Second Sunday of Lent

I successfully attended the Anglican Church in Cannes today. Props to me! This is even more of a miracle because I decided last night to at least pretend that I have a life in Antibes. My Canadian Counterpart asked me around 20:00 if I wanted to get a drink. Seeing as it was still early and I hadn't done much of anything all day I said yes. We left the house around 22:00 and wound up at the place I always go to when I decide to get a life, The Drinker's Club, and nursed one cider each until a little after midnight. The Drinker's Club is a nice refuge from the usual places here, which are mostly "Irish Pubs" catering to the yachting crowd or people who can't get into the discos in Monaco. They're expensive meat market type places and I get overwhelmed with anxiety just walking past them on Saturday nights. Skipping these places does not make one immune from male advances however, as Sam found herself the subject of compliments and inappropriate questions before we had even gotten our evening started.

So I got myself up at 7:30 this morning in spite of my bed calling me back to dream world, and made it to Cannes with lots of time to spare. When walking from the gare routiere to the church I saw a cycling competition of some sort, complete with teams and outfits.

Even cooler was when I saw this military vessel out in the water and was transported back to Haines, Alaska in 2008 when I saw a Coast Guard cutter anchored in the bay near my campsite. I have no idea the origin of the ship in the picture above, but the sensation was pretty cool.

The Coast Guard cutter in Haines.

Then I stopped to read a little bilingual Micromegas before the service started. It was kind of cold with the wind and threats of raindrops, but still a lovely morning.

The church I attended was very nice. I shared my pew with a little old lady from Denmark in a very large fur coat and her teeny, tiny dog. The dog and I made friends immediately when she licked my hand upon sight and then looked at me with her sad little eyes until I pet her.

People kept introducing themselves to me and asking me the basic "who are you" type questions, which I found very nice. The service was almost word for word what I grew up with at the Episcopal churches of southwest Virginia, which was both a little odd and comforting at the same time. After the service there was coffee, etc and then I caught the bus back to Antibes. Ultimately the experience was not only painless but quite nice. It's now 14:00 on a Sunday and I have actually accomplished something today, but I believe a nap is in order before I start thinking about doing some lesson planning.

Hopefully I will get enough done today so I can justify an excursion to Monaco tomorrow. So far I have not been to Monaco even though it's only about 30 minutes from my home here. How lame would it be if I went back to the US after 7 months here without managing to visit Monaco even once?

Yeah, pretty lame.

Work stuff, the good and the bad

My Fridays are usually pretty easy. I teach from 13:00 to 15:00, then I have two hours to sit around doing lesson plans, reading or checking my email every five minutes. I teach a final class at 17:00 that is usually just doing a simple activity with 5 or 6 students. No big deal. Today was pretty long because I had to reschedule one of my tutoring pupils for this morning rather than Tuesday afternoon. I taught her for one hour at 9:00 this morning, then didn't really have time to go home again before I had to be back at CIV for my regularly scheduled lessons.

Favorite moment of the day:

Last week I reminded one of my tutoring students that, in English present tense, the verb conjugation is the exact same word except for the third person (he or she), then you add an "s" to the end of the sentence and you have to also pronounce it. French is basically a language of silent letters, causing serious mental blocks for my students sometimes.

So my student was telling me about the story she was reading for her English lit course, in third person of course, and said, "...but when she arrive..." [spent a full second thinking, then] "SSS..."

This moment made my day. Not only did my student remember something I had told her and learned from it, but her demonstration of having learned the lesson was nothing short of adorable. Is it strange that I really love tutoring and merely tolerate my actual job as an assistante d'anglais?

In less heartwarming news, I have had my first full dose of teachers' politics. On Tuesday one of my less pleasant supervising teachers asked me how my holiday was and what I did during my time off. I simply told her I had gone to Taize. After thinking for a moment she started saying things to the extent of, "oh, you must be VERY RELIGIOUS" and, "it's strange that a young person would choose to spend time that way," etc. After a few comments like that I pretty much just abandoned the conversation, escaping into the "silent work room."

When I emerged about 30 minutes later I heard a rather loud conversation, in English, with the same teacher saying, "yes, she says she wen to Taize.... I don't know, but she seems very pleased with her choice..." That was all I heard. This was disheartening, but I tried to let it go.

Then today another teacher, whom I had assumed was the other participant in this exchange, approached me and said, "Hi Emily, I heard you went to Greece."

"Um, no, I went to Burgundy."

"Oh yes, I must have misunderstood."

Damn straight you misunderstood! How does one get "Greece" from "Taize"? This conversation confirmed that I had been the subject of some teacher gossip, but I found solace in the fact that the second prof's English is so bad (yes, she teaches English!) that she failed to comprehend the gossip being imparted upon her.

Either way, the whole situation makes me feel like shit. It's not that I'm embarrassed of my decision to attend Taize. The problem is that, for me, things like this are very personal. Basically, I felt violated in the same way I would feel violated if my coworkers were gossiping about my sex life. Yes, it's that personal. I'll discuss these things with close friends and family on occasion, but I don't make a habit of wearing my faith on my sleeve, especially not at work. It's too sacred to be open to the public.

In all, my week was fine. I kept all of my tutoring appointments and even feel that I have made some progress with my students. Classes were fine and I even found myself enjoying my more difficult classes, perhaps because the students and I were both relaxed after our seemingly superfluous winter holiday. At any rate, next week three of my lessons are cancelled, which is nice, so I can really focus on lesson planning and holiday planning. Oh, and I might just try to study a bit of French and maybe work on some research I have been trying to get started for over a week now!

Workin' on the week- I mean, Wednesday.

Today I tutored two Russian-French students in Nice. I took the TAM ligne 200 bus to the Gambetta stop, two blocks North of Promenade des Anglais, and walked down to the sea. I had about 30 minutes to kill before my appointment at 13:00, so I stood on the Promenade listening to my Ipod. The sunshine was clear and beautiful, very much like it was when I first arrived in France in October, though not so hot. After several weeks of bittersweet days living in Cote d'Azur sans the heat, the sun, and the azur, this was a wonderful surprise. From now on I will bring short sleeves and something to sit on so I can enjoy the rock beaches of Nice before and after I give these lessons on Wednesday afternoons.

Today was my second time seeing my 3eme student and my first time seeing her little brother, who is in 6eme. Both lessons went well. I covered a range of topics for the 3eme student including literature, helping with homework and introducing some fixed expressions, specifically with correct use of "to do" versus "to make." In the past three months I have discovered that there is a linguistic plague throughout Europe misusing the verb "to make," which is used much more widely in European languages than in English. In fact, most Latin-based languages do not have separate verbs for "to do" and "to make," it's all about usage, meanwhile in English the difference is immense.

Using this ESL webpage for description I found a great, simple description of correct use of both verbs:

"Use 'do' when speaking about vague, or indefinite activities. These include speaking in general using '-thing' words such as something, anything, nothing, etc. ...

Generally, use 'make' when actually constructing or creating something (in other words, NOT for activities)."

So basically always use "to do" unless you are literally creating something, then use "to make." I think this is the simplest explanation of any English verb usage ever.

I reviewed homework and notes with the 6eme student, who is a bright little boy but very shy and I got the sense very quickly that he never actually has to speak English in class. We also reviewed about 10 different verbs in present simple and past tenses. I think I will make lesson plans for him to learn a lot of new vocabulary, how to give directions, discuss movies, etc over the next few weeks. He has great potential and a very cute Russian accent to work with!

Tomorrow I have lessons at the CIV, but my morning class (double English at prepa level) was cancelled, so I don't have to be at the CIV until 16:00. Hopefully I won't be so lazy tomorrow and can make some serious progress on lesson plans, errands, and some new personal projects that have been tumbling around in my head for a few weeks now.

Paris, Dahling.....

Thanks to the slight amount of peer pressure I felt the past few days, I have booked tickets to and from Paris for the weekend of March 20-22. I will take an overnight train on Friday night after work (in a couchette, of course, I need my beauty sleep!) and will fly back to Nice on Monday evening. The coolest part about all of this is that I get three whole days in Paris without missing a single day of work!

I saw most of Paris while I was there for Christmas, but this time I think I would like to focus on the Latin Quarter and Montmartre, both of which I only saw briefly last time. I will be meeting a friend I met in Taize in Paris so, of course, my itinerary will depend 50% on what she would like to do. No matter what we do it will be a great time because it's a weekend away in a beautiful, decadent city with good company.

Now I just need to figure out where we'll stay. So far I have sent out a few Facebook messages and checked couchsurfing.org. Hopefully we will find something for free but, if not, there are a fair few very cheap lodging options in and around the city. All is well and I still have a few weeks to iron out the details.

So March is looking like this right now:

13-15: Arles, Marseille (The Cranberries in concert), and Avignon with Damian

19-22: Paris with Clara

26-29: Cinque Terre, Italy with Jescy

April 2-19: Insane Spring Break Trip 2010 (see Upcoming Journeys & Events for full details)

This means I'll be using this weekend and the weekend of March 6 to do ALL of my lesson plans for the foreseeable future so I can actually enjoy these crazy excursions! I may have lost my mind a tiny bit with all of my planning, but I am really enjoying Europe and at no point in the future will I be able to look back on my sejour here and think for a moment that I wasted this opportunity in any way.

First Sunday of Lent

Today I started keeping Lent, after many, many years of barely noticing the passing of the Church calendar. As I mentioned before, I was given the idea to do something productive during Lent rather than give something up. Namely, it was suggested that I attend church every week. Great idea.

My day started off with some difficulty. I received a discouraging email from a friend in the US that basically made me feel like shit for having accomplished something recently. It was disheartening to find that, even after school when we're all working adults, sometimes your friends won't share your happiness with you. This made me sad and frustrated and then I went to church hoping to find some tranquility or peace about the situation, but this was not in the cards today.

I had every intention of taking the bus to Cannes this morning to attend Holy Trinity Anglican Church (in English), but I didn't get out of the house in time so I decided to attend Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Platea d'Antibes near the Marche Provencale in Vieille Antibes (Old Town). The service started at 11:00, so I used my extra 30 minutes or so to enjoy a sunny morning on the Ramparts. I thought this might turn out to be a great experience because Catholic services are known for nice music and I figured I would get a nice dose of the French language for once.

Boy was I wrong! Now, I should clarify that I have nothing against attending Catholic masses. In fact, I have attended many Catholic masses and have often enjoyed them as they follow a very similar pattern as Episcopal Eucharist. However, this was a different story.

The church itself, a national monument, is really ugly inside. I have never seen such unattractive statues of the Saints in my life, and to top it off there was a random mid-sized television circa 1995 propped up on a bureau along the left-hand wall. The church did not have pews, but instead these weird connected chairs with either too little or too much legroom and no kneelers. The Cathedral is pretty big, so obviously the Priest and readers will use a microphone system. Unfortunately, seeing as this is technology challenged France, the speakers were crackly most of the time so they didn't do a lot of good.

Before the mass began several people lit votive candles, which is normal, but one woman walked from statute to statue holding the hands of the Saints and praying to them fervently. Part of me wanted to remind her that these statues are not the Saints themselves, they're just figures to decorate the church. In fact, I think there's a little note about worshipping false idols in the Ten Commandments... Needless to say, this made me a tiny bit uncomfortable, but I think I'm a bit overly concerned with the use of icons and such because they just strike me as strange if used for anything more than religious art or symbolism.

I am soooooo Protestant...

Anyway, the other major thing that annoyed me was the talking and disruption. Just before the service I was sitting alone in an aisle trying to pray and focus. This was impossible because small groups of women kept stopping near me and gossiping at a normal speaking volume. Excuse me, this is church, people are here to find tranquility for goodness sake! Also, portable phones and side conversations were normal and audible throughout the mass itself. I don't think anyone was there to actually pray or worship, they seemed to just be checking a mass off on their list of weekly errands. Maybe I am judging these people too harshly, but I could not help but be astonished that they had bothered to come to mass at all.

During the processional about 6 or 7 senior citizens walked down the aisle first holding the French flag, then they stood at the altar throughout the entire service periodically bowing the flags toward the candles and cross. I found this to be bizarre because, in my view, when thinking of God I feel that my nationality is more or less irrelevant. Apparently the French disagree with this sentiment. At one point one flag was hovering dangerously close to a lit candle and I secretly hoped it would catch fire just for a laugh. I would never actually want a country's flag to burn, but it would at least have been a funny story.

About an hour into mass, when people were lining up for Communion (which I don't think I'm allowed to receive in a Catholic church) I decided to bail out on the rest of the service. I figured I'd made a solid effort including getting dressed and out the door and even praying a bit in spite of the many, many distractions.

I think Taize has spoiled me completely. After years away from church I spent a concentrated week around people who took a week off to pray and commune with other spiritual people. Every prayer service felt special and sacred and people were so respectful of each other's spiritual needs, silence, and space. I need to shift gears now and learn to pray in the real world or else it's going to be a tough road for me.

Next week I will wake up an hour earlier and go to Cannes for a service in English and hopefully will find it more tranquil.

In Review

I'm spending the day at home, almost entirely in my bedroom (i.e. the living room of our apartment). For some reason I just don't feel like putting on real clothes and leaving the house, mostly because I don't have anywhere I must be or anything I must do. The more days off I have in Antibes the more I realize I'm pretty much over this region of France. Sure, the beaches are gorgeous and the water is clear and blue, but one can only walk on the beach in chilly weather so many times before wanting to do something different. I wish my time off each week was more compounded so I could go away more and do more. Really, I wish I had more money so I could go away every weekend and not feel wasteful for sleeping somewhere other than the apartment I pay for. Maybe I'll do it anyway and just eat the costs, I am working more now and making extra money and what is money for if not to live as well as possible?

So I've been thinking about going away pretty much every weekend until I leave for Spring Break. I have five weekends between now and then and only have made plans for two of them. Maybe I should run off to Paris for 3 days? It's a bit pricey overall, but when else can I do this? I wonder if there is another place I could run off to for three days and spend 100 euros or less total? This might take some brainstorming and research, but I've been feeling very lonely here lately and, in my opinion, if being alone is unavoidable the best cure for the resulting loneliness is a change of scenery.

Today has been super low-key, obviously. I've watched True Blood on DVD (thanks to Leigh for my awesome present!) and cooked snacks in varying intervals. So basically I spent the day committing two cardinal sins: sloth and gluttony.

I also realized that I have failed to notice when people post comments to my blog in the past, so I browsed back some entries since leaving the US. There aren't tons of comments, obviously, but there were a few I'd missed. It's nice to know sometimes people read this.

What was even more interesting was seeing how much I have changed since taking the Bar Exam and coming to Europe, mostly in good ways I think. Most obviously I am much less Type A in nature. I'm still Type A- I like doing research, having a plan, and covering all of my bases; but now I can wake up in the morning and just go do something without stressing out about it so much. Also, I have had my Spring Break flights planned for over a month now but have yet to create an hour-by-hour itinerary for each city. I also haven't purchased my return ticket from Barcelona so I can come back to work. This is a first for me! The Old Emily would rather spend her last 50 euros buying that ticket rather than relaxing and being OK with buying it after I get paid next, which I will probably do because the CAF is going to be late for this month (long story).

Also, I think my world view is broader than it was before. I don't get as stressed out when things don't go as planned because I look at the big picture more. The only reason for this that I can find is that I tend to view every situation from a multicultural perspective. Whenever something takes a long time to happen or is completely fucked up I can just say "oh well, that's France for you." When I get back to the US I will probably be less inclined to take things personally or get so hung up when I'm not given instant gratification.

That being said, I have also learned a great deal of patience, with myself and others and processes. Before coming to the US I couldn't even let the microwave finish counting down before popping the door open. I don't own a microwave anymore and I have to take the bus for 20 minutes to buy groceries, so I've been forced to take things slower. I'm also more patient with people and, I think, more aware of my own characteristics that make me hard to take or "American" in any other way.

I'm really trying to change for the better because I know the next few years will really develop who I am as a person, the person I will be remembered for and the person my future children will see as their own archetype. Besides, I cannot imagine if uptight, Type A, emotionally unstable, personally dissatisfied Emily were to become Lawyer Emily. What would happen to me then? Could I possibly be both happy and successful without learning to calm down and take things as they come? I am pretty sure I would quickly forget most of the things that make me a unique person and those are the things that make me happy.

Instead I have had a taste of real personal freedom and flexibility, both of which I cannot imagine living entirely without ever again. In the future I suspect I will continue to make some bold moves to preserve these things I have come to cherish. The best part is that I'm no longer afraid to try.

Back to Reality, Carnaval, etc

Since I was at Taize last week it's been a slight adjustment coming back to reality (see my website for a real post on Taize). Luckily I don't have to work this week, otherwise I'm not sure I'd be so sane right now. The silence and calme of Taize rooted itself pretty deeply while I was there, so the idea of loud, argumentative, adolescent French people might cause me to implode at this point.

On Monday I literally just hung around the house and went to Intermarche to buy the most basic groceries, heavy on the vegetables and protein after a week of stew, bread, potatoes, more bread, and Polish prepackaged cookies. I think I spent most of my day laying in bed, on the internet, watching tv shows online, and I think I recall a few hours of staring off into space. For some reason that 5 hour TGV ride really took a lot out of me.

Tuesday was my birthday (25!) and Mardi Gras, so I had plans to go to Nice with my Canadian Counterpart to take part in the festivities. I woke up to the door buzzer sounding and found the postman had my package from Leigh! What perfect timing after nearly a month in transit! The box contained a new pair of jeans ($1 for a pair of skinny Levis, God Bless America), two t-shirts ("Save the Wild Things" and "En Francais, S'il vous plait"), the first season of True Blood on DVD, a wishbone necklace from Christmas, and a beautiful scarf Leigh's mom found for me. It was like a mini, belated Christmas and it made me so very happy.

The Mardi Gras parade was a bit more of a family/kids thing than either of us thought because in North America women get plastered and take off their tops. Neither of us had plans to take off anything, but we did feel the need to make our own fun on top of watching the kick-ass floats go by. We went to Monoprix and bought some mixer type liquids and made drinks on the sidewalk- not sketchy at all! It was actually really fun, even with the massive numbers of children, and I took some great pictures of the floats. We also managed to stumble upon a pizza place that sells 33 cm pizzas for 5 euros, can't beat that!

Yesterday I had to work, but not for the lycee. A few weeks ago I took on a tutoring student from the school where I work. Then last week I took on a student whose mother works at my school but doesn't speak any English so she can't help her daughter. I scheduled both students for lessons yesterday for 2 hours each, plus I had to commute from Antibes to Nice (takes about an hour on the bus) so it was a long day. I think it went pretty well, though I will hesitate before suggesting 2 hour lessons in the future. With a student 1:1 it's really hard to fill the second hour without resorting to chatting so they can practice their listening comprehension and spontaneous expression skills (taken from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). Some really good news is that the second student's little brother also needs a tutor, so from now on when I travel to Nice on my day off I will teach both children for an hour each. Now the challenge is putting together good lessons for them because my students are 6eme, 3eme, and 1er levels- each different with different needs and none in classes that I teach normally!

Anyway, after all that I was completely exhausted. I came home planning to take a nap and maybe eat something I would "cook" for myself, but luckily my Canadian Counterpart had 1) bought a cheese and ham tarte she couldn't eat by herself and 2) bought me a birthday cake! So I wound up having a real dinner and we had a tiny party consisting of the two of us and our friend Katrina who was an assistante last year. It was so much fun to host someone at the apartment. I even cleaned my room and reorganized the couches so it looks like a living room again.

Now I don't know what to do with myself today aside from going to Carrefour, which I really don't want to do but must. I managed to break my brand new 6 euro earbuds and I need a real stock of food in the house to have any hope of not living off of quick foods from the patisserie (and growing out of my new jeans sent from Leigh). Otherwise I have no plans and a whole day off. Maybe I'll stay home and be productive or maybe the spirit will hit me and I'll think of someplace nice to visit for the afternoon.

Ne Quittez Pas

It means "hold the line" or "don't hang up," but it also literally translates to "don't quit." I don't know why that phrase has been in my head off and on today, but I like it. It's quick, easy to say, and sounds interesting on the phone.

It's also good to remind me to not get too relaxed even though I have the next several months of my life planned out nearly down to the hour. The remaining time I spend in Europe is more or less planned out, I've even bought plane tickets and train tickets. Of course, some things are just not practical to plan this far in advance so I haven't, but when I was riding the train home from Taize on Sunday night I realized that I may have over scheduled myself a bit, leaving little to no room for improvisation.

I spent last week on retreat at Taize. Without fear of exaggeration, it was one of the more significant experiences of my life. Taize was full of firsts for me. It was the first time I went away on retreat where the sponsoring church did not assume everyone was from the same religious background or denomination. It was my first retreat that was truly on the honor system and where adults are treated as true adults. It was the first time I had been given the license, even the encouragement, to spend time being quiet and reflecting on my life and goals. It was the first time since childhood that I felt completely comfortable being myself amongst strangers in a Christian environment and left feeling loved and accepted.

In addition to having time to reflect, relax, and recuperate after so many years of feeling exiled by the Christian community, I also made some amazing friends. It seems like we all went to Taize hoping to reconnect with God and to build our extended families more, because that's exactly what we did. By the end of the week everyone between the ages of 20 and 29 (I was the second oldest person in our program and the only American) had become fast friends, sharing meals and work, exchanging life experiences, gently teasing one another and creating inside jokes, and exchanging emails at the end with promises to stay in touch and visit in the future.

Anyway, back to reality: After a week away reflecting on things and slowing down I was a tiny bit upset with myself for using so much effort to keep myself planned and occupied until I go home in May. What's so wrong with taking things week to week and giving more consideration to ideas before putting them into action?

Wow, Europe has really changed me. Six months ago I would be really anxious with the state of my daily life, not having every moment planned out. Now I am taking a lot of joy in the hasard of daily life and relishing in unexpected experiences. This isn't to say I want to sit around, be lazy and let the days pass. Not at all! Instead I just want to make more time for realizations to be turned into reality, especially if it means continuing to make connections with the wonderful people I have been meeting since I came to Europe in October.

Now that I am home from Taize and have a week of vacation left, what to do?! Well, for starters I turned 25 today so my Canadian Counterpart and I took the train to Nice to enjoy Carnaval festivities as a ready-made birthday party. Tomorrow I am teaching for four hours (private tutoring), so tonight I need to buckle down and prepare for my studious pupils. The rest of the week is up in the air, but I have a few ideas. On Sunday I definitely want to attend the Lemon Festival in Menton, but I also need to go to church as part of my Lent dedication (after many, many years of not attending church I'm going to attend every Sunday during Lent).

Also, I found out late Sunday night that I was offered a job in Anchorage, AK starting in the Fall! This is beyond exciting and it would be so easy to just sit back and relax now, but life is here to be lived and I can't quit now! Between now and the start of that job I have so many things I want to do and I hope that with every one of them something completely unexpected happens, because that is when you find the good stuff. Even if it's frustrating or inconvenient at the time, it's the stuff that makes you laugh the hardest later.

Well, I should stop wasting time and get to work so my students get a decent lesson. Je ne peux pas quitter maintenant!

A Word on Euro-English

I arrived home from a week at Taize late last night. After checking my many email messages and wondering why the French postal services can't be bothered to bring me my mail, I started telling my Canadian roommate about the trip. This would be the first time in 7 days that I have spoken English at a regular speed to a native English speaker. Since moving to France I have had to alter how I speak, not just the speed but also how I choose my words, in order to be understood correctly. Here are some general rules of thumb I have learned and am still learning:

1. Speed

This may seem obvious, but I have to speak more slowly to non-native speakers. Now when I hear anglophones on television or speak with family in the US I am amazed at how quickly they speak. What's the hurry? Also, I am finding that the faster one speaks the less precise their speech will be, so we end up saying things that don't really capture our main point or are completely unnecessary.

That being said, one cannot speak at a snail's pace. Listening comprehension and spoken fluency are two completely separate skills in a foreign language. It seems that even very rudimentary speakers understand a great deal of what is being spoken because most people are taught additional languages mostly through listening or exposure to it on TV, radio, etc. I remember when studying French that I understood a great deal of French instruction in class, and yet when giving a presentation in French I would stumble, sometimes even over words I had heard spoken. My point is that you have to speak slowly enough for the other person to catch each word, but not so slowly that the shape of the words and the tones used to express the sentiment behind the words is lost.

2. Pronunciation

For God's sake, don't mumble! Make the effort to pronounce words properly. Say "Ts" as "T" and "Ds" as "D" and don't drop the "Gs" off the ends of words. Also, European schools are now teaching contractions ("don't," "didn't," "can't," etc), so those are actually preferable to use rather than the long form.

It may be clear to you and every other anglophone in the room what you're saying, but poor pronunciation or strange pronunciation will kill a conversation. Also, the person speaking English as a foreign language will make pronunciation mistakes and knowing whether to correct them is a judgement call. Too many corrections will frustrate the person so they may not wish to speak anymore, which is no good for anyone because speaking is the best practice and the best way to make new friends.

3. Careful word choice

Non-native speakers will not understand a lot of synonyms to more common nouns and verbs, but this doesn't have to simplify the conversation you are having. Instead, just work around the idea you are trying to form using more common verbs. Think back to the verbs you studied in a foreign language class and go from there. I tend to stick with the obvious verbs (to be, to go, to come, to have, to do, to make and then others where the root word has some latin base so it's easy to guess what I'm saying). Like I tell my students when they don't know the word, try describing what the thing does using the words you do know. When your speaking partner replies using more complex language you will be both surprised and impressed by the European educational system almost every time and you will also know what level of conversation is possible.

Connotation is also worth some discussion. There are so many words in the English language that have a specific connotation with absolutely no basis in linguistics (as far as I can tell), but are more about culture and common usage. Many non-native speakers are taught the uses of these words in a way that would not be common for anglophones, so it will sound a bit strange. I usually reply to the person using the more common terminology and if they ask about it I explain the difference or I just say "it sounds strange to say it the other way." If connotation is less important I try to choose my words carefully so that I use the most common nouns and descriptive words rather than a regional word or uniquely American term.

4. Slang and colloquialisms

The general rule is don't do it unless you hear the non-anglophone say it first. This week I was explaining that the word "pupil" is rarely used and now we say "student." I was not sure the easiest way to explain why this is until a non-anglophone said, "oh, is it very old fashioned?" Old fashioned was exactly what I was thinking, but was unsure if the term would make sense to my audience, luckily it did this time. Slang is really fun to teach to people sometimes, but the most fun is when the non-anglophone has been taught really outdated slang or when they say things like "okay" and "cool" sprinkled in their own language.

5. Using a second or third language as a bridge

In a heavily English speaking world, it's easy to get around without another language, but it's even easier if you have some concept of a latin language or the language of the person with whom you are speaking. This week I was on retreat in France with people from all over Europe but we all had some knowledge of French, at least a tiny bit, so when there was a word or concept that we just couldn't explain in English we would switch to French momentarily and then back to English. It works amazingly well even with someone like me whose French is far from great.

French in particular is a great language to use as a bridge because it is so direct and has so many little sayings that mean a specific concept. For example, "raison d'etre" means a person's reason for existence. I have heard this term used in the US for a completely anglophone audience, in France, and I used it myself during a workshop this week. There isn't a perfect English translation of the concept it describes, so for my multilingual audience it was a great way to get the point across quickly and clearly.

6. Accents in Your Mother Tongue

There are a lot of different English accents. Sometimes these accents will make it very difficult to be understood. So far I have found that the Hollywood American accent, typical Canadian accents, and any British English that is spoken at a reasonable pace without mumbling goes really well.

Your particular accent could also determine how easily you can charm your new friends. Speakers of different mother tongues like the sounds of various accents differently. So far I have found that the accent that is least similar to their own language is usually the favorite. For example, French is a very fluid language where the words often run together so French people really enjoy the sound of an American accent in French (and English as well, I think) and I think they also enjoy Italian accents in French too. By contrast, German is a very clear and harder sounding language where the words are much more clearly divided, so Germans tend to favor British accents in English.

7. English as a Universal Language

Over the past seven days I was constantly in the company of French, Dutch, German, Spanish/Catalonian, British, Swiss and Norwegian people. Clearly the only language we would all have exposure to at some point is English, so it was the dominant language of the week. It makes little sense linguistically why English is so important- it is a difficult language to learn, it isn't particularly pretty, and it has very little root in latin compared with and abundance of romance languages. However, it is now the most important language in the world, especially in the western world. School systems throughout Europe and Asia are teaching English with this in mind, so the world gets a little bit smaller every day and we are better able to communicate with everyday people more and more.

This being said, I hope that North Americans will make a greater effort to teach children languages in the future. My students at the lycee are learning a minimum of two languages fluently. This coupled with the strength of the European economy indicates that my lycee students and their contemporaries are going to take over the world in about 15 or 20 years. The only way for the US to keep up in the global economy and global cultural developments is to be better educated in more international ways. Learn languages in school and on your own, read books not written in English, travel, start non-English discussion groups, use the internet to practice chatting/Skypeing with people all around the world. There's really no excuse for not learning at least a little bit of another language. Plus it's fun!

Taize

In about 20 minutes I will head out my door, gigantic pack strapped to my back, in the direction of the train station to catch my TGV to Taize. I'm pretty excited but also a bit overwhelmed. The living conditions at Taize are a bit like camping, so I feel like no matter what I take with me I'll wish I had some other comfort item once I get there. My only consolation is knowing that thousands of people have done this before me and many are probably even more high maintenance than myself, so I know I will be fine. Besides, there is a cafe type thing there that sells toothpaste and stuff in case I find myself desperately needing something. Also, I never did find an English Bible this week like I had hoped. I suppose if I really need a Bible I can probably buy one at the gift shop thingy they have there.

Other than the obvious discussions and church services, I have no idea what to expect on this retreat. All I know is when I first heard of it as a 17 year old something told me it is something I must do in my life. This is the perfect opportunity for me to go, even if I don't really feel ready at this particular moment in time. Everything will be fine because this is an adventure and I am really good at going on adventures.

More later about this later.

Holiday Number 3

Today is my last teaching day before the Winter Holiday. I don't completely understand the purpose of this holiday because we just had Christmas and it doesn't really coincide with Mardi Gras or Lent very well, but anyway, there it is.

I was supposed to receive a care package from Leigh today with all sorts of fun things in it, but it hasn't arrived. I'm so sad. Even though I know exactly what is in the package I was so looking forward to this little "surprise" and a box filled with things from across the pond. Right now the only mail I receive is for my work or my immigration papers, so when I do get personal stuff it's a really happy day.

Hopefully today will perk up though. I only have one lesson to teach this evening at 17:00, then I'm going to see a play that my Canadian Counterpart helped put together with our favorite supervising teacher. Starting tomorrow I need to pack and clean for my week away at Taize and maybe make some preliminary plans for day trips during the second week of this holiday.

I'm not completely sure that I am ready for my Taize experience. When I first learned about the retreat I was 17, had recently moved in with Leigh and still had very close ties to my church family in southwest Virginia. Since then I have finished college, finished law school, gotten married, separated then reconciled and have moved across the ocean. I'm not saying that my faith has waned, though I believe it has to some extent, but I am saying that today my life is significantly more complicated than it was before.

So now I am questioning not my faith, but my emotional capacity for such intense religious experiences. Even more, my comfort level with discussing my faith as it is today because it has been so long since I have been in a position to have those conversations. However, my faith is telling me that for these very same reasons there is no better time for me to open myself up to this experience. I need to gather my courage and dive headlong into it, try to relax and learn as much as possible during this time. If all goes well I will return home feeling spiritually refreshed and ready to face the next stages of my life.

In addition to the obvious benefits to faith of this retreat, I will get the chance to walk around Macon for a few hours on Monday and the following Sunday. Hopefully I will get to taste some local wine and shop for yummy Dijon mustards and the like. Leave it to me to turn every outing into a shopping trip for local goodies!

Speaking of holidays, I am now in a position to finish all of my plans for my 4th and final holiday in April, Spring Break. So exciting! On top of that, my Canadian Counterpart and I have decided to vacate our apartment at the end of March and live on campus for the two weeks we'll be homeless in France before heading west to our respective next [temporary] homes. This will save us each about 430 euros, which is downright fabulous. On top of all of this I am get so excited every time I remember that my dear friend Jescy is coming to visit in just a few weeks' time. So much happy to combat just a bit of disappointment.

Things I Miss About the US:

As of 2 February 2010:

- Leigh (obviously)

- After New Year's massive sales. Les soldes are pretty great, but not nearly as drastic price reductions.

- Having a car for things like grocery runs and random visits to nearby towns, etc; though the bus and train system here is pretty nifty too

- Going to the movies or, at the very least, having full access to new releases

- The Dollar Store for things like cheap housewares, nail polish, cleaning supplies and books

- Having my own apartment. My roommates are great girls, but I much prefer a place with just Leigh and myself, even though we tend to relax a bit too much and let things get messier than when we live with others

- Having people know what it means to have a US law degree. This sounds horribly conceited, but in Europe a law degree is more or less a bachelor's degree and not that impressive to the general population. When I lived at home I got annoyed by how people would "ooh" and "aah" at my having one, but now that I'm here and being treated like a college kid again I'm about ready to trade that in the anonymity for the "oohs" and "aahs."

- Church-going folks. OK, so I'm rarely one to say I love living in a Christian nation because more often than not those Christians are telling me I'm going to Hell and taking away my civil liberties. However, France is so secular that my students think that all people of faith are either religious freaks or their great-grandparents (the last generation to bother going to church, from what I gather). I miss living in a country where being religious is pretty normal, though I also really appreciate living in a country where one religion doesn't dominate all laws and social norms.

Things I DON'T Miss About the US:

- 24/7 coverage of every time Obama or a Member of Congress sneezes

- Not having health insurance or coverage of any sort. It's nice to know that as long as I am working in Europe I am well cared for no matter what happens.

- Extreme obsession with celebrities- you'd be amazed how little Europeans care about famous people. It has been so refreshing every few weeks to realize that I haven't heard a peep about so-and-so since October

- Unavoidable onslaught of advertisements that, undoubtedly, manage to influence me to buy things I don't really want or need

- Extremely fattening foods in massive quantities. OK, I know it's a cliche, but my lifestyle change here has been amazing and so refreshing. I can actually eat a lovely meal and not feel horrible about myself afterwards because I know 1) it wasn't a huge portion 2) it had nutritional value that outweighed its sugar and fat content 3) 90% of my meals are very simple, unprocessed foods eaten at home and 4) it tasted amazing.

Things I'm LOVING About France Right Now:

- Sunshine

- Dinner parties

- People staying out of my business almost to a point that I can't comprehend

- Wine, all sorts of wine. It's so decadent and special yet so cheap and accessible.

- Beaucoup des days off from work, again almost to the point of non-comprehension

- The chance to visit amazing, romantic, seemingly far away places within just a few hours of time on a train or plane and for just a little bit of extra cash.

- The extreme contrast of very old traditions with very new ideas.