I really should have expected something to go wrong this week. The stars just seem to be aligned for English assistants to have a shitty couple of days.
Let me backtrack and start at the beginning, telling at least the parts I understand and know about:
On Monday my Canadian counterpart returned to her regular teaching schedule after the holidays. I have Mondays off, so I first knew something was up when she came home in a funk and later found she had been crying. Fast-forward three days and many tears later, turns out that one of the three schools she teaches at has really been giving her a hard time. It seems there are communication gaps, teacher attitudes and generally stressful situations coming up on a regular basis. My roommate/co-worker is a gentle soul and it just got to be too much for her. She thought about throwing in the towel but luckily came to her senses when she calmed down a bit and seems to be doing better now. I hope things get better for her and, if not, I hope she'll pitch a royal fit to our superiors to get her schedule changed because, seriously, we don't get paid enough to deal with this shit.
So now back to my day. I started back at work on Tuesday and things were fine. Thursday rolls around and it's not so fine. I felt pretty crummy this morning because I haven't been sleeping well, so I'm in a mood anyway. A supervising teacher/friend of mine asked me to substitute for one of her classes today and I agreed gladly because she's so easy to work with and has been very good to me this year. However, another teacher who is NOT my friend (or friendly even) leaves me a voicemail saying "I have to miss class today for a funeral, since you called in sick before Christmas could you cover my class for two hours today? You can cover for me, for once!"
Nice. Real classy.
THEN a group of teachers cornered me about a stupid requirement the Canadian and I have to do complete as part of our contract. We were both ready and willing to do this project before Christmas but were told there was plenty of time and not to worry. Then today, not even a week into the new term, everyone is acting like the world will end if we don't do the project RIGHT THIS MINUTE.
I would like to take a moment to make a brief announcement to the people of France: If you prepare for your assignments and even complete them ahead of time you won't have to panic to finish them at the last minute. Just a thought.
All of this doesn't seem so bad, but for me it was just a day of little annoyances and feeling taken advantage of. My day ended better than it was looking, however, and it's all thanks to nice kids. I taught the 2 hour class by myself and kept the kids in line the whole time by starting out being really mean, threatening them with failing marks for the day but ending with encouragement and a smile. Fear will do amazing things to teenagers. Then the class I substituted for my friend went well because they're the nicest, most responsible 17 year olds on the planet (or at least in southern France).
Now I'm home, in my PJs and happy that tomorrow is Friday, though I'm sure I will be annoyed most of tomorrow too. Oh well, at least I have Saturday to look forward to. Leigh and I are planning to visit St Paul de Vence and see the Matisse Museum and hopefully find the motivation to go for a rigorous hike so we don't get fat AFTER the holidays (our eating v. exercise ratio has changed for the worse this week!).
In other news, I have booked my train fare to Taize for early February. I'm so excited. This is a pilgrimage I have been hoping to do since I was about 17 years old. It's actually on my Life List (yes, I have a Life List, mock me if you must). Aside from the obvious draw to attend this retreat, Taize is located in the Burgundy region of France which is supposed to be beautiful and covered in vineyards. I expect my week at Taize will be relaxing, enlightening and very memorable. Perhaps I will even take the regional bus to visit Beaune or the Abbey in Cluny during my stay.
My trip to Taize will only take up about half of my February holiday, so I'm brainstorming some other places to visit and things to do. I return from Taize on Valentine's Day and will spend the 15th and 16th attending Carnivale in Nice (basically all of the Cote d'Azur will be celebrating my birthday with me on the 16ht!). After that maybe I'll take short trips around France.
Using Rick Steves as a guideline, I've compiled a list of potential short trips around France:
Dordogne (Sarlat and Oradour-sur-Glane/Villages des Martyrs)
Loire Valley (Amboise and Loire chateaux)
Languedoc area- Carcassone
A bit farther north in Provence like Arles, Avignon, Nimes and Pont du Garde
All of these ideas will be sorted out at a later date. For now I am happy to know I have made my plans for Taize and will have a wonderful and simple experience. The rest is secondary.
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