Due to a combination of procrastination, internet failure, and general business, I kind of stopped posting there for a while. Sorry ’bout that. Here’s one of two posts I wrote back in November:
Things have picked up quite a bit over here in France-land. I’m becoming more and more involved in my classes at school. Last week, I was asked to do a couple of lessons on Thanksgiving, being what one of the profs at the Collège du Pévèle calls a “real-life specimen of American culture,” which dually inspires feelings of stardom and freakdom. It was great fun explaining Thanksgiving to the kids, most of whom had either only heard the word itself, or at the best had a vague concept of the holiday. “No, I can’t explain the relationship between American football and the Native Americans and Pilgrims.” “Yes, I suppose it is funny that America’s biggest holiday is essentially about eating.” “Yes, we do, in fact, make a pie out of a vegetable. Yup, we’re pretty weird, huh?”
Throughout the course of the week, I managed to get my 6ème’s pretty psyched about a Thanksgiving song called “Mr. Turkey,” about a poor turkey that needs to hide to avoid getting eaten. I definitely heard a few of them singing it to their friends in the schoolyard, as I made my way to the break-room for lunch. If that’s not success, I don’t know what is.
In other less thrilling news, I was finally called in by the Office of Immigration for my state-required medical exam. I waited, along with twenty-some other, mostly American, non EU English assistants. One by one, we filed up to the reception desk, handed over paperwork, and were summoned back to rooms, where we were weighed, measured, x-rayed, vaguely questioned, then shooed back into the lobby, to hand over more paperwork, and finally, triumphantly, to receive the OFii stamp of approval (i.e. legal temporary residence)! We all celebrated by going out for a coffee, toting along with us giant copies of our lung x-rays, which had been benevolently handed over to us by the doctor for “future use.” Okay. In any case, I’m officially done with my administrative details checklist, and it only took me two months…
A bientôt.