Chocoland, Apartment hunting

Saturday, October 17, 2009
While I didn’t make it to the Chocolate expo last Wednesday, I did end up going today, and it was a fun experience. The chocolate fashion show actually had models wearing clothes with chocolate accents, but not entirely made of chocolate. A lot of jewelry or clothing items were made out of plastic or cloth then covered in chocolate for the models to wear. You could tell it was really chocolate because certain clothing items were melting onto the models! My pictures from the fashion show didn’t turn out very well and my camera battery died during the show. It turns out all the clothes were placed on display after the show, so I really should’ve waited and saved the battery to take pictures of the clothes afterward on the mannequins. Oh well. I went with two other girls and we made the rounds to the 50+ gourmet chocolate booths set up to take advantage of all the free samples! It was a lot of chocolate even for me, and I am a self-proclaimed sweet tooth, with a special affinity for chocolate. In the end I didn’t buy any high-end chocolates, but I did buy some really good tea from a boutique that specializes in tea, coffee, and chocolate. I only saw one Belgian company there, which surprised me because I will argue with anyone that Belgium has the best chocolate in the world (especially their Neuhaus chocolate)!
I looked at two more apartments today to no avail. The first apartment had been advertised as available only to young women, and I showed up at 1:45pm for a 2pm visit. As 2pm came and went, more than 30 girls had lined up outside the door to look at the room! Luckily I was in the first group of 5, so I got to see the room right away, if it could be called a room. It was more literally like a hole. The room itself was only as wide as a twin bed is long (so, 6 feet?), and the bed was pushed into the far end of the room with zero room on either side. In the remaining 8 square feet or so, a shower, small refrigerator, plastic armoire, and hot plate had been fit into the room somehow. I honestly don’t know how someone could live in such a cooped space, and if you think I’m being picky, I wish I would’ve taken a picture to show you. No way was it worth the €400 rent price; I don’t even think the owner should be allowed to rent it as a room! I have 3 more visits on Sunday and Monday, so hopefully I’ll find something in the end. I’ve realized that I cannot stick to my initial price cap of €530/month if I want something that even resembles a decent living area. But because France is a Socialist country, they actually give you aid to pay for housing, so in the end, if I pay €620/month, I’ll probably get at least €150 back from the government.
After my first full week of teaching I’m ready for more, which is probably a good thing! My friend Jess, who did this program last year, told me to keep in mind which age levels I prefer teaching, and see if it changes over the next 9 months. Right now I would say I prefer the older students (5th grade) because they’ve already taken English class at least one if not two years. It’s much easier to teach when I’m able to speak in complete sentences with the students, rather than single words like Red, Orange, Green, etc. But while teaching the 1st graders, I’ve revamped my fondness for the song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” because it can keep the 6-7 year olds amused for hours on end. I needed to sing that song and the alphabet without any music to back me up, so I’ve had to quickly get over my fear of singing in public, as well as teach myself overnight how to draw. This job requires me to have a wide array of artistic skills, and I’d say the only thing I really excelled at in the art department was coloring within the lines. Luckily stick figure drawings are used just as much over here, so I’m safe so far. The kids are all rearing to speak English, and while there are a few who stand out as major trouble-makers, for the most part all have been very accepting of me and haven’t tried to get away with too many shenanigans since I’m not the regular teacher. I remember as well as everyone else how students tried to get away with everything when there was a substitute teacher for the day- when I come to class that’s sort of the attitude the kids have. But, the regular teachers stay in the room with me, so nothing gets completely out of control.
I haven’t been able to check online, but I’m cheering for the Badgers to beat Iowa for our Homecoming Football game! Also, I’d love to know if Tridelta won Homecoming, hopefully we continued our reign for a 4th year in a row! Hope everyone is staying warm, it’s getting cold here in Paris too (but maybe still warmer than MN/WI - it’s about 50 during the day here). La bises à tous! Kisses to you all… Faire la bise is what the French and many Europeans do when they say Hi, kissing one another on the cheek 1, 2, 3, or even 4 times depending on what region you’re in. In Paris, it’s two times, once on each cheek.
Edit: Between writing and posting this blog, I learned that, sadly, the Badgers did not win. I guess cheering for them from France had little impact.