Telephone booth / Cabine téléphonique

Telephone booth / Cabine téléphonique
Originally uploaded by dustyloup

I have a blog and a flickr account -- who knew??
I am alive and I am well. This is Paris on a rainy day.

Merry Christmas

My brother and sister-in-law really saved the day with Christmas this year. It would have been pretty lean without their package. My mom's package still hasn't arrived yet :-(. My son got "Krtek" toys and a dvd - we saw Krtek at the movie theater when my (other) sister in law came to visit so he was/is totally into it. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWxNlg7N7go 

As a matter of fact, today he has been bugging me to watch the dvd so I set a timer for my computer time so that he would do something else while he waits. The timer is a really good parenting tool - I'm really glad I discovered it! He understands that he needs to stop his activity when the timer goes off and it's much more neutral than being bugged by mom!

My previous post about destiny relates to the fact that I applied for some english teaching jobs- some in paris and one in nice. Overall, more opportunity in paris, but more competition. The pay is higher - by about 20 percent, but then the cost of living is a bit higher, though not sure how much. With contract work, I have the opportunity to earn 20-50 percent more than I would at a full time job, but of course, it's not "definite," which is the big advantage to full time.     

Of course, there are other advantages to full time work, such as restaurant tickets, 'mutuelle' (supplemental insurance), and paid days off, but i think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The ideal would be for one of us to work full time and the other to work part time, but I don't know what the future holds.

School

I think I just need to accept that there is absolutely nothing wrong with liking school and being most comfortable in a school environment - as a teacher or student. I think I pushed away from my desitiny because it seemed too easy or too self evident.

My father was a teacher, three of my grandparents were teachers. Who wants to follow in their footsteps in a profession that is underpaid and underappreciated?!

French lessons

My french is getting better. I was actually the teacher for my french class last week - basically i was a 'discussion leader', but still it was a nice boost to my confidence...and i wasnt nervous at all.

I've started a new french class this week (i need cheap classes and this fits the bill and is quite good!) and i really like it - it's more challenging than the one that I have been going to. Tommorrow i am going to start helping out a "homework help" session for neighborhood kids. I'll help them with their english homework, but i will be using my french too, so that will be good and I have really been wanted to do something "benevolent" - though i need to start working too. I put in my first job application yesterday, which was a big milestone!

Expat Psychology

I've been seeing a counsellor over here and you can imagine that it's a bit of a challenge to talk to a psychologist in another language - but i think it taps into the emotions just as deep - maybe deeper. She asked me to recall a moment when i was truly happy and I just started crying because my response in my head was so complicated - so many qualifications, such as, "i was happy at this point, BUT..." "Looking back, it was a happy time, but at the moment i didn't appreciate it"...I'm aways striving for something else and I keep forgetting things.

I've been journalling again - on paper. Maybe i'm just a pen and ink kinda gal. Who knows, maybe I'll reinvent my web presence sometime soon because I am feeling better.

treading water

my husband was in the hospital for over a week and times have been difficult here. Perhaps La Framericaine was right to suggest an anonymous blog to get my feelings out - not that too many people are following me. 

French Classes / Carte de Séjour Update

I think that if you come here with limited french skills, you have two choices:

1) Pay for french courses out of your own pocket.

2) Bumble along with your current level of french, supplemented by reading and going to the library, and wait until you qualify to receive free french instruction or to receive a stipend.

I have opted for number two due to financial constraints. I've been here since the end of August and we really did hustle to apply for the carte de séjour. Even still, it takes time to accomplish things because you need certain pieces of paper before you can move on to the next step. It really is like a board game!

I am registered with Assedic (unemployment) but still need to follow up with ANPE (employment) today so I will discuss french lessons with them at my appointment. 

I have my 'visite medicale' on the 23rd, which is more than just a medical visit; this is when the carte de séjour is distributed (right now i have a receipt that is only valid for three months). It is also a welcome meeting and they do an interview to assess your level of french. 

I had not previously heard or read about the "contrat d'accueil et d'intégration" that you sign at your medical visit. Here is the brochure that I received along with the letter for my medical visit appointment :

http://www.anaem.fr/IMG/pdf/cai_publication/Dépliant%20C.A%20I%20verso.pdf

Here's the contract that's going to be signed at the visit:

http://www.anaem.fr/IMG/pdf/Contrat_2008.pdf

It seems quite funny that I am obligated to pay 275 Euros in taxes for the carte de sejour, but will receive french instruction that is valued *much more* than that!

This afternoon I am going to an association to start french lessons. I was supposed to contact them before, so I hope that I can start today. 

Correction: The association that i went to today is called trait d'union, but there are a ton of organizations with this name in france so the url I found was not right.