My name is Eggs.

And so ends the first two weeks of my teaching post. It is officially "Toussaint" vacation. That's right, folks, an entire week and a half of paid vacation all in the name of All Saints Day, or as I like to think of it, Halloween vacation. My goal this week was that my 20 minute Halloween lessons on colors and numbers with a few ghosts and witches thrown in would warm the hearts of my 6-10 year olds in a Tim Burton-esque way. Unfortunately for all, 2o minutes just isn't enough time to review past material, learn about a holiday, learn 5 new colors, color-by-number, AND watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas" five or six times. Bummer. I did wear my 3D ghost earrings, however, which were a big hit. (He's wearing an orange and white striped t-shirt. I love it.)

So, what's Meg doing for her first big holiday in France, you might be asking yourself? Meg's asking herself the same thing. Well, with 163 euros in the bank, I've got two options: 1.Explore the Eastern half of the city or 2.Explore the Western half of the city (which I'm pretty convinced is just apartments). Luckily, I will be meeting Stevy (a friend from Tours, which probably half the people who read this know) in Paris on Halloween and then welcoming my parents into the city the next day! Mom, Tom, and I will be exploring Paris for the last three days of my break, before we will head back to Orleans (I go back to work on Thursday, but only for one day, before it's another three-day weekend...as always!). Unfortunately, they have to head back to London on Saturday afternoon in order to catch their plane back to the states the next morning.

As you may have heard, France has been all about the "grève" these past few weeks, as the government has been in the process of deciding whether or not to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the pension age to 67. This stike has been affecting transportation above all else. Last Thursday, for example, I failed to make it to my first class of the year due to the highschoolers blocking the tramway in the city center. (The tram in Orleans runs right through the main Plaza, which is where large groups congregate for...well, large group events. This is a problem.) Not only has forms of public transportation like the tram systems and the TGV been affected, but the gas stations have actually been running out of gas due to blocked fuel tanks, leaving hundreds of drivers stranded at the pump. The strikers (particularly the high schoolers...don't even get me started!) have become quite violent in some major French cities. Luckily for us here in Orleans, the protests, though inconvenient, have been pretty peaceful. But perhaps I should knock on wood, as the committee set to make this "major" decision has had to postpone the result (the final decision was supposed to be made yesterday). With the Toussaint holiday starting tomorrow, we can all only hope that the strike goes on a week and a half-long pause (unlikely), so that everyone can enjoy their travel plans "grève"-free.

Now, to wrap up today's post, here a few mini-anecdotes from the past 2 weeks:

Anecdote Number 1:
>You may be wondering about the title of this particular post. Allow me to fill you in. Lesson number one with my CP students (again, the 6 and 7 year olds) was "hello, what's your name? My name is____." Seems simple enough, right? I talk to a puppet, we sing a "hello" song, and then we practice. Easy peesy, right? Um...
So week number two we review. Enjoy the following peak at one of my classes review week one's material:

Me: (French)What did we learn last time I was here? Does anyone remember?
*a few hands go up, I call on one*
Student: (French) A song!
Me: Good. We learned a song. (French) Would you like to sing the song?
Students: Ouaaa! (yes, in kid French)
All: Hello, Hello, Hello, What's your name? Hello, Hello, Hello. My name is____, My name is____. Hello,____. Hello,____, Hello.
Me: Good. (French)And, what does (English)"My name is____" (French)mean in French?
*student answers correctly*
Me: Very good. (French) And what does (English) "What's your name?" (French) mean in French?
*student answers correctly*
Me: Well done. (French) Who wants to come up here and have a conversation with me?
*hands go up. I call on one. Little boy comes to front. Suddenly VERY shy.*
Me: Hello.
Little boy: 'ello.
Me: What's your name?
Little boy: Was er na?
Me: My name is Meg. What's..
Little boy: ai na eh Eggs.

Ok, so not ready for conversations just yet.


Anecdote Number 2:
>Last week, before beginning to teach in any of my classrooms, I toured the schools with my advisor. Some of the teachers had me come to the front and introduce myself, then let the students ask me questions in French. One teacher actually refused to let me answer some of the questions, actually telling the students, who had had their hands up for about a minute, that their questions were not interesting enough. Just flat out, "That's not an interesting question," or, "That's a dumb question. Next?"

Anecdote Number 3:
>I wasn't so sure this year would go well when I sat in on a CP class taught by a "traveling English teacher" (a teacher who travels from school to school, just like me, teaching only English) and burst out laughing when they started singing the "hello" song (above). The kid right in front of me was completely tone deaf, but SO into the song. Luckily, I think the teacher was the only one who noticed my lapse in maturity.

Anecdote Number 4:
>Short but sweet. I went to lunch the other day at the house of the couple who welcomed me here my first weekend. They ended lunch with a spread of five different kinds of cheese and a baguette. Mmm, France; it tastes so good.