Victory!

I just had to lug my computer all the way down 4 flights of stairs to say this:

I JUST KILLED A REALLY BIG BUG.

I'm proud. It looked like a giant mosquito with really long spindly legs. Ugh. I had to throw shoes at it for about 5 minutes until I finally hit it. (Well you didn't expect me to get close to that thing, did you??)

Also, I have an address.

Elizabeth Balge, C33
Residence Pierre de Coubertin
104, avenue Pierre de Coubertin
53000 Laval FRANCE

Feel free to mail me articles you find interesting, photos for my very empty walls, mix CDs, packs of gum, or anything else that will fit in an envelope and make me happy!

First views of the city

Today was a weird day, because it started out pretty badly but ended up being a productive afternoon. I woke up this morning with plans to go grocery shopping and take care of some errands in town. I figured that Laval is a small city and I'd be able to easily navigate the streets to find a few locations. I was wrong. I ended up walking in the opposite direction of the city, cheerfully unaware of my mistake until I came to a roundabout with a sign that said LAVAL...with a big red X through it. I had apparently walked to the city limits. Oops.

Instead of turning around to go in the right direction (like any normal person would do) I figured I could turn right and take a parallel street back towards town. Wrong again. Because I didn't bring my map, I walked about a mile down an angled street to a strange industrial area with car dealerships and furniture stores. I took a few turns, thinking somehow I'd wander past a grocery store. I did end up in the downtown area, but when I asked for directions at the tourism office, I got a vague wave down the street and around the corner. I tried walking that way, but ended up making a huge circle around a weird area of town. Then I took another turn, attempting to follow a billboard with an arrow on it, but found myself making another huge circle. Finally I ended up back on a road I had seen before, and started dragging myself back towards home, trying to ignore the giant blister forming on my right heel. All in all I'd say I walked about 8 miles. I was gone for an entire hour, and with nothing to show for it! I had no choice but to go to my room and pout for a while.

Luckily Robin came over a little bit later and asked if I wanted to go with her on some errands. I seized the opportunity for camaraderie, as well as a navigator into the city. We made it to the Orange store (bumping into Michael from Nottingham on the way) and we both bought new SIM cards. So! I have a working phone! The number is about 24 digits long and I'll never remember it, but oh well! Then we actually found the grocery store, Carrefour Market. Success. It was quite a long walk, and not in any direction I had gone earlier in the day. But we made it, and I was able to buy a few staples for my kitchenette. We also got a nice tour of the city. (The nice part, not the weird parts I saw this morning.)

The view from my window.

I'm currently sitting in the "Zone Wifi" near the cafe, and boy does it feel good to be on my own computer again. French keyboards are messed up. I had forgotten about that. Q and A are switched, and something is up with W as well. M is in the semicolon's spot, and you have to hit shift to type a period! What kind of crazy setup is that?? 

I still miss home, but I'm getting used to being here. Definitely feeling less pathetic. More errands to run tomorrow, and then a meeting and lunch at school on Friday. Have to try to figure out the buses tomorrow....yikes. At least tomorrow I'll know to bring my maps along!

Finally made it!

Well, after 24 hours of travel, I finally made it to Laval last night. It was: car to Chicago, flight to Dublin, 3 hour layover in Dublin, flight to Paris, 5 hours waiting for the train in Paris, finally a 2 and a half hour train to Laval. Then my teacher picked me up at the train station at about 9 pm and I spent the night at his house. Monsieur Goubin and his wife were very hospitable and even made me a dinner of crepes when I arrived!

In the morning, I went along with M. Goubin to his 9 o'clock class. I introduced myself and the students were invited to ask me questions about a number of topics: sports, school, music, television, etc. I may or may not have sung a few lines of "Achy Breaky Heart". I could tell at least some of them were really interested in English and wanted to talk more with me. Perhaps there will be more opportunity for that in the coming weeks.

I also got to meet the rest of the "équipe anglaise", and all the rest of the teachers seem very nice. I was really suprised by the casual atmosphere at the lycée; most teachers were in jeans and there was a lot of teasing and banter, even when the headmaster came over. I'm definitely the youngest instructor there, but I think they were at least somewhat impressed by my french and so I think we'll all get along well. I don't start teaching for a while...they want us to have plenty of time to settle in and be prepared.

Then we went and moved into my apartment. Everything is newly renovated, I have my own bathroom with a gloriously hot shower, and I have a nice view of the town (pictures to come soon). It was a pretty good day except that a couple of times, I fell into a strange melancholy/homesickness. I know it was probably exhaustion and it'll get better, but it was pretty depressing for today. It really helped to meet a few of the other assistants living here. So far I've met girls from Canada, Argentina, England, Scotland, and the US, and two guys from England. Everyone seems really nice and since we're all in the same boat, everyone is really making an effort to be friendly. Some of us had dinner together tonight in the residence's cafeteria. I had rabbit in a sauce with pasta and cheese. Some cafeteria food, right?

Tomorrow is a day of errands to run. I'll be happy to have something to do...keep myself busy so I'm not quite so homesick.

What do you pack for a year in France?

(Note: for modesty's sake I did not photograph my pile of underwear.)

Answer: Everything you possibly can.

I fly out of Chicago tomorrow, so today is packing day. My room is a bit of a disaster area at the moment, since I have been making strategic piles for the past couple of weeks. I'm trying to strike a packing balance of dress clothes for work, casual but nice clothes for when I'm not at work, and books/supplies for teaching. Oh, did I forget toiletries, shoes, and jackets?

I'm never going to fit all this into two suitcases...

Testing, testing, un, deux, trois

Just a quick test post to see how blogspot works. I'm headed to Laval in less than a week so check back then for more updates!

Liz