Celebrating the end of the semester

If I can give the French credit for only one thing, it would be their vacation schedules. They were smart enough to schedule in a two-week holiday in mid-February, just in time to combat the post-holiday blues and the blah gray weather that seems to continue interminably. Of course, this being France, things don't always sync up in the most efficient or practical way, so I had two weeks off in February from work, but only 6 days off from my master's.

The two week break from teaching was well-timed, since I had finals to work on for all of my master's courses. I spent about 10 days working feverishly at the library, attempting to digest an entire semester's worth of material and prove my knowledge by writing brilliant papers. This is one thing I definitely DON'T like about France - their university classes tend to be based entirely on one grade: one final paper or one final exam. That's it. And if you screw that one up, too bad, so sad, you just get a bad grade. So... no pressure, right?!

This was certainly a stressful time period for me, a time when I came up against all of my limitations as a foreigner in the French university system. I definitely had a few moments where I thought to myself, "I really can't do this!" But in the end, I persevered. Or well, I think I did - so far I've only gotten my results for one of my classes, and I was pleasantly surprised so hopefully the other grades will be similar (did I mention that French professors also grade VERY harshly, at least by American standards? Yikes, what have I gotten myself into!).

Having finished my finals, I celebrated by taking a trip to visit a college friend, Alice, who is also working as a teaching assistant in a small ski town in the Southern Alps. It is quite an ordeal to get to Alice's little town, a full day of travel: two two-hour trains, a long wait in between connections, and a nauseatingly winding hour-and-a-half ride on a bus that was driven by a madman who seemed to enjoy taking the hairpin curves at terrifying speeds. Once I arrived, fully intact though exhausted and feeling rather sick to my stomach, I rejoiced in just how wonderful small-town France is. First of all, provinciales (that is, people NOT from Paris) are genuinely welcoming and friendly people. You forget this when you live in a congested city where the people are sick and tired of tourists running amok in their town all the time (in a way, I don't blame them, but that said, there's no need to curse at me if I accidentally bump into you while trying to pass you in the world's smallest grocery aisle). Also, this was my first time in the Alps. They are simply breathtaking, and Barcelonnette, Alice's town, is blessed with fabulously sunny weather, and the temperatures while I was there were about equivalent to that of Paris's (i.e. around 50 degrees Fahrenheit).

Despite my post-finals exhaustion, I managed to get in three mini-days of skiing. I really loved the at- mosphere of the two resorts we went to - they were very small, not too commercial, and laid-back. Alice also set up a snowshoe romp under the full moon, followed by a three-course meal at a restaurant at the top of the mountain, cooked by a very cute British ex-pat named Nicolas, who joined us on the snowshoe down the mountain (though he sledded down the hill while the rest of us tried not to tumble face-first with our unwieldy snowshoes!). It was a 5 kilometer, steep journey, but the meal at the top of the mountain made the trek totally worth it!

The next day, I was completely wiped out from a half-day of skiing and the late-night snowshoe marathon, so I decided to take the day off from physical activities and visit the local jam-makers. These are two twin brothers in their 30s who are crazy about... jam. They make 25 different varieties of jam, all handmade, all done themselves in their little farmhouse! They let us come check out how they make the jam and of course allowed us to taste-test a lot of different flavors. I bought a jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam and am saving it for a special breakfast occasion.

All in all, it was four days of great skiing, good cooking (and even better eating, of course), catching up with college friends, and experiencing yet another side of France that I didn't know. Definitely an unforgettable highlight of my time here, and a well-deserved, well-timed vacation!

Picking Up Where I Left Off

I'm baaack. Well, technically I've been back (in France) for three weeks now, but it's perhaps taken me this long to finally get back into the swing of things. I had three lovely, relaxing, French-free weeks at home in the grand old USA for Christmas and New Years. I was overjoyed to see my parents, my family, my friends, and many American conveniences that I'd been missing (i.e. NON-handheld showers, normal-sized washing machines and dryers, supermarkets with all that familiar yet unhealthy food, people who don't actually drive like maniacs, my queen-sized bed, peace and quiet). I was quite sad to come back to Paris, actually, which surprised me. But after some self-analysis, I realized that my reluctance to return was due to a combination of my approaching finals for my master's courses, some extra hours that needed to be put in at my job, and the gray January weather.

Now that I've gotten a few finals under my belt and really hit my stride with my teaching, I feel like I'm back home, back in Paris, back to my life as it should be. Today, for instance, I taught three classes this morning and then hopped on the métro to visit another teaching assistant friend named Kathryn. She too works at a culinary high school with an in-house restaurant, so we decided to check out each other's brasseries to see which one is best! Lunch today at Lycée Jean Drouant consisted of pan-seared tuna with a vegetable tarte followed by raspberry pannacotta - simply delicious, and fantastically affordable at a price of only eight euros! Then I followed Kathryn to one of her classes where I helped her explain such important things to her students as 'corn on the cob' and 'to tie your shoes.' Afterwards I got to meet some of the teachers she works with, it was fun to see another teaching assistant in action.

Though I've been living here for a few months now, I realize that I have yet to post any photos of my room. So here is my little corner of Paris:
To the left, my super-practical Ikea bed complete with hidden drawers and built-in nightstand. I brought back some keepsake blankets with me from home when I went back from Christmas. Little red rugs to brighten the place up, my desk and bookshelf are on the right. The armoire is the object looming to the left! My window faces south, and thank goodness for shutters, which help block out the noise at night (my supply of heavy-duty earplugs helps too...!).

We live on the 10th floor of the building, so we have quite a view out of the kitchen window. In the distance on the left, you can make out the Eiffel tower and its searchlight. Straight ahead, the tall skyscraper is the Tour Montparnasse. And to the right you can sometimes see Sacre Coeur, in Montmartre. Not too shabby!

I wish you all a very happy new year and bonne année 2011! I'm excited to see what this year shall bring for all of us.