Reprise de l'Écriture

I’ve  decided not to post anymore photos from the euro trip that was. Partly because it takes so much time to upload and place pictures with the right size and position but more importantly, because I think the blog should be dedicated to writing and facebook and instagram have done a fine job at containing obsessions with visual story telling. The cities that remain unpictured here are Prague and Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic and Budapest in Hungary. Don't think I'm biased towards Western Europe, although I might be. With this having been my first time right of the former Iron Curtain, I must say that it's not as bad as you might think. Not that it would be somewhere I'd like to live, but it's somewhere that a fat wallet can set up shop for a lengthy, luxury vacation. 

Whoever said France is the place for those who work to live knew what they were talking about. A job as an assistant teacher puts super emphasis on the live side of the equation. Since I’ve been in France the past two months, I believe I’ve already read more books, cooked more meals, taken more scenic walks, attended more concerts, drink more coffee and wine than the entirety of the prior two years. The way I see it, you have work 12 hours a week. If you know what you’re doing you work maybe 5 hours outside of class. The rest of the time is dedicated to “personal projects”. Whether that means writing research papers, solving complex mathematical equations, learning a new language, or writing a novel, there are loads of options on the table for you to choose from. So yeah, it’s kind of like working for Google, minus the fat paycheck. More to come on this topic, but first, a little comical relief:

“B-A-C-O-N, bacon, that’s how you spell bacon” The class reciprocates nothing but perhaps my own blank stare, as I hold up a round orange fruit, the first of several foods I’ll be presenting today as a part of our alimentation lesson. Perhaps they are confused by my thick American accent or maybe they are aware of the fact that nobody would take them seriously if they ever went to a fruit stand in American and asked “Vear eez zee bacon”.

“Jean-Pierre, Marie Antoinette, come up to the front of the class. I want you all to act out a scene using the vocabulary we just learned Jean-Pierre you’ll be the laggard redneck and Marie Antoinette, you’ll be the hungry ditz….Ready Go.”  

MA: “Hello Jean-Pierre, can I pleez ave zee bacon. I am very ungry.”

JP: “Yes, I veel geev you two bacons. Beecuz you askt so nicely.”

MA: “Zank you!”

JP: “No, zank you! Ave a nice day!”

“Very Good. What progress we are making, fluency is just around the corner and over the 200 foot chateau wall.” More blank stares. "It's ok to laugh when I make a joke" No reaction. Three seconds later, comprehension settles in "hahahahahaha"