Tuesday 4/10-Friday 4/13: Last Week of Teaching

I still can't really believe that I'm all finished teaching. It feels like I'm just on vacation and will surely be back in the classroom in a week or two... However, Friday was my last day. My last week went by really quickly and most of it involved lots of fun things (singing, dancing, and playing games). The students were really sweet and saying goodbye was rather sad.

Jessie in class!

On Tuesday (4/10) I had class with the 3rd graders and Jessie came in to meet them! We did some review and then danced and sang the hokey pokey! Jessie joined in the first time, then took a video of us on our second go. In the afternoon, I taught the two classes of 2nd graders...just some games (we were working on animal vocab) and singing.

        Video:  The Hokey Pokey!

My conversation class students! :)
Then, on Tuesday evening, Jessie and I went to dinner with my conversation class! One of the students hosted us and we all brought along something to share (I made broccoli-cheese savory and pesto bread). It was such a fun evening and I know that Jessie appreciated that they did speak English some of the time! We had the most delicious flan and pastis (a regional specialty cake)--I'm hoping to get the flan recipe! We stayed for about 4 hours, just eating, drinking, and talking!On Wednesday (4/11) it was raining (AGAIN) and we had a nice lie-in (note the British term...that'd be Alison's fault) and then helped Catherine with the grocery shopping. Jessie got a full tour of the supermarket! In the late afternoon, Catherine, Jessie, and I made dinner and dessert while hanging out in the kitchen, listening to music!

Playing with Photobooth on my laptop! 

Thursday (4/12) was my last day with the 3rd graders and when I arrived, over half of them had brought me presents! Most were drawings, but some kids had brought me other things (chocolate, a painting on canvas, and a cool necklace)! They really wanted me to open them in front of the class, so I did--and made sure to show off all their drawings and thank them each. I wrote my address up on the board so that they could copy it down, in case any of them want to write to me (I assured them they would get a reply if they write-- my guess is that none of them actually will). We spent the rest of class singing "Rock Around the Clock" and learning the hand jive. Bruno (who happens to be their teacher) even joined in on the hand jive!! When it was finished, I said goodbye and they started begging me not to go--and telling me I had to come back next year. I attempted to explain how far Oregon is from France, but I don't think they quite understood... 

The 3rd graders!

In the afternoon, I went to my last classes at the other school. They were pretty anti-climactic. I played a game with the little kids and then gave them each a sticker to put on their name tags (which I let them keep). With the older kids I had them glue copies of the penpal letters they'd written (earlier in the term) into their English notebooks and then I let them copy down my address in the off-chance one of them feels like communicating later on. Since it was the last day, I had brought in my laptop and the Twilight dvd and I let them watch the last scene (and pointed out where I was). They were so stoked to finally see me on screen and also to be watching a movie in class! :P  Afterwards I had to give them a few more autographs and then we got their teacher to take an English class photo.

The 2nd graders (at the other school)

The 5th graders (at the other school)


Friday (4/13) was my last day of teaching. I started off the day with my little group of 2nd graders (who I normally have in the afternoon, but their teacher requested I take them in the morning instead) and we got to have a 1 1/4 hour class instead of just 45 minutes. Since we've been learning the names of some animals, I had them draw each of the animals in their books and then write the name of the animal next to each drawing. Some of them were rather good artists!

The 2nd graders

Then I had class with the 4th graders and we spent the first part of class playing a game with telling time. I also taught them "Rock Around the Clock" and the hand jive. They loved it and later (during recess) they came up and had got all the moves! We took a picture together and, as a surprise, they printed it and put it into a frame they'd made with each of their names on it! They gave it to me later in the afternoon and I was so surprised!

The 4th graders

I ate lunch at school and stopped in at the cafeteria to see how it worked. I realized that despite having been here for 7 months, I had never gone in to see the cafeteria! So, I spent a few minutes talking with the kids who were eating and checking out how it worked. Basically they have no choice on what food they get--it's just served to each table and they are supposed to eat some of each course. Yes, they have courses--even for school lunch! And here they are much healthier than the US!
In the afternoon I stayed at school to work on copying and sorting all the worksheets I'd made over the course of the year. I wanted to leave a notebook for the next assistant that has all my worksheets and song cd (in order). I also left all the children's books that I had brought with me. 
My very last class was with Duyen's 2nd graders...they are the sweetest class. We reviewed the animals and then I showed them some newspapers and American money that I'd brought. I also had a penny to give to each child, which they were thrilled about! (I showed the newspapers and money and gave pennies to all my other classes as well) 

LouAnn shows off a dollar

Zelie and Hugo with the dollar

Then we took a picture and they informed me that they had a surprise for me... It turns out that Duyen had had them each draw a picture (most were of me teaching them!) and write a little note (in French). Then they had bound it into a little book! It was so so adorable! The Spanish students had made one for Pablo and we had a little party all together (Duyen had brought cake)! At the end the kids got to take turns saying what they liked best about their language classes. I didn't cry, but it was close! 

Duyen's 2nd grade class

Before leaving, I stopped into the staff room to hang out a bit and say goodbye to the teachers. I got their emails, so hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch! It hasn't sunk in that I won't be going back there...

Saturday 4/7-Monday 4/9: Celebrating Easter

On Saturday, I woke up still sick. How is it possible for me to be sick AGAIN!?!?!! Sigh. Due to the horrible weather, Jessie and I slept in and lounged around in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, we went to watch Margot's handball match. They played better than last week, but ended up losing again.

There was a folk dance performance planned for Saturday night and I really, really wanted to go--but I was feeling so sick. I had no energy and was just lying on my bed reading. So, I can't say I was too sad when I got the call saying that the performance was canceled due to rain. It's a bummer that I didn't get to perform with them, but probably just as well because even standing up was taxing for me.

Instead, Jessie and I just hung out with the family all evening, watching "The Voice." The show is nothing special, but what was fun was hanging out and chatting and joking around. Ralf was in a hilarious mood and we were all having so much fun--in French and English!

On Easter we slept in late and were having breakfast as the Bergfelds left for a baptism and party which would last all day. Jessie and I relaxed for a bit and then drove over to Capbreton to pick up Alison and go to Emmanuelle's house. She had invited us for lunch dessert, so we arrived at 2pm and hung out with her and her daughter, Luna.

Photo: Emmanuelle serves dessert

It was fun to just relax and talk (although Jessie was probably a bit bored because we were talking in French most of the time) and Luna (who is 5) was hilarious! She had a ribbon and was using it as a bracelet, necklace, or hairband to decorate each of us in turn!

Photo: Luna dressing up Jessie...

We ended up going to the beach, but Emmanuelle and Luna didn't stay long (Luna was tired).

Photo: Beaching on Easter

Alison, Jessie, and I hung out for a while at the beach and then headed back to Alison's apartment until it was time for dinner. We decided to go out to dinner at the pizza place (where we went previously) and it was delicious! Jessie and Alison got goat cheese & honey pizzas and I got a margherita (but I traded Jessie for one slice). Mmm!

Photo: PIZZA DINNER!

Photo: Dessert...chocolat croquant!

Photo: EASTER SWEETS!

Sunday night Alison spent the night at my house and we stayed up until 2am talking and watching funny youtube videos.

Photo: Jessie and Francesca celebrate another Easter together in Europe! :)

We slept in the next morning and ended up being invited for Easter Monday lunch at Chantal's house. We sat around for a few hours chatting with the whole family (well, the kids played outside--miraculously it was sunny for once!) and had a tasty meal of asparagus, bean stew, (lamb for the meat-eaters) and strawberries with whipped cream for dessert!

Jessie and I shared the jelly beans and Cadbury eggs that she had brought from the US...along with PEEPS! And, oddly enough, they liked the Peeps! WHAT??

Photo: Claire and a friend are excited for Peeps

Photo: Alison tentatively tastes a Peep...

Photo: Easter Lunch

Photo: Warming up the eggs...

I was still feeling sick, so I ended up napping a bit while Alison and Jessie hung out. Then we had tea and decided to color the eggs that I had hard-boiled that morning.

Unfortunately we hadn't managed to find white eggs, so the colors didn't show up so well on the brown eggs.

Photo: Jessie shows off her eggs

But we still had fun coloring them with Margot (who had never done it before because they don't do that here)!

Photo: Our egg family

Photo: All colored out!

In the early evening, Alison, Jessie, and I hid chocolate eggs all over the yard for the kids to find. Margot did by far the best (24/40 mini eggs), but they were all fairly lousy at finding them. I think Catherine doesn't normally hide them in very tricky places like we did! In the end they managed to find them all (with only a teeny bit of help) and we headed inside for dinner.

It was a fun, chocolate-filled Easter!

For more pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150655701978587.387130.561318586&type=3&l=db30a59a32

Monday 4/2-Friday 4/6: Goodbye CM2s!

This was my last week with the 5th grade (CM2) classes. They will be gone all next week on a field trip, so I won't get to see them. On Monday I had Hélène's class and we just played a game and then I turned on some music so we could dance.

Photo: Hélène's class (CM2)

First we did the YMCA (which they really got into) and then I taught them the hand jive so we could dance to "Rock Around the Clock." That was a lot of fun! When the teacher came back into the room at the end, I had her take a picture of us. I'm going to miss those kids!!!

Between classes, I drove to the hospital in Dax to get my Yellow Fever vaccination. The doctor was really nice and gave me all the info I need and, although I had to pay 30 euros for the shot, he didn't make me pay for the visit (normally 25 euros!). That was great!

On Tuesday I had my last class with Claude's students and we did pretty much the same thing: played a game and then sang and danced. I wrote my address in Corvallis up on the board and told them that if they sent me a letter (in French or English), I would for sure write them back. :)

Photo: Claude's class (CM2)

Wednesday afternoon I went to the cinema with Margot and Claire to see "Marsupilami"! It's a film based off a classic French comic book and it was super cute!

Photo: MARSUPILAMI!!

In the evening, I drove to the Biarritz airport to pick up JESSIE!! She arrived at 7:50pm, but I made sure to go early because I didn't want to be late due to getting lost or traffic or something (like when I went to pick up Crystal). Her flight was right on time and I was so so excited to see her come walking out!! I was all prepared for her arrival, bringing some French chocolate to welcome her!

When I tried to drive out of the parking lot, I stuck my ticket into the machine and waited for the gate to open......but it didn't. Then I realized that you only get 30 minutes of free parking, but since I had arrived early (unlike last time), I had been there for longer than 30 mins! I got my money out to pay, but the machine only took FRENCH credit cards. Which I don't have. hmm.

So, I backed up into the parking lot and we went back into the airport where (after I'd asked at the info desk) I was pointed to the machines inside for paying with cash... hehe. We did eventually make it back home!

Photo: This WELCOME sign was waiting for Jessie (courtesy of Margot), along with a packet of candy! "Have nice days here!"

On Thursday, Jessie rested at home while I taught my classes. When I'd finished, we took a walk through town and in the woods (while it wasn't raining).

Photo: Jessie reading Hunger Games...she finished the series!

Photo: On our walk, we (of course) stopped by the monkey bars!

Photo: Jessie in front of les Arènes!

During the night on Thursday, I started feeling really crappy. By the time it was morning, I knew that my yellow fever shot was taking effect. The doctor had told me that 4-5 days after the shot, it was likely I'd have some fever symptoms. Ugh.

Friday was my last class with Emmanuelle's students--and we did pretty much the same thing I did with the other two classes. They were really sweet, though, and had made me a big card with cool drawings and a cute message written (mostly) in English.

Photo: Emmanuelle's class (CM2)

We did lots of singing and dancing and then showed Emmanuelle and the Spanish students when they came back at the end of our class. I'm going to miss all those kids so much!!

Jessie and I had lunch at the school because the teachers had planned a potluck to say goodbye to us language assistants. They told Pablo and I not to bring anything, just come and eat!

Photo: Enjoying some Gâteau Basque

It was great--and just sitting around talking with them made me think of the first time I had lunch in the staff room. I feel so comfortable now! They are all so nice and I have so much fun joking around with them. I cannot even imagine that I won't be seeing them anymore... It's not sinking in.

Photo: (L->R) Laurence, Emmanuelle, Me, Duyen

At the end of the lunch, they took out a bag each for Pablo and I--a going-away present! They gave me a long-sleeved shirt and an apron (because I bake all the time!) with things on them written in Gascon (the language that used to be spoken in this area). So kind of them!!

Photo: Laureline, Me, & Hélène

In the afternoon, Pablo and I were invited to stop by Hélène's class so they could say goodbye. And they had made us little books that had a drawing and message from each student! And the messages are absolutely adorable! And Claude's class had made a little card for me that was signed by all the kids. I feel loved!! :)

On Friday night, Jessie and I went to folk dancing after dinner. It was an "everyone" night, so the really good stilt dancers were there! They are always pretty incredible--especially when they are jumping over people! I was still feeling sick, but I danced for a while. Then I sat with Jessie and was entertained by the four little girls who were crowded around her, trying to practice their very basic English! It was hilarious!

Sunday 4/1: Poisson d'Avril!!!

This morning I participated in a walk to raise money for a cardiology organization. The folk dance group had announced it last week and said that one could either participate walking normally...or on stilts! So, I decided to give it a try. And it was so much fun! The advanced group did a 6km walk and the beginners (me included) walked 2km through the woods.

This morning was overcast, but it was still really beautiful walking through the woods. And, despite there being many roots, sandy patches, and other misc obstacles--I didn't fall! Thank goodness! I am so excited to make myself a pair of stilts (with bigger platforms for my feet because my toes hang over the front of these ones) when I get home! And then I'll really start training!!

This afternoon I went to an artisan's market in Tyrosse with Catherine and Margot. There were some really cool things--and quite the variety! We saw blown glass jewelry, handmade baskets (we got to chat with the man who was making them...a real character!), cosmetics made from donkey milk (we met the donkey), made-to-order corsets, incredible chocolate displays, custom teddy bears, and much more! I didn't buy anything, but I did a lot of free looking.

Tonight for dessert we had strawberries and whipped cream.....summer is coming!!

*Although today is "Poisson d'Avril" (or, "April Fool's Day"), I didn't really do anything. Yep, it's the first year in a while that I haven't cut out paper fishes and stuck them to people or their belongings (as is the French tradition). Maybe it's because I'm actually in France now and no one else was really doing anything... oh well!

Friday 3/30: More Teaching!!

I wanted to put up two more videos from my classes...

The first one is from one of my 2nd grade classes. They are learning the question, "How are you?" and many possible responses. They adore this song--especially because they get to act out all the different emotions!

The second video is from my 4th grade class. They really got a kick out of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!" (the video was taken by the teacher on her phone)

Wednesday 3/28: More Beaching

Today I slept in really late (probably because I couldn't get to sleep last night for some reason...) and was back in bed reading when Catherine called to say that her afternoon class had been canceled and we could go to the beach earlier! We had planned to go at 3pm, but instead she wanted to go with Chantal at 1:30pm. So, I went to pick up Alison in Capbreton so she could come to the beach with us (as we were headed to a different beach than the one in her town). Unfortunately there was construction on the road to Capbreton and the detour sent me off in some other direction... I had a fun time trying to figure out how to get around to Capbreton. Luckily I was able to get there (although it took twice as long) and then we took the "Route National" on the way home.

Once again it was a beautiful day! We met up with Chantal and Claire (and some of their friends) at the beach in Seignosse and relaxed on our towels, reading. After a while, I got pretty warm and Margot wanted to go boogie-boarding, so I joined her! Yes, the water was a bit chilly, but not too bad. And we rode the waves for about 45 minutes before it was time to go home.

After tea-time, Catherine brought Alison and I into town so we could look for sunglasses. She told us that if we wanted to get good ones that would actually protect our eyes from the sun, we should go to the shops on main street. I was really planning to get a pair (I've never had one...but that never seemed to matter much in Oregon...), but the cheapest we could find was 30€! Apparently that's a good deal here (most of the other ones were between 80€-130€), but I really couldn't imagine spending that much. I told them that I needed to think about it, but I'm just going to live a little longer without sunglasses. I've been okay thus far...

Alison and I went to the grocery store so I could do the shopping for Catherine. Then, after dinner, I drove Alison back home. It's so weird to have it be light until 9:30pm! I was driving back from Capbreton and it was still light! I actually really enjoy bring Alison home because the Basque radio station plays classical music after 9pm and I get to listen to it while driving through the beautiful countryside! It always makes me think of my Grandpa because I remember he always had the classical radio station playing at home...

It hit me tonight that Jessie is going to be here in Tyrosse in ONE WEEK. What?! I cannot believe how quickly the time is flying by. I always thought "Jessie won't be here until the very end of my time here"---well, here it is. Despite having been homesick at first, I am really happy here now. It's very comfortable and I have really gotten to know people here. It's going to be hard to leave.

When I was leaving Oregon last September, who would have thought I'd end up saying that?

Saturday 3/24-Tuesday 3/27: A Visit from Crystal!

On Saturday, I woke up to bright blue skies, sun, and 70℉ weather! I went running and then spent a few hours reading out on the lawn chair by the pool. It was really warm! Crystal (*who is from Oregon, but is currently studying at the University of Glasgow) wasarriving at the airport in Biarritz at 4:50pm, so Catherine and I had planned to pick her up. However, Catherine was busy and said that it would be better if she just drew me a map and I would drive there by myself. Eep. I agreed, but was pretty nervous (as I'd never driven on the highway here). Apparently I had good reason to be nervous.....I got lost twice on the way there and ended up arriving at 5:30pm. Oops. Luckily I found Crystal (who was--thank goodness--still waiting for me) and we had no trouble finding our way back to Tyrosse.

We slept in on Sunday and then walked over to the school garage sale. There were so many people there! I was surprised how many vendors were there and I saw quite a few students. The only thing I purchased was a copy of "The Thief Lord" for 1€. At 1pm, Catherine, Crystal, and I headed to Capbreton to pick up Alison and go to the beach!

Photo: A morning walk through Tyrosse

Photo: Picnic at the beach!

It was so HOT! We had a picnic lunch and then relaxed on our towels, reading. Crystal was reading "The Hunger Games," since I have the copies and she'd never read them. It got so warm that eventually we couldn't help but head for the water!

Photo: SWIMMING!

Crystal and I swam for a while (apparently the water was about 55℉...warm for us, but too cold for the locals) and then went back to dry off. Catherine had to leave at 3:30pm, but Crystal and I didn't want to go back that soon. We had decided to just walk home later...it's approx 8.5 miles, but we figured that we could do it in a little over 2 hours.

We stopped to change at Alison's house (which is 1.5 miles from the beach) before striking out on foot. It was the perfect temperature and we had fun walking and chatting.

Photo: On our walk

However, after we had walked about 1.5 miles, a car honked at us and then pulled over. The driver (an elderly man) rolled down his window and asked if we wanted a ride. I asked where he was going and it turned out that he was headed to Tyrosse!

So, we got in the car and hoped that all would be well. He was very nice and talked the whole way (and had a really strong accent, which was exciting because I couldn't always understand what he was saying). It was very nice of him to offer to take us and he kept saying how he hated to see people walking and that he figured we didn't dare hitchhike. Well, now I've done it!

Photo: Before getting a ride...

On Monday, I had to teach early...so Crystal stayed in bed and read "The Hunger Games." By the time I had returned from class (where we worked on telling time), she had finished the first Hunger Games book. So, I grabbed the next book off the stack and handed it to her. I had some work to do before we could go out and wander around, so Crystal kept reading...

Then we headed out in search of some pastries! We ended up buying mini Gâteaux Basques and eating them in the sun, in front of the church. It was relaxing and delicious!

Photo: Enjoying her Gâteau Basque

Photo: A post-Gâteau Basque smile... :)

Then we stopped at the train station where we had to wait for 10 minutes while a Portuguese lady (who didn't really understand French) tried to buy a train ticket from Tyrosse to Lisbon--which, apparently, isn't actually possible. While we waited, we started talking about The Hunger Games...and after a few minutes, I realized that Crystal wasn't reading the 2nd book. She was, in fact, reading the 3rd book. Oops! Apparently when I had grabbed the next book off the stack, I didn't check to make sure which one I had handed her! And the stack wasn't in order... So, she had just read 200 pages of the 3rd book, without having read the 2nd one! I felt so bad! No wonder she was so confused!

When we got home, I gave Crystal the 2nd book and (after lunch) we biked over to the other school. Crystal found a nice patch of grass outside to lie in and read while I went to teach. The classes went okay today. The younger kids' class was only 18 minutes long because (as always) it takes so long for them to come in from lunch recess. Oh well! I'm done worrying about that. And with the older kids we are trying to finish up our replies to the Oregonian pen pals. They should be finished on Thursday, I hope! As the kids were leaving, one of the boys strolled out repeating "Je suis un rabbit. Je suis un rabbit. Je suis un rabbit. Je suis..." ("I am a rabbit") over and over. I am unsure why he was saying this, but I had a lot of trouble not bursting out laughing!

I had to teach one more class at the school next to me, so I left Crystal once again to her book. My class went really well--I had them review their numbers by playing a game that they all got really into. At the end, the winning team got pizza stickers (that actually smell like pizza) and they were super stoked (thanks, Jessie, for the stickers!!).

Crystal managed to finish the 2nd book and had moved on to finishing the 3rd book by this point. And, I might point out that each of these books are around 400 pages. She managed to finish the last one during the afternoon. Pretty impressive!

Photo: The Hunger Game trilogy...read in 2 days by Crystal.

We took Dunja for a long walk through the woods, stopping (of course) to play on the monkey bars! I went barefoot for most of the walk, which was lovely. I just don't go barefoot as much here, but it's so nice to feel the earth beneath my feet!

Photo: A walk in the woods

After dinner, Catherine, Crystal, Margot, and I watched "Little Miss Sunshine"! I love that movie! Crystal and Margot had never seen it before. Unfortunately it didn't have French subtitles, so we just had to translate for Margot. Everyone liked it.

Today (Tuesday), Crystal had to leave to go back to Glasgow. I'm so glad that she was able to come for a visit--even if it wasn't very long. And so lucky that we had such nice weather!

Photo: Saying goodbye at the train station

I taught my normal classes today (we just started The Body with the class of 8-9 yr olds and they are learning to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes") and during my break in the afternoon, I read on the patio. It's amazing how much it feels like summer! I had my conversation class tonight and we discussed the elections. They described how the elections in France work and then I attempted to describe how the elections work in the US. I had some trouble explaining electoral votes, etc. I need to look it up and re-explain it next class. It's just a bit confusing! However, one interesting thing that I learned about French elections: the government gives 150,000€ to each candidate for their campaign! They fundraise the rest.

The pictures in this post are courtesy of Crystal! :)