Well friends, I thought it was time for a bit of a chronological update, since I have been in my town in Normandie for over two weeks now. (Side note: Normandie is the French spelling, otherwise ‘Normandy’ in English generally.)
I took the train from Paris and one of my mentor teachers picked me up at the station. Having been the queen of trains for the week prior, when we walked to her car I went to get in on the wrong side, completely forgetting that the French drive on the right side of the road. Her car was the first one I had been in in France. I haven’t spent much time in countries that drive on the right-hand side since I got my license, and it is a bit of adjustment. Roundabouts in particular, even as a passenger, have me in a minor panic. I am slowly adjusting to walking on the right side of the sidewalk now, although I will say the French themselves seem less consistent and predictable about this.
We began with a real whirlwind of introductions. I didn’t even actually hear all the names, but I don’t think it really matters since I had no hope of remembering them all anyway.
Then we whisked away to my new room – I’m staying in a student apartment, where there are six of us between four rooms. I have scrubbed the floor and rearranged all my furniture, and I find I quite enjoy the space with its happy yellow curtains. My postcards from Paris have finally gone up, and I have a good part of a shelf dedicated to the Travelling Cow herd.
On the logistical side of things, my mentor teachers are really on the ball! I was quite nervous about having to open up a bank account (indeed, I turned the whole internet upside down trying to find an appropriate online alternative) in French. But then, not only did they offer to go with me, it turned out one of the teachers had already gone around to a couple of different banks to rule out the ones that wouldn’t be able to accommodate me (it’s difficult with a seven-month contract), and then booked a meeting for me with a bank that was happy to open my account. We had it (mostly) sorted within the hour!
I got my phone plan later that day, since I finally had my bank details – only for that branch of the same phone company to not ask for my bank details at all. It let me pay with my Aussie card. A little frustrating, but mostly I was just glad to actually have internet again.
She took me grocery shopping, and to a boulangerie (bakery), bought me macarons as a welcome gift, and invited me over for lunch at her house (and to use her wifi, since I didn’t have my phone plan at the time).
The next day, I met the other set of teachers (technically I work in two schools although functionally from my perspective there will be little difference). My mentor teacher from the other school took me grocery shopping again (we had been rushing the day before and I needed time to read the shampoo bottles and such), and took me around town a bit, and to get the all-important library card! They gave me a very thorough run-down of their services (offered in French or English, but I chose French) which I was not at all expecting, but it was great.
Since then I’ve also had the program Welcome Day in Deauville – which is apparently very posh. I’m told they hold American film festivals there and lots of rich people arrive in the summer for the beach.
I had hoped for a town by the beach when applying for this program, but Deauville is the main beach town accessible by train in the region (from an admittedly not very dedicated glance) – and it would be way too busy and expensive for me to live there, so I think it worked out.
My town has a lovely little river set-up. Lots of Seating, and they’ve got huge flower boxes. I have decided that will be my beach substitute in main.
At the Welcome Day, I met the other assistants from my town who I hadn’t known existed, as well as many people from surrounding towns. Lots of different nationalities, and over a hundred language assistants (not all in English) in this region. The Australian Assistants have a Facebook group and I am not aware of any other Australians in this region. It is not as popular in Australia as with some of the other countries!
I am still rounding up some loose ends to the paperwork and such, but all of the major elements were sorted in about three days! So grateful for the help of the teachers I am working with here.
Everyone has been so friendly. I have been loaned all sorts so I didn’t have to purchase things – linens, towels, a bath mat, a bin, cooking equipment.
My first weekend one of the teachers was driving to the forest to walk and so she offered to pick me up. I was right in the middle of cooking but it was vegetables, so I just pulled all the plugs out of the wall and got ready.
I find that if you say ‘no’ near the beginning you may not get asked again. But if you start off with ‘yes’, you are forgiven more of your ‘no’ later, and less likely to be considered anti-social.
Mostly, I am just trying to settle in here and figure out what my routine will look like. I am in the observation period for my job, and discussing with teachers what they want my role to look like in the context of different classes and such.
It’s not all glamorous – student accommodation is very different to what I am used to. I was basically under house arrest for the first three or four days unless I had someone with me as there was a lot of debate about what gate key I could be allowed to have. I am not allowed to do any cooking during the week and I must either prepare all my food ahead of time on weekends or attend the student canteen. There is no laundry here and I have been advised to rely on the kindness of my co-workers. I was given to understanding there wasn’t a laundromat in town, but I have since found one, though it’s a decent trek each way from my place.
I am living my actual life here, in a language I keep second-guessing myself in. Adjusting to a new job and a new routine.
I include this not to be ungrateful, but for the sake of balance and to be realistic. I think sometimes people hear Europe or France, and the only images that come to mind are holidays and backpacking. But I have a home here, work to do, university exams to prepare for and arrange, neighbours to beg a can opener from…
That said, I hope to make the most of my time off, especially once I have finished up with the Australian uni semester. After all, I was given a shiny education pass that will let me get into a lot of museums and the like for free – can’t let that go to waste!
So, in the end, it balances. You muddle through the fear and uncertainty, the embarrassment, through being treated like the high school student you have not been for some time, through circumstances you wouldn’t ordinarily choose for yourself – because that’s what makes the rest of it possible.
But beyond all that, what I have found most overwhelming in the last three weeks, is that people are kind. People are so helpful. My colleagues here ultimately had the power to make or break my experience here – and they have made it so wonderful, and I have just been so incredibly lucky.
