In the Land of Pink Toilet Paper

So far everything has been going well!
 

Rouen - Old Marketplace

Last weekend, the train from Rouen to Dieppe wasn't leaving at a convenient time (after we'd arrived by train in Rouen), so Lidia and I stayed and checked out Rouen. We saw the dungeon, cathedral (which was huge), the Gros Horloge (big clock), and checked out one of the bridges in Rouen. We only had a few hours and Lidia didn't have comfortable shoes, so we will go inside the church and the building with the Gros Horloge another time. We were, however, hungry. We asked the tourism office where to find food at 4:30 pm since everything was closed (Sunday), and she said either a marketplace or suggested a street where food would be cheaper. We checked out the cheaper option and quickly learned that restaurants open for dinner at 7:00 pm (if at all on Sunday). We stopped by a kebab place that was open and a homeless guy followed us in and hassled the guy working there until he got some fries in exchange for a handful of change, which the staff guy put on the counter. Then when we ordered, he started making our sandwiches without washing his hands, and put the sandwiches in the change. When we said we were no longer interested in the sandwiches because it was dirty, we could hear him cursing us as we walked away. I have since been told never to trust a kebab place. Lidia and I ended up walking past the marketplace just after 7, and everything was open. Thanks a lot, information lady!   


Rouen - Old Marketplace



Church in Rouen's Old Marketplace

 

Restaurant in Rouen's Old Marketplace

School is also going well! It turned out that we are only supposed to observe classes of all kinds for the first two weeks to familiarize ourselves with the French school system. We begin teaching after these two weeks (including another training day next Friday). The students are nice so far, but we learned that we're not supposed to let on that we speak French, which is really hard when I'm trying to help them translate terms or I respond to a comment. Apparently they will try to speak to us in French if they know we can speak French, so we have to play dumb! I will be teaching at the normal lycee (high school - 15-18 year-olds) and the lycee professionelle (students who are generally weaker in languages and are studying a specific profession like accounting) for a few hours per week (I teach at the public lycee, but there is also a private lycee, and an agricultural lycee since we live in a very "agricultural" town...the big chain stores have farmer's fields with sheep, roosters and chickens, and horses right next to them and behind them). The students' knowledge of English varies WIDELY. And yet the girls all seem to wear American and British flags on their bags, scarves, and shirts. I guess it's more of a style and not a personal statement.

So far, in the talkative classes, I have been asked if I have ever seen a caribou (sadly, I have not) and if I like maple syrup (which I do). I also had to smile when I had to explain to a student that they meant "smoked a lot of green" instead of "eating a lot of greens", although I preferred the idea that Wiz Khalifa ate a lot of salad and vegetables :).

The paperwork is intense here. Not only did I get my visa, but I have to submit multiple things to French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII in French) and attend a doctor's appointment one afternoon as well as a radiology appointment another morning to have x-rays done. Both are, of course, in Rouen, which is 30 minutes away by train, as is my training day. So as of Thursday afternoon, I will be on my way to Rouen for doctor's appointment #1, then Friday I have training all day, then I will spend the weekend in Paris (and hopefully visit Disneyland!!!!!), and then return to Rouen Sunday night for my next doctor's appointment on Monday morning...before finally coming back to Yvetot on Monday afternoon. And that's not even including the paperwork required. I had to open a bank account (paperwork), give the info to the school so that I can be paid this month (paperwork), give information to get my social security number (paperwork), give info to OFII (paperwork), and submit info to OFII after my doctor's appointment (paperwork).

Rouen - On the Seine River

On top of that, having a long-form birth certificate translated is a new procedure (they're now cracking down on people who have been abusing the system), and the Canadians were told to have our birth certificates translated by a certified translator on the consulate's website. No problem. $45 later, it was done. Then I had to get it legalized at the consulate. Done. Now they are telling us that it has to be done by someone from their list in France, so we are waiting to hear if we have to have the whole thing redone. *FACEPALM*. As they said in our first training day, the 4 principles of France are actually "liberté, égalité, fraternité and paperwork". Vive la France.

Things are still going well with the roomies and we're meeting my professeure référente (the one who looks after the English language assistant) tomorrow morning at the Saturday morning market in "downtown" Yvetot, and then meeting another one of my teachers to visit Étretat https://levoyagedelola.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/etretat.jpg. Sunday, we're meeting with yet another teacher (the Spanish professeur référent) to visit Rouen. We're amazed by their incredible kindness and willingness to show us around. 
 
Unfortunately, these trips also mean that I will not have time to make any sort of Thanksgiving anything aside from perhaps a turkey filet here. As my family knows, Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favourite meals of the year and to miss the stuffing and gravy is tough!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!