Almost a Month In!

I feel as though I have been very negative in this blog so far. That isn't fair, and it isn't fun to read either! There have been some great things about being here in this first month. (A lot of them might have to do with food...)
So here is a small sample list of three things I like about being here:

1. CHATEAUX (CASTLES)
Yeah. You are driving along on the highway with the family, who are playing a version of I-spy in which the mother tells the girls what to look for ( a green sign, a red house, cows, etc) and when they see the item they clap. Yeah. She tells them to clap when they see a chateau. Like it is not big deal. AWESOME.
Also, just LOOK AT THIS




2. Trains.
You can take the train just about anywhere. And after having bought the AMAZING Carte 12-25 (a traveler's discount card for those between the ages of 12 and 25) for 49 euros, I can get a round trip to Paris and back for under 15 euros. That is amazing.

3. Language
The French have many fewer words than English speakers. There are approx. 1,010,649.7 words in English (or at least that is what it says here) while NPR tells me that French has fewer than 100,000. Thanks, Academie Francaise! Anyway, while there are pros and cons to having so few words, the words I have heard people use here seem more beautiful, creative, and powerful. Its like when an English professor tells me to cut out my passive language: all my "kind of"s and "seems like"s and "like"s. The French do that more automatically.
Today I walked past a guy on the street and he said something to me like "Bonsoir ma fleur" (something like "goodnight, my flower").
Now, he might have been making fun of me. Who knows? But the fact remains that I could not help smiling at the fact that he called me his flower, serious or not. I do believe that I will never hear strange men on the street in the US call me their flower, even in jest, and that is a little too bad.

(AND also the fact that Miss Mia is only 1.5 hours away by train helps a lot). We have some good times together :)

Everybodys' workin' for the weekend

While complaining about the difficulties of this job to a friend, she asked me what my priorities were, as far as my reasons for coming to France.
I stopped and thought.
The main reasons I came here were not, in fact, to work all the time and become super tight with a French family (Although getting along better with the mother would make things so much easier!). I decided to do this whole au pair thing because it was the easiest way to get back over to France. I wanted to live in France for an extended period of time (check). I wanted to travel all over (past and future check). I wanted to improve my French (we're working on it...). I wanted to have something to do after graduating (duh) to give me time to think about what I want to do with my life (not even close, although I have ruled out being an au pair for the rest of my life). And maybe another goal was to challenge myself and push myself outside my comfort zone (success with that).
So, it actually seems as if I am doing (most of) what I set out to do.

In other news, my first day of school is today. While I am excited for the opportunity to meet people, this also means I don't have a chance to get in my mid-morning nap. ;)
After the placement exam I was placed (on the cusp of/) in C1 with one other girl (the highest level). Alas, the schedules came out and there was about 6 hours of class on Wednesdays. As Mrs. S told me Wednesdays are completely impossible, this posed a problem. I talked with the woman in charge and got the schedule for B2. There are also classes on Wed. but only 3 hours. I figured if I am going to have to miss class all the time, it might be better to miss the easier classes.
My suggestion for this family for next time: don't go through the university. There are plenty of private schools (Mia and Julia both going to one of these) that have an au pair schedule in mind. The classes are in the middle of the day and never on wednesdays. It is very frustrating to be put in this position of being in the middle of two completely inflexible schedules. Grrr.

THIS WEEKEND
Mia and I visited Pierrefonds. The castle was magical, and the weekend fantastic. But now its back to the daily grind.

Paris, Umbrellas, Hysteria, Wednesdays, and Castle #1

Helloooooo.

Almost three weeks in! (With relative success).

Paris:
Sunday I went into Paris early in the morning to meet up with ma chere amie Mia!
Took the train into Saint Lazar, then the metro to Gare de Lyon. Then walked across the river to Les Jardins des Plantes (Paris' biggest botanical garden). Right behind the garden is the Paris Mosque (and more importantly for us, the Paris Mosque Tea Room). There we sat under the trees in the courtyard, sipping delicious honey mint tea. It was a lovely start to the day.
We made additional stops are Shakespeare and Co, then back tracked a bit to hit up Berthillon. After, we headed over to another of my favorite places in Paris, Les Jardins du Luxembourg.
We stopped for lunch at another old favorite, Cosi. Heavenly sandwiches. Then we walked back to the Marais district and made a short tour of the Musee Cognacq-Jay which consists of couple's personal art collection housed in their residence.
Finally we walked by the Pompidou center and sat in front of the fountains drinking Kir and eating dinner.
It was a lovely day and felt a bit like coming home. We walked by certain stores or places along the Seine and I would remember what fun we all had just a year and a half ago on that spot.

Umbrellas:
The other day I was walking about Rouen (If you thought the Cathedral was cool, you should check out the Abbaye Saint Ouen with its wonderfully Gothic flying buttresses!) when it started to rain. Luckily I had brought my umbrella. It is probably the brightest umbrella French people have ever laid their eyes on. But I didn't mind. I was reminded of when, on the FSP trip, certain people (me included some of the time) wanted to be as "french" as possible. That meant dressing, walking, acting, eating, etc. like the French people they observed. There is definitely something to be said for not wanting to be under the severe judgment that comes with most American stereotypes. But I am American. It is more a part of my identity than I thought. And despite the stereotypes, there is no reason for me to pretend like I am anything else. I have come to appreciate America and being American. I don't WANT to be French, or anything else (at least not most of the time). And while I love France, I would not want to live here permanently. I really appreciate experiences like this one and my study abroad trips for helping me discover parts of my identity that I had taken for granted.

Hysteria:
Yesterday I encountered the worst fit I have ever seen/had to deal with. And it is not like I have no experience at this taking-care-of-children-thing either (having been babysitting before 12 years of age).
Sa, the middle girl, threw the worst fit I have ever seen/heard. She was literally in hysterics. Normally I would deal with this be leaving her alone for a while, or sending her to her room, etc. Except we needed to go pick up her baby sister from the nurse. I tried picking her up, she kicked and writhed to the point where I couldn't even hold her. I asked her what was wrong. She screamed - the kind of scream one screams when terrified for one's life. Lu (the eldest) tried to help, but nothing was working. I called her mom at work and had her talk with Sa, in hopes that it would calm her down. Luckily it did, at least enough for us to get her coat on and pick up Am. It was a rough day.

Wednesdays:
Are my hardest day. The girls don't have school (which means I deal with events like above ALL DAY). I find myself dreading Wednesdays, and the fact that I have absolutely no time to myself. They generally turn out better than I fear, but I wonder if that is because I have such low expectations...?

Castles:
THIS is going to be GREAT.
Mia and I are visiting Chateau Pierrefonds this upcoming weekend!!! I am so excited. Fun fact: the BBC show 'Merlin' shoots on location at THIS castle, using it as Camelot!

Two weeks in

As of 9 hours from now, I will have been in France for Two Whole Weeks.

This is mostly what I have been doing:
6:45 AM - Arise. Unload dishwasher. Set table. Prepare girls' breakfasts.
7:30ish - Eat.
8ish - Dress Lu and Sa for school
8:25 - Lu and Sa depart
9:30 - I take Am to la nourrice . Across town and up four flights
10-4: I nap, check facebook, walk about town, eat lunch, clean the girls' room, stop in at a cafe and read a book, etc.
4:15 - Pick up girls from school. We then buy bread for the day, and have a snack.
5:30 - We pick up Am. Again with the fourth-floor. Man. I maintain France = stairs.
(and bread)
(and dairy products)
6/6:30 - Bath time!
7 ish - set table, help get dinner ready.
8 ish - EAT
9 ish - Girls go to bed, Natalie goes to her room and gets on the computer. Then falls asleep. And wakes up and does it again.

*Except weekends and Wednesdays when the girls dont have school

This is Am. Sometimes after her sisters are at school we come up here and play:



Surprising revelations/questions include:
- Mothers of young children must have incredibly, terrifyingly strong arms
- All the clothes I have worn are now themselves clad in cracker crumb-that-was-soggy-but-is-now-dry-and-crusty stuff
- Why do French washing machines take two hours???
- One must pay attention while walking on the street, for many different reasons. Not the least of which being if Sa is not looking where is going she smacks her head on a car side mirror. And there is dog poop everywhere.
- The verb "to take" as in to take a test, is Passer. If I pass a test, it is no guarantee that I actually passed it.
- I am beginning to want to write everything in French.

A tout a l'heure, mes amis.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from Rouen
This is what your bath looks like when you have to give three little girls baths every day:

My House, Logis St Eloi

Eglise Maclou

A street neaby

The Rouen Cathedral

More Eglise Maclou

Another side view of the Cathedral

Une semaine apres...

I have officially been here over one week. And what a week it has been.

First impressions read like this:

- I love being in France.
- My living situation/job situation on the other hand is a bit...difficult and delicate.
- How do parents DO it, anyway? I am so exhausted I nearly fall into bed at the end of the day.
- I now know the proper way to make a french vinaigrette for salad (which, coincidentally, if described in detail in this book)
- Cafe Richard coffee is as good as ever
- France still = stairs. Seriously. This doesn't even begin to describe
- Hard days are made better by discovering little places like a used book store that doubles as a salon de the.
- It is Europe, after all, so of course the cathedral which so enthralled Monet (he painted it 30 times in a span of 2 years) is covered in scaffolding until next July.
- I can honestly say that I am excited for class to start, so I can begin to meet more people.
- I miss HUGS.
- Living in the middle of the city is FANTASTIC. Except for the meal prices.
- After a while, I find myself agreeing to things I don't understand. I am not quite focusing my attention, and people will look at me with a pleasant expression and ask me a question. And I will reply in the affirmative. Thinking back over these interactions makes me laugh :) This brain-work of translation does take a physical toll, even if a small one (and I am happy to say, it is a smaller toll than last time I was here).


This week has been about a lot of hard work, awkward conversations/stern talkings-to, crying children, flights upon flights of stairs, and lovely walks about town. Honestly it has been more difficulty than joyousness, but hopefully we will remedy in the weeks to come.

More pics from Houlgate

Our second day in Houlgate we went out to "peche des coques" which is looking for tiny mussel-like crustaceans when the tide is out. Houlgate is unique in its tides, because it is so flat. We walked what must have been at least a mile on the beach (more broken shells than sand) before reaching water that wasn't even the "real" sea yet. Then later that day on our drive back, the tide was all the way up to the boardwalk.

Greetings from Houlgate

(pronounced ool-gaahh(t))

We did make it to the beach after all. The family comes here nearly every weekend from spring to October. Its a quite, small little town which caters more to the French on vacation than to tourists.(starred is Rouen and Houlgate)


I met the girls the other day. The first minute or two they were shy - after that, there was really no turning back. I don't know if I have ever met such energetic little kids. Holy cow. And they are at that stage when they love to climb and hang on people. Or maybe its just me they want to hang on to, as I haven't seen them do it to anyone else.

I went on a walk today around Houlgate. It is an adorable town, with houses like I have never seen before. Here are some pictures:

Arrivé

Comfort is the watch word here.

Thats what I have been looking for all day.
This search began when I was dropped off at the empty house to unpack all my things (plans changed - no beach, no kiddos). Even before Mrs. S left for work, something in my brain started tweaking out, flinging questions like "Why did you EVER think you wanted to do this?" "A whole freaking YEAR?" "Are you actually going to be able to do that?" at my already waning self-confidence. Now, I am sure that less-than-one-half-hour of sleep in the past couple days might have been a contributing factor to this mess, but after talking with one lovely Glady I realized that maybe this is just something that happens.
So I freaked out a little about saying goodbye to nearly everything familiar, about working for and living with the same people, about feeling really profoundly alone. I'm sure it wont be the last time.
And I am going to allow myself that, and move on.

So I searched for things that gave me comfort. My sister left a gift for me in my suitcase, I put a couple photos up in some frames, I unpacked and remembered all the times I had gone through the very same motions before. I went on facebook. Yes, as much as it kills me to say it, facebook helped me feel less estranged from everything on that other of the map.

I took a one hour walk around town (got a little lost, turned into a two hour walk - but at least I was DOING something. And I found my way in the end). It felt good.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it very difficult to play the tourist solo? I didn't take any pictures today, and desperately tried not to pull out my emergency map. But I figure there will be plenty of time to get to know the town and take plenty of pictures.
I have nearly a year left, after all.