Once again embracing the golden retriever

Peur du jour - 30 Avril 2012: Sharing American Culture

So yesterday at the lycée where I volunteer we had our journée americaine (America day). My fellow American students helped to plan and lead a day full of cultural workshops for the English classes here.  We split into about five teams, each one composed of both American and French students. The team captains (the Americans) had to wear different colored bandanas. We were team "Yellow Submarine." Cute, n'est pas?


We had a dance workshop where two Americans thought dances like the Cupid Shuffle, the Soulja Boy, and the Dougie.

Cupid Shuflin'

We had a baseball workshop lead by the Montpellier Baracudas (the baseball team in Montpellier).

Me, stepping up to the plate

We had an quiz on American trivia and music at which the French students did surprisingly well. They knew a lot about American geography, politics, and pop culture!

In the spirit of America, our kids were very competitive

The consul from the American consulate in Marseilles came to share a word about the importance of sharing and understanding different cultures.

The cafeteria even made an American style lunch for all of us! We had chicken wings, "country potatoes", chocolate milk, cookies, and "sundaes" (little ice cream cups). There were still, however, baguettes, French style appetizers, and real silverware and plates. Much nicer than my high school cafeteria.

A very delicious meal

We had an art workshop where we made pieces in the style of Keith Haring, an American artist. We traced the forms of each other and then designed the interior and the exterior in contrasting colors. This was probably the most fun I've had in a long time. The kids were SO creative and it has probably been at least a decade since I've gotten to have arts and crafts time (other than my stress-time coloring books).

We didn't get time to finish, but I still think it's pretty cool!

It was really fun to get to know some of the students I work with better. It also felt pretty good to just be our goofy, kind of loud, enthusiastic American selves. While in Montpellier, I've really tried to make a connection with the natives around me. Even though this day was kind of about us, I still really felt that we connected with French culture. Our students taught us a French dance, we got to see more about French high schools, and we got to just hang out with the students and talk with them. It was a very long and tiring day, but one of my best in Montpellier! (and that rhymed!)

Being a teacher is hard

Peur du jour- 19 Mars 2012: Pulling teeth (in the figurative sense)

So sometimes volunteering at lycée Jules Guesde is like pulling teeth. I get the feeling that most of the students are either not terribly confident with their English or they don't really care about the subject. This can sometimes be a little frustrating when what the teacher wants me to do is talk with the students one-on-one about a random topic (There's really only so much you can say about malbouffe and the documentary Super Size Me).

So this Monday, I decided to just talk to the kids about themselves. The whole point is to get them talking with a native speaker, and half of them didn't even pay attention to the documentary anyways (not to mention that I watched it over four years ago, so my recollection is pretty foggy). In this effort, I found out some pretty cool things!

One kid I was talking to kept saying "j'suis nul en anglais" ("I'm no good in English") to which I had to keep saying "That's okay, just give it your best shot. I'm here to help you." I eventually asked him if he had any desire to learn English or if he was just trying to get through the class because it was required. He then told me (en français, malheureusement) about how when he was little, he spoke German, English, and French, but then had some sort of mental block/language overload and couldn't speak at all. His doctor told him (or, rather, his parents, because he was only five) that he had to pick one language, because three was too much for him.

Another kid I met was wearing a bulls hat! I got so excited as I explained that I was from Chicago and that I was a student from the university where Jordan played college ball! He didn't seem to be super jazzed about basketball, but did say that he loves Air Jordans. I also found out that he is from Senegal and plays for the football (read: soccer) team in Sète. We talked about how he balances school with being on the football team and the differences he has noticed between Senegal and France. As a side note, he was wearing Beats, which made me miss the athletes back in Tar-Heel-Land

The world is just full of interesting people, and clearly, the only way you're gonna find out more about them is by asking!

Playing the cool foreigner

Peur du jour - 5 Mars 2012: Giving my time

So yesterday I started volunteering on Monday mornings in addition to Thursday mornings at lycée Jules Guesde. I was a little unsure about it because I had formerly spent my Monday mornings exercising and doing work for class. I also have three hours of class in the afternoon, so my Mondays will feel pretty packed now. I also would be working in three different classrooms with three different teachers which means three potentially different experiences from what I've been having. Basically I was letting a lot of little things cloud my mind about wanting to get more involved.

But in my twenty and half years of living, I've learned the most cherished thing that you can give to any person is your time, so I decided to make the commitment and plunge into an extra three hours on Monday mornings. I'm so glad that I did! I worked with two classes that are very similar to the classes I have been helping on Thursday mornings, but I also got the opportunity to work with the "international" class. These are French students whose course work has an international focus (particularly on anglophone studies).

These students are highly motivated (ie. a breath of fresh air) and are speaking at an elevated level of English. I came in on the day that they were starting to discuss The Crucible (they just finished reading and performing Romeo and Juliet). For the first half of the class they had a mini history lesson about America's Puritan founding. I was definitely having flashbacks to my Junior year English class where we read Jonathan Edwards and William Bradford and Anne Bradstreet and, of course, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter.

Then, the second half of class, I introduced myself and answered any questions they might have about me/my experiences. It was so so SO weird to be on this side of the equation. I remember the few times that French students came to my high school: our classes would always be so excited to speak to them in French and ask them about French school and culture and life and food and EVERYTHING. The French students mostly asked me about my experience as an American college student. I talked about marching band, greek life, SATs/ACTs, my internship in Washington D.C., living in the dorms, majors/minors... It's always so funny when I run into French people who are enthralled with American culture or the English language. One man's home is another person's exotic fantasy.

Also, everyone could understand my accent. A nice change of pace..

Mother tongue

Peur du jour- 1 Mars 2012: Teaching Frenchies the Chicago "A"ccent 

I'm assuming you guys can all hear in your mind the way that last word is supposed to sound.

So I have not yet talked about my experience volunteering at lycée Jules Guesde (the s is silent... weird, I know). Every Thursday morning (and soon to be Monday and Thursday mornings), I take the bus over to this lycée professional to help out in the English classes. The teacher I work with is really great and tends to like to give me a lot of responsibility.

Some of the funniest things that have happened are trying to get them to understand my "heavy accent." In France, they learn British English (because England is a lot closer than America), but I've never really thought that the way I spoke was difficult to understand. Of course I have an American accent (and even a little bit of a Chicago accent...), but I always assumed that if I at least spoke slowly and clearly, they would understand.

The first time I introduced myself and talked about where I was from and why I was in France and what I was studying, I had a room full of blank stares. And one girl stood up and said (in English) (very loudly) "I DON'T UNDERSTAND." I was reduced to drawing a crude map of the united states on the board and saying "home" while pointing at Chicago and "school" while pointing in the general direction of UNC. And then all the "oooh"s and "ahhh"s and "that's so far!"s started. Also, I mentioned that UNC has a great basketball team, but I'm pretty sure that some of them misunderstood and think that I play basketball for UNC.

Suffice it to say that I end up speaking a lot of French to them (which is fine by me!). I do help them with the tricky pronunciations, though. One of the business classes I was working with was doing a dialogue where one person worked in a clothing store and the other person was a client. The two boys I was helping were writing a dialogue about a "shirt," and they had to be hastily corrected (please, just think for a minute about what inappropriate word "shirt" can sound like). I'm starting to notice which sounds the French have trouble making, which is very interesting (and helps me understand why my name is so butchered. They call me Karlein. Not my name, but it's okay). I think to them, English must feel like spastic stuttering. I was correcting someone on how to pronounce the word "asked" and realized how many percussive sounds our language has!

My work with the lycéens has been rewarding thus far, but every now and again I realize that I may be influencing the way they pronounce English words for the rest of their lives! And then I get really self conscious about my Midwestern accent...

You've got "une amie" in me

Alright, I've been remiss. Tuesday and Wednesday were uneventful and then Thursday was jam packed:

• 3h00: Wake up in a groggy haze, feeling like death to watch the UNC-d00k game
• 4h30: Feeling good about our performance after halftime
• 5h15: Go to back to bed mildly depressed
• 8h30: Wake up and kick box
• 10h30: Leave the house to head over to Lycée Jules Guesde (that middle s is silent... weird) to volunteer
• 15h15: Class
• 18h30: Leave the house to go to La Source (my worship group)
• 23h30: Get home, collapse in bed

 Fear has not really been an issue in my life this week, so instead I'll give you five reasons why having a French friends is awesome.

1. An opportunity to parler en français!
2. If someone uses a word I don't understand, I can ask for an explanation
3. An opportunity to practice bises (I really hope I am getting less awkward at it...) 
4. They can introduce me to more French people and French things!
5. They really  make me want to get better at French so I can talk more with them!

Also, they are not just amazing because they are French, but because they are truly some of the nicest, warmest, friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever met. I have also realized that I enjoy their company so much because I'm just me. There are no pretenses. I don't know what's "cool" so I don't have to worry about acting that way. I've accepted my goofy American-ness (which is just how I am in general), so there's no pressure to "fit in." I hope I can bring this back with me.

Missing Fall Fest

Peur du jour- 25 janvier 2012: Getting involved

This isn't as much of a peur du jour as it is a défi du jour (challenge of the day). American universities are a breeding ground for clubs, activities, and ways to meet other students. French universities... not so much. Because French students don't live on campus (remember those ugly pictures from awhile back?), there is a much more low key student life.

I came to Montpellier hellbent on joining the ultimate frisbee team. Then within the first few days I found out that it conflicted with my class schedule (major sadness). So I figured, "hey, why not basketball?" That also didn't work. "Soccer?" Yeah, still conflicts. I quickly ran out of sports that I felt confident enough to play in a foreign country and had to give up my dreams of becoming a superstar athlete at UPV-III.

All of the dances clubs that could have been fun are during dinner time. I've been sending emails to churches to see if they have youth groups and haven't had any response yet (most of my emails have actually gotten sent back because the email addresses were invalid..). Today I tried to go to the cinema club at Accent Francais, but it was really just me, my friend that I had invited to come with me, and a British guy. Not really much of a club, but we had fun watching Petit Nicolas (I had flashbacks to high school French). It seems like my only option would be to join one of the three student unions on campus (for real, these students are organized and they go on strike). Interestingly enough, the unions are the thing about which the French étudiants get the most jazzed. That said, I'm still not interested..

Something I am very excited to start soon is my volunteer work. I will be volunteering at a lycée professional for 3-4 hours a week (potentially 6-8 if I decide to commit to going in an extra day). In France there are two different types of high schools: lycée classique and lycée professional. The former is the traditional high school that prepares you for université while the latter is more of a vocational school. I've heard from former volunteers that the lycéens (high schoolers) are very excited when American volunteers are there because they don't understand why we would want to take the time to serve them. I'm expecting that I will learn a lot about France through it's school system and I'm hoping to really give as much to these kids as I can.

Right now I'm trying not to get discouraged. I'll keep trying to get involved and hopefully will eventually have something more exciting to recount than my failed attempts to get to know French people.