Alsace at Christmas

I'm a little late writing this post as the last week before leaving has been a little hectic (!) with extra working hours, 'Christmas' meals and very last-minute packing.

We rearranged Friday's lessons to leave Lyon at 5pm. After a few hours' delay, down snowy roads impassable by coach, we arrived in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines at some ungodly hour in the morning. Through the dark, rain and sleep-deprivation we didn't quite get to appreciate our location, but waiting for us in the morning was a kind of Winter Wonderland:

After a deservedly lazy morning we made our way to Strasbourg, but with only 1½ hours to spend there we sped around the city taking in the main sights: a typical Alsatian meal, the Cathedral, 'la Petite France', and the Christmas market:

 

Later in the evening we went to Obernai, a small historical town with a traditional, artisan market. The evening light wasn't great for photos, but the place was fabulously festive, with tiny, winding streets, old-fashioned houses and a really authentic market.

After a long day we were treated to a traditional 'raclette' dinner: four different types of melted raclette cheese (including 'white wine' and 'smoked' varities), dried cured meats, potatoes, bread and lettuce.

In the morning we went to Colmar, a town taken over by six separate Christmas markets spread across the streets. This wasn't all Colmar had to offer, though. It was a lovely small town with a 'petite Venise' rather like the 'petite France' of Strasbourg, but on a canal.

Far too soon we returned to Lyon, to arrive before the last metro. Unfortunately, by this hour, our train back to Bourg en Bresse had long gone so we had to stay in Lyon for the night in an unusually clean hostel. I'd easily recommend Cool&Beds to anyone looking to stay in Lyon - three of us stayed in a private room for four, which worked out cheaper than the dorms at €20 each.

In spite of the delays, all thanks goes to Erasmus-Lyon for a festive weekend, and for taking us to places we'd never have thought to visit ourselves.

Fête des Lumières

The Fête des Lumières in Lyon is a unique festival of light, celebrating an old myth that the Virgin Mary once saved the town from the plague, and giving thanks. Starting as a tradition of leaving candles on the windowsill, the festival has become a massive international event, attracting millions of people from around the world to see the the city lit up for one weekend only. The installations vary from light sculptures to animations projected on the city's most famous and beautiful buildings. Crêpe and mulled-wine stands line the streets and as the attractions span the whole city, the crowds aren't unbearable (although the Saturday night queue for Place des Terreaux isn't exactly for the claustrophobic.) The métro is made free for one night (and one night only), but surprisingly this doesn't even bring it to the crowd levels of an average morning on the Tube. Highlights included, well, 'Highlights' the short film projected on the buildings around the Place des Terreaux, the Cathédrale Saint-Jean illuminated with crawling gargoyles and stained glass patterns, the last few minutes we caught of Tallis' Spem in Alium performed in the Hôtel de Région in the Confluence and fireworks on the banks of the Rhône.

After all this culture, the two of us who were stuck out in Lyon for the night headed out. We found a lovely restaurant in Vieux-Lyon (cannot remember its name for the life of me) which stayed open until half past midnight for the festival day and served us a fantastic, typically French, three course meal complete with a complementary glass of white wine with cranberry (surprisingly good!) - I had onion soup followed by a Bavette steak with dauphinoise potatoes and a raspberry cake to finish, and all for €20, I seem to recall.

Afterwards we set off for the over-crowded, but brilliantly mock-English, Smoking Dog and the ever-reliable James Joyce, both in Vieux-Lyon. Next, with no idea where to pass the time until the first train at 7.15am, we stumbled across Boston Café on Place des Terreaux (considerable quieter at 3am after the illuminations had finished) while searching for a different bar. A great little pub/club/bar hybrid, it caters to all tastes with decent music (in my opinion, having been in France maybe a little too long...) bearable drinks prices (again, considering it's France) a young, cool clientèle (only one person tried to grope me, which might be a record in this country) and a dress code (!) so no more creeps in trackies. Maybe it was the relief of finding somewhere that would take us for the night (shut at 5.30, managed to linger until 6, chatted outside until 6.30, actually ended up running for the train!) but I think I really like this place.

Overall, staying out for the whole festival was an unprecedented and unexpected success - but even so, next time I want to spend an evening away think I'll get in early and book myself a hotel room!

Bourg, je t'aime

We might complain about being stuck in a smallish town, but I imagine when I move back to Exeter I'll miss a few things about this year in Bourg en Bresse:

• The salary - Not sure how I'll fare going back to life as an impoverished student surviving once again off my parents' generosity.

• The view - Living on the top floor has its perks (almost worth the ridiculous stairs).

Taken from our kitchen today. Which brings me onto my next point...

• The weather - Usually only marginally better than home during the Winter but that makes all the difference. 

• The food - Just incredible (if you know what to avoid...).

• Free time being free time - This sounds paradoxical, but in university a good proportion of my time outside of lectures is spent either reading and writing essays, or feeling guilty for not doing so. Admittedly a few hours a week of preparation are needed for the assistant job, but recycling lessons is perfectly acceptable - even encouraged - in the name of giving every student an equal education... Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité and all that.

• Breaking out of the bubble - Students in Exeter tend to avoid locals, wrapping ourselves in a somewhat claustrophobic net of BNOCs, recognising people wherever you go, being limited to student haunts ("I've never seen this street before...") and knowing everything about everyone in your society/halls, even if you don't know their name. It's actually quite refreshing to meet people of all ages and ways of life, and not to feel like there's only 'one' place to be at any particular time. ("You went to Arena on a Friday?!"; "You've never been to Varsity/Ottery/Cellar Door?!")

• The people - For perhaps the first time in my life I have one solid friendship group, and they're amazing. I've always enjoyed flitting between friends in different groups, but I can only imagine that whatever living situation I end up in next year amongst my various and scattered friends doing a fourth year (probably looking more like a studio for one...) won't live up to this.

Checking in

In my last post I promised myself (and you, lovely readers) that I would actually achieve something this term and - most crucially - enjoy doing so. So, here's a check-in, one week on, to see how I'm doing.

• Learning German from scratch through 'tandems' three times a week with my three German friends
  This is actually going pretty well, thanks to my lovely friends. Although I've been a little slack on homework, I've had four 'tandem' sessions so far and apparently my pronunciation is pretty good (thanks, Bach, you're a dude).
• Improving my French through 'tandems' in Lyon.
  Again fairly successful with one session, albeit brief. Unfortunately it turns out my French pronunciation is pretty poor...
• Snowboarding weekends!
  Two attempts; two failures. I think this one will have to wait 'til the new year.
• Getting a head-start on my dissertation (two books already bought, and one borrowed..)
  Not sure how much I read of David Bellos' Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything* this week before I started dozing off on the train, but that still counts, right? 
• A promise to myself of more nights out!
  A resounding success with three consecutive nights of social drinking in its varying degrees: drinks with the Bourg assistants in the Quinet kitchen; the Irish pub in Bourg with teachers from my flatmate's school; an ERASMUS night in Lyon and a (not) gay (enough) club.
• Getting fit: a teacher gave us a bike for free, so no excuses!
  I managed one slightly precarious trip to Bouvent lake during which I only almost got run over three times... then the rain arrived. 
• A casual interpreting job
  Still to hear whether they need me on Wednesday. Fingers crossed!
• Observing some French literature classes
  Merde, I forgot about this one! I'll ask my flatmate about it tomorrow..
• Lots of travelling
  Only Lyon since my last post, but I did neglect to mention my quick stroll into Geneva whilst waiting for the train after my return flight:

Taking in the lakeside view in what must be one of
the most expensive cities in Europe with an alfresco
lunch of Mum's sandwiches. Capitalism can suck it.

• Volunteering as a project coordinator for UnicefCampus
  Set up a meeting for this afternoon, the guy cancelled... I'm officially signed up, though!
• Getting better at this blog thing...
  Leaving it over a week doesn't really cut it, does it? I'm truly sorry, as I'm sure you're all devastated.

*The book's actually really interesting - in fact, I recommend it - I was just ridiculously tired.

On proactivity

I like being busy. I know this might sound alien to students who conform more closely to the Young Ones stereotype, or even that of University Challenge, but I can't think of anything worse than sitting alone in my room for entire days or evenings.

In sixth form I took four A-levels (don't confuse me with a nerd; I practically failed one of them), had weekly singing lessons for my grade 8 (conveniently a day after my A-level Music practical, also my birthday...), sang in far too many choirs, became a music prefect and worked in a bar... yet I was always first to say yes to a night out ("...but the exams aren't for another week!")

Much the same in university: where others wait for 'the fear' to get an essay done, I have to plan weeks in advance of concert season around jobs, committee duties, auditions, mass, rehearsals and - of course - socialising. The lifestyle has its disadvantages: I don't take well to just sitting and reading for any considerable length of time, which could be seen as a drawback in an English degree...

Therefore, as you might imagine, I had a few concerns about moving to a different country. Language assistants only work 12 hours a week, so to do with the rest? If you read my 'Week in the life' post you might have some idea, and you might also remember that I ended on an optimistic note:

"Sunday
As you might have already known, or read here, the 'day of rest' is very restful here in France. So far - apart from that one time we went to the rugby and the cinema - it's been an opportunity for lie-ins/hangovers, lesson planning and laziness which is gratefully received by my lazy alter-ego, but I'm sure after the holidays I'll be back on form with not a moment spare - or so I hope."

Like-minded friends will be glad to hear that I have begun to fulfill my own prophecy within four days of being back.

So what am I going to take on in the remaining few weeks of term?

• Learning German from scratch through 'tandems' three times a week with my three German friends
• Improving my French through 'tandems' in Lyon.
• Snowboarding weekends!
• Getting a head-start on my dissertation (two books already bought, and one borrowed..)
• A promise to myself of more nights out!
• Getting fit: a teacher gave us a bike for free, so no excuses!
• A casual interpreting job
• Observing some French literature classes
• Lots of travelling
• Volunteering as a project coordinator for UnicefCampus
• Getting better at this blog thing...

All of this along with my two choirs, never forgetting, of course, my actual job.

Two weeks off for some dead saints? I'll take it...

I've missed half term. As a British student you're hardly aware it's happening until you go into town and it's full of kids "who should be in sch—! Oh..." Despite having a holiday in October for the first time in ages, this year's half term actually started off as normal: my parents came to visit. 

We only paused for two nights in Bourg as it doesn't have a huge amount to offer for a holiday. Nevertheless, two nights was enough to pack in a fair amount of excitement:

Early Christmas present.. :)

First try of Poulet de Bresse
(actually quite boring..)

Then to Lyon! We did all the normal tourist-y things but the highlights for me were:

The marionette museum

and a fantastic big band at the famous 'Hot' jazz club.

We flew back together, then parted ways as I headed to Exeter to spend a wonderful week-and-a-half invading my boyfriend's house (sorry!) and seeing my lovely uni friends. I miss student life, and it was difficult being there almost as an outsider, with new freshers I didn't know and changes I hadn't registered (the Long Lounge is now the Kitchen Café?!) Seeing my friends running around with heads full of deadlines, concerts, committee responsibilities and society drama I ruefully said "I miss being busy".

Now, though, as I sit here listening to The Swell Season after a morning at the market, a lovely shared lunch with the girls in the Quinet kitchen followed by a movie (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, if anyone's interested) I'm starting to think it's a good thing that my year out is just that: a year out.

C'est la vie... of an English Assistant

I've realised that my blog posts are a little detached, and don't really give much of a real idea of what I normally do here. So here is a 'week in the life' of the only red-head in Bourg:

Monday
Only 3 hours of lessons, but unfortunately, working at 11, 2 and 4 doesn't leave much room for doing anything interesting in between. I usually use the time to plan lessons to free up bigger blocks of time later in the week. No early start on Tuesday to me means a night out on Monday, but some of the others have shown to be a little disinclined to go out in general. The two other Brits, my Russian flatmate and I have usually ended up in the same bar in Bourg, but a few issues involving some mecs a little too insistent on chatting me up (and there's really nowhere to hide in this tiny place..), a guy who described himself as racist (!) and the fact that my idea of a good night out doesn't really involve playing back-to-back games of pool with this kind of clientele have left me reluctant to continue the habit. Keep reading to see what the future holds for nights out in Bourg... but I don't have high hopes.


Tuesday
My day off! This week I went into Lyon to find out if I could take a course in the university; no luck, but I met up with a girl who was a French assistant last year for coffee and she gave me loads of great advice about France, the job and Lyon. I would advise any assistants past or present to send an e-mail out to all the addresses of past assistants that the British Council send out as I've met and spoken to some really lovely and helpful people (in French!) this way. It's called 'FLA Buddy Scheme', and I received the e-mail around mid-October. I did it because I was worried I wasn't talking enough French with French people, and it's really paid off!

Passarelle Saint-Georges, Lyon

I ended up doing a lot of aimless wandering after the girls I met went back to class, as the train I had planned to take was cancelled due to strike action with no replacement service... No idea how the French get to work on time in the morning!

Wednesday
Every other week I start work at 7.45am in town half an hour's walk away. Give me an Exeter 9am any day; walking to school when it's still dark is miserable! It's also my youngest class, so I really can't be tired, hungover or look like I just rolled out of bed (although sometimes the wind on the way there will do that for me anyway..) The flipside to this is that I'm free from 11am onwards, and that every other week I have another day off. This week I went to the Parc de la Tête d'Or in Lyon with a few of the other assistants:

When we got back we had a meal planned with another French girl I met through the FLA Buddy Scheme in Bourg. We had booked for nine but it ended up being only four! It's occasions like this that I wonder whether it's a case of the individual or the culture; I've certainly never been in the situation where someone cancels on a dinner which has been booked for anything other than unforeseen circumstances, but luckily the restaurant didn't mind and the four of us had a lovely evening speaking almost entirely in French.

On my days off I also usually like to take a walk around Bouvent lake, which is a good hike away but well worth it for the calmness. (I'm slowly but surely turning into my mother, aren't I...)

Thursday

Usually I have lessons 8am-5pm on Thursdays but this week my six hours were reduced to one due to various tests and absences, giving me time to... sleep and do nothing. Good one, Fiona.

In the evening, though, we went Bowling with the Lycée Quinet 'Amicale' (a kind of social society for teachers). I'm not the best bowler in the world (two strikes and two zeros.. what's wrong with me?) but it was good to get to know the teachers in a more social context, and I'm already noticing the difference in the staffroom; no more awkward break-times, I hope.


Friday
A busy but enjoyable one: every other week I have to make two separate journeys to Péronnas (the other school) with a class and a choir rehearsal in Quinet in-between. Technically I shouldn't really have time to go to choir, but if I leave ten minutes early and eat a sandwich en-route it works.

In the evening I have a rehearsal with L'Ensemble Vocal de l'Ain in town (Bourg inexplicably being the capital of its region). I auditioned just to fill some spare time but luckily for me they're a really good choir with a busy schedule which suits me to a T.
(If anyone was interested: the chorus parts of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Gounod's Requiem, Duruflé's Requiem, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, César Franck's Les Sept Paroles du Christ sur la Croix and Duruflé's Notre Père.)

Friday is also, of course, an opportunity to go out, but so far early starts for travelling have put paid to anything particularly exciting.

Saturday

So far we've used our Saturdays to go to Annecy and Lyon, with more plans for travelling in the pipe-line (including a festive Paris trip in December). Again, Saturday night is for going out, and we've managed to have one successful night out in Bourg on a Saturday (following a disastrous one in Lyon) involving the almost authentic Irish 'Pub', flaming shots and great company. Hopefully more like that to follow!

Sunday

As you might have already known, or read here, the 'day of rest' is very restful here in France. So far - apart from that one time we went to the rugby and the cinema - it's been an opportunity for lie-ins/hangovers, lesson planning and laziness which is gratefully received by my lazy alter-ego, but I'm sure after the holidays I'll be back on form with not a moment spare - or so I hope.