Soooo cold.....

Yes, I may have mentioned the cold. I'm sure it feels worse because I'm not used to being out in it. The photo is one I took with the self timer. I'm not sure if you can see how well rugged up I am. I actually need a hat as well. I bought a beanie before I came over, but for some weird reason I didn't bring it. Perhaps it was a fear of helmet hair. It's the extremities that I need to protect - my feet, hands, nose and ears. Brrr!! But I prefer the cold to endless rain, so I mustn't grumble. And it is winter after all! :-)
My friend Louise is coming from Brussels to stay this weekend. Did I mention that? It will be great to see her, and be the host, showing her around Poitiers. We will go into Centre Ville tomorrow, and I'm sure the shops will be heated. And there are Christmas markets as well so it should be a good day. I think we are going to a concert tomorrow night.
Ian texted me this aternoon from Genoa to say that rugby practice had been called off because it was snowing. So it's around. The big question is - will I have a white Christmas? Wouldn't that be magic? Bing and I could probably sing about that....
PS Oooh, I just had a closer look at that photo, and I see that I have multiple chins. You must understand that it's because I am sitting in a scrunched up manner, and it has nothing to do with the tartelets du chocolat from the local boulangerie.

You won't believe this....

Well, I was going to give you a breather for a few days. But I had to tell you about my latest brush with bureaucracy! This morning I took my money to an office at uni - La Maison Des Langues - literally, the house of languages. I had to pay for the translation of my bank attestation which had been faxed from my bank in Nelson. I was in luck! I glanced down, and on the woman's desk was the original fax, and the translation. Wonderful. So I paid my money, which she carefully put into an envelope and then smiled at me. So I waited. She said, in French, "I will email you when the translation is ready." "But there it is!" I cried. "I will email you when you can pick it up. Friday, or next week." "But... but..." I stammered, pointing. She just smiled. Oh my goodness! What next?? Tres bizarre, that's all I can say.
It's very cold again today, but at least the heaters were working at uni. And are here too.
Tomorrow I am helping to mark an English speaking test at the Lycee.
Hilary asked me to take a photo of the frost from out of my window. Well, you can't see much, but for what it's worth, this was taken this morning. I don't even know who owns the car. Marie-Helene and Christian left this morning for a 10 day holiday in Senegal. Not that that has anything to do with the car, but I just thought I'd mention it! :-)
Au revoir. x

Cold weather and bus travel

Today's little story was going to be about the buses, but I must first mention the weather. Today was COLD! Brrr! I feel that I have never been so cold, but of course that can't be true. After all, I can remember spending the May holidays with Grandma in Alexandra when the water pipes froze. And I grew up in Dunedin for goodness sake. But I guess I have been outside in it today, and to really make things awful, the building we were in at uni this morning had a problem with the heating and it wasn't working!! With the temperature sitting at about 2.... It was miserable, I can tell you. I sensed snow in the air. We will see!
Anyway, buses. I am a daily bus traveller through the week, and I have a bus pass! How cool is that? In general the service is pretty good on weekdays, fairly good on Saturdays and almost non-existent on Sundays. Not too unlike NZ. Unfortunately, there is very little service at night for the area in which I live, which makes going out to things rather difficult.
When I get on to Bus #10 in the mornings, it is quite interesting. No-one queues at the bus stop or respects age or disability or any other prority. It's everyone for himself. I mean, at home no-one actually queues, but usually there is a bit of an unspoken agreement that the people who got to the bus stop first get on first, and there's a bit of allowance for this. Nah, that's for wimps. You push and make sure you are first on if at all possible. When I get on, the bus is usually fairly full. And you would be amazed at how many people put their bags on the seat beside them and ignore your obvious need to sit down. This morning I said, "Pardon," and waited for a young student to move her bag so that I could sit down. She moved it with a very audible French equivalent of "Hrrrmph!" She then spent the rest of the journey rolling a cigarette. People also sit on the aisle seat and make it extremely difficult for you to push past to get to the free seat by the window. The drivers are usually pretty good, and wait for people they see running to catch the bus. Although the other day we had a driver who must have had an argument with this wife or something, because he drove like a bat out of hell and actually missed one stop even though the button had been pushed. People yelled out at him and he just yelled back! But really that was unusual. There are always young mothers with pushchairs on the bus - I wonder where they are all going. So things can get quite squashed. Most people seem to have passes which certainly saves time. If you have a ticket you have to 'compost' it - put it into a little machine when you get on. On the way to uni I usually just watch and listen to people. On the way home I usually spend the time having conversations in my head about whether or not I will buy some bread when I get off. Lol! Important stuff!
Well, I just had a read of that and I agree that it won't go down as the most riveting stuff you have ever read, but never mind. Have a good day and appreciate the fact that it is almost summer in New Zealand!

24.11.08

Another little hurdle overcome today. I had my chest x-ray! In fact it all went quite smoothly, but I had got myself into a bit of an anxious state beforehand, picturing grumpy non-comprehending people, and them saying that I hadn't filled out the proper forms..... In fact that didn't happen, but I did get lost getting there. Sophie, my prof, told me that it took 20 minutes to walk to the Hopital de la Miletrie. Being me, I allowed 40 minutes. Which was just as well, as it was quite a long way away and took me exactly 40 minutes and a bit of panic when the centre de prevention des maladies respiratoires, Rene Beauchant batiment, didn't seem to be appearing. The grounds were a bit of a mystery as was the building I was in. But never mind. I eventually got to where I needed to be after asking a few people. I was actually on the computer and there were no administrative hiccups. (I assume nothing!!) A nice young radiographer took a photo and that was that. I then managed to get totally lost again on my way back out to the main road. I realised when I got back to where a helicopter was parked that I had done a grand loop. But I didn't mind as I didn't have a deadline to meet at that end. I then got a bus into town as I needed to go to the bank. My bank is right opposite the Notre Dame Cathedral (pictured) and something was going on there. There were heaps of people watching in total silence, and outside in lines were uniformed people just standing there - I assume to be a guard of honour. It looked like the police, but I couldn't be sure. Certainly there were lots of firemen - pompiers - there. And people with either rugby or soccer shirts draped round their shoulders. So I am assuming it was a funeral for a fireman who was good at sport. But I don't know. I will try to find out. I could have stayed but it seemed a bit intrusive.
Nothing much else to report today.

23.11.08

Yes yes, I will get back to studying about la cause, la quantite et le subjonctif! (We have a test tomorrow.) But I just thought you might like to see this little snap of my shopping bag after my grocery shopping this morning. Very French, eh? In fact there was no bread at the supermarket but fortunately la boulangerie was open so I was able to get my baguette there. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of rhyme or reason with opening hours, although I'm sure there is. I just can't seem to figure it out! In the same way that I can't figure out why the bakery would be closed over the lunch hour each weekday. Apart from Mondays when it's closed all day. But there you go!
I was also going to mention the driving. Actually pedestrian crossings. The French see them as little white lines someone has painted on the road for decorative effect. (Horizontal graffiti, says Stephen Clarke in "A Year in the Merde.") You would NEVER step out on to a crossing assuming that a car is going to stop. Becase they just don't! And yet, you might be standing waiting to cross nowhere near a crossing, and a car will stop to let you cross. There may be several cars behind, but no-one seems to mind waiting. I think it's the French way of saying, "Actually, I make the rules here!" Kinda sweet. But scary on crossings!
Yesterday was quite exciting because a)I tidied up and rearranged my furniture and made a little space and b) M-H took me to second-hand place and I bought an armchair. I am in seventh heaven! and c) Therese and Jean invited me for tea, and they just happen to have cable TV, and so I got to see the All Blacks play. Yay!
Today was great too. I slept in a bit, fiddled on the computer and talked on Skype - (I am alison.kroon if you want to call) and I washed my floor as I didn't quite get that done yesterday! Then Roselyne came and picked me up and I went to her place for lunch. It was a rotten day weather-wise, but it was a lovely outing. Roselyne's neighbour, who lectures in English at the university, was there too with her very new little baby. It was a lovely meal and a very pleasant day. People are very kind.
A bientot.

samedi 22 novembre

Just a couple (three actually) of photos so you can see some of my French friends! I went to Viviane and Jean-Michel's last night for dinner which was very pleasant indeed. J-M speaks English, but for all that no English was spoken. They are determined to have me speaking French! I am still incredibly ordinary at it, but I was able to tell them a funny story about an adventure I had, and they all laughed, so they must have understood! (The Toilet Adventure, for those in the know!)
Jean-Michel is in the light coloured shirt and Viviane is the darker woman - the one not wearing a scarf. The other two people are Marie-Helene and Christian, my landlords, and also kind friends.
I took my camera to school yesterday and was going to take a photo of some of the kids. But then I felt a bit uneasy about that. What sort of privacy things should I be considering? Even if I ask them, is it still OK to publish their photos on my blog?
Today I am having a big clean up chez moi, and you would be amazed at how much rubbish I need to sort out!
I am using avoidance tactics here - I need to wash my floor!
Just a reminder of my address. Not that I'm begging for mail - although it can be interpreted that way! :-) - but just so as things don't go to my original host family. (Although all things related to my carte de sejour still go there. I can't even begin to think of the new dramas which could unfold if I told the good folk at the Prefecture that I had changed my address! Lol.) Anyway. 106 Route de Bonneuil Matours, Poitiers, 86000, France.
Go the ABs!

A few more photos.

A bleak sort of day here today. But there are still many leaves on the trees so it can't be winter quite yet!
I have booked to go to Al Ain (UAE)over the new year. Talk about Nigel No-Mates! I am fortunate enough to be going to Grenoble for Christmas, (thank you Jennifer, Andrew, Ruth and Murray) but was at a bit of a loss for new year. I think when one is away from home like this it's important to be proactive about going places. There's no point in sitting and waiting to be asked. So I have invited myself to go and stay with my friend Hilary's friend Sheryl, who lives there! Actually, I have met Sheryl, and we are friends on Facebook! So we are quite close really. Lol. I was a bit startled about how much the fares were, but as I think I have said, you either pay for travel or stay home, and this is my big chance! So it will be really good to see Sheryl and hang out with her, and to be warm as well. J'aime beaucoup being warm.
Oh, popping in that bit of French reminds me.... when we were in Italy, Louise made a pretty good fist of being understood in Italian. I don't know any Italian at all, and one night when asking someone on the train where we should get off, I found that I was asking in French!
I thought I would pop in a few more photos. The one of Louise and me at the Bogliasco Railway Station is one from Ian's collection. The two with me in them were taken on the Cinque Terre walk, and the other one is Ian and Louise in the main square in Bogliasco.
And looking at the photos makes me think - you know how people nick garden gnomes then take them round the world and send back postcards from the gnome to the owner? Well, I think that my Papatoetoe Intermediate jacket could have a blog of its own. It has appeared in just about all the photos I think! Travels of a School Jacket.
Anyway! Thanks for the Listener Les, and the papers Dorothy. Much appreciated.
Amities. xxx