Teasers from les vacances

During vacances I:
visited Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, Mechelen (Belgium) and Quimper
had lunch with a friend in Paris
saw plain clothes police officers pull out guns on a car thief
ate delicious Pho
ate delicious Indian food
ate fries and waffles
drank beer
saw many a musée
saw many a closed sign at many a musée
slept
made hostel friends
learned card games
did not get frostbite (because I)
bought gloves
celebrated a dear friend's birthday
discovered where France hides all its Disney princess birthday magic
wrote poetry
won.

Explanations and pictures to (eventually) follow.

During winter break, I'm gonna go to Belgium.

And you?

Why yes, the winter break is in February and, yes, it is this soon after Christmas break and, yes, it will also be two weeks long and, yes, I will have another two week break in April.

France is full of win.

So tomorrow morning, in the wee hours, I'll be heading off to Brussels where I hope to drink beer and eat waffles and fries. In the meantime, I'm going to teach another 4eme class about gonna, gotta and wanna. I wanna go home and pack, but I gotta teach this class. JK, I love hanging with the kids. Especially now that I've decided to teach them awkward turtle as a way to signal to me that they don't understand.

Random assistanting tip, if ever you are faced with a class that just won't stop talking, start doing something like the awkward turtle that they don't understand. They will fall dead silent trying to figure out what you're doing. It works like a charm. Also, if it actually has cultural significance, they really enjoy learning about what it is.

Last weekend, the roadtrip that wasn't, was a lot of fun, even though I finally caught the cold that my friends had been passing around. Much ligretto was played, cafés were frequented, Port Louis was visited (again) and a lovely dinner with a visiting Moroccan family was had. I didn't make it to the Super Bowl due to the aforementioned sickness, but my diligence in resting means that I won't be sick in Belgium. YAY MCJ! A sickness that lasted less than a week! I literally can't remember the last time that happened. Thanks mono, you bastard.

I'm hungry.

Big bisous,

MCJ

Il fait fucking froid

Bonjour les amis,

Winter has actually come to Brittany now and it is cold. This weekend it might even snow (extremely rare for this part of Brittany -- it can get cold, but rarely below freezing). While I am excited for snow, I am saddened because this means the roadtrip this weekend was cancelled. Sad faces all around.

It's probably for the best however, as I need to get serious about l'avenir. It also looks like I'll be going to a Super Bowl party (starting at midnight on Sunday, lasting until 4am... oy.). Luckily for me, the primary school is going to the movies on Monday so I won't have work. I just need to make sure I get on a bus home before my students start heading to school. I've taken an early morning bus home with them as they went to school and it was not quite pleasant.

I taught my classes awkward turtle today. This is now what they'll do if they don't understand what I'm saying. I'm actually very okay with that, seeing as I'll have a clue other than their blank faces. It's also a clue that makes us both laugh. Awkward turtles all around. I also had to try and explain awkward. They understood the hand gesture better.

It had better snow, is all I'm sayin'.

Bisous,

MCJ

ps Sorry I never post pictures.