No Carb Left Behind

Hello friends and family near and far. Happy Wednesday. I realized today that I have been here exactly three weeks. Yesterday, one of the teachers at my school asked me what I miss most about the US. First and foremost, it's definitely you. Even the person in Chile who apparently reads this, I miss you. And can I visit? I miss yoga and my bike, though hopefully I am buying a bike tomorrow. Muscle atrophy is a thing, it's true. I also really miss Kashi Go Lean cereal. I know it's weird to be in France and miss something that's apparently best described as fiber twigs (really, marketing team? That's the best you could do?)), but I do miss it. But whatever, you had me at fiber, Kashi. I've been forced to make a "no nutella in the house" rule, which I expect to last into the weekend. That's probably overestimating my self control a bit. I have heard several stories of Americans who lost weight when they came to France, and I want to know what kind of town these people lived in. Is it void of a boulangerie? I think that's illegal.

Yesterday was my first day with kids. The school director picked me up, which was quite nice considering I'm pretty sure he went way out of his way to do so. There is a 100% chance I would have gotten lost, due to the fact that it would have required me to take the bus for the first time. When we got there, he gave me a list of 8 classes from kindergarten - fifth grade in and said "have fun"! I was told at training last week that we wouldn't be expected to do any teaching the first two weeks, that we would just be observing, since none of us has any idea how a french classroom is run. Every single class I went to the teacher said "vas-y!" which means "go on!" and sat in the back to watch. I tried to explain that I had not prepared anything, I'm supposed to observe today. They all looked at me, surprised, and said "I'm supposed to teach english? I don't know any english".  So we muddled through, somehow. I have two kindergarten classes, they are very sweet and adorable, but don't speak a word of english. I think my french will improve a lot (hopefully), since these kids/most of the teachers speak only french. The kids think I'm a rockstar, however, being foreign/American, so at least I have that going for me. That is why I love kids, they are the only population who admires someone who spills food on their shirt and runs into bookshelves and other inanimate objects on a fairly regular basis. When I walked through the lunch room they gave me a standing ovation and yelled "hello!! CHICAGO!" (I told them I was from a town near Chicago, I worry they think that is my name). I felt like an appropriately dressed Miley Cyrus. One kindergartener came up to me at the end of my class and stood in front of me smiling, until the teacher told me she is waiting for "la bise", or her kiss on the cheek. Quite different from school culture in America, which can be best compared to Arrested Development's "NO TOUCHING!" moment. My favorite conversation went as follows: 

child: *sigh... * I love the United States.

me: Really? Have you been there?

child: no, but I've been to Euro Disney. That's the same, right?

me: pretty much

I will be at this school only on Tuesdays, and have 200 foreign names to learn just from this school, which might be tricky, but I shall survive. Because I said so. Hmm. I should teach them that phrase in french, it's very useful. 

Perigueux has so far proved to be an okay town. It's pretty small, but still has a one to one cafe to person ratio, which is important. When I got to the cafe/restaurant where I pawn internet today, the bartender immediately brought me a glass of red wine. I think I'm officially a regular, which I probably makes me a big deal. Maybe soon my apartment will smell of rich mahogany instead of old coffee. The city itself is very beautiful, and very green due to the almost daily rain, and I hope to explore the great hiking, kayaking, and biking opportunities that apparently lie outside the city. Most everyone I have met is nice and welcoming. This weekend I'm planning on heading to Bordeaux to check out the sand dunes on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Bay of Biscay is a fun thing to say. Say that five times fast. 

On an unrelated note, it is slightly killing me to be away from the US during election season. I don't miss the constant political tv/radio ads, but I miss my main men Stewart/Colbert with a fire that burns my heart every day. Especially now since it appears Mitt Romney may have tried caffeine for the first time.  I don't have internet at home yet since I am still without a french bank card, and the cafe I go to blocks youtube (?!?!), hulu and netflix don't work over here, so I have succumbed to buying episodes of itunes. It's a dangerous habit, and pretty soon I'm going to have to pick between my coffee habit and my Stewart habit (wine habit is protected by amnesty international). My blood pressure spikes 345098345 points just thinking about that choice. That's for future Katie to worry about. Future Katie always has a lot to worry about. And Future Katie hates Past Katie. In other news, you'll be glad to know that my schizophrenia tests came back negative. 

Hope you all have a marvelous rest of your week, and enjoy watching The Daily Show for free. It's not something to take for granted. Neither is doing any sort of errand between the hours of 12-2 and using a clothes dryer. You should probably enjoy Sesame Street while you still can, too. I've always thought Big Bird was a bit of a free loader.