Les souvenirs de Narbonne, Pt. 2: Oddities & Quirks

When most people picture life in France, they picture walking the streets of Paris with a baguette in hand and a constant view of the Eiffel Tower. Or, maybe, living along the Riviera, going to the beach all the time and bumping shoulders with the rich & famous. Or maybe they even picture life in a small, picturesque village in Provence.  Most people do not picture life in a small-ish town of 40,000 inhabitants (60,000 including the suburbs) 9 miles from the Mediterranean where the wind blows until you feel like your soul might WHOOSH right out your ears. The latter is exactly what I was was given as my French experience, and I made the best of it and truly loved my little French home. However, there are several things that were either very interesting or even downright annoying.

Other titles considered for this post were: "Things I just can't stand about Narbonne" (as a follow-up to "Things I just can't stand about France"), as well as "You've seen the Good, now see the Bad & the Ugly." However, both of these titles invoke only negativity, when I really want to convey not just that which bugged me, but also that our little town was just a little bit... weird.

We'll say it had character. Which it did. If you're thinking to yourself, "How could she be so cynical about her French home?", I'd like to direct you to my most recent post, "Les souvenirs de Narbonne, Pt. 1: Places", in which I sing Narbonne's praises.*

Also, I'd like to inform you that I'm a realist. So, if I'm to pay fair tribute to my year in southern France, I have to be 100% honest.

Here are the things which I got quite annoyed with in Narbonne:

Le vent: The wind. Oh my gosh, the wind. The wind is absolutely insane there. The locals can tell you which winds (by name) are active or approaching by the weather conditions: the temperature, the sun, the sky, the season, the direction of the wind. It's impressive. But more than just impressive, it's an indication of what an integral part of local life and culture these winds are. This short description of the 5 SEPARATE named winds of Languedoc, le pays du vent (the land of the wind) gives a good idea of how serious the winds are. Please ignore the Comic Sans. (Pourquoi?)

There were times when I would be walking at like a 65° degree angle if I was walking against the wind. Seriously. There were times when my heavy bag would be blown back and remain horizontal and away from my body if I was walking against the wind. Are you picturing a cartoon character walking in a storm? Good. It was exactly like that. There were times in the winter when I declined going out at night because I knew I'd have to walk there and back in the wind and the cold, and I just couldn't. There were times when, in my 5th floor (or 4th floor to a European) room, I could hear the wind howling all night and I couldn't fall asleep. It never let up. It just howled, like before a hurricane,** but not in gusts. Consistently and relentlessly.

They say wind can drive you mad, and I 100% understand that. There were times when I thought I'd go mad if it didn't stop, and I feel like I lived there for a long time, I might truly go slightly insane. It's just... so much. And I've lived in Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock winds are nothing compared to this. (Though I guess there is one positive to the Narbonne winds: no gritty dirt blowing in your mouth like in Lubbock. So, at least there's that.)

This photo was taken in Leucate, where we went for the Mondial du Vent (world championship of wind) in April.***

Please note that my hair managed to be THIS windblown while it was IN A PONYTAIL. Merci, le vent. Freaking superwind.

The complete lack of green spaces: Honestly, there were no real parks to speak of within the city of Narbonne. We noticed this after a while, and thought to ourselves "There HAS to be a park somewhere. There has to be. We need some nature up in here." So we got out a map of Narbonne. There was a little green circle (roundabout, right by the kebab, we already knew about that), and we also saw a nice big green space near us! Of course, we went to check it out straight away.

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 It was a cemetery. 

So, you know. It would have been really nice to be able to go somewhere green to sit and relax. Which, by the way, is something it's generally pretty easy to find in France, as the French on the whole appreciate nature. But it was not easy to find in Narbonne. Also, at that point in my life, I wasn't running yet, but I was entertaining the idea of starting. But there was nowhere nice to run! I had three choices: 1) Run around in small circles in a roundabout. 2) Run among the dead. (New series idea: The Running Dead. No?) 3) Run along boring suburban streets in the wintry cold and, of course, in the wind. (Remember I wasn't really close to downtown/the canal, which would have been a nicer place to run.)

I did a little bit of the sad cold suburban street running, but mainly I succumbed to the cold and the wind and the lack of greenery and waited til I got back to Texas to start running in earnest. Which is unfortunate, because I certainly had the time that year. And, looking back at photos, I kind of needed it to counteract the pastry intake. Oh well.

The fact that it was kind of hard to make the most of the region without a car: Okay, so comparing Narbonne to, say, Fort Worth, Texas, it's MUCH easier to get around Narbonne without a car. In Texas, as in much of the US, if you don't have a car, game over. You ain't goin' nowhere. Public transport is nonexistent unless you live in the center of a major metropolitan area.

I'm thankful for the SNCF (train system) (bum, DA dum DA dum... If you've spent any time in France, I know you just heard that in your head) so that I could get around the country. And, of course, I'm thankful for our little buses with the crazy blue seats so that I could get around Narbonne.

However, if we wanted to go to anything that was kind of peripheral to Narbonne (the big movie theater, the bowling alley, the beach, Les Hauts de Narbonne where I tutored), the bus system was pretty sketchy. Buses to all of these more remote locations were very intermittent, and you had to catch a bus TO another bus and get all the timing right, and by the time you got there it took so long you practically had to start your return journey. So that wasn't great. Luckily I got to go some places because some of our friends had cars (Corentin, Carmen, my teacher colleagues, my tutor students), and I'm thankful for that. And I am grateful for our buses, but even in the city proper, the buses stopped at 8:00 pm and on Sundays. After that, we had to fend for ourselves. Between that and the wind, it made returning from nights out interesting.

Les travaux: THE CONSTRUCTION. The portion of the canal that ran through city center was under construction the WHOLE time we were there. It was finished shortly after we left, because of course it was. It was really a bummer. I'd love to go back and see it someday now that it's all finished! Of course, we're set to have a reunion in Narbonne in July 2018, so I guess I will then! (When Dörte writes the date on torn parts of a pizza box and hands it out to everyone, you know it's official. See you guys there, only 2.5 years to go!)

the.whole.time.

The crazies: Okay. I love most everyone I knew in Narbonne. I've said many times that I'm so thankful I was in a small city where it was easier to meet people and integrate. However, sometimes the people were just... colorful. Yeah, really colorful.

Sometimes this was fun, like when it came to all of the characters we'd see at L'Échoppe dressed up in costume (who, incidentally, could sometimes be found in the middle of the day in a top hat, trench coat, crazy long beard, riding along on a kind of weird elongated bike).

Luckily, Zack took a picture of the bike. Zack saves the day. Again.

Sometimes it was just weird. I could kick myself for not keeping better track of all of our weird interactions with people. Why didn't I write them down?! I do remember a couple of instances in particular.

-One time, I was walking along the Boulevard Gambetta talking on the phone to my dad when a woman came up to me and said "Pardon, est-ce que je peux utiliser votre portable?" (Excuse me, can I use your phone?") Alright. Here's the deal. Who asks someone that WHILE THEY'RE ON THE PHONE? Also, I was speaking in fluent (and fast) English. How'd she know I even spoke French?! I just looked at her for a second, bewildered, and told her no, because I was, as it turns out, using it. She walked away, but not without huffing and puffing a bit. (Meanwhile, my dad's all "Katy? Hello? You're speaking French.")

-One time, I was sitting in the laundromat, listening to Mumford & Sons and minding my own business while I waited on my clothes, and some guy just waltzed in, sat next to me, yelled some things in French (which I didn't really hear because I had the music), and sat with his head in his hands for a little bit next to me. I'm sitting there, thinking "Be cool, Soda Pop," and also "Dear God please whisk this crazy man away from me so I'm not murdered and someone else finds all my wet clothes including my panties." Luckily, he left after only a couple of hoedown songs. But... what?!

-This isn't specific, but a really strange number of people asked me "Wait, so if you're American, how can you teach English?" Or, "Wow, that's so cool you can talk with your friends from England even though you're American!" Like, too many people. I felt like I was talking to Mean Girl Karen.

To be fair, I'm know that a lot of Americans ask foreigners ridiculous questions like this, too.

Anyway, like I said, most everyone I knew was absolutely lovely. However, there was a seemingly disproportionate number of crazies, and it was just a little bit strange. But I think I know what the explanation is: THE WIND. After all, they do say wind'll drive ya mad. And I believe 'em.

As a conclusion to this post, please accept these pictures of dogs driving a car in front of the Hôtel de Ville. 

And in a pedestrian zone, to boot!

Keep Narbonne weird.

♥

*I also wrote "Things I LOVE about France."

**Which I can say, because I've lived through a hurricane. Gustav? I'm lookin' at you. I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN.

***Where I casually became a famous stand-up paddler, in case you missed that.

FAQ, enfin!

A long, long time ago, I started getting questions about living in France and about the TAPIF program and decided to answer them all in one place. Then I traveled for 4 weeks, flew to Texas, and got super busy living my very American life. I finally stopped working everyday just this week, and so here you go. Ta-da! The answers to the excellent questions I received from lots of future TAPIFers. Thank you SO much for posting questions, it feels good to know someone's actually reading this thing! ;) I hope that these help some of you as you prepare for your year in France. (Also, just FYI: I also did a pre-France FAQ back in September, which included questions I was frequently asked before I left for France.)

When it came to choosing your top regions, what pushed you away from Paris?

Personally, I had already spent time (4-5 weeks) in Paris, but really nowhere else in France, and wanted to expand my knowledge of the country. I knew it’d be better for my French to live somewhere else besides Paris (I never heard anyone outside of my students, teachers, or four English-speaking assistant friends speaking English in Narbonne, while you’ll hear English all.the.time in Paris). Also, I’m from Texas. I hate cold weather.

Rationally, BUDGET. You take home around €790/month, regardless of whether you live in Paris or in a small town on the Mediterranean. I recommend choosing Paris if you are independently wealthy OR don’t mind eating lentils for 8 months and/or not traveling at all.

Typically, how much money should a prospective “TAPIFer” save before heading to France? I know that a lot of variables are at play here, but assuming one wanted to travel as frequently as you did, what would you recommend?

Well, you're right that there are a lot of variables at play. I left with about $2,000 to travel and get myself set up. (It was supposed to be more, but then it turns out that my 12-year-old car decided to be THE WORST and suck out a RIDICULOUS amount of my money (way more than $2,000) from me before I left. Poor thing.) How did I travel, then? 

Well, I had a kind of exceptional case in that I was given a free very basic room on my high school campus. There was a list of pros and cons (No kitchen AT ALL? Constantly being surrounded by high school students? No cute little French chez moi?), but in the end I decided I had the rest of my life to have a cute cozy place to live, and eight months to live in Europe. So I took my paychecks and I traveled with them. Well, obviously I lived on them. But I spent a lot of that on traveling.

Even if you don't have a ton of cash or a free place to live, there are still a ton of way to travel cheaply. Think low-cost airlines, hostels or even Couchsurfing, less popular (meaning less crowded but not necessarily less beautiful!) destinations. Even eating grocery store food while you travel rather than eating out. Traveling cheaply can be done!

Did you need your birth certificate translated? / How did you succeed in not getting your birth certificate translated? / Can you tell your sneaky secret of getting your birth certificate approved without the official translation?

Yes, you do need your translated birth certificate (with an apostille on the birth certificate but not on the translation) in order to process your Sécu (social security) paperwork, which gets you your social security number and insurance. 

Okay. So I can't really tell you how I got around the translation thing. I can tell you it involved my own ability to translate (as well as maneuver myself around Microsoft Word in ways most people can't), and a friend with access to some official letterhead to approve it. Basically, if you can do it yourself and make it look REALLY good, you may be able to pull it off.

What about needing your shot record? Translated?

The only time you'd need your shot record is your immigration medical appointment. I had my dad scan/email mine to me the week before my appointment because I freaked out and thought you needed it (because my friend had used hers). So I had mine. However, the doctor just kind of asks you about your shots and looks over it quickly and it's not a big deal. You don't need it translated because it's just dates and all the shots have these medical abbreviations. I know a lot of people who didn't have theirs, no problem.

Did you have to get an international driver’s license to drive the car?

I didn’t actually drive in Europe (I wasn't sure about the validity of my license and I don't know how to drive a stick, lazy American, whoops!), but I’ve heard the following things: 1) You can drive for a certain number of months on your foreign (i.e., not French/EU) license. 2) You can go online and pay a small fee to have your American license made international. I don't have personal experience with either, so if this is serious consideration you have, do a little research and I'm sure you'll find a solution!

Did you bring a cell phone? Laptop? iPad?

I did bring my cell phone (not a smart phone, and locked... I unlocked it later using www.cellunlocker.net but it is a good idea to unlock your phone before you leave the States if you can). I was very glad I had it because I used it with my FreeMobile plan (you'll learn about that later). I also brought my laptop (well, netbook really), which I used while I was home. I also used it to store/backup my photos and to blog. I also brought my Kindle for reading (I LOVE to read but didn't want to waste luggage space (or weight) hauling books over there or back) and for taking on trips when I didn't need my laptop. I am glad I brought all three things and wouldn't change that.


What did you do about your American cell phone number/service plan while you were in France?

Okay, I cheated. No one actually asked me this question, but I'm answering it quand-même. So, if you don't care about keeping your number, obviously you can just cancel your phone line. Or, if you're fine with paying for it for a year, you can just keep paying for it.

If you're like me, who wanted to keep my number (that I'd had for ten years) and not pay for two phone plans for eight months, you can do something called "park" your phone number. You can do this with your cell phone provider (AT&T wanted to charge me something like $10/month for six months, and after six months, they would have kicked the phone line back into active mode, meaning that my regular phone bills would have restarted). Or, you could use an external service, like www.parkmyphone.com, which is what I used. I used the cheapest "deep freeze" plan, which basically just saved my phone number for me while I was gone. It was $3/month and a one-time $15 porting fee. The downside is that it takes about 3 business days to fully get your number up-and-running when you return back to the States, but hey, it was worth it to me. Just make sure you keep up with your email correspondence with your parking service so that you can bring it to your cell service provider upon arrival in the States.

What did you take with you? Clothes of course, but… Sheets? Towels?

I didn’t take sheets or towels with me; that takes up very valuable luggage space each way. A teacher loaned me sheets once I was there, and I bought towels. I did take a travel towel, which is a thin, fast-drying towel. I used it for backup until I bought a real towel, and I also used it on all of my trips. That was a pre-France purchase I was very happy with and know that I'll continue to use in the future. 

By the way, I took one 69.5 lb. luggage each way. (Yes, that costs $60 (with American Airlines) because it weighs over 50 lbs. But it was worth it.) I also brought a backpack as my carry-on and a bigger kind of weekend bag flattened in my suitcase. I used the backpack for weekend or Ryanair trips and the bigger weekend bag for two-week long vacations during which I wasn't flying Ryanair or easyJet. If I did it again, I think I'd bring the following: one giant checked luggage, one hard-case Ryanair-approved sized carry-on, and either a soft backpack or the bigger weekend bag flattened in my large suitcase. My small backpack was quite difficult on the Ryanair trips.

As I’m thinking about what to pack, I’m wondering what I should plan to wear for work at the schools? Not sure if it matters, but I will be in a primary school.

I (and all of my friends) wore regular, comfortable clothing (jeans, casual skirts/dresses) to work. The dress code is much more casual than it is for teachers in a normal American school. As long as you’re decent (don’t wear holes in your clothes, don’t dress provocatively, don’t be sloppy), you’re fine.

Were there any items you felt were absolutely essential to have taken from the US or items you wished you’d thought to take?

See above. I took a few adapters so I could have a few things plugged in at a time, as well as a universal adapter/converter that I could take anywhere. Things I wished I'd taken that I didn't... I can't think of anything right now, but I'll add it later if I do.

Thought of something! I brought extra deodorant, toothpaste, and chap stick (Burt's Bee's, holler!), because these were all things I had heard Americans miss in Europe because they're very different. I found that to be true with deodorant, but not the other things. European chap stick's fine (I like Labello, which is actually German I think, but I find it a bit shinier than normal chap stick, which I like but a guy might not). European toothpaste isn't as minty strong as American toothpaste, but it's fine. You know what is super weird? European deodorant. They mainly sell spray on or a liquid-y roll on, so if you like the regular American stick kind, bring some extra. Also American gum. French gum is not as good.

One more thing! I didn't bring my student ID, which was dumb. Granted, I've not been in school since I finished grad school in 2010, but my grad school student ID picture still looks like me (from 2008, awesome), and it doesn't have a date on it. I didn't think to bring it, but it would have gotten me discounts on some museum things while I was traveling. I asked my parents to find it and mail it to me, but they never could find it. I swear I saw it sometime last summer. Someday I'll find it... and try to see if I can still pass it off. :)

When did you first arrive in France? How long before October 1st?


I arrived in France September 18th, originally intending to hang out and just get to know Narbonne for a week before school started. Then I decided to take a train to Munich to go to Oktoberfest and visit my friend Irene, which meant I didn't get back to France until September 25th. Luckily, I had housing already arranged so I didn't have that to worry about, so it wasn't a big deal. Plus, Oktoberfest? Worth it. 

What would you say was the most difficult/frustrating thing you had to do when you first arrived?

For me, the most difficult thing was getting a bank account, but that's because I went round and round with who knows how many banks because they wanted a water bill with my name on it, which I didn't have nor would ever have because the high school was housing me for free. Eventually I figured out that la Banque Postale was way more lenient with that (they accepted the official signed notice on Académie de Montpellier letterhead that my school have given me noting that I was housed there), so I signed up with them and everything was good. For many other people, however, housing was the most difficult/frustrating thing that they dealt with on arrival.

Do you have any tips on finding an apartment?

Well, I had housing at the school, so I didn't really have to deal with it. However, a few websites to look at are www.leboncoin.fr and www.appartager.com.

Any tips on dealing with slow-moving French bureaucracy?

Take care of everything on your end as soon as you can. Make copies to keep for yourself and note when you send things in. Also, not really. Just deal with it. Sorry.

What did you do about cell phone & Internet?

Cell phone: I went over and immediately (this really needs to be the first thing you do) went to an SFR store to get a cheap phone (€20) and a pay-as-you-go phone number. (The whole system's called carte prépayée and it's kind of confusing.) That way, I could immediately have a contact number to put down for banks, teachers, etc. You can recharge your phone in any Tabac, stores like Carrefour (like a less fun Target), or with your bank card over the phone. However, within a month I realized that this system was super expensive and I went online and got ANOTHER phone number with a company called FreeMobile.

Let me tell you about FreeMobile: FreeMobile is what you want. Now, the kicker is that you can't get it until you have a French bank account, so you generally can't do it right off. (You have to have a phone number to open a bank account, but you have to have a French bank account to get a FreeMobile phone plan. It's a whole chicken-and-egg situation.) Anyway, so once you're set up with your bank account, you can sign up on the website for the FreeMobile (no contract) plan.

For €20/month, it includes:
-unlimited calls to any French phone (cell or landline)
-unlimited texts to any French cell phone
-unlimited calls to landlines in most European countries
and, drum roll please...
-unlimited calls to any American or Canadian phone (cell or landline)

YUP. For €20/month, you can call your family and friends anytime! It's AWESOME! Best thing ever. You just need to put the SIM card into any unlocked phone (I was stupid and didn't unlock my phone before I cancelled my service in the States, but I used this website to unblock it once I was in France with no problem.) You could also buy FreeMobile's cell phone (not sure how much it is) if you don't have an unlocked cell phone.

Note of caution: Do pay attention to your calls/texts outside of France while you're traveling. The unlimited calls/texts included in your €20 only apply while in France. (You can look up the rates for different services from different countries on their website before you leave the country to travel.)

You heard it here: FreeMobile. You're welcome.

Internet: Well, after two months of begging them to get WiFi in our rooms in the school (and traipsing ourselves, laptops in hand, to McDo,  friends' houses, and SPAR), they finally got us WiFi... with Facebook and YouTube and everything useful blocked. But it was SOMETHING! (We used a program called UltraSurf to access those pages, but fyi, it messed up my computer. Nothing nightmarish, just annoying. Had to restore my PC to factory settings afterward. Worth six months of Facebook.)

Other people in normal situations (e.g., apartments, host homes) went through companies like SFR, Bouygues Telecom (yes that's the weirdest French word ever. Bouygues, not Télécom), Orange, or even FreeWifi (as in FreeMobile) to get a boîte (wireless router) for their living space. I think Free even does a deal if you get their box and their cell phone service.

What did your 12-hour schedule look like?

Well, this will theoretically be quite different depending on if you’re primary or secondary, and if you’re at one school or multiples. I was at one lycée (high school). A lot of high schools are separated into semaines paires and impaires (even and odd weeks). My schedule was as follows:

first semester, even weeks

first semester, odd weeks

second semester, even weeks

second semester, odd weeks

As you can see, my schedule was pretty sweet. I lucked out and had really considerate teachers. Notice I had Friday off both semesters. :) (You can ask for a Monday or a Friday off, but sometimes for one reason or another it's just not possible.) My second semester I had Wednesdays off, too, which was pretty great (I used them for private lessons).

If you're curious about more related to the school aspect of my year in France, and you didn't catch this post I wrote in February comparing French and American schools, check it out!

Generally, one should never inquire about the financial aspect of someone else’s life, so forgive me, but what did you charge for private English lessons? Did you come up with the fee yourself or base it off what others suggested? Were these lessons done under the table or did you have to register them in some way?

Don’t worry, I’m very open (you have to be if you’re willing to put your experience on the Internet), so I’m not offended. I charged €20/hour, which was basically what they told us to charge when we asked them at the meeting for the Académie in October.

Also, I didn't register the lessons in any way. I mean, as long as you're not giving so many lessons that it's interfering with your classes/preparation (doubtful), no one cares. My teacher colleagues are the ones who passed my name along to people in need of lessons, and no one else (administration) at the school ever knew or cared about it or probably even remembered my name, frankly.

I know that not all schools in the program have rooms available for teaching assistants, but since yours did I was wondering a couple things… Did you have to pay rent for your room or was it free? Were they comfortable with you staying there or did you get the vibe that you were expected to find an apartment? If you were to have friends visiting, like you did with your German friend, were they allowed to stay in your room on campus with you?

You’re right that not all schools have rooms available; in fact, very few do. I’ll answer your questions regardless…

I didn’t have to pay any rent. I had a friend who got a room on her campus in Montpellier and she had to pay €60/month. However, she had access to a shared kitchen and I didn’t, and it would have been totally worth the money to have a kitchen!

The school was totally comfortable with me staying in the room. The room wasn’t needed by any teachers and it wasn’t a student room, so there’s no way they could have been making money off it anyway. No one wants to live in a high school unless they have to, basically. They actually even let me leave my stuff in my room between end of April and end of May while I was traveling.

I never asked anyone if I could have my friends stay over, but I bought an air mattress and did it anyway. No one really knew, but I did mention it to my teachers conversationally when I had friends over. 

I was especially excited to hear about those cheap flights to Morocco and other places and was wondering which airline you used?

There are several low-cost airlines in Europe (for a full list, you can see this one from the ever-reliable (?) Wikipedia), but the most well-known (and the only ones I’ve used) are easyJet and Ryanair. Ryanair is the ABSOLUTE cheapest, and they’ll try to nickel and dime you every step of the way (I should write a separate post just about my Ryanair shenanigans this year), but you can get cheap flights! They usually fly out of smaller airports rather than bigger ones, so you have to figure in transportation costs to the smaller airports (usually a train or a bus).

Eight months abroad seems like an incredibly long period of time, especially for someone like me who has never really been away from family for that long. How did you cope with being away from family/friends?

Well, luckily, 2013 permits us several technological opportunities to get time with our family and friends! Regular-ish Skype dates help. Pay attention to the time difference, and try to set up a regular time with your family. (Sundays afternoons in Texas/evenings in France worked for my family.) I also talked a lot to my friends, much more randomly. I learned that Skype doesn't always have to be active, you can also keep it on the background while you're sorting through pictures or something. It's more like you're really hanging out that way. I've watched my friends cook and listened to my brother play piano via Skype while I blog. I've talked to my dog via Skype (yup). I took a tour of my best friend's new home via Skype. I've even had "show each other new music" singalongs with a friend via Skype. Yeah I'm weird. But you know that sounds fun. And if you don't, you're probably lame.

FreeMobile! Check out the phone question if you haven't already. Being able to call my friends just because on my walks home from downtown was really great. Just... FreeMobile. I can't stress it enough!

I loved getting and receiving snail mail this year. I tried to send out regular postcards. Just because or for any events at home. Getting and sending cards with an ocean in between is even more fun than it is normally! I used them to decorate my room.

Last but not least, attitude. I had the attitude that "This is only eight months. I have eight months of my life to life in Europe (work 12 hours/week, eat croissants, dance with my international friends in the living room, take weekend trips to Spain, etc.). Yes, I'm missing one Christmas with my family. One birthday with my friends. (And the list goes on...) But this is the only year I get to do it. I have to enjoy it now because I won't get this back, and I will enjoy and appreciate my (Christmas/birthday/everyday life) next year even more. And I WILL miss this in the future, so I need to make the most of it right now." It's true. I was honestly never homesick. I missed people and things, yes, but I was never sad and homesick. You HAVE to profite from France while you're there. You'll miss it later!

Could you maybe compare your experience to the experiences of other assistant friends of yours? Were they jealous of your placement because the rent was high, were you wishing to be somewhere with better public transportation, etc.?

Well, in some ways, the grass is always greener... I mean, of course, some people were jealous of my free housing, but I was jealous of their cozy French homes (and abilities to cook things in their kitchens or watch French TV on their TVs.) I was sometimes jealous of those living in bigger cities with more to do and more conveniences, while some of my friends in bigger cities were jealous of my more personal experience with the people of Narbonne and my close-knit group of assistants. In the end, everyone had their own TAPIF year. No one's was perfect, but perfection isn't the point. I am very happy with my year, despite its imperfections. (It was perfect for me!) I think (hope?) most people would feel the same.

Any ideas of activities beyond the day-to-day of this program to pick up and further improve language skills?

-Do NOT just make friends with English-speaking assistants. Make friends with the Spanish, or German, or Italian assistants in your city/area. Communicate with them through French, not English.

-Make friends with French people! Seriously. That is the best way to improve you French. You'll learn idiomatic expressions you wouldn't otherwise, and they'll help you by correcting you (which you may or may not like, but I like it).

-Make sure you get to speak in French at least half of the time when you speak to your teacher colleagues. Many of them will want to practice their English with you, and that's great, but work out a system that works so that you each get to practice!

-Spend time with your teacher colleagues' families if they offer the opportunity. Their family members will probably not speak fluent English and so you'll have plenty of opportunity to speak French!

-Take a French conversational class through the city! Some of my friends did this and not only did their French improve, but they met some Spanish physical therapists who introduced us to a ton of other Spanish physical therapists and ta-da! our friend group grew exponentially.

-Take exercise classes through the city as well. I didn't do it (should have, as I gained 14 pounds!), but some of my friends did, and they met a lot of French people that way (and had to do the actual classes in French, of course!)

-Give private lessons in English. When you have to explain some things in French, it helps you! 

-Get involved in babysitting or au pairing for a French family. Speaking with French children is simple and really helps out!

-I'm sure there are tons more ways to get involved and improve your French. These are just a few!

Did you generally speak English with the other assistants?

Well, this has a little something to do with the above question. In my city, there were nine total assistants. Three English girls, a Canadian guy, three Spanish girls, a German girl, and me. Our common language was French, and so we spoke in French when we were all in a group. That said, of course I spoke English with my fellow Anglophone assistants when it was just us. Also, sometimes I’d try to speak Spanish with my Spanish friends or we’d all speak some English. But mainly we spoke in French, which was FANTASTIC. I know many assistants in larger cities, and they reported that a lot of times, English speakers hung out with English speakers, Spanish with Spanish speakers, so on and so forth. Not so good for your French.

How much would you say your French has improved since you moved to France? That’s one of the main reasons I’m doing this!

Well, honestly, I was actually pretty fluent before I left. (That sounds really cocky or braggy but I promise it's not, I'm just trying to give you an understanding.) Now, that said, I have a Bachelor's and Master's in French, had taught French for three years before leaving, and had spent time studying in Quebec all before I arrived, so it's not like I just picked up fluent French on the side like some people do because they're just awesome. However, my French definitely improved! My accent got better and my knowledge of current/conversational French vocabulary is way better now. I have a few friends whose French was at a more intermediate level at the beginning of the year (to the point where I sometimes struggled to understand them) and they all VASTLY improved. All of my Narbonne friends' French is now on point, and there are a lot of factors that went into that (see above question). I think if you start out with a low or intermediate level of French, it's a little harder at the beginning, but your overall improvement is more vast than if you start out at a high level.

How do you think your teaching style has changed over the past 8 months?

Well, it's interesting, because in the States I've always been a "real" teacher - that is, a teacher with a full classroom of students belonging solely to me. I've been responsible for curriculum, assessment, and all four language skills (reading/writing/listening/speaking), and I've also been dealing with students in their first through fourth years of language learning. In France, I was responsible for smaller groups of students for shorter amounts of times and was really only responsible for speaking/listening with students who have been learning English for quite a while and are therefore more advanced. It's really very difficult to compare the two. I suppose the most practical things I'll take from my work experience in France and bring to my classroom in Texas are the role of realia (real-life materials) in the classroom as well as the importance of speaking as language learning motivation. I also have taken home several activities and ideas from my fantastic French teaching colleagues that I will love using in my classroom!

How have you changed as a person from this experience? Positives and negatives!

Ohhhh my gosh. What a question! I won't go into too much detail, because I still have some posts to write that kind of cover this. But I'll say that I have a better understanding of both French and American culture, what I think is a more healthy attitude about work-life balance, more of a desire to be happy and maintain my current happiness, and more of an appreciation of what I have. These things are all obviously positive. Negative? My work ethic is now a little... lacking. Ha. I guess that's not really accurate. It's just that I'm going to take a bit to get back into the fast-paced get-everything-done-right-now American way. Well, actually, I've worked or gone on interviews pretty much everyday since I've been back to the States, and I've gotten a lot done outside of work too. So I guess I'm back into it. It just makes me way more tired than it would have pre-France. Also, I gained 14 pounds and spent all my money. (Whoops! Worth it.) However, notice all of these negatives (including the work ethic/fatigue) are temporary and the positives are permanent!

Are you hoping to stay in France permanently? I am hoping to do the TAPIF program two years from now and am curious as to what steps people tend to take afterwards!

Nope! Not for now, at least. I've been back from France for a month, and have been happy to refind my life here in Texas. I'm also excited for the fresh start this fall. I was very happy during my time in France, and am very happy now that I'm back. Which I think proves that I live a blessed life! 

However, some of my friends are still over in France, traveling or trying to find permanent positions. I just saw on Facebook that one friend got accepted to do her Master's. I think some have reapplied for TAPIF, but generally repeat applicants don't find out one way or the other until August/September, from what I've heard.

What job did you find after returning home? I read that you were already a HS French teacher, but do you feel like the TAPIF program made you more competitive in the hiring process?

Yes, I was already a HS French teacher for two years before I left for France. After returning, I was extremely fortunate to very quickly secure a position teaching HS French again in a very good school in the DFW metroplex. I do feel like TAPIF made me more competitive; my new principal (who hired me) was fascinated by my experience in France and is excited about what it will bring to my students. And I'm also very excited to get back into my own classroom full-time again! Although after working 12-hour weeks, it may be difficult working 40-hour weeks (not counting prep & grading) once more... Oh well. The real world awaits! I'm pumped to get back to it, renewed and refreshed from my year en France. :)

The things I miss the most

Before I left in September, I wrote a list of things I would and wouldn't miss about home while away in France. I'm going to look at the list of things I thought I'd miss and see how accurate I was, as well as make a few additions I didn't expect.

After 7 months away, here are...

The Real Things I Miss

1) Mexican Food (aka TexMex): Yes. All the time. It will be the first thing I eat when I get home. I can't even tell you how much I miss it.

2) Being able to get almost anything at almost anytime: YES. So much. After 7 months, I STILL occasionally forget about making sure I have food on Saturday (as France is essentially closed on Sundays).

3) Target: Not really that much. But I will be excited to go in May!

4) Turning on the TV/radio and being able to understand every word: Not really. I don't even have a TV here, and the radio I kind of like in French. However, I mostly listen to Spotify or 8tracks now (Pandora doesn't work in Europe), sooo I listen to what I want to anyway.

5) The chance that you just might see a man riding a horse in the middle of your regular life: Not really, that was kind of a joke. Though that is always exciting. :)

6) Texas sunsets: Yes. I mean, not that bad... I do love the sunsets here too, but I will be happy to see huge, million-colored, epic Texas sunsets on a regular basis.

7) Peanut Butter: YES. I can get it here, but it takes like 45 minutes on the bus each way (even though it would take 10 minutes each way in a car), soooo I don't get it. And I miss it.

8) DFW Sports: Yes... who's taking me to a Rangers game this summer?!

9) Two words: Magnolia. Mae.: YES, yes, yes. I can't tell you how much I miss my dog. There is no experience that replicates or even close to replaces the relationship between a person and a dog. Occasionally I Facebook stalk my own dog because I miss her so much. Oh my gosh, I just admitted that on the Internet.

10) Big girl paychecks: YES! I don't even have a job next year, so who knows when I'll be getting big girl paychecks again. But I need them. Gotta pay them billllllz.

11) All of the family and friends that I love in Texas (and other places in the United States, namely Louisiana): YES. Obviously this is true. I have been able to keep in contact with a lot of my family and friends (thanks Facebook, FreeMobile, email, & Skype), so that's made things easier, as well as the knowledge that it's only 8 months. But I'll be really happy to be able to be with/see/talk to/text/call my family and friends easily. Soon!

New Additions: Things I Didn't I Realize I'd Miss

1) Baths: Ohhhhhhhh my gosh. I miss baths so. freaking. much. I'm glad to have a private shower in my room, but what I would do to have a bath a couple of nights a week. What a luxury that I never realized was a luxury.

2) A Kitchen: Okay, let's be real, I've never been a Top Chef. Since for the past few years I've mostly lived by myself, cooking hasn't really been that exciting to me. But after this entire time of not having a kitchen, I long for a kitchen. I dream of the day when I have a fridge, and a stove, and an oven. Maybe this is the turning point in my culinary life?! Only time will tell. But I'm really excited to eat something else besides kettle couscous, for the love.

3) My Car: The convenience, the freedom, the feeling of driving, my ol' (mostly) faithful car herself, the built-in personal time... I miss it all. I don't, however, miss traffic.

4) Washer & Dryer: I'm tired of having to devote a whole afternoon to laundry. Just over it. Can't wait to be able to do laundry in a normal way (not have to leave the house).

5) My clothes: I'm tired of looking at the same clothes over and over again. Seriously.

6) MY BED: I haven't slept in my actual bed since November 2011 when it went into storage. I miss it. So much.

7) Singing: I love to sing. It's therapeutic. It's what I do when I'm sad, mad, stressed, happy, excited... If I don't have time to sing (really sing - loudly - with abandon), I get all stressed and not myself. I really do miss my shower, car, clean-up-the-apartment singing sessions. I don't really have my own private spaces where I can sing out loud at the top of my lungs. On more than a couple occasions, I've found myself singing in the streets of Narbonne along with my iPod. Imagine the French people's reactions when that happens. WHOOPS.

8) Books: Okay, it's not that books don't exist here. It's just that a) I'm not really excited about reading in French. I feel like that's all I did from 2005-2010, and I'm kind of over it for a while (or possibly forever). b) I don't have a library card. c) I don't have much disposable income. d) Even if I did, Narbonne's not exactly a mecca for English books. I have managed to read some thanks to my Kindle, but only free books (except for Room by Emma Donoghue, which I read thanks to my BFF Amy's awesome birthday present to me). However, my Kindle died a month ago sooo that's the end even of that. Anyway, I hope I'll have the opportunity to do a ton of reading this summer!

9) People being able to pronounce my name correctly: I don't understand why people can't get it right. There are four sounds in my name (two syllables), all of which exist in French. It is NOT that difficult. I feel like I don't even exist in this country sometimes. Get it together, people.

..................................

So that's there's the lowdown on what I really did end up missing. Aside from the obvious winner (people), the things I miss the most are the quotidian things, just regular ol' daily life stuff. It's funny how much you take for granted in your daily life. The things that you think are just normal and that you don't think about twice, that's the stuff you miss. I will have a new appreciation for all of these things once I return, and I hope to keep it. Can you imagine if you moved not only to an entirely different environment (aka a different continent), but also to, say, a developing country? How much do we take for granted in our everyday life? Especially as citizens of the developed world, where we have things so easy (and in the States, where we put more emphasis on daily convenience than anywhere else)? Are these things necessary for happiness? Could you/would you be happy, regardless of your environment?

These are the questions, my friends. These are the questions.

ps: I am and have been happy this year. Having free time, traveling, spending time with new interesting people... I have been in my element. The lack of these things does not ruin my life. I just, you know, miss 'em. :)

Marra-catchin' some SUN!

So after our whole lives were changed for the better by the desert and the rain and the camels and the random Disney sing-a-long (if you're lost, read this post), we went back to Marrakesh to soak up all of the Morocco we could in our last couple of days. Enjoy the over abundance of photos! (I JUST CAN'T HELP IT.)

in the hostel post-desert with old friends and new!*

Ana (Carmen's friend from Spain), Carmen, Louise, moi, Lottie, Mary, Emily

ladies at dinner (I, once more, had pastilla)*

courtyard in the Palais Bahia, a palace built in the 19th century (seen in the following photos as well)

(Please note: not our stroller.)*

On to the marché des épices (spice market)

This really great vendor gave us tea and Berber lipstick and the low-down on everything in the shop, and then Lottie and I ended up buying more tea than we meant to because he was so nice. Are you noticing a trend with us?*

calèches (carriages)

Need a tajine... or forty?

secret passageway to get to the Saadian Tombs, which conveniently led through this shop*

Then we went to the Saadian Tombs, which are tombs & graves from the Saadi dynasty. The tombs date to the end of the 16th century.

Moroccan turtle

inside the building where the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur is buried

more shops

I'm sorry, I got kind of obsessed with doorways.

next stop: Musée de Marrakesh

I just love this.

I love the colors in this one.

in the museum courtyard

We then headed to the nearby Ben Youssef Madrasa, which was formerly an Islamic boys' school, but is now just a historical site.

It was just gorgeous. We really fell in love with the architecture that we saw this day; between the Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs, the Museum of Marrakesh, and the Ben Youssef school, we were just in awe of the beautiful detail in Moroccan architecture. It was very different than the architecture in all of places I've been.

Back to the markets!

This cat is clearly VIP.

Place Jeema el Fna at sunset

The Jeema el Fna transforms itself at night as a jillion food stalls pop up out of nowhere and set themselves up in the center. It's hustling and bustling and and it smells delicious and there's smoke from grills and annoying men from each stall trying to get you to come and eat at their stall... "Number 14!" "Number 52!" "Number 84!" It's a pretty interesting experience.

We finally chose one because the guy was funny. That's how we make our decisions up in here.*

MEAT. And.... orange juice? Just roll with it. It was delish.

Our food stall! Check out Lottie the vegetarian's facial expression near all that meat!

Turns out we all got these bracelets! Moroccan friendship bracelets, apparently. Only mine got lost a day later.

We headed to a restaurant with a little belly dancing spectacle... Emily was brave!

... and so was Violeta!

This is my attempt at being artistic.

While strolling the souks on our last day, I got distracted by tiny animals. Turtles and chameleons. Can you see all the chameleons?

Annnnnd then, while Emily and Lottie were buying incense, I found a friend. Well, two. The chameleon owner... and the baby chameleon.*

Then we were all BFFs with all of our chameleons. And the guy took me aside and told me all about how I he could tell I have a great soul and a good sense of humor and I would go far in life. It was pretty intense. And weird. But kind.*

We switched it up from our typical thé à la menthe to some super fresh fruit juice in celebration of the lovely warmth the sun was throwin' our way.

And then, as we had the whole terrace to ourselves and no one could see, we shed our layers and spent our last hour in Marrakesh relaxing and sunbathing while looking over the Jeema el Fna once more. Ahhhhhhh lovely.*

As this was my first time to experience an Islamic/Arab country, I have some (surprise!) cultural observations and reflections.

1) Gender: A few days into the trip, I realized that I saw almost no Moroccan women. There were plenty of women around, but they were all tourists. The shops in the souks and the stalls and the hostel and the restaurants were all manned by, well, men. The only Moroccan women I saw were either giving henna tattoos, cleaning the hostel once a day, or (occasionally) just walking around, but usually with children. It was interesting to see how women clearly have a different role in Moroccan society than they do in the western world, obviously limited to a more home & family-centric role.

.

2) Interactions between Locals & Tourists: I’ve mentioned that Moroccan markets don’t have prices and are based entirely on bargaining. I haven’t mentioned that shop owners will do/say anything as you pass by to get you to come look at their merchandise. Anything ranging from naming random objects in their stores in French or English - “Scarves! Scarves!” while pointing to a scarf (like we can’t see them), to telling you they’ll give you “Good price, best price!” (on what?!), to naming a specific object - “Shoes!” “Tajine!” “Lamps!” (How do they choose what they think each individual person would want?), to just anything about you or the nationality they think you are. Examples of the last category: “Fish and chips! Fish and chips!” (If you speak English, you must be from England, right?), “Hi Spice Girls!,” “Lady Gaga!,” “Shakira!,” “Top Shop!,” “One Direction!,” etc. Then there’s the “We only say this stuff to girls” category, said/yelled by salesmen and random Moroccan men alike: “Les gazelles! Les gazelles!” (they call you gazelles, it’s weird), “Les beaux yeux” (beautiful eyes), “Magnifique” (magnificent), “Vous êtes sublimes, toutes les deux” (You’re sublime, both of you), etc. Then there’s the men who say less pleasant things at you, usually only in English. (I said “at” you and not “to” you on purpose.) The thing is, even when they say things that aren’t that nice, they kind of just…. Say it in passing. They never stop to have a confrontation. It’s as if they just want to say it just to practice speaking whatever they know in English. Or show that they can. Or maybe they don’t like white girls bustin’ up in their country. Or maybe they’re just bored. But it never felt dangerous or unsafe in any way. It was just… strange. The strange thing is that these men act like they’ve never seen a white woman in their life, but the place is crawling with white women because there are so many tourists. The whole thing is just strange. My two favorite incidents were the first day when a man yelled as Lottie and I were walking by, “I like you! I don’t know how I can, but I do!” and the last day when a man watched me help Emily and Lottie with something in a shop and then whispered as I walked by “You’re so sweet.” Both of those were just random and somewhat creepy but nice and kind of funny. Thanks, random dudes. I should also mention that the men who worked in our hostel were all Moroccan and extremely kind and not creepy in the slightest.

3) Mosques & Call to Prayer: I would really have loved to enter into a mosque, but if you’re not Muslim, you can’t. (I’m pretty sure it’s like this everywhere, but I don’t know.) Something that was much different from what I was expecting was the call to prayer (listen here), blasted over megaphones over the entire city at various times in the day (including 5 am, but luckily I never heard that one). It is EXTREMELY loud, depending on where you are, and honestly I really expected something to happen. I kind of expected people to pray right where they were. But instead I noticed… nothing. People just went on with their normal lives. I really don’t understand how it works, and I’m sure I’m missing something. Maybe people were heading to the mosques at that time but I just couldn’t tell because there were so many people.

4) French: This doesn't really have anything to do with anything else, but I really enjoyed getting to use my French in another country (beside France). I especially loved getting to use my French somewhere so exotic (to me). French is not an official language in Morocco (Arabic and Berber are the official languages), but it is widely spoken and is used on many signs and government documents. I love that French serves as a common language between me and a group of people I otherwise wouldn't be capable of communicating with in the same way. Interesting remarks about the French in Morocco: 1) They sometimes speak what I like to call Frarabic, much like Franglais. Frarabic is a mixture of French & Arabic. 2) They use the tu (informal you) form with everyone (when you'd normally use vous (formal you) in France).

Morocco was an interesting experience, different from anywhere I’ve ever been. I’d love to come back and spend more time further into the Sahara, see the beaches like Essaouira, and see more cities, especially Fez, which I’ve heard so many great things about. Colorful, flavorful, fragrant, spicy, minty, bustling, inexpensive, sunny, and warm, my first Moroccan experience was a delight!

*All of these photos stolen from Lottie, Emily, or Carmen.