All the little things lately...

With a chorus of “Grandma…”

Le 16 décembre 2004.
Today and tomorrow are going to turn me into a loon who goes running through the corridors of Centre St. Jacques destroying the speakers throughout. They’ve been playing Ray Brooks’ Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer for the season. At first it was amusing to me to make the kids listen to the song as part of our Christmas and American culture lesson. Now all I can think is… now the goose is on the table/ and the pudding made of fig/ and the blue and silver candles/ that would just have matched the hair/ in Grandma’s wig…. There’s also my favorite, “…incriminating Claus marks…”; the kids aren’t advanced enough to get that little word play, or really much of the song, but the melody and genre of music amuse them nonetheless. But I will be listening to the song at least three to nine more times tomorrow morning. Reindeer had better not be near me tomorrow.

So Monsieur Zakey didn’t call me yesterday afternoon, and that made me lose a bit of faith in the French bureaucractic system—ok, so I never have had faith in the system, but I had momentary faith in M. Zakey’s capabilities as a higher-up in the Sécurité Sociale office. But I received an unexpected call this morning before my first class from M. Zakey telling me that he’d found my folder and that he was going to personally take care of it, fix any problems, and then have an attestation printed up for me! So next week, I will officially have an official piece of paper stating that I do officially have health insurance! Well, on a provisionary basis, til January when I must return to give them my December payslip and argue that my November payslip is both October and November, and that I do work 120 hours in a three-month period and thus am eligible for state health insurance aid. Are you confused yet? I totally understand.



This and that… again.

Le 19 décembre 2004.
Les Jardins du Luxembourg. I’d forgotten to mention that my weekend in Paris included time spent at the Luxembourg Gardens, which are about my favorite place in all of Paris. They are so lovely and everything beautiful government sponsored gardens in the middle of a city should be- orderly and manicured. Somehow though they are truly fixed up just right so that even the manicured bit is not scorned at but rather admired and enjoyed. That they are in the middle of a city makes it that much easier to appreciate the orderliness than if they were in a small town or the country. Kristen and I spent about an hour or so just sitting in the metal chairs around the fountain chatting and people-watching. I truly do admire how the French are so willing to bundle up and spend a cold winter day out-of-doors in the park.

The battles I’ve been having with French bureaucracy seem to be coming to an end, for the most part. All that I need to have received while in France, I seem to have or almost so- my titre de séjour, the CAF, and my social security will be ready next week. Yet, only if I were truly naïve would I choose to believe that I no longer have battles to go into with French bureaucracy. The bit is just that I don’t know what the next battles will look like or when they are likely to happen.

Ice-skating is an interesting business when you haven’t gone in four years. I’d completely forgotten that I hadn’t been for that long, thus stepping onto the bad ice at the marché at République I was surprised not only at the state of the ice but also at my inability to instantaneously remember how to skate. It took more than enough time to remember how to get the knack to even make it once around the small rink without stopping. But I’m also going to blame the nastiness of the ice for part of it- it’s much easier to learn or remember how to skate on smooth, clean ice. But it was loads of fun anyway, and I enjoyed being out in the night to skate.

A philosophy of ignorance is an interesting thing- both Greg and I have commented on how we’re choosing to ignore that Christmas is happening soon. It’s as though in choosing to ignore the actual festivities, we can ignore that we would normally be with family and friends on this day and that this year we are not. My plans intend for me to be on some sort of beach near Lisbon and Greg’s to be in Metz preparing to travel after the holiday in Germany. Can it be true that unless we acknowledge the existence of a happening it isn’t actually occurring? If I ignore that it’s Christmas, does it actually exist for me on the 25th? Whether or not it does or does not, beach, here I come- rather an act of revenge for having to miss Thanksgiving on the beach in Mexico.

Finally, classes are over for the holidays and the kids are able to run wild at home and drive their parents insane instead of me. Grandma is no longer getting run over by the reindeer or having her figure se casse. But the nice bit was that the kids weren’t nearly as wild as I thought they would be on Friday- especially since it turned out that they were ending the day at noon and not having afternoon classes. Friday was also nice in that I was invited to lunch at the house of two of my students, Alex and Kelly. Their dad is American, and so they both speak much better English than their peers in class. Even their little sister has a nice command of the language, given that their native language is French. They fixed a traditional French meal of raclette and bouche de Noël for my visit- with several varieties of meats and asparagus and tomatoes to accompany the cheese, meat, and potatoes of raclette. It was quite a lovely afternoon just chatting away with Alex and Sabrina and the kids. It reminded me all so much of my aunt and uncle’s whom I visited a few times during university that I came home happy but a bit homesick. Yet it was such a lovely way to spend the first afternoon of the holidays.

Everyone is off or soon will be, including myself. Victoria, Jennifer, Bobby, Alexandra, and Weinke are all home, with Louise to be soon also. Louise Louisiana is soon off to Paris, Melissa off to Germany, Greg will be heading to Germany next week right before I get back, and I’ll be off to the Iberian Peninsula soon. It’s really a bit odd, as we are all dispersing for the holidays, to various parts separately. While I’m admittedly a bit nervous traveling on my own again, I’m excited to see the south and to enjoy some warmer weather hopefully. The only sad bit is that I was unable to arrange to visit my host family in Toulouse. Maybe I can work something out in February or March, though I doubt it. I think that visit will just have to wait for May when my parents and brother arrive to travel. Even though it’s been a bit unnerving to think about traveling alone, it has been interesting and amusing to make the arrangements to travel. I’ve actually enjoyed doing it I think- all the plotting and maneuvering, just not the money-spending bit. But it will all be worth it, I know!

So on that note, Merry Christmas to all, and quite possibly Happy New Year’s, as I might not have time to blog before the new year arrives. If you are ambitious enough and feel the need my Christmas list is as follows: a couple of jars of Skippy or Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, a couple of boxes of Easy Mac, an English copy of Mansfield Park, a big backpack to travel with (as am borrowing Bobby’s for this trip), wool socks, German lessons, Seasons I and II of Alias on DVD, a pair of black Camper shoes, that pair of cute brown suede shoes from Coussins, a gift card to Zara- to be used probably for sweaters, that hat from Galeries Lafayette, lots of lovely soft pretty yarn, all sizes of crochet hooks- except for G, H, and F which I already have, and an English copy of Let’s Go Europe 2005 if it’s already available. I know there are a few other things I’ve been wanting, but I can’t remember them at the moment, and I’m not sure if they were American or French things, either. I hope everyone gets what they wanted for Christmas, and for those looking for presents from France- your French Christmas is probably going to happen more likely in late May! Cheers!