Let sleeping teenagers lie...

...in their beds while you wake up at six for class at eight.

This will be a fruitless action because no one else will be there at five to eight when you open the classroom door, and neither will they be there at five after eight, so you will have forty-five to kill waiting for the next class who may or may not show up as well. In which case, it's recommended to bring a good book, since you might be sitting alone in a room for the better part of a day. A really, thick, concussion-causing book like Anna Karenina in hardcover, or the Collected Works of Shakespeare will do the trick.

Don't throw your back out carrying it to and from school, now. You don't have a "real" social security number in France, so you'll be SOL if some sort of health problem should arise, not to mention sick days--HA! You think you get those?!

Not as a penniless teaching assistant you don't. Unless you come down with something like tuberculosis, in which case you'll get one sick day: the day they deport you for "medical reasons." The French government has a whole ministry devoted to weeding out people with faulty immigration statuses and infectious diseases.

Lucky you to be chosen, out of so many, to represent your country and culture for a school year in France!

Marseilles in Pictures

I got another chance to go to Marseilles last Wednesday for my medical exam at the OFII - Office Français de l'Immigration et l'Intégration - not all that much fun, but necessary. 

First, they make you take an x-ray of your lungs to be sure you don't have tuberculosis (I don't); then they give you a very quick medical exam: they take your vitals, ask about your overall health, vaccines you've had, and then they hurry you out the door. You then fill out a form and get your pièce de séjour and then you're legal. 

I spent a couple of hours wandering around the city after getting my visa, and took pictures of course!

Eglise des Réformés:

Arc de Triomphe de Marseille:

Cathedral de Marseille:

Palais de la Bourse:

Vieux Port, which is currently obstructed by road construction: