Janvier, etc

Hello my dear ones,

It has been so long since I've updated, but luckily I have had the wonderful fortune to see many of you since my last post. Since I last wrote, I went to Strasbourg, back to the US for the holidays and have been back in Paris for about 2 weeks. 

The trip to Strasbourg was an adorably French day trip with my roommate, Sarah. We also met up with our Washingtonian friend, Anna, who was there for the weekend with her french roommate,

 Eva. We got to le Capital de Noel very early in the morning, having left Paris by train before sunrise. We went through the extensive Christmas markets, took photos, bought 

bretzels and vin chaud from little stands (shown left), and splurged on a traditional Alsatian lunch of spaetzel et poulet. We boarded the train back to Paris that night with frozen toes, full bellies and bags full of treats from the most festive place I've ever seen.

My trip home was a wonderful whirlwind two weeks. I got into JFK and was quickly scooped up by the glorious Maddy GG. We met up with some

 beloved Emory friends, Schmon & Claire for drinks that night--which was the perfect way to challenge the gods of jetlag. The next morning we took the 5 hour road trip to South Dartmouth where my family was preparing a Hannukah feast of crispy potato pancakes. The next morning, Christmas Eve, Maddy

 returned to New York, while my family got ready for Christmas. We saw lots of family and old friends and ate huge meals over the next three days, as the holidays should be. Finally, after running around Massachusetts over the next weekend, I went to Atlanta for New Years. I rang in 2009 with some wonderful friends and had a great few days relaxing and returning to my old favorite haunts. As thankful as I am to be in France, it was a completely necessary breath of fresh air to come home for just a little while. It's so easy to get wrapped up in this strange life I've constructed here, that coming home was a great reminder of the people I'll be returning to when all this is over.

Life has pretty quiet since my return to France. I was sick for the first 

week, so took that as an excuse to get a lot of the rest that my busy trip home did not include. I also had the extra time to finish submitting all my grad school applications in my week of being a recluse. However, being a hermit didn't last long, as we had a big party at my apartment this past weekend. 14 people squished into our tiny apartment for a Power Ballad Power Hour, which was probably one of the best ideas I've ever heard. It brought out the animal/performer in all of my friends. (exhibit a, shown right) 

My work schedule has changed, finally. I have been going to Sevres 5 days a week thus far--not really ideal with an hour commute each way... especially when I'm only teaching 12 hours a week. But through a good deal of persistence and quite a bit of charm, I managed to work out a schedule that gives me mondays and fridays off! So, get ready for lots more travel stories (first stop- DUBLIN!)

OK, I think I've rambled long enough. I miss you all terribly and hope all is well. 

All my love,

Betsy

ps- I've added more photos to my flickr site, for your viewing pleasure.

Holiday Cheer

The holiday season is quickly upon us, in fact, its everywhere. I wrapped a string of white lights around my banister a few weeks ago and since then winter has come with full force. Fortunately, there are many bright sides to the rapid approach to balance out the frigidly cold weather in Paris.
First, I have to mention Thanksgiving. I approached this lesson with my classes in a few different ways. In some, i gave them a brief article explaining Thanksgiving and had them write and perform skits. This was a complete failure in all but two classes, who chose to embrace the activity with enthusiastic, if slightly racist, portrays of Pilgrims and Indians. For the rest, I blended a worksheet about Thanksgiving with games--which tended to hold their interest more. For the actual holiday, I had two young and excitable visitors to Paris, my lovely hostess from Rome and k.fort's little sister, Melissa and her friend Hillary. We went to dinner at a cafe where I enjoyed poulet roti et pomme frites... not quite turkey and dad's mashed potatoes, but it worked. I then had the pleasure of playing Parisian tour guide, which brought me back to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysses, St. Germain des-Pres, a fondue restaurant, Notre dame and Sainte Chapelle--most of which I've forgone since settling into my life as a Parisian resident.
On Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend, I was invited to the suburbs for a Thanksgiving feast chez Matheny--wonderful family friends of my roommate who have been watching over our little group of American Assistants. It felt so nice to be in the company of Americans, eat such delicious and familiar food.
The holiday fun continued later that night when, at a bar with my friends, I looked outside and saw fat snowflakes falling down. We all then proceeded to run outside and dance in the snow, creating this little scene:
This past weekend, three of my friends and I ventured to Amsterdam to continue the holiday cheer. In the 36 hours that I spent in the city, we went to Christmas markets, photographed a traditional dutch windmill, gazed upon light-strewn streets, ate schwarma (as promised to one Stewart L), waffles and tons of delicious Dutch Christmas candies.
This week, I will accompany my friends on a walking tour of Parisian Christmas markets and displays. My roommate and I will venture to the Germanic border town of Strasbourg next weekend. In spite of myself, all this holiday cheer has made me even more anxious to come home and actually celebrate the holidays with my friends and family. I feel so lucky to be able to come back, even for just a short visit.
Sending all my love! Can't wait to see you soon.
Gros Bisous,
Betsy

Fragments

- It snowed in Paris today. Actual flakes came down from the sky. Now it is just raining, but I'm sitting by the window at a cafe where I steal internet and its rather chilly. Either way, the snow was pretty exciting. I also watched O Brother Where Art Thou this morning which I had never seen before. I know I'm not the first to say it, but hot damn the Coen brothers are amazing.

- I went to a friend's party Friday night. It was a fake engagement party for my friends Leah and Brad. A whole lot of silliness and debauchery ensued, and my red sparkled hat was lost in the battle. There are some photos posted on facebook like this one:
(photo cred: C.Cooper)
these are some of my friends. I like them.

- Classes are going well on the whole. There was a strike on Thursday so some of my classes were canceled. They are cutting the numbers of teachers in the schools by the thousands and people are unhappy. When the French get unhappy, they strike. They do that often.

- I am applying to graduate school. My applications are due soon and therefore I am getting rather anxious. I finally finished a full draft of my personal statement this weekend. However, in the 2 hours I've spent since I finished it, I have decided to scrap the whole thing and start over. It was a useful exercise, but not really what I wanted to say. For the next few weeks I will spend most of my free time trying to write an adequate personal statement.

- My lovely hostess from Rome will be coming to Paris this weekend with a friend... so I expect next weekend to be a rather active one. I imagine we'll do a fair bit of bar-hopping, sight-seeing and shopping, so this weekend was a much calmer one than average in anticipation for Melissa's visit.

- Thanksgiving is coming up this week--so I hope you all have a wonderful day stuffed full of turkey! I imagine I'll be celebrating with a few assistants somewhere, or going out to a tasty dinner when Melissa arrives. I haven't made definite plans yet. I'm a bit sad to not be home for the holiday, but will be back for Christmas and am really looking forward to that.

- Speaking of Christmas, I finally have a definite itinerary and plane tickets. I will arrive in New York City on the evening of December 22nd, hosted by the beautiful MGG, then will go to Boston the following afternoon. I will remain in Boston from the 23rd-30th when I will go to Atlanta for New Years! I leave for Paris from Atlanta on the 3rd, so hopefully I'll be able to see as many of you as possible in my time at home!

oh hey guys

Because I'm horrible and can't remember to update, here is a video post!

Head of Skate

Hilarious, and yet quite frightening:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1831461
Also, there are finally some photos on my flickr site for your viewing pleasure.

Teaching, or finding my hidden stern face

I spent the last couple of weeks finally teaching my own classes, and while I initially thought the pleasure of returning to a classroom would mask any tension or potential embarrassment, I found myself hopelessly over my head.
To be fair, I didn't have any major disciplinary issues and managed to keep everyone in the class and sitting in their seats for the most part, so that was a success. Keeping them interested and forcing them to engage in a class conducted entirely in English is quite another story.
I began each of my classes the same way-- making them play two truths and a lie, which on the whole went pretty well. Each student had to write three sentences about themselves, two true one not and present it. Then, the rest of the class voted on which statement was false. Given that they all have all their classes together, most lies were caught pretty easily. And, most students didn't quite understand that they were trying to trick their classmates, but at least they all spoke. Being the sneaky fool that I am, I managed to convince them all that my family is Morroccan--which I found to be incredibly entertaining given how horribly my French is progressing.
Then, in most of my classes, I moved onto presenting the US election to them, who the candidates are, how the electoral process works, etc... Most of my students got a bit lost and unfocused, but did manage to prove that American globalization is still alive and kicking, as they all knew about Sarah Palin and her knocked-up teenage daughter.
I'm running low on battery, so I'll end here. My parents are coming next week for--can you believe it?--my first vacation. I have almost 2 weeks off starting on Friday, and I've only been teaching for a 7 days! Gotta love la vie francaise!
All my love,
Betsy

New Apartment