¿Dónde está la biblioteca?

Hey yall,

So today was exciting because I found la bibliothèque (the library!) and got a library card! I've been dying for some English literature, so I was hoping they would have a big English language section. Unfortunately, that section is pretty weak. I did check out a Mary Higgins Clark book. It was either that or For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway...so not the kind of books I normally read. That being said, I'll probably check that one out next. Beggars can't be choosers. Plus the library card was free, and I ADORE free things. 

Yesterday was my second full day of teaching. Mondays are easy, but Tuesdays and Thursdays I work at both of my schools. It's not that it was hard, it was just long! And I have to constantly be enthusiastic. In one of my classes, they're working on clothing and colors, whereas in another one of my classes, they're working on numbers 1-10. Lots of different levels. 

Funniest part of the day: Someone asked me to pronounce something in English and a student says in French "Oh wow! She speaks English so well!" 

Why thank you.

Took a picture of this on my walk back from the library. It's the Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille - basically an art museum. It's about a 3-5 minute walk from my apartment. 

Right next to it is the metro station that I use to go anywhere. It's pretty neat because you can see down into the station from outside. 

Behind it is another government building. I'll try to take a better picture of that building in the sunlight.

AND I finally went online and looked for pictures/videos from the Brussels half marathon. Here's a video of me finishing. I'm wearing purple and you'll hear Emily yell "woo yeah Sarah!" 

Hope all is well at home.

Luv,

Sarah 

It's the little things

Hey yall,

So I've had a really great last few days. It's the little things in life that I've learned to appreciate while over here.

1. I had a really good time running with the club yesterday. There were, however, only three of us. We ran SO slow and only made it up to about 8.5 miles (I was expecting at least 10). I did enjoy just chatting with them while running. They were really nice.

2. After running, Emily and I went and walked around because it was such a nice day. I mentioned "Ch'ti" in my last post, well here's an example of a ch'ti pun. Had to snap a photo for yall. People are super into frites (fries) here. This was just a little fry stand on the side of the street. Made me laugh.

3. Vieux Lille is just so pretty. Walked around for about an hour and then got a coffee and watched the world go by for at least another hour. Solid Sunday afternoon.

4. Today was my first day of officially teaching. During recreation, two girls came up and kissed me on the cheek and then just  walked away. I love being a celebrity. In one of the lower levels, we sang "Ten little Indians" and "One two, buckle my shoe..." to help them learn their numbers. So cute.

5. In the higher level (4th grade, I think), the kiddos asked me if I had any sisters. I told them no, but that I had two older brothers! And then they repeated the names David and Stephen (with the American pronunciation, obvi.) They enjoyed saying their names that way instead of Dah-veeeeeed and Steh-faaaan. And I of course loved talking about them in class. I for sure miss these jokers. I can't wait until we start using career vocabulary, so I can talk about them more and teach the students words like "lawyer" and "biologist".

6. Speaking of jokers, I got to skype with these cool folks yesterday. Made my week. First substantial skype sesh I've had with both of them.

7. And OH MY GOSH, YALL. We bought a coffee maker. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe it. Probably the best 12 euro I've ever spent in my life.

Like I said, you've got to appreciate the little things in life.

Miss yall.

Luv,
Sarah

Ch'ti

Hey yall,

This has been a relaxing weekend for sure. AND I still have all day Sunday to relax (except for the long run I'm going on with the running club!) I'm pumped for that, but am just hoping I don't get smoked.

I can't lie. I have so many people that love me. I got a SECOND care package yesterday from Brittany, my little sister in Phi Mu. It was so great. Included some of my favorite things. Guacamole mix, gum, more peanut butter, some Halloween stickers for the kiddos at school, a cinnamon candle, and THIS:

So for any of y'all that have been worried, just know I always keep my sweet North Carolina close to my heart.

Last night we decided to be social and met up with another English assistant for a drink. Emily and I had been dying to try a beer called the "Ch'ti", so of course we were immediately drawn to that on the menu. Ch'ti is a sort of stigmatized term that describes the people of the North. The best translation we've been able to think of in English is "hick", but it's specific to one area. The folks of the North are stereotypically backwoods and very different from the rest of France. Obviously since we're in the big city of Lille, we don't know what things are like in the rural areas, but Lille definitely doesn't seem backwards. It's kind of funny though. Ch'ti is also a French dialect with a lot of Flemish influences in it. One of the teachers at my school spoke "Ch'ti" to me and I had absolutely no idea what she was saying. As a linguistics nerd though, I'm fascinated by it.

The locals seem to embrace the stereotype and aren't really offended by it. We went to dinner at the director of one of my schools' house the other night and a lot of the teachers were asking me and Emily if there were differences in English from North Carolina and English from California. Obviously there are a lot of differences, and then they asked us who was the "Ch'ti." It made me laugh.

That being said, the beer wasn't that great. It was just charming because of the name. Probably won't have any more of that for a while.

I took this picture outside of my door tonight. It's been pretty rainy and gross all day, but it cleared up a tad. Note the French flag on the right side of the street at the high school. Gotta love it.

Luv,
Sarah

Don't hassle me, I'm local.

Hey yall,

So there have been two times in the past 24 hours when I have really felt like I'm a real Lilloise. Yesterday, Emily and I went into a boulangerie around the corner from our apartment and got the same sandwich that we had ordered a couple times already - a camembert sandwich. Aka heaven. Before we could even order, the shop owner called out "deux sandwiches avec camembert?", and we obviously confirmed. When we left, instead of saying "au revoir" (goodbye), he said "à bientôt", meaning "see you soon". A subtle linguistic difference, but it meant a lot to us. We'll definitely go back.

Today when I had my two hours downtime between working at my two schools, I stopped at the café that I've been going to recently. I sat down, took off my coat, and the woman behind them bar asked me "Un café, mademoiselle?" Again, I loved it. Couldn't hide my smile as I sat there and did the sudoku in the paper.

It's fun that people are starting to recognize me. Makes this place feel a little more like home. Also, major kudos to you if you can name the Bill Murray movie that the picture above is from.

However, at one of my schools, there was a situation that made me feel less like a local - but at least it was pretty funny. I was sitting in the teacher's lounge and someone poured me and another teacher a cup of coffee. I took a sip and thought it was really tasty coffee. The teacher next to me responded "oh this is such bad coffee." As soon as he said that, I of course wrinkled my nose and made it seem like I didn't think the coffee was good either. It reminded me of this clip from Friends.  (I'd be Ross.) Oh well. I guess our coffee standards are a little different.

Today was officially my last day of observations. Monday I get to really jump into teaching. I'm definitely excited about that.

Since I don't have class on Fridays, it's officially the weekend for me. I don't have too much planned. I might go over to one of my schools on Saturday. They do this activity where they invite all the younger kids to school with their parents and they do a cultural cooking class. Saturday is English culture and they're cooking fish and chips. It could be fun and it'd be an excuse for a free meal. Except I'm vegetarian. So an excuse for some free fries.

Sunday I'm going running with one of the teachers at my school's running club. She said we're going to "la campagne" (the country) to run, so I really have no idea where we're going, but I'm looking forward to going with a big group. She said she'd pick me up at the metro stop and give me a ride there. Should be interesting. I think she really wants me to join the running club, but we'll see how much I like it on Sunday.

Also. I was featured in a Greensboro running blog. Check it out! Celeb status.

Hope all is well at home.

Luv,
Sarah

P.S. The picture is from "What about Bob?"

Goldilocks

Hey yall,

So this is my final week of observations in my schools. On Mondays I'm only at one of my schools for 3 hours, so that's really nice. One of the teachers asked me if I would read a story to her class, even though I was just doing observations. Of course I didn't mind, so I agreed. Her class is basically the equivalent of a 1st grade class, and I read Goldilocks and the three bears to them. They knew the story in French, but hadn't heard it in English. They loved it. The book was clearly made by French people though because even though it was in English, there were some weird phrases in it that most English-speakers don't use. It was a lot of fun reading to them though.

Then the students came up one by one and practiced their greetings. They would shake hands and say "hello, what's your name, how are you?" They were really cute and seemed to really enjoy the activities.

Then we sang "Frère Jacque", but sang it in English, so "Brother John". It's funny because the teacher was like "oh, I bet you've never heard this in French", but that's actually the only version I've ever heard.

Then the kids got to ask me some questions. There were a few good ones.

1. Are you in middle school? No, I'm 22.
2. Do you work? Oui...I'm your English teacher.
3. Do you have kids? Wait, quoi??

What a sweet day.


Miss yall.

Luv,
Sarah

Great weekend

Hey yall,

This weekend has been phenomenal.

Last night included the parade/spectacle for Lille3000, the exhibition here in Lille. There were tons of people in the main square. It was absolutely packed. The festivities were supposed to start at 8pm, but instead started at 9:30. Unbelievable. AND it started raining. Typical Lille. Of course, I didn't bring my umbrella, so I just had to wrap my scarf around my head. That could be one of the reasons this head cold is forming... Alas. It was a super bizarre parade. This was the main float. So weird.

But seriously. What in the world?

They had some kind of break after the parade and then they were going to have a big dance concert, but we needed sleep, so we left after that. We heard fireworks while we were lying in bed. Pretty bummed we missed them, but I'm more bummed that they kept me awake for another 20 minutes.

And then came Sunday. So I set my alarm for 3:45 this morning. YIKES. Our bus was supposed to leave at 5am, but they said to get there half an hour early. So we left our apartment at 4:15, and made it to the train station where the buses are as well at 4:35. You know, for it for have been that early, there were tons of people out in Lille. I was expecting that walk to be a bit creepy, but there were still tons of people out. I loved it. Although I looked like a moron walking around in athletic pants and tennis shoes with a big backpack on my back. Oh well.

Emily and I were the only ones getting picked up by the bus, so the bus left at 4:40, and we arrived in Brussels at 6am - half an hour early. We metro-ed over to the Parc du Cinquantenaire where the start line was and I got all registered. Since I was registered by 7:05 and we still had over three hours before the half started, we went and chilled at/used a nearby hotel's wifi. No shame. Here's a picture of me in front of the start area while it was still dark. I was exhausted.

Fortunately my adrenaline got to pumping by the time of the start of the race. Emily took a picture of me before the race. It was in the high 30s/low 40s basically until about a mile into the race. Oof. So cold. First race I've ever run in long pants. Much sunnier, as you can see.

The race was pretty good, although it was super hilly. By far the hardest course I've ever run. It was a great time though. The whole race was scenic, although at least half of it was outside of the main area of the city. It was neat though, as we ran through 3-4 underground driving tunnels. I really enjoyed that. There were about 8,000 half marathoners alone, so that was really neat. I felt like any time I looked ahead of me, the course was packed, although I never really felt like it was crowded around me. Definitely a good size.

There was very little crowd support until the last mile of the race. This last mile, the whole road was lined with people cheering. It was super empowering and I loved it all. The only problem was, half the people were yelling in German so I had no clue what they were saying. I obviously appreciated the support though. The race led into the main square, La Grande Place and it was absolutely beautiful. The final chute had us weaving in and out of small cobblestone streets and then poured out into the big open square. It was a great way to finish the race - especially because Emily was miraculously able to spot me and I heard her cheering for me! So nice to have her there with me. Here are images from the square - buildings that greeted me at the finish.

Here's me after the race. I killed the race, running a personal best - over 4 minutes faster than my previous fastest. Holla.

My post-race meal was some delicious spinach lasagna and a Bruges blanche. When in Brussels, you've got to try the beer.

Of course we had gaufres (waffles) for dessert (only after having gone to McDonald's to get wifi so I could inform my parents that I was in fact alive!). Delicious, though. I got nutella and bananas on mine.  That is a look of pure bliss on my face. 

Just look at that. I know your mouth is watering. By far the best post-race snack I have ever had.

I finished my race about 12:45 and we caught our train back to Lille at 4:15. We had a great time just walking around and checking out Brussels. I had been a few years ago, but really enjoyed our time there today. Plus, a one way train ticket is 14 euro, and it only takes 35 minutes. Pretty sure I'll be heading back sometime this year.

I'll definitely treasure this medal and bib for a long time. 

Hope all is well at home.

Luv,

Sarah 

TGIF

Hey yall,

So today has been a really good day. My package from home today and it was full of so much goodness. Peanut butter, kashi, peppermints, tic tacs, my peacoat, my rainboots, sandwich thins, racing gu, and cheese crackers. So so great. Made my week.

In case anyone was wondering, I made it out of the laundromat alive, and I don't think I shrunk any of my clothing. I haven't put any of my clean clothing on yet, so you never know, but things looked good.

Emily and I went and bought our return train tickets from Brussels to Lille, and per my cousin Leonard's request, I took some pictures around town. I need to have a day where I just walk around a take pictures of everything. Here are a few from this evening.

There are two train stations in Lille and they're right next to each other. I'm not really sure why there are two, but oh well. More traveling options. There's Gare Lille Europe and Gare Lille Flandres.

We ate dinner near the train station and I took a few pictures of the surrounding area.

There's a lot of excitement in Lille today because tomorrow is the first day of a big exposition called "Fantastic." We're still struggling to figure out what exactly this is but there are posters for it all around town. There's apparently going to be a really big parade tomorrow night with tons and tons of people. They only do this every 2-3 years, so a lot of people are expected to turn out. They've covered one of the main boulevards, Rue de Paris, with lights and so it should be really neat. There were tons of reporters and tv crews out tonight, filming as they lit the lights. I've got my fingers crossed, because there have been rumors of "feux d'artifice"(fireworks!) I love fireworks. These pictures were post-dinner, so that's why they're a little darker.

The whole boulevard is lined with lights at the top, and then in the center is this big dome-like lighted area. Gorgeous.

The parade leads up to where the opera house is located - right next to the Grand Place, where there will supposedly be a dj and dance floor. Here's a picture of the opera. You can't see all of the pretty details because of the lighting, but I thought it looked nice lit up.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night. It should be a lot of fun, although I can't stay up too late because I've got to catch that 5am bus for Brussels on Sunday!  Dad's running a half in Greensboro tomorrow, and then 18 hours later (and halfway across the world), I'm running a half in Brussels. Like father like daughter. 

Miss yall.

Luv,

Sarah