Last night Allison and Rahel came over for dinner. It was very nice to just relax and enjoy some food and conversation, accompanied, of course, by good French wine! Today is Sunday, otherwise known as the day everything is closed and the buses don't run. So I finally cleaned the whole apartment which is lovely and timely as Otalia is coming home tomorrow. It's bizarre...I found it quite lonely at first when she left but now I've gotten a little used to having the whole place to myself. Overall, it will be great to have my roommate back though. However, I don't go back to work til Thursday, so my vacation continues. I mentioned going to the beach before and in fact, I went again, this time with some friends. It was so windy but super.

Here's a shot of the beach:



A closer look at the waves..



Rahel and I after playing in those waves!

hey all,
Another sleep-in this morning (don't worry Doug--it was only 8am your time)and here I am at the good ol' internet cafe. I went to the beach on Monday and it was totally gorgeous. I'll post some photos soon. Yesterday was a bit of an exercise in frustration as I took the train to Carcassonne (that's where the prefecture is) to try and get my resident's card. Needless to say I waited 3 hours and despite my endless checking and re-checking I was missing documents I've never heard of. deep breath..... At least once I manage to gather said documents I'm allowed to submit them in Narbonne.
I'm feeling a little homesick today but nothing serious. When I woke up this morning I didn't know where I was for a moment. Dreaming of home, I think. Totally confusing hazard of traveling and moving around lots. My apartment is the 2nd floor of a building. There is a nice family above us and my landlady has the apartment below although she actually lives in Toulouse. Everyone is away right now except me which is a little bizarre. Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself!! Have a great day everyone...I miss you all!

Last night Allison (an assistant from Iowa City in the states) and I went out for a very fancy French dinner. I ate ravioli and I know what you're thinking: that's not very special. Even myself, it's not a dish I ever really enjoyed; I chose it mainly because it was a vegetarian dish on the menu. However, it was breathtakingly delicious. Even Allison agreed it was the absolute top for ravioli. We also drank a bottle of wine and had some dessert and felt quite nice but the time we met up with the others at a bar. We stayed there for a while and admired some v. talented salsa dancers then went to a nightclub (which I suspect is the only nightclub in Narbonne). There was a troupe of African drummers playing there and it was so fun!! And yes, by the end of the night Allison, Wilson (a spanish assistant from Ecuador) and I were up on the table dancing like crazy. The place was totally packed and we had tons of fun. Friday night in Narbonne....
In other news: my (French)bank issues appear to be finally resolved. I have received my bank card. They finally cancelled the first card that got mailed to some mysterious and unknown place and made a new one. The Canadian bank issues continue but I'm not too concerned about that. I'm on vacation now. yay! It' even longer than I thought, about a week and a half. I decided not to go to Barcelona this weekend afterall. Lots of time for that and I didn't feel like traveling. I'm still recuperating from all my luggage woes coming here I think. I do hope to do a bunch of daytrips though. There's lots of neat stuff to see in the surrounding region, I've heard. Bon weekend tout le monde!!!

Check out that beautiful couch!!!! It folds out into a bed, visitors....



My lovely roomate, Otalia, having a tea while we were talking in my room.



So I just finished teaching my beginners adult class at the community centre. It went well though it's hard sometimes because there's such a difference in level in the class. I have a few true beginners and others who've been studying english for years but don't feel ready for the advanced course.
Tomorrow is my busiest day of work in the elementary schools. I'm in 3 different schools Thursdays, teaching from the equivalent of grade 4 to grade 7.
In the classroom students actually call the teacher, 'Master' or for me, 'Mistress'. It seems like one more thing that doesn't exist anymore in Canada. I think the French education system is quite good but some elements of it seem outdated compared to how we do things now in Canada. Not to say the Canadian system is flawless, far from!
This weekend is the start of a week of school vacation!! I have the time off which is quite nice although it seems strange since I just started working. I think I may be going to Barcelona for the weekend with a friend, Caroline. I feel like such a jet setter but not really since it's so close. The train trip usually takes 3 hours I believe. Anyways nothing decided yet but I'll keep you posted...

I had a fabulous day so far. There is this special event going on at the market all week this week called the La Semaine du Gout. So here I was this morning thinking I was going to sleep in and I did really, but at 10am I woke up to the sound of a brass band playing 'Les Champs Elysées'. I was totally bewildered. But I realized it must be that event. So I called up my friend Allison and we spent the day pottering around shopping at the market and at Carrefour which is a big Superstore-like store. I bought some artisan honey and cheese and a little bedside table thingy which Allison put together for me after I fed her lunch. yay! Tonight all the assistants are meeting again to go for a drink in the bar. Here are some more pics:

This is the entry to my huge bedroom and part of my bathroom



My bed



My wardrobe



My desk and bookshelf



Our kitchen. Otalia decorated the whole apartment with cloths she brought with her from Gabon, Africa. It looks quite neat.



Apparently this is all the pictures Blogger feels like uploading in this post. I'll try again in a new post. much love, jess.

Well here are some pictures! This first few I took in Montpellier. Did I mention I got married that weekend??? That's right, turn your head sideways...


It's called the Water Catherdral I think. It was sunny but so windy that day, so quite cold.



This next one proves people really do play accordions in France!



Here's me freezing in the wind.



This is actually in Carcassonne, the ancient walled city. It's pretty cool, I have tons of pics on my laptop that I'll show those interested.



Ok, next installment will be the apartment. I'm so tired of waiting to blogger to post them. It's not as user friendly as it looks!

so sorry guys. I have photos all ready to go but blogger is not letting me post them. :(
I had some class visits today. The teachers are really friendly in the staff room but some are a little scary in the classroom. The discipline is like SHUT UP! FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF! TURN AROUND OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!!! I felt intimidated, I don't know about the students. I don't know how they will feel comfortable to try out a new language when they're usually not encouraged to ever talk. yikes.
Hopefully you can see our new furniture and Otalia too soon. By the way, I'm totally loving my new bed. It's very comfortable if a little small.

hey all!!!

It's a beautiful sunny day in Narbonne. My battle with the french bureaucracy is really advancing! I think I completed about 5 multi-page forms yesterday at my training in Carcassonne. Unfortunately there was a set back in getting a phone though. I have to have a french credit card or cheques to order to get one (among other papers I have already, like my passport ???!!) and the fastest those will arrive apparently is 8 business days. So still no phone, sorry guys. However I'm feeling optimistic.....I shall prevail in the battle of the paperwork!!!
Tonight is party night for the assistants. One nice outcome of my training day for my assistant job was I got to meet the other assistants in Narbonne. We are all girls! There are 2 assistants for middle school and 3 for elementary school, from United States, New Zealand, Canada and Colombia (spanish assistant). So we're meeting for dinner (the other Canadian from Quebec is hosting us) then going for drinks. My predication: much wine consumed. ;)
Tomorrow Otalia and I are picking up our couch from the store! Instead of getting it delivered which costs like 50 bucks, we're borrowing a truck from the store (free, yay!!) and I may be driving it back to our apartment. I truly hope not though because automatic cars don't exist in France. That's way too wimpy for the French. They like to feel like race car drivers. I haven't driven a standard vehicle for years, especially not a big truck!!! So I have asked this English guy I know (thank you Will!!) to drive the truck for us and he has tentatively (although not very enthusiastically) agreed. I didn't mention helping us lug it up the 2 flights of windy stairs to our apartment but lucky for him, that's also included!! It actually requires some assembly so it shouldn't be too bad. All the furniture we bought, we bought quite cheap from this big Superstore-like store called Carrefour. It all needs assembly so that's how I'll spend tomorrow afternoon most likely. Then Saturday night I'm going to the movies with Otalia and her friends.
Monday I start my job, just observing the classes for the first week though. My classes are all huge, like 25 plus students. I'm getting excited about teaching kids again though. I really want to go to the beach Sunday. I don't know though. we'll see......talk to you soon! jessica

It's raining today but I don't mind because today (oh happy day) is delivery day for my bed, bookshelf, desk and chair and TV!!!!! Otalia split the cost of some of that, don't worry. Finally my own bed. It's really fall here now. It's cold and windy and everything.
I went to Montpellier this weekend. I think it's most likely a very fun city but it sure made me glad I'm living in Narbonne. It's quite touristy and many of the assistants there just stick together and speak English all the time. Also the living conditions in the dorms where many are living don't even bear mentioning. v. dirty, v. cramped.
I have my training soon and I guess I'll hear a little more about my job. Oh! One more thing: I got a second job teaching adults English classes at the community centre. There are 2 classes, each once a week. I had the first one last night and was told to expect about 6 students. There were 24!!!!! yikes. We ran out of chairs in the room. But the class size will definitely go down because they are allowed to go to the first 2 classes for free to try it out. So there are probably some there who are just getting 2 free classes. I hope! If not I think I'll ask the centre to make another section since that's just too big. It will be fun though I think. I'll keep you posted on my bed!!!!!!