The Big News

So, what was my big news? Now I can finally reveal it. It was a saga that took around 2 months.

At the start of the winter school holidays (end Feb) I decided to stay 'home' and look for jobs instead of travelling and I'm pleased to say it totally paid off! But I don't think I could've done it without the support of two friends I had spoken to beforehand about it.  Everyone suggested I should look for jobs in Switzerland instead of France, though, mainly because it pays better.

However, money never was a motivation for me as I don't believe that money makes you happy. However, I knew there would be some benefits if I applied in Switzerland such as they would more likely want to employ a native English speaker, as there is far more demand for them than in France (except for perhaps Paris). After having visited Paris several times now I know there is no way in heck I'd want to live there. I think people have this glamourised romantised view of the city when they have no idea about the realities of living there. Life there is certainly not easy at all. Even getting a tiny tiny apartment is close to impossible unless you have connections. The metro with all its stairs and long winding tunnels drives me nuts. I much prefer the tramlines that I used in most other cities.

Anyway this post isn't supposed to be a rant about Paris.

If you go over some of my past posts (or if you've already read them and can actually recall what I wrote, about 'the issue') I was really stressed because I went for a job interview for a job I really wanted. The interview lasted almost 4 hours (and included various tests) and we have since exchanged many phone calls and emails and I spent a fortune on calls, having to make international calls from my mobile! I have spent many many weeks and lots of lots of money and effort to get this job, even after I was offered it.

Why? Because I'm not French, I'm not Swiss and I'm not European.

I already knew that going into this it would be hard. However, I never let that stop me before. In fact I didn't even meet all the criteria for the teaching job in France, and yet I applied and got it anyway :) I believe that if you tell yourself you 'can't do something, YOU are the one putting limitations on yourself, noone else is. So what the heck... I applied for some jobs in Switzerland anyway. It was the second job I applied for, the only interview I got, and I got it!

However getting it was actually the easy part. It was actually getting the right to reside and work in Switzerland that was the hard part. There was the possibility that perhaps I'd have to to back to Australia (which would have been a nightmare for me given the high cost of last minute airfares, the jet lag, the stress, the waiting and really just not enjoying going back home at all not knowing if I could even come back) etc...

Luckily I didn't have to.

All I had to do was go to the Swiss Embassy to Paris to get a Swiss residency visa, since I am/was technically a resident of France. Sounds pretty easy but having to go to Paris TWICE last minute was rather stressful and costly. And the nightmare of nightmares occurred when I turned up with what I assumed were all my papers and they told me that HALF my dossier was missing. I nearly fainted from shock. I subsequently had a 40 minute phone call with my boss (luckily she called me as there was no way I had enough phone credit for a call of that length) about all the other papers I still needed (that someone previously told me I did NOT need - ugh). So then that afternoon, evening and the next morning I was frantically getting all this stuff together and my boss and the company itself also had to email all this stuff to the embassy. Luckily I did NOT have to submit it in person and could just do it over the internet so at least I was thankful for that. (keeping in mind that I was still teaching at the school during this time too and still had lessons to prepare and teach).

Basically the company has to prove why they need to hire you instead of a similarly-qualified European. And that, I wasn't even sure of why myself but I had to now write a lettre de motivation (cover letter) explaining why the company needed me. And as much as I don't like to do it, I had to brag about all my qualities and skills.. blah blah blah...

Then, I had the pressing problem that I really needed this Swiss visa before the end of April and was told it would take 8-12 weeks to get. Well... I didn't have 8-12 weeks so it was stressing me out to no end. In fact, I didn't even tell many people I got the job (including my family) because I didn't really feel like I 'had' it till I'd gotten the visa. I really only told people that HAD to know, people in the school.

After no news from the embassy for a week and a half (waiting those 10 days nearly killed me already wondering what was going on?!) I decided to contact them again and they told me that I had to get my employer to submit some MORE information... and they couldn't have told me this earlier? Ugh.

Luckily it was done without too much fuss and then FINALLY I was told I could go to Paris to collect my visa. Yay! I was actually going to do it through the mail but that would've meant stressing about it during my entire Italy trip (not to mention I actually NEEDed my passport for the trip) so I decided to go in person (and see my friend at the same time). :)

The irony of it all is... I thought that it was all over when I finally got it, but.... it's only a temporary one and I still have to get another permanent one (that lasts one year and can be renewed)!

(and there is even a lot more to the story that I didn't write about but I didn't want to drag it out too much and besides, a lot of it is too personal).

So now I live and work in Geneva :) It's been a dream of mine for the last few years to live in a(nother) top 10 city (the first being Sydney) so I'm pleased. When I tell/told French people that I'd gotten this job in a rather important place in Geneva their first thought or question is that I must be making a bucketload of money. Well compared to my poorly-paid job in France, it is much more but for the high cost of living here I don't feel like it's that much. I used to think that things cost a lot in Australia but that was before I came to Switzerland. The cost of housing and food is particularly very high :( but it's something I'm gonna have to deal with! I actually prefer to have more free time over more money but that's just me... however for the moment I'm very happy with what I've got. :)

And before anyone suggests to me I should live in France for lower living costs (as has already been suggested to me by dozens of people!) I do not currently have the right to reside in France (anymore) so I have to live here. Not that I'm complaining. I like living in the heart of the city where I don't need to rely on cars.

So now the title of my blog no longer applies as I no longer live in France :( However I'll still blog about my adventures in retrospect of course, and about my travels. But for now I still have loads more to do getting started with a new job and having to find permanent accommodation.

Ciao for now!

So why are you single?

It still amazes me how many comments and questions I get relating to my relationship status. I've been asked:

1• Did I come here because of a man?
2• Did I come here because of a relationship breakup back home?
3• Do I want to stay and marry a guy (and therefore can stay longer)?
4• Did I get a boyfriend recently?
5• WHY am I single?
6• Why do I travel alone everywhere?

Then, I've been propositioned and hinted by various men that they are interested in me (and I am NOT interested in them)! etc etc..

Gosh, it's so bizarre.

I'm not overly offended (and sometimes even find the comments funny) but at the same time I think my private life is MY business and if I wish to share those details I will. (on my blog here :P ) I am also surprised by the number of times someone has told me I should marry a French guy if I want to stay longer.

For the record, it actually isn't that simple and as far as I'm aware, isn't that simple for ANY desirable Western country. You don't just marry someone and automatically end up a French (or English or German or Australian or American whatever) citizen! There are many criteria to fulfill and you have had to live legally in the country for x number of years and proven your relationship is genuine.


And to answer the questions above:

1• Definitely not. I came here for ME. What a concept, eh?! (sarcasm). Actually, my father did not want me to come and he suspected someone had put me up to it as well. He asked, "WHO told you to come to France?" and I was very shocked by this statement but he's obviously over it now, well he had to get used to the idea as I wasn't changing my mind about coming!

2• Not at all. At the time I was in a (newish) happy relationship (which ended because the long-distance thing wasn't working for us).

3• If I end up marrying a guy it would be for love and honestly, I don't think I will get married for quite some time!

4• I did get a boyfriend here in January and it sort of happened really quickly before I realised what was happening and we didn't last very long but I think/hope/assume we are friends now (well I'm seeing him today for the first time after the break-up so I'll see how it goes).
So recently? Definitely not! I'm pre-occupied trying to sort out "the issue" which is completely doing my head in with all this waiting...

5• What a stupid question! Although I suppose I should be flattered because if someone asks that I assume it means they think that someone "like me" should NOT be single (as if that's a bad thing). To be honest (and as I've mentioned on this blog numerous times) I really enjoy my 'me time' and 'quiet time' and silence and meditation and all that. I think I'm quite independent now and whilst on one hand I'd love to be in a relationship, on the other hand I always feel like my emotions are in knots (particularly at the first few months of a relationship) and I don't feel quite right, and I'm quite strong-minded so I like to do what I want when I want and how I want... in a relationship I have to learn to compromise all over again... it's difficult but for the moment I'm quite happy where I am and do not feel any overwhelming need to be tied to/with someone. I do, however, feel like I need to make as many (platonic) friends as possible so I can have a nice social life to keep me occupied :)

6• It's just easier that way! When I ask someone if they want to go with me they usually stuff me around and don't give me definite answers. It's a billion times easier just to make some plans and go! Plus since I like to take photos, 99% of people (unless they are also really into photography) get extremely impatient and then I feel stressed and don't enjoy my time there OR take good photos... However, I do enjoy company for the day once I'm in that city. But to organise dates/transport/accommodation with others just feels like too much work these days.



Meanwhile, on the subject of taboo topics, I've heard time and time again that French people don't like to talk about money yet amongst most people I know they seem to talk about salary somewhat easily. People seem to ask and tell each other their salaries... I don't know if it's just the group of people I hang around or what! But as an Australian, I feel extremely uncomfortable talking about what I earn unless that person is very close to me. I have no idea what my friends earn back home (although I could make an educated guess based on their fields of work and years of experience). Since I heard that French people don't talk about money full stop I thought it might also be weird to ask how much they spend on certain things but I've asked various people how much they spend per month on rent (I like to compare between each city for reference's sakes) and they didn't seem offended.

Careers, exams and waiting

It just occurred to me that SO many people I know are in the middle of a career change or doing exams and going to interviews to improve their career prospects...

My friend 1 - applying for dozens and dozens of jobs hoping to get something soon. I really hope she gets something too because she really deserves it considering the amount of effort she has been putting in. I also helped her translating her CV and cover letter into English

My friend 2 - he recently went to a job interview and has yet to hear back from them. It's for the same job he's currently already got but this one a permanent full-time position (which is the holy grail) instead of part-time/temporary/shift type one.  I helped him with his CV and then after the interview they sent him this huge online test by Adecco to do to test his personality traits and his English level. We were a bit naughty because I helped him with the English part (which consisted of something like 150 questions!!) I admit that for a non-native speaker some of them were extremely tricky. We were smart though and didn't want to make it look suss so I purposely clicked on some wrong answers so he wouldn't get 99 or 100%. So he is waiting to hear back from them...

Our mutual friend, 3 - he recently did an intensive series of exams in Lyon that went for a week I think (!!) to become a customs officer. A bit like being a teacher in France you could end up almost anywhere in the country (on the borders or at an airport). He's waiting to hear back from them...

The school nurse - I saw her studying intensively for some special exam that is mandatory involving first aid and emergency care. Something happened (I couldn't quite understand since she was talking at at a million miles a minute but I think she said that the examiner didn't like her and there was a disagreement or something) and anyway she said she failed the exam and she has to take it again in month's time.

My friend in Paris - currently studying for his exams that he'll take in September to become an avocado. OK stupid joke. The French word for lawyer/solicitor/attorney, avocat, is the same as for the fruit avocado! He is currently a juriste and wants to change fields.

Someone I was speaking to on Skype (that I found through a language learning website) - he said he's currently studying for his upcoming HSK (Chinese language) exams in June. Then he wants to go to China and live/work/travel there.

A long time friend (from a language learning website) - he's a pharmacist and bored and says he wants to go back to university to do something different!

One of the teachers I work with - during the last school holidays in late Feb he went down to Lyon for a week to do a course to get some special teaching certification.

A surveillant at the school - He says that once he finishes up here in June he wants to go to Lyon to look for work.


It feels like so many people around me are in the midst of change in their lives relating to their careers...

Honestly, whether it's for necessity or by choice, I really admire people who have the guts to make great changes in their lives. It's all too easy to just live within your 'comfort zone' but I'm all for pushing yourself and being the best person that you can be and living the best life that you can live!

And as for me? Well I'm still waiting for this important piece of news and the wait is killing me because I worry that by the time I find out it may be too late to tell people here since I only have one more week to go after this (and then it won't be a proper goodbye).. And also there are a lot of things I want to do and plan but without this news I can't really go ahead. Grrr...

How I got myself an impromptu interview

On Geneva, How I got myself an impromptu interview, and Random Ramblings


Being a lovely day and all and not needing to work I decided I needed to go somewhere. I actually originally had this crazy idea to go to Chamonix-Mont Blanc. Why? Because I'm obsessed with snow and it's melting away - fast. And just because I can. However, I checked out their webcams and it was already patchy and not lush and COMPLETELY covered in white. Plus, it's not exactly that close to me and I would feel like it would be one big huge rush if I tried to get there and back in one day. Plus I wouldn't be going skiing so what's the point? So I changed my mind.

So last night at midnight I was hastily looking at the giant 1.3 metre map on my wall of my region trying to decide where to go. It had to be reasonably close (as I only had one day and wanted to be back before 6pm, and I didn't want to spend too much on the train tickets) and somewhere easily accessible by train of course. Everywhere that I COULD go I'd already been to before and everywhere else was just too small. I always check out the population size thanks to Wikipedia and anything smaller than about 30,000 is just not worth the effort. I mean, I may as well stay at home! Unless it's really well-known or something.

Then I suddenly remembered! That's right! I needed a new hard disk. I somehow managed to fill mine up with all the photos and videos I've taken and movies I've downloaded (shhhh). I brought with me a 2Tb HD from Australia... I know it sounds excessive but it was already over half full when I brought it over (because I'd copied all the files from my computer as well as my former HD). Yes, I'm a geek and I'd never know when I'd need something from the past (and it's happened many times already) and it's not as if I can tell someone to go through my computer to find some obscure file. It'd never happen. I'm too private about my files and besides, they'd never find it anyway since I would've forgotten which folder I put it in!

I know I'm getting off the topic but anyway, the other day when I was with my friend I mentioned this to him and he said to go to Geneva! Why? Because computer stuff is cheaper in Switzerland. Hurray! Something that is cheaper over there compared to France. I actually compared prices on fnac.fr and fnac.ch and he was right. He also gave me the tip to go to Interdiscount which is cheaper than Fnac.

I went to both just so I could compare prices (not because I didn't believe him but for my own research purposes for future use) and yes, Interdiscount was cheaper for the same products. But both stores sold the same and yet different brands/models as well so it just depends on what you want, really.

So anyway I get back home, keen to try out my new external HD (which is the same brand and similar model to my current one) and clear out my computer and existing HD only to find out I had to reformat it to a Mac version. No problem. But then I had all sorts of problems copying data from the old HD to the new one and realised the problem lay with the old one and not the new one! And after furiously Googling what the heck the problem was (it would only copy a little and then stop and tell me there was a disk error - quelle horreur !) I suspect that I have a virus. Yes yes, everyone says that Macs don't get viruses. But I'm reminded of a week or so ago when I clicked on a search result for Google and that warning page come up (I think you might have seen it before?) that says not to go to that page but I was being stubborn and determined to go there anyway and I think that I may have caught a virus that way. I don't know. Maybe I don't have one? But things are certainly slow and weird. My computer seems to be fine except it's slow to start up and Safari seems to be crashing a lot more than usual. My external HD has problems too and right now I can't do much with my files since my computer's HD is full as well. Anyway I won't bore you anymore... Ugh. What a nightmare! (If you don't hear from me for a while you'll know why).

So where was I? Oh yes, a gloriously sunny day. Nice and warm. Well it would have been if it wasn't so windy. Almost every time I go to Geneva it seems to be windy. I was feeling rather happy because of the lovely blue skies and sunshine though. It was just that I still had to wear long johns and boots and a big coat and gloves :P

Well I should have known it'd turn out to be an interesting day when this happened on the train platform. A random guy sitting next to me on the bench asked if he could borrow my mobile phone since his was (I assume) out of credit. Now whenever a male stranger talks to me, my defences will automatically go up at the start. It's just a natural instinct to keep myself safe. It doesn't matter who they are, what they look like, how old they are, etc. It just happens without me even thinking about it. If a guy tries to talk to me, my first thought is, "What does he want from me?"

So because I must've had this frozen stupid blank look on my face, he assumed I didn't understand him and tried speaking to me in his (very bad) English. That's when I relaxed and smiled and said that I do speak French. So he repeated again if he could borrow my phone because he wanted to call his mother. Automatically I start jumping to (negative) conclusions and have images of him raking up a big phone bill. I don't know why I did that but anyway, I just asked if she's in France and he said yes and then I said OK. Afterall, I'm not a total bitch ;)

So he calls his mother and tells her to call him back on his phone. I was nice of him not to have the entire conversation on my phone, I suppose, so he was decent and honest afterall. He then asked if I was going to Geneva ("You are go to Geneva?") and while he was dialling on my phone, he started to tell me he used to have that exact same phone and we both had a laugh about it because my phone is so old. I kid you not, it's more than 6 years old (but it looks like new because I keep it in a case so it's in excellent condition). I had this weird feeling that he wanted to keep talking to me but obviously he couldn't since he obviously had something really important to talk about with his mother, and then soon after the train came...

Given it was about noon I was surprised the train was so full. I hate full trains because it means I can't get a window seat! I'm lucky if I can get a seat at all. So I found a seat and sat down and as soon as I did so, the guy sitting on the window seat got up (to look for the toilet I assume). Then, soon after, the guy I was previously talking to asked if he could sit next to me (in the now empty spot). I got this weird feeling that perhaps he had actively sought me out because there was no way he could have known whereabouts in the train I ended up as there were people everywhere. I mean, the train is pretty big too!

Because I had all these weird thoughts going around in my head I didn't answer him immediately and the lady sitting opposite me answered my behalf LOL. She said that the seat was already taken. So then the guy left, obviously disappointed. Now I was in two minds. If I had continued a conversation with him, I suppose it would've been nice but then I wasn't that disappointed either that it didn't happen. It's just one of those things! Hmm...

I actually saw him again when I walked through customs (douane) and saw that he had been stopped and so were a bunch of other random people (mostly men with backpacks). I was tempted to go and say Hi again but I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I didn't find him attractive in that way and nor was I 'interested' in him. I just think random encounters like that are so rare (for me) and I felt that our conversation could've gone somewhere... or something. I dunno... perhaps it wasn't to be.

Once upon a time when I was younger and watched romantic comedy movies I used to think that all the scenarios in which people met up were bullshit. Seriously. I mean does that kind of stuff really happen in real life? But during the last few years of my life I have experienced a lot of things which I think would make interesting storylines in movies and I have also spoken to other people with interesting stories about how they met certain people in their life... I have definitely changed my tune. I now believe that the scriptwriters who write those films often base it on (their own) real life events.

But, onto more adventures!

I decided to check out some new parts of town that I hadn't seem before. Actually make that the old parts (haha), meaning the old town (vieille ville). I just walked and walked until a sign caught my eye. It was pink and white and gold (so rather eye catching) and it said to find the entrance of the office around the other side of the building (in a small narrow-ish lane). So I did. I thought to myself... hmm... this could be a nice company to work for! Do I dare go in? I never planned to do anything job-hunting related today so I didn't have anything on me like my CV or a business card (not that I have any business cards)...

I knew there was someone or something telling me I had to go in there and talk to these people but I was as nervous as all heck. The butterflies in my stomach were going nuts. Actually, I already had butterflies in my stomach from some mild period pain (sorry for TMI) so now I had a whole farm full of butterflies in there! I paced up and down that small narrow lane for about 10 minutes. I looked at my reflection in a window to make sure I was decently presented (luckily I was). Finally, I just thought I'd do it. It was actually kind of below street level and when I went in it wasn't quite what I expected at all.

There was only one person there (the rest were out at lunch or in other sites/with clients) and I started to say what I had already memorised and practised in my head (which is what I always do when I need to say something in French and it's important)... « Je m'appelle _______ . Je suis _______ et je suis à la recherche du travail dans le domaine de ______ . Est-ce que vous êtes actuellement .... » and she interrupted me with a "Do you speak English?" and I said something like, "Yes... even better."

Turns out she was Swedish and didn't speak any French at all. She said her boss was out of town, in London, but he'd be back tomorrow. I got both of their business cards and was about to leave when... right at the entrance/exit I ran into a colleague of hers. Without even hesitating, I introduced myself and told him what I was doing there. He asked me if I had a CV on me and I said No but I could get it online and show/tell him whatever he wanted to know about me... So he invited me to sit down and we looked at my stuff on his computer and that's how I managed to get myself an impromptu interview. :)

Turns out he's Australian too. He said he'd speak to the boss and will get back to me. To be honest, even if no job comes out of this I'm still happy that I had the guts to do what I did. It was a real ego and confidence boost too when he told me he was impressed that I was being so pro-active and asked me how many other companies I had approached in this way! Ha. (answer: zero). I think he's onto something there though...

Then I continued my aimless wandering and self-designed discovery tour and came across this really interesting looking temple/mosque thing (Russian Church). I asked the only person there what it was. In French of course until he interrupted me and asked if I spoke English. Turns out he was English! He was with his baby and was really nice and even suggested some other areas nearby that I should have a look at.  When I said I didn't have a map on me (which is so not like me) he even got out his iPhone to show me. He asked me where I was from and I said, "Guess" and he guessed Australian (based on my accent) and told me that my accent wasn't that strong. I jokingly said that I've probably lost it.. hahaha.

Then, I found myself at the top of a hill with a gorgeous view looking back down to where I'd come from. I asked an old man if he could take a photo for/of me. The same old spiel I've said 100 times before.. "Pouvez-vous prendre une photo de moi, s'il vous plaît ?" (and then thrusting my camera into their hand and pointing to the shiny silver button where they should click, or press/appuyez in French). I know it's not the most elegant way of saying it ("Can you take a photo of me, please?") but it's such a habit now I never bothered to learn another better way of saying it until he gave me the idea... To confirm what I wanted, he said something that ended with "...photographier ?" That's it!, I thought. That's a verb! OMG why didn't I think of that before? OK, next time I'm going to ask, "Pourriez-vous" (afterall, "could" is more polite, so "Could you") "...me photographier, s'il vous plaît ?" ("...photograph me, please?)"

I noticed that there were trees sprouting gorgeous white cherry blossoms! Spring is certainly in the air. Seeing those trees made my heart fill with joy.

Overall I felt it was a very successful day. And I feel/felt happy. I just love talking to strangers, especially nice ones!. It may sound strange but it's something I've always loved doing and today I had several random encounters with strangers...

Image: Wild World Wiki

The Departments of France

Les Départements de la France

I thought I'd do a somewhat interesting post about French life (because I know my recent posts have just been me rambling about some random nonsense)...

So, the other day, one of my friends (teacher at the school) told me that previously, all French students had to learn and memorise all the departments off by heart. Can you imagine? There are 95 alone on the mainland. You have to know where they are placed in the country and where they are in relation to one another and in which region (marked in navy blue) they are located in. I thought learning the 50 states of the USA was hard (not that I ever had to, I just thought it would be fun in my teenage days to learn/memorise them all as well as their capital cities because that kind of stuff is useful for trivia games ;) )

So, because it was such a tedious task and noone really cared that much about any department apart from their own, they stopped this practice. Now, most French people probably only know a handful or so.

For me, of course I know my own one (duh) and some of the surrounding ones and Paris (75) and that's about it.

What's interesting though, is that it sill plays an important role in peoples' lives. For example, it only occurred to me recently that it's common to:

1) add the number of your department in brackets on your CV when talking about the location of your previous jobs (so the employer knows where this non-descript town is located).
2) add the number of your department at the end of an email addresses or internet pseudonyms/login name.

Every time I saw '74' which is in my region, the Rhône-Alpes région, I assumed it was someone's year of birth! I mean it seemed logical and likely. It's not as if it was 34. For the people I know and people in Australia, it's common to put the year of birth as part of their email address/pseudo (if the name alone is already taken) but now I finally understand what the French do!

The 2-digit department number is also used in the beginning of the 5-digit postcode. For Paris (75) and Lyon (69) (and maybe some other big cities) the name of the arrondissement is also noted in the postcode. Eg 75001 for the 1st arrondissement of Paris and 69001 for the 1st arrondissement of Lyon.

The department number is also inscribed on a car licence plate (plaque minéralogique)

link

And check this out for more fun! ;)

link

I'm sure there are plenty of other uses for the department numbers that I haven't come across yet... It seems to have nothing to do with the phone numbers, though. I guess I'll find out more as time goes on!

More about the départements

On Being an expat, culture shock and making friends

On Being an Expat, Culture Shock and making friends, Dream Analysis and Being Extraordinary




This morning I had an incredible dream. I so rarely have dreams these days and this one was so good I had to write it all down as soon as I woke up before it rapidly faded out of my memory.

Whenever I have really interesting dreams I write them down and then look up all the 'symbols' on Dream moods and various other websites. And EVERY TIME, without fail, after I look it up, everything just makes sense. It's so eerie. I know exactly what the symbols are referring to: thoughts, aspirations, fears, etc etc. You should try it sometime!

My Dream 

To summarise... It started off with me being in a smallish but busy airport and then eventually I got on a plane. Things happened in the airport and on the plane. Except being a dream, it wasn't like a normal plane. It was more spacious and the windows were large, like on a bus. I was sitting right at the front, right behind the pilots (there was no wall/door separating the pilots from the passengers, only a large window)... we were flying high up into the sky and I could see snow-capped mountains through the windows...

Plane 

To see a plane in your dream, may be a pun on someone or something that is "plain". Perhaps the plane refers to a new level.To see a planet in your dream, signifies creativity, exploration, and new adventures. You are trying to align yourself with untapped energies that you never knew you had. 

Airplanes
To see an airplane in your dream, indicates that you will overcome your obstacles and rise to a new level of prominence and status. You may experience a higher consciousness, new-found freedom and greater awareness. Perhaps you need to gain a better perspective or wider view on something. If the airplane is taking off, then it suggests that an idea or plan is about to "take off" and be put into action. It may also represent you need to get away and escape from your daily life.

To dream that you are flying an airplane, suggests that you are in complete control of your destination in life. You are confident and self-assured in your decisions and accomplishments.

This is so accurate and so... hopeful. And it totally makes sense. I find dream analysis extremely accurate, and much better than generalised horoscopes in magazines!


Wikipedia: Stages of Culture Shock

Negotiation Phase

After some time (usually three months but sometimes sooner or later, depending on the individual), differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. Excitement may eventually give way to new and unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger as one continues to have unfavorable events that may be perceived as strange and offensive of one's cultural sensitivity. Language barrier, stark differences in public hygiene, traffic safety, food accessibility and quality may heighten the sense of disconnection from the surroundings.

The most important change in the period is communication: those people who are adjusting a new culture would feel lonely and homesick because they must get used to the new environment and meet people with whom they are not familiar every day. The language barrier may become a fiery obstacle in creating new relationships: special attention must be put one's and others' culture-specific body language signs, linguistic faux pas, conversation tone, linguistic nuances and customs, and false friends.

Due to the strain of living in a different country without parental support, several students might develop additional symptoms of loneliness, ultimately affecting the lifestyle as a whole. International students therefore often feel anxious and have a higher pressure in adjusting the new cultures. This is even more valid when the cultural distance is wide, as logical and speech patterns are different and a special emphasis is put on rhetorics.

Well that pretty much describes to a tee what I've been feeling around the 4-5month mark since I arrived. I guess it's all normal but that still doesn't make it any easier... I also realised that travelling doesn't bring me as much joy as it did before simply because nothing is 'foreign' anymore. It's all normal to me now. There is NO language barrier. Buying cheap baguettes and croissants all day long for all my meals seems totally normal, etc...


Friends

I have been feeling so down and annoyed about this whole friend-making thing. I'm tired of hearing about reasons and excuses for why it's so hard to make friends. I'm just over it. I have (or thought I had) lots of great friends here but their behaviour is not consistent. I need someone who is consistently nice to me. Not just be nice to me once and then ignore me for 3 months, for example.

I found this discussion Why is it so hard to make friends in Switzerland? and can relate to it all. I think you can pretty much swap 'Switzerland' for France (well, my part of France)! I KNOW my problem is compounded by the fact I'm stuck in a small town and I am sooooooooo over it.

I found this definition of provincial and it describes perfectly this small town attitude that many people here have :

Provincial

–adjective

3. having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc., considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial: a provincial point of view.

I need to go to a city where I can be with like-minded people. Open-minded, fun, young, single, successful, high-achieving, creative people. I cannot stand to be stuck around people with no great dreams or ambitions and just going with the status quo. It's driving me nuts!!! These people around me don't want to challenge themselves. They want an 'easy' life and never want to go out of their comfort zone. For the record, I don't think I am 'better' than these people, but just 'different', WAY too different. I've spent my whole life feeling and being 'different' and it's high time I found some of my 'own kind'.

Status Quo

The more things change, the more things stay the same. While there is some truth to this statement, more often things work in a way that allows for very little change. Many people prefer the current state because they don’t like to take risks. They are comfortable with the status quo, or the existing status.

Teachers in France

And all these teachers... they have to pass an extremely competitive entrance exam (CAPES) to become a teacher in the public school system (where they have something like a 10% chance of passing) and then after that, what? They do the same job for the rest of their lives because they want the illusion of 'job security' (which in my opinion doesn't exist in this day and age). Look, there's something very admirable about sticking it out in the same job for 30 or 40 years (and living in the same town/area your whole life) but that's just not me! Others may look down on me for that but that's my personality and I NEED to be around people who think the same way as me. I think that's why I'm so frustrated here. NOBODY thinks the way I do. My aim in life is not to be ordinary but to be extraordinary. If that sounds far-fetched, so be it. I needed my dream to tell me that that's what I want to do and be.

Go check out this book if you agree with my line of thinking that where you live is important:

Who's your city? by Richard Florida

Ciao for now...


----


OMG I can hardly contain myself. My hands are still shaking. Only 1.5 hours after I posted this post, I got a call... it turned out to be a 1 hour phone interview! (luckily it was in English. I think I would have died if it was in French as I have not prepared myself for that. I mean, phone interviews always catch me off guard). I have only applied for 2 jobs so far and got a rejection letter for one of them and an interview for the second (this) one. That has NEVER happened to me before. It usually takes dozens of applications to score even one interview and certainly a longer time frame. I am feeling good. I am feeling very positive... The lady seemed very nice and it was more like a chat rather than an interview with stupid questions like, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?" She told me what the interview would involve... I am so nervous but so excited at the same time! Wish me luck :)

Qualities that make a nice person and a good friend

CV, friends, advice

I think I'm about to go insane with my CV. See, I found this perfect job. I mean my DREAM job. Perfect location. Perfect description. I don't know the salary but as long as it's reasonable, I don't care. And when I read the description I couldn't believe that it just fitted with my experience, like a jigsaw puzzle. And it's for a company I highly respect and have loved for a long time. It's so perfect which is why I'm obsessing about my CV and cover letter being perfect. The due date is in a couple of days but I want to send it off as early as possible. Problem is, I have to rely on Frenchies to help me correct it and of course noone is available exactly when I need them. If it were in English I could've sent it off on Monday or Tuesday already.

But... Just when I'd almost lost hope in humanity (after recent events and feeling kinda shit that people always let me down), my lawyer friend from Paris did a shitload of work on my CV today. I actually didn't expect it to happen. On Monday night we talked on Skype and he said to send it over and he'd have a look and he'd have it to me by Wednesday. On Wednesday night we talked again and he said he didn't have time to look at it yet but he could do it during his lunchtime on Thursday (ie today). I asked if it was possible to have it finished by 6pm today (not getting my hopes up too high or anything).

When 6pm came around and I hadn't received it back yet by email I wasn't surprised, and I wasn't angry, just a little disappointed. However, at around 6:30pm I got his reply. And I was completely blown away. I gave it to him in plain text format, not Word (because I don't have Word on my computer) and he actually put it into Word and not only just pasted it in, but formatted the whole thing for me as well. Then he basically went through the whole thing and practically retyped everything so it made sense in French, but not only that, changed the wording so it sounded more professional. You know, like using 'small' instead of 'little' and things like that. And he's a lawyer and a perfectionist and has an excellent vocabulary. I couldn't have asked a more perfect person to help me correct it.

As if that wasn't enough, he also sent me 2 links to 2 people's resumes online that would help me, as well as his own. Last night he said he couldn't show me his (for what reason, I don't know) so I accepted that but then he obviously changed his mind. It's weird how weird people get with their CVs. I've asked friends to send me their CVs and some will readily send it to me and other people will get funny about it, because it's like soooooooo private? I don't quite get it. All it does is make me think I'm not really their friend but I don't hassle people or anything. I'm just curious more than anything.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, he then spent 2 hours with me tonight going through it again to make sure there are no mistakes (after I made a whole lot of changes and re-sent it to him). And THEN (this is all without me asking for it by the way) he gave me tips on what to say in the interview when they ask me about jobs a, b and c...etc... all the while being extremely positive and encouraging. In fact he told me to aim higher - that I could do anything if I wanted to - which was so nice to hear from a total stranger no less.

Every now and then we both got sidetracked onto other topics we wanted to talk about but we had to get to the mundane task of finishing the freakin' CV. And I didn't even get around to showing him my lettre de motivation which has been so difficult to write in French...  I'm so tempted to just send them the letter in English. This is taking WAY too long.

So I was thinking back to late 2008 when my life started to take a fork in the road. I was sick of getting rejections when it came to applying for jobs so I sought the advice of everyone I knew. I'm talking almost everyone. And I went online and read stuff, and asked random people online, and signed up to various newsletters, blogs and websites about job searching. I bought and read that What Color is your Parachute? book, which wasn't the first time I'd done that. I asked friends who worked for big firms if they could find me job ads in my fields. Etc etc. And shock horror, it actually worked! I was getting lots of interviews. Sometimes 2 in the same week. I became less and less nervous with each one. I was getting somewhere!

But now the thought of doing an interview gives me anxiety and fills my stomach with butterflies all over again (because it's been a while since I've done one and because if I have to do it in French...). It's kind of funny that I give job hunting related advice when I need it myself now!

There's something I've realised and it's not just related to job hunting. It's that... it's so easy to give advice to others, yet it's really hard to take the same advice for yourself. It's easy to tell someone what to do during an interview - smile, be confident yadda yadda yet it's hard for me to actually do that. It's easy for me to give my friends relationship advice when they ask for it, yet I know, deep down, if I were in their shoes it would be really hard to follow my own advice as well. Why is that?

The other thing I wanted to say was... I discovered that if you want career advice ask a man, don't ask a woman. Of course if they are super successful sure... I know this sounds sexists against my own 'kind' but I discovered that the advice I got from men was vastly different to that of women when it comes to careers. It's all to do with our makeup and personality. It's because men know how to talk themselves up and women tend not to do that. Men are overly confident and that's why they tend to get the better jobs (I realise there's a host of other reasons too but that's getting off the point).

Back to my friend.. I realise that 1) I'm far too trusting of people and 2) dating is actually not that different to finding/meeting friends. The only difference is you can only date one person (for the long term) at a time and you become intimate with them. With friends you can have as many as you want, and you never get intimate with them.

So getting back to this lawyer dude and thinking back to all the chats I've had with people on Skype (that I find/meet through language learning websites NOT dating ones*) and thinking about my recent and past dating experiences... there are some conclusions to be made. And I know this is basic stuff for most people but it's something I need to learn to apply (if I don't already).

1. Actions speak louder than words. 
Call it a 'bullshit' detector or what you will.. but I never really believe the credibility of someone through their words alone. They can say anything to you and it won't mean anything unless they back it up with actions. Take for example this other person I was speaking to on Skype. We got along just as well as the lawyer dude and I. Yet when I asked him for help with my CV he said he couldn't do it until the weekend. I do realise that people work, and are busy, and are tired after work etc...  but the response contrasted with the lawyer dude and my other friend was totally different. Plus after, he basically stopped talking to me. No "I've gotta go" or anything like that. The conversation just stopped dead in the tracks after that. OK...
So in a dating sense, this is totally true as well. And it's related to timing too. If someone says they are going to do something by a certain time and don't... well they're not that reliable. 'Don't say it if you don't mean it' is what I think.
The scariest thing is... With my ex (of 5.5 years that I broke up with in 2008) he was totally unreliable when it came to the time. Always late and making excuses etc. The guy I dated after him was better but still not perfect. Then, once I actually made a decision that I wouldn't put up with that sort of behaviour anymore, the next guy I dated (just before I left Sydney for France) was absolutely perfect in this regard. He was ALWAYS punctual, so punctual he made me look bad. And then the same thing happened with my ex (here). Always punctual. Never late. If he was late (even by a few minutes) he'd text to let me know. I couldn't believe that this....powerful thinking... I dunno the technical term for it.... whatever I was doing actually worked.

I kind of really got the shits with certain people here who told me time and time again they would invite me over or do (activity) with me and yet never came through with the goods. Why bother bringing it up if you don't want to do it? Are they waiting for me to call them begging them to invite me over or what? Geez I'm not that desperate! I don't get this French small town mentality and it shits me. OK I lie. At the beginning I didn't understand French protocol (still don't and probably never will) so I did make the first step. I basically had to invite myself. But then I wouldn't get a reply or something would come up (excuses).. or... I'm soooooo over it now. I mean if someone's not going to invite you over after knowing you for 5 months then they never will, right?

2. Consistently displaying nice behaviour.
I had a problem where I thought if someone did 1 or 2 nice things for me, it meant that they were my friend. That's 'proof', right? Nooooooooooo... because then they'd drop off the earth or only TALK about doing stuff but not taking any action. It's the same with dating. If someone is truly into you they will display consistently nice behaviour towards you. No treating you great one day and then ignoring you for weeks on end after or being cold towards you.

3. Offering help without you asking for it. 
With most people I feel like I have to ask for help all the time but a truly nice person and/or good friend will realise you need help and offer it without you even having to ask for it.

4. Giving time. 
A good friend and a good date/partner is someone who gives you their time. It's the most precious commodity. I give time to those I appreciate and who I consider friends and expect the same back. If they don't give me any time it's obvious to me I'm not really a friend of theirs at all.

5. Giving you something/time/help/etc without expecting anything back at all. 
If you can find someone like this they are a rare gem indeed. Sometimes I feel that people want to befriend you only because they want something from you. Then once they get it, they're gone. If someone is truly your friend you want to help them anyway but with others you soon realise if they are just using you. It's so true that when you give, you get back (but only if you don't actually expect to get something back).

I had all these thoughts going through my head when this lawyer guy was helping me with my CV. I mean, seriously, we don't know each other at all. Apart from these last few days (where we didn't talk about much other than my CV) we had only talked ONCE. I realise it took up heaps of time to do what he did. I honestly can't imagine anyone that I know here doing that for me (and to be honest, even if they did, they wouldn't have done as good a job of it because they don't have the education and the vocabulary). All I could think of was - what's going on? Yes I realise there are plenty of nice/good people in the world and my true friends are these kinds of people but I told myself not to get ahead of myself. I am way too trusting. Just because something does something nice for me once... Only time will tell I guess. I admit I feel paranoid because I've been hurt by so-called 'friends'. But for this moment now, he's restored my faith in humanity.

* You would not believe it, but I do on the rare occasion meet people who think that any kind of website where people have a photo and a vague profile is a dating website. Gosh that aggravates me! Is it too much to ask just to talk to someone and to be platonic friends? Seriously. Using a language learning website as a dating service is just plain creepy and stalkerish in my opinion.

Veuillez agréer l'expression de mes sentiments distingués

Image from nataliedee.com

= Please accept the expression of my distinguished sentiments. 
ie Yours Faithfully or Yours Sincerely to end a letter.

I just got my first job rejection letter. Of course I'm disappointed but I'm not overly upset. Afterall, it was only the first application I sent out. French letter writing is certainly an art. They use such complicated, long, old-fashioned and flowery language! ARGH

The worst thing is: I barely have anyone to ask to help me with my French since everyone's gone away for the holidays :(  I've tried asking friends through Skype but it just takes so long and I don't want to bother them that much. Hmm 

What I'm grateful for:

I was feeling kinda down yesterday and today (mostly due to the grey weather) but by this afternoon the clouds lifted and I saw the bright blue sky again and golden sunset. The sun is setting later and later now, about 6:30pm or so (as opposed to the 4:30-5pm during the dark depths of winter) and soon it will be daylight savings time (27 March, 2011 apparently). On Monday night it also snowed a great deal on the mountains and I can never get enough of seeing that beautiful white powder, especially as it cascades over the trees down the side of the mountain.

What else? I went to the laundromat today and I never realised that I would enjoy going there! At first I hated going there. I've never needed to go to one before in my entire life. You've seen them in movies right? They are such quaint and quirky places. Mine is actually really nice and clean and quiet. I'm usually the only person there when I go.

It's so nice to get out of the house to a different environment and just chill. Like being in a café, I can watch the people pass by and some even come in. They are always polite and I'm always greeted with a Bonjour even though those people don't even know me! I remember the first time I was there a young girl showed me how to use the machines because I had no clue. First of all I ran around the tiny shopping centre trying to find someone who could give me enough change for the machines (it's not something French shopkeepers do readily*). Then I came back and she showed me how to buy laundry powder from one machine and where to put it in the washing machine, etc etc. It sounds easy but given the instructions are all in French and I had never been to a laundromat before it was a little daunting at first. I even later had a mishap with the dryer when I had it on the super hot setting and it shrunk/ruined some things. Oops! Now I'm so paranoid I only wash clothes at 30°C and have the dryer at a lukewarm temperature.

It's actually quite relaxing being there watching and listening to the whirring and humming of the washing machines going round and round. I bring my laptop with web browser with dozens of tabs loaded up with various webpages so I have something to read and do, and listen to my mp3s. I realise I could do all that in my own place but it's just different. I feel more chilled and can concentrate more when I have no distractions tempting me at home.

It's a similar feeling I feel when I'm on a train. I feel so relaxed and calm I can fall asleep in just a few minutes if I'm tired enough. It's times like these I actually enjoy being alone so I can be lost in my thoughts. 

Even though it was absolutely freezing today I know that Spring (as in the proper Spring and not just the date 1 March) is just around the corner! 


* Yesterday when I was in Geneva I bought a 3.90 franc focaccia (yeah it was a total bargain if you know anything about the price of food there) and paid with a 100 franc note and I apologised that that was all I had (that was what the ATM gave me). He smiled and said, "Don't worry" and I thought to myself, "That would've NEVER happened in France. They would've gotten the shits if I had even paid with a 20 franc/euro note!" ha.

PS  Tonight one of my lovely friends from LiveMocha that I met ages ago (and since met in real life) spent about 1.5 hours helping me translate my CV into French. It's actually quite difficult (even for a French native speaker) because the words are all so technical. You'd need someone totally fluent in both languages to do a good job of it, I think. Still, I'm very grateful that he was kind enough to do that for me. And I have had others offer to help me translate my CV or cover letter too.

Random stuff about today

Random boring stuff about my day...

Had a few interesting adventures at the school this morning. Had to ask them to turn the school bell (which goes off more than 10 times a day) off because someone forgot to. Today's the last day where there are still staff around. Saw some students and teachers but have no idea what they were doing here because the school is closed.

Doing nothing much all day (yesterday) except sitting in front of the computer seems to make me not very sleepy so I stayed up till 2am... I went onto Skype to chat to this lawyer guy from Paris that I had spoken to once before... I told him I was looking for a job and he was so nice and encouraging (for a change). I'd read so much negative stuff online it was such a surprise to hear so much positivity and he actually gave me concrete examples of people at his work who were not European and who now work there full-time etc etc. What's interesting about him is... When I chat (type) to him online I notice that he uses HEAPS of words I do not know. I think I'm actually going to go through our chat and jot down all the new words (both proper words and slang) so I can learn them because when I chat to him I need to have wordreference.com opened at the same time to constantly look stuff up!

I thought about something else that I miss about my ex.. I realised that my French was improving heaps when I was with him, talking to each other, and reading his text messages. It's the constant input. It's why toddlers/children learn so quickly. Because they spend so much 1:1 time with their mother (or father or carer) who talks to them CONSTANTLY. It's something I miss heaps because we NEVER spoke English to each other. In fact, I found it cute, when he'd blurt out an English phrase once in a blue moon. As well as that, we listened to songs all the time when we were in the car (almost feels like most of our time together was spent in the car driving somewhere!) and he'd ask me if I understood the lyrics. If I said I didn't, he'd repeat it to me so that I'd get it. I could go on and on but it'll make me too sad. I really miss having someone to talk to constantly but it was just a bonus that I got to improve my French at the same time!

Anyway so around 1:30am I suddenly had this idea to look up people in my town on CouchSurfing. I have no idea why I did not think of this earlier?? I don't think I have looked it up since June 2010 when I first found out I was coming here. Why didn't I think of it before?!

So fed up with not having anyone to hang out with (all my friends seem to have disappeared on me now that it's school holidays)
• I clicked first on my own profile
• Then I clicked Show nearby Couches (100 K)

and that brings up everyone in your town, followed by everyone in the next closest town and so on and so forth. I can't remember how many people I messaged (maybe 5) but today I got 3 replies! So hopefully in the near future I'll get to meet up with them. Yay!

Today I decided to go to Geneva because I meant to go yesterday but couldn't get my CV finished in time. Being the first day of spring it was a lovely sunny day... nooooooo I'd love to say that but it was actually freezing! It was about 6° with strong winds and felt so cold. It didn't do much for my mood but the good thing is that I did manage to find the exact type of suit I wanted (for my upcoming job interviews of course :P ): black, with skirt AND pants and not hideously expensive and a decent fabric and in my size, etc. The blazer should ideally have a 'flap' at the back to aid movement.

I don't know how many shops I looked at but it was so hard to find a suit period. Now that spring's coming up all I saw were trendy colourful clothes in pastel colours and with flowers all over them! In Sydney I know exactly which shops to go to but here I have no idea... Eventually I went to one of my old favourites, Zara, and found one there. I was so lucky because it was the last one in my size. At first I found a nice 3-piece suit in H&M for a cheaper price but it was grey and I wanted black. I really wish female clothing stores would sell 'staples' sometimes instead of just weird trendy stuff like skirts and dresses with that horrible exposed metal industrial zipper (hate that!)

I tried to find shoes too (even though I already have the perfect pair at home back in Sydney) and it was an impossible task because my feet always fall out of shoes with no straps/buckles and I couldn't find any nice ones with straps/buckles that didn't look like something a kid or a granny would wear.

After walking around for 4 hours I am so tired. Found 2 employment agencies but I will have to go back later as I wasn't dressed for the part and I was not in a good mood to be 'selling' myself. Plus my hair was a great big mess from that wind.

I stumbled across, by accident, a big bookshop that has 2/3 of its books in English! Payot Librarie (a librarie is a bookshop in French, and a library in English is a bibliothèque). Gosh what a luxury to see English books in a bookstore. At first I didn't even go in because I thought Payot was a skincare brand (a quick Google image search shows me the logos are somewhat different) and the bookstore was for skincare related stuff.. but I went in and realised it was HUGE. 2 storeys and lots of nice books. With big Australian-style pricetags to match ;)  But hey, beggars can't be choosers.

Every time I get on a train (which feels like hundreds of times now) I notice things about the train, about the landscape outside the window, but also about the passengers and their rituals and so many thoughts go through my head so next time I'm gonna do a post on my SNCF adventures! (SNCF stands for: La Société nationale des chemins de fer français (the national French railway company)).


PS I uploaded some Grenoble pics onto my Facebook too if you want to take a peek.

CV in French

What a fun start to my school holidays!

I've been spending ALL DAY working on my CV. Yeah, I know, it sounds like an extraordinary long time but I want to make it perfect. And then I have to make like 3-4 different versions depending on the job I'm going for. And then, I have to translate it all into French so it takes forever. It's not just the words that need translating but also the layout and format. I use Google Translate because I'm kind of lazy but then I realise of course it's not perfect so I still have to do the hard work myself.

And THEN, because French has longer words, my 2 page CV suddenly becomes 3 pages so then I have to figure out how to cut it down :( So after an entire day I'm still not finished!

But, I just found this which might help someone: Faire ton CV en 4 langues : Francais / Anglais / Espagnol / Italien  (Do your CV in 4 languages: French / English / Spanish / Italian). What's really interesting and funny is the name of each CV.

And here's a little culture lesson for you. I realise this because of something my students told me about the "Roast Beefs" (the English).

Français (French): grenouille (frogs)
Anglais (English): ros beef (roast beef)
Espagnol (Spanish): torero (bullfighter)
Italien (Italian): pasta (pasta)


I feel like my head is going to explode with all this writing and re-writing, formatting and re-formatting, translating and hoping it's correct. And then there's writing the job application letter which is even harder since each needs to be tailored for each job (and most likely done in French). UGH. But if I can get through this by the end of tomorrow I'm going to reward myself on Wednesday!

I was going to write this blog post in French as well (since I haven't done that in a while) but I think I have already exhausted all my brain cells for one day.

iTunes U University lectures

The other day I was reading something somewhere.. a blog, a forum.. I can't remember and don't really keep track of WHERE I read things.. and someone mentioned iTunes U as a way of finding stuff to listen to to learn foreign languages.

• Load up iTunes which should be already installed on your computer
• Click on the left: iTunes store
• then once that loads, iTunes U in the bar on the top
• then click on Universities and Colleges.

Then you can search for all sorts of free things. At first I wanted to find stuff for learning French but I kind of got 'lost' and then realised I could find stuff about my favourite hot topics: relationships and jobs/careers! Actually, it wasn't even intentional.. I just accidentally stumbled on some lectures about these topics.

I found this 53 minute introductory lecture from UCLA about relationships which, to me, was really fascinating. The professor, Benjamin Karney, goes on to say that the happiest moments as well as the saddest moments in your life are likely to be ones shared with your intimate partner. I really agree with this. The death of a loved one is sad but to me, it does not even compare to the hurt and pain you go through after a relationship break-up. I think it's because you know people die and that's just life (er, death ;) ). Especially if someone is terminally ill or really old, you are already mentally prepared for their death. But with a relationship, you never start one thinking or expecting it's going to end and even if you realise it won't last long it still hurts a lot (at least it does with me. I don't know about other people. I know some cold people feel nothing afterwards and can just bounce back quickly...).

This is just the intro and there are further lectures. If you are interested in the psychology of relationships, I highly recommend watching these as the presenter is excellent.






And then onto my other favourite topic, I found a series of lectures about job searching from Seattle Pacific University such as this one. The presenters are not that professional but the content is pretty good. There's even a lecture about how to use LinkedIn for your job search (although for me, because I'm pretty good with technology, I found it really slow). There are also lectures on resume/cover letters and interview techniques, etc.





I highly recommend iTunes U. You can learn a whole heap of stuff there! (and it's free to download and watch). Or if you just love learning in general sometimes it's fun to listen to university lectures (especially when you can do so in your pyjamas and know that you won't have an exam or essay afterwards!)

To do a search for lectures on iTunes U use this link here: itms://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/advancedSearch. You will need to have iTunes installed on your computer and the link will take you to a special search window inside the iTunes interface. Select iTunes U in the drop-down menu then type in your search terms.

There are a quite a lot of French learning lectures through the Open University. You can use search terms in French (ie 'français) to find native speaker level stuff, or lectures on various topics in French (but there aren't that many yet). Centre Régional de Documentation Pédagogique CRDP de l'académie de Versailles is the only one I've found. The good thing about their lectures is that they are sorted into A2, B1, B2 and C1 levels for you :) Great!

More tips for how to use iTunes U here.

If you want some more French listening practise, search 'bac oral' on YouTube (that is, the 'oral essay' exam the final year students have to do for their Baccalauréat exam).  If you can figure out what they are talking about it's actually more like 'bloopers' and it's hilarious. I wonder how the teachers keep a straight face! The 'racine carrée' one cracked me up.

Example:



Have fun!!

The Journey Part VII

The Journey Part I

The Journey Part II

The Journey Part III

The Journey Part IV

The Journey Part V

The Journey Part VI


Ok, here's the last and final part of my story of how I arrived in France. NB: It was not my intention to drag it out for so long but I just happened to put off writing about it so it was just easier for me to write it in bits whenever I got the chance and felt like it (and perhaps easier to read too as I'm sure you don't want to read 5034839 words all at once ;) )

I'm kind of dying to finish it too so I can on with my other... er... backlogged diary entry type posts. ;)

I distinctly remember on the train there were people of a certain ethnic background who had 2-3 times as much luggage as everyone else. I already struggled with mine, I had no idea how they managed theirs (oh that's right, they had to use those trolleys you get at the airport!). They seemed really really paranoid about their baggage and people stealing their stuff yet the French people didn't really seem to care. They also kept walking up and down the aisles as if they couldn't sit still and this just annoyed me. After a fairly blissful plane journey where people remain in their seats (except to go to the toilet or occasionally stretch their legs) and where it's reasonably quite all that noise and commotion was driving me up the wall when I just wanted some peace and quiet! I had no idea why but that train was totally packed as well. It wasn't school holidays either. Plus there wasn't enough space for everyone's luggage so it was blocking all the doorways. If it weren't for the gorgeous view out the window I would've gone a bit nuts.

... So, these are some photos I took on the train down from Paris. I was so glad to arrive at my destination several hours later but a bit sad to say goodbye to Paris.

My hosts (a couple around my age) picked me up from the station and drove me to their town and their place about 10 minutes away. I was immediately awe-struck by the mountain vistas. My town and area is surrounded by mountains everywhere you look and for a newbie like me it was simply breathtaking. I kept wanting to take photos (when you're in a moving car it doesn't work out so well, especially since it was almost dark too).

They had recently bought a house together and wanted to knock some walls down and renovate it and do it up (like everyone seems to do these days). I had a nice homemade dinner with them and then zonked off to bed at around 8pm (where it was now about 2am in Malaysia/Singapore and I was exhausted and extremely jetlagged). Actually, my body now had no idea what time it was!

The next day I awoke to sunny skies and a typical French breakfast consisting of baguettes, muesli, yoghurt, milk and coffee/tea.

Despite the fact it was sunny, the air was rather cold for this time of year and they told me that the day before I came it was about 25° but now it was about 15° (and felt like much less).

We walked around their tiny town of only a few hundred people and then we took the car and they drove me up a mountain where there were sweeping views over the whole area. I was amazed and awestruck. I never see such things in Australia. I live in the city and if I go to the countryside there aren't really any mountains. In fact, Australia is the world's flattest continent.

They told me that the tap water is good to drink because the water is sourced from the mountains. I tend to drink tap water generally anyway (hey I'm cheap sometimes) unless I'm in a dodgy country with "non potable" water (like seriously, who ever uses that word, potable? "I'm just going to get some water from the tap, darling... oh wait, sorry, it's non-potable!") I should note that it's a French word that somehow made it's way into the English vocabulary and I only ever see this word when I am travelling - on planes, trains, and in hotels, etc.

The couple laughed when I told them I thought the weather was really cold and they had to lend me a scarf because I didn't bring any. It was the wind that made it feel really cold. (I would be in for a rude shock later when I get to experience -10° or -15°C weather!)

We saw some beautiful horses on a farm (and tried to lure them over with 'food' ie grass but they did not come over).

We walked around some more and I really felt like I had stepped back into another time. Like instead of a normal flight I'd been in a time machine. Well given the state of my jetlaggedness I really felt like I had been in one!

I was told that many houses still use firewood to heat their house (and water), including them. Check out this monster stash in someone's garage!

On this same house I also noticed these beautiful creeping vines (that I later found out were called vigne vierge (in English: the very technical sounding name of Virginia creeper)). Throughout the next 6 weeks or so I'd start to see these fascinating and beautiful things everywhere (with autumn colours) crawling over houses and walls.

Then we went to an old church which has now been turned into a hotel! We couldn't go inside because it was only for guests. There was a gorgeous huge garden surrounding the church/hotel... It actually looks like it could be summer or spring in this bottom photo because the leaves hadn't changed colour here yet.

They showed me these chestnuts (marron) and all along I've become increasingly aware of the fact that most French people seem to have a very good knowledge of geography and nature and stuff. I wonder if it's because they are more in tune with the land because of the changing seasons. In Australia we don't have much difference between all the seasons (at least not visually) and most French people know the difference between all the features of geography and in French there are words we don't have like fleuve (which is a what a river goes into before it goes into the ocean, ie it's a big river like the Seine or the Rhône). All along I'd meet more French people and they seem to have a fascination with showing me different kinds of nuts and plants and stuff that we encounter... So in turn, I became fascinated with this stuff too!

The second nut they found and showed me were walnuts (noix, which is also the same word for just 'nut')

After that we went back and had a nice homemade lunch on their verandah because it was still nice and sunny outside. It was delicious.

The next day, we had to get up early to get to school. I would be starting my new job as an English language teaching assistant in a high school (lycée).

With everything I'd gone through and done I was totally and utterly exhausted and jetlagged and thought I was coming down with a cold so I asked if they could find me a doctor to see. They kindly found me one right near the school where I'd be working and took me there early the next day. It was really cold I remember and suddenly I was aware that I was alone again in a foreign country where they don't speak English!

I actually felt like a little kid about to start kindergarten who didn't want to go and just wanted to stay at home with mummy. I know it was kind of irrational but I admit I was scared. It finally hit me that I was here in France, alone, and I had to do everything by myself from now on.  My friend (the guy) sensed something was wrong when I just stood outside the main door and froze and he came into the building with me, showed me the lift, pressed the lift button, and told me to go to a certain floor. Well I felt a bit better after that...

In the waiting room there were tonnes and tonnes of the latest gossip magazines. Yes you heard right, the latest magazines. Not from 3 or 5 years ago like I've seen in some doctor's waiting rooms in Sydney.

...Then, I had to explain to the GP what my symptoms were all in French! Gah! I felt totally inadequate and tongue-tied with the vocabulary of a 5 year old. I had to become a thesaurus and use other words (words I knew) to describe the ones I didn't know!

Anyway he gave me a prescription (for 3 different things) and sent me on my merry way. From memory it cost about 22 euros for the consultation (which I can claim back most of later).

In actual fact, I later realised, I didn't even have a cold or anything at all. I was simply exhausted (and all my symptoms just stemmed from that) and just needed to sleep for a very long time. However, I couldn't because I had a million and one things to do to get started for my new job.

I found the school alright. It's not hard to miss it's so big. However I had no idea where to go. There were so many buildings and it had been years since I was at high school. I just wandered in and ended up in the infirmerie (the sick bay/sick room) and they told me to go to the end of the corridor, out the door and into the next building.

I remember a lot of walking around aimlessly, getting lost and feeling inadequate about my poor level of French. Eventually I found my tuteur (the person who was supposed to be looking after me and is also an English teacher at this school) and he told me where to go to do such and such but after a while he left and I was left alone again. Every time this happened I felt helpless and needy and wanted to scream, "Nooooo don't leave me alone! Please!" At least I had the keys to my room (and soon to be new 'house')!

After travelling out of a suitcase for so long I was DYING to get settled and have everything arranged and have my clothes hanging in a wardrobe for a change. I had to find my friend (the host) again. It was a complete and utter coincidence that he was also a teacher at this school (I just found him randomly on Couchsurfing remember?). I had to find him because all my stuff was still in his car but I had to wait till lunch time. Right after he finished lunch he took me to his car where I retrieved my stuff and brought it to my new room in the school dorm (chambre à l'internat).  I know, I know, it sounds worse than it actually is. I actually have a teacher's room and not a student's room which means I'm on a different floor to the students, I get my own bathroom and I don't have any rules about guests/visitors or curfews or anything like that! The downside is that there is no common area to mingle, sit, chat, watch tv etc and there is no kitchen! (that's for another blog post another time).

So basically over the entire week I was just doing administrative stuff (the French are s-l-o-w at this I've learnt) and trying to find people and find where to go!

I soon meet and become friends with some of the AED (Assistants d'Education) (who are basically admin staff that the students go to when they need help with something). They are all in their mid-20s to mid-30s and most of them are former students of the school. Some of them are also surveillants (who are basically the counsellors of the dorm students at night). I eat dinner with them every night Mon-Thur.

So, to recap, I applied for the English Assistant position (which I recently found out JK Rowling also did) way back in November last year, then found out in May I was accepted (but didn't receive the paperwork until much later), got my work visa late July and I arrived in late September and here I am (still), 3 months later!

I teach seconde (Year 10), première (Year 11) and terminale (Year 12) and BTS (Brevet de technicien supérieur) (after high school, technical school sort of thing for those that don't go to university or work). Most classes I teach alone but there are a few where I 'assist' the other teachers. It's a pretty easy and fun job and I can't complain too much. My main complaints are admin, paperwork, and my timetabling issues which drive me up the wall. I don't get paid that much but I have more than enough to live on as I live and eat cheaply at the school. I do pay rent but no bills and I have free internet!

I live in the beautiful Alps area where I am surrounded by mountains (and currently also by snow). There are some things I will always love and some things I will always hate about France but more on that later! Surprisingly, I don't actually miss Australia all that much. I miss my family and friends of course. It's always the people I miss and not so much the place. Right now I would love to go and soak up the sun on a beach though!


Nut vocabulary for fun

nut             la noix
peanut        l'arachide (f),   la cacahuète (f)
almond      l'amande (f)
cashew      le cajou
chestnut     le marron  (also used to describe hair/eye colour)
 / la châtaigne  (hair colour)

hazelnut    la noisette (f)   (eye colour)

walnut        la noix (f)
pistachio    la pistache (f)
Brazil nut   la noix du Brésil
macadamia nut la noix de macadamia
pine nut       le pignon
coconut      la noix de coco (f)  (I know it's not really a nut!)


You can also read the end of my story and A Day in the Life of Me.