Sam - A Special Report

One of the soldiers amongst my rank has taken on the venture of teaching English to those baguette loving, skinny cigarette smoking, barrette wearing, stinky French children. The following is the account of his experience to date. Enjoy. I did.


Hello Everyone,

I am currently on a high speed train that just left Paris’ Gare du Nord headed towards the Belgian city of Brussels, home of the European Union, to begin my 12 day vacation. At the end of October every year, the French Educational System feels obliged to provide its teachers this period of freedom, also known as vacannes de Tout-Saint, as an escape from the pimply, hormonal, face-sucking french youth. As the northern French countryside zips by while the sun ricochets into my eyes from the adjacent French girl’s pocket mirror, I sit here with a peculiar feeling. Only three weeks ago I arrived here in France, and if my calculations are correct, I’ve managed to have worked only 8 of the 13 days which I was assigned to teach. Im not complaining, I get paid and I still get to retain my allotted vacation time.

If you’re thinking that being able to work only 60% of your mandatory schedule is a bargain, think again. Some of my english speaking colleagues haven’t even met all of their classes. For an explanation to this bizarre phenomenon, look no further than the European section of BBC website or any other news disseminator. President Sarkozy, known as “Sarko” or “Carla Bruny’s husband”, and his cronies have proposed a law that would push the official retirement age back two years from 60 to 62. Now that the law is soon to be voted on, and expected to pass, by the National Assembly and the Senate, the unions over here have mobilized. The three most noticeable retaliations are being conducted by transport (Bus, Railroad) officials, oil refineries in Marseille, and students. The consequences of the strikes being undertaken by transport officials is rather predictable: trains and buses not running on or smooth schedule or at all. The work of a very small percentage of disgruntled workers who maintain the oil refineries of the coast of Marseille have effectively stopped the production of petrol, therefore blocking its passage to French engines. The VAST majority of gas stations across France had to put plastic bags over their pumps, and put signs up declaring a rupture of gasoline. The implications could be very severe. Several of my co-workers didn’t show up to work on the Wednesday and Thursday before I left due to the fact there isn’t enough in their tanks. AND FINALLY, the students... My students have gone on strike several days, a few of which they were joined by their instructors. However, my school has managed to keep the strikes very minimal in comparison to other schools located in the larger cities. In Paris and Lyon, the students have finally brought out their keffias, hoodies, and skinny jeans and have begun a series of completely disorganized skirmishes with the French police.

The student strikes at my school have been somewhat hysterical and enormously pathetic. The students block the entrances with moveable gates and trash cans, and begin their political chants at roughly 8 AM. When cars go by the honk and the students scream with joy. At 12, they all put their signs down and go inside to the school canteen for lunch. Each student takes their bowl of mixed greens, their hot main dish, a side dish, a side of cheese, slices of baguette, a piece of fruit, and the choice of a yogurt or desert. Lunch will last for about an hour or an hour and a half; no rush though. Then its back to the entrances, but not before having some nice warm coffee.

But anyways, the days I have taught have been very enjoyable. The classes have all seem to taken a liking to me, some more than others. Its interesting to see how timid the students are when it comes to speaking English. The French education system, as well as the seemingly universal, cold nature of French teachers, have made most students embrace silence rather than speaking up and making a mistake. The French have certainly done their students a disservice.

I must admit, this email seems to be the most difficult I’ve ever written in terms of being able to write English in a fluid, accurate manner. Even though its slightly frustrating right now, Im taking it as a good sign; that my mind is more accustomed too processing french. With the exception of speaking english in class, I use French all the time with my teachers, my roommates, and sometimes with my students. I listen the radio in French. I just finished my first roman, and have started reading Zola.

Were arriving at Bruxelles station now, so Im gonna wrap this up. Ill send this email when I get to the hostel.

Love,
Sam



p.s. just arrived at the hotel to discover that sarkozy has unblocked the refineries. im watching a muted television, but it looks like there was a lot of violence. stretchers and a body bag if im not mistaken. as you can see, the situation is pretty grave here now.

p.p.s looks like the senate passed the reform treaty too.