The next couple of days

Day 6 October 2, 2012

Simple, easy, today I signed up for a bank account, for my pay account at school (or tried to), applied for my social security. Very busy day, but mind numbing in its pedestrian tasks. I noticed the view from the city bus on the way into the school, and I need to get a photo of that, but still haven't done so. I will get one. So, to start, went to the bank, handed over a bunch of identification papers for photocopies, signed a bunch of sheets, and... I have an account number, but no way to access it yet. The bank card "is in the mail" and no clue about the cheques I did ask for. The social security was done by a lady who had no idea what she needed to complete the application, so I just gave her everything I had, she took photocopies of a bunch, and I submitted an application. We will see. Then I took that bus to the school. Takes about 20 minutes, but I get there faster taking the stop that is a about 5 earlier from the one in front of the school. I can just walk the distance. Get there, the secretary is "on lunch" so I have to wait for her to get back. From there, She apparently had a class, and I have to come back later to finish the paperwork. Ugh. A long bus ride home and then I relax at my place, with some downloaded One Tree Hill (for the second time because my second adapter broke), and then sleep. Still using the borrowed sleeping bags from my landlord. BTW, he is cool, but sleeping bags were built for kids. My feet stick out or my knees, or... well, they don't work right. 

Day 7 October 3, 2012

A day in Nantes! Today I got up at 5:30am, which I am pretty sure is against French law, and left to take the train to Nantes for a meeting at 9am. Two hours to get there, train departed at 6am. If it wasn't illegal for teachers to work past 5pm, I am sure the day would have started later. I have dreaded this day. I don't want to meet my fellow assistants, not because I am sure they are 10 years younger, supported on their parents bill, and looking to just have fun... but because they will speak English. Last summer, I spent a LOT of time with anglophones, and while I had a blast, I am sure I could have learned more French had I spent more time with actual francophones. So, off to the BIG city. When I arrive, buy two tickets for the tram, one there, one back, and off for the meetings. I am about 45 minutes early, so I wander to the main administration hall. They understand my French, but are confused that I might want to pay for coffee when the free stuff will be available so soon after. I just wanted coffee. Still isn't what I am used to, but espresso (in French, expresso) is good by me. Then off to the meeting. Where I find some cute guys, sit with them and chat through most of the presentation. Those who know me in classes might know what this is like. I talk. A lot. OK, most of you probably know what this is like. But yeah, even drier than normal materials. So I chat with a couple of guys and a girl from Great Britain. Currently, their names escape me. Probably not that concerned at the time. After the first half, we get a lunch... for, like, 5€. Which is a lot, since I pay 3€ at my schools. So then, off to lunch, where nobody looks for salt and pepper till they see I am using it. And then water, cause no one sees the spigot beside all the water jugs. But whatevs. No one sees. So a mediocre lunch, love I am not vegetarian, cause the girl beside me had to work to find enough food to feel anything besides leafy green about the meal. Then to our separate classes. About how to deal with kids. In various levels. For collèges, it is 6ieme to 3ieme, which is about 10-11 until about 13-14. And then I get a whole bunch of lessons on dealing with 10 year olds. I mean, clearly, I can't ask 10 year olds to name every state in America. But really? Don't use big words like "understand"?! This is the second word one should know in any language, after the negative word or words. Non capisco. No entiendo. Nie rozumiem. Cause you will use that phrase. A million times. And then some crap about games to play. Like sing with them to their CDs. What CDs? We don't get a copy of them. Then, after this relatively useless lesson, I decide to join the group going to a bar, since I have 2 hours till my train. So much for booking it late in case things ran over... We have a couple drinks, I find a few places to go in Nantes and I make a few more "friends for a day" as I like to call them. Then back to town and my apartment. 

The next two days are small...

Day 4 – Sunday September 30, 2012

Well, I moved into my apartment. Last night I crashed at the hotel, since I didn’t have sheets at the new place, and I got a bottle of wine, watched some TV shows and chilled till midnight-ish. Got up about 9am, in time to go shopping at the Carrefour Market (yes, they have a word for market in French, but they don’t use it for the store…), get some staples for a new home, and then moved my things over. Pretty good couple of trips then I unpacked everything I had with me and found out the crushing reality. My Ethernet connection won’t work because my recent reinstall didn’t include drivers for it. So here I am, at my new place, writing in Word so I have a summary for you guys. Got some more drinking done, this time 3 bottles of wine for 5€20, and watched some more TV. Good news is there is a place down the street (5 minute walk, on the outside) that has an open WIFI connection which I can use to get emails. So far nothing earth-shattering. I also took photos of my place before I unpacked, so you guys can have a look at those! Also, my landlords were kind enough to drop off a couple of sleeping bags that I can use to sleep with until I can get sheets.

Day 5 – Monday October 1, 2012

First day of work! Or at least that is what most people would think, in this program. I got up a bit late, since my day wasn’t starting till 15h15 and I spent some time just unpacking, getting to know the local eateries, just generally relaxing in my new location. Then I took the bus to school! Well, it is a really cute little place, but surprisingly, the entire thing is surrounded in a fence. I mean, the kids are locked in once the day starts, and can’t really get out without a teacher or secretary letting them past the gate. Had to buzz to get let in, myself. Everyone was so nice to me, introducing themselves, wanting to hear all about me, and using what little English they knew. The Principal introduced her job as being the “mistress”, a word she had probably learned from the British. I didn’t laugh at her, but I did consider it. I met the teacher I am going to be working with; she has a LOT of experience. She has had assistants quite a bit over the years, and she is 3 years from retirement (yes, I was suave and asked how she could retire at 40). She had my schedule set up that I would be teaching mornings at her school Monday and Wednesday, done both days by noon, and split 2 hours Monday and 4 on Wednesday. Not a bad schedule, and if I can get the other school to give me Tuesday and Thursday, I will get a three day weekend! Afterwards, officially signed the lease at my apartment, and got confirmation that I will be able to get insurance through his broker, which should be cheaper than what I could get on my own. All settled in for the week, have an appointment to open a bank account tomorrow, gonna apply for my social security number and return some paperwork to the school Then Wednesday, to Nantes for orientation, and Thursday, to my second school to meet everyone and set up my schedule!

Apartment Photos

Day Two photos

Day 3

Renting an Apartment Saturday September 29, 2012

So I get up kind of late, after waking up briefly to determine I don’t have to be to the apartment until 6pm, but I learn to regret this. About 1:30pm rolls around, and I gather up a few things I need to get photocopied and head out to get a bus pass, some photocopies and cash to pay for my apartment. I also make a mental note to visit the grocery store before 8pm. So, downtown I head, and it is busy. I figure out where the bus depot is for the SETRAM (local buses) and find out that when they say you need a photo d’identité that it is actually a thing. Not just a description of a photo with my face in it. So I head to a local camera joint, and get one done. Which turns out to be 4, since they don’t do smaller amounts. Then I head back to the bus depot to get my bus pass. When they say they need the photo, though, unfortunately, they don’t use it. So I get returned my 1 of 4 photos, and now have 4 sitting in my briefcase. Remind me if you ever need one of mine! 

So I get that taken care of then head around downtown looking for anywhere with a photocopier. Hardest thing in the world to find. Two blocks from my house, I find about 7 shoe stores, 4 perfume shops, 8 clothing stores (including H&M YAY!), 2 used book stores, 2 manga stores, 2 video game stores, a bunch of general used item stores, a few sporting good places (new and used) and a whole bunch of bars. That serve beer. For 3€. Not bad. So I wander until I eventually bite the bullet about 5 doors from my soon to be apartment, and ask the cashier at a book store. She directs me, kindly, back the way I just came from. Ugh. So I wander BACK up the hill, down a side street I assumed was dead, and find another photograph shop. Perhaps my French led me astray? So I ask inside if they know where I can get my photocopies done. They say there isn’t anywhere open on a Saturday and out I head. Luckily, I figure second cashier is an idiot, so I continue in the direction I had been pointed, and sure enough, next block, boom, stationary and document store! Guy does all my photocopies, and I am out of tasks till 6pm. Check my phone, it is 4pm. And no magical plan has appeared to give me service. So I head to one of the cell phone shops I saw to get details on plans. Turns out that everyone here likes to watch TV on their phones, so it is part of all their plans. So I shop a bit, find some of the best prices and some of the not so good, and out the door I go! 

Now I am getting hungry, so I wander past a couple of the pubs till I find one that sounds good. Sit down. Waiter arrives. They don’t serve food till 7pm. I think that is how all the French people are thin. They aren’t ALLOWED to eat until it is late, and probably not all that much even then.  So I find a bakery and I have a crepe with sugar, which sounded better than it was. Just hunks of sugar inside a crepe. But good coffee! So from there, I linger over two coffees to kill about 1.5 hours and head off to the apartment. I arrive early, so decide to check out the laundry facilities to find prices. It is a block down, and to this second, I have no idea the price. Once I figure out how it works, maybe I can tell you guys. Probably have about a week’s worth of clothes. So I meet the landlord again, and his wife and son (who is totally androgynous and thank god I know the word for son and daughter) and we get to work. They chat away in French, I nod at the pauses and I think I rented an apartment! YAY! At least, I signed a contract saying I am responsible for any illicit or illegal activities I do on the Internet, and I get the keys to the place. Since I have no blankets or pillows, and it is 6pm, I spend the night at the hotel, where I feed myself baguettes, soft cheese with herbs and garlic, premade salad with chicken in it (vegetable AND protein!) and a bottle of wine (I still say it prevents scurvy). 

Another day done, this one freeing up some stress. Although I did get an email saying I misremembered the address for the other apartment. You know, the one I double-checked the address against the email. In both spots it was written. So I asked for my money back again, and said that I would of course reimburse them for some of their time holding the apartment for me. We will see if that works. 

Second Day

Travelling Friday September 28, 2012

So my second day wasn’t nearly as exciting as my first, but it was only 23 hours long. I got up for about 6:15am to prepare to depart the hotel and head off to catch a flight to Paris. It was an unfortunate turn for me. When I had booked my flight, I booked with one bag at 20kg. After rereading my original flight info from Toronto, I realized I got TWO checked bags, so I bought a second bag for my second flight. Stupid move.  Easyjet apparently sells per bag, but doesn’t include weight, which would be an entire second purchase. So when I got to the airport, trying to check in, I am 15kg over my baggage limit. At 12€ a kilogram. So 180€ later, I am able to board my flight, feeling tired and frustrated. THEN it occurs to me, why didn’t I just buy a second seat?! The first one was 60€, how much could the second one have been. I didn’t get to find out, the flight info had been removed two hours before the flight. Ah well. Forward. 

So, I board my flight, have an empty seat beside me (more frustration there) and we fly to Paris. I try to doze off, but nothing really comes of that, so mostly I read and stew. We land in Paris, and wow. Their airport is crazy. Like huge, busy, bustling, so many people, and almost all of them rude. And strangely, no customs to clear. So my concerns about missing my train because of delays going through customs are unfounded. Perhaps we were supposed to do them in Porto, but the customs station there was unattended, and I just had to walk past it. So, I wait for my train in the middle of the airport (between 2d and 2f, for anyone flying into Paris and needing the TGV) and try to figure out how to print my ticket. See, while I am fluent in French (self-professed), there are a lot of words I don’t know. Or didn’t know. Like retraiter. I thought that would mean exchange. “re-“ to do again, “trait” trade… see, makes sense to me. Actually means withdraw. After I figured that out, getting my ticket was EASY! So I waited, and sure enough, with an appointment at 5pm that I have to get to, well, my train is 30 minutes late. So the 20 minutes I had to find the place, after storing my bags becomes 20 minutes late while dragging my bags. And I didn’t have the landlord’s phone number on me. 

So I get to the right address, and wait. But only 5 minutes, cause I am already 20 minutes late. Since I don’t get approached by anyone, I consider it a bust, and start down the street to the tramway (looking at google maps a hundred times at work did teach me some basic knowledge of the layout of this town). As I am about half the block down, some guy comes up to me and asks if I had an appointment, to which I reply yes. He then introduces himself, and we wander back to the apartment. Turns out it is through this security door (with a buzzer, apt. 6) and then down an alley between two building. Crazy, an alley behind a security door. Completely open to the elements (looking forward to snow in my “entrance hallway”). So we walk to the back, which is good, on the left, which is fine, and I leave my bags outside while I am invited in to meet the departing tenant and am given the 5₵ tour. I would say 50₵, but it is a pretty small place. Looks cute, not sharing an actual entrance door, so I am not wandering past someone’s kitchen on my way in and out. It can work. And it is 50€ cheaper than the previous place I looked at, and still has included unlimited internet. After the landlord freaks out a little about WHEN I wanted to have the place, I assure him I have a hotel and will take the evening to think it over. I still have 800€ that may or may not exist in that other apartment, and I would like to try to resolve whether the apartment itself exists. 

So I head off, dragging my luggage with me, and take the tram to my hotel. Nice enough hotel, seen bigger bathrooms on shuttles to outer space, but it does the trick. Doesn’t have an elevator, so my stuff has all been bounced around. I debate and decide to head back downtown after verifying the address of the second apartment against what I was told in my email, and I tram it back. After a bit of a walk around, I find the door, and sure enough, it is a door to the rectory or the offices of a nearby church. Not really an apartment at all. So I head back to the hotel, tell my landlord I want the apartment and then email the scam artist and tell her that there is no apartment where she said. From there, I bemoan the miserable hours rural France keeps (grocery store closed by 8pm on a weekday?!) and wind down to crash. 

Day One Photos