It's been a while since I wrote anything and seeing as my last post was thoroughly depressing it's probably worth updating this.
Things have got better since I last wrote, we have now finally moved into the apartment and even though it may be up 8 flights of stairs (I better be super skinny by the time I move out of here) it's really lovely. Somehow we managed to get furniture up all these stairs, we basically re enacted the pivot scene from friends with a couple of friends helping us out! It took quite a few days to get everything up here though. I feel like we achieved a lot because never before have I built a bed or dragged a sofa up 8 flights of stairs. This is true independence I suppose.
With regards to the bank, I still don't have a card, surprise surprise. I went into the branch where I opened the account and they said they would sort it out and then when I didn't hear anything I went into the one across the road from me and they said nothing had been done, so I sat down with them for about an hour until I saw they had properly changed my address and made them my primary branch and sent out for a new card. So now HOPEFULLY the card should come in the next week. If I have a bank card before going home for Christmas that would be fantastic.
Things with my prof ref have calmed down too, mainly I think because I now don't have to rely on her for anything now that we've moved the furniture into the apartment and I've changed my address for the bank.
It's nice to know that I don't have to text her all the time to say what's going on with the bank because having to do that alone was stressing me out.
As for the teaching, I think I've finally figured out some kind of system for each kind of class. For example, I have two Terminale classes today (equivalent of upper sixth) who are really good and really keen to talk, so today we did debates etc in class and it was a really good atmosphere in the lesson. But I have a Premiere class on Tuesdays (equivalent of lower sixth) and I find it really difficult to get any of them to participate, especially seeing as they are a massive class (I had seventeen of them yesterday). So what I did instead was print out a kind of English language question and answer bingo game and have them go and ask others in the class, and then reward them with a chocolate bar. Yes, bribery is the answer. So I feel like I'm getting into a slightly more steady rhythm.
There's currently a massive fair in Rouen on the left bank which I think may finish this weekend, so we've been a few times. Seeing as both Louise and I are still waiting for bank cards (hers got eaten by a machine last week) we haven't been able to book anything more extravagant yet but we're hoping to go to Disneyland Paris before the Xmas hols!
That's all for now. Very glad I only have two lessons tomorrow and then the weekend can begin.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Reality check
So this blog is meant to be honest and to highlight the bad as well as the good so that's what this entry is going to do.
Yesterday was the worst day I've had since I arrived in France. Louise and I spent the entire day working on our apartment, which had been left filthy by whoever last owned it, and were cleaning and doing chores around it for 6 hours. By the end of it, obviously neither of us were in the greatest of moods and were also aching all over and not feeling too great. I've also been worrying a lot about my bank recently, because even after six weeks from opening the account I STILL don't have a bank card, and because the branch I opened it in isn't local to me but to my prof ref it's very difficult for me to contact them and find out what's going on, especially seeing as I am not confident enough in my French to communicate with them over the phone. Because of this, I had asked my prof ref to call them for me to find out what was going on, and of course they didn't answer the phone and now won't be open again until Tuesday when I have a training day anyway so can't do anything about it then. After expressing my frustration with this particular bank to my prof ref, she suddenly got very angry with me and basically started calling me ungrateful and unappreciative of all the time she spends helping me, even though my frustration clearly had nothing to do with her but with the bank itself. Basically, a really crap day got turned into an even worse one because suddenly I was having an unintended argument with someone who is meant to look after me and help me settle into this country and was pretty much doing the opposite of that. I now feel like I can't ask her for any help at all anymore because every time I do she is just going to make me feel awkward or guilty and I don't want to be feeling that way. I also don't know if she's even going to come and help us move in today which she originally said she would due to this conversation we had last night. I am just incredibly frustrated with this entire situation at the moment, because all I want to do is be independent and not have to rely on people but because of how absolutely shit all the administrative processes are here I find myself having to rely on people anyway because of a lack of proper communication between myself and banks/estate agencies/electricity companies. At this point I don't even feel comfortable contacting her today asking her what time she is willing to come over and help because I feel like she might get angry with me again and call me ungrateful etc which is the last thing I need because I am NOT ungrateful, for all the help that I have been given in this country I have really expressed my thanks but the point is I shouldn't be made to feel guilty for asking someone who is meant to be helping me out anyway to make a phone call to a bank, which is actually incredibly important because without this bank card I am soon going to be out of money and unable to pay for anything, as I found out last night when my Travelex started to tell me I have reached my limits. So it's not like I'm just asking for a casual favour, this kind of determines whether I can continue to live in France or not.
I am just completely baffled by the inappropriateness of what happened last night. I don't know whether it's a culture thing, or just two clashing personalities, but to me I think it's utterly ridiculous.
HOPEFULLY today we are moving a sofa and Louise's bed and the final odds and ends of our possessions into the new apartment. I just want to start living there to be honest because I am sick and tired of not having my own place and having to just be what feels like a burden to everyone else when really if they got their bloody acts together we wouldn't have to ask them for any help ever again.
Last night was the first time I've had trouble sleeping since arriving in France. Even when I first got here and was all over the place I didn't feel as bad as I did last night. You shouldn't be put in a situation where you are literally having panic attacks in bed over having to contact the person who is meant to look after you and make you feel safe!
But anyway. On a more positive note, after the absolute shit of the day yesterday, in the evening I went to the massive funfair on the left bank with some friends and that cheered me up a bit.
I'm very much hoping that come tonight we will be able to sleep in our own apartment. I'm also hoping that by Wednesday I will either have a bank card or know what the hell is going on with mine. A couple of friends have told me that they will come with me to the bank branch in Darnetal to enquire with me as I don't feel comfortable asking my prof ref to enquire for me any more. This whole weekend has been a big downer because of everything that's happened and also because everyone else here seems to be completely settled, and some people I know have even used this long weekend to go travelling to other places in Europe and it really really gets me down that Louise and I STILL can't do anything like that, still can't completely relax here and go out and have a good time because still, six weeks after moving here nothing is truly settled! Her bank card got eaten by the machine the other day too so she's carrying round just as much bad luck as I am.
I'm really hoping with all my might that things are going to start to look up soon, and that we will be able to move into our new apartment today or tomorrow and that the bank will get sorted out and I can actually start living life properly here and enjoying myself, instead of just feeling like a homeless burden who has to rely on other people for everything. Here's to that dream coming true.
Yesterday was the worst day I've had since I arrived in France. Louise and I spent the entire day working on our apartment, which had been left filthy by whoever last owned it, and were cleaning and doing chores around it for 6 hours. By the end of it, obviously neither of us were in the greatest of moods and were also aching all over and not feeling too great. I've also been worrying a lot about my bank recently, because even after six weeks from opening the account I STILL don't have a bank card, and because the branch I opened it in isn't local to me but to my prof ref it's very difficult for me to contact them and find out what's going on, especially seeing as I am not confident enough in my French to communicate with them over the phone. Because of this, I had asked my prof ref to call them for me to find out what was going on, and of course they didn't answer the phone and now won't be open again until Tuesday when I have a training day anyway so can't do anything about it then. After expressing my frustration with this particular bank to my prof ref, she suddenly got very angry with me and basically started calling me ungrateful and unappreciative of all the time she spends helping me, even though my frustration clearly had nothing to do with her but with the bank itself. Basically, a really crap day got turned into an even worse one because suddenly I was having an unintended argument with someone who is meant to look after me and help me settle into this country and was pretty much doing the opposite of that. I now feel like I can't ask her for any help at all anymore because every time I do she is just going to make me feel awkward or guilty and I don't want to be feeling that way. I also don't know if she's even going to come and help us move in today which she originally said she would due to this conversation we had last night. I am just incredibly frustrated with this entire situation at the moment, because all I want to do is be independent and not have to rely on people but because of how absolutely shit all the administrative processes are here I find myself having to rely on people anyway because of a lack of proper communication between myself and banks/estate agencies/electricity companies. At this point I don't even feel comfortable contacting her today asking her what time she is willing to come over and help because I feel like she might get angry with me again and call me ungrateful etc which is the last thing I need because I am NOT ungrateful, for all the help that I have been given in this country I have really expressed my thanks but the point is I shouldn't be made to feel guilty for asking someone who is meant to be helping me out anyway to make a phone call to a bank, which is actually incredibly important because without this bank card I am soon going to be out of money and unable to pay for anything, as I found out last night when my Travelex started to tell me I have reached my limits. So it's not like I'm just asking for a casual favour, this kind of determines whether I can continue to live in France or not.
I am just completely baffled by the inappropriateness of what happened last night. I don't know whether it's a culture thing, or just two clashing personalities, but to me I think it's utterly ridiculous.
HOPEFULLY today we are moving a sofa and Louise's bed and the final odds and ends of our possessions into the new apartment. I just want to start living there to be honest because I am sick and tired of not having my own place and having to just be what feels like a burden to everyone else when really if they got their bloody acts together we wouldn't have to ask them for any help ever again.
Last night was the first time I've had trouble sleeping since arriving in France. Even when I first got here and was all over the place I didn't feel as bad as I did last night. You shouldn't be put in a situation where you are literally having panic attacks in bed over having to contact the person who is meant to look after you and make you feel safe!
But anyway. On a more positive note, after the absolute shit of the day yesterday, in the evening I went to the massive funfair on the left bank with some friends and that cheered me up a bit.
I'm very much hoping that come tonight we will be able to sleep in our own apartment. I'm also hoping that by Wednesday I will either have a bank card or know what the hell is going on with mine. A couple of friends have told me that they will come with me to the bank branch in Darnetal to enquire with me as I don't feel comfortable asking my prof ref to enquire for me any more. This whole weekend has been a big downer because of everything that's happened and also because everyone else here seems to be completely settled, and some people I know have even used this long weekend to go travelling to other places in Europe and it really really gets me down that Louise and I STILL can't do anything like that, still can't completely relax here and go out and have a good time because still, six weeks after moving here nothing is truly settled! Her bank card got eaten by the machine the other day too so she's carrying round just as much bad luck as I am.
I'm really hoping with all my might that things are going to start to look up soon, and that we will be able to move into our new apartment today or tomorrow and that the bank will get sorted out and I can actually start living life properly here and enjoying myself, instead of just feeling like a homeless burden who has to rely on other people for everything. Here's to that dream coming true.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Return to Rouen
It's been quite a while since I wrote in here so thought I should update it just to prove I'm not dead, and of course inform you all of the wonders of year abroad life thus far.
So the two weeks Toussaint holidays were a nice break from the complex issues of living here and obviously nice to see family and friends again, but now I'm back here again it feels like I never went back really. Odd, that.
One thing I will never understand is WHY, for God's sake WHY do the Rouen rubbish collectors decide that 22:30/23:30 is an acceptable time to clear the rubbish for the whole street? Like seriously, what is up with that? And I swear they do this at least four times a week. How much rubbish does this street have? It baffles me.
Also, since I came to Rouen I have had way more friend requests from random people. And I don't mean students or anything, I mean random guys from Indonesia.
ANYWAY, to get back on track. Things are going pretty well here, however of course I am still having admin issues. My main problem at the moment is that I STILL don't have a bank card, I have a pin number but no actual card so I have a good lot of money waiting in that account that I cannot access and it's driving me crazy. I'm hopefully going to know by tomorrow what the hell is going on with that.
We are still in the process of moving things into our apartment. It's a struggle. We live on the fourth floor. There are eight flights of stairs. It ain't easy.
The teaching is certainly an...experience. I have a couple of classes who are really good and actually want to speak to me and then I get classes who just look at me like I need to get out and run away back home. Also the reliability of the actual teachers themselves isn't too great either.
But it's all getting better. Hopefully by this time next week I will actually be moved into my new apartment properly and be in a much more positive place!
Bisous xxx
So the two weeks Toussaint holidays were a nice break from the complex issues of living here and obviously nice to see family and friends again, but now I'm back here again it feels like I never went back really. Odd, that.
One thing I will never understand is WHY, for God's sake WHY do the Rouen rubbish collectors decide that 22:30/23:30 is an acceptable time to clear the rubbish for the whole street? Like seriously, what is up with that? And I swear they do this at least four times a week. How much rubbish does this street have? It baffles me.
Also, since I came to Rouen I have had way more friend requests from random people. And I don't mean students or anything, I mean random guys from Indonesia.
ANYWAY, to get back on track. Things are going pretty well here, however of course I am still having admin issues. My main problem at the moment is that I STILL don't have a bank card, I have a pin number but no actual card so I have a good lot of money waiting in that account that I cannot access and it's driving me crazy. I'm hopefully going to know by tomorrow what the hell is going on with that.
We are still in the process of moving things into our apartment. It's a struggle. We live on the fourth floor. There are eight flights of stairs. It ain't easy.
The teaching is certainly an...experience. I have a couple of classes who are really good and actually want to speak to me and then I get classes who just look at me like I need to get out and run away back home. Also the reliability of the actual teachers themselves isn't too great either.
But it's all getting better. Hopefully by this time next week I will actually be moved into my new apartment properly and be in a much more positive place!
Bisous xxx
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