Living in Thiers:
Living in Thiers was horrendous. I lived there from 29th September-1st November and it made me ever so sad. The countryside displeases me, as it is; but having to LIVE in the countryside up a MOUNTAIN surrounded by EVERGREENS and LIZARDS was just taking things too far, France, TOO FAR. There is nothing there (not even that many people) and there are cutlery shops, only. And that is the end of my reflection on Thiers.
Living in Clermont-Ferrand:
Clermont is like a bloody PALACE compared to Thiers, for obvious reasons. It is a 'city' (well, town), which is something! Although it is still surrounded on ALL SIDES by mountains and VOLCANOES and grassy hills which literally make me feel really trapped ahhhh, I live right in the 'city centre' (town centre) where there are buildings and people. This provides some comfort. The streets are covered in dog shit and most things are usually shut, but I suppose the same can probably be said for the rest of France, and the streets are quite cute so that makes up for the faeces a little bit. Place de Jaude (I live like a 5 min walk from here) looks genius now it's Christmas. Here's a cheeky photo (you have to imagine it covered in snow!):
Teaching:
Teaching has, on the whole, been quite enjoyable. I am very, very, very lucky to have been placed in a school with mainly bright students who generally have positive attitudes towards their work and towards my lessons. Of course, like everyone, we had a few teething problems at first, but I made sure that it was firmly established what I would and wouldn't put up with from them this year during the first few lessons and I've had next to no problems at all, since (touch wood this remains the case after Christmas!). It is, inevitably, still bizarre (for everyone!) being a teacher in a high-school environment to some pupils who are up to 3 years my senior. One guy in my BTS second year class, 23 years old, made it very clear in the one lesson I've had with them (they're on work experience until Jan) that he does not appreciate the fact that I'm still only 20 lol. Luckily for me, I didn't have to do anything cos the other guys kept telling him to shut up (in English) on my behalf :) excellent. Also, speaking of BTS pupils, here is one of the many reasons I love my first years/one for the assistants:
- 'Who has finished? Anyone?'
# 'Non... Ouais... Presque....... Ahouais, j'ai fini!'
- 'Alright, go on.'
*Silence*
- 'Qu'est-ce que tu fais?'
# 'Ah, c'est errrrrr, c'est juste un p'tit dessin de Noël. Je l'ai fait pour vous, Madame' (This guy is 21).
- 'Ok, merci. Et ton présentation?'
# 'Errr...'
The People:
My friends here are genius. I have a nice mix of English and French speaking friends who are all lovely. Sadly, since I've been here, it's been pointed out that I don't seem to like Spanish people very much hahaha constantly getting called up on that one. This is not the case, and I promise I'm not a massive racist against Spanish people.... It's just that the ones I know here are SOOOOOO BORING. And they complain CONSTANTLY about EVERYTHING despite claims of contentment. Literally like 'oh, I saw this and it was shit. I went there and it was shit. I hate these hours, I hate this, I hate that, this is getting on my nerves, that's annoying me... Oh, no, I love it here!' Uhhh make up your minds? When they start talking, I literally have to cover my ears. Needless to say, the few Spanish people I know here do piss me off and can be quite rude (one in particular, grrr...) but I'm sure if I went to Spain and met some more Spanish people they wouldn't all be like that!!! (I hope). Also, the Auvergnats are weeeiirrdd and the Thiernois are even weeeiirrdderr. I mean the general public. A lot of people are quite uptight and unfriendly, tbh, and no one looks you in the eye... Quite disconcerting! Also, it would seem that quite a lot of them don't like British or American people, as we've unfortunately come to discover on a few occasions! While I'm describing people here, I feel it's only fair to mention the beautiful specimens that live in my residence. Words cannot actually describe how perfect most of the guys look in there. I know I'm an actual pervert and I blame Kaly entirely for that, but seriously I have never seen so many beautiful, beautiful, beautiful (usually pretty naked) boys at once in such a confined area haha. It always cheers me up after work when they say hi! I guess that's one good thing about the Auvergne, there are fitties bloody everywhere! Now that is something I will miss in London (no offense, guys :p).
The Good Times:
There have been some hilarrrrrious days and nights, here. None that I remember in any great detail as we do all drink a lot to get through this haha, but I know there have been a few. For example, every night that my favourite American Matthew Perry aka Pez has come out with us, because everytime he does he is guaranteed to say something that will actually floor me with laughter. He's one of those guys with a very dry sense of humour who doesn't actually mean to be funny half the time, and just comes out with the most random things completely out of the blue. For example, talking about something completely unrelated and he will pop up with 'you two should be lesbians', or 'if you want it, that's ok', or 'I'd pay you to take it off' etc etc. I would like everyone in the world to meet and experience this guy as there is just no describing him in a blog! I also enjoy our Thursdays: I get back to Clermont at half 4ish and we go straight to a cafe next to the university for chats. Later in the evening, we go to our French friend's appartment for a weekly soirée where everyone gets absolutely hammered and the French students sing really badly, fall over and cut each other's hair and then we go out. And Sundays, when everyone's hungover or tired, we go for a cheeky hot chocolate and relfect upon the night's events (always brilliant).
Next Year:
Next year should be better as our surroundings seem much more familiar to us now and we've pretty much sussed out how things and people roll. It will also be better as we're only here for 2 months again before another two week holiday in February, so we won't be away from our friends and family for as long as this term. Speaking for myself, just under three months without seeing my family and friends has been too long. Two would have been ok, and I guess it'll seem quicker next time round, thank God! It's a shame that we couldn't start in January and finish in July, as I can imagine that the Auvergne is quite pretty when the weather's nice. I think a lot of the reason that everyone's so miserable here is that it is actually the grimmest place in the world in the autumn/winter. Grim grim grim. Does snow make it prettier? Nope, it just makes it grimmerrrrr lol and fucking freezing. I'm completely and utterly sure that I have never been this cold in my life! So that's never good, but hopefully by April we'll have at least one month living in a reasonable tclimate!
Anyway, those were my reflections. I'm gonna miss me friends a bit over the holiday as these are people that I literally spend every waking hour with, but.. I'll be honest, I don't think any of us are gonna miss Clermont as a place :p hehehe soooo glad to be coming back!!
See you all very soon! :D
