Language Assistant in the Dordogne October 2007-June 2008 tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-05-10:/blog/?domain=lucy-h 2008-06-21T06:25:29Z Lucy H img/travel-blog-feed.png And finally... tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-20:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=159&entryid=115026 2008-06-21T06:25:29Z 2008-06-21T06:25:29Z just realised, looking back, that it was exactly a year ago yesterday (20th June) that I found out I was going to be in Perigueux! ... just realised, looking back, that it was exactly a year ago yesterday (20th June) that I found out I was going to be in Perigueux!

And finally... remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Last day: Friday 20th June tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-20:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=158&entryid=115025 2008-06-21T06:23:38Z 2008-06-21T06:23:38Z Had a really nice last day, it was suuuuper hot. Was at school (Davesne) for a lot of it. Did my lessons, listened to the choir rehearse for their concert on Tuesday (they're doing "Hello Goodbye" which I taught them, sounded great) and did this little instrument visit thing with them which was cool. Was sad to say goodbye to the kids, Muriel etc. Got some more lovely pictures, notes etc. Then had a manic few hours doing major clean ... Had a really nice last day, it was suuuuper hot. Was at school (Davesne) for a lot of it. Did my lessons, listened to the choir rehearse for their concert on Tuesday (they're doing "Hello Goodbye" which I taught them, sounded great) and did this little instrument visit thing with them which was cool. Was sad to say goodbye to the kids, Muriel etc. Got some more lovely pictures, notes etc. Then had a manic few hours doing major clean of appartment...am never moving house. Then the evening was great, we got pizzas and wine and sat outside on Cecile's terrace, was soooo good. Then Molly, Louise and I headed to the icecream shop and got there like 1 minute before they closed the doors at 11pm. :-) It was like still 20degrees then, just wearing a dress, made me tres happy. But also sad; the girls are gonna pop round today so still havent properly said goodbye but Molly gave me a sweet card and an early birthday present...Country music, hahaha, love it.

So yeah, livebox back, see Molly, hoover floors, Bernard and Lou come round and then, I guess, I will be on my way home.

What an amazing year.

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]]> Last week: Thursday tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-19:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=157&entryid=114796 2008-06-19T21:03:26Z 2008-06-19T21:03:26Z Had a really nice last day at Zola school. The kids were good and enjoyed the quizzes we did and little cards and gifts and stuff I had for them. My CE1s that I have first thing are adorable...tiny little things, as I was leaving at the end of the day they all came out to the playground and were like hanging on to me all saying goodbye, we'll miss you and stuff. And singing the goodbye song to me ... Had a really nice last day at Zola school. The kids were good and enjoyed the quizzes we did and little cards and gifts and stuff I had for them. My CE1s that I have first thing are adorable...tiny little things, as I was leaving at the end of the day they all came out to the playground and were like hanging on to me all saying goodbye, we'll miss you and stuff. And singing the goodbye song to me from the gate. Was soooo cute. Was emotional at that point! The teachers were nice too...they gave me a nice card thanking me for my work and kindness and a necklace and bracelet. And Sylvie's class gave me a bilingual book of Perigordian recipes which is lovely, a class photo and lots of little pictures and messages and stuff from the children; one girl who had never really seemed to enjoy my lessons much (but had never really been disruptive on the other hand) wrote this really funny little thing about my smile and eyes and stuff! Bless her!

The weather is finall GORGEOUS. Properly hot and lovely. Met Lou and Molly in the middle of tidying etc and had a glass of wine in the sunshine.

Last week: Thursday remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Last week: Wednesday tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-18:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=156&entryid=114528 2008-06-19T20:57:38Z 2008-06-18T18:16:25Z Wednesday Had to get up this morning :-( . Went and did last recording thingy for JPP with Molly and Lou...he's so funny, had a new microphone (which looked like a UFO, "OVNI") so that was exciting! he he! Then came back and had a really productive few hours...cleared the legendary stack of bottles frm the kitchen (the whole year's collection!). Packed up a lot of my clothes, and sorted out what I had left in my kitchen and bathroom. So ... Wednesday

Had to get up this morning :-( . Went and did last recording thingy for JPP with Molly and Lou...he's so funny, had a new microphone (which looked like a UFO, "OVNI") so that was exciting! he he! Then came back and had a really productive few hours...cleared the legendary stack of bottles frm the kitchen (the whole year's collection!). Packed up a lot of my clothes, and sorted out what I had left in my kitchen and bathroom. So basically all ready to start being cleaned etc now. Called the water company as I'm still waiting for a reimboursement cheque from them, and Orange haven't sent me the stuff for the Livebox but apparently I can just take it into the shop. This afternoon Helen and Sarah came in from Bergerac and we all sat in the sun together for a few hours. Was lovely to see them but sa to say goodbye. Also popped round to Cecile's and said goodbye to her. The goodbyes are hard...but I dunno in some ways not as bad as I imagined, I guess because I do think I'll be back here and more and more, now I know I'm going home, I'm feeling ready. Although not when I hear what the weather's like... :-(

I think Molly and Lou are coming round for a film in bit. Now, saying goodbye to them, that really will be difficult...

Last week: Wednesday remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Last week: Monday and Tuesday tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-18:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=155&entryid=114486 2008-06-18T13:12:15Z 2008-06-18T13:12:15Z Monday: School was annoying. Kids were fine...pretty good actually, but it ended up being a messed up day because when I first arrived the teachers told me it as actually going to be my last lesson with 3 of my classes (not the penultimate). I was kinda angry cause I had all this stuff for the last lesson...didn't want the kids to miss out so I crammed all of that into one lesson. To be told, at the end of the ... Monday:

School was annoying. Kids were fine...pretty good actually, but it ended up being a messed up day because when I first arrived the teachers told me it as actually going to be my last lesson with 3 of my classes (not the penultimate). I was kinda angry cause I had all this stuff for the last lesson...didn't want the kids to miss out so I crammed all of that into one lesson. To be told, at the end of the day, that they will be there on Thursday! So now I've had to come up with a different plan for that.The day was made just a tiny bit bet because the nice secretary who works there decided randomly that we should all have an aperitif at lunchtime! I did my last private lesson with Anais which went well, and then started a bit of packing in the evening but was kinda tired.

Tuesday:

Fun morning at school. Did the "culture box" from England with my older classes which was fun and my younger class is making an English dictionary of all the words we've learnt this year. Oh and I gave out their little "dossiers" of work which I've put together for them...and they were really pleased and excited, and actually silent for like 5 minutes looking through them. I also got my first leaving present from the kids because they thought it was my last day, 3 of the girls in CM1-CM2 preseted me with a great big bright poster they'd made with little messages etc on. At lunchtime the teachers at this school (I guess there were 10 or so of us all together) did a little leaving meal for me. They were all soooo sweet, had brought in little traditional French dishes each, plus loads of cheese, wine, cake etc....was soooo good. They're a really nice team there actually...think I'd quite like working there properly. They were sooo funny at lunch, just didn't stop chatting. One teacher who I won't see again said that I've got what it takes to be a good teacher, can actually make the kids learn, and another whose class I don't even teach said what great things she'd heard about me! so, hurrah! Was planning on more packing in the afternoon, but by the time I'd hada little siesta and got some school stuff ready for last 8 lessons it was time to go out for another French meal at Muriel's with her, Nicolas and Maya. Was really nice. Really felt like I was with friends, and they gave me a lovely book about Perigueux and have invited me back there anytime. Was a bit of a struggle to get through another 3 course meal though!

Wednesday now and trying to seriously get some packng/tidying/cleaning done. So more soon.

Last week: Monday and Tuesday remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Reflections tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-17:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=137&entryid=109548 2008-06-16T20:48:40Z 2008-06-16T20:44:54Z Have actually grown to love... The "bisous"...in theory a nice idea. I think it will be weird to go back to seeing friends and not properly saying "hello" in that way. Sunday closing...there is something nice about walking through town on a Sunday morning when only the Cathedral, the bakers, and some cafes are open, and there's hardly anyone around. Kinda like Christmas Day at home...only every Sunday. Foie gras. Idea=gross. Taste=actually kinda yummy. Techtonik...just hilarious. Will never understand... The Fre ... Have actually grown to love...
The "bisous"...in theory a nice idea. I think it will be weird to go back to seeing friends and not properly saying "hello" in that way.

Sunday closing...there is something nice about walking through town on a Sunday morning when only the Cathedral, the bakers, and some cafes are open, and there's hardly anyone around. Kinda like Christmas Day at home...only every Sunday.

Foie gras. Idea=gross. Taste=actually kinda yummy.

Techtonik...just hilarious.

Will never understand...
The Frenchman's love of horrible little dogs. And how no-one has gone on strike over the dog poo. Which is Everywhere.

Strikes.

Lunchtime closing. Seriously, just employ another member of stuff to work for an hour while you go eat your baguette.

Bisous without the love. Or even a "bonjour". Seriously if you don't like me, DON'T KISS ME.

Men in white trousers. NOT A GOOD IDEA.

How French businesses keep going when, often, the customer is NEVER right (in their eyes at least).

I will miss eating...
The top of my baguette as I carry it home from the bakers.
Many parts of little duckies which the Perigord serves up very well.
Pains aux raisins/quiche...anything else from the boulangerie/patisserie basically.
The biscuit which comes with my coffee in a cafe.
The slices of baguette which come with my drink in a restaurant.

I won't be able to stop saying...
Ca va. They seriously just say it all the time.
Quand meme.
The verb phrase, "en profiter"
Pas de soucis.
I'm sure there are others...

I have learnt...
to say "yes"
to be a super-quick (and much lighter!) packer!
plenty of Francais

But most of all I will miss the AWESOME ASSISTANTS, who ROCK and have all been both fun and caring friends to spend the year. But it's ok we have a reunion planned, Bolivia July 2013 (and hopefully West Coast US before then!). Will also miss Muriel and co and the other nice Frenchies I've met.

And the children!
Smiling Solal
Leila and her singing at the front of the class
Sophia (Oh nooooo!)
Valentin (AlWAYS had the answer...apart from "thirteen")
Maxime
Agathe
Eloise (shaking my hand with her sticky snacktime fingers)

Marvin
Julien
Theo, Lucie and Victoria (really bright, nice young people...will go far)
Ambroise
Mateo
Louise
Juliette (sooo quiet but sweet)

Blanche, Clara and Florine (Drama queens!!!)
Simon (my brightest and keenest pupil)
Romain (class clown)
Lucas (once marked his own work!)
Veronica (likes to think she's English!)
Camille and Eugenie

Thomas (one minute smiley/hyper, next minute all sad and quiet!)
Sacha (superbright, superfidgety),
Marie-emilie (dans la lune)
Hugo
Amandine
Marc
Clemence
Peter (blew me kisses from the playground!)
Louis (used to cry...was star pupil today!)

Chloe (diamond in the rough)
Ugo (that's "u"go)
Bastien
Christopher
Morgane and Laurana

Dylan (so cute with his little glasses when speaking/doing gestures)
Thomas (moi je sais!!!)
Lola, Melissa, Enora, Ines (6 year old teenage girls!)
Timothee and Yohan

Geoffery (aww)
Vincent (cheeky smile)
Sara (loves horses!)
Naomi (gave me sweeties today)
Matthieu

Marion (classic! smiling, sooo much energy, "sit down Marionnnn!!!)
Orphelie
Thomas and Arthur (would charm there way out of any punitio)
Alexandra (once wrote LOADS!)
Clarisse and clementine (love singing, ask for homework)
Nathan
Mathys

Has been an amazing experience. Can't believe it is coming to an end already, but YAY for seeing family, friends and mon amour! And yay for a house with an oven, and a washing machine. And a town with a fish and chip shop.

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]]> Last weekend in France! tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-15:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=154&entryid=113965 2008-06-15T18:46:48Z 2008-06-15T18:46:48Z Has been a really fun one! Friday night Molly and Lou came round and we watched a really good French film, "A la folie...pas du tout" (it's called "He loves me, he loves me not" in English). It definately still had definite moments of Frenchiness (for example the little "dream scene" where you go inside a character's head into a surreal kinda fantasy world), and starred, of course, Audrey Tautou but it was entertaining and had a really interesting plot. ... Has been a really fun one!

Friday night Molly and Lou came round and we watched a really good French film, "A la folie...pas du tout" (it's called "He loves me, he loves me not" in English). It definately still had definite moments of Frenchiness (for example the little "dream scene" where you go inside a character's head into a surreal kinda fantasy world), and starred, of course, Audrey Tautou but it was entertaining and had a really interesting plot. Watch it! Got two French films left that I wanna try and fit in this week..."Les visiteurs" and "Tanguy".

Saturday morning the sunshine woke me up so I got up and headed straight into town. Was lovely, loads of people out and I just wandered round the market and old town by myself for about an hour and a half, took some photos, bought a paper, had a drink, and got myself a quiche for lunch from the bakers. Came back and ate that and then headed to school where they had a fete. The fete bit (kermess) was just like an English school fete, with little stands, cakes for sale etc etc, and beforehand they did this little "spectacle" thing, which was suuuuuper cute. The little CPs did a sweet dance about being "naughty children" and then got water pistols out at the end, my CE1s-CE2s did a dance to Bjork's "Oh so quiet", CM1-CM2 did little drama sketches and CM2s did line dancing which was well funny. Got to meet a few more parents and hang out with the kids a bit....I'm gonna miss them! After going to the launderette I met up with Molly and Lou at 6.30ish and we went to the park to play frisbee which was really fun, we were the only people in the park so we just hung out, later went to Cafe de la Place for a drink and then, on the way home at 10ish, found that the ice-cream shop was still open with music going and stuff. So, of course, we had to get ice-cream...it is my last week in France after all!

Well I was at the fete I met up with the family I had dinner with right at the beginning; the parents and sisters of Blanche, one of my CM1 girls, and they invited me around for lunch today! So after catching up with Jo W on skype this morning, I headed to meet them (after they'd been to mass). They're a really nice family, kinda proper and really quite rich I think...but yeah really friendly and stuff. We had an aperitif, melon for starter, a piece of pork with courgettes in a bechamel sauce, and then chocolate cake and strawberries for dessert...yummy! Later we took Blanche to a party which was a suprise for all my other kids who were there. Two other parents came back for a coffee, and later I got to swim in their heated outdoor pool with Manais which was awesome. Before bringing home they gave me some foie gras and an onion confit to take home which is nice...and a cool present because I would never have bought it myself but it'll be nice to make other people try it!

Right, had better get everything ready for school tomorrow...and maybe do a bit more towards packing...

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]]> It has commenced.. tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-13:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=153&entryid=113729 2008-06-13T17:45:53Z 2008-06-13T17:45:53Z the big pack-up! Today I sorted out my bills, bank statements etc etc and all the piles and piles of lesson planning stuff I'd colected this year, must have sent about 3 rainforests to the recycling. Also been busy getting stuff ready for the Big Quiz I'm going to do with the kids for their last lesson next week. Finally I've been emailing my university tutor to try and sort out all my tutorials etc for next year. Still fitting in time ... the big pack-up!

Today I sorted out my bills, bank statements etc etc and all the piles and piles of lesson planning stuff I'd colected this year, must have sent about 3 rainforests to the recycling. Also been busy getting stuff ready for the Big Quiz I'm going to do with the kids for their last lesson next week. Finally I've been emailing my university tutor to try and sort out all my tutorials etc for next year.

Still fitting in time to hang out though. Has been pretty sunny which meant we got to have a nice last lunch with Cat in the sunshine after doing some more fun recording for JPP. We also watched an AWFUL French film..."de battre mon coeur s'est arrette"

It has commenced.. remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Aujourd'hui tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-10:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=152&entryid=113277 2008-06-10T19:02:03Z 2008-06-10T19:02:03Z School this morning which was fine. Did a last-minute translation of a video report about Banksy for one of my teacher's sons. Went shopping for leaving cards/presents etc. And got myself some really nice new shorts. Started work on a big quiz for my kids to do in their last lessons. ... School this morning which was fine.

Did a last-minute translation of a video report about Banksy for one of my teacher's sons.

Went shopping for leaving cards/presents etc. And got myself some really nice new shorts.

Started work on a big quiz for my kids to do in their last lessons.

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]]> Leaving meal tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-09:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=151&entryid=113225 2008-06-10T06:13:16Z 2008-06-10T06:13:16Z Had a lovely meal out with JPP last night. Him and his girlfriend are really nice and the conversation flowed easily (in French of course), was quite a laugh actually. En plus, he paid for the meal! Pizza! And the dessert. And the wine. And the aperitif. And the digestif. And then he drove us home. Ah...la France. Off to work now then into town to pick up a few little leaving presents and stuff...and maybe treat myself! ... Had a lovely meal out with JPP last night. Him and his girlfriend are really nice and the conversation flowed easily (in French of course), was quite a laugh actually. En plus, he paid for the meal! Pizza! And the dessert. And the wine. And the aperitif. And the digestif.

And then he drove us home.

Ah...la France.

Off to work now then into town to pick up a few little leaving presents and stuff...and maybe treat myself!

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]]> Biarrrittttttzzzzzzz tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-09:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=150&entryid=113146 2008-06-09T17:08:22Z 2008-06-09T17:05:47Z Heading out for a leaving dinner with JPP (responsable) and the others in a minute (Cat leaves on Friday...another one bites the dust:-( ) so not time for a long email but yeah had a lovely weekend. Biarritz was a really nice place, funky shops, nice ambiance, cool beach, cute harbour, and had a totally relaxing 2 days napping and reading on the beach, which was totally needed. Was sunny, swam in the sea in MASSIVE WAVES, drank sangria, had ... Heading out for a leaving dinner with JPP (responsable) and the others in a minute (Cat leaves on Friday...another one bites the dust:-( ) so not time for a long email but yeah had a lovely weekend. Biarritz was a really nice place, funky shops, nice ambiance, cool beach, cute harbour, and had a totally relaxing 2 days napping and reading on the beach, which was totally needed. Was sunny, swam in the sea in MASSIVE WAVES, drank sangria, had nice meals out (including awesome brochettes which had to be seen to be believed!) and stayed in this well cute little hotel just up from beach (which was totally luxe by my standards!). Bit windy at times but meant the surfers were out in force which was cool and we totally tanned not realising how hot it was. Train back slightly annoying because theres been a fire at Coutras, but could have been worse.

School today kinda sucked again but SUPER excited about tomorrow because our wicked partner school in Otley has send an amazzzzing culture box for me to share with the children, including a school jumper which they're going to LOVE trying on, will take pics. Also happy because my private pupil said today that her grade has gone from an 8 (out of 20) to a 16 while I've been teaching her!!!

Sunny and sooooo humid today.

Biarrrittttttzzzzzzz remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> Argh tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-05:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=149&entryid=112614 2008-06-05T17:12:17Z 2008-06-05T17:12:17Z Bad day today. Well, no, really it was just one really bad lesson...that darned CE2 class again. They're just a nightmare...unpolite with no respect. I tried ignoring the behaivour and engaging them with the activities, shouting, lecturing them calmly about their lack of respect, moving children around, sending children out, getting them to work in silence....and still that group of boys messed around, and backchatted me. I am seriously hoping it's the teachers fault, which I think it is, because ... Bad day today. Well, no, really it was just one really bad lesson...that darned CE2 class again. They're just a nightmare...unpolite with no respect. I tried ignoring the behaivour and engaging them with the activities, shouting, lecturing them calmly about their lack of respect, moving children around, sending children out, getting them to work in silence....and still that group of boys messed around, and backchatted me. I am seriously hoping it's the teachers fault, which I think it is, because there is no way I could deal with that class for a year...

All I can say is thank goodness for P, CE1, who came up to me with a big smile before his lesson started witha piece of paper which said "Pour Lucie, de la part de Peter" and was covered in hearts!

Chased France Telecom to send me box for the livebox today and cancelled CAF. Time to get ready for tomorrow and pack for the weekend now...

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]]> bcp de progres! tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-04:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=148&entryid=112473 2008-06-04T17:42:39Z 2008-06-04T17:42:39Z Je suis vraiment contente (même s’il n’a pas fait le temps qu’on voulait pour faire un pique-nique aujourd’hui). Bref, j’ai fini mes trois dissertations pour l’année (c’est-à-dire celle de l’Europe, une discussion des détails visuels de Racine et une commentaire de Bajazet) ! Et, j’ai quand même trouvé le temps de bien nettoyer mon appartement ce matin. En plus, mon propriétaire est venu avec la prochaine locataire et il m’a dit que j’ai fait beaucoup de progrès en français cette ... Je suis vraiment contente (même s’il n’a pas fait le temps qu’on voulait pour faire un pique-nique aujourd’hui). Bref, j’ai fini mes trois dissertations pour l’année (c’est-à-dire celle de l’Europe, une discussion des détails visuels de Racine et une commentaire de Bajazet) ! Et, j’ai quand même trouvé le temps de bien nettoyer mon appartement ce matin.

En plus, mon propriétaire est venu avec la prochaine locataire et il m’a dit que j’ai fait beaucoup de progrès en français cette année...que mon accent est beaucoup meilleur et que les phrases ne m’échappent plus, je comprends tous ce qu’il me dit. Ca me plait beaucoup, d’entendre ça, parce qu’il reste encore des jours où je me sens vraiment nul et où je veux pas faire l’effort de parler.

Hier soir on a regardé un film français « Ne le dit à personne »...c’était bien fait mais je n’aime pas trop les films de ce genre, c’est frustrant de ne comprendre qu’à la fin ce que se passe.

D’ailleurs le temps passe trop vite. J’ai pas encore réussi à organiser tous avec France Telecom/la banque etc, et il y a beaucoup de choses que je VEUX encore faire à Périgueux  MAIS, en trois semaines, GLASTONBURY ! 

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]]> I forgot to say... tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-03:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=147&entryid=112324 2008-06-03T22:29:48Z 2008-06-03T22:29:48Z ...all the important stuff! Firstly, Sunday...there was meant to be this day of exciting free stuff, canoeing, biking, rollerblading, trampolines etc etc etc all along the river so me and Molly trot off totally up for some canoeing, to find, CANCELLED. Because of the weather. Sucks but we actually ended up having a lovely long walk all the way along the river to Leclerc and back, about 2hours in all, was nice and saw some cute baby duckies. And yesterday was Cat's ... ...all the important stuff!

Firstly, Sunday...there was meant to be this day of exciting free stuff, canoeing, biking, rollerblading, trampolines etc etc etc all along the river so me and Molly trot off totally up for some canoeing, to find, CANCELLED. Because of the weather. Sucks but we actually ended up having a lovely long walk all the way along the river to Leclerc and back, about 2hours in all, was nice and saw some cute baby duckies.

And yesterday was Cat's birthday so we all (well the 4 of us left!) went out for dinner, and it was AMAZING. Like a really top notch place, gotta be some of the best quality food I've had here and defo in Perigueux. For starter I had melon which came with a strawberry and lettuce salad and this yummy melon liqueur thingy, main course was duck in a really good peach sauce with AMAZING sauteed potatoes and then I had strawberries for dessert. Really good stuff. MMM.....

After some discussion with the other assistants I am on a "weather ban" from tomorrow!

night night

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]]> 03/06/08 tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-06-03:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=146&entryid=112296 2008-06-03T18:10:50Z 2008-06-03T18:10:50Z Yeah, essays nearly finished wooooo! Was back in the "oxford mindset" I guess today, spinning out a few thousand words this afternoon, feels good. To reward myself am gonna go to Biarritz for (God willing) some sunshine and sea for a couple of days this weekend, last trip away.... So off out tonight to book that and watch a French film...we just realised there is like a whole load of French films we havent seen yet so gonna try and crack ... Yeah, essays nearly finished wooooo! Was back in the "oxford mindset" I guess today, spinning out a few thousand words this afternoon, feels good. To reward myself am gonna go to Biarritz for (God willing) some sunshine and sea for a couple of days this weekend, last trip away....

So off out tonight to book that and watch a French film...we just realised there is like a whole load of French films we havent seen yet so gonna try and crack through some of them these net couple of weeks.

Oh and funny story today. Teaching food to my CE1/CE2 class, and little L trying to say "ice-cream" somehow (and completely innocently) gets the word "sex" out of her mouth, loud and clear, no denying it. I seriously had to fight back a laugh, especially when I saw a little grin come over the (not very smiley) teacher's face at the back of the room. It went over most of the kids heads although a few started murmering, and V got as far as "AHHHH, elle a dit un gros mot....ca, ca veut dire....." at which point I yelled "Valentine" very loudly to get her to shut up and cover up whatever she was about to say. Luckily she got the hint.

My CM1CM2 class asked how many lessons of English we had laughed and there were a few "ah non, c'est dommage..." which is nice. And yesterday when I was leaving Zola, little M-E was like following me though the playground grabbing hold of my bag and telling me that she really didn't want English to stop and that she was going to do German but now shes really happy he did English because she loves English.

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]]> sunshine after the rain tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-31:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=144&entryid=111803 2008-05-31T21:55:36Z 2008-05-31T17:27:41Z Woo! Have had 48 hours of sunnnnshiiinnnnnne. Went to see Jackpot (What happens in Vegas) at the cinema, was entertaining. Otherwise have mostly been "in the zone" trying to crack out this last essay and commentary so I can really enjoy my last couple of weeks here, profit from every minute before the Summer En Angleterre commences. Have made decisions on summer now and been having major fantasies about fish and chips on the beach and roast potatoes at home...mmmmmm..... ... Woo! Have had 48 hours of sunnnnshiiinnnnnne. Went to see Jackpot (What happens in Vegas) at the cinema, was entertaining. Otherwise have mostly been "in the zone" trying to crack out this last essay and commentary so I can really enjoy my last couple of weeks here, profit from every minute before the Summer En Angleterre commences. Have made decisions on summer now and been having major fantasies about fish and chips on the beach and roast potatoes at home...mmmmmm.....

So yeah, ca y est.

Off chez Cecile's tonight to watch Les poupees russes and eat popcorn!

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]]> A lesson in French music tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-29:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=143&entryid=111584 2008-05-29T21:26:30Z 2008-05-29T21:26:30Z ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLazFUErUI4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-5BdZSd-eI

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]]> Le debut de la fin tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-27:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=142&entryid=111215 2008-05-27T19:40:45Z 2008-05-27T19:40:45Z Got a bit of a cold and am pretty tired after a randomly crazy last night with Hari and Eddie (and the gang), so just gonna be a quick entry to get up to date. The weather absolutely sucks at the mo, sooo grey and wet, like November basically and really starting to get depressing, especially with all these "goodbyes",but has been some really goodtimes this weekend (as well as 2200 words of essayage!). Oh and Muriel has offered me ... Got a bit of a cold and am pretty tired after a randomly crazy last night with Hari and Eddie (and the gang), so just gonna be a quick entry to get up to date. The weather absolutely sucks at the mo, sooo grey and wet, like November basically and really starting to get depressing, especially with all these "goodbyes",but has been some really goodtimes this weekend (as well as 2200 words of essayage!). Oh and Muriel has offered me her house for a week of cat-sitting in August so that might be a good excuse to come back (especially as its the week of Perigueux's international festival of mime, Mimos)...but we'll see I should probably work...
Oh and Joe's exams are all finished, YAY! So have been able to have some nice relaxed proper chats with him lately, yay!!!

So yeah Katie arrived on Friday, was great to have her around this weekend, hear about her travels and stuff but she headed back for LA via Paris yesterday. :-(

Friday night was Hari's leaving party thrown by the surveillants at his school which was really funny, they put on some really good food, olives, ham etc, and then all rocked out to old English rock music, pretty entertaining. Saturday we laid in a bit and then Katie got her errands done to finish up in Perigueux while I got some serious essay writing done (this ones a literature essay on Racine). In the evening we all headed up to Claveille for a Eurovision party, took nibbles and drink and did a sweepstake and it was a really fun night, Eurovision always funny and, quelle surprise, we came bottom! but the France entry was cool. We ended up staying late reminiscing and Eddie had written a Perigueux song, was soo sweet and cool,ahhh the memories. Need to try and get a copy of the video of it. Lou stayed at mine too on Saturday night so on Sunday we had a chilled out day : chocolate milk, crepes, and nutella and baguette when we woke up at 12, an afternoon of essay, magazines and pic and mix, followed by pizza and Music and Lyrics in the evening. Lovely day.

My kids did some cute work yesterday and today for their correspondants in England. The younger ones wrote and decorated "My favourite things" letters and the older kids are working on a "My School" project, they're looking really good.

And yeah last night was Au Revoir to Eddie and Hari. But we sent them out with a true bang. Another amazing meal and some good wine at the Pataterie, followed by several giraffes at the Irish Corner, some random French talk with Guigui, Cecile and CEDRIC, a little stop at the fountain on the way home and me, Lou, Eddie and Hari did some crazy dancing at Claveille. Was super fun. Will miss everyone. But reuions are being planned across the world.

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]]> 21/05/08 tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-21:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=141&entryid=110310 2008-05-21T18:50:08Z 2008-05-21T18:50:08Z Alors, quoi de neuf? Couple of busy days at school...children unsettled but it's ok. Really pushed my classes of CM1/CM2 at Davesne, tried teaching them time and the concepts of "quarter to"/"half past" etc are kinda hard for them, but it was good, they're bright kids and it was interesting to really stretch them. When at home have been trying to crack on with my essay on Racine, have got a reasonable plan down now so just gotta get on with it ... Alors, quoi de neuf?

Couple of busy days at school...children unsettled but it's ok. Really pushed my classes of CM1/CM2 at Davesne, tried teaching them time and the concepts of "quarter to"/"half past" etc are kinda hard for them, but it was good, they're bright kids and it was interesting to really stretch them.

When at home have been trying to crack on with my essay on Racine, have got a reasonable plan down now so just gotta get on with it and WRITE IT.

Tomorrow there's a transport strike.

Lovely and sunny today, properly warm, yay!

Sadly didn't get out in it too much today...slept through a lot of the morning, last night we did the Perigueux Pub Crawl! We went to Cafe de la Place, Le Cercle (a new-ish wine bar), Cafe de Paris, Brasserie President Wilson, and the Irish Bar. Was fun! This afternoon we went back to the Aquacap swimming pool...think I might be getting an addiction to the hammam/sauna/jacuzzi!

Think thats about it really...

All good though. Joe finishes exams tomorrow, YAY!

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]]> Excellent French slang website tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-19:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=140&entryid=109929 2008-05-19T14:46:52Z 2008-05-19T14:46:52Z [url=http://www.ielanguages.com/frenchslang.html] ... http://www.ielanguages.com/frenchslang.html

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]]> I'm going to be British... tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-18:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=139&entryid=109816 2008-05-18T20:36:47Z 2008-05-18T20:36:47Z It is pissing me off. It is 10.30pm I have just been out for a wander with Molly which was muchly needed (some airrrr) as I have been sat studying and eating leftover junk food all day and it is gorgeous, almost a full-moon and feels like a perfect summer's evening. HOWEVER, all day it might as well have been February, cloudy, overcast and crazy crazy heavy rain showers this afternoon. And this has been the pattern of the last ... It is pissing me off. It is 10.30pm I have just been out for a wander with Molly which was muchly needed (some airrrr) as I have been sat studying and eating leftover junk food all day and it is gorgeous, almost a full-moon and feels like a perfect summer's evening. HOWEVER, all day it might as well have been February, cloudy, overcast and crazy crazy heavy rain showers this afternoon. And this has been the pattern of the last few weeks, the occasional sunny hour but certainly not the back to back glory I was hoping from my May/June in the South of France. And just to put the proveribal cherry on the cake...it's nice in England. How am I gonna make them jealous with my tan eh?!
Today I got excited when the BBC said sunshine for Tues/Weds/Thurs but the 10-day forecast has rain coming in again next weekend. Grr. And the Frenchies aren't supportive, all they keep saying is how "unusual" all this rain is for the time of year.

Grr. Grr.

Ok. rant over.

Last night we played Taboo. En francais. Twas fun.

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]]> Aquacap tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-17:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=138&entryid=109653 2008-05-17T14:33:06Z 2008-05-17T14:33:06Z Yesterday afternoon I went with Molly, Eddie and Hari to try out the brand new Perigueux swimming pool, it only opened on Thursday! Was really cool, much pricier than the old one but worth it, had a well good time. Had to get a bus there and queue for a while to get in, but once in we were met by rows and rows of changing rooms and lockers!!! The pool itself was really nicely designed, all wood ceilings and ... Yesterday afternoon I went with Molly, Eddie and Hari to try out the brand new Perigueux swimming pool, it only opened on Thursday! Was really cool, much pricier than the old one but worth it, had a well good time. Had to get a bus there and queue for a while to get in, but once in we were met by rows and rows of changing rooms and lockers!!! The pool itself was really nicely designed, all wood ceilings and nice, big windows (there'll be an outside bit open in Summer), when it started to get dimpsy outside they lit up the pools, was lovely. There was a standard "lengths" pool, a couple of childrens ones, a pretty good curly-wurly slide, and a cool adult pool with funky jets of water and stuff. We also paid to use the jacuzzi, sauna and hammam which was soooo good, ahhhh. Then we went out for dinner, goodtimes.

This morning I went to the book expo/sale at my school. The teachers were all there and pleased I showed up I think, had a coffee and biscuit with them and got to meet some of the parents which was funny. They had some nice displays of some of the kids work and a book sale, got a really cool book of proverbs.

The rest of the day has been lesson planning basically, boooorinnnng. But going to have dinner on Cecile's terrasse tonight which will be nice and then hopefully check out this Nuit des Musees thing (a load of the museums across France are open till midnight tonight which special events and stuff).

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]]> Les nouvelles de l'ecole tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-15:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=136&entryid=109353 2008-05-15T11:40:22Z 2008-05-15T11:40:22Z Woke up this morning and in my emails I had an email from Muriel (who is now acting Headteacher at my Tues/Fri school) and it's an invitation! To a "typically French dinner" in my honour at the school in my last week of lessons! Well excited, should be really cool. YAY! My other school has taken the note down which I'd put up saying I was leaving...so not so much hope there... HOWEVER, the directeur there and one of the teachers ... Woke up this morning and in my emails I had an email from Muriel (who is now acting Headteacher at my Tues/Fri school) and it's an invitation! To a "typically French dinner" in my honour at the school in my last week of lessons! Well excited, should be really cool. YAY! My other school has taken the note down which I'd put up saying I was leaving...so not so much hope there...

HOWEVER, the directeur there and one of the teachers were the chattiest they'd even been today. The breaktimes were RIDICULOUSLY long (I think because a lot of the teachers were striking the others thought "who cares?!")...like school started half an hour later and then the recreation at 10am was 45 mins long (meant to be 15)!!! But yeah one of the teachers who has always been friendly but not said much engaged me in a cool little conversation about schools in England and the directeur took my email address to give to an English friend here who edits an English puplication in the Dordogne and might want something written about the assistants.

It was cute this morning before school started, two of the kids from my first class spotted me up in their classroom from the playground, they started waving frantically and yelling "y a Lucy, y a Lucy" to anyone who would lesson and eventually there was like a group of about 10 kids from this class all looking up, waving etc and then I was treated to a delightful rendition of the colour song I'd taught them...super cute!

oh and there might be another strike NEXT Thursday...ha ha ha...

Les nouvelles de l'ecole remains copyright of the author Lucy H, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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]]> L'Auberge Espagnole tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-15:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=135&entryid=109351 2008-05-15T11:30:01Z 2008-05-15T11:30:01Z FINALLY watched "L'auberge espagnole" last night. This film has come up in conversation soooo many times this year and somehow I'd missed the hype and not seen it. It's pretty fitting to watch it during this year I guess as it's all about a guy who leaves his life (including hippy Mum and super-French girlfriend, Audrey Tautou) in Paris and heads to Barcelona for an Erasmus year. I guess in many ways his experience might be compared to ours...only there ... FINALLY watched "L'auberge espagnole" last night. This film has come up in conversation soooo many times this year and somehow I'd missed the hype and not seen it. It's pretty fitting to watch it during this year I guess as it's all about a guy who leaves his life (including hippy Mum and super-French girlfriend, Audrey Tautou) in Paris and heads to Barcelona for an Erasmus year. I guess in many ways his experience might be compared to ours...only there are a lot more international romantic interludes for these guys, and it's slightly depressing that at the end when he trys going back to his finance job he gets freaked out and runs off...that's soooo gonna be what I'll wanna do when I get back to the real world. It was pretty funny in places and the European 'stereotypes' aren't over-done, some of the morals are slightly weak (he's sleeping around with this married woman but then gets all depressed and 'woe is me' when his girlfriend tells him she hasn't been faithful either) but overall, yeah, pretty cool film...would recommend it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Auberge_espagnole

Need to watch the sequel now...

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]]> Wakey wakey rise and shine! tag:travellerspoint.com,2008-05-14:/blog/?domain=lucy-h&thisblog_entryid=134&entryid=109199 2008-05-14T08:31:44Z 2008-05-14T08:31:44Z Well it is 10am and so far has been a productive morning. Meeting with bank manager went well...so far everything seems almost TOO easy I can't quite let myself believe it. Bank: Apparently can just leave account open and send a letter with card and cheques from England when I want to close it. And should be able to do an international transfer online of my last pay cheque to English account. EDF/Water company: Call up day I leave, give them ... Well it is 10am and so far has been a productive morning.

Meeting with bank manager went well...so far everything seems almost TOO easy I can't quite let myself believe it.
Bank: Apparently can just leave account open and send a letter with card and cheques from England when I want to close it. And should be able to do an international transfer online of my last pay cheque to English account.
EDF/Water company: Call up day I leave, give them the numbers and my English address so they should send bill there.
CAF: Call a week before I leave and tell them I'm moving out of appartment.
France Telecom: Have written a letter so in theory they should send me a box to return livebox in and stop direct debits from end of June.

And err I think that's it. All sorted with landlord, just need to find a time on last day for him to come and check things over/give me deposit back etc.

So yeah from the bank I wandered into town with my shopping bag and strolled round the market. It really is a lovely ambiance, and 9.30am is defo the best time to be there, loads of people, the fruit and veg smells amazing, and yeah was a "woah I love France" moment. Got some strawberrys from a guy who gabbled at me about how he doesn't use any chemicals on them for about 10 minutes, but I didn't get much more than that, he had a CRAZY accent.

Have kinda come to a stand-still now, waiting for library/piscine to open.

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