One thing that kind of bothers me is the way everyone in retail likes to make you wait. There were five people in front of me in 'MacDo' the other day and I had to wait half an hour to be served. I was like 'ARE YOU ACTUALLY BEING SERIOUS.' And there was the time I wanted to just buy a sim card and I waited for ages in Orange shop which only had two people working in there and they were doing something lengthy so I was like 'Er, going to another shop now SEE YA'. It was the same in the next two places I went. Bizarro...
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting another English Language Assistant that lives in the next town of Bolbec. Her name is Imogen and we get on rather nicely. We went shopping for some bits and pieces for our apartments in GiFi (which was described as France's answer to IKEA - not true, some real bargains in there but lots of overpriced tat!) and also a little trip to 'Macdo' and Carrefour.
What a difference a little sprucing up can do! I've pinned up a couple of posters in my living/dining room which brightens up the place a lot! Also the table and seat covers were all bought as well!
This is actually where I spend most of my time in the apartment as this is where I get the best internet connection. I should probably add that the internet connection I am using is that of the school where I am living so it's not actually based in my apartment -_-
I've ventured out for a little jog around the area a couple of times and took some photos - rural France is so charming!
Look at the cute houses with the pretty trees!
I've ventured into town a few times too. I kept hearing music and I thought that maybe someone was playing music in in their house above the shop loudly with the window open or something then I realised there were speakers all over town pumping out music all over town, it really brightened up the town - such a cool idea! Speaking of music, they're pretty big fans of English music here. I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard Payphone and Call Me Maybe!
Yesterday I went to one of the many boulangerie/pâtisseries in town and bought a baguette and a tarte aux framboises. The wonderful thing about it was that the nice lady didn't wrap the baguette in paper or put it in a silly plastic sleeve but you take it just as it is. The tarte was neatly folded into a little paper pyramid. I felt rather French walking through town carrying them!
Anyway, I've been observing classes for the past few days and have made a couple of random observations. First, in one of the classes there was a row of about four or five girls who were wearing matching tracksuit type tops with three pink stripes on the arms, one had gold stripes. It reminded me so much of Mean Girls I had a private laughing fit in my head. In another class there was a girl with a pencil case with the Union Flag on it. I'm not sure I'd love another country enough to have a pencil case with its flag on it. Weirdly, it seems to be a massive trend at the moment. When I was in GiFi there was a section with 'British' stuff in it - why a French person would want to buy cushions of the Union Flag is beyond me!
I decided to sit in on a choir rehearsal today and I got a bit carried away and I've pretty much joined up haha! They're doing this big festival at the end of the school year where they'll sing with nineteen other school as a big choir with an orchestra. Sadly I won't be here for that. I miss music and I don't have any instruments with me. The music teacher offered to lend me a guitar if I wanted. I declined at the time but I might use my spare time to actually learn. Anyway, this is the song we learnt today, it's so catchy I've been humming it since!
Enjoy!
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