Vivant en Bretagne

Back in the USA

2009-06-04T20:38:00.002+02:00

I arrived at O'Hare Monday evening! Mom, Dad and I went out for Chicago deep-dish pizza before heading back to Madison.
I've been running around a bit since I got home...today however I'm locking myself in my room and unpacking!

I've uploaded some of my favorite picture memories of my year in France onto Picasa. If you'd like the see them copy and paste the link below!
http://picasaweb.google.com/rachel.appelt/BestOfFrance#

Time to say au revoir

2009-05-30T09:46:00.006+02:00

I don't really believe it, but my last week in France is coming (quickly) to an end.
Last Sunday Katie, Sorcha and I explored the Mont d'Arrées with the guidance of Yuna (who grew up in the area of Bretagne). We hiked around the little mountains (near a big lake that was used for the first nuclear energy plant in France! interesting tidbit). To cool off we went swimming...in a different lake! We ended the day at her parents (gorgous) house with a lovely dinner and a lot of laughing.
Katie and I spent Monday through Wednesday in the Loire Valley; my last little trip before saying au revoir to la France. We stayed in Amboise and visited the chateau there and drank some wine on the bank of the Loire River our first afternoon/evening there. Tuesday we rented bikes in the morning and biked down to Chenonceaux (about 15km). This would have been a really beautiful ride but it rained almost the whole way down there and then started to pour right before we reached the chateau. Tant pis. Katie really liked Chenonceaux. I had been there with Mom in November but I was happy to see it again. A chateau with a very feminine touch thanks to two women: Catherine de Medici (wife of Henri, I think) and Diane de Poitiers (Mistress, Henri gave her the castle as a gift and then when he died she was kicked out and moved to Chaumont-sur-Loire) Our ride back to Amboise was much more agreeable and we were all dry by the time we reached Amboise.
The next day we took the train to Blois in order to catch a shuttle to the chateau of Chambord. This impressive chateau was used as a sort of hunting lodge for bored French royalty and nobility. This chateau had a much much more masculine feel. Big rooms with high ceilings, darker colors, and even a billard room. It had also been used as a prison for a while so, no doubt, that affected the current look of the place. It has 365 fireplaces...so going up to the roof was my favorite part. In the center of the chateau is a double spiral staircase, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci. You can go up it, seeing the people coming down, but never crossing them.

We had to leave mid afternoon in order to take a train to Tours. We spent a couple hours in Tours, walking around, looking in stores, and eating some dinner before getting on the train again to head back to Brest.

The last few days I've been doing my packing, bringing things that won't fit in my suitcases into the office for future lecteurs, and other boring things like that. Thursday night however I spent the evening with some friends down in the port on a boat, yesterday afternoon I enjoyed the sun while grading exams, and last night I went to a soirée at the home of our boss/department chair. This afternoon I'm hoping to enjoy the beautiful weather in town or down by the port. I also have to turn in my internet box today :-( This is the last you'll hear from me while I'm in France!

I've had an excellent séjour à Brest and I'm a bit sad to leave. Especially during these last 3 months or so I've felt more integrated into life here; having French people to speak with, and taking advantage of what Bretagne has to offer. I've learned a lot, not just in terms of language and culture, but about myself. I've met so many wonderful people and I'm very thankful that I had this opportunity.
However, I am very much looking forward to my return to the States. I leave Brest on Sunday evening. Spend the night in Paris. Fly to Dublin Monday morning and arrive in Chicago Monday around 17h. I'm having Chicago style pizza upon arrival, getting my hair cut Tuesday morning and I have a job interview on Tuesday afternoon. I'm sure lots of hugging and playing with Maddie will be mixed in there as well :-)

Day trip to Plouescat

2009-05-21T22:30:00.003+02:00

Katie and Sorcha and I took a day trip with Aurélie to her vacation village, Plouescat. Plouescat is located near Roscoff (which we also visited briefly). We had absolutely gorgeous weather and spent the day walking on or near the beach and visiting Aurélie's grandmother at her 17th century manor house. We also saw lots of artichoke fields! I'd never seen that before. Apparently later on they bloom and have beautiful purple flowers. It was an excellent trip. Here are some pictures!

"This is what we love about Bretagne!"

2009-05-10T09:08:00.003+02:00

The entire day we had enjoyed the fresh air, beautiful landscapes, stone houses with blue shutters and doors, sheep, horses, and rabbits. We were surrounded by the water and could almost always get glimpse of the water on the horizon line. Never-the less, as we biked over a slight hill through the wild countryside of Ile d'Oeussant the breath-taking view of the rocky coast look us both by surprise. After we setting down our bikes to explore by foot, Katie turned and reminded me that "this is what we love about Bretagne!"

Katie and I visited this Island, which is west of the continent (approx 2 hours by Ferry), on Saturday. We had been there before in September with her sailing boys but hadn't adequately explored the island. We got the Ferry at 8h30, spent all afternoon on the island biking from point to point, and returned at 17h. The were so thankful for such a beautiful day. It's a risk to go out to the island because if the weather turns bad you are stuck there until the Ferry returns. It's a great place to go but if you can't hike, bike or picnic then there isn't much to do but sit in one of the few bars, tabacs, crêperies or brasseries.

This island used to be one of the most dangerous spots for ships. Supposedly, the inhabitants used to lure ships towards their island in hopes that they would crash. This allowed them to live off the goods and materials that washed up off shore or that they stole from the boats. Sirens and lighthouses have since been installed to help seaman navigate their way around this rocky island.

We didn't have time to go to the North(west?) tip of the island where you can see seals and puffins! So we might go back again in the upcoming weeks if the weather is nice and we don't have to proctor exams.
Classes ended last week and exams start tomorrow. Between the proctoring, grading and packing I'm still planning to fit in 1) a trip with friends to Plouescat and 2) biking from chateau to chateau in the Loire for a few days with Katie.
I can't believe that I return to the states in 21 days. C'est dingue!

If you want to see more pics check them out on my picasa site by clicking the image below:

From Ile d'Ouessant

Music in Brittany

2009-05-03T20:13:00.000+02:00

It was a normal Saturday in Brest until I noticed tout le monde (lots of people) standing around Place de Libérté. Before I knew it I was watching a parade of Celtic bands! At the end some of the best groups played on stage.

April

2009-04-27T14:51:00.001+02:00

I can't believe that almost a month has passed since my last post! This month and flown by!
At the beginning of the month we had one week of class and then it was Spring Break. My boyfriend, Derek, arrived April 9 and was in France until April 20. The time we spent in Brest was very relaxed. Because of the weather and the holiday it was a bit difficult to do a whole lot. I showed him around Brest, we went to Morlaix, visited Océanopolis (where we saw the penguins and seals being fed -- cute!), and I took him to my favorite café on Rue de Siam. We celebrated our anniversary early at a restaurant in Brest called Le Coeur de Briezh (The heart of Brittany). We had a very delicious and enjoyable dinner there for almost 3 hours! During that time we learned that our waitress does country line dancing. Who knew you could find that in France?!

In Paris, we kept ourselves very busy! It was Derek's first visit to Paris and we saw: Champs-Elysée and l'Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, Musée d'Orsay, Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Trocadero Square, Museum in the Centre Pompidou and the Catacombs. We also went to see the British group, Elbow (they are fantastic and if you don't know them you should check them out! http://www.myspace.com/elbowmusic ) They happened to be playing in Paris the weekend we were there. It was an awesome show!

The day we went to Versailles was rainy and gloomy and I wasn't in the best of spirits. However, it ended up being one of my favorite evenings in Paris. We had a glass of wine at Trocadero Square (I'd actually never been there before!). For dinner we ate at this great little restaurant called Chez Agnès near the Champs du Mars before climbing the stairs of the Eiffel Tower.

There's so much more I could say but I will leave it at that. If you're brave here is a link to the many pictures that we took while he was here...

http://picasaweb.google.com/rachel.appelt/DerekInFrance#

Since then I have been keeping myself busy by applying for teaching jobs back in the States, figuring out how to cancel my various contracts, and trying to make the most of my last month in France. Upon returning from Paris I went to a farewell barbecue (for a friend of ours who is in New York for the next three months). My favorite aspect of the meal itself was the end. Viviane wrapped Camembert in aluminum foil and set in the hot ashes for about 5 minutes. Then we all dipped bread into the melted cheese. Only in France would a bbq end with cheese :-)

Friday afternoon I had a picnic overlooking the water at Petit Dellec (I think that's what it was called!) with Aurélie. Afterwards she took me to meet her horse that I've heard so much about.

Last night I went to see the opera Manon. Musically it was quite good. I was shocked, however, that all the leads used their scores. Unfortunately, it really took away their ability to interact with one another or portray their character.
That brings us to today! I took the bus down to Quimper to deliver a video cassette to a colleague. I was hoping to spend the afternoon there but it was pouring rain. I did manage to get myself a souvenir; piece of Quimper Faïence!

Au bord du mer

2009-03-30T10:47:00.001+02:00

I had a lovely weekend in Roscanvel on the Presqu'ile de Crozon. A woman I sing in choir with invited me to her family's house on the seaside. We visited a bunch of forts around the peninsula. The weather was typical crazy Brittany weather; sunny and blue skies then gray, wind and rain...back and forth.

Over the weekend I learned to dig for clams, play crapette and I even helped plant some apple trees.

Sunday morning we went to Mass at a Bendictine Abbey. It was pretty difficult to understand any of the chanting but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

For lunch, when we returned to Brest, we enjoyed the clams which we had found the day before.
Before heading back to my apartment we walked along the water down by the ports in Brest.
It was so great to spend so much time outside this weekend - being surrounded by nature (and military areas) and breathing in pure fresh air!

...and done!

2009-03-25T09:47:00.000+01:00

The students voted (this time with ballots and all) and the blockade has ended. So one would think I'd be teaching today....NO. For some reason the dean decided there wouldn't be classes today. I suppose to give people a chance to find out and plan...? Who knows. So that leaves me next week for teaching, spring break and then two more weeks before exams. What a ridiculous semester!
Here's an idea of what the blocus looked like..

In other news last weekend was quite eventful for me. I had two concerts with Choer et Orchestre Paul Kuentz. Saturday we took a bus to Morlaix..had a 3.5 hour rehearsal, dinner and then the concert. We sang Mozart's Vespers and Requiem. Sunday we had a concert in Plougastel. One of the soprano's kindly offered to drive me there. She took me to the Conservatoire Botanique and we walked around the beautiful garden trails for a good hour before heading down to Plougastel. The Sunday concert went much better than the first. It was a full weekend of speaking French. By the time I talked to Derek Sunday night I had to really concentrate on speaking English!

Derek arrives in Brest in 2 weeks and one day!! I can't wait! Some of the choir members suggested different places for us to visit and even offered driving us there. We'll see what we end up doing. No matter what I'm sure it will be fantastic! I am praying for nice weather though :-) After two weeks of amazing temps and sunny blue skies the rain is approaching. Hopefully that's over by the time April 9 rolls around.

France --> America --> France ?

2009-03-13T19:52:00.000+01:00

I thought this was a really interesting Op-Ed from the New York Times about France and America.
Not only can one make the argument that America is trying to become France but also France is trying to become America. Watching what Sarkozy wants to do with the University system reminds me of American Universities. I think that there are MANY problems with the French education system and I'm so thankful that I was able to get my education in America -- given my learning style and career goals. However, there are also so many problems with the American Education system. Anyway, my thoughts are not very organized right now so I'll just leave you with the article :-)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/opinion/05Cohen.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

March 5, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
One France Is Enough
By ROGER COHEN

WASHINGTON

The French writer François Mauriac once said during the cold war that he loved Germany so much, he was glad there were two of them. After what an undivided Germany had done to France in World War II and before, that was understandable.

To paraphrase Mauriac, I love France, but I don’t want there to be two of them, least of all if one is in the United States.

Don’t get me wrong, I think President Obama’s counter-revolution goes in the right direction. In fact, it’s less a question of right and wrong with his budget than of necessity. After the excesses of Reagan-inspired deregulation and the disaster that unfettered markets have delivered, the pendulum had to swing.

Still, the $3.6 trillion Obama budget made me a little queasy. There is a touch of France in its “étatisme” — the state as all-embracing solution rather than problem — and there’s more than a touch of France in the bash-the-rich righteousness with which the new president cast his plans as “a threat to the status quo in Washington.”

Of course, the budget proposal represents a maximalist position that Congress will claw back. Obama knows that. Still there was something breathtaking about the scope of the president’s targets and ambitions. For everyone from the oil and gas industry to drug companies, the message was clear: Off with their heads!

I’d thought of Obama as less Robespierre than Talleyrand. I still think he’s more bridge-building centrist than revolutionary. He needs to be. Money has never been more fungible than today.

Punish capital and it will punish you by saying, “Hasta la vista!” The former French President François Mitterrand learned that a little over a quarter-century ago when, after an initial wave of nationalizations, he reversed course.

Obama, too, will have to adjust and make trade-offs, while keeping his eye on core goals, like bringing health coverage to the country’s 45 million uninsured. As he does so, he should be careful to guard America’s spirit, without which recovery will stall.

I lived for about a decade, on and off, in France and later moved to the United States. Nobody in their right mind would give up the manifold sensual, aesthetic and gastronomic pleasures offered by French savoir-vivre for the unrelenting battlefield of American ambition were it not for one thing: possibility.

You know possibility when you breathe it. For an immigrant, it lies in the ease of American identity and the boundlessness of American horizons after the narrower confines of European nationhood and the stifling attentions of the European nanny state, which has often made it more attractive not to work than to work. High French unemployment was never much of a mystery.

Americans, at least in their imaginations, have always lived at the new frontier; French frontiers have not shifted much in centuries.

Churn is the American way. Companies are born, rise, fall and die. Others come along to replace them. The country’s remarkable capacity for innovation, for reinvention, is tied to its acceptance of failure. Or always has been. Without failure, the culture of risk fades. Without risk, creativity withers. Save the zombies and you sabotage the vital.

If America loses sight of these truths, it will cease to be itself.

When the Big Three automakers, their heads in the sand, have made the wrong models with the wrong technologies for years, while their competitors adapted, I think it’s inevitable that one — probably Chrysler — must pay the price. Bankruptcy is not necessarily the same as liquidation.

I know, this is an exceptional moment. Decidedly the “Decider” delivered a debacle. President Obama, its recipient, sometimes resembles the trustee-in-chief of national bankruptcy proceedings. Hope is on hold.

Trillions are the new billions and because 80 is the new 70, or so we are led to believe, you will get to live longer to witness where all the debt accumulated by throwing money into the bottomless pit of A.I.G., and its cohorts in leveraged fleecing, leaves the country.

We are told that the collapse of A.I.G. would pose a “systemic risk,” but it would be a tonic to my particular system if someone in the Obama administration could explain why in plain language.

The battle lines are being drawn. Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate, said of the Democrats: “As they try to pull us in the direction of government-dominated Europe, we’re going to have to fight as never before to make sure that America stays America.”

Romney’s got it upside-down. The Republicans under Bush destroyed the American economy and what America stood for in the world. But that does not change the fact that Obama, in his restorative counter-revolution, must be careful to steer clear of his French temptation.

Greek tragedy holds that hubris, or overweening pride, leads inexorably to nemesis, divine judgment and at the last may usher in utter destruction. The United States is in full post-Bush nemesis. In its core values, un-Gallicized, lies the long road to redemption.

One more thing about the protests...

2009-03-11T14:56:00.000+01:00

I think it's worth noting that the protests here in France that I mentioned in the previous blog are not violent. They are fairly laid-back and as long as I have no intention of teaching the students have allowed me to enter the building. I've had to go in to prepare lessons on the off chance that the blocage ends. They also lifted the blocage over the weekend so that the annual Open House (for high school students and their parents) could take place on Saturday.

Protests in France

2009-03-11T14:25:00.000+01:00

Striking is a 'spécialité française" and we are certainly having a personal experience with it as of late. I haven't been able to teach in approximately 2 weeks due to students blocking the entrances and preventing classes from taking place. The 'blocages' tend to last for about a day and a half, then they vote to block for another day and a half etc...
I experienced this when I was living in Paris during the CPE protests. I was unable to go to class for a month - so I'm a bit familiar with this type of situation. However, I'm still shocked that the students have this much power. I also have trouble understanding how it is beneficial. They are depriving themselves and other students (who may or may not agree with the protest) of their education - which is more or less what they are protesting about: to keep their educational system in tact. Additionally, it seems to me that a protest would make more of an influence if it happened away from the university - near the people that have more control over the decisions that are being made. Perhaps I'm not understanding the situation in its entirety...but that's how it looks to me.
To be clear I do think they have every reason to protest. Their concerns are well founded. For example, the privatization of (especially) smaller universities could be very detrimental. Brest isn't located in an area with large businesses to provide funding. Additionally some of the potential changes to the teacher training program are unbelievable (but I won't get started on this topic because I already have so many issues with it as it is!).

Following is an article (not the best...but at least it's in English) explaining, in more detail, the political situation.

World Socialist Web Site
wsws.org
Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)
France: Protests continue against Sarkozy’s university reforms
By Pierre Mabut
11 March 2009

Five weeks of strikes and protests by university teachers and students against government reforms that undermine the status of teachers and the quality of higher education have maintained their momentum. This is despite Higher Education Minister Valérie Pécresse's watering down of the proposals and the trade unions presenting minor concessions as a basis for agreement.

On March 5, 20,000 university teachers, administrative staff and students marched in Paris. Another 23,000 took to the streets across 20 cities, notably in Lyon, Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nancy, Brest, Montpelier and Caen. Twice within two weeks the historic Paris Sorbonne University was occupied by 200 students before they were ousted by CRS riot police. Slogans and banners on the Paris protest included, "No to the break-up of universities and research! No to the destruction of teachers' status!" as well as "No to the destruction of teacher training—withdraw the Darcos/Pécresse reforms," referring to the higher education minister, as well as Education Minister Xavier Darcos.

One placard declared, "Guadeloupe everywhere, general strike," a reference to the French island's 44-day strike against the high cost of living.

The general secretary of the FSU (Federation Syndicate Unitaire, the majority education union), Gérard Aschieri, declared, "The movement in Guadeloupe, which succeeded in mobilising and obtaining results, can only help our mobilisation."

These comments are belied by the actions of the FSU, which has refused to mobilise workers and staff in the national education system over the last year to oppose the 13,500 high school teacher job losses imposed by Darcos, leaving students to fight alone.

Delegates of the universities' national co-ordinating committee, representing research teachers and staff from 67 universities, met last Friday after the protest. They vowed to fight on for the complete abrogation of the University Liberties and Responsibilities Law (LRU) on university autonomy. Delegates rejected the government concessions as "scandalously insufficient" and stated that "Nothing has been obtained on the master's degree [which replaces teacher training practice] and the reform of recruitment exams for secondary school teachers."

This position contrasts with the teaching unions (Sgen-CFDT, Sup'Recherche Unsa, Autonome Sup and Force Ouvriere) which Sgen-CFDT delegate Thierry Cadart said had reached a "consensus" with the government. The Snesup-FSU did not take part in negotiations but still declared it was "ready to meet the government."

The government found itself isolated when it tried to introduce a decree on a new status for university teachers five weeks ago. Up to that point, union leaders and the student union UNEF (close to the Socialist Party) had accepted the LRU law enacted in 2007. The revolt by teachers centred on the new powers for university presidents to decide who and how much teaching or research would be allocated to each teacher, based on performance data. Prime Minister François Fillon immediately told Higher Education Minister Valérie Pécresse to "entirely rewrite" the decree.

The teachers' university co-ordinating committee said on March 6 that the "rewrite of the decree is unacceptable in as much as it maintains the orientation of the first text." It called for further mass demonstrations on March 11 and the extension of the mobilisation to involve all teachers and staff from the nursery schools to universities.

The government has conceded that timetables for the division of work between teaching time and research in universities will not be imposed, but done with teachers' "consent," and assessment of performance will now be national and carried out by peers. But the issue uniting rank-and-file teachers and students is that of new teacher training qualifications and the status for trainee teachers preparing to enter primary and secondary school education. Unions are asking for its implementation to be postponed for a year.

The new training course is referred to as the "masterisation." This will lead to the deterioration of new teachers' job status and employment security in a context of developing mass unemployment. The traditional status of trainee teachers as state employees, with the prospect of lifelong job protection, will now be undermined. The number of permanent posts with full civil servant status has been halved. Those who have achieved the education masters degree will be qualified to teach and will constitute a reserve pool of teachers with much reduced rights, to be employed on short-term contracts and with no job security. Previously students were qualified to teach with a BA degree.

The proposals for teacher training in the LRU law spell the virtual end of teacher training institutes (IUFM). Currently trainees spend a year preparing the competitive teachers' exam at university and then undertake a year's course in teaching practise. This course, a fully paid post, will now be abolished and replaced by a two-year master's degree without pay.

University teacher job cuts are also strongly opposed. Although the government now promises to freeze reductions until 2011, 1,000 posts have already been lost this year. The CNRS (National Council for Scientific Research) is also set to lose over 800 research and engineering jobs. The unions hope to negotiate a compromise on jobs and teacher training, but leave intact the LRU law on university autonomy (a form of creeping privatisation) that is being implemented in 20 of France's 83 universities this year. The law gives university presidents powers to set budgets, seek private funds and dispose of university assets.

Student opposition to the LRU remains determined, but less massively supported than last year. Currently 25 universities are affected by student strikes, protests and lesson boycotts. The principal student union UNEF has opposed any political fight against the government. The UNEF leadership called off the student mobilisations against the LRU 18 months ago, after months of strikes. Its president at the time, Bruno Julliard, appealed for "the end of strikes and occupations ... due to advances obtained by students." He is now Socialist Party spokesman on education.

The student section of the SUD (Solidarity, Unity, Democracy) trade union recognises the government's objective of "submitting the universities to the logic of competition between them, and obliging them to have recourse to private financing." But it claims only that "the mobilisation must continue to grow and to make the government retreat" and says nothing about the isolation of the struggle by UNEF and the trade union bureaucracy.

The Sarkozy government has been weakened by the opposition to its reforms and the fear of social revolt spreading from the Antilles (French West Indies) to mainland France. Only the trade unions and the official opposition (Socialist Party, Communist Party/PCF) keep the government in office. The New Anti-Capitalist Party of Olivier Besancenot declares that a general strike is necessary to make the government "retreat" on jobs and wages. But its aim is to tie the fate of workers to the trade unions, who are calling another one-day strike on March 19, seven weeks after the 3-million-strong strikes and demonstrations of January 29 against Sarkozy's austerity policies.

Relying on the trade unions to put pressure on the Sarkozy government to make a fundamental retreat on his programme of social regression has proved illusory. Any real defence of social gains involves a break from these organisations and their left apologists and the building of independent organisations of struggle, with the perspective of the socialist reorganisation of the economy under the democratic control of the working class.

About the WSWS | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | Top of page

Copyright © 1998-2009 World Socialist Web Site - All rights reserved

Only in France

2009-03-04T12:30:00.000+01:00

I can't teach today because students are blocking the entrances to the University. No class until 1pm tomorrow.

Park Photos

2009-03-02T16:10:00.000+01:00

The weather in Brest has been outstanding during the last week. It's sure to return to it's rainy norm soon... so I decided to take advantage of this beautiful weather by going for a walk on my day off. I went back to the park that I found a few months ago. This time I brought my camera so that I could post some pictures (as requested).

Plants and flowers are starting to grow and I'm wondering if more people will visit this park as the weather continues to improve. So far it seems that most people use it as a shortcut to get from home to work etc or to walk their dogs. The park is surrounded by many apartment buildings. On occassion I've seen children playing on the playground and teenagers hanging around.

I wonder if the wade pool and the fountain will ever get filled with water...

Falling in love...with Brussels

2009-03-01T22:30:00.000+01:00

Two weeks ago I fell in love with Brussels! Katie and I went to Brussels and Lille (a city in Northern France) during our February Break. The first two nights we stayed with a fellow Luther alum, Blake, south of the city. He is living in Brussels for the year teaching at the International School. I really enjoyed spending some time with an old friend and it allowed Katie and I to get a very different view of Brussels. We went out the first night with some of his friends: American, Canadian and Flemish. Monday we went to school and watched two of his early childhood pyschomotricty classes. I was in heaven :-) I even took some notes!
Monday through Wednesday Katie and I stayed at a fabulous hostel (used to be a 3 star hotel) just a few seconds from Grand Place. The first time we stumbled into the Grand Place the look of awe on our faces must have been amusing to watch. There are huge, ornate buldings surrounding a large, open, cobblestone square.
I'm going to just give you a list of the sites we saw and the things I loved about Brussels:
1) Belgian Waffles (they just melt in your mouth and have crystals of sugar in the dough)
2) Belgian Beer (during the 5 days there I managed to sample 12 different beers)
3) Belgian Chocolate
4) Multilingualism; so impressive to watch one person go from French to Flemish to English without any hesitation
5) French is spoken more slowly and clearly than in France; I felt much more comfortable speaking here.
6) We visited the Musical Instrument Museum: AMAZING! It is housed in the Old England building (a former department store) which I thought was just the coolest looking place! They had a very comprehensive collection of instruments and provided you with headphones to hear how each sounds.
7) I wish I lived in Brussels: what a fantastic location from which to travel!
8) Brussels is culturally vibrant city. For example, there is live music everywhere you look. One night Katie and I went to a place called Music Village for dinner and drinks. That night they happened to have a Salsa band playing.
9) We also went to the Comic Book museum...unfortunately neither Katie or I could truly appreciate it. We did however get some Belgian comics (TinTin, Titeuf, and I almost got an Asterix comic).
10) We went to the Musée des Beaux-Arts as well. I was quite disappointed to find out that the Magritte exposition doesn't open until June 2009. Oh well....

Thursday we made the 40 min train ride to Lille. Wow. The architecture in this French city is breath-taking. It's almost overwhelming to have so much to look at! Lille's architecture is very much influenced by the Flemish style. There was red brick everywhere and each building had it's own unique character. Perhaps it was so impressive to us because we are used to Brest...every building looking more or less the same. Lille is home to the second largest book store in Europe. It's very very commercial and 5 stories...Katie and I didn't love it but figured we should probably go! We also went to the art museum as well as a museum focused on the local history of Lille.
We stayed with an older French couple in their home filled with antiques, paintings and local history. They were a very interesting and adorable couple. (Katie took a picture of them ...so I'll post those once she gets them off her camera.) They even invited us to dinner with them our last night. They recited poetry for us (that they've been working on together) and told us stories about their lives. For dessert we had a Merveilleux, type of cake with meringue, whip cream and chocolate mousse. Not my favorite...but I managed to eat the HUGE slice they gave me. This was served with champagne to celebrate having 2 Americans staying with them and Obama's election.
I'm really glad that we chose to go to these places for our February break. It was a great change of scenery.
After a week back in Brest and getting back into the routine of life here again I'm ready for the next little trip. This coming weekend Katie and I are going to Paris. The weekend after that I am going down to Quimper for the open house at the sister university there. Two more weeks after that and it will already be April. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by this semester...and I'm not going to complain! I'm nervous, but looking forward to applying for teaching jobs back in the states!

Snow, snow, snow!

2009-02-02T10:42:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post with some very exciting news! It snowed in Brest this morning! I haven't seen snow in France at all this winter.
Here are some pictures for proof.

Notice the flowers in front of the house. They've been out all winter. There are hibiscus bushes in full bloom and palm trees randomly scattered about. Meanwhile the weather is gray and icky a lot of the time. I'm constantly confused by this climate.

Otherwise life is going pretty well here. This past weekend we organized a little soirée. We had a really great time. It was so nice to talk with other people...in French! I'm also in the process of planning a trip to Brussels for February break which is the week of the 16th. I'm really looking forward to a change of scenery.

Bonne Année

2009-01-11T13:04:00.000+01:00

Once again I’ve ignored my ‘blogging duties’ for quite some time. Since Dec 8 so much has happened and most of which was fantastic, wonderful and awesome!
1) Paris for my birthday with Katie (and Kate)
2) Went to the States
a. First stop New York/Pennsylvania where I was surprised with a trip to the city. We had a delicious dinner at McCormick and Schmicks followed by a concert at Carnegie Hall!! He got us tickets for the New York Pops Orchestra with the King’s Singers and Marilyn Horne. They were incredible. It was an amazing Christmas present :-)

b. Back to Madison. Mom saved the tree decorating for me! So I listened to my favorite Christmas record and we decorated the tree. Matt, Mom, and I played/sang for both Christmas services and it turned out pretty well considering our prep time. Lots of down time and relaxing took place while at home. It was much needed…

c. Drove up to Door County to visit my Dad’s folks. Went for a hike through the knee-deep snow! Got my fill of snow while I was home.

d. Returned to PA for New Years with Derek. We went to Philly – did some sight-seeing during the day and then had dinner and played board games etc with Derek’s friends, Gordon and Jenine. We tried to play Music Catch Phrase but that didn’t last long as they quickly discovered that I know NOTHING about popular music…

3) Returned to France
a. I can’t begin to explain how difficult it was to leave the states again. I was a complete mess at the airport and throughout my long, long day back to Brest.
b. Supervised exams and am now in the process of grading them all.
c. Found a great, cute café on Rue de Siam that I plan to frequent often J Actually, graded some exams there yesterday with Katie.

I’ve made some goals (call them resolutions if you like) for the rest of my semester here. I am taking an active approach to improving my French. First I am jotting down words I see and here throughout the day that I don’t know and then looking them up and adding them to my pile of vocab notecards. Second Katie and I have made a pact to try to be more social and meet French people. Third I hope to go to more French films and do more reading of French newspapers and books.
I’m also going keep up my continuous music education. For starters I found a book that was recommended to me about music and the brain. I’m looking forward to starting that just as soon as I finish the David Sedaris book that I’m in the middle of reading!

Happy New Year!

A first time for everything...

2008-12-08T23:27:00.000+01:00

The silly French administrative finally worked to my advantage! Against all odds I got my Carte de Sejour (residency visa). My two American Colleagues received a letter a couple weeks ago notifying them that their récépisé (temporary carte de séjour) was ready for them at the Mairie (city hall). I was rather worried that I hadn't received anything. Then last Friday I got a letter notifying me that my titre de séjour (same as carte de séjour) was ready to be picked up. Now knowing that things always take longer than expected and don't work out as usually anticipated I prepared myself for the possibility that this was a mistake. That someone had highlighted the wrong document.

NO!

I got to the Mairie this morning, showed them the paper and the lady came back with the card in hand. It doesn't make ANY sense that I've received my card before the other two girls...but I'm not going to complain :-)

The days are ticking by very quickly. Work has been busy as we prep for exams. This past weekend I had a concert in Lorient. We performed the Vivaldi Gloria and the Charpentier Te Deum. Katie and I also joined a gym right across the street from work. It's a really great way to decompress everyday and I really appreciate having something else to do. This coming weekend I'm going to Paris. Katie is coming with me and we're meeting up with Kate (I studied in Paris 2 and a half years ago with her) and a friend of mine from High school who is teaching in Paris. 11 days and I'll be back on American soil! (for two weeks anyway) It really helps having all these things to look forward to.

That's my news for today. A plus!

Thanksgiving in Brest

2008-11-28T12:09:00.001+01:00

Well we did it! Katie, Sarah, David and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 16 people! We weren't sure if we'd pull it off but it turned out quite well and had a very enjoyable time. David made Corn Chowder and mussles for a starter and Sarah made a salad. The meal included an apple glazed chicken with apple/raisin stuffing, green bean casserole, orange glazed carrots, corn, homemade applesauce and cornbread (Katie and Idid most of that)and then for dessert I made an apple pie and a pumpkin pie (pureed the pumpkin myself); Sarah made Sweet Potato Pie (we had to search for quite some time to find Sweet Potatos) and Katie made pumpkin cookies. We also had a lemon cake and ice cream.
I had a great time with everyone. Our guests represented the following countries: Austria (1), China (2) France (2), Ireland (3), Tunisia (1), Spain (3) and the US (4). We of course had to speak French the whole evening since that was the only common language.
Our guests couldn't believe how much food there was. With every dish that was put on the table another person had a look of shock.
Although it wasn't exactly like Thanksgiving at home it was similar enough that I didn't spend too much of my day missing home. It was nice to share this meal with the closest thing to family that we can find here.

Well I'm off to clean up the mess and claim all our respective dishware from David's apartment!

Catch up

2008-11-25T12:09:00.000+01:00

Catch up - one of the MANY phrasal verbs in the English language. This part of English grammar is so difficult. I had never realized how many and how often they are used! Sitting here making up a lesson on phrasal verbs I have thought of sooo many; put on, take off, look up, go on, come in, sit up, pay up, stress out etc...!

In any case that is just a random thought for the day. I am very much behind on my blogging. I had a wonderful visit with my Mom the second two weeks in November. I will try to get some stories and pics up of that soon. However, I am going to try to write more often and shorter posts. We'll see how I do...

This week is off to a pretty good start. We had a very successful turn out at the English Pub Trivia Night yesterday. Every few weeks the English lecteurs organize a trivia game night for the French English students. Great way for them to speak more English in an informal setting.
This afternoon Katie and I are going shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. We are going to do our best to create an authentic dinner. However...we can't get turkey so we are subsituting Chicken...and we aren't sure if we will find cranberries. We have invited Sarah's Chinese roommates, her French boyfriend, the two Irish lectures, the two Spanish Lectures and the Austrian German lectrice! I should be an interesting evening, if anything!
On Saturday and Sunday there is a Christmas "fair" at Place de la Libérté. I am looking forward to wandering around the different stalls and seeing what it is all about. Christmas decorations are slowly appearing. I am very much looking forward to spending Christmas back in the states but it will be interesting to experience the Holiday Season here in Brest.

Well hope that catch up was short enough... I'll keep 'working on' it. Ah phrasal verbs everywhere I look!

A bientot mes amis!

Good bread, good travels

2008-11-03T16:04:00.001+01:00

So I have just discovered something wonderful: Le bon pain chaud (Good warm bread). Now of course all French bakeries are amazing things, however, I have never gotten a baguette soooo warm at 3:30 in the afternoon. It made my chilly, wet walk home so much better :-)

Bread, however, is not the subject of this blog post! I figured I'd better post a bit about my Fall break! Sorcha (co-worker), Katie (co-worker), Rob (Katie's friend from the states), and I rented a car and went on a Road Trip (in true American fashion!) around Bretagne.

At the beginning of our break we took little day trips. Friday we weren't in the best of spirits - as a result of the rain I believe - but we made the most of it anyway. Bretagne is made up of a lot of small towns. Each town, more or less, has a small parish church (Enclos).
We went to Lampaul-guimilau first and saw the church there. It was so ornate that it looked more like a Greek Orthodox church than a simple country catholic parish. There was a big pipe organ in the back. And an ornate Baptistry to the left. Stations of the cross were carved and painted into a beam across the nave of the church. At each end of the beam were dragon mouths. On top of the beam was a crucifix and two women on either side of the cross. On the underside of the beam angels were carved - catching the blood of Jesus. The front alters had very detailed carvings as well - of course more bibical stories. We took our time to look carefully at all of this.
Then we went to Guimilau to see the Parish church there. We went through this one much more quickly - even though it was the larger of the two. Although some of the decorations were different this church was almost a carbon copy of the other one. Apparently if you see one you've seen them all.
We visited an old farm where I believe they harvested apples and made Cidre (famous in Brittany) back in the day. It was a neat place but since they are only open in the summer we didn't know exactly what we were looking at.
We also went to a bare 'mountain' (about 1800 feet altitude I think...they call it a mountain but it's just a big hill...) that had a single small church at the top. You can see a bit of an old stone foundation left over from other buildings. Again I don't know what these things were...I need to look it up. From the top of the 'mountain' was great views of 'one of the wildest parts of Brittany.' The landscape here was much different from the green wooden areas that we had been to earlier. The shift in landscape was very sudden and I'm not sure what causes it.

Saturday we went to a small town the west of Brest, Le Conquet. We had a picnic on the beach and watched the surfers! La Conquet is a cute little town and if I had a car I would live there and commute to Brest. In the off-season there is a farm house that you can rent. We are thinking about celebrating Christmas together there before we all head our separate ways for the holidays.

Sunday we headed off for the rest of the week. On our way to the western most point in France (Pointe du Raz) we passed through two charming towns. Chateaulin had a river running through it lined with trees dropping their gorgeous fall leaves. It was so nice to see the effects of Fall! Living in grey, cement covered Brest I have really been missing my favorite season! We also went to Locronan where I found some great beers and cidres made in Brest as well as an amazing bookstore. There was a book filled with Breton Folksongs (unfortunately I didn't buy it...). Pointe du Van and Pointe du Raz where very impressive. It was very windy and misting which was quite only added to the strength of the waves crashing against the rocks. At Pointe du Raz it started raining and by the time we got back to the car we were drenched. The whole time out there I was thinking that this was the closest I can get to the US for a while...

The rest of our trip included a visit to Quimper, Rennes (where we had the most delicious dinner of my life), Le Mont St Michel and St. Malo.

I'm really glad that we chose to travel within Brittany for this vacation. It was very interesting to see the Breton culture and learn more about the area where I am living. In Brest I feel pretty oblivious to the Breton spirit and cultural history. However, I am hoping to explore Brest more in the coming months and hopefully learn to appreciate this city more.

I'm already working on that... The day before we left for our trip I went for a morning run and stumbled into, what I'm going to call, "my magical world." To be a little nerdy, it was like I was in the Chronicles of Narnia and walked into a whole different world. Brest is all gray buildings, few trees, a few pretty gardens in the houses fortunate enough to have gardens. Brest is more industrial, commericialized and far from being quaint. I had found a road that was a little bit quieter to run down. Lots of trees with the leaves changing etc... In any case...while I was on the return route I noticed a little stone wall with a walk way around it. I thought "good place to stop and stretch quickly." While stretching I notice that this walkway turns into a path behind some apartment buildings.
Naturally, I abandon my planned route and follow this path. Perhaps it is just a sidewalk going down to the apartments. Looks a bit like a bike or walking trail and a potentially good place to run. Then a few meters later I'm in this old park! The paths diverge and wind around and go to little hidden staircases and ramps. There are a few playgrounds and of course benches all over the place. There are old fountains that I imagine haven't had water in them for a while. There is some graffiti but it only adds a bit of character :-) It's certainly a run down place but it is exactly what I've been looking for. I wonder if more people frequent this park on Sundays or in the afternoons.
The paths were covered in leaves and it is a bit slippery but I managed to stay on my feet... There were so many different paths that I'm not sure how I found my way out. I do know that I had come out at a different street i would have been completely lost. It was a bit creepy how deserted it was. I saw one lady walking her dog and she seemed to look at me a bit suspiciously. I thought for a moment that maybe it's a private park...but there were no signs indicating Private.

Hopefully the rain will stop long enough for me to go back there soon... ;-)

And after a month....

2008-10-13T16:20:00.001+02:00

The past few weeks have been more of the same for the most part. Everything that I check something off my list (because I LOVE lists) I have to add another Form to the list that needs signing. I finally got my lease signed so that I could apply for my Carte de Séjour (aka Residence Permit). Mostly I'm just trying to stay on top of the forms and preparing for my classes.

The classes are going pretty well. I teach one 3rd year applied English lab/conversation class (or TP = travaux pratique) on Monday and 1st year English and Master 1 & 2 applied English students on Tuesday. Wednesday mornings I teach a first English class (TD = travaux dirigés). This isn't a lab class and has 3 times as many students. Usually this class is taught by the regular English faculty but they didn't have enough Professors to do it. Then Wednesday evenings I teach 2nd year applied english labs from 4pm-7pm. Every other Thursday I have a conversation class with the students in the License de Tourisme et hebergement.

We are in our 3rd week and it is getting easier and easier to fill the time. The trouble is that we are teaching conversation classes. French students don't talk in class. So the main focus has been motivating them, encouraging them, and helping them to feel relaxed in my classes. Their comprehension varies within each class, depending on the level and also and between the LCE (English focus only) students and LEA (applied english - they also study another language) students.

Besides class I am not doing a whole lot yet. There is an English phonetics class on Thursdays that I went to. I think it will be useful (and I find it interesting) to know the IPA (Internation Phonetic Alphabet) symbols for English prononciation. I've studied French, Italian and German phonetics so it's about time I study English phonetics! I'm also thinking about taking an Italian class. That will be interesting since I'll learn Italian through French... What's great is that i can just sit in on these classes for free. I figure I should probably take advantage of that.

I really want/need to check out the Music Conservatory in Brest. I'm hoping there's a way to get involved with a singing group there. If anything it would be nice to have a place to practice. I've also started singing with an amateur choir here. I am by far the youngest singer in the group. Musically/artistically/aesthetically, it's not the most satisfying experience but it is a great chance to learn the vocabulary as well as some musical works I haven't sung before. Right now they are working on Vivaldi's Gloria, the Fauré Requiem, and a Bach Oratorio.

This past weekend I stayed in Brest and just relaxed. It was also one of my co-worker's birthdays so we cooked dinner and went out Saturday night.
Sunday the weather was amazing and Katie and I went for a walk down by the ports. There is a beautiful path along the Rade de Brest (see picture above).

Last weekend, however, my Dad came to visit! He had business in England the preceding week so was able to visit me for a few days. We went down to Quimper (where the popular faience dishware can be found) Saturday morning and walked around the old center of town (see picture below). For lunch we went and had a lovely lunch with the parents of one of my French professors from Luther! Then we drove down to Nantes. We got quite lost on the way (my fault...I didn't bring adequate maps) but eventually found the way to our hotel. Sunday we went to the Chateau Museum there. It was very interesting and we learned a lot about the history of not only Nantes but Bretagne as well. Even though Nantes is technically in the administrative department of the Loire it's cultural heritage is Breton.

In any case, I'm definately feeling much more settled here. I'm into month 2 now. We have some fun things coming up. Katie and I are determined to get everyone together for pumpkin carving, pumpkin seed baking, cider drinking and pie baking! We also have our October break coming up soon. I'm planning to go somewhere with Katie and her sailing friend Rob. We were thinking about going to Bordeaux but without a car it might not be our best option. I'll keep you posted :-) Until then I'll try not to get soaked and or blown away in the Breton weather!

My Vacation Life

2008-09-23T21:19:00.000+02:00

Life has been a whirlwind of paperwork, frustration, and confusion for the last two weeks that I have been getting settled here in Brest. Fortunately this past weekend I went out sailing along the Western Brittany Coast and remembered that I have things pretty great right now. I've labeled my year here "My Vacation Life." I am working 12 hours (not including prep time and grading) a week and have 5 day weekends. Yes, that's right I'm only teaching on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this semester... I had one conversation class last week with the Tourism students. I had a lot of fun with them and actually have seem many of them walking around Brest. Katie (one of my co-workers from Philadephia) and I ran into 3 of them this afternoon and we made plans to hang out Thursday night.

Speaking of Thursday nights.... So before I arrived in Brest and in the first few days I had heard warnings about the drinking problem in Brest. There is even a particular area we were instructed to avoid (as far as housing goes) because of the drunks. In any case I imagined drunk middle-aged men. Whatever, not a big deal. HA! The first Thursday that I was here I was walking back to the dorms (we stayed there while we looked for apartments) with my co-workers and passed by loads of heavily intoxicated people coming from the University. Turns out the drinking problem is within the University. Then last Thursday I witnessed something that I still can't believe as I was walking home from dinner. Every Thursday the students go out and drink in front of the TOWN HALL! Hundreds of students were there. Broken glass everywhere and ambulances just hanging out in case they were needed. I can't believe that the city allows this to go on!! Then the next morning the Town Hall square was spotless.

I am writing this post from my apartment in Brest. It’s a nice place only 10 minutes by foot from the college where I’m working. They call it a T1. One big main room (with the bed area slightly seperated), bathroom, and separate kitchen. It came fully furnished included pots, pans, dishes and silverware. Currently, I have internet that comes and goes. I’m paying for it so hopefully I can figure out what the problem is! When the technician came by last Friday to install the box he told me that it could take 30 minutes or half a day to get access. How very typical…

At the beginning of this (very unorganized) post I mentioned that I went sailing this past weekend. It was an amazing trip! Katie had friends in Brest who sailed to Europe from the states this past summer. In any case, they came and picked us up in Brest and we sailed to Ile de Oeussant. In the middle ages people believed that this Island was the end of the world. It was a fairly empty place with houses scattered about, basic stores and a few cafés and restaurants. I shamefully admit that I got a bit seasick on the way to Ile de Oeussant. So for our trip to Camaret the next day they gave me some meds. The weather was fanastic all weekend. Katie kept telling me "We have to soak up this sun while we can!" since Brest will become very rainy soon. Katie's friends; Eric, Rob and Stu, are really great people and I'm so glad that I was able to tag along with them for the weekend. I even learned a bit about sailing! :-)

Quick Post

2008-09-10T18:38:00.000+02:00

I made it to France Sunday evening without any problems. I had a nice lunch with my former host brother at the airport in Paris before heading to Brest. It has been a very stressful few days but hopefully things will calm down soon. Right now I am still looking for an apartment and waiting to get a phone, internet, and other logistical things taken care of.
I will update when I find an apartment!

One week until I move to France...

2008-08-31T00:53:00.001+02:00

One week from today (and I think almost to the hour, although I should check my plane reservation!) and I will be in the air headed to France.
I'm flying to Paris, where I will have an 8 hour layover (looking for ideas to help me kill time in the airport...), before I fly to Brest. Hopefully one of the English professors meets me at the airport and takes me to my temporary housing.

Just recently, I looked on a map to see exactly where I was moving. Fortunately, I've been telling people the correct location! Below is a map of France. I will be living in the region of Bretagne -- to the Northwest

And here is a map of Bretagne:

I'm excited to meet the other 4 'lecteurs' that I will be working with. Sarah and Katie are from the East Coast and David and Sorcha are from Ireland. I'm also looking forward to learning more specifics about my position at the University. There's so much that is up in the air regarding my move to France. My hope, however, is that everything will fall into place once I'm there. For now I've got plenty of packing to worry about!

A bientôt!