Journal 10/4: Last Day Before I Start Teaching

Right before I went to bed last night, I got an email from my grandma asking for pictures of my apartment. I woke up with that in mind, and it gave me a rare burst of morning inspiration and energy. I put on my Feelin' Myself Spotify playlist and fully organized my room. I had put everything away the moment I arrived, but there were a lot of things just strewn about (when I gave my parents a Facetime tour, they said it definitely looked like I made myself at home; i.e. it was already a disaster). This took up my entire morning, but being so visibly productive made me feel really good. 

After doing some budgeting (fun), I showed F the About Me PowerPoint I'd made and she gave me a couple ideas for how to make it more interactive (this is her second time being a language assistant). My prof référente had told me that sometimes the English teachers hung out in the teachers' room during their 3:50 PM break, so after lunch I went looking for them. The problem is, though, I didn't know what they looked like, so I just stood around awkwardly, trying to gauge who looked friendly enough for me to approach and ask, "Excusez-moi, je cherche les profs d'anglais." I even logged onto a computer, opened a blank Word document, and pretended to try to print it, just to make myself look busy. Fortunately, just as I was about to throw in the towel and leave, a woman approached me and asked, "Are you Gabby?" I'm assuming my lost puppy demeanor is what tipped her off. As it turns out, she was the teacher I'll be working with on Wednesdays and Thursdays, which means my first ever class as a language assistant will be with her (since I start tomorrow, and today is Tuesday). She told me that the students will be studying Canada from now until December, and when I told her I'm from the United States and have only been to Canada twice, she said "Well the United States is close to Canada." Maybe in proximity, yes... I'm going to have to be very careful about staying unbiased and refraining from saying things like Canada is the better version of the US. I should probably even avoid mentioning that I want to move there in the future, because if they ask why, my honest answer is "Because I hate America but I can't move my goats across the ocean." So, best to just stay away from that altogether. At least Avril Lavigne is from Canada, and I'm obsessed with her (I even have a tattoo of her star logo), so I have that going for me.

Organizing my room this morning made me want to decorate it more. I had intended to pack pictures of my goats, but I left them at home, so I went to FNAC since I saw they had photo printing there. After uploading 90 goat pictures (and also a picture of me and my mom to put in a frame), I found out that you can only pay for prints using a carte prépayé, which I do not have. I didn't want to wander too far because my phone was connected to the machine and I didn't want anyone to steal it, so I waited for about 10 minutes until an employee passed by. I spent those 10 minutes rehearsing what I would say, but he cut me off right away and said he can page one of his colleagues to help. I stood around for another 10 minutes before remembering that Europeans are not as fast-paced as Americans, and that includes in customer service. I decided it wasn't worth the wait (and it will probably be cheaper for my mom to mail me the pictures I printed at home anyway, rather than print out 90 new copies), so I put back the picture frame and push pins I was going to buy and left the store. Patience is not my virtue.

I stopped at Carrefour City to pick up some bread and tomato soup so I can make grilled cheese later, and was super excited to hear "SPACE MAN" by Sam Ryder (the song that came in second place in the last Eurovision Song Contest, which I am obsessed with) playing. For a brief second I thought "Wow, this song even made it over to the US!" But then I remembered I was in France. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. 

I'm not excited to wake up at 8:00 AM tomorrow after sleeping in until at least 10:00 this past week, but I am excited to finally start the work I came here to do! I'll try to post an update on how it goes tomorrow.