Oh, France

Une grève 

You're not going to make this easy on me are you France? 
The most important word I've learned this month just happens to be "une grève" or in English "strike". We are three weeks into October and there's already been around four strikes, maybe more.  As most of you have probably heard or read at some point, the French government has decided to increase the retirement age by two years...the French are not happy.  A strike is quite a site to see.  Men and women crowd the town center and march along the streets to protest an injustice: flags are waved, fliers are strewn about and thrown into the air like confetti, and smoke fills the sky as flares and fireworks erupt.  Every impacted group bands together: teachers, train conductors, garbage men, everything stops for a nationwide protest.  It's quite an inspiring and extremely democratic act.

I've heard several times that, as an American, I just will not understand the importance of a strike.  This is true; I don't understand.  When have Americans felt the need to strike or carried out a strike successfully...not often, but the French, it seems accept the terms of a strike.  I, on the other hand find it to be a bit of a hassle.  I mean, I am American and like I'm told, I just don't understand.  I have yet to go to work on a Monday because of one thing or another and this week it was because of a strike.  It's seems strange to me to wait in a train station surrounded by unperturbed Frenchmen.  How are they not frustrated that the trains they rely on everyday are not running?  I applaud their acceptance of these apparently frequent occurrences.  Oh well, I guess the only thing to do is leave the train station and grab a pastry on the way home...

Public Transportation: Another thing to get used to

I started "working" this monday.  If you can call what I did work.  Well, actually Monday was a bit of a let down for me and the school I was meant to visit.  I'm going to blame the bus even if it was probably my fault.  I have no practice relying on a public transportation system.  I can just get in my car at home and drive 10 minutes to wherever I need to be.  It's not quite the same here.  My schools are the farthest from Douai so I have to take a train and then a bus.

On Monday, I didn't have to be at school until 1:30 (go ahead, it's okay to be jealous), but I left about 2 hours early just to ensure that I would make the train and then of course the bus.  I found the train fairly easily and made it to Somain an hour early to wait for the bus.  I could probably walk to Erre, but I have absolutely no sense of direction or the skills necessary to read a map...this is why I always rely on the buddy system.  I waited patiently for the bus, and I waited, and I waited, and eventually 3 hours passed.  I was 3 hours late for my first day!  Seriously, this is my life right now?  It was mortifying.  Not only was I late, but I have already met the teacher I would be working with.  Remember Gilles and his adorable children?  Yep, this was a member of the wonderful and generous family I decided not to live with and now I wasn't showing up for work.  Not the best first impression.

I finally decided to take the train back to Douai and email Gilles about my public transportation mishap, but he beat me to it.  He called and offered to take me to work every morning instead of taking the train and risking missing the bus.  He's been too too nice to the crazy American girl who can't even read a bus schedule (it's really hard to understand, but I've mastered it by now).

I just have to find the humor in the whole situation.  Sure I missed my first day, but I can't do anything but apologize and, after the initial shock, it really was a hilarious day.

A Bientôt

What do you mean Belgium?

Lille, France  

Tournai Cathedral, Tournai Belgium 

A day in Lille
4 Trains
40 minutes as fugitives
mystery meat for dinner

The week that I've been here has been absolutely exhausting. It feels more like six months than one week, but so far an exciting six months.  The weekends in Douai are mediocre at best. It's a fairly small town with very little to do. The streets are usually deserted by 8:00, but this weekend I've encountered more adventures than expected in the small town of Douai.
SATURDAY:
The adventures begin with a day trip to Lille.  We left around 10:30 bound for Lille and were planning to return around 8:00...the trains back to a small town finish their routes around 9:00. Unfortunately, unlike the beautiful, sun-filled day before, Saturday was wet and dreary, but such is life, we enjoyed are day of travel regardless. For a few hours, we wandered about the city, taking pictures, visiting a six story bookstore (yes, six stories and an amazing art section) eating pastries and finally sitting down to a typical French meal of duck, fries, and salad.  C'est incroyable!
We toured a cathedral, did some shopping in the cheap home stores (I bought towels in Lille because Douai is incredibly expensive for a small town) and decided to head home around 6:00 due to complete exhaustion.
Here comes the exciting part.  We found a train leaving for Douai at 6:20...apparently too good to be true.  We could get on a train in ten minutes time and be back in our warm, dry rooms watching movies and skyping friends in less than an hour.  Well, it didn't work out that way.  Train schedules still throw me. Instead, we got on our 6:20 train, relaxing for around 20 minutes until we realized that none of the scenery looked familiar (Well, I didn't notice. (French countryside is French countryside to me). It wasn't until the conductor announced "une problème, une problème" did we discover that we were in fact headed to Belgium (without passports). Ummm...that's sort of another country. We got off of the train in Tounai, BELGIUM to wait forty minutes for a train back to Lille to wait for another train back to Douai. Our hopes to be home by 9:00 were quickly dashed, but all in a days adventure. We spent the next forty minutes searching for something to eat...regrettably we stumbled upon mystery meat sandwiches and fries (there are some foods you just have to experience in life I suppose). Finally, we caught the train back to Lille, then the train back to Douai.
The fun is in the journey and one unexpected trip to Belgium has us planning a day trip this weekend for Brussels.

Belgium was just the beginning of an interesting weekend


A Bientot