Wednesday, January 18, 2012

NEW HOME!!!

To My Beloved Followers:

The French Stench officially has a new home, which is very exciting. I've transferred all of my previous posts to it, that's where I'll be updating it from now on!

Check it out at:


Much love,
Tyler

Sunday, January 8, 2012

another sunday, another week

It’s hard to believe I began my daunting trek back to France only a week ago. The passage of time – or rather, my perception of it – is peculiar in the Bubble that is Lannion. It didn’t take long for me to get back into the swing of things, to readapt to the vie quotidienne as it were, so it feels like I’ve already been here for ages.

In short, this week was all about reunions. Karen and I coincidentally crossed paths at the train station in Paris, and since we were both zombies from traveling, the chance meeting elicited a dud of a reaction. It was a strange, slow-motion kind of Oh hey, it’s you, this is kind of funny moment that didn’t really convey our mutual excitement. Fiona and I enjoyed a less spontaneous catch-up session over vin chaud and chocolate-covered Speculoos cookies at this kitschy bar in town called Le Scopitone on Wednesday. And on Thursday night, Heledd and I reinstated our routine of cooking dinner together (I use the term “together” here loosely; not that H. isn’t a great sous-chef, but let’s be real: Tyler’s the one who cooks around here). Of course, I was also reunited with my students this week, and I was particularly glad to see my little ones. As they walked into the classroom on Friday morning, many of my CE2s asked me (accusingly) why I hadn’t been there on Tuesday; their teacher winked at me as she told me that they were all pretty worried when I didn’t show up. So cute.

My week of reintroduction into French social life culminated last night as I attended a dinner party thrown by Slim, a Tunisian fellow who has somehow managed to befriend the last three or so generations of language assistants in Lannion. We were quite a cosmopolitan group sitting around the dinner table, twelve of us representing nine countries: Slim the Tunisian, as well as 3 Spaniards, 2 Frenchies, a German, an Austrian, a Venezuelan, a Welshy, an Italian, and me, the lone American. Part 1 of the soirée included a delicious couscous dinner and drinks before we ended up moving the whole gang to my apartment for Part 2, which included games like Times Up (the love child of Taboo and charades…kind of) and Jungle Speed (a high-energy/high-stress/potentially violent card game involving shapes and colors and a little wooden totem). It was a casual and fun Saturday evening with both familiar and new faces. It was also an excellent reminder of the kind of rich cultural exchange a program like this can cultivate. Here's to hoping that 2012 is full of these kinds of multicultural, melting pot experiences!

The upcoming week looks promising as I sit here with a hot cuppa tea, listening to the strong gusts of wind outside my window. Tomorrow, I'm accompanying some of my primary school students on a field trip to the hospital, where a bunch of decorations they made before Christmas are hanging in the halls. Tuesday, I have to go to Rennes for a medical visit through the Office of Immigration (cross your fingers I don't have TB, y'all! that's what they're testing me for), and I'm spending Tuesday night in Guingamp to catch up with some of the assistants there, since I'm back to having Wednesdays off! No pictures to post for now; unfortunately, I left the charger to my new digital camera at home, but Mom sent that to me a few days ago, so expect some good ones soon!

Three cheers for updating this thing already!

Until next time, bisous from the Stench.