Return of the Boss!

I have been the worst holiday blogger one could ever find. I am so-so sorry. It's not like I haven't had anything to write about, it's rather the opposite. There's too much to talk about. I can't put this experience into words. 

Of course there are those magnificent situations that I'm dying to share. Like I got to visit Brugge again in the spring time and take a horse and carriage ride to see the town again. I also got to visit Arras, which is one amazing town. I got to enjoy the sun, because since the end of February it's been almost always 18-20 degrees. Yes, there have been some rainy days, but mostly it's just green and flowers everywhere. People have been amazing, like all of them.

And then there's the other side of the coin. I might have forgotten to pack my immune system when I arrived here. In my last post I mentioned how I'd been sick for 6 days. That continued a bit afterwards. Then I got one week of health before another sickness. And again one week okay, when angina found me. That sucked extra balls, because it was the holidays here and I could have taken the time to visit England or something. But no, I had to swallow pills and visit doctors and not eat because it was torture. Another week healthy before another sickness. I think you get what I'm trying to say.

My favourite sickness was without a doubt the chicken pox. Yes, I was one of the few people who hadn't had it. I lived my life thinking I've already had them, but as it turns out that simply wasn't the case.  There was (and still is) an epidemic in school. A lot of kids are going through the varicelle (French for chicken pox). I was scared shirtless when I discovered all those little spots on my face one Monday morning. Like seriously! 22 years old and I'm just now getting the experience. I had to travel 2500 km to get the chicken pox?! Someone upstairs is being very funny with me. Luckily I only got to enjoy it for a week. And no complications. And actually no problems at all. It was a it itchy... And I couldn't go out, because it looked like puberty had hit me times 100. It was gross and annoying more than anything else. 53€ I spent on the doctor and medicine to fix myself this time. Wow!

And this week I get to experience something I think I have never had: an eye infection. What the frick is wrong with me? I just can't catch a break with this. 

All I can look forward to is getting home in two days time. Then I can be sick in Estonia and spend less money on treatments. Come at me illnesses! I'm almost done here. 

:) All the best, right? 

And Russia: Please leave the Baltic states alone. I rather enjoy having my own country and I might have gotten some people in France interested in visiting. I also advertised St Petersburg, so some tourism heading your way as well! Possibly...

Being Ill and All Sorts of Other Fun

Yeah, I have managed to catch some sort of virus. Now I've been sick for 6 days already, hopefully it's about to end. I was away from blogging, because there's not much to say. I'm busy with giving lessons and running around between classrooms. I sleep on Thursdays and move on Fridays. Perfect holiday. 

Last week I was kind of a live-in-nanny for my family. Or at least a very cheap version of Disneyland. The youngest kid in the family used me as his personal amusement park. He wanted to play, he wanted to talk and he wanted to climb on top of me. 5-year-old boy, so much FUN!

This week the kids are also very social, but not as physical. Thank God for that. I'm enjoying my stay in this family. They're very nice people. They enjoy old rock music, like to watch American movies and read interesting books. The father is also really into history (Roman history most of all) and he plans to take me to a WWII museum. How awesome is that?

Jah, ma olen tabanud mingi viiruse. Olen nüüdseks olnud haige 6 päeva, loodetavasti on see kohe läbi. Ma olen bloggerdamisest olnud eemal, sest mul pole midagi kirjutada olnud. Mul on kiire tundide andmisega ja erinevate klassiruumide vahel jooksmisega. Ma magan neljapäeval ja kolin reedel. Ideaalne puhkus.

Eelmine nädal olin ma lapsehoidja oma majutajatele. Või siis vähemalt väga odav versioon Disneylandist. Pere noorim liige kasutas mind oma isikliku lõbustuspargina, Ta tahtis mängida, ta tahtis rääkida ning ta tahtis minu otsas ronida. 5-aastane poiss, nii palju LÕBU.

See nädal olen ma peres, kus lapsed on väga sotsiaalsed, kuid mitte füüsilised. Jumal tänatud. Ma naudin oma siinolekut. Tegemist on väga meeldivate inimestega. Nad naudivad klassikalist rocki, neile meeldib vaadata ameerika filme ja lugeda huvitavaid raamatuid. Pereisa on ajaloo fän (eriti Vana-Rooma ajastu puhul) ning ta plaanib mind viia IIMS muuseumi. Kas pole mitte lahe?

Peace and love,

Rahu ja armastust,

Regina

Day-by-day / Päev-päeva haaval

Monday-Tuesday : First days of observations in the school. This school has 7 classes. Kids from the age 2 up until 11 - very young. Luckily for me, some of the teachers speak some English, so I'm not completely in trouble yet. But the kids. They speak none. Or very close to none. Hard times lay ahead. 

Wednesday: Another visit to Calais. My instructor wanted to make sure everything was okay with my paper work and that my European Medical Card (or whatever) was good enough for the short stay I will have. It was. But at least I got to see the city again. Amazing place.

By the way, the French don't have school on Wednesdays (not for kids as young as the ones I'm going to work with).

Thursday-Friday: School again. Feeling more comfortable. More secure in my presence. On Friday I moved to my next location. A very nice family with two kids in the school. The mother speaks English pretty well. But she is awesome as she speaks French to me and then if I don't understand she translates.

Saturday: A long day. Firstly, I went to Dunkerque, which is the third largest port in France. It was beautiful. Unfortunately it was raining while we were there, so we were in a hurry to everywhere to keep as dry as possible. Here's a picture: 

After Dunkerque we went to a place called Malo les Bains, which is a beach. By the NORTH SEA! Yeah, I have actually seen it now. It was really windy.

Then, later on in the day, the mother took me to Gravelines. It's a small sea-side town that is surrounded by a moat and a wall, dating back to the Middle Ages. Yet again amazing and here's some photographic evidences:

After all that, I got to see one of the kids from the family play basketball. Another sporty family. :)

Sunday: This day is very special. The family decided to go to Bruges, Belgium. I am not joking. I have seen the Little Venice. It was BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING. We took a boat trip, with a man talking about the city's history and showing us all these amazing houses. Then we walked around and ate an actual Belgium Waffle. It was, so far, the best day ever! I am in love with the French. Sorry, Dad. Anyhow, some photographic evidence: 

And that's the end of the week. PRETTY FREAKING GREAT!

Regina

Week 1 / Esimene nädal

Well, the first week is really just three days. One was spent travelling and I think I still haven't fully recovered from it. But I will not start whining about the hardships I've faced. Here are some interesting things I noticed when it comes to the French: 

1. There is no rule as to how many cheek kisses you will get. Sometimes it's two, sometimes it's four. Confusing.

2. They eat dinner or supper after 8 p.m. which for an Estonian is really late. They eat dinner from 8 until 12 p.m. That's called night, btw.

3. They re-use their plate for several dishes by cleaning it with bread. Not too weird, but still, I had to put it down.

4. They water down their alcoholic drinks. With water.

5. They place little toys in their cakes to find out who is the king or queen of the table. Yeah, they only do it for the Day of the Three Kings, but talk about competitive people. Who didn't get one was really annoyed. 

6. As a decently educated Estonian, I was taught to eat with my for in my left hand and my knife in my right hand. Apparently it's not the case in France. At first they are placed on the table like you'd expect to find them, but everyone (and I mean everyone) uses their fork with their right hand. I actually had to laugh when I noticed it.

Tegelikult oli mu esimene nädal vaid kolm päeva. Ühe neist veetsin reisides ning ma pole ikka veel päriselt taastunud. Aga ma ei hakka vinguma. Järgnevalt loetlen mõningaid huvitavaid fakte prantslaste kohta:

1. Pole otsest reeglit, et mitu põsemusi sa saad. Mõnikord on kaks, teinekord neli. Päris segadust tekitav.

2. Õhtusööki süüakse peale kella 8., mis on eestlase jaoks päris hilja. Ja süüakse kella 8st kuni 12ni. Seda aega nimetatakse ööks muide.

3. Ühte taldrikut kasutatakse mitme käigu jaoks, vahepeal puhastavad taldriku saiaga. See polegi nii väga imelik, aga mõtlesin ta ikkagi kirja panna.

4. Nad lahjendavad oma alkohoolseid jooke. Veega.

5. Kookide sisse topvad väikeseid mänguasju, et teada saada, kes on laua kuningas või kuninganna. Noh, nad teevad seda ainult kolme kuninga päeva puhul.

6. Normaalselt haritud eestlasena on mulle selgeks tehtud, et kahvel käib vasakusse kätte ja nuga paremasse. Tuleb välja et Prantsusmaal sellist reeglit ei ole. Algselt on kõik laual tavalises paigutuses, kui kui sööma asutakse, siis on kahvel paremas käes. Ma päris naersin, kui seda märkasin. 

Anyways, I will now go. All my post will maybe be bi-lingual for the time being. 

Igathaes, ma nüüd lähen. Kõik mu postitused saavad olema kakskeelsed, vähemalt hetke seisuga.

Regina

Next Chapter

From tomorrow until the end of April, I will be posting only about my magical life in France. I apologize in advance for the torture, but as my school sort of requires a blog or something similar, I will be forced to write only beautiful and cheerful sentences. We all know that's not completely who I am... but hey! Suck it up!

For the past two days I have been packing and playing WoW. Enjoying my life before it's all awkward silences and polite smiles. Je ne parle pas francaise beaucoup et tres bien. Parce que je ne pratique francaise à Estonie. And stop! No more before I have rekindled with French. I hope it won't take too long. 

Anyhow, I will continue with my nervous behaviours and the next time I post, I will be in France. UN-BE-BLOODY-LIEVABLE!

Cordialement,

Regina