation

2005-11-27T15:06:00.000+01:00

I woke up Thanksgiving morning at my friend Ali's apartment in Clermont-Ferrand. She had left early that morning to teach in Vichy so I made myself a cup of hot tea and breakfast and sat looking out the wondow at the plaza three stories below. I had two hours before I had to leave for my doctor's appointment so I just sat there and enjoyed having nothing to do.

I didn't realize right away that it was Thanksgiving, and when I finally remembered, I ran through a short list of my blessings as is the tradition. I disovered I couldn't possibly detail all of them and I became really anxious. Do I really have so much that I can't possibly truly appreciate just how lucky I am? Do I really deserve to have so much? Do I take things for granted and let my blessings become just mundane details?

I wake up here every day truly happy to be in France, but I don't think I take the time to really be deeply thankful for the amazing details of 'life in France' or even of my life in general.

2005-11-25T12:03:00.000+01:00

Well, the SNCF strike disrupted not only my sleep on Tuesday night (as I caught the only train to Clermont obscenely early yesterday) but some of our hiking plans: Originally Meredith and I thought we'd rent a car and drive to the base of the Puy-de-Dome and explore the trailhead from there. There were no rental cars to be found -- which seems very logical in retrospect -- so we had to think of an alternative plan. The Puy-de-Dome is 10 kilometers outside of Clermont so that seemed too far to walk, but the tourist information office directed us to a different trail closer to town. Compared to the other mountains surrounding Clermont, this was one of the smallest but, after a few wrong turns and some short-term trespassing, we found a side trail with a gorgeous view of the city.

We walked down the opposite side of this mountain with our eye on another in the distance. Unofrtunately, there are no signs that explain which roads go up so at every intersection we had to guess. Somehow we made our way to a little village just outside of Clermont where the chocolates in the patisserie we begging to be eaten. I had something called a Puy-de-Dome which was so amazingly rich sometimes I forgot that breathing should have been a higher priority than eating. The woman at the patisserie had given us rough directions so we followed the road through the village, but really, after about five minutes, we were just wandering aimlessly around these country roads and villages, just looking for a route to take us up.

When we got to the point of the day where we needed to turn around and head back to town we had managed to climb probably twice as high as the original mountain we'd hiked that morning. I wish it hadn't been as hazy, but the surrounding farms, mountains and distant buildings were beautiful from that height. Later we realized that we'd walked for nearly seven hours and had probably covered 20 miles. It was really quite an amazing day of aimless hiking and conversation.

I am feeling an even stronger pull now to hike the Puy-de-Dome.

My footprints

2005-11-25T11:11:00.000+01:00

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