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Parc #3 - Ile de Versailles

At the entrance of the park.

Looking over L'Erdre river into the park.

There is a little boat station in the park where you can take one of the boats shown down the Erdre - Marco, Ronana, Anne-Laure (Ronan's girlfriend) and I did this over the summer!


Inside the park.


Inside the park.



I have no idea why this park is called 'Ile de Versailles.' When I picture Versailles I see enormous French gardens - very precise, straight lines with lots of roses and boxwood. The parallels between the two gardens? Umm...they both of plants and they're both in France....that's about it. Ile de Versailles is a Japanese style, free flowing garden in the middle of Nantes. It is between two merging rivers on a tiny island. It's a perfect location for people working downtown to eat their lunch (I just typed '...working dowtown to take lunch.' What's happening to my English!?) or to take an afternoon stroll during their 1.5hr lunch break. I have been to this park probably the most out of them all and unfortunately I don't appreciate it as much as I once did. I am hoping that once the leaves start to drastically change colors, I will once again find it's beauty!

Busy Little B!

Yes, the 'B' was purposeful since some people call me "B".

Anyway, disappointing news everyone...I was working on lesson plans with another teacher all day today and didn't get a chance to go to a park :(. I am sure you are all crushed.

But no fears! Instead, I will leave you with some pictures of an outing I took with Marco, his mom, and Jacques a few weeks back. We went to a bird observatory but actually didn't see many birds. We also visited a small town where there is a bizarre hotel, as you shall see.


A small, quaint French town close to Nantes.


A view of France's largest oil refineries from the bird post. It was impressive.


Spotting the one or two birds that were out that day. We went at the worst part of the day while all of the birds are sleeping.


The bird post in the middle of the marsh.


See the little house on the fake smoke stack (coal refinery)? You can rent it for the night and have a view out over the Loire. It would actually be quite picturesque....and entertaining!

That's all for now. I hope you all are doing well!

Tour des Parcs #2 - Jardin des Plantes

This park is probably the most frequented in Nantes. It is in the middle of the city and right by the train station. It is one of the parks that Dr. Reuber ran us through (literally) when I studied abroad in Nantes 2 years ago.



There is an area that has tons of different kinds of flowers and labels with the name of each. I love this part and seeing how flowers are different in France than in the US.


Lots of water throughout the park.


A view of the fountain...there are always ducks swimming around too (You'd love it Papa)!


Another view of the garden. As you can see from the above pictures, the park is a nice mix of English and French style gardens. It is well maintained and a nice place to relax for a little bit when I am early for a meeting or waiting for my train.

Other added bonuses of the park: It currently has a 'tulipier' theme. That is a type of tree that Americans gave to the park. Go USA! There is also a terrasse where you can eat lunch or grab a coffee, a little bird zoo, a jungle gym for kids, and a greenhouse for tropical plants which you can partially see in picture #2.

Here is an interesting Wikipedia page about the park: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_des_plantes_de_Nantes

If you click to change the language to 'French,' you will be able to see more pictures.

Well, that is today's quick tour. See you again tomorrow :)

Tour des Parcs #1 - Parc du Grand Blottereau

For the next week I have vacation for 'Toussaint' or 'Day of the Dead.' This provides me with quite a bit of free time on my hands, which I don't like having. So, in an attempt to keep myself busy, I told myself that I would visit one or two of Nantes beautiful parks everyday and let you join in on the experience! I started off with my little map of Nantes (it's in an area I never fully explored before) and headed to the park. Got off the tram and headed off in what I thought was the right direction. An hour later and still not having found the park, which was supposedly 10 minutes from the tram stop, I turned around and headed back to the tram. I decided to take little back roads just to make the walk more interesting. I might as well explore while being lost! A few minutes later, I saw a woman looking at me quite strangely - I looked and her and immediately recognized her as one of the English teachers at my school! A very strange coincidence. And she was right to look at me oddly since I was wearing glasses, had my hair pulled back, and was wearing jeans - the exact opposite of my school attire. Anyway, she invited me to her apartment for coffee and biscuits which, it ends up, is very close to my future apartment (she offered to drive me to the HS when our schedules meet up too)! She then drove me to the park so that I didn't get lost again....Unfortunately, I fit the stereotype perfectly of being a girl with a terrible sense of direction....

'Parc du Grand Blottereau' is a hop, skip, and jump away from my future apartment (I get the keys Friday!). I have never been to this park before. I did not realize how much of a treat I was in for. The entire park was re-done 3-4 years ago by a South Korean landscaper, with each area of the park made to represent different climates in the country. In exchange a French landscaper re-did a park in S. Korea in the French style. This park was huge and full of surprises - from a green tea garden to rows of green houses that supply the rest of Nantes with beautiful flowers year round.



A banana 'forest' in one part of the park.


Totem poles and a pagoda surrounded by water.


One of the beautiful lakes in the middle of the park. There were little green frogs jumping around too!


This park is very family friendly. There is this banana tree inspired jungle gym, tennis courts surrounded by tropical plants, and a few soccer fields on the edge of the park. I saw lots of families enjoying the beautiful weather we were blessed with today.

The 'tropical' area of the S. Korean themed park, with a statue in the background. The picture doesn't do it justice.

I am so excited that I am going to live so close to this park. I plan on visiting it again in the very near future.

Tomorrow, I am off to the most well known park in Nantes! Hope you enjoyed today's tour :).

P.S. Don't forget that you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. It's worth it, I promise!

A Busy Two Days

I was going to write some more about French culture differences but then I decided, nah, I'll give a real life update now and save the culture for the next time. So off I go...

Teaching overall is going quite well. I love my co-workers in the English department and the majority (emphasis on majority) of my students are at least somewhat motivated and interested in learning English. Unfortunately, I have two classes that I dread going to - one on Thursday and one on Friday. I don't know why humans work this way, but in general bad experiences flood out all the good experiences. After my 'trouble class' on Fridays, I am so thankful to have an hour break so I was in a good mood for my next class (a class full of really motivated Juniors). But on this day, all I seem to think about is this ONE class that I know will be difficult, and I forget about the little angels I have later in the day.

Anyway, my crazy two days began on Thursday morning. My first class of the day is one of the 'difficult' groups. The English teacher and always split this Senior class in half alphabetically, I take one half, and she takes the other. So I went off with my part of the alphabet (the latter half), thankful that this week I got the easy half. As the teacher and I have discovered, all of the problem students are in the first half of the alphabet with only one or two decent students in the group. The second half is a dream - motivated, funny, decent level of English etc. I went about my lesson which was a success. At the end of the class, I went up to the English teacher's room and see she is in a complete fury. Evidently, a girl in the class was told to stop talking and that it was very disrespectful. Well, this struck a little bit of a nerve - she yelled back at the teacher, picked up a chair and threw it on the ground, yelled "T'es con!" (aka You're a b****!) and stormed out of the room. Other problematic students then starting to get angry at the professor, using this as a time to say whatever negative things they could think of, with only the 1-2 good students sticking up for the professor. After the incident was over, and emotions subsided, there was an onslaught of meetings. Since I was implicated as well, the teacher and I had many meetings with the head principal between Thursday and Friday in order to get everything straightened out. The 3 most problematic students (all girls, mind you) were reprimanded firmly but once again used this time to voice their concerns (evidently, I just make them draw pictures during class - that's news to me!).

But this incident did not stop my Thursday and Friday from getting any busier..... A few weeks ago I offered to have an 'English Class' for two days during the French holiday of "Toussaint" (started yesterday and goes until the 5th of November). It was slightly disorganized because a few people in higher levels dragged their feet and were expecting it to not be popular. In fact, we had to cut the enrollment at 46 because more and more people were applying, which eventually would have made it impossible to properly teach. The other English assistant, the same professor which I had the above incident, and I started loosely planning what we were going to do during this course. But of course, it could not be that easy - Madame Hermange (the principal) received a phone call from the Academie de Nantes (an important education group which oversees thousands of students) to tell us that the Rectorat (VP position) would be coming to observe my lesson during this course. SUPER! Madame Hermange flew into 3rd gear - she called me in for yet ANOTHER meeting on Thursday to tell me the oh-so-wonderful news and to also tell me that they wanted a typed up plan of what exactly I would be doing every hour of every day. She is very nervous about this 'inspection' since the reputation of her school is on the line with one of the most important education ministers. Well, after she told me about the typed report, it was my turn to panic. When would I have time for this!? I hardly ever go out on a school night, but the three of us who are running the English class plus a few random friends had already planned to go out for dinner and drinks right after school. Between our classes, we were able to discuss a little bit about what we wanted to do, so I could type up a schedule for the principal to send to the Rectorat.

I was so happy to go out that night and relax. It was a complete blast - all of us were from different countries (the English teacher is from Pakistan, the other assistant from the Netherlands, a Russian girl joined us, as well as a "Francaise") so we learned a lot about differences in cultures and different worldviews (thank you Grove City for that word). We ended up not even going somewhere to get a drink because our dinner lasted 4 hours. The waiter would keep coming to ask us what we wanted for the next part of meal (it was a typical French meal- you buy what they call a 'menu' which is composed of alcohol, main plate, dessert and coffee) and we would never be ready because we were talking too much! Anyway, it was very enjoyable and we plan on getting together as often as possible in the future (and trying to get more internationals to come too)!

Friday, I had to wake up very early to type up our schedule then left for school much earlier than normal because of more meetings about the English course, as well as the problem students. My problem class on Friday (Sophomores) got the brunt of my lack of sleep and stress - hopefully now after a thorough reprimanding they will be better. Needless to say, at the end of Friday, I sprinted out of there. Hoorah for break! Wow, I'm really turning into a teacher, aren't I?

Inequality? What?

Today in a particularly inquisitive and unabashed class, students asked me about inequality in the US. At first, I was quite taken aback by the question. Inequality? Yes, there is inequality, but how is it any different in France? Evidently, French students are under the impression that either Americans are rich or have no money, that few people like Hispanics or African Americans, that Atheists are treated like dirt, etc. This makes me wonder: Why? Why is it that French students have this impression? Is it true? Maybe it is true on some levels - yes, there is a larger SES gap in the US than in France, yes some people are still discriminated against, yes some atheists are looked down upon yada yada. But it is so much deeper than that.

For starters, French history and American history come from completely different points of view. Our concepts of freedom are opposite, even though in the end they may both achieve some sort of freedom. Americans see freedom as anyone doing whatever they want, whenever they want, no matter the consequences (within reason). Americans normally embrace difference and difference is encouraged. I have seen countless numbers of posters, flyers, and slogans that all speak about 'embracing difference.' It is how our country was founded - come and do what you want! France on the other hand, sees freedom as assimilation - if everyone is the same or gives the public appearance of being the same, there will be nothing to discriminate against. For example, the French concept of laicite. Laicite is the French separation of church and state which is supposed to promote freedom of thought and freedom of religion. In many ways, it is a great thing (i.e. no state religion). In other ways, it is very confusing to me and other Americans. A part of laicite is the law against conspicuous religious symbols. This meaning, that large crosses, sweatshirts with a huge verse on the back, Stars of David, hijabs, etc. are forbidden in schools and other public institutions (small, 'discreet' symbols are still allowed). To many Americans, this is seen as taking away freedom, as not allowing freedom of speech. To many French people, this further promotes freedom and equality. In this way, when people keep their lives 'discreet', it is impossible to discriminate against one person or another. We can immediately see the great difference between the definitions of freedom.

So, in order to answer the question about inequality, I first had to address the differences in the word 'freedom' (to the best of my ability without being too biased - that's hard!). Another issue is that teachers and schools are normally 'left wing' in France. Students are told information that the left wants them to hear - 'Americans don't want poor people to have insurance, that's why there are 45 million uninsured Americans.' Of course with hearing information in that way, students are going to be for universal health care in the US! In general, it's hard to fight against years of left wing indoctrination.

So, in the end, I just ended up explaining, to the best of my ability, that France and the US are the same. There are extremes in every country. There is discrimination in every country. It may be seen in different forms, but it exists, unfortunately, everywhere. Most Americans don't discriminate against poor people, minorities, or religions - but of course it exists, just like it does in France.

But what can we do to get rid of this stereotype? Why is this still such a problem in the 21st century? Looking back, my students are right. There are major problems of discrimination in the US. French people have to fix their own country, but what can we as Americans do to improve our attitudes? God loves us all equally. We should follow His example.

MishMash

Here are random bullet points about my life:

School:

• A normal school day starts at 8am and ends at 5pm, with 1-2hrs for lunch - I would rather get out earlier!
  
• The teachers and students always have a 15 minute break at 10am and at 4pm
• Students can't eat, drink, chew gum, or wear hats during class, it is seen as disrespectful
  
• Students AND teachers change classes every period
• There are 3 years of high school: seconde (15-16yrs), premiere (16-17yrs), and terminale (17-18yrs)
• They have 'school buses' just like us, but they're a little more discreet...no yellow bananas!
• There are no chalk boards, only white boards
• All teachers have a little cubby in the teacher's lounge where they keep their papers (aka 'pigeon hole' since most teachers speak in British English)
  
• There are no computers in the classrooms

Teaching:

• I start every class with the date and the time - seems to be difficult for any level
• I have the students call my Barbara -I am NOT a 'Madame.' When they do say Madame, I quickly correct them
• I have a student who is obviously anti-American and who thinks that 9/11 was a conspiracy - I pretty much ignored him.
• During introduction questions a student asked if I liked French kisses - I was somewhat shocked so just stood there for a few seconds then moved to the next question
• Students don't know the movie Braveheart! Like a knife in the heart....
• When I look at my students, it's always a sea of black
• The bell between classes is like a fire alarm - I am going to be deaf by the end of the year
• All of the teachers try to speak English with me which is pretty cute
• Their handwriting is very similar to each other - when they are young it must be a very specific way
• Their paper is like graph paper on legal pads and they write with calligraphy pens
  

France:

• All windows have these metal shutter things (picture below). Makes it very dark at night but you know you are safe!
• The murders in France in a year are equal to the number of murders in Philly alone in one year
• The cars here are much smaller than the ones in the US - even the Toyota Corolla in the US is bigger (and better of course :) ) than the one here
• At the grocery store there is a HUGE cheese counter with hundreds of cheeses - the wine section is equally as big - I want to try them all!
  
• Girls NEVER spit. It is seen as gross for a girl to even spit her gum in trash can. You have to first take it out of your mouth and then put it in the trash.
• Public transportation is wonderful and much cheaper than owning a car
• There are hardly any garbage disposals
• They all have a medical card (looks like a credit card) which they must carry with them everywhere. They're like portable medical records.
• They use military time
• It's normal for the toilet and the shower to be in a different room
• They randomly say 'quoi' ('what') at the end of sentences - similar to how we say 'like'

Okay, there's my mishmash of updates!

Pictures are of the window shutters (they're half down), a cheese counter, and French handwriting!

"Hi, My Name is Barbara..."

I have two days of 'teaching' under my belt...well if you can call introductions, answering questions etc as teaching! In general it was quite an adventure. The classes I have are either first year high school students ('seconde') or in the final year of school ('terminale'). One beginner teacher left me alone with his classes and I had to talk about myself for an hour! I tried to get the students to talk as much as possible but they were very timid. They think that they can't speak English well but they've already had about four years. They are much better at it than they think. If I pressured them to answer a question, they always got it right! Of course there were random mistakes but the meaning was evident. So, I think it will take a few weeks for all of the students to be comfortable with 'the American assistant', to adjust to my American accent (all of the teachers have British accents), and for me to get used to speaking very slowly. At the end of day one, I was EXHAUSTED even though I was only there for 4 hours. Today, Friday, is my longest day of the week with 4 classes (about 5 hours). I am not quite so tired today as I was yesterday, so I guess it is just a process of getting used to teaching.

I also have a group call 'BTS' which I have no idea what it stands for. These students come to the high school for some sort of classes but they actually are already graduated and have passed their final exam. So, some of the students in the class are actually OLDER than me. It's somewhat weird for me to be teaching people and making them listen to me when I am the youngster. Somewhat intimidating.

Also, on Monday I took a placement test for the Tuesday/Thursday night French classes that I signed up to take. There were about 300 students there from all over the world! Unfortunately a group of Spanish guys sat behind me during the test and shared answers the entire time. Made it hard to concentrate...I'm just hoping they are not in my level! I got an email yesterday saying that I'm in level 6, but they don't specify if that is the group for beginners or advanced students so hopefully I'll find out about that soon.

Well, that's all for now, just wanted to send you a quick update about my first official week at school!