And the greve continues... trains are still running well below normal with very few going through Chauny. Oh! And the best news! (Note the sarcasm.) If negotiations don't work out doing this next month, there will be a new strike December 20... two days before the Christmas vacation. I don't have any set in stone plans yet, but either way, that would suck royally. Seriously. And the company is losing millions of dollars a day, which could potentially hurt France's economy if the strike doesn't stop.
Also, I very much enjoyed reading about how other assistants had the day off because of the teacher strike. Not. I'm pretty sure 95% of the teachers at my school worked, including the two I work with. I worked. In fact, I went to two more classes than I'm supposed to have on Tuesdays. Okay, so the four classes I went to involved me sitting at the front of the classroom while the teacher did most of the work, and I just had to correct the students sentences, come up with synonyms and/or better ways to say things. And somehow, we even talked about Sabrina the Teenage Witch while describing one of the photos. The student who started it kept saying the most hilarious things, but they were also very well thought out English sentences. Color me surprised!
And there was also a good measure of making me look like a fool in French in order to make my students feel better about their English. I won't even go into the "dessus, dessous" (above, below) thing I had to demonstrate. Hey, payback came in the form of "hill, ill, ell, heal"... the French cannot do that very well. I also had to read out loud from a text that made me feel like a first grader. The teacher called it "singing", because of the way I read. It's not really singing, it's just the way we read (trust me, you do it), but it's very much like singing when compared to someone who reads a word, pauses, another word, pauses, and so on. He kept trying to get the students to "sing". Some did a relatively good job at it, others just got very tongue tied. Oh, and have no fear, their payback for me is coming. They made the teacher promise that I had to read something in French to them next week. Oh what fun.
I'm also helping the teacher work on a translation he's doing. It's making my brain hurt. Seriously, I spent part of my afternoon researching the subtle differences when using the adjective magic or magical to describe something. That's just one example! However, in all seriousness, I'm enjoying it. I'm kind of hoping he has more for me to look at tomorrow. He already knows some of the differences between British and American English, so I tried describing some of the differences in word usage between different regions. I think that I blew his mind while explaining the whole soda vs. pop debate. Hee!
Katie is in Paris this week with her family, so I'm pretty much alone at my school. I spent the last two nights with the other assistants... Viany made some amazing meals! But today, I decided to just stick it out at my school alone. I almost thought I'd be eating lunch alone, because I was very late after working on the translation thing, but then another teacher showed up, so we ate together and had a pretty good discussion. Also, I hate being put on the spot for my thoughts on Sarkozy (president of France). I should be used to it by now, but nope. I kind of gave a very neutral answer (he's really for good ties with the US... but however, the strike here is just ridiculous... blah blah blah), and then turned to American politics, which while I do know a lot about French politics (probably more than American), I feel more comfortable talking about American politics to a French person... at least until I get a feel of what Picardians think. I don't want to be the clueless American who pisses off the natives. Well, either way, it's a struggle to talk about in French, but I managed. For dinner, I sat with two guys from the surveillant. It was quieter than lunch, but I think we were all just in the mood not to be all chatty. Tomorrow, I will make more of an effort, but my mind was just gone by the time dinner rolled around.
Thanksgiving is Thursday. Yes, I did just state the obvious. I will be working... 5 classes. Joy! And then, we will hopefully be making a Thanksgiving meal. I hope. It's my favorite holiday, and the second one in a row that I am spending in France. I need to try to talk to Hart (the only other American since Katie is in Paris with her family), and try to get a move on things tomorrow. I have no time Thursday during the day to shop and such. Plus, I want to attempt to make my aunt's stuffing tomorrow. It should be easy to just warm it up Thursday night. On verra.
I feel like I've grown out of contact with some people. I have a list of people I should email, and even though I have plenty of time on my hand most days, I tend to ignore my list. So if you haven't heard from me in awhile, email me! I'll have more motivation to write back then to actually send the first email! I was able to talk to Anna last week, which was great! Skype is a wonderful thing. And the prospect of having her here in the Spring is very exciting! I will also be seeing Wilfried when he comes to Paris over Christmas break, and possibly Alyssa during BW's Spring Break. BW reunions in France! One of the things I miss the most is contact with people from back home.
In case I don't post again beforehand, I hope that everyone has a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Edited to add: I almost forgot the best worse news yet! The dollar has reached a new low in comparison to the euro. That's right, I need almost $1.48 to buy 1 euro. Say goodbye to my money! Yes, I am paid in euros, but I think I will need to be spending some of my American money on the next vacation.
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