Megan's Room

Laon

The Medieval City, where I live, is on top of a big hill. It's the only hill for about 50 miles in any direction, and no one has been able to tell me how exactly it came about.

At the base of the medieval city are the suburbs for about 3 miles in any direction, and then farms. The people here love to welcome us to the "countryside" and then laugh hysterically about our bad fortune at being assigned to work here. It is a sleepy town. You can walk from one side of the medieval city to the other in 20 minutes, and there's not much to do in the lower part of the city. There are two bars worth going to, one night club, lots of bakeries, a branch of a university whose campus consists of two buildings, and no shops are open past 7pm or on Sundays. All that said, the locals don't see the town's charm which has so enamored us. To them the cathedral, the ruins from the 1000's, and the green forests covering the sides of the hill are just tired pieces of scenery. 

The cathedral, built in 1100's

The dark buildings on the left are the school where I live. The church on the far right is an abbey also built in 1100's. There are incredible walking paths all through the woods near my school.

Lastly, my favorite statue in one of the town's best parks.

What am I actually doing in France?

This is the boring stuff, so I'm going to go through it quickly:

I'm working for the National Department of Education, 12 hours a week, as a language assistant. After I somehow tricked them into believing I spoke enough French to be helpful, they assigned me to Laon, in the Amiens region. 

Since I'm assigned to an elementary school, I'm working in classes where the teacher isn't certified to teach English. Most often, the teachers I'm working with barely speak English. So, together, me speaking barbarian French, as Brie says, and them speaking slowly and repeating themselves over and over we work things out. I'm working with kids between the ages of 5 and 11. They are all very excited to learn English, sometimes too excited. 

My contact, who is the epitome of everything good about France, found me housing at one of the public high schools, or lycees. Most of the lycees have dorms where students stay during the week. A French school day last from 8:30 in the morning until 5 or 6 at night, with a long lunch and several breaks throughout the day. (I'll post pictures of my room soon.)

My schedule isn't totally fixed yet, but as of now it looks like I'm going to work Monday, half of Tuesday, and Thursday. Primary schools are closed Wednesdays, and the teachers at my school convinced me that I needed Friday off in order to enjoy France. 

Tomorrow there is a big strike all across France. It seems like an important land mark in my time here. Too bad I already had the day off...

To come: more pictures, of course and information about my town

An Introduction

My town is on top of a hill, surrounded by fortified walls for keeping peasants and barbarians out. I live in Hogwarts and I ride a roller coaster home from the train station (see pictures below). 

(My roller coaster)

(My home)

There are 6 other language assistants in my town; 3 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 German, and 1 Mexican. I live with Lindsay (Blue coat), who is from Denver and just finished doing a stint in West Africa with Peace Corps. We also share a hall with Kate (red jacket), the Brit, who likes the "cheese room" and cooks delicious meals miraculously in our tiny kitchenettes. Paul (you guessed it, the boy) went to Georgetown, promises to get drunk and sing Karaoke, and has a birthday coming up. Iris, la mexicaine, studied biology and is a freakishly good offensive foosball player. The German remains an enigma. Finally, there's Brie, from Philly, who gave us all the crucial insider type that there's free wifi at Mcdonalds. Thus begins our French blog, in the Macdo. 


To Come: Pictures of my room and fellow assistants, actual information about what I'm doing here...