I passed this sign while walking down Rue de la Liberté a few days ago, and it took me awhile to figure out what was wrong with it. Later I went back and photographed it, as proof that it’s not my fault if I mélange the French and the English un peu, okay?
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 […]
[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 […]
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 […]
Joe and I went to Grenoble for our long weekend. There was snow, as you can see, so Joe’s desire to hike in a snowy forest was finally satisfied. We hiked up to a river called–no joke–La Pissarde. There were waterfalls and snowballs.
Other moments:
(1) Tartiflette followed by chocolate fondue at La Fondue. […]
This is my colleague Nathalie: English teacher by day, jazz singer by night. I have a lot of respect for her because she works hard to organize artsy projects for her students–acting, singing, drawing. (Also, she’s a good performer herself.) It’s good because there are no art or music classes at […]
These barrels are in a cave in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and they are filled with wine from Pommard and the Hospices de Beaune. Both Beaune and Nuits-Saint-Georges have hospitals that own vineyards and sell wine to raise money. We went to the Hospices de Beaune’s wine auction in November, mostly to gawk at the prices […]
This article describes the recent dance craze in France, called the Tektonik. There are some videos as well. My students love this dance and talk about it all the time–I would have mentioned it earlier but I didn’t know how to describe it. This is the description I have from my students: ”Ben… tu te décoiffes… […]