Le Castellet

Le Castellet is a tiny medieval town about a half-hour from La Ciotat. One of the teachers I work with took me there this weekend. It was very lovely, and reminded me of a Provencal Door County, in a way: lots of little boutiques, gift shops, restaurants, etc., cashing in on the ancient aspect of the town. 

According to Wikipedia, 111 people live there as of 2009. It wasn't exactly crowded when we went, but I can imagine how crazy it might get in the summer. There is also a medieval festival/Renaissance fair each year. I think they do some sort of Knights Templar re-enactment in front of the church.

Eglise St. Anne

 The Mayor's office is particularly cute, being made out of stone, and the view is amazing: Le Castellet is perched on a hill, all the better to see your enemies coming from miles away, I suppose. I'm sure the ramparts are not particularly useful anymore, except to keep tourists from falling down the hill...

Chateau Mairie

One of the coolest parts was the "four banal" in one of the shops, which dates from 1447. A "four banal" is roughly translated as a "community oven." The one in Le Castellet is round, like a turret or a spire (probably the best way to expel the smoke) and it was used up until the 20th century. Basically, the townfolk wouldn't be able to bake their own bread at home, because the building and maintaining of an over would be way too expensive individually. So, they would pay a tax to some noble with a big enough house to have an oven (and it was big--think 20-30 m diameter, at least) and thus secure a spot in the oven for their bread on baking day. Ingenious, no?

I Can't Get No (Job) Satisfaction

To begin with, the title of this post is more an attempt at a playful bon mot  than how I actually feel about my job: from the Rolling Stones song of a similar name...

However, my job--though I'd like to retain it--is not exactly ideal. No one's is, which is a problem, but also a fact of life. I've discovered a number of things since the start of my teaching "career," and a few of them are starting to become a headache.

I'm trying to decide if I'm sick of teaching, or sick of being a teaching assistant. As a teaching assistant, my role is not taken all that seriously, by students or teachers. Then again, teaching is not taken all that seriously, either. 

Take the teacher's strike--not last week but the week before--I think it was January 31. No one told me about it before I got to school, but I ran into one of the Spanish teachers in the teacher's lounge, and she explained it to me. I think I got brownie points by being there, since the vice principle made rounds during the day to see who was actually doing their job...

Since the teachers didn't show up in protest, the students were a step ahead, willing to stay at home that day. I had two out of four, which is actually better odds than normal!! As far as I know, it was a national strike (here's some media coverage, in French) and the French do have a reputation for protest--it's like it's their national pastime!

What are they protesting, exactly? Well, higher wages for one (pretty standard) but the one that really gets me is this: the French government (and recently elected Socialist president François Hollande) wants to extend the school week from four days a week to--gasp--four and a half days a week! By the way, France is the only Western country to NOT have a five-day school week for children. (I heard this tidbit on the evening news the other night.) Currently, almost no one works on Wednesdays. A full-time teacher works 24 hours a week. I, part-time, work 12 hours a week. 

There is also the peripheral item on agenda of protection against firing of "unnecessary" teachers that has been a threat bandied about since Sarkozy's reign (circa 2007), but like I said, that's probably not a real threat. Personally, I do think it's criminal to fire someone without notice, but sometimes, some people (yes, even teachers!) don't deserve to keep their jobs. As for having to work more hours, I have this to say: suck it up, people. It's called work for a reason! 

In fact, I would like to be doing a hell of a lot more work than I am doing. I feel completely dejected, as my emails go unanswered, students do not show up to my lessons, and when they do, they sit passively, sleep in class, or otherwise act like a sack of bricks. (Thus leading my to believe that perhaps the sack of bricks has the edge on an IQ test...) 

I also have the problem of comparing everything to my previous experiences in Austria. That doesn't help matters, since I'm sure I complained just as much then. But, I'll say this: Austrian kids ARE better at English. A LOT BETTER! Maybe it's because the languages are similar? Because Austrians see a point in learning English? Because Austrians have fewer preconceived notions about Americans (or Brits)? Who knows? I've been told (by certain students embarrassed by their bad English) that the level of Spanish is much better in France than the level of English. 

What do I say to that? Whoopee.

I feel like I've complained an awful lot on this blog, for which I apologize (to my two regular viewers who have heard it all before on monster Skype sessions, I'm sure. :) ). Anyway, I will try my best to think more positively in the future. Just think: when I was 16, I wanted to move to France forever! I'll just have to remind myself of the reasons why, I guess, and hope they still ring true.

There was a point when I really liked teaching. When was that? Please remind me. I want to believe again.

Un, Deux, Trois, Poulet!

I don't know why, but it seems I tend to live in places with "themes." Last year it was hedgehogs, this year, chickens. I guess it's a Provence thing (chickens, that is).

I noticed it around mid-December, and took pictures, but never uploaded them. Here, for your perusal, is my chicken collection--for wont of a better description:

A smaller collection than the hedgehogs, but then again, this is a smaller apartment! I found myself looking at mugs with chickens on them at the store the other day, thinking, "Oh how cute!" and then realizing I had been corrupted. I stepped away slowly. It's the only way to cure a chicken habit like this.

Laughter is a Bitter Pill

Here's an unexpected cultural difference for you: laughter.

My students laugh at me all the time. They laugh when they're nervous, they laugh when I say something funny. They laugh when they don't know the answer, they laugh when I try to explain something in French.

Isn't it rather cruel, or is that just teenagers?

My American kiddos were always to petrified to say anything out of turn.

My Austrian kids were always so serious, except for the one jokester (der Spassvogel). There's one in every class.

Laughter makes me nervous. Laughter makes me sad.

I wish I could laugh back at my students, but someone has to be the professional in the room.

Travel Bug

I wanted to travel more than I have this year, but there are a number of reasons I haven't.

1. Money. I haven't really had the funds this year to make a trip far and away possible.
2. No travel buddy. I haven't found anybody to travel with--and traveling by yourself can be good, but it can also be really lonely. Aside from day trips, I have not really traveled.
3. Time. My schedule at school gives me Wednesdays off, but otherwise I have to work. School vacations are nice, but they seem to coincide with me having not money--so I stay home.
4. I am having trouble deciding where to go. At first, I wanted to look around Provence, but it's the wrong time of year to truly enjoy it. I've also been bouncing around the options of heading up to Paris or down to Spain, but I'd have to choose one.
5. Visa: my bureaucratic problems have been keeping me home. Not knowing when THE letter will come and how many COPIES I will need to make, not to mention the hazardous email (or seven) from the Rectorat, among others.

Perhaps I will throw caution to the wind and let the February winter break be my travel time. Now all that's left is to save up a bit of money and decide on a destination!

Oh, and I guess it is mildly ironic that just before this, I posted about going to Aix. By "tavel" I guess I mean "take a weekend trip" or the like.

A Trip to Aix-en-Provence

At the beginning of the month, Epiphany to be exact, I made it up to Aix-en-Provence to look around and do a little shopping. I ended up buying an incredibly delicious chèvre cendrée (goat's cheese with an ash rind--it sounds gross, but it is not! Just don't eat the ash) and Turkish apricots that were to die for at the farmer's market; drooling over a pair (...make that several pairs...) of Ubu earrings at a boutique; and hightailing it to the Musée Granet to see some of the lovely works of native son Cézanne--as well as other Impressionist, etc., artists.

Paul Cezanne lived here once

Santons: little figures for your Nativity scene made in Aix!

For my first trip to Aix, I'd say this was a success! I wish I had enough money to buy myself a pair of Ubu earrings, but the trip itself will have to suffice for my little birthday present to me. I thought about buying some santons, the little Nativity figurines that are made in Aix and a staple of Provence at Christmastime, but I realized, if you buy one, you have to buy a set--and those don't come cheap, either! They're something you buy as a collection: one each year to add to as the years progress: finding the perfect one is half the fun! But for me, I didn't think it was worth it, knowing I probably won't be able to collect year after year...I'm not going to be in France forever! Then there's the question of which figure to collect first: Baby Jesus, because he's most important? Or one of the Three Magi? Maybe Melchior because he has the coolest name...and there's where I left off, because I cannot make a decision, if ever so inconsequential, to save myself.

Here are some more pictures of santons:

And here are more pictures of Aix:

Hotel de Ville

A protest?!? In FRANCE?!?

One thing I learned at the museum, which was small but good, is that Cézanne and Emile Zola met when they were kids at school, and continued a lifelong friendship, even after they each became famous! Definitely cool. I also learned the French for "still life": nature morte. It just seems so much more philosophical and expressive! 

Here is a famous Cézanne nature morte:

Post-Graduate and Fancy Free

Well, "fancy free" is pretty much a lie...

But! I am thinking (again) about getting a post-graduate degree. More than thinking, actually: I've applied to grad school for next year, and in the coming weeks, I will hopefully hear back from those schools, which will most likely determine what I'll be doing next year.

I've applied to two programs at three different schools: Translation and Germanic Studies. I have a really hard time narrowing down my choices--last time I applied to grad school, I applied to two different courses of study as well, Comparative Literature and Journalism. Both were ultimately too competitive (or something--I did not end up pursuing those options, to say the least) and I have crossed law school off my list. I really didn't want to be a lawyer anyway. I need a career that's more...artsy-fartsy, shall we say?

Since this is the last year my GRE scores are valid (the last thing I want to do is take another standardized test put out by the Princeton Review), I figured it was now or never! I shall update with admissions results when they become available.