Greve Encore!

I didn't go to school last Thursday because my schools were closed. No, it wasn't a holiday and we didn't have a snow day. My schools were closed because my teachers decided to strike. Many, though not all, teachers stayed at home on Thursday to express their discontent with the government's plan to eliminate some teaching positions. On Tuesday, teachers taped signs to the windows saying "For the future of our school, for the future of our students we're going on strike Thursday." A number of teachers staged a protest on Thursday afternoon to help bring awareness to their cause.

From an American perspective, this whole thing seems a little outrageous. Teachers very rarely go on strike in the States. A teachers' strike would leave working parents scrambling to find somewhere for their kids to spend the day. I don't think a teacher's strike would be received very sympathetically in the States. Rather, it's likely society and of the media would find the idea of striking - under the pretext of showing how much one cares about the future of the students - quite hypocritical.

But in France, strikes are a part of life, the primary way to express labor discontent. I get the impression that if the teachers didn't strike, their concerns would not really be considered legitimate. I think the attitude might be, Oh, well, maybe they're upset, but if they're not willing to strike about it they must not be that upset.

That's not to say that I'm convinced the strikes really do anything besides giving the TV crews something to film. Strikes are so common in France that they don't really carry the same weight as they do in other countries. And it seems to me like the government can't make any change without getting somebody upset and having them call a strike. It's just an accepted cost of making change, but an expensive one. My roommate who works for SNCF, the French railroad company, says each day the company's workers go on strike, it costs the company 20 million euros.

Don't get on the wrong side of the Maitresse!

We can probably all remember our parents telling us stories about how school was different "back in their day." My parents' stories of strict discipline and stone-hearted teachers in 1960s New Jersey made me glad that I was a child of the 90s and thus not subject to shrieking teachers or corporal punishment. Sure, I remember my teachers getting upset (I may have been responsible once or twice...) but I don't remember many yelling teachers and there certainly were no episodes of teachers hitting students. In fact, I don't remember teachers ever touching students at all. It had been 13 years since I had set foot in a elementary school, but I assumed I would find a similar atmosphere here in France.

Well, I received a bit of a surprise on my first day here at school back in October. Two hours into my teaching experience in France I was standing outside with my new collegues at recess (yes, they have two recesses here - morning and afternoon) when a fourth grader came over complaining that one of the boys - lets call him "Pierre" - had pushed her to the ground. The teacher calmly called Pierre over...and then proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs about 6 inches from his face, completely furious. Unfortunately, I had no idea what she was saying, but I got the feeling she was going for style, not content. I didn't need to know what she was saying to get the message. After a good minute or two of this tongue-lashing, she grabbed Pierre by the shoulder and, with a snarl, gave him a shove of her own toward the fence where all the kids who are punished have to stand. Then she returned to the little circle of teachers sipping coffee and, with a smile, cracked a joke. I was taken aback because I could not imagine this episode playing out in the US. Kids would be crying, parents would be up in arms...it just wouldn't fly. But here it's par for the course. Teachers yell to get students' attention, to express their anger, to punish. But they also yell over seemingly trivial mistakes - a student wrote in blue what he should have written in black. If the student still doesn't respond, they give them a push. Literally.

Now I want to be clear that I've never seen teachers being violent by any means. But, from what I've observed in 3 schools and from what I've heard from other assistants and my French friends, yelling at and grabbing students is part of the school culture here. The question is, Is it a good thing or not?

After 4 months, the jury is still out for me. I see pros and cons. The negatives spring to mind first; it seems a little demeaning to yell at kids in school. And frankly, I'm not sure it works. The teachers who yell the most don't have the best-behaved classes. Their students hear screaming so much they just tune it out after a while. I'm not sure it creates the best atmosphere for learning, either. Discipline is most certainly necessary, and I'm not proposing that schools should be like summer camp - all fun and games and no work or responsibility - but I think kids learn best when they are comfortable and encouraged, not yelled at for making a mistake.

On the other hand, there are some advantages to the meaner, less warm-and-cuddly French school system. Kids develop a thick skin. I don't see a lot of crying at school. Kids just take it when they're getting yelled at. If they start to weep, they receive no compassion. There's no turning on the tear ducts to win some sympathy. At first I was a little taken aback, but then I thought of the other extreme at home, where kids are coddled. I think it's better to develop a thick skin early than to grow up expecting everything to go your way and for no one to ever hurt your feelings or get upset with you. In the States we pretend that "everybody's a winner" and try not to hurt anyone's feelings. In France, not so much.

I am long overdue for a post. Let me update you on life here in France, what I'm up to, how teaching is going, etc. Teaching is going well. It certainly isn't what I had imagined, in that I'm not working as much as I expected. I knew going in that my contract was only for 12 hours in the schools per week, but considering the limited nature of my contract I imagined that my schools would try to make the most use of me, and that I would be teaching every minute I was in school. That hasn't turned out to be the case. In the beginning, especially, it seemed that the schools didn't know exactly what to do with me - they were asking ME what my role was. There were many days where I would do English for maybe 2 out of the 8 hours I was actually in the schools. The rest of the time I spent observing other subjects and going with classes to various activities (swimming, science fair, the town greenhouse, helping with a photo collage project, gymnastics classes), which while interesting, have absolutely nothing to do with English. And many of the times I did actually teach, I would go into the classroom with no forewarning of what the teacher wanted covered...so I would either be told right before class and adlib with the teacher's materials, or I would present a lesson that I had prepared. In the case of the former, I would often end up frustrated that I didn't teach the material very well (not surprising, since I had little time to prepare) and in the case of the latter, I would end up frustrated that, although I taught the lesson well, the lesson was not well suited to the age level (I teach all levels between Kindergarten and 5th grade). This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the work, it's just that I didn't feel like I was being very useful or effective.

Now, however, with 3 months experience under my belt (halfway through!) I feel I'm being more effective and better utilized. I have a schedule at all three of my schools, and my teachers talk to me in advance about what they want me to cover. I go in with a plan! And I have a better handle on what each grade can handle (the kindergartners are not yet ready for the causes of the Civil War & the 5th graders have got their colors down). I am well along on the learning curve. I wish my contract was a few months longer because I know the months to come will be better than the first three.

The kids are great. Most of them are quite interested and eager to learn English and they're still getting their heads around the idea that an actual American who really speaks English is in their classroom in little Cleon, France. Among the 5-11 demographic in Cleon I am a celebrity. I think I say "Hello" about 1000 times every day I'm at school. The teachers have been very helpful as well. I always have a ride to and from school, which is a great opportunity to have a French conversation in a comfortable atmosphere (one-on-one is much easier than in a group). They're curious about America and I try my best, despite my linguistic limitations, to answer their questions and correct their misconceptions (i.e. there is no separation of Church and State in the US, hot dogs are the national food, etc).

I couldn't imagine a better living situation. I live with 5 young Frenchies - 2 students and 3 who have jobs. They are very nice, very welcoming, and very patient with my lousy French. We usually eat dinner together (at least three of us), we go to the movies and take day trips together, and so there's plenty of opportunity for me to practice my French...and to have fun with locals! The apartment itself is really great as well, recently renovated with all new IKEA stuff. My room has a TV, a huge desk that overlooks a big window, and plenty of storage space. Plus, we have several modern conveniences that, while standard in the US, are not so common in France: a dishwasher, a washing machine, and a dryer. The utility of a dishwasher in a apartment of 6 does not need further explanation, but the washer and dryer are truly a blessing as well. Before I moved in here I did wash twice at the laundromat: each time it cost 14EUR!!! At those rates, I don't think I would have been the best ambassador of American hygiene...

I am so thankful for the church I have become a part of. It's a baptist church led by an American missionary family, who have been wonderful in helping welcome myself and my friend Elizabeth, another American language assistant. There are also a considerable number (25+) of young people who have made us a part of the social network, which has been fantastic. The church is very multi-cultural, with French, Americans, Gabonese, Kenyans, Nigerians, Haitians, Colombians. I am thankful to have found a spiritual home with many really solid men and women of faith.

My mission for 2011 is to make a better use of my spare time. I want to tutor and find some volunteer opportunities. Furthermore, I want to seize every opportunity I have to improve my French. So I'm going to watch more TV. Seriously. I find watching TV very helpful at improving my comprehension as there are images to accompany the words. I'm also going to search for some language partners, some French people who want to work on their English. We can talk in English for a bit, and then in French. I find I am less self-conscious around those who are also trying to learn a second language. And I'm going to read more in French. I want to be able to get through the whole newspaper before it is no longer news...

And another goal of mine is to write more often! And to take more pictures. Here's a shot of the Rouen Cathedral before Christmas with a ferris wheel in front...

au bon pain

Back to the French stereotypes. Let's look at bread, or more generally, food and eating. They really do love bread! Walk around the streets of Rouen between 4pm and 7pm and you'll see dozens of Frenchmen and women on their way home from work with a baguette (or two or three) tucked under their arm. Boulangeries (bakeries) are everywhere - they're more ubiquitous than Dunkin Donuts' in New England. One of the little pleasures of living in France is paying a visit to the boulangerie/patisserie (pastry shop, sometimes the two are separate but more often together). I particularly like how they take very special care of your order by wrapping up everything - no paper bags like at Dunkin Donuts. Instead, they very carefully wrap your eclair or tarte aux pommes or whatever in paper and tape it securely like it's a Christmas present. They wrap up the bread too, putting a little paper around the center of the baguette. Then when you get home...it's like it's your birthday. You unwrap your present, and - tada! - there's an eclair inside. The French have a good thing going with their eclairs. Instead of filling them with yellow custard, they put chocolate mousse inside! Yum. I've also seen pistachio and coffee flavored, but when there's chocolate, why try anything else?

The French do take eating seriously and they like to maintain a certain eating ritual. They don't snack very much. One of my collegues at school visited America last summer and said that she really liked the food there, but that "Americans just eat whenever!" For a nation that puts a lot of stock in the quality of what they eat, it probably comes as a shock to the French that Americans would just shovel down food without giving it the proper setting of a table and the proper time of a set meal. The French like their 3 meals a day...and that's sufficient (probably a big part of why they don't have the obesity problem we do). When they eat, they take their time. We have almost 2 hours for lunch at the primary schools. At Silver Lake High School, where I subbed last fall, we got 18 minutes. They like to eat their courses in succession, starting with salad, then an "entree" - usually pate or veggies or something like that, then the main dish, then some cheese (just by itself, and it's plenty good on its own), and finally dessert (sometimes real dessert and sometimes fruit). This tendency to eat in stages even carries over to how they eat fast food. At McDonalds I saw many eating their fries first (with a fork!) before starting in on the burger.

I've found that eating in France is not just a means by which we fill up our tanks to get through the day, but rather something to be enjoyed and savored - in moderation - with friends and family. It is rare to see someone eating alone, or eating with haste, or eating while multi-tasking. Food is serious in France, and it deserves all of your attention.

Presidental Address

Just a quick note as I watch a presidental address of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the debate which follows. Some impressions: (1) The format: Not a speech like we are used to in the US, but rather a roundtable-type press conference with 3 TV news personalities grilling the president. At first I was impressed that the president would go before a national TV audience in such a setting, but my roommates quickly assured me that the questions are predetermined and Sarko knows whats coming. Still an interesting difference from the US format, which shows the head of state in a different context, delivering a speech either all alone in the White House or in front of the Congress.
(2) The post-address breakdown: In the US, we're used to having the talking heads start jabbering on all the networks as soon as the President gets out his last word. A minimum of 15 minutes of breakdown is obligatory. Here in France, the address was shown on three channels. One went straight to the talking heads. One went right to the evening news. And one went right to an episode of CSI Miami - no wrapup at all - straight from Sarko to some supposed detective speaking French on Miami Beach. Curiously, her lips don't match her words...
(3) Every French talk show that I've watched has had a studio audience, always with an "in the round setting" like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" so no matter what the camera angle, you always catch a glimpse of someone in the crowd. They don't participate but they're always there. It's kind of weird to get used to - imagine "Sportscenter" or "Larry King" with a live audience. The weekend soccer wrap-up shows always feature an engaged audience (and the producers know their audience well - the front row is always filled with pretty girls....) but the audience for this political debate is not so interested. The camera just cut to one of the panel members and we could clearly see the guy in the crowd behind him dozing off! until someone jabbed him in the leg or something and he came back to consciousness and resumed pretending that he was interested in the discussion and hadn't just agreed to sit through this so he could be on TV. Poor guy, at least in the US he'd get a commercial break every 10 minutes.

The French Stereotypes: Smoking

Picture, for a minute, what you imagine the typical Frenchman to be like. He's probably named Pierre or Jacques, wearing a beret and sporting a mustache. A cigarette is dangling from his mouth and he's got a baguette in one hand and the hand of his girlfriend in the other, with whom he was just smootching quite publicly - and unashamedly - in the park. He likes art and poetry and has a distaste for Americans and the way their "culture" is invading his own. After six weeks in France, I am happy to report that most of these stereotypes are true! Lets start with cigarettes.

Yup, the French like to smoke. According to the World Health Organization, 34% of French men and 23% of French women smoke. Compare that to 26% of American men and 20% of females. The numbers, however, don't really tell the story. In America, we've been told for years (for me, it's been my whole life) at school, through the media, etc, that smoking is bad. Smoking will kill you. Any American that picks up smoking in today's day and age is really an idiot, given how our society has clearly sent this message. As a result, smokers in America are largely ostracized when they smoke. We can't smoke indoors. We have to stay a certain distance from the building. We've been so well educated on the dangers of second hand smoking, that non-smokers steer well clear of anyone smoking. So you see smokers huddled in little packs, taking a drag behind a building. It's become embarrassing to be a smoker in America. Not so in France. My first week here, I remember thinking how brazenly everyone was smoking, as if smoking were some kind of crime that should only be done in private, or at least in a place somewhat out of view. Of course it's not, but that's almost the way it seems at home. Here in France, while smoking has been banned indoors, everyone at an outdoor cafe table is lighting up, young mothers push a stroller with one hand while their cigarette is in the other, and high school kids smoke without consequence in front of the high school. In short, smoking has largely become socially unacceptable in America while it remains very much a visible part of French culture.

At long last...settled

After six weeks of living without a home, I finally have a place to live. Last Friday I moved into an apartment just outside of Rouen. To have my own space, a fully-stocked kitchen I can use, and - most importantly - my own bed is a relief. More of a relief than I expected, in fact. The vagabond lifestyle was wearing on me more than I realized. But my patience has paid off as I found a really nice place with 5 French roommates who are friendly and don't speak English! I can't think of a better way to learn French. Finding a furnished apartment to share with French people was harder that I thought it would be, but I've found myself a good place with good people and a landlord who is on the ball (always a plus!). He owns a bunch of properties around Rouen and has a website with some pictures of my place here.

Well, I've got a lot to catch up on, so I think my posts for a while will cover what I've been up to and what's been on my mind thus far. Hopefully I can get caught up before too long! But I'll start with what I'm doing in France and why I'm here.

I am in Rouen, France, a city of about 500,000 (including suburbs) located halfway between Paris and the Normandy D-Day beaches. For the next 6 months or so I will be teaching English in 3 French primary schools, kids aged 6-10. My job is not only to help the kids develop a foundation in the English language but also to teach them about American culture. My contract with the French government calls for me to work 12 hours a week, so I have a lot of free time that I hope to fill with interesting stuff. Now that I am settled, I can start to focus on how I'm going to spend the 156 hours left in the week.

Voila! - a very brief overview of what I'm doing here. Now I'll explain a bit about why I'm here. I first heard about this program when I was in college - my French professor encouraged me to do it. But at the time I had very little confidence in my French and the thought of spending a year in a place where I would be forced to speak French was pretty scary. So, though it sounded interesting, at the time I decided it just wasn't for me. Over the past few years I have had a number of friends who have taught for a year in France and really enjoyed it. So nearly a year ago, in the midst of a frustrating job hunt in Pembroke, I applied, not really sure I wanted to do it, but wanting to keep my options open. Then this summer I spent 6 weeks in Senegal helping out at a ministry known as the House of Hope, a home for formerly orphaned street boys. I had a fantastic experience getting to know the boys, hearing their stories, and encouraging them. These boys have overcome so much and God, through the House of Hope, is transforming their lives. At the same time, it was very sad to see thousands others who aren't cared for and loved living on the streets of Dakar and to know that there are millions others around the world who are alone and with little hope for the future.

I wanted to learn more about the House of Hope: how it got started, how they provide for the boys, how the boys come to the House, more about the boys themselves, etc. I was full of questions...but my French (or lack thereof) limited me. But while I was in Senegal, I got placed in Rouen for this job, and, well, it all seemed to make sense. Learn French for a year, and return to the House of Hope able to ask the questions I want to and better enabled to aid their work. And after that, I'm not sure what I will do, but I feel strongly that I will be working with or on behalf of children, and perhaps in the francophone world.

So here I am! Living in France, teaching English, and trying to soak up as much of the French language as I can. Oh, and also eating a lot of croissants, pain au chocolats, eclairs, cheese....