Before arriving in France I was instructed to be pushy and aggressive and to yell at any uncooperative bureaucrats until I got my way. Imagine my surprise when the dreaded titre de séjour (residency permit) process was finished without any delays and all of the clerks at the Préfecture were fine. Opening a bank account […]
Download or listen to Four-Eyed Girl by Rhett Miller.
This morning I had my last class with rowdy, lovable 2de 5, the sporty class whose students assured me last week “We are not the children.” I made them chocolate chip cookies and they were really pleased. I was sad to say goodbye, but it didn’t seem […]
[Here’s a draft I started writing in January, just after we returned from England, and then let collect Internet dust until now. I have tried to remember our trip accurately, but I’m sure I’ve forgotten lots of the details. Anyway, better late than never, right?]
Bret’s Angry Dance, Flight of the Conchords episode 12.
On par with Napoleon Dynamite, I think.
Miles posted this article called Against School, which I read this morning just after reading an opinion piece in the New York Times called Clueless in America. The two articles make an interesting juxtaposition. Clearly, something is wrong with our public education. I wish I could say I had been surprised by either of them, […]
[This actually happened a long time ago, but while I’m writing, I might as well share it.]
The woman at my school in charge of all the finances, the intendante, is very sweet. I’ve been to see her a few times to buy lunch at school, so she knows who I am. She is always smiling […]
Yesterday in class, I had my secondes (sophomores) play a game in which they were divided into two teams. This particular class is composed entirely of sportifs, students who are seriously involved in a sport in high school and who take four years to finish instead of the usual three. My school is special because […]
Preserved here before I forget the whole dialogue, all of which has been translated into English.
“You’re going to the Reserve–” I started to ask one of the three men hanging around the dock in Porto. I had planned on finishing my sentence with of Scandola and the village of Girolata today at 9:30?, but one of […]
We have returned from Corsica. We went hiking every day, tried regional specialties like brocciu and vin de myrthe, stuck our feet in the Mediterranean, met local characters on the bus and saw hundreds of lizards. It was great.
The rest of my pictures are on flickr, as usual, and Joe’s will be available once he goes […]
Some of my students have spent the morning taping paper fish to the backs of other, unsuspecting students. That’s what the French do for April Fool’s.
I considered tricking my students but since they often don’t understand me when I’m telling the truth, it seemed too mean. Instead, I tried to explain what happens […]