Train station

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence. "

~ Desiderata

Salsa dancing in Paris

It's been about a month since I've danced, and today I went to Barrio Latino in Paris by what used to be the Bastille and all I can say is wow.. What an amazing atmosphere that place had! There were lots of amazing dancers jiving to awesome music. Pretty awesome.. though the venue was rather small; tall though (four levels, but only the ground floor was open to dancing).

=)

And no, this isn't how it looked while I was there. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera out of my bag while dancing, so we all will have to make do with a picture I found online. So unfortunately, no pictures of the venue, no pictures of me, and no pictures of me and any friends I was able to make then.

All those fluffy seats in the center were moved aside and that entire area was open for dancing. It was actually rather spacious there had there been less people, but hey, business was good tonight. Isn't it such a pretty place though? I love love loved the staircase! It looked almost like the one from Titanic. Very fun. Come salsa with me! =D

Completely not french, but still yummy

that's right.
spam musubi.
mystery meat wrapped up with rice in seaweed.
yum yum yum...
so yummy that my monster danced to it. ;)

Photojournal 2: Sacre Coeur et le Tour Eiffel and a yummy glass of wine

^ at the entrance of the Sacre Coeur which, by French standards, isn't old at all.^ wandering the cobblestone roads of Montmartre.^ more weddings!^ in hopes of world peace^ yum...

Sabrina

"And another thing, never a briefcase in Paris and never an umbrella. There's a law."
~ Sabrina Fairchild

Not quite sure about Paris quite yet since it fortunately hasn't rained while I was actually in Paris, but it sure seems to be the case in Creil. Lots of people here just walk out in the rain, perhaps with a hood on, but for the most part, umbrella-less. And here I am in my coat and scarf and gloves and golf sized umbrella which I so happen to adore. Only French umbrellas are half the size of mines. And not to mention, their sidewalks are half the size of American sidewalks too! (ok, perhaps a gross exaggeration but they're definitely smaller.)

So to blend with the locals (as best a foreigner can) I should probably take Sabrina's words of wisdom right? I'll forgo the briefcase (backpack in my case) but I don't think I'll let go of the umbrella. brr..

Sundays

Sundays here are depressing.

barren streets

no one's outside

Creil is silent.

I should remember to go to Paris on Sundays now.

even then lots of things are closed.

so i ask, "what do people here do on sundays?"
the answer: smile, "you rest, of course"


good thing it's monday now



Onto week #3 of teaching and on the bright side, I have a break next week! A nice week and a half off. Though I'm not doing much as is, but it'll be a good time to see the rest of France and then the rest of Europe.

So far teaching hasn't been terribly disastrous. Most of the kids are eager to learn and participate. So much that they shout out answers often. As a teacher trying to get her point across, this comes as a dilemma. On one hand, it's great because they're smart, are eager to participate, and they know what the correct answer is. On the other hand, one at a time! Is that too hard?








< pixellated oscar the grouch on a parisian wall

Photojournal: Paris at Sunset and Night

Exciting finds in the city of Creil

What's interesting about French schools is that on top of their extensive list of holidays, there isn't school on Wednesdays. A student's dream right? I believe it's safe to say it's anyone's dream. Only, there really isn't much to do in this town. As close to Paris as I am, I don't particularly care to spend 20 euros round trip plus everything else I purchase there toooo often. So what then did I decide to do? Cook! :D And since my landlord isn't here yet, there really isn't much for me to do but cook for myself. (I still would have cooked for myself if she was here too, but hopefully when she arrives, it'll be more her teaching me to cook French cuisine.) So off to the market I go!

As small as my town is, I must give it some credit, there are a few "Chinese" restaurants. I walked into a tiny "Chinese" bakery/restaurant earlier during my stay and saw egg rolls, spring rolls (the Vietnamese kind), samosas, curries, and baguettes! There's also two "Chinese" restaurants that seem to serve everything under the sun. Apparently, to my tiny little city (or perhaps France in general -- I'll validate this claim later after some "research"), anything within the continent of Asia classifies as Chinese cooking. If not Chinese, then at least "exotic". haha

So today, off to the market I go, only this time I decide I'll stop by one of these "exotic" stores. You know, in the US "exotic stores" are sure to mean something else. Nevertheless, they seemed harmless enough. If worse comes to worse, I thought, I can easily feign foreigner ignorance right? Fortunately, it was indeed what I thought it to be and eagerly grabbed several useful reminders of home. Slightly absurd perhaps, but finding Shaioxing cooking wine and some oyster sauce among other things was definitely rather exciting. :)

And to top off my shopping trip..! I swung by a bakery nearby and bought myself a massive macaroon! mmm perhaps three inches in diameter? no matter, it was YUMMY!! A coffee flavored macaroon... deee-lish!

Today

So this is the outside of my place; I realized that I haven't put up the outside yet but you all have seen the inside. Ah! And you see that window up at the top among the shingles? That's my window!

Went out to Paris again today. Trip #2! It was a lovely fall day, leaves were turning colors, the sky was blue with fluffy clouds, and the air had that nice crisp feel to it. Ah autumn in France! How beautiful! What's amazing is that the leaves on the trees across the river from my window are also turning colors and not just the brown before they fall like in southern California. Light greens, yellows, and even some red! Such lovely colors. Who knew fall had such colors! :-) (Alas, it's dark now and I didn't take pictures of those trees earlier so those will have to wait for another day.)

What made today even better was the de-lic-ious crepe that I had walking along the Siene! Une jambon et fromage crepe (ham and cheese)! Though the guys in front of me had a Nutella and banana crepe that also looked delicious. Too bad I couldn't eat two crepes and take pictures at the same time!




Note:
~ Paris is beautiful.
~ Fall is beautiful.
~ A brisk walk through the city is beautiful.
~ A good way to combat homesickness is enjoy a beautiful day in a beautiful city!

=)

Pictures part 1 and part 2

Things that remind me of home

~ The books I've brought from home
~ American tv shows on the internet
~ The dismantled Ikea desk that Thomas brought back from college that two of my friends have had in the past
~ The Honda Accord parked outside my street :)

Rainy day writings

Yesterday I was introduced to the teachers of the three schools I’ll be working with. In most cases I was introduced to the students as well. What was so cute was that the kids seemed so surprised at the fact that I was from San Francisco. Albeit, as children, and this applies for children of any nationality, you can say almost anything to them and they would “oooh” and “ahh” over it. The children were quite interested in me as it would seem, which ultimately sets the bar quite high for me. Well perhaps a different sort of bar. If the kids weren’t interested in the first place, then I’d have to work very hard to get their interest and keep it. In this situation, I’ll have to keep their interest and not mess up. So perhaps the bar isn’t that high to begin with. But teaching a class – a French class no less – for forty-five minutes a day for only twice a week has its sets of challenges. I’ve seen Voon try to teach an unruly class for thirty minutes and for the most part it’s very unfruitful. At such an age, any distraction for the kids is a welcomed one. They are able to chat and talk for the five or so minutes it takes for transitions to occur. Most of the times teachers tend to take advantage of that few minutes to catch up on latest news or the simple “hi, how have you been”s. In those fleeting moments, children take advantage of that and begin conversations of their own. And with good reason. Why not take the next few minutes to chat with your neighbor about who knows what? Teachers do it, why not them?

So I suppose the best way to discontinue that is to have them start doing something when I get in. A song perhaps. I wish I had some of my teaching stuff with me that way at least I’d have some references to begin with. Mmm.. what’s a good song to start my lesson with. Abc’s would be too childish but I might just have to start there.

I’m glad I have a good view of nature outside my window however small it may be. It’s very strange to be looking out into a river and a hill full of trees. Living in the Bay Area definitely gives you more nature than Southern California, but to be able to look out my window and see a river and trees is something rather uncanny to me. It’s truly beautiful and the leaves on the tree are beginning to change colors. I don’t know yet if they’ll be as pretty as the pictures of New England’s fall foliage, but there are signs of promise. I might actually see a real fall here! The weather’s that of a Bay Area winter already. Low sixties in temperature, sporadic rain, and grey clouds. Yep, definitely a winter I’m accustomed to. However, it’s only the first day of October. There’s much more of fall to see before the real winter shows its face. From what I’ve gathered, chances of snow are actually rather slim. Creil is about the same latitude as Canada and it snows in Seattle. Perhaps I’ll see more snow fall this winter. What an auspicious winter that will be.

What definitely reminds me that I’m not in a middle of nowhere town is the recurrent trek of a barge crossing my window view. At least there’s some industry going through the city. The sounds of motor vehicles constantly flow through my open window. Even voices from the street are heard from my third floor room. There’s a tall building atop the hill between the thick forest of trees. Swans calmly bob in the river and every so often I catch them hopping along the water’s surface, their immense wings outstretched, as they begin to take flight away from the next barge carrying its massive load. Beautiful nature surrounded by industry and the ever-present human.