Vacation 1/4...Yep, You Read That Right

I've been meaning to post another blog for a while now. I'd like to say the delay is from an immense amount of work, but...I've mainly just been too lazy to type one out...*cue awkward shrug*

Well, since I'm on vacation (I'll get to that), let's try to bring everyone up to speed! I've settled in quite nicely to my new home in Laval. The town has a great blend of modern and ancient. There are clothing stores and restaurants that have a view of buildings that have been around since the 16th century, and the town's château rests high on a hill above it all. Day or night, there's always something new and beautiful to discover.

One of the first things I see everyday

I love this city at night

I forgot to mention that I do actually have my own apartment! It's just off the main shopping stretch in the city center, so I'm close to just about everything I need. The place is old, and it's a little small (I have to duck to get into my bathroom, and my head is almost always about two inches from the ceiling), but it's home.

The outside of my building; I enter through that little blue door on the right

Bienvenue à chez-moi

Yup, that's a staircase in my apartment; It's a split-level, or what the locals call a «duplex»

I've made a lot of new friends since I've arrived. There are a surprising number of English language assistants here; There are at least 10 assistants, 9 of which are English assistants. We've already formed a pretty close group, and we meet up multiple times each week, normally at the (only) pub in town, O'Regan's...Yep, that's right: an Irish pub, owned and run by an Irish woman, in the heart of a French town. We're more than happy to meet up there, though! We do other things together though, like go to the weekly farmers' market near the château. Great local produce for a lot less than in the markets. We've also become friends with several locals, who - you guessed it - we hang out with at the pub.

Some of us with some of our local friends 

The booth in the back right? All cheese

Seriously, this market is massive

Not everything revolves around the pub, though. I do actually work. I work as the English language assistant at Lycée Ambroise Paré, a high school about half-a-mile from my apartment (and yes, I walk it everyday from my fourth-floor apartment, half of which is uphill...I'm actually getting use to it now). Much like Laval, the school blends the modern with the ancient; The school was once a convent, but now has more modern buildings attached to the 16th century ones that hold the school's roughly 1300 students. I work with six or seven of the school's nine English teachers four days a week, for a total of 12 hours (I legally cannot work more than that). By the way: the school lunches here are fantastic! 2 full hours for lunch, as much water as you want to drink, and full, well-rounded meals made fresh every day (no pre-packaged stuff or government meat like back home). It's an interesting job, and I enjoy it so far; I'm still flying by the seat of my pants a lot, but things are going fine right now. Hopefully, I'll have a more solid plan once I get back from vacation.

The library is the former bishop's apartment

One of my lunches: Steak and pasta with grapes, and a crêpe for dessert

The courtyard outside the administrative offices, including the teachers' lounge 

Oh, yeah! I'm on vacation, by the way. I know that sounds weird, but I arrived after the school year had already been going for about three-or-four weeks. The French school system runs more-or-less on the year-round schedule: six weeks on, two weeks off. I'll actually get three more two-week vacations while I'm here...Did I mention I get paid during those vacations? It's kind of awesome. Anyway, this vacation hasn't been filled with much, other than relaxing and hanging with my new friends and fellow assistants. The big event, though, is that I'm going to Paris with several of my friends for four days, ending with a Halloween boat party! I'm really looking forward to it, and it should be a great way to wrap up our first vacation.

Not everyone in this picture is going, but either way, Paris is about to be interesting!

Again, I'm sorry for the delay in blog postings. I'll try to post a little more frequently; I should have more to talk about once vacation is over and I get back to work...and once I start on a couple of side projects that are in the works. I can't talk about them now, so just keep an eye out in my future posts. Until next time!

Carrot Salad and Dancing Bugs: Bienvenue à Sucé-Sur-Erdre

OK, a couple things to catch up on! I'll try to go in order.

So, like I said in my last blog, I arrived safely in France. WOO! I'm staying with my friend Jérôme's parents, Jean-Yves and Vivienne Henry. They're very friendly and incredibly kind. They have a lovely home in the small town of Sucé-Sur-Erdre, about 15-30 mins north of Nantes, and about 2 hours south of Laval, the town I'll be living/working in. Vivienne is a middle school or «collège» principal, and Jean-Yves has multiple positions in agricultural-based government jobs.

Lovely backyard, no?

I'll say that one interesting change for me already is food. I've been to Europe before, but I've never stayed with a family here. Every meal I've had has been at home, and it's all been homemade. Breakfast is typically something small, like toast (with Nutella) and coffee. Lunch and dinner, however, are larger affairs. Both have been somewhat multi-course meals, consisting of something small to start, like bread, then a main course that is almost always paired with wine, and a dessert. The main courses have varied from chicken, to ham, to a carrot salad. You read right - I ate a salad that consisted of nothing but shredded carrots and hardboiled eggs...and I LIKED it! I'll admit: at home, I would never have tried that. But I was raised to try local foods/recipes when in a new or foreign place, and I obviously don't want to be rude and just deny something someone has prepared, so there I was trying and enjoying a carrot salad. I honestly think it has to do with the fact that all the produce here is fresh and organic - no preservatives, no crazy biological enhancements, just genuine fresh produce.


I don't have a photo of the food, so here's a picture I took of a duck.

One of the first things Jean-Yves and Vivienne started doing after I arrived was help me to search for my apartment. You think searching for an apartment in the US is rough, try searching in another country on a limited budget and having to have about 5 different types of documentation because you're not a citizen. This is one reason I can't thank the Henrys' enough: by the end of my second full day, I had an apartment locked in and the security deposit paid. It's a smaller, older place on the fourth floor, but I'm fine with that considering 1)it's fully furnished; 2)it's right in the center of the city; 3)I'll only have a 10-15 minute walk to the school; 4)3 of the other 4 residents are about my age; and 5)even with the location, furnishing, and all utilities (including Wifi), I'll only have to pay €315 each month (approximately $350)! The visit to Laval was nice. It looks like it's going to be a nice town with a great atmosphere (shops, a park, a chateau, etc.). I seriously cannot thank Jean-Yves and Vivienne enough for all of their help (have I mentioned how kind they are?).

One unexpected outing came as a spur-of-the-moment suggestion from Jean-Yves. Apparently there is a big street performance festival in the nearby town of Grandchamp Bardement that happens every year with over 10,000 people attending annually. It was my first theatre festival (weird, right?), and it was great! There were acrobatic acts, unicyclists, clowns, musicians, and one group I particularly liked that seemed to combine comedia dell'arte, music, combat, and some slow tempo work. Their show was fantastic! I highly suggest you check out the act («Pardessus») and the group («Cie Passanbleu») some time by following this link: Cie Passanbleu Teaser

I suppose that's one way to say "No" to a coat.

Oh, yeah: Here are the dancing bugs (Mandibul'Orchestra)

Ok, so if you've stuck through this post up to here, cool! Thanks for reading. My last and latest update is just about the town of Sucé-Sur-Erdre itself. Jean-Yves took me on a tour of some of the further parts of the town today, and then I took some time and wandered around myself. The town sits right on the river Erdre, and so a lot of the town's life revolves around that: the city center has a TON of docks, the restaurants seem to advertise a fair amount of seafood, and (if I understood correctly) there is a big boat-and-jazz festival that takes place in the town every year. It's a quiet place, and very lovely. I love the older architecture and the tranquility of it all. I'll be staying here until October 2, when I can move into my apartment in Laval, so I still have time to rest and get my affairs in order. Until next time!

                                                                    Jean-Yves is a very friendly person, I swear...I just timed this wrong.

                                                                                                                "Snow White's House"