Kids are Funny

As a prof d'anglais at elementary schools, it should come as no surprise that the kids love me.  For them, I represent a time to learn something different, new, and sometimes just plain funny.  I'm different from their regular teachers in that I'm younger, from somewhere they don't understand, and have all sorts of "funny" traditions.

For example, last week I was teaching the days of the week.  European calendars are organized such that they start with Monday, i.e. Monday is the first day of the week, whereas I explained that for me as an American, Sunday is the first day of the week.  Of course confusion ensued, and I assured them that everything is still the same; the weekend is still Saturday/ Sunday and the school week is Monday through Friday.  Although this did bring up some discussion about Wednesdays - France is in the process of changing the school calendar to add Wednesday morning school.  Currently, Wednesday is thought of as a recreation and extra-curricular activity day.  The four days that they do have school last until 5 pm - bring on the strikes!  After I showed them my calendar and they heard the song that started on Sunday, they seemed somewhat reassured and passed it off as a funny cultural difference (probably not the way they would phrase it - but that's what it is nonetheless).

While this is a great way for the children to learn about the U.S. and my traditions, sometimes their questions are just plain silly.  For example, "Why is your name Danielle?"... "Uhh, because that's what my parents decided it would be?" Or there's the assumption that I currently live in the U.S. and fly to France every week to teach: "Do you take a plane or a train from the U.S.? A plane. Woah, that must be really far away! Yep, it is, but I am living in Perpignan for this year. Ohhhhhh."

Given that I am so "exotic" to these young-ins (and that I always have fun songs to share), they get very excited when they see me arrive.  I probably hear "Hello!" or "Hello Danielle!" (they use my first name or equally as often "maîtresse," meaning teacher) at least 20 times before I even make it into the classroom.  Sometimes, a kid gives me a sticker and thinks he's the coolest in the class or I receive a specially-made card (I got a lot when I gave them Christmas cards to color).  Last week, I received the most intricately made one yet! It was a card, inside of a homemade envelope, inside of a homemade baggy with handles (all made out of colored paper).  It's funny to see how many different ways they can spell my name.

This year, I'm understanding more and more the phrase, "Kids say the darnedest things"!

"For Danielle: I really like English but unfortunately I'm French! Also, you are pretty and nice."

Salses

On Wednesday this week, I had the day off, so I took a morning excursion to the village of Salses-le-Chateau.  Salses is known for one thing, and really one thing only: its fortress.

Built by the Spanish in the 15th century, la forteresse de Salses guarded what was the frontier between Spain and France.  Now, the village rests 15 minutes by train to the north of Perpignan.  Our knowledgeable guide (who spent more time inside those walls as a kid than outside) explained how modern the fortress actually is.  It bridges the ancient and the modern.  From the dangerous, defensive shafts where enemies could easily fall to their deaths to one of the first "microwaves," it really is an interesting fortress.

A l'interieur

Fireplace with a "microwave" to the right: pipes of water ran just behind the wall of the fireplace to beneath the surface of the ledge, on which one could leave food to warm up.

Those doors are heavy!

Kitties (to the left) in the moat!

Autour de Perpignan

Today, it was exceptionally sunny, so I went for a nice walk around town.  Here are some of the things that I wanted to share.

La FNAC: I live right down the road from this electronics and gadgets store.  Its building reads: "Aux Dames de France" (to the ladies of France).

I walk past this pair of mermaids whenever I head into the center of town.

The Pyrenees Mountains rest in the distance, covered in snow, while green grass covers the stretch of river in Perpignan.

Green grass may line the banks, but that's interdit to walk on. We can only look.

A building at the crossroads.

"Sale": Yes, please! Five weeks of great sales are the highlight of the city in January/ February.

The interior of Cathedrale St. Jean.

Brightly colored building against a blue sky.

Lost in thought.

Ambling down the avenue.

More to come...

Christmas in Bergen

After a quick jaunt in Barcelona, I flew out of the city and headed towards Bergen, Norway where I spent Christmas with a friend and her family as well as my mom (yay!).

As it was Christmas time, I partook in some of the family's traditions, including their Christmas Eve dinner of lamb and potatoes, as well as opening presents.  During the day, we spent a lot of time relaxing and watching tv.  One show that they watch every year is a version of Cinderella, originally in a foreign language (Eastern European) that is dubbed over by one guy into Norwegian.  Yes, he dubs all narration, guys and girls, and it was definitely unique to watch. 

Mom arrived Christmas Day, and it was another good day for relaxing and enjoying each other's company, while eating too much of course.  Mom brought me an incredible new camera, that also had some great messages recorded from family back home.  It was a day where I missed everyone, but was very thankful to get some mommy time!  Later that night, we had dessert... my friend's mom had baked 7 different types of cookies and made homemade gingerbread ice cream.

December 26th: we finally got out for some sightseeing.  While I spent a little time in Bergen before, it was my mom's first time.  We walked through town, visiting Bryggen (the old wharf during the days of the Hanseatic Trading League) and going up Mount Floyen to get a view over the city.  As it's winter, there is really only a couple hours of daylight (and cloudy daylight at that) each day, so it was a new experience for me to see Norway like that.  Also, if you're curious, there was no snow for me this year.  Bergen is known for its rain, and rain it did.  After our walk around town, we joined my friend's dad for an incredible meal, with shrimp as the centerpiece.  At first I wasn't quite sure about the shrimp (they still had a head!), but quickly figured out how to take the head off.  They were mighty tasty!

Mom and I did some touristy sightseeing and museums the next day.  We started at the museum explaining all about Bryggen, explored the shops, saw the fish market (I'll pass on the lutefisk, thanks), and warmed up with tea.  We were then fortunate enough to join my friend's family for yet another delicious dinner... deer that her grandpa had shot while hunting.

The highlight for December 28th was the largest gingerbread city in the world!  Every year, Bergen's inhabitants submit hundreds of gingerbread houses, buildings, men, etc.  Many are submitted by kindergartens and schools, but anyone may contribute.  It was really cool!

The trip went entirely too fast, and mom and my last full day together was a day at the museums.  The maritime museum went through the Norway's history of sailing and other maritime activities (duh!).  They had a replica of the Oseberg viking ship, which was cool to remember after seeing the real one in Oslo years ago.  They also had an special exhibit on the Norwegian-American line that traveled between the two countries.

Overall, I loved spending Christmas in Norway.  It was great to see some Norwegian traditions (that until yet I'd only heard of or that were completely new to me).  It was great seeing a friendly face that I haven't seen in a couple years.  And it was even better to see my momma during the holidays. 

 Happy holiday to everyone and wishing you all the best for 2014!

Barcelona

I've been having a great Christmas vacation (vacances de Noël) these past couple of weeks.  All French schools have two weeks off for Christmas, which isn't as long as in the U.S., but they certainly make up for it with more breaks.  My next two-week break will be at the beginning of March.

Anyways, this break I've kept myself busy and traveling.  I spent time in Barcelona, Bergen, and Perpignan. 

Barcelona

The first day of vacation, I left promptly for Barcelona.  We took a covoiturage (carpool) to get there, which was a cool experience.  Covoiturage is much more common in France, and there's a whole website where people list their trips and can be reviewed by others who have traveled with them.  After our two-hour trip, we arrived in Barcelona and made our way to our hostel, the Barcelona Central Garden Hostel, which I would highly recommend.  We dropped off our bags and left to explore.  And explore we did... with hours and hours of walking!  We walked all through the oldest part of the city, a Christmas market, the fruit and meat market, etc.  After running on empty for a while, we finally found the perfect tapas place for the night.  I tried all sorts of delicious tapas, my favorites were the tuna, small fried fishes, and patates braves (potatoes).  I also tasted cava, the delicious Spanish champagne.

Returning to the hostel, we took a little bit to recharge, before heading out to explore the party scene.  We started in the old part of town at an Irish bar where I had the best sangria and ended up at a five-room (and DJ) club called Razzmatazz.

The next morning we finally got back to our hostel at 6 AM, so after some much needed rest, we made our way to Park Guell, the park designed by the famous architect Gaudi.  His architecture is very unique, with odd angles and designs, and he seems to be the best artist to represent the unique and thriving city.  The longest bench in the world (completely covered in mosaics) is in this park.

Later on, we went to another tapas restaurant that was recommended by the hostel... it was so popular that we weren't seated until around 11 PM!  Super delicious!

The next morning, we walked around a little bit more and found a tasty bakery before I headed to the airport to catch my plane to Norway...