Cafe hopping

At long last, thanks to a cafe studded with Jean-Paul Belmundo posters, voila my "first" post in France. Pictures on their way soon; it will be much easier once I get my flashdrives...

Hey all,

It is 10:30pm France time on Tuesday, September 30th.

Tomorrow I observe my first class, the beginning of a week-long period of observation before I am expected to teach 12 classes, each one hour a week.

I just got back from watching Grand Torino with some of the students; there is a movie screening every Wednesday night, and more often than not, it's an American film.

I've plunged myself into life in Angers - I met yesterday with an English professor who gave me a brief tour of my workplace for the next year. Everyone, from professors to staff members, has been very warm in welcoming me to the school. It seems that there is a tradition of assistants at the school, and I feel like anything but an intruder.

Determined to get the ball rolling on life here, I set out directly after my meeting with the professor yesterday and changed my bank account from Bordeaux to Angers. I then walked what seemed to be about two miles down a main street in search of a few necessities and a bike to rent for the year. Based on the size of the town, a bike would be a great resource! Not to mention I brought a bike lock and lights from my home in California with just that in mind. In any case, I was not able to rent the bike: I was missing a document quite commonly asked for here, which is called a Justificatif de domicile. Essentially, they want to confirm that I do in fact have a fixed location and am not simply a bum looking to pawn off public property. On the way back from getting the bike, I walked down smaller, prettier streets, stumbling upon such monuments as the musee des beaux-arts (the fine arts museum), the theatre, and crowds of people, local and strange alike.

The streets of Angers are very beautiful - though not as old-looking as the streets of Bordeaux, there are plenty of small cobbled streets which humble the presence of the larger, newer buildings. A clean, white-washed stone architecture pervades the city center, giving it a fresh look without being hideously post-modern. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of construction going on - Angers is one of the towns rather late in the process of building a tramway, and it's not something that's done overnight. Plus, in the name of efficacy, it is the most significant parts of town that are under construction, which grieves not only bumbling passers-by, but locals as well.

Last night, the fellow who will be living next door to me for the next few days invited me out to watch a soccer game; Lyon vs. some team from Holland. You'll excuse my having forgotten their name, but Lyon absolutely crushed them. It was a fun night out, and though I was falling asleep towards the end thanks to a ruthless hit of jetlag, I had an overall good time.

I moved into my room on the sixth floor of the arts & sciences building, which is also the boys' dormitory on one side. The facade is rather modern, as is the interior. My room itself is rather like the attic, with a slanted ceiling furthest from the door and a small ensconced window. It is rather large, however, considering how low the rent is. I won't give you the exact price, but I will tell you it is a number consisting of two digits, monthly, utilities included. :) There doesn't appear to be anyone else on the floor, and as far as I have heard that will be the case for the year, so I pretty much have a floor to myself, which means that I thus have the communal bathroom to myself. The flat's size, price, and proximity make it an ideal place to make my home for the next year.

Two drawbacks are: the lack of internet, which could be a positive depending on your perspective, and the state of some of its features. I can't yet open the window, which makes things a bit stuffy, and the electric outlets decided to work only long enough to make myself a cup of tea this evening. Nothing that can't be solved, however! I've already requested help with the window, and I will be sure to inquire about the outlets tomorrow. The lack of internet, however, means less access to communication: the many nights I spent on Skype in Bordeaux chatting with my mom or friends may be far fewer than I had anticipated. We shall see.

Going through my drawers yesterday, I had a few pleasant surprises waiting for me. Yes, me. They were: 4 empty folders, handy for fitting A4-format paper; 50 envelopes for letters domestic and international; 1 stack of printer paper, 3 maps of the town, 1 bag of Twinings Earl Grey tea, 1 box of band-aids, 7 tealight candles, 1 bottle of shaving cream, 1 bottle of contact lens solution, 1 iron, 2 rolls of paper towels, 2 rolls of plastic bags for the waste baskets, 1 bag of disposable cups, 2 tubes of toothpaste, 20 coat hangers, 1 set of towels, and 1 large three-ringed binder. You'll notice that I have put the large three-ringed binder at the foot of this tall inventory. There is, I assure you, a good reason for this. But before going into that, I would like to simply give thanks to whoever decided to put those articles there: they make up a large part of what I consider an especially warm welcome from everyone here in Angers.

The binder. Oh, the binder. Some good soul decided to write 53 pages on the life of a Language Assistant in Angers at the Lycee Joachim du Bellay. I nearly shed tears of joy opening the pages of this tome, seeing how beautifully its written and how resourceful it was. Concise, funny, and free of all grammar/spelling errors that I could catch, it is chock full of advice for navigating French bureaucracy, high society dinners, and the school's administration. It also has short reviews of bars, pubs, laundromats, and restaurants with addresses. Informal tips on French society and teaching French high schoolers are the higher points of what seems to be a complete work. It is nothing short of a gift from Heaven itself. Not to mention the classy young man/lady who decided to take on the task of writing this beastly thing decided to start it all off with a quote from Mark Twain, which I've included below.

"We wish to learn all the curious, outlandish ways of all the different countries, so that we can 'show off' and astonish people when we get home. We wish to excite the envy of our untraveled friends with our strange foreign fashions, which we can't shake off. All our passengers are paying strict attention to this thing, with the end in view which I mentioned. The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become, until he goes abroad. I speak now, of course, in the supposition that the gentle reader has not been abroad, and therefore is not alread a consummate ass. If the case be otherwise, I beg his pardon and extend to him the cordial hand of fellowship and call him brother. I shall always delight to meet an ass after my own heart when I shall have finished my travels." - Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

A la prochaine fois,
Benjamin