La Belle Vie♥: Trivia Night

It has finally turned FREEZING in France, of course not freezing by most normal people's standards, by freezing to me since I've lived in the sweltering sauna of Texas for the last three falls in a row. This week has been very eventful, teaching is getting easier and easier, and I'm slowly figuring out which classes I like the best, and how best to teach the ones I loathe...busy work is my friend:) I spend a lot of time in the classes outside of the English department speaking in French, as my students have no idea what I am saying most of the time. My law classes switch from classroom to computer lab every week, so it gives me a chance to have a lot of one on one time with my students. This is good because it forces us both into using languages were not necessarily comfortable with; it's very risky speaking French with your students, because your french will never be as good as theirs, therefore you run the risk of undermining yourself with the class. It's a very fine line to walk, but I think I am managing ok for the most part.

I have been sick this whole week which let me tell you, really sucks in a freezing cold apartment. We have heat, but we're trying desperately not to turn it on since it will cost a fortune...it's that old school radiator heating that is run by gas and either leaves you sweltering hot, or just not quite close to warm. Yet another lovely charming addition to my apartment stay here in France. Not to mention that last week when we turned it on for the first time our electricity went out at 10pm and we had to wait for our landlady to show up with her man/boyfriend/friend, we're not really sure what he is, but he always seems to show up when something (and it's always something) in the apartment goes wrong. How a skinny french man in slacks is going to be able to help us any more than we can help ourselves I'll never be sure. Anyway, being sick in a cold apartment sucks, since the only pleasure you can get each day is a nice warm shower, only to be abruptly ruined by the drafty hall and freezing cold bedroom you have to change in. This morning I just crawled back into bed with my clothes and let my body heat warm them up before I put them on.

Last night was the first French trivia night I have ever been to, and it was so.much.fun. It's held at the pale (the Irish pub that I love) and hosted by the Irish owner Warren (who happens to be a Floyd and Dead Head). Trivia goes all night and you are arranged into teams that have to guess questions on who the celebrity is in the child photo, what country that flag comes from, name that tune, guess that album cover, and my all time favorite, anagrams of french people (I sucked ass at that one, but I suck at anagrams even in english). So I spent the evening in the basement of the Pale shouting out answers to Trivia questions all in French with my team (team Maple....such a stupid name, but I didn't pick it). At the end of the night we walked home in search of a Mcdonalds, which was alas closed, but I got some great action photos of me and my friend Marcia doing ballet in the streets of Tours...:) I also got to add my name to the "List" at the Pale. The list is for serious beer drinkers only, after you have recorded drinking 100 pints at the Pale, you get your own drinking mug with your name on it, and 50 cents off each beer. I am aiming to have this accomplished by February:) At least I have goals:)

This week I got a little lonely one day when I had nothing to do, it's amazing how fast your mood can change. I can go from being top of the world in the morning, to pathetic looser in the evening with no friends and nothing to do. So I headed out for a long walk around the town (I've been doing a lot of this lately) and I found myself at a local music shop just inquiring how much a used guitar would be (since I'm so desperate to make any kind of music at this point) and the next thing I knew I was outside looking into the trunk of some French guy's car and buying a Fender acoustic that he just had laying there. So this week I've spent some time learning all the CM scales all up and down the fretboard, needless to say I suck and i won't be posting any music videos soon, but it's so nice to have some way for my creativity to manifest itself. It feels good :)

I also met a group of Russians this week. I was at my usual Monday night hang (Café des Langues) and it had moved inside because it was SO cold. But 150 plus people in the upstairs of a café is no bueno, I was left standing on a stairway chatting with my friend Antonia looking for a new group of people. Some guys looked over at us (as guys are always staring at Antonia...she's a blonde German) and started chatting us up. I headed outside with them to find a table and spent the latter part of the evening chatting with them. Turns out that one of them is French and met the others because he was their French teacher at Uni. Then he ended up being their student in Russian at Uni. IT was all terribly terribly interesting, especially when the Russians didn't understand something I said in English and instead of asking their French Friend in French, they asked him in Russian. It gives you a bit of an uneasy feeling, because sometimes you know they're just talking about you. Oh well, I managed to pick up a weekly private student out of the evening, so that's a couple extra euros for me each month:)

This next weekend is fall break, FINALLY, and I am heading off to Belgium to see some friends, heading back to France to teach my two Law classes (since the law school is on a different holiday system than the English school...very strange) then I'm heading off to Portugal with the other lecteurs for a very fun filled Halloween weekend of what I can only hope will be a great release of madness:)

So that's all for now, I love you, I miss you

Sarah:)

Siobhan and Sarah at Amanda's birthday party (Minus Amanda:)