trouble in paradise
I know it's been a while since I updated, but i haven't had a whole lot to report - most of the past couple of weeks have just been taken up with school, settling into the house, and trying to get things organized to apply for law school next year. But now i need to do a little bit of venting, because there are four things bothering me quite a bit right now:
1) Sexual Harassment. Since i don't have a car, i have to walk quite a bit to get to my schools. Yesterday i had to walk for 45 minutes, and the ENTIRE way i was subject to an unending series of whistles, cat-calls, and car horns. I was already not in the best mood, and it really didn't help to feel completely objectified the entire way. It drives me crazy that I'm expected to endure that kind of thing, just because i happen to be female and in a public place.
2) Discipline. I had to send a kid to the principal's office yesterday and i feel terrible about it, but the thing is, my ability to enforce discipline is really limited, both because i don't really have the vocabulary for it in French, and also because i have literally no training in classroom management. I'm not supposed to be having to deal with entire classes completely on my own, that's why i'm a teaching ASSISTANT - but this week one of the English teachers was absent all week, and they just made me take her classes by myself.
3) French Bureaucracy. On Monday i have to go all the way up to St. Denis to visit a doctor in order to get medical clearance to get my "carte de sejour" - the French Green Card. I should have had this doctor's appointment last month, but the people who are supposed to be helping with all my administrative stuff are essentially clueless. It's really frustrating.
4) Friends. I'm really lucky to have found Vanessa - we're extremely well suited and I really enjoy her company. But in the larger group of assistants i still just kinda feel insecure and like i haven't really found my place. A lot of them are really nice, but i'm finding it hard to get close to people. It makes me really appreciate the surfeit of wonderful people I was so lucky to have around me in Chicago and Dallas.
Yeah. So even though i still love it here, and am still really glad i came, it's not entirely perfect...and it would definitely be improved if people came to visit me!
Love y'all
posted by Monica @ 06:03
3 Comments:
Beurocracy sucks, even in Germany, where you'd think that it was well-oiled machine. The program my roommates are here with is just as clueless about getting things done as well - they completely screwed up registering them at Uni, getting them their stipends, and explaining how to find housing.
Stick with it. The harder the beurocracy, the more of an achievement it feels like when you actually finish with it!
I am glad we can get a gimples into your life. Hang in there and take each day as it comes. In the long run what will remain are the sweet memories of this aventure.
-Prakash
I know what you mean about the friends thing. I feel like I'm meeting new people - usually other Nova teachers - often enough, and they're fun to party with, but I feel like its way different from school. Making the real friendship is different. I was telling another friend about this and he said it was something he's heard from a lot of people - he thought that maybe because of what we're used to its harder for U of C people to make friends out in the real world.
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