So last Tuesday I had my first day of teaching. Things went OK. My first class had the most students, about 8 total. There was one really smart (and really cute!) guy who spoke English very well and answered my questions correctly. Then there were two really bitchy girls, another guy who was too shy to talk, and two other girls who didn't even make a peep. French students are so much different from American students. There are generally not as many amicable (?) relationships between teachers and their students, students sometimes talk in class when other people are talking (including the prof), and they don't participate as much. Thankfully though, my program director gave me some tips how to work around it. My last class of the day only had 4 students in it, 4 really nice French girls. With their class I finished the activities early and I ended up spending the last 15-20 minutes trying to make conversation with them (in English) so that they could practice speaking.
Nothing interesting happened until Thursday/Friday. Both days put me in horrible moods, mostly because of the fact that I think Im just starting to miss home. So I get up Thursday, already in a horrible mood, and I head to the Fac where what do I find? Students on strike! Hundreds of them are in the streets blocking traffic and several students are yelling things through megaphones. They are all, of course, protesting the retirement reform that the government is doing right now which, really, I think is ridiculous. But whatever, another one of those culture things... So Im walking around this crowd, trying to get to the main entrance so I can get to class on time and I soon realize that the yelling through the megaphone is not getting any quieter. I turn around and find that the students are all marching behind me, girl with megaphone in hand is following me. GREAT. So I call my friend to ask what the hell's going on, the students continue following me down the hallways, yelling through the megaphone, and I end up getting lost trying to find my class. Wasn't having it... Thursday night I talk with one of my good friends back home for 2 hours, which was awesome but I think it made me feel even worse. Then I im'ed with several friends and called my mom at work and then talked to my aunt.
All this made me wake up in a really bad and homesick mood. I walked to class and, of course, like my stupid usual self, I put on my "sad song" playlist and I start to cry. Once I got to class, eyes red from crying, I started to feel better and the rest of the day continued to slowly get better. In my history discussion, I was so out of it and my friend and I were so lost. We were sitting there and every student is on either this page or this other page, and everyone is frantically writing things down and I am just so lost. Then I almost have a panic attack when I see the professor going around to check what everyone is writing. OH SHIT! I literally have a minor panic attack and my friend and I just look at each other and start laughing because hey, we're just those dumb foreign kids, right? I always wondered how foreign students in some of my classes back home just seemed so lost sometimes but I TOTALLY get it now that I am the one in that situation. Luckily though, my history professor for this class is really awesome and after he finally clarified what page we were on (the foreigners weren't the only ones who were lost it turns out) I understood what was going on and the prof even came and looked at what I was writing and made conversation about it, which made me feel good.
Friday night I had my typical dinner with my French family. I absolutely LOVE them, I feel like they are becoming a sort of second family to me. I don't know if I could ever really explain this to them though, but they really are helping me in more than just a "we're gonna help you learn French" environment. Audrey, one of the daughters, had her friend Ségo come over for dinner. She was super nice and asked me questions about what things were like in the States. They asked me how things were going for me and France and I explained to them that I was having a great time except I was having a hard time meeting French students and I was starting to get homesick. Audrey was like "Doug!" why don't you start hanging out with us!?! So that night I went out with her and her friend Ségo, who were heading into Aix to go out dancing. We ended up at this bar where we decided to do some shots. We did a round of these delicious cherry flavored shots that the bartender lights on fire and you have to stick a straw into the bottom of it really quickly and suck up. Ségo's first try ended up with her lighting her straw on fire and then when she tried to drink, she ended up choking it down. It was pretty funny! So we ended the night at a club which had OK music, but we still had a good time.
Saturday night I went out clubbing again (even though I had just intended to go out for a friend with a drink) but I had SOO much fun! I got pretty, well, drunk and stayed out until 4:30am and then I left for Monaco the next morning at 8:30am.
For those who don't know, Monaco is the 2nd smallest country in the world with a population of about 33,000 people. It's located on the southern coast of France. I had a great time there and it was cool to say I went there, but idk if I'd go back. The day we went we got to see the changing of the guard at the royal palace and then everything was free to get in because it was kind of like the "journées du patrimoine" that France had where all government things and museums are free. So we got to go inside the palace (couldn't take pictures though) and got some amazing views. I didn't go to the casino though lol. But we did buy some tea and chocolate from this amazing little chocolaterie. Here are some pictures below:
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| La relève de la garde (Changing of the guard) at the Royal Palace |
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| View of the Port of Monaco. The other side, off to the right, is Italy |
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| Grace Kelly's grave. Grace Kelly was a famous American actress from the 1950s who married the Prince of Monaco and became a princess. She died in 1982 in a car accident. |
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