Reflections on the program.

Time passes so strangely.


It is almost evening. The strange black birds with the white striped bellies are nesting quietly in the garden outside. I can hear them cooing softly. The train station in the distance is oddly silent today. The workers are on strike and the train will come only once every hour. The sky is grey and is covered with thick fluffy clouds. If I didn't know better I would think that they were pregnant with snow. 


My thoughts, like the sky outside, are a little foggy today. 


It's hard to believe that I've been in Paris for eighty three days already. Hard to believe that ninety three days ago I was sitting in a cubicle half way across the world and dreaming that I would soon be here. I had been planning this for so long, and le voila, here I am, one week before the holidays in my little cottage on the outskirts of Paris, and thinking of all that I have seen and experienced since I moved here. 


I am feeling very grateful today.


If someone nearing the end of their college career were to ask me if I would recommend the assistantship program I would say, without a moment's hesitation, to go for it! Oui, I would recommend this program in a heartbeat. It really is an ideal opportunity for someone who loves to travel, has some sort of interest in teaching, and who wants to work on their own foreign language skills. Even if at the end you decide that teaching is not for you, I am sure that you will not regret coming. As a wise writer once said:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. 

So send in your application, start brushing up on your francais, and come sing English songs to little French kiddies for seven months! Trust me, it sure beats trying to look productive for eight hours at a desk job. Having to minimize facebook compulsively in a cold, cramped cubicle is a lot more exhausting that being an English assistant.


One of the reasons that I think I am enjoying this so much is because I honestly believe that what I am doing is important. I don't know if I am being overly optimistic but I really think that I am helping to make a difference in these kids lives. Giving them a head start with a language which will no doubt be of  great use to them when they get older. I can say that for one of the first times in my life, I feel like my talents are being used correctly, and it is a great feeling.


That's what it's all about isn't it? Trying different things, and different jobs until we find our place in this world. Every one of us needs to find what they are meant to be doing. There needs to be a sense that you are using your talents in the best way possible and it sure is nice to be part of something that you believe in.


I would love to see a program like this in my own country. Some sort of exchange program to bring over Spanish speaking students to the island to introduce our Trini children to the language. It might even help our government with their lofty plans to have a bilingual nation by the year 2020.


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Night has fallen, and the sky finally has cleared. I can see the sky so clearly tonight. There are no more clouds to hide the moon. The stars join together in our human imagination to form the big and little dippers, those two giant soup spoons that hang silently in the cosmos. Imagine I had to come all the way to France to see the stars. I wish I could see them from my house in Trinidad. But you see, where I come from the neighbour hood lights, blazing bright to catch the criminals, blind us from the beauty that hangs above. Thank God there are still places on the island that are dark, and wild, and beautiful. Places where we can still see the stars, and where we can still dream.


My thoughts are still dancing all over the place, and my bed is beginning to call out to me.

Good night world.

Obscure French Signs Part II

Found this one near to a church.

'Smiting Zone - Sinners Beware' ?

Le 'F' Word

No, no, I wasn't reading dirty magazines in French . This enlightening article about the correct use of the English 'eff' word was actually in '20 minutes', a free daily paper that's handed out in metro stations. A daily paper read by thousands upon thousands of commuters on their way to work. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that English is indeed the current lingua franca of the world, and I know that speaking good English is a huge asset when applying for a job in these parts, but surely, surely there must be other words that need to be taught to the general public before this one.

Now, I'm no prude, but I must admit that the unhibited use of English curse words in the French public media kind of makes me cringe. Children could be reading this for Pete's sake! And hear nah, this liberal use of the F bomb is not limited to the press either, no sir, it's also in the uncensored American music played non stop on the radio and even on popular day time television programs.

There is, for example, this game show called "Tout le monde veut prendre sa place" which involves trivia questions, singing, and a whole lot of small talk between the host and the contestants. The host Nagui, normally quite charming when chatting in his native French, just loves to throw random English phrases into his banter, because, you know, speaking English is just sooooo hip. The problem is his English is normally littered with curse words. I actually heard him once say to an elderly contestant on the show (who had just gotten a question wrong) "Aye, what zee f**k is wrong with you man? Are you f**king stoopeed?" Keep in mind this is a so called 'family friendly' program. Oh la la.

Who knows, maybe this whole working at a primary school thing is starting to bring out my protective paternal side. Or maybe it's just taught me how careful you have to be when talking to children. I've seen how these kids like to hold on to random English phrases, and for some reason the ones that normally stick in their heads are those that they shouldn't know how to say in the first place. These petits diables would refuse to answer you when you ask them their name, have no idea how to count to ten, but will take great delight in belting out a nasal hollywood inspired "Oh - my - god" intermittantly throughout the class. Who knows what they would be saying by the time they turn eight.

That's why I couldn't believe it when one of the head instructors suggested in a staff meeting that we teach the kids how to say their names by using Eminem's 'My name is Slim Shady'. Ok, granted, the kids would probably think it's cool, and yes, the absolute only part of the song that they would understand would be the 'my name is slim shady' part. But I would just feel way, way too dirty standing in front of that class of little ones and having to listen to Eminem singing:

Walked into a strip club. Had my jacket zipped up. Flashed the bartender then stuck my d**k in the tip cup.

Call me old fashioned, but I'd just rather we stick to the good old "Hello song". This way my conscience wouldn't have to gnaw at me at night while I try to sleep.

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Below is a Dutch commercial for English lessons that kind of demonstrates what I've been talking about. Please note that it is both VULGAR and UNCENSORED. You have been warned :)

Pic of the day - La Foire au Gras

La gourmandise, ce n'est pas manger trop, c'est prendre du plaisir à manger. Alors qu'il n'y a aucune raison de s'interdire le plaisir de manger, de boire, de converser, d'écouter de la musique, de voyager.

Gourmandise does not mean overindulgence, it means taking pleasure in eating. This way there is no reason to forbid the enjoyment of food, of drink, of conversation, of listening to music, of traveling.

- Michel Onfray

Paul's pay day plat du jour:-

Succulent filet of trout sauteed in butter and topped with tender morcels of lightly fried foie gras. The dish is complemented with a rich, buttery, citrous spiked foie gras reduction and served with a simple salad of julienned spinach and fresh raspberries. 

Nothing wrong with a little carnivorous indulgence every once in a while, right?