And The Beat Goes On

...la dee dah dee dee...

Time for updates! Daily life here progresses as daily life does elsewhere... things are feeling more or less "normal" and thus do not seem to require blog posts. But I forget-- just because things are feeling more normal here doesn't mean they're not very different from the same 'daily life' you are experiencing at home. And so, I shall fill you in on some more details of what my daily life here is like. I'll begin by introducing you to my friend:

Meet Bandit ("bon-DEE").
He's my neighbor. He's very friendly, and a big sweetheart, although he barked at me the first night I showed up at the house and it scared me half to death. That was before we were friends. He usually comes out to play fetch in the afternoons. I throw balls, stones, giant green stuffed frogs, and whatever else he finds at his house.

Free time at home:
I've got a lot of time to hang around when I'm not at work. I really like my room and spending time in my house with my roomies is going well too.
---Dani, my Spanish roomie, and I have spent most evenings eating dinner together and watching Grey's Anatomy. That's right! We started from Season One, Episode One and we're making our way through the series, thanks to online television.
---I've had some lovely video chats via skype with some of you :)
---I've been reading some books from the library (in English, so far) and I'm keeping a running vocab list. I finished Breakfast at Tiffany's and Big Fish while we were in Amsterdam, returned Wuthering Heights after completing it a week ago, and I'm currently working my way through Brave New World. It's nice to have free time to read whatever I want!

News at School:
This week, I've really been pushing myself to master my students' names. It's already making a big difference, mostly in the way I feel I can relate to and approach them as their teacher. It's very helpful, obviously, when calling on them answer questions or when it's their turn to participate in an activity in front of the class. And when someone's whispering to their neighbor while I'm trying to give instructions, it's so much nicer to call them out rather than just say "shhhh, I'm waiting" as a general statement.
I see my students outside of class all the time. It feels like every time I walk out my front door and walk through town I see AT LEAST one, sometimes as many as 5--separately!, usually walking around with their parents. Gives you an idea of how small this city feels, and how close I live to my schools! I love it. I love seeing them and saying hi (usually in French) -- they always smile, shyly say "salut" back, and turn to their questioning parents and say, "C'est mon prof d'anglais!"
I'm really enjoying the teaching aspect of my life here, especially at Anatole France (the schools where I eat lunch w/ the teachers). The past two weeks we've been working on emotions (I am...happy/sad/angry/etc), weather (It's sunny/hot/snowy/windy/etc.) and numbers 1-20. I love singing with the kids and make up hand motions to all of the songs we do. We sing at least 2 songs a day (good way to start and end a class period). They always want to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider (from Halloween) --it's just too much fun when the spider gets WASHED out! We also know If You're Happy and You Know It, Mr. Sun, It's Raining It's Pouring, Once I Caught a Fish, and a couple Hello songs.

Whipping my butt into shape:
Big news of the week: I joined the gym. Laura, Tessa, and I went to an aerobics class (Body Sculp) on Monday night together -- one of the teachers from Tessa's school invited us. And now we've all joined! And I've already been to 4 classes! It's really fun! I LIVE for doing things like Step to fun music, where you're moving around and learning new combinations of moves. Plus, there are tons of nice French women who take the classes. One downside, though, is that it's a 1/2hr walk from my house (8min drive) and the classes are mostly in the evenings. But it's been ok arranging rides and walking so far.

Whipping up some yummy treats:
Well, if I'm busting my butt at the gym, I've gotta make up for those lost calories somehow, right? Gotta bring a little balance into my life :) Nikki and I have been baking yummy treats at her apartment! She's got an oven! It's a miraculous device that opens up an entire world of culinary opportunities. We've made madelines twice and we made a coconut cake loaf with melted dark chocolate on top....mmm mmm! It's really nice to go over to her place (40min bus ride) and spend time with her.
I also bought an immersion blender (the hand-held kind, you know), and it's great for making soups! I bought a soup recipe book & I'm excited to whip up some hot dinners that make easy leftovers.

French friends at last? Breaking the bubble:
Through our big group (around 20?) of language assistants in the area (mostly in Toulon), Nikki and I have met a group of really cool French friends! One of the German language assistants lives in student housing (similar to a dorm) near a small university in Toulon, and so she lives with a bunch of French university students. It's been fun hanging out with them a couple times and practicing French, although at times it can be difficult -- I often don't understand what they're saying/asking me. Time + Practice + Patience = Improvement.

The language game:
And so, I think my French is improving...slowly...but improving nonetheless. Having a French roommate (Emmanuelle) is beneficial. I enjoy helping her with her English homework, and Dani helps her with her Spanish homework, which I usually join in on. Dani has been helping me learn more Spanish too (I'm very much a beginner), and I help him with English. His English is very good, so it's fun explaining specific verbs and phrases and poking fun/perfecting his pronunciation (e.g. hug vs. hog, horse vs. whores). All 3 of us practice pronunciation a lot in each other's native languages, and we're all at different levels at all 3 languages! I love it. Je l'adore. Me gusta mucho.

It's Thanksgiving?
Now wait a second, Thanksgiving is this week?? How is that possible? In Seattle, we earn the right to a delicious home-cooked meal only after embracing (or surrendering to) the departure of summer and arrival of all that is autumn: wind and rain, pumpkin spice lattes, early sundowns, and sidewalks covered in delightfully crunchy (or dangerously slippery) leaves. And here in Hyeres, we have none of the above-mentioned aspects of fall, except for earlier sundowns. And thus, we in Hyeres do not earn the proper right to a Thanksgiving feast. And so, I have concluded, this is why no one here will be chomping down on Tom the Turkey, nor will they be over-stuffing themselves on stuffing. People here don't know how to enjoy a good pumpkin pie...they probably don't even know what it is. What fools!
Good thing Nikki and I have, thus far, kept our love for American eating traditions fully intact. With her oven and expertise, and my witty banter and controlling nature, we are sure to create a memorable, if not delicious, slightly-modified Thanksgiving feast next weekend.

A Tour of My Room:
As was requested, I wanted to put up more photos of my home here so you can picture where I'm at!

Here you see: My lovely little bed. My world map. My funky lamp and handy bed-side table, with my apple-scented air freshener. Part of my IKEA flower photo wall collage. And my awesome hospital room checkered floor.
I spy with my little eye: My desk chair. My United States map. My desk. My collage of cards and tickets and photos above my desk. My computer and purple pencil box. My other chair. The tree I painted the first day of art class. My bureau. Or is it a wardrobe? Well, it's the big thing where I put my clothes. And my awesome hospital room checkered floor.

And here you can see: The view of my room from the top corner above my bed. My desk. My chair. My United States map. My heater, which I haven't figured out how to use yet. My windows, which pretty much take up the whole wall. The view from my window of other terracotta-esque rooftops. And my awesome hospital room checkered floor. And, just in case you were wondering, my orchid that I got at IKEA is doing well. When I bought it, it only had 2 open flowers. And now, there are 10!

I AMsterdam

I AMsterdam

Alright, alright, here we go. The epic story of Amsterdam. I'll try to keep it brief (but I use the words "try" and "brief" loosely, and considering my past blogs, don't be surprised if I ramble on and on...)

Before I get into events, let's establish the KEY CHARACTERS in the epic story:
Tina = heroine
(what? are you surprised that I would be the heroine of my own story?)
Nikki = trusty female sidekick
(language assistant, former roommate from SPU, Dr.-needer, coffee-lover, and all-around travel-and-map-savvy-wizardress)
Adam = sort-of-trusty male sidekick
(Toulon language assistant from the UK, Portland-(and-Seattle)-lover, Dr. Pepper addict, and loser-of-things including tickets and maps, hence the "sort-of-trusty" labeling)
The Dream Team:

And, let's not forget the CAMEO CHARACTERS, that is, to say, those who have just-as-important, yet perhaps not as prominent, roles in the epic story (in order of appearance):
Laura = life-saver, former teaching assistant, Paris au-pair extraordinaire, mood-booster, and live-in Paris guide
Vampire Family = seen lurking near Musee D'Orsay on a cloudy day, everybody knows they can't romp about in the sunlight!
Holland McDonalds workers = speakers-of-Dutch-and-English, lucky for us (who don't speak a word of Dutch)
Prostitutes = doll-like-real-humans who stand in windows
Bicycles, and Dutch Bicycle Riders = everywhere, everywhere, NOTE: "ring!ring!" is their secret code for: "get-out-of-my-way!-silly-tourist-what-are-you-doing-standing-in-the-bike-lane?!"
Mary Jane = she's also everywhere in Holland, only makes a brief camio appearance in our trip, but her scent is ALWAYS lurking in the streets
Laura = back again! cameo role #2, and still in Paris, and an even bigger mood-booster this time
My ginger roommates = aka Dani and Austin with dyed hair, Halloween pranksters of the century

And now, the various SETTINGS where the EPIC events took place (in chronological order):

The Train, getting us from Point A (Toulon) to Point C (Paris), with Point B (Marseille) in between, but nobody cares
Paris, the city of love, the city of lights, and the city from which our bus to Amsterdam departed
The Louvre, it's this museum with some paintings and sculptures, ya know.
Musee D'Orsay, another museum. Art? Who cares, right? That stuff is old. What matters is the vampires who lurk outside!!
Starbucks, a taste of home! except milk in France is gross, but that's beside the point!
The Eight Hour Bus, a whole day on a bus, aka a cheaper way to get to Holland. Featuring pit stops every couple hours, and scenic views of Belgium and Dutch windmills from the highway. That's right, folks! Real Dutch windmills!
Holland McDonalds, where people speak English!
Amsterdam, featuring Fall Leaves, Beautiful Buildings, and Bicycles Galore!
The Dr's Office, that which brought Nikki joy in the form of an antibiotic prescription. Also, where Adam left our map. After having lost his train ticket. Not-so-trusty-sidekick, eh?
Bob's Youth Hostel, soon followed by Cheap Hotel, this is traveling on a budget, people. Crappy places to stay, but PLACES none the less!
Amsterdam Coffeshops, featuring exotic delights including flavored lattes! fresh squeezed juices! bagels! and muffins! (all of which do not exist in Hyeres)
The Van Gogh Museum, that's right, YOU yourself can go too! for the cost of one arm and one leg, please.
The Canal Boat, a picturesque ride/prime photo-opportunity along the many connected canals throughout the city. And, importantly, from which I saw a plastic swan head floating in the water. Don't worry, I took a photo!
Bike Rental Place, and more adventure on The Streets Of Amsterdam, one of the best (and cheapest) activities-- a must when visiting Holland - do as the Dutch do! Ride bikes! But try not to run into any parked bikes on the side of the path, because this results in a giant and painful bruise on your thigh (as Adam discovered the hard way)
The Dutch Movie Theater, where 500 Days of Summer is still playing, in English (with Dutch subtitles, in case you need them). A great, non-rainy place to relax and kill 2hrs before...
The Night Bus, featuring stiff necks, lack of sleep, a 6am arrival in freezing Paris, and the great hope that our hotel will let us check in ridiculously early
Another Cheap Hotel, praise the Lord! that Hotel Notre Dame (2 stars and the price of a hostel, when divided by 3 sleepy travelers) lets guests check in at 6:30am for that night at no additional cost!
Laura's Apartment, delightful blue-and-white au-pair quarters, feels like a real home. Featuring delicious coffee and treats for breakfast
The Train, Part II, time to read and rest, and get back to Toulon a day earlier than originally planned, since The Dream Team was broke and tired (a bit of an understatement, more like "in debt and exhausted/grumpy")
Nikki's Apartment in Toulon, a familiar, relaxing setting, involving Nutella, spoons, a big bed, and a laptop with DVD-playing-capabilities. Happy Halloween!
My Upside-Down Room, back at "home" at last! Only to discover my prankster roommates crawled through a tiny window above my dresser in order to get into my locked room, where they then proceeded to turn everything (posters, bed, bed-side-table, and everything else), literally, upside-down.

And NOW...the EPIC STORY, In Three Parts
(Key Characters, Camio Characters, and Settings in italics, for your ease and referencing purposes)

Part One of the Epic Story: Paris and the journey into Holland

Once upon a time, three friends named Tina, Nikki, and Adam rode the train to Paris, where they met up with their friend Laura. While in Paris, they made a quick trip to the Louvre on the "Free Friday Night" to see The Mona Lisa, among other Italian paintings and sculptures. Here is just one example for your pleasure:

The next day was cold and rainy and Nikki felt quite miserable. The friends went to the Musee D'Orsay to get out of the rain and see the beautiful works of art. Here they are in the Museum:

Outside, while waiting in line to get in, the friends noticed a Vampire Family, who had funny never-seen-the-sun-before skin which looked quite creepy in the bleak weather. So Tina secretly tried to take some photos of "Adam", which were really not of Adam, but were trying to capture the Vampire Family on digital film. Adam blinked in the photo.

But let's zoom in on the real subject for a closer look:

Vampire man!

Also while in Paris, the friends walked near the Seine, visited the Pantheon (seen here),

and went to the market on Rue Moufftard. They enjoyed a trip to Starbucks, which is a little cliché, they realized, but was necessary, and a better deal when considering the euro-to-liquid-ounces-ratio.

The three friends left their hostel early (actually, a whole hour early due to daylight savings, which transpires one week in advance in Europe, compared to Seattle), and, after hanging out in McDonalds (the only thing open at 7:30am), they caught The Eight Hour Bus to Amsterdam. Along the way, the bus stopped every few hours at various gas stations and shopping centers for the comfort of the passengers aboard. After entering the country of Holland, the bus stopped near a Holland McDonalds, where Tina and Nikki got some coffee. That's where Tina, Nikki, and Adam first, and somewhat awkwardly, discovered from the Holland McDonalds workers that Dutch people know how to speak English very well. Throughout the remainder of the trip, The Dream Team discussed just how easy it would be to live in Amsterdam for the rest of their lives without knowing a single word of Dutch. It would be very easy, indeed. The friends also decided the Dutch people who work in the Dutch education system probably hire trained, professional English teachers instead of random "assistants" who happen to speak English as their first language. It's no wonder, then, by Tina, Nikki and Adam's theory, that the Dutch speak English well and the French (comparatively, and generally) do not.

Part Two of the Epic Story: I AMsterdam

The friends arrived in Amsterdam! And what a beautiful city to have several days to explore! Amsterdam is a city with a giant web (very much like a spiderweb, actually, when you look at a map) of canals weaving throughout. See what I mean?

There, the friends did a lot of walking, and enjoyed the following lovely things:
---the architecture (tall, dark buildings squished together),

---the bicycles that are chained up (and being ridden) everywhere,

and
---autumn leaves on the trees (unlike in Hyeres, where palm trees and all the other trees, for that matter, are still green).

They checked into Bob's Youth Hostel, where the lobby walls are covered with drawings created by former travelers (depicting highly creative marijuana leaves, pipes, and slogans such as "Get High at Bob's"). Bob's Youth Hostel, as it turns out, is on the same street as part of the "Red Light District", where prostitution has been legalized. As the friends walked to and from Bob's, day or night, they could see the Prostitutes who stand in the windows of the buildings, literally, with the red lights.

This was an interesting aspect of the city, and Tina would love to discuss this more due to her background in Sociology (theory of functionalism, that 20-page paper she wrote for capstone on the sex trade, courses including Soc of Deviance, Soc of Gender, Soc of Family, Urban Sociology...), but that will be left for a different story time.

Nikki was feeling lousy due to a nasty cold virus, so the friends journeyed to The Dr.'s Office for ex-pats and tourists, and things were looking up once Nikki got her hands on her (prescription) drugs. Once Nikki was feeling better, Tina, Nikki, and Adam did lots of fun things together while in Amsterdam.

They enjoyed the Amsterdam Coffeeshops, like Bagels&Beans.

They journeyed to The Van Gogh Museum and learned all about how his artwork and style developed throughout his life. Mr. Van Gogh was gracious enough to pose for the following photograph:

After the Van Gogh Museum, they dined on the gastronomical wonder (aka cheap travel food) known as peanut butter and bread sandwiches, open-faced style.

They took The Canal Boat, and journeyed on the waters that weave around the city.

They rented Bicycles, one of the best activities ever when traveling, especially when in the most bicycle-friendly city ever, and experienced The Streets of Amsterdam from a whole new perspective flying by on wheels!
Wheeeeeee!
They even saw a movie at The Dutch Movie Theater. Tina, Nikki, and Adam had a nice time in Amsterdam.

It was interesting to be in a city where prostitution and marijuana are legal, and although these two aspects bring many tourists to Amsterdam each year, the friends discovered there is much else to the city besides these things. They also discovered that Mary Jane is not, in fact, a friend and she will most likely not be invited to any activities that Nikki, Tina, and Adam are participating in. Especially Tina, the paranoid psychopath. Ever again.

Part Three of the Epic Story: Getting Home

Tina, Nikki, and Adam's vacation had to come to a close eventually, according to their tired bodies and dwindling bank accounts. So they hopped on The Night Bus for an uncomfortable 8-hour ride back down to Paris. They arrived at 6am. It was cold and dark. Lucky for the weary travelers, their cheap hotel let them come in and sleep the morning away. Also lucky for them, they later met up with Laura for mood-boosting encouragement, nutella crepes (seen here)

and all-around good-times in general.
Adam was forced (more or less) to leave early in the morning to catch The Train, so Nikki and Tina hiked up the 7 flights of stairs and enjoyed some more all-around good-times at Laura's Apartment (the view from which does indeed include the Eiffel Tower).

After a jaunt through the autumnal Luxumbourg Gardens and more crepe-fun with Laura,

Tina and Nikki caught The Train, Part II back to Nikki's Apartment in Toulon, where Tina and Nikki relaxed Halloween evening away. The next morning, Tina returned to Hyeres, only to find that her ginger roommates (crazy boys who dyed their hair blond for Halloween, which really came out orange-ish colored) had snuck into her locked bedroom through the window and pranked her by turning everything in her bedroom upside-down. The End.
Thanks for reading! ina.

Let's talk about SKYPE, baby!!!!

Let's talk about SKYPE, baby! Let's talk about you and me!
Hi everybody! I'm back "home" to Hyeres from our epic adventure to Paris/Amsterdam! I will blog about that later (still trying to get motivated to tell the epic story). In the meantime, I AM pumped to tell you all about SKYPE.

Let's engage the culture of our highly-technological world and have a little chat, friends. (You be bold; I'll be skinny. heh.) It goes something like this:
"Tina, I have never heard of this thing you call SKYPE. What is this 'SKYPE' you speak of?"
Fear not, technologically challenged friend, I will inform you!
"But, Tina, you are no technological expert. I don't trust you!"
Hey now, I know I'm no expert when it comes to computers, which is why I make sure to have so many close friends studying computer programming. But SKYPE is SO easy, even I could figure it out! You can trust me. SKYPE is a FREE computer program you can easily download. It will not give your computer a virus, I promise. You can trust me, remember? Yes, yes, and you can trust SKYPE!
"But WHY?! Why do I give a hoot about this program SKYPE?"
I'm so glad you asked. The reason everyone should download SKYPE is so that everyone can chat with ME (and other people, if you're into that sort of thing) online! It is like a FREE phone call (or video chat!) with me, sitting around over here all the way in Europe.
"This is sounding good, since I am missing the melodious sounds of your voice, being here in the United States and all. I would love to hear your voice, especially since SKYPE will not cost you (or me) anything!"
I know, I would've called but it's so expensive. I would've written, but, again, even stamps are expensive! Not that it isn't worth every European Union penny in an effort to communicate with you (obviously it is), but this is just one reason SKYPE is so awesome: it's free for us both. SKYPE is the best idea because it's instant -- we can carry on an intelligent conversation as we usually would in person, and we can see each other!
"You mean to say not only do I get to hear your voice, but I get to SEE you too?!?"
Well, friend, SKYPE has a video feature, so you can see me and I can see you! It's like I'm really there! (Almost.)
"But I don't have a fancy mac computer that comes with the cool video camera right inside of it. waaa waaa waa."
That's too bad for you. But don't cry, I don't have one either. Luckily, I have an amazing friend named Carly who gave me her webcam before I left the US, so now I have a little camera to use! If you don't want to get a separate webcam it's ok, I forgive you, we can still talk-- you will be able to see my face, although I will be deprived of the privilege of seeing your beautiful self.
"This is the best idea in the whole world! I can't wait to see and talk to you, Tina, since, as I already said, I've been missing you so much. How can I get started with SKYPE today?"
I have conveniently attached the links to download SKYPE for your computer. But as we talked about earlier, I'm no expert, so you may just have to google it if the links don't go through.
If you've got a mac computer, congratulations. Click here:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/macosx/
If you don't have a mac, I'm sorry. You can ponder that life decision at a later time. But for now, click here:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/
"Wow, that went smoothly. Thanks! Ok now that it's all downloaded and I figured out a clever and super original username for myself (and a password that I won't forget), my next objective is to find you!"
Good job! I knew you could do it! You can search for friends by their names, emails (recommended), or their username. My username is tinaboothpulliam.
"Well that's easy! It's your full name!"
Yes, I figured that would be easy for you. Plus there's no mistaking, I am the only Tina Booth Pulliam who ever lived. If there are any others, I'd like to meet their parents and ask them why they would give their daughter a middle name like Booth, which is more commonly considered a thing, not a name, and requires an explanation, rather than something normal like Marie.
"Yeah, ok. So anyway, now that I found you and sent you a request to be added to your list, when can we chat?"
Yet another good question, technologically savvy friend of mine! Let's consider the NINE HOUR time difference between SEATTLE and HYERES. I made a chart, which I posted near my computer so I can know what time it is over there (without trying to count backwards, because, let's face it, I'm no mathematician either). Based on my chart, prime chatting times are as follows:

SEATTLE=======HYERES
7 am ========== 4 pm
8 am========== 5 pm
9 am========== 6 pm
10 am ========= 7 pm
11 am ========= 8 pm
12 noon ======== 9 pm
1 pm ========== 10 pm
2 pm ========== 11 pm
3 pm ========== 12 midnight
also
9 pm ========== 6 am
10 pm ========= 7 am
11 pm ========= 8 am
12 midnight ===== 9 am

Simply put, Seattle morning = Hyeres evening, Seattle night = Hyeres morning. If you are free in the mornings, I'm free in the evenings! If you're a night owl, I can be an early bird!
"Thanks for the helpful chart. Maybe I'll make one for myself. Or maybe I'll just count ahead 9 hours, cuz it's really not that hard and I'm smarter with numbers than you are, Tina."
I know, but you don't have to rub it in.
"I'm so excited to chat with you on SKYPE, where I can actually choose what I want to say instead of you putting the words in my mouth."
We'll see about that. Talk to you soon. Hopefully for real.