Today was an extremely busy, errand filled day. First I woke up and did yoga as I do almost everyday. Then I needed to go to those Fotomaton things that are significantly featured in the film Amelie. I had to get passport photos for program, even though they said 2 months ago they had everything they needed from me. But alas after a semi-argument over email with a student assistant I decided to go to one of these Fotomaton's and get my pictures. After that, (and a loss of 5 euros for that), I took the metro to the first school I will be teaching at tomorrow. I live in the 4th arrondissement, and had to take two different lines to get to the school in the 17th. It took about 40 minutes with a little added time for Google maps getting me lost in the neighborhood. But, I finally found the school. Then I had lunch at a nearby cafe. After lunch, I took the metro from this school to my NYU Paris building. This was to test what will be my Tuesday evening commute from teaching to class. This took about 35 minutes with a little more Google maps getting confused on the Parisian streets. But again, I managed to find it. I dropped of the passport photos and decided to take the bus back home. The bus costs 2 euros, (one metro ride slightly cheaper at 1.80 euros), and took what felt like 10 minutes to get me back home to Bastille. I decided to do one more errand and found a nearby Office Depot (I know, even in Paris #globalization). I made some photocopoies for my lesson tomorrow and bought a few more notebooks for school. After all those errands, I made it back home finally. I had a very long but interesting day observing people on the metro, bus and buying school supplies last minute. The most challenging and interesting part of the day was getting lost looking for a mislabeled metro stop. The line I was looking for used to have Porte d'Orleans as its last stop. I am familiar with this because it is where I lived last time I was in Paris. But the last stop on this line s now Montrouge. I followed signs for Montrouge as normal only to fins myself on the side of the metro going the opposite direction. After circling around forever, I found two other people doing the same thing. We went off together and eventually found the right direction for our metro. Who says the French are rude? I had quite the full day and am looking forward to going over my lesson plan for tomorrow and relaxing before Orientation Friday!
Au revoir!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Thursday, August 27, 2015
La Vie en Education
Salut!
I am happy to report that I have accepted a teaching position with an English teaching organization called CapEnglish. So in addition to my graduate courses, I will be teaching English to elementary students for four hours a week! I will be in two different schools, one public and one private. The company is very generous in providing lesson plans and some supplies. The goal of the company is to give young children early exposure to English with native speaker teachers. Each lesson is supposed to be conducted in English at all times, or most of the time for the younger children. I met with the program director earlier this evening and he gave me all this information. It seems like it will be a very supportive community. I am very excited to be teaching again! I was worried that I may not be and am grateful for the opportunity. The lesson plans include a lot of games, reading and music- so I feel right up my alley. I think I will also get a different perspective with elementary children and private school experience, as last time I worked in a middle school. My first day of teaching is Tuesday! I will report back on how it went.
Au revoir!
Also my blog keeps trying to spellcheck everything to keep it in French, but for the sake of my English readers, I'll keep it this way :)
I am happy to report that I have accepted a teaching position with an English teaching organization called CapEnglish. So in addition to my graduate courses, I will be teaching English to elementary students for four hours a week! I will be in two different schools, one public and one private. The company is very generous in providing lesson plans and some supplies. The goal of the company is to give young children early exposure to English with native speaker teachers. Each lesson is supposed to be conducted in English at all times, or most of the time for the younger children. I met with the program director earlier this evening and he gave me all this information. It seems like it will be a very supportive community. I am very excited to be teaching again! I was worried that I may not be and am grateful for the opportunity. The lesson plans include a lot of games, reading and music- so I feel right up my alley. I think I will also get a different perspective with elementary children and private school experience, as last time I worked in a middle school. My first day of teaching is Tuesday! I will report back on how it went.
Au revoir!
Also my blog keeps trying to spellcheck everything to keep it in French, but for the sake of my English readers, I'll keep it this way :)
Monday, August 24, 2015
La Vie en Confusion
Hey everyone!
Update of my first few days in Paris! I've decided that moving to another country is hard. Not everything is different, but many things are. Outlets are different, buying produce at a grocery store is different, language is different. Though I have lived in Paris before, this time around things are a little more challenging. My apartment is all set up and despite the eight flights of stairs instead of the four advertised online, I'm really liking it. I've had some phone troubles as well and for some reason can't send texts or calls other than through apps like Whatsapp. This isn't a huge deal yet, but if and when my program starts, I will need to text people. So this is my first major thing to figure out. I have a list of little errands to do-buying groceries, school supplies, metro pass. I have this week and next to get everything sorted, like figuring out the bus system. But these first few days have been a bit stressful because I don't have absolutely everything figured out like I thought I would. I know that in time I will laugh at the fact that I couldn't figure out how to self-label produce or that I couldn't figure out how to get inside my nearest yoga studio. For now, I will continue to take pictures of the sights while I try to figure everything out. I have a teaching internship in the works and orientation will be here soon. Hopefully the adventures continue and my life here will get a little easier. I am still so glad to have such a unique opportunity in a city I love, despite its difficulties! Au revoir for now!
Update of my first few days in Paris! I've decided that moving to another country is hard. Not everything is different, but many things are. Outlets are different, buying produce at a grocery store is different, language is different. Though I have lived in Paris before, this time around things are a little more challenging. My apartment is all set up and despite the eight flights of stairs instead of the four advertised online, I'm really liking it. I've had some phone troubles as well and for some reason can't send texts or calls other than through apps like Whatsapp. This isn't a huge deal yet, but if and when my program starts, I will need to text people. So this is my first major thing to figure out. I have a list of little errands to do-buying groceries, school supplies, metro pass. I have this week and next to get everything sorted, like figuring out the bus system. But these first few days have been a bit stressful because I don't have absolutely everything figured out like I thought I would. I know that in time I will laugh at the fact that I couldn't figure out how to self-label produce or that I couldn't figure out how to get inside my nearest yoga studio. For now, I will continue to take pictures of the sights while I try to figure everything out. I have a teaching internship in the works and orientation will be here soon. Hopefully the adventures continue and my life here will get a little easier. I am still so glad to have such a unique opportunity in a city I love, despite its difficulties! Au revoir for now!
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
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