The Outside of my School

Here is the front of my school. The students hang out out front when they are smoking or skipping class. It's a pretty school, but rather old and small--much smaller than PHS.

The left side of the school.

The right side of the school.

Here is the sign in front of my school. In this picture you can sort of see the main doors off to the right. The door is only open in between classes and at the beginning and end of the day. Any other time you have to press a bell to get buzzed in. There has been a lot more security everywhere I have went so far in France. Because I I am free to come and go whenever I want, unlike the students, I also have a key for the main door(noone is there on the weekends or qt night to buzz me in and out so I have to have one).

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, my faith in humanity has been restored!

(Note: sorry in advance for my terrible typing: all of the punctuation, the a,q,w, and m are all in the wrong places so I really have to hunt and peck.)

Time and time again on my long voyage I was confronted with fantastic people who supported and helped me....every step along the way. Just when I was beginning to become so synical about the intrinsic good nature of humanity and Americans in general, something like this happens to restore my faith...I'm not sure I would have made it here with my sanity without their help! Whoever you are, je vous remerci mille fois!

I was a little shaken up on the plane from Charleston to Detroit...yes, yes I shed a few tears and wondered what temporary insanity had taken me when I decided this would be a good idea...but with the kind words and encouragement of the two men sitting around me, I had regained my composure by wheels down in Detroit. And who would have thought that a fellow Parkersburgian...let alone someone I know--or at least whose children I know--would be on my flight to Detroit and also to Amsterdam. It is indeed a small world because Mr. Tunell was on both of my flights! He was flying to Marseilles for work. It was nice...during our lay over in Amsterdam we talked about Nick, Cory, soccer, and other people we both knew. It really helped to pass the time and keep me from worrying too much.

The Toulouse airport was a little scary as was traveling with my huge suitcases after I retreived them from the airpot. But a kind man helped me get them on the shuttle to the train station, and I managed to get them off myself. I also got them on and off the trains myself as well, and finally arrived in Limoux--18 hours later--without any significant tragedy.

My first couple hours in Limoux were really hard, I'm not going to lie. They were giving me keys, showing me around, explaining the procedure for eating and leaving the building after hours and on weekends. I was on information overload, not to mention the fact that I was probably only understanding about a third of everything being told to me.

BUT--the team of English teachers here that I am going to be working with are all very nice and very funny. Two of them don't seem that much older than me, which is nice. They were very helpful and considerate. Françoise et Virginie took me and the Spanish assistant, who is from El Salvadore, to dinner after which I slept for almost 16 hours. I still don't think I'm completely adjusted to the time change because I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep last night--or maybe that was just nerves.

Anyway, on Tuesday I bought my meal tickets and filled out most of the paperwork that I have to do. Today I think I'm going to explore town and maybe try to buy a phone. I want to get a phone before training next Wednesday in Montpellier so that I can exchange numbers with all of the English assistants I meet.

Virginie is going to take me to open my bank account on Friday. I'm glad I don't have to do that alone--I'm still not very confident with my French. I hope that gets better. I ate dinner last with the Spanish assistant, Luis, and some of the surveillants from the school. It's sort of like a boarding school in that the students live here during the week. The surveillants are kind of like their chaperones when they aren't in class. They are closer to my age than the students. Anyway, the one guy was super nice...but I had to ask him to repeat two or three times almost everything he said. I felt really bad about it. Everyone just talks so fast, and the southern accent is rather pronounced....

Anyway, stop your worrying, I made it in one piece...

Also, for some reason I can't get on IM here, so if you want to talk to me I suggest you look into Skype. It's an Internet phone service that is free for international calls from computer to computer. I've already talked to my parents several times using it and it works very well. I'm already getting kind of homesick so it would be great to talk to some people. My handle is Murph1613, also you can look me up by e-mail, which is Murph_1613@yahoo.com

I guess that's all for now...
bissous,
Murph

5, 4, 3...

Let the countdown begin!
Spend a wonderful weekend with your best friends from the good ol' PKB....check
Spend a wonderful weekend in Philly with your brother and fantastic family...check
Procrastinate sending in your visa application and anxiously bite your nails until you finally receive your visa in the mail...check
Spend a wonderful weekend just being lazy with the parents...check


Almost time to leave. The plane departs from Charleston Sunday. And then...a whole new world awaits me!


Next post will be from across the pond, folks!


Cheers,
Murph

English For All class A

My lovely students! On the left, Olena Kubant. She is from the Ukraine. Her two daughters also take EFA classes. Her husband does post doctoral work in biochemistry for the University. On the right, Yuhong Dai. She is from Shanghai, China. She was in Athens for the summer visiting her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. Her son-in-law is studying for his PhD at OU. Both of these wonderful women worked so hard! I learned so much from them, and hopefully, them from I.

My Savior

Since my last post I have been in correspondence with Emily, Limoux's previous English language assistant, and she has been an absolute life saver! Here's what I've learned from her so far...

• Limoux is indeed a small town, but that there are many opportunities to get involved with sport clubs such as tennis and kayacking. She also said the area is great for hiking and cycling. It sounds almost like Athens and Hocking Hills...maybe this won't be too much of a change after all :)
• My room in the Interat will include a single bed, desk and chair,TV, internet connection, ensuite bathroom with shower, and toilet and sink
• I won't have access to a kitchen save a microwave and fridge, but I can eat the majority of my meals (for a small fee) in the school's cafeteria. A French cafeteria--I'm interested to see what this is like and what food they prepare...
• Carcassonne is an easy commute from Limoux, and there are more English assistants located there (and a better young adult social scene) , should I chose to rent a room somewhere else on the weekends as she did
• The weather last year was fairly mild until a short cold spell with some snow in December. In January it began to warm up and they were going to the beach by March/April.
• I have to do my own laundry outside of the school, but if I choses to use the bedding the schools provides, they will wash it for me.

She gave me many other tips and recomendations on things like where to shop, which bank to use, etc, but I don't want to put you to sleep. Suffice it to say that she has been incredibly helpful and I sleep a lot easier at night knowing that if I have any crises I can ask her what she did or for her advice. She's been super about getting back to me in a timely matter as well. She also offered to let me stay with her if I decided to fly to London, which was very nice. Preparations are advancing very nicely...

I don't wanna grow up, I'm a ToysRUs kid...

Well, quite a lot has happened since my last post. Monday the 6th was my birthday. Twenty-three. Wow. I don't feel that old, but, you know, it really starts to sink in as all of your friends start going their own ways in the real world--getting jobs, settling down, getting married. It's really rather overwhelming. But, I'm not in a huge hurry to do any of those things. Maybe that's why I'm running away to Europe for a couple months--to avoid making real decisions about my life? Who knows.

Anyway, my birthday was quaint, which was nice. I love my family and don't know what I would do without them. It wasn't the shore, and it wasn't all of my crazy family--but it was still nice. I didn't get to go to the Irish Festival in Doublin like I had wanted because of the rain, but it's ok. I wanted to thank everyone who sent cards, presents, phone calls, and birthday wishes--you made my day <333

What else has happened since then? I got to spend a wonderful weekend with the lovely Juliann Zaylor and Paul Wariner. Paul's hockey coach was getting married and they came to Athens for the wedding. It was great to see them. Along those lines, my grandparents came down for a weekend, and my Aunt Sue, Uncle Brad, and cousin Kandice drove down for the day on Sunday. I'm so glad that so many of my friends and family are making an effort to come see me before I leave, it makes me feel special and loved. It will be great to remember and look back on when I start to feel lonely in France.

This week is the last week of classes. My last day with the students is tommorrow, and then there is a party for all of the English for All students and teachers on Thursday. It will be a nice end to the summer. I will finally have time to breathe, but I am going to miss my students. They are wonderful. Today Vance and Squeak are coming for most of our furniture so all that will be left in the APT is the couch and my bedroom stuff. Today I'm going to pack up the majority of my dishes and kitchen utensils/appliances. It's getting empty, almost time to be out...

I am; however, going to continue working at Scripps through the end of August and maybe the first week of September. I need the cash, that's all there is to it. So, if you live in Athens and wouldn't mind having me on your couch for a night or two, you should let me know! : )

I don't have time right now to post the rest of the developments, but I wanted to get something up--it has been so long since I've posted. I guess I'll just have to keep you in suspense until I have time to post again...

Ciao!

Moving out, moving on...

My lease is up in two weeks so I have been packing all of my stuff to take home in increments. Packing up my clothes, my books, my scrapbooks, my pictures. Packing up my life to sit and gather dust in my basement while I gallivant around France for a year. Leaving Athens, really brings home the reality of my eminent departure. Probably better than anything else could. It's go time.

My last couple weeks have been the stuff memories are made of--and I'm sure the next two weeks will continue the trend. The only thing I hate is that I seem to be making all these new friends and really getting to know some of the old ones only to leave in a few short weeks. But alas, that's life.

My English class is going fantastically well. I absolutely LOVE my students and am going to miss them so much. They all work so hard and it is the best feeling in the world when they finally get whatever I have been addressing. They are all older women, and I know how hard it is to learn and retain a second language late in life--that makes each small step even sweeter! We've taught each other so much. I really like teaching, and I think I'm rather good at it. We'll see how next year goes, maybe a career change is in the cards for me. Who knows? I meant to take my GREs this summer so that I could go to grad school when I got home, if that's what I decided to do--at least keep that door open, but somehow that didn't happen. It's been such a busy summer I guess I just forgot! Oh well, I'll figure something out. Always do.

Ok, ok...I know you don't want to hear about my boring life, you want to hear about France! Well, here's the news so far:

I wrote to someone from my school last week and finally got a response back. The school that I am going to be teaching in is rather small--700 students. I'm going to be teaching juniors, seniors, and post-bacs (students that failed their bac). I'm going to have approx. 35 students, but I'm going to have them in two classes of 17 or so. I still am not sure what their proficiency level is, that's one of the things I asked François when I wrote him back.

I start on the first of October, and have training on the 10th of October...you know, because it makes sense to have training after you've already been working for a week and a half. The training is in Montpellier, which I think is also, rather conveniently, where I have to go to get my citizenship card. Maybe I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone. And François is going with me, he is one of the teachers running the training, so I won't screw up the train tickets or anything on my first trip. That will be nice. He'll make sure I understand everything and know where I'm going. From his letter he seems like a really nice guy. He's been teaching English at my school for 12 years.

Oh! I almost forgot the best part! Because France is so rural, most of the high schools are set up like semi-boarding schools. That is to say that the students live at the school during the week and go home on the weekends. Fortunately for me, they reserve rooms in the dormitory for the language assistants and it's free! F-R-E-E!!! I've never read a more beautiful sentence. Not having to pay rent will save me so much money and I will be able to travel so much more! He said the room is small and the school is empty and depressing on the weekends. The assistant last year opted to rent a room in Carcassonne on the weekends. Something like that is always an option, but at least I have somewhere to stay when I get there and can worry about those things later.

There isn't a women's rugby team in my city or at my school, but François seemed to be pretty excited that I play.Toulouse (an hour away from me) is like France's rugby capitol, and he said I will make many friends in our area through the game. He also said that the teachers would help me start a team at our school if that was something I wanted to do. Wow. Start my very own rugby team, in France no less! Don't think I'm quite ready for that. Five year olds in France probably know more about rugby than I do. But, I think I'm going to take my boots and shorts just in case!

I think that is all the news for now. I wrote both François and Emily (the assistant from last year) long e-mails with a million more questions and will post again when I hear back from them. Until then I'm going to go home and finish Steph's scrapbook (finally!) with my mom, and then it's birthday time! JZ is coming next weekend, I might be going to Norfolk sometime after that, and then it's Philly for Matt's big 2-1 and to say goodbye to the family. A busy end to a busy summer!

Cheers!
Murph