World Cup!? Check that off my bucket list.

    Before I get down to the real story telling here I'd like to give a quick head nod of acknowledgment to things I am currently enjoying.
+ Living in wine country. I bought a bottle of Muscat today for 1.30 which I am currently savoring from a tin camping mug... only the highest standards for this girl.
+ SOLDES (sales)! They only happen twice a year. One of those times is now. I bought a soccer ball and a volleyball for only ten euro today!
+ Nice weather. Its been in the mid 50's all week. Spring in January? Yes, please!
+ The fact that you can see which links people looked at your blog from. Someone was just scoping this blog from an Eyebrow Implants site. You can make your own commentary.

Ok, on with the show!
    Last weekend started early for me, as usual. I took the bus to Nantes to meet up with the Bel Air apartment crew and their fabulous guest and one of my oldest friends, Arran. Reunited just after a week apart was a fabulous experience. Its pretty strange when you've been long distance friends for eight years to get to see each other so often. I'm so lucky! Anyway, Richard came over and  we all hungout in the common area/kitchen for a bit and then headed to my favorite bar in Nantes, Au Chien Stupid. Jennifer's friend Stephan met us there and we had a great night of French and English conversation. We called it pretty early considering half of the group had class the next day...unfortunate.
    Friday welcomed us with open arms and beautiful blue, sunny skies. Arran and I decided to go to l'ile de Nantes (http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/index.html) so she could see the giant elephant. We really should have done some research first because we found that the entire thing will be closed until February. We did not, however let that ruin our fun! We walked along the river and then back through Commerce towards the château. We were in the midst of trying to capture this best friend France moment with a picture and failing horribly. Just then a wonderfully nice Frenchmen got out of his work truck and asked if we'd like him to take one of us. He took two. Thank you anonymous man. After the impromptu photoshoot we decided that lunch by the mote was the plan of action. We found a cute Greek falafel shop and bought two feta falafels to go. The owner was also a fabulous, kind man who was just chatting away with me about how he is so glad that I'm working in the schools instead of studying at university in Nantes. He said his first friend in France was an American in Lyon who showed him the ropes as a foreigner in France. He was great. I will return. 
    Later we all met back up at the apartment and planned the evening. First on the list was the Coupe du Monde: Baby Foot! (Foosball WORLD CUP!!) and then off to Lieu Unique. We didn't actually know how to get to the World Cup but we had some phone numbers and a mission so we set off to meet Rhys at a tram stop and then went on foot from there. After about twenty minutes we found it and entered into history in the making. The men's final was between Great Brittan and The USA. As if there weren't already enough America vs. the UK jokes already among the assistants. Needless to say both groups cheered for their Fatherlands and I'm happy to say that the U.S. took the win despite Sophie having acquired a flag.

 

 

Congratulations Team USA!

    After the intensity of the match we all though a pint (or a few) were needed... that's not true. We were going to drink anyway. We headed to a neat bar by the train station, found a table and settled in. We met some French 20-somethings who were teaching us fun games and wanting to practice their English. All in all we had a fabulous night!
    Saturday evening was Misty's birthday party with the theme 'masquerade'. So, as people who genuinely love dressing up we dutifully set out on a mission to find the appropriate attire. We didn't really find anything to our liking so we decided to cook instead and create our own masks. Arran carefully created masks out of makeup for herself, Jennifer and Gregory. Keri Ann went as a Super Hero and I went as her nerdy 'real life' personage.
    Sunday was another b.e.a.utiful day in Nantes. Keri Ann had a rugby match in Marseilles (she plays for a legit team and gets flown around the country to play. Go Keri Ann!!) but Arran, Jennifer and I started the day off with a few pain au chocolat and headed off along the Erdre river. We walked and walked and talked and talked and voyaged through the forest that grows in the marshy edges of the water. It was so great to be outside!
    The next morning we had to say goodbye to Arran at the gare as she got on the train. It sucks saying goodbye. But, we'll see each other again in March when we go to Morocco.
    The rest of the week flew by for the most part. I already have three students signed up for the Stage Linguistique (English workshop) that I will be doing for two days at the end of February. I also had the worst class period of my entire life. These boys have been the worst since the beginning. But Wednesday was by far the most extreme. I usually just let their misbehavior slide because it's not that intense in the grand scheme of things. This time however I almost lost it. They were throwing things, playing music on their phones loudly while I was directly telling them to stop, chewing tobacco in class, and saying disgusting things about me (which I understood) to each other. So, I told their teacher. Take that rude high school boys. I can still tattle like a five year old. Repremands all around (except for the two students who actually try and are the only two who keep me slightly sane for those fifty minutes)!
    There is a big party this weekend in Nantes for Sophie's 21st birthday party. I can't go however in an attempt to conserve fundage for the vacation in a month an a half. Every time I go to Nantes its a fabulous weekend but I feel like I leave broke. Concious spending is going to be my new habit. We'll see how that goes.
Over and Out!

Back to School!

    The first week back at school (three days a teaching) has been great! I decided to play games to ease us back into it and the students responded very well. Here are the highlights from the week:
    In a middle school class, I was talking about winter in Spokane, Washington. But, their level of English is pretty weak...so when they hear one word that they understand everyone begins to shout other words that go along with the subject. So, when I said 'Washington' they chorused things like, 'Barack Obama!', 'D.C.', and one girl shouts 'George Washington!'. I told her that George Washington has been dead for quite a while now to which she was a little surprised and responded with, 'ahhh ouais?!' which means 'no, really!?' It was priceless.
    In my most advanced class the students played a game where I gave each of them a 'profession' and they had to speed date with each other to try and discover everyone's job. They got really into it and created their own personages to make it more fun. The farmer in the group: 'I work in the country, in the landscape. I have a tractor.' It was great to see them work and use their vocabulary in a fun way.
    In a fairly advanced sophomore class today, we played a game where they had to guess the celebrity that was taped to their back. Turns out being Justin Bieber is the worst option. I thought Paris Hilton would be worse. We also played a game that I stole from Keri Ann. I drew a picture and the students faced each other in pairs. The student who was facing me had to describe the image to their partner who would try and replicate the image without seeing it. The best description I overheard was "at the bottom there is an....ass." He was describing hills in the foreground but his partner looked a little worried but dutifully drew a small derriere on the page. Perfect.
    In other news, Janelle is very sick while in the Philippines partaking in the Peace Corps. Today, she turned a corner and is officially on her way to being healthy again. But, while discussing her illness and what its like to be seriously sick in a third world country she gave me the best piece of advice while chatting from her hospital bed. She simply said, "Oh Krista, get the fuck ready". And that I will.
    I'm off to Nantes to have a fabulous weekend with the Assistant crew and Arran who is visiting from Scotland. A plus tard!