What I miss

What I miss in New Zealand

Salt and Vinigar chips: These are my favourite kind of chips and I have only found them once, and they were not that nice either. France does not have a huge selection of flavours when it comes to chips (this is a big hint that if anyone is thinking of sending me a care package, please include salt and vinigar chips:)

toast bread. I love Vegemite and butter on toast, and while baguettes are yummy it just is not the same...

Toasters: They have them here but it is not really the same thing, its more like a bread grill.

Deodorant: Now maybe its living in a small town but I cannot find a brand that actually works...thank goodness for perfume....

Apparently my accent is wrong....

Yes you read that right, apparently I do not speak proper english...and that is putting aside my speech problem. At first I thought that is what they meant ie that I don't say words properly but nope its all because of my pesky new zealand accent. The tapes and music that they have to accompany their english are spoken by british people so its going to be a lot different to how I pronounce the words as I do not have a british accent I was conversing with my friend Claire just to make sure that it was not a speech problem thing and we said the words the same.

I'm kind of suprised that they are suprised at this. I think they really thought that all english people spoke it the same way...so they want me to learn the vocab I am going to teach for each lesson in the british way...they are going to give me a website to go on where you type in a word and the computer chants it back to in a very british accent

I am kind of bemused of what to do now....Cute moment of the day. Going to one of my schools and having the whole class clamour around me and speaking to me in english with what I had taught them earlier in the week. I also got a hug from one of the girls

I guess I must be more patriotic than I thought seeing as I am kind of annoyed that they think my NZ accent is "a problem"

well at least the kids don't seem to have a problem with it....

it's illegal to have swings in schools

Yes you read that right apparently it is illegal for french primary schools to have swings unless they have the proper safety equipment. I was talking to one of my teachers at the school and explaining how in New Zealand primary schools have swings, climbing walls, slides ect while in a French primary school the kids (except for the maternelle) just get a big slab of concrete with a hopscotch on it. The teacher explained to me that France is so safety conscience that they are not allowed to have swings ect unless there is the proper safety equipment, such as a gate ect all of which cost money...

I was talking to another school who told me that its only the little kids that need things such as a slide....I didn't tell her that at my primary school and intermediate (college) there were huge playgrouds

The school system is vastly different between France and New Zealand, the kids do a lot more work and are yelled at if they don't do the work properly. There is a dictee every morning and if you have not done your homework of the night before you have to do in in your break. I can see the advantages of this, it installs a good work ethic but I can also see problems, they seem to have too much work sometimes.

In terms of my experience of teaching two of my schools are great, the other one I am researving judgement on but I think it will be good. Questions I got asked

"what are your houses made of"
"do you like rugby"
does it rain a lot in nz
does it snow
are there apartments
why have you got a french name
have you been to a rugby game
was the earthquake scary

little kids are cute....

The first couple of weeks.

So I have been in France for about three weeks now, How time flies. Digne les Bains is a nice little town, if not a bit small...it's weird having nothing open after 6 on a Monday night, and irritating that the French think its a good idea to close banks on a Monday. Today I had my first day of observation at two of my schools. It was nervewracking. One of the classes was scary....the teacher just yelled at the students the entire time, stuff you would never hear in NZ...makes me wonder how I am going to be able to lossen the reins a bit when it comes to english...I mean part of learning a language is speaking it....

The other school however was great, the students were attentive, they listned they answered the questions. they seemed to really like english. Probably because the english teacher himself is really enthusiastic so they were great and they seemed to really enjoy what I made them do...hopefully it will last

Cultural differences I have observed

I have been in France for a week now, how time flies. I have just moved into what will be my home for the next few months. Its in an apartment building, with an intercom and everything and the apartment is on the top floor which made it quite difficult to drag my things up. Here I thought I would list some cultural differences between France and NZ that I have seen

1) The vous business. When you first meet someone that is seniour to you say vous, we don't have that in NZ. I have eered on the side of caution so have vouved nearly everyone I have met that I don't know...most of the time they saw "why are you vouing me...."

2) Ordering food- You know how in NZ you would enter a starbucks/ coffee culture ect and order at the counter and then sit down...not in France, in France the times I have gone out for coffee and lunch the server will come to you and take your order and you pay at the same time.

3)The supermaket. There are so many things I could say about this. I went shopping today and the supermarket I went to was massive and it sold clothes, so aswell as buying some groceries I brought two t shirts FROM A SUPERMARKET!!!! They are really pretty but its quite strange to see isles of clothing next to packaged cereal and the like. There is also the fruit and veges thing. What you do is that you put them on a scale, select from the picture what you have and then a ticket comes out- its quite clever actually.

4) Banking. Banking in France seems a lot more complicated than in NZ. At my appointment to open an account I got shoved all this paperwork, and they don't really have bank tellers. If you want to deposit money into your account there are machines for that, and you have to ask for an eftpost card you are not automatically given one.

5) Driving. France seems to be the land for road rage. Its dam scary crossing the road in Barcelonnette. First I have to contend with the different way the traffic flows and then there is the fact that drivers don't seem to care about zebra crossing, they will not stop!!!