I’m surprised that it has already been a week since my last post! Time is flying by now that my days are full of class, theatre, and tutoring! Let’s see if I can remember all that has been going on…
Last Sunday, we took a mini excursion to the nearby cities of Antibes and Juan-les-Pins. We woke up early and took the first bus headed for Nice (which stops on the way) and stopped first in Antibes. I liked the feel of Antibes – it’s surprising how a city only about a 10 minute drive away has a completely different vibe. We headed straight for the Sunday market – full of fresh food (even a whole roasted pig) and flowers. We stopped at a little cafe, where I had some tea and a croissant – yum! I was happy they brought me my own little tea pot again – so cute! Next, we all headed out as a group to the Picasso Museum. I always wish that I understood art more…I feel like I would appreciate it more then. I just don’t understand how some his drawings are considered great works of art when they are very child-like…like a fish and lines drawn in crayon. I keep trying to understand art, but I think I just have to cut my losses and realize it’s just not for me. I liked another exhibit more…it was a more modern exhibit that used superimposition of text on pictures – a lot of it was very dark but I feel like I got more out of this artwork.
The Picasso Museum
After the Picasso museum, we went back to the market and the nearby streets in search of something for a picnic lunch. I stopped at a little panini stand with some of the others and had a club chicken panini – very delicious! A thing learned about standing in line here: push your way to the front! Don’t be afraid to assert your place in line because others will just run you over if you don’t. We had a lovely picnic next to the Picasso museum before we headed to Juan-les-Pins, where there was supposed to be a huge end-of-the-season clearance sale at all the clothing stores. Mickey and I perused for a little while, but didn’t find anything we liked, so we stopped at an ice cream shop and headed to the park. We enjoyed relaxing on the park benches and talking before we headed back to Cannes.
When I got back to Cannes, I only had about a half hour to rest before I went to meet the family of the girl who I will be tutoring! It was just completely wonderful how everything clicked!!
He met me here at the College on Sunday night – picked me up in his SMART car! I was really happy I got to ride in a smart car, they are so cute and it has been a tiny dream of mine to be in such a tiny little car. He – Franck – was incredibly warm and friendly right away, plus he complimented my French! That’s one of the highest compliments – to be complimented on your French from a native! He said he was really surprised at how good my French was in the emails I sent (though I checked them like 5 times!). He was really easy to talk to, and I was just so happy with myself that I was actually speaking French and it was working and I wasn’t making (too many) mistakes! We got to his house and met his family and they were just as wonderful! They were all really happy and excited that I was there and were so welcoming. I met his wife, Souad, and they have 5 kids (!) David – 19, Nina -18, Sara – 14, Eva – 11, and Samuel – 7. I’m going to be primarily tutoring Eva, and I’m going to be helping her with her homework in all subjects – math, science, geography, reading, and history. She’s in an all English school now, and I think reading is the most difficult subject for her (which I totally understand, that’s what happens when you study another language).
Leah and I at Morrison's
And I’ll also spend a little bit of time each week with Sara, just have like an hour of conversation with her and explaining any grammar she doesn’t understand. So, we worked out that I will be tutoring on Tuesdays from 6-7:30 and on Fridays from 3:30-6:30. Fridays isn’t the most ideal since I would have preferred to have Friday afternoons to jump start traveling, but it will be so worth it. AND he’s going to pay me! I would do it without pay just because it will be such a good experience, but I definitely appreciate the extra euros (15 E an hour!!!!!). SO PUMPED. It all just works so perfectly – the bus picks me up right outside school and takes me to only a few blocks away, they’re really excited to have me – Franck said I could even stay for dinner after the lessons!!!! I am so happy about that, and so excited that I will be able to spend time with a real French family! Could this get any better?? I think not! I think this whole experience will really enrich my time here and make it more like I was hoping it would be – really connecting with the culture.
Just look at that backdrop! Antibes
I just had my first lesson on Friday with both Sara and Eva and this coming week will be my first full week of tutoring. I was happy that the first lesson went well. I walked to their house instead of taking the bus since it was so nice out and I figured I should familiarize myself with that area of the city a little more. Again, they were very warm and welcoming to me. I even got my first taste of home-cooked French food – a piece of apple pie that was delicious! My hour with Sara went very well – her English is pretty good and explaining the grammar was easy. The time with Eva was a little different since we covered more subjects, but overall it went quite well, and her English is very good for her age. I only felt bad when I had to explain math – my least favorite subject when I studied it, and I haven’t done math in a few years! I understood the problem and how to get the answer, but I had a very roundabout way of explaining it. I hope she understood like she said she did! I’ll have to work on my math explanations. I left a little earlier than we had scheduled since Eva was very tired after a several-day field trip with her school, and I took a nice long walk home by the beach.
I didn’t do a lot this weekend – went out to our favorite pub, Morrison’s, on Friday as a little goodbye for some friends who left the Collège yesterday. Saturday, Mickey and I headed into Cannes to do a little shopping – he bought some things for Christmas gifts, and I bought some scarves! The weather is getting a little chilly on some days, plus scarves are très chic here and will dress up my plain black sweaters. I also got to spend some time chatting with Karl – appreciated and enjoyed every minute of it! And, even though it’s October, the weather is still gorgeous! I even spent a few hours on the beach today :)
Otherwise, my classes have been taking up most of my time. Like I’ve said before, we virtually have no homework here (it’s a joke compared to what we have to do for homework at CSBSJU), but we have really long class periods so we’re in class a lot. We still have class on Mondays and Wednesdays for Beth’s class (our prof from CSBSJU) and her class is on the French Revolution. We are playing a game in class that has to last 6 class periods (only 4 left to go, thank goodness) where we are each a historical character from the Revolution. Some of us have names (like Mickey is King Louis XVI, and Evans is Layafette) and some of us don’t, but all of us have our own agenda and ideology. We each have a little packet that tells each of us our game objectives…and my character is a Jacobin (leader of the Jacobins was Maximilian Robespierre) so I’m pretty radical left and don’t want anything to do with the king and believe we can establish our own system of government.
strike a pose!
The game situation is that we’re at the critical point of the Revolution where we are in the middle of writing the new Constitution and all of us are able to “rewrite” history if we wish – we don’t have to do things according to what actually happened. It is a good idea for class (because unfortunately you actually have to READ and know wth you’re talking about) but it makes class so stressful and intense! We’ve had 2 sessions of the “National Assembly” where we debate parts of the proposed constitution and it just gets really intense since there are people with really incompatible ideologies. in addition to the meetings, we have to write newspapers that talk about our views of what’s happening. I’m the editor of my group’s newspaper, so Tuesday night i was up til about 1:30am compiling everything, thinking, “Well THIS feels more like CSBSJU.” I’m glad there’s only 4 more class periods left and we can have a less stressful class again.
Leah, Me, Shawn, Evans
Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Societe Francaise, with Sylvie my grammar teacher, and Wednesdays I have Cinema class. We filmed most of it our female-version-of-“The Hangover” movie yesterday, and have a few more scenes to film next week. Then, this coming Wednesday we’ll compile and edit everything. It’s only going to be about a 2 minute movie, and I’m sure we will put it up on youtube so everyone can watch it. Wednesdays are really long for me because I’m literally in class all day, from 9am-7pm. On the flip side, no homework but still, 9 hours of class in one day is too much.
The harbor in Antibes
And, theater has finally started! It’s actually not so much rehearsal time right away – but I think we will still have to rehearse more once the actual show comes closer. The director, Patrick, is also the director of the college, and he writes the play every year, and writes in parts according to our French ability. So far he’s only given us the first 4 scenes – he’s still writing and rewriting the rest of it. The story is about these 4 roommates, and they kind of stumble along this elixir that will make you tell the truth. My character’s name is Sophie, and she’s the mean and self absorped roommate. I don’t mind playing a mean character though – those characters are more fun to act! I’ve only had one real rehearsal so far, and Patrick just kind of tells us how to say the lines – it’s hard right now to read the lines and tell what kind of emotion he’s going for, so it’s helpful when he just tells us! The play is less about our acting, and more about improving our French – pronunciation, enunciation, projection, and intonation. So, I should be speaking wonderfully when the play is finished!
Leah and I on the terrace at the Picasso Museum
Other than that, I’m still trying to plan a few more trips. Some friends were planning to go the Loire valley and see all the marvelous chateaux this coming weekend, but it’s just not going to work out for me. Since I couldn’t leave until late Friday night or Saturday morning because of tutoring, it just would be too expensive for the actual time spent there. Instead, I’m planning to visit Monaco this coming weekend, which will be nice. I’m going to make a full day’s trip out of it, so I’ll see the castle, the Ferrari dealership and the casino, Monte Carlo. It should be a good trip! I’m really going to try to set up a trip to Cinque Terre for the following weekend, though finding train tickets has been difficult. I think I’ll stop by the train station sometime on Tuesday to talk to someone there about it, because the website is very confusing. And, I’m a step closer to finalizing my trips to Paris and London to meet up with my friend Kate. Can’t wait for all this traveling! :)
Love to all at home!
the 246 journey 