Halfway Mark

I've officially passed the halfway mark for this year, and it's kind of surreal to realize that my time in Saint-Quentin is more than half over. The beginning of the second half of the year could not feel more different than starting the first half in October. Here's a look at how some things have changed (especially since I wrote this post in November).

My Job. Getting easier? No, actually. Coming up with a range of lessons that will interest the students, motivate them to work, and hit that perfect balance between age and English level continues to be challenging. What I have noticed, however, is that I'm more confident in front of a class than I was before. I am no longer disturbed by being stared at, and I'm much less worried about impressing the students with every lesson. Some days are great, some are flops, life goes on.

Language. When I was getting ready to leave Nantes after my 3.5 month long program, I felt like my French ability was just starting to really improve. I've been in Saint-Quentin two weeks longer than I was in Nantes, and I can already see a difference from just the two week addition. I've had a pretty okay time understanding French this year, but I've noticed an increased fluency in my spoken French in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully in my time left I can master the dreaded subjunctive, forever my nemesis in French.

People. My connections to the people here continue to deepen. I'm now tutoring three students and two adults, and my sessions with the adults are especially rewarding. I enjoy chatting with people who've had very different life experiences than I've had, but finding a lot more common ground than anticipated. I'm more and more at ease with the teachers at school, entering into conversations more readily with not just the English teachers but those in other disciplines too. I almost worry that I won't get enough out of these relationships in the comparatively short time I have left (there are, incredibly, only nine full teaching weeks left). I continue to enjoy trips, movie dates, and nights out with the other assistants (and a few French friends we've acquired along the way), and I'm getting more and more out of this lovely international group I'm lucky to be a part of.

Living abroad. Around mid-November, I was wishing time would speed up. I often felt that I didn't have enough to do in Saint-Quentin, I wasn't fully settled into my school, and I didn't know my friends that well. The Christmas break seemed like it was ages away, and the end of my contract in April might as well have been years away. Now, of course, time has finally sped up and I wish it would slow down a bit. I've gotten quite used to Saint-Quentin, and am even fond of some things here...the charming central square, which is currently setting up for a new fair only a few weeks after the Christmas market ended...the bakery down the street, where the bakers recognize me and smile when I ask, my accent evident, for a baguette and a pastry...even the movie theater, with its limited "original version" options, where I've resigned to seeing Le Loup de Wall Street in French. When I arrived, I was doubtful I would become attached to the town, but four months later I'm starting to realize that leaving may be harder than arriving.

Saint-Quentin Check In

I haven't posted updates about Saint-Quentin in a while... because, as far as I can tell, the city doesn't offer new things to do very often. Still, I've taken a few pictures and recorded some new Saint-Quentin moments since the holidays, and here are some of my favorite images from January in S-Q.

I took these sunset pictures from a bridge over the train station and canal. I'm usually inside making dinner at sunset, so it was a nice treat to get a wide view of the sky at such a pretty moment. I was on the way to see "Frozen" with Sarah, Swenja, and Alex (In France it's called "La Reine des Neiges" -- The Snow Queen -- and it was amazing. I highly recommend it).

This was taken during one of the weekly French Conversation Club gatherings. As a special treat, Francine (who hosts the club) served a galette des rois (king cake), which is associated with Epiphany but is really about eating a delicious apple tart. There's a small object, called a feve, baked in the tart (a bean, small plastic figure, etc), and whoever gets the piece with the feve gets to wear a crown and be called king or queen. My piece had the feve, so here I am with my superhero crown (the galette was superhero themed--the feve was a porcelain Batman sign).

I've been tutoring a French woman, Daniele, for a few months, and a few weeks ago she invited me to see her town (she lives in a village outside of Saint-Quentin). We had a lovely afternoon, including picking apples from Daniele's apple trees and walking along one of the canals that feeds into the larger Saint-Quentin canal.

And this is the apple tart I made with all the apples from Daniele! It was quite delicious.

Subterranean Tour of S-Q

This post is a bit delayed, but here we go. One of the last things I did in December before vacation was a tour of the Saint-Quentin underground tunnels. I've now seen the subterranean of three French cities (Saint-Quentin, Laon, and Paris) and zero American cities, but I don't know if this sort of thing really exists in the U.S....

Anyway, it was pretty cool to see the network of caves, rooms, and corridors under the city's downtown streets. The underground spaces were used for storage, transport, and even prisons in the middle ages, and more recently during the world wars.

~ Secret entrance to the underground tunnels is revealed ~

~ Well-lit staircase going down ~

~ Creepy staircase going up (we didn't take this one) ~

~ Underground corridors ~

~ Centuries-old graffiti from a chamber once used as a prison ~

Paris Visit #3

This weekend I took another day trip to Paris with some friends from Saint-Quentin. We amazingly had decent weather--not bitterly cold, no rain, and even a few sunny moments (a real accomplishment for northern France in January). The day was fun: we did some touristy things, lots of walking, and of course had a decent French lunch in the middle. We started at the Paris Catacombs, which were alternately cool and eerie. After lunch, we took a stroll past Notre Dame and the Centre Pompidou, and later stopped by the Eiffel Tower for a quick photo op. We ended the day by climbing the Arc de Triomphe (so. many. stairs.). Despite the physical exertions required, climbing the Arc was worth it: we timed it perfectly so that we could watch the sun set over the entire city.

~ Paris Catacombs ~

~ Paris Catacombs ~

~ Paris Catacombs ~

~ Crossing the Seine ~

~ Centre Pompidou ~

~ Eiffel Tower ~

~ Climbing the Arc de Triomphe ~

~ Sunset from atop the Arc de Triomphe ~

~ View of Paris from the Arc ~

Istanbul: Sightseeing and Shopping

In addition to historical landmarks, I had fun seeing other sites and picking up some souvenirs during my trip to Istanbul. I especially enjoyed the city’s various markets—the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar were vibrant, overwhelming, and full of gorgeous displays of scarves, spices, Turkish delight and hand painted ceramics. I also spent a lovely afternoon at the Topkapi Palace, once the Sultan’s palaces, overlooking the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus.

~ View of downtown Istanbul from where I stayed ~

~ Istanbul does Christmas ~

~ Topkapi Palace ~

~ Council Chamber ~

~ Sultan's library ~

~ View of the Bosphorus from the palace ~

~ Delightful Turkish bakery ~

~ Ceramics at the Spice Market ~

~ Night view across the Golden Horn ~

~ From European Istanbul to Asian Istanbul ~

Strasbourg for New Year's

Over New Year's I travelled to Strasbourg with my friend Sean. Strasbourg was charming, full of lovely buildings, interesting sites, and lots of delicious food. Our visit to the Cathedral was especially fun--it's one of the tallest in France, and the view from the top was amazing. Other highlights from the trip included crossing the "Pont de l'Europe" (the bridge over the Rhine River connecting France and Germany), and a quick stop at the European Parliament.

~ Strasbourg cathedral ~

~ Detail of the cathedral's Astronomical Clock ~

~ View from the top of the cathedral ~

~ From the Pont de l'Europe: France on the right, Germany on the left ~

~ European Parliament! ~

~ Some dramatic lighting at the European Parliament ~

~ Petite France ~

Istanbul: Old City

My first trip during the Christmas vacation was to Istanbul. It was a great visit; I stayed with friends of my brothers who were fantastic hosts, and the city itself is beautiful. Its liveliness and energy perfectly balance the city’s age and history. I loved walking around the old city, seeing the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya, and Basilica Cistern. Every site was impressive, but I thought the Blue Mosque was the most incredible thing I saw during my stay. The size and architectural design are impressive, and I was mesmerized by the gorgeous mosaics inside.

~ Blue Mosque ~

~ Blue Mosque courtyard ~

~ Inside the Blue Mosque ~

~ Basilica Cistern ~

~ Ayasofya ~