Saint Patrick's day in London

I have only been once in London in my whole life, but I think I will always remember it. When I saw my friend Papan around Christmas, he told me it could be cool that we celebrate St Patrick's day together, for his half-brother lives in London, he lived in Hamburg, in Germany, I was in Durham and my boyfriend in Paris. We all have between 3 and 5 hours to gather in the center of the British capital.

I arrived at King's cross, my boyfriend at St Pancras. When I saw him, I couldn't believe it. It's hard to be separated from the person you love the most, and then, HE was in England. So happy :)

We found the hotel, spent a few minutes together and then, hop! direction the town center! We played tourists. Along the River Thames, we took a lot of pictures, crossed the London Bridge, visited the Christmas shop... I think that it is not really London that I enjoyed, but rather the company of the love of my life :)

 The weather, however, was what I expected from London: grey and cold lol

We had a nice evening in Camden Town, where we had several biers, cocktails, and a fish-n-chips late at night. 

The day after, we had a brunch together (the first brunch of my life, wouhou!) and what I realised is that London is... well, let's say... 4 times more expensive than Durham! 

We spent the afternoon, my boyfriend and I, along the Thames, again, on the other side this time. There was a modern art museum which caught our eyes, because there was an exposition outside: 

Lemon juicers!

Time was running out, we had to go back to the train station... The Olympics were in preparation, so the stations were modified. We had an hour to visit them. I was impressed by St Pancras, which I found particularly beautiful, with its big statue in the middle of the hall. It is worth a look. And finally, as a big big fan of Harry Potter as I am, we took pictures at Kings cross... but I didn't reach platform 9 3/4 :(

Another day, another city...

After I visited Edinburgh in December, and after I met so many great people, I wanted to discover more. Travel. Weekend. Holidays. Journey. Liberty. That's what I felt everytime I packed my stuff and went to the train station. When I had enough money spared, I chose a new destination. It was easy to travel actually, as I chose a town to visit that I could reach from Durham, by train or by bus. Not far from Newcastle is the city of Sunderland, on the East coast. This time is special, because at first, I wanted to go there alone, but then I realised "hey! I've got a friend in Hartlepool, that's not far from Sunderland!" and I asked Marion if she wanted to go there. And she came, with Heike. I did not know what I would find there. I expected to visit, but then I realised Sunderland is a rather a fine place for shopping, when you are in the town center. I met the girls at the train station, and we had lunch not far from the shopping mall. Just after, we decided to reach the beach, so we got a map and walked.
To my mind, Sunderland is much more interesting when you leave the town center. We had to cross the bridge to reach the beach, but too bad for us, there was a football match at the Stadium of light this day, so we couldn't make the most of our visit! It was fun though^^

The path to the sea is surprising. I wouldn't have find it if I had been alone. There is a glass musuem, statues, sculptures... It is beautiful.

We spent a long time along the river, it was very agreable. 

This day in Sunderland allowed me to discover a new city, but mostly, to have a wonderful day with friends.

This was the beginning of a new relationship :)

Edinburgh, 8th-11th December 2011

When I had spared enough money to travel, I’ve decided to go to Edinburgh. I had ever been there before, when I was nearly 13, in May 2003. I was in Year 8, and it had been the best trip ever! With the pupils (and my friend Laurie J ) we went to the Highlands, the Loch Lomond, visited Sterling and the William Wallace monument. It was amazing J. Laurie and I wanted to go to Edinburgh for only one thing: have a chance to see J.K. Rowling J

That’s why, eight years and a half later, I wanted to go back there. After I booked the train tickets and the hostel, I packed and went to school: netbook, towel, clothes, camera, tickets and reservation… I looked like a turtle with such a bag, but I was so happy!!! J As I had my Thursday afternoon free, I took the first bus in Bishop Auckland for Durham train station. Listening to the last Nightwish, Imaginaerum, in the train, I spent two hours thinking about Princes street, the Walter Scott monument, the castle…

Once there, I completely changed my mind! Indeed, it was night already, and I couldn’t find the hostel! “Down Princes street, cross the Bridge, on the Royal Mile…” yes, but it’s so dark I can’t see the signs! Nevermind… I finally reached the place. OK, fine, I’m in Edinburgh and now… I’ve got nothing to do. I wanted to go out, discover the place, have fun! I just went to the common room with my netbook and logged in to chat with my boyfriend, and watch some series then. But right next to me, there was that guy… and i thought “oh… armchair looks comfortable!” (Hey, what did you expect?^^). When he left, I immediately took his armchair (I was sitting on a wooden bench…) and he came back. I felt ill-at-ease, and said to him: “sorry, I’m on your spot”. And he replied “that’s ok! I was about to watch some Big Bang Theories!” (yes, because for those who don’t know, the “you’re on my spot” phrase is from The Big Bang Theory ;) ). And after a brief introduction, we – “Steve” and I- decided to go out for a drink. We went to our room to take our coat and when we came back, a guy –David-, hold the door for me, so I invited to come as well… Worse mistake of my life.

We went out, and David was like “I know this town by heart… I know a pub always crowded… Did you know that the king blablabla…” well, we followed him to the pub he knew and… It was empty, and we only had 15 minutes to have a drink before the closing. That’s all. On our way back to the hostel, Steve and I had to fight against a terrible wind, I thought I was about to take off! Once at the hostel, David was like “ oooooooh, so tired, going to bed!” and Steve said “ well, I’m not tired…” I wasn’t neither. So, we went to another pub, the “world’s end”. When we ordered drinks, I told Steve “hey the barman didn’t ask for my ID!” and as he heard me, he did so… but I was of age, heyhey J

I spent a fabulous time with Steve: we liked the same series, same movies, both had a taste for trips and, most important, we liked the same music. He even knew the bands Avantasia and Edguy, which are not famous in France. I thought he could be my twin brother!

The morning after, we met for breakfast. We were supposed to be in the kitchen at 8 o’clock. I’ve been lazy, I was there at 8.15. But guess who was there already? Yes, David. He was so clingy that I kept my eyes on the door, praying for Steve to arrive. At least he came, and I was relieved! J

When the day before, I asked him about the organization of the hostel, he told me there was no cranberry juice available. The fact is that, there was. When I showed him the glass of juice I had (in a pot of Nutella which still had the sticker on), he replied “what, you’re drinking Nutella?” It’s silly but, Steve, I will always remember that joke!

Before we leaved, we exchanged our Face book. I really wanted to keep in touch with him, that guy was great. David was sitting next to us, and I must admit, I hesitated a while, I mean, if I should give him my face book or not. It broke my heart, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t stand this guy lol. I planned to visit the castle this day, and Steve had to go to Glasgow. It was time to say goodbye, and it broke my heart when I thought “I will never see him again”…

I spent the Friday in the cold. Wandering in the streets, I was happy to feel the Scottish spirit again. The flag of Saint Andrew, tartans kilt, bagpipes… I think I was smiling all the time. In front of a shop, the main headline of the newspaper was about the wind, the night before: I couldn’t believe my eyes!

I walked a lot that day, from Saint Giles Cathedral to the Tartan factory, down the castle, I discovered a lot of things I didn’t have time to see nine years ago. A perfect day.  I even met William Wallace! I know, my mum told me, I look overweight on that pic... trust me it was cold!!!

 

But at night, I had to buy a scarf. Not because I didn’t have one, but I needed another one to put around my face. Really cold. I wanted to go back to the hostel to have a warm shower. During the evening (once again) I had nothing to do, except chat with my boyfriend and watch series. A big guy, Frank, from New-York, found of cinema, with long hair, a long beard and a jean jacket covered with metal bands names asked if I wanted to go have a drink. Of course I wanted to! We went to my FAVORITE PUB, the Banshee Labyrinth, on Niddry street, two streets far from the hostel. This pub is amazing: in one room, you can watch some old movies such as Nosferatu and Sunrise ( I studied cinema and, trust me, German impressionist cinema is my favorite period J ); in the basement, there is a room for concerts; there is also a free cinema with thematic evenings ( we watched Monsters, Inc) but the most remarkable thing is the cellar, there are chains on the wall and it’s lighten with candles J so gothic!

After the wind and the cold, on Saturday, it snowed. I saw Edinburgh covered in white, it was gorgeous!

 I spent the day shopping, visiting the museum (which is huge J ), met Frank unexpectedly, and went to Carlton Hill. It was OK to climb there, but I was afraid I could fall because the snow had turned into ice at night! There was a band playing that night at the banshee, so I spent my last evening in Edinburgh there. I was very very very sad on the Sunday morning, when I had to leave this town which brought me so much happiness! I promised I would come back! And I did… Last summer, I made my Lad visit the town, where he wants to go back again… We are definitely in Love with Edinburgh J

The Country of Harry Potter

So, after such a long time without writing anything, I’m back to tell you about the amazing country of Harry Potter ( by the way, I’m reading the new J.K. Rowling, A Casual Vacancy… great !). Remember, I told you about Durham’s Cathedral and the joy it had been for me to discover it was one of the places used in the movies (Come on Emma, you’re teasing, it can’t be true!), but yes it was!!! And there I was, 10 days after I arrived in England, strolling in the corridors of Hogwarts! Then every time I went there, it was stronger than me, I had to go in the cathedral. I’m sure you can imagine how happy and excited I was ( and if you don’t like Harry Potter, just imagine yourself driving a flying Delorean are being part of the fellowship of the Ring :P), I felt like a child when I saw the place, but I got even more excited later: a man offered us have a look inside a room, which was the classroom of Professor Minerva McGonagall! :D

In October 2011, I went to Asda, as I did twice a week. It was the day the dvds of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 were on sale. Guess who was there, at the entrance of the shop? Nope, it’s not J.K. Rowling; nope, not Daniel Radcliffe (by the way, I would have preferred Matthew Lewis J ); it was a owl! A real one! I was used to having my camera everywhere I went, except when I went shopping… too bad for me L But it was fun- very surprising, but fun 

The first weekend of December, I went to the Christmas fair in Durham. I went to the mass, first because I like to go to church in the towns I go to, second because I wanted to know what it was to sing and prey in such a terrific cathedral. Then, on the fair, I met Dumbledore and one of his colleague ( true story). They were selling spoons which looked like magic wands – of course, I bought several of these!

At the beginning of December, a week after Durham’ Christmas fair, thanks to the money I managed to spare ( and it’s really hard for a spendthrift like me), I went to Edinburgh. I had ever been to Edinburgh when I was 13, and I felt the magic of the place again. It’s weird to feel home in this city because I have never lived there, but that’s the way I feel when I’m there. I’ll talk about Edinburgh later, I have so many things to say about it! Just mentioned it because that’s the place where the magic started… we all know the story: a single mother, who did not have much money, taking care of her daughter Jessica, sitting at a table in The Elephant House… I found the café unexpectedly, when I was on my way to the National Museum. I felt as if I could actually touch magic J

Later, in March, I went to London to celebrate St Patrick’s day with French friends, two of them living in London, one in Hamburg (Germany), and one (my boyfriend J ) from Paris. Actually, to go to London, I had to take the train for about three hours, and my boyfriend had three hours as well with the train to Paris and then the Eurostar. Perfect timing J And in London, obviously, what do you do when you go there ( except that you spend half of your salary in one weekend)? Of course you get a picture of you on your way to the platform 9 ¾!!!

In April, I also travelled to York, first to visit the town, but also because I've been told about the train museum in which there is... THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS :D

Last, but not least, the last weekend I spent in the UK, I was with my friend Val and her daughter Lizzie, who was two years older than me, and we went to Alnwick Castle. I wanted to visit something great for the very last weekend as a French Language Assistant, but I wasn’t expecting something so cool. If you don’t know Alnwick Castle, go there! It’s really impressive, medieval style outside, Renaissance inside-there is even furniture from the castle of Versailles! But the best for me ( I know, Julie here, Julie there- hey, that’s my blog!) so I mean, the best for someone who is fond of Harry Potter was the Quidditch lesson! I know it wasn’t real (or was it? o_O) but I had really good fun riding a broom (and I wasn’t the only adult if that’s what you’re wondering ;) )

                                                                 Impressive, isn't it? :)

The teachers and I (cool guys!)

So, if you like Harry Potter, or simply if you want to discover something new, just travel from London to Edinburgh J

Because I have Decided to be a Student...

Because I have decided to be a student, things have been much more complicated - and much less fun. On the 3rd of October (yes, I did a lot of things that day...), I had to fill a document to send to Nanterre which said: " I, undersigned Julie, something something something, want to study civilization with missus *********, literature with missus **********, translation, phonology, grammar, theatre, oral and all that stuff in Nanterre, etc etc". I emailed it to our dear secretary, praying, crossing my fingers she would register me as a student in Master 1. To be sure I won't be forgotten, I also emailed all the professors whose lessons I will study. Two of them, the professors of grammar and translation, answered nearly as soon as I emailed them. One of them answered me only when I told her "Missus ********** gave me your email address because I think you didn't receive the previous mails I sent you" ( she did receive them... no comment), and another one answered a month and a half later, to tell me that " this lesson cannot be studied if you're not at University!!!" Well, thank you miss, you answered so quickly that now, it's too late for me to follow another lesson. You B****...

In this case, when you don't have support from the professors, you have to have friends. Really good friends. The kind of friends who will scan all their sheets to send you the lessons (thank you Caro, Aurélia, Aurélie, Hélène, Aziz, Nathalie, Gwen, Marion...). Thanks to them, I could enjoy the lovely fact of studying in England. I wanted to do my best. I wanted to succeed. I wanted to pass this year not to waste time ( though this year in England was not a waste of time at all). Missus B****** sent me all the texts I had to translate, I went to the Watergate in Durham to order several books for literature and theatre, I brought my netbook with me at school to work during breaks, and to revise as well. I worked all day, I studied all evening. I was SERIOUS! The only problem was civilization, I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do...

When December came, I didn't know what I had to do. One of the professors said that we (the assistants) could stay in England and have our exams in September. Another one said we had better to come to university in January, have our exams, so that we could resit it in September. Because I was not sure what to expect from exams, I decided, and I was not the only one, to come back to France in January. The headteacher agreed that I leave school for two weeks, I would only have to work on Fridays when I would come back. Nick, you rock!

Yes, my room looks like a library...




With Nath and Gwen, we had almost the same exams. We were together through the highs and lows... Such as when we had to get our exam of phonology. None of us knew what it was about, and the professor in charge of it never answered our emails. We knew what it consisted in the night before. We all passed it! :-D
Concerning civilization, well... Because I didn't have the documents to learn, I revised monarchy and royalty in England between 1509 and 1901. The subject was " unemployment of children in Northern England between 1680 and 1820" ===> OK! (No surprise, I didn't get a really good mark for that one...)
For the other lessons, though I expected good marks, I did better. Not that good, but better. It was just hard to enjoy a novel which deals with pedophilia and necrophilia (thank you Angela Carter). I need to tell you something that happened at the end of my exam of literature: I told the professor "Miss, I need to ask you something. I wanted to use the word "threesome" in my essay, but I think it's a bit rude" ans she answered "No No, that's fine, you can use this word". When I came back to Bishop Auckland, I asked Chris if I really could use that word, to which he answered " Noooooo! You can use that word with friends, but don't say it again in this school!" Ok, so, to be clear, I was right not to use it in my essay, though Miss IknowEnglishBetterThanYouForIamTheTeacher said I could... I'm disgusted I am judged by people who don't know anything about slang. So what else miss, you think a blue waffle is something you can buy in a bakery??? Silly thing...

Time went by, and the next session of exams was at the beginning of June. I'm waiting for the results. I hope I pass! I worked a lot on Shakespeare ( I read Henry V and Richard III several times, I watched the movies, I searched a lot of documents about it... cross my fingers!) and now, as you are reading me, I have to write a "mémoire" ( around 60 pages) of what I did this year - of course I won't write the same things I write here, I rather have to write my educational project as I want to be a teacher.

So, I spent my days at school and my evenings studying. However, I chose not to work on weekends. After all, I was there only for 9 months, I wanted to take the most of it and discover England!

Real first day - after school

My first day at school has been long and "riche en émotions", for I had to meet everybody, start the work with 4 different classes and remember the name of the students... If at first I was ashamed I couldn't remember everything, at the end of the year, I still didn't know some names and some members of staff - but they didn't know my name as well! Moreover, I was the first French assistant to work in this school. I was a kind of "novelty". One of my friends confessed, during the last evening I spent in England, that the first month I was at school, he didn't know what I was there for...


First French assistant indeed, that's the reason why I wanted to show the people in charge of assistantship in county Durham that I fitted the job. " Your first mission, if you accept it" was to go to a meeting organised in Newcastle, in a university. The only time I had been to Newcastle before was... when I arrived at the airport. Nothing else. After school, Anna told me how to go to Newcastle, and which directions to take from the train station to find the university. Take the bus from Bishop Auckland, go to Durham, take the train to Newcastle, find this street, go right, ...
Well, I had been to Durham by car, I didn't know where the train station was, and I must admit I was afraid to take the train, alone, for the first time... And my feet were crying for mercy in my high heels shoes.


Step one: school- bus station. Easy, I would have to do this every week-day then. Relief: the bus I usually takes goes to Newcastle :-D and as I'm childish, I sat on the front seat of the upper deck. It may seem silly for you, English readers, but for a French girl like me, it's really exciting! And let me tell you my boyfriend was really excited too about sitting in a double decker bus when we met in London!

Let's go to Newcastle. Two hours. I enjoy travelling in general, and then I had my eyes wide open. You see thing differently when you are in the upper deck of a bus. I saw Durham's Cathedral and the castle, Chester-le-street and its shopping center, the Angel of the North, Gateshead and Newcastle.

When I finally arrived in Newcastle, I read the note Anna left me with the directions I should take to find the university. Well... She gave me the directions from the train station, not from the bus station. So, I did as I usually do when I have to find a place: I walked. I saw Haymarket, Monument, the main street with all the shops, stopped to ask two guys where the university was ( "which one?" " what, d'you mean there is more than one in Newcastle?" "yep" "well... the one with a building called Henry V"), stopped again to ask my way to a policeman, stopped once more to check if my feet were still alive, crossed the road, followed a few Chinese girls... who were actually going to the university I was looking for. YES :D

I only had five minutes to find the room. The meeting was taking place in the building Henry V, which was the first building on the left. Easy to find. The room was well indicated, with lots of signs on the walls. When I arrived, I was:

- relieved

- bright pink

- sweating

- thirsty

-on time!

I was offered a glass of wine, sat down and waited for the meeting to start. A lot of foreign language assistants were there with their mentor or their roommate with whom they work at school. I was alone. A girl came and talk to me, Heike, a German language assisatnt in Hartlepool. She was living with her roommate Marion and they were here with another French guy. That guy scared me when he told he had to call his mother about his CRB check, documents for school and NHS... I had nothing of all this. I just wanted him to stop freaking me out! As if I was not nervous already...

The meeting started. The man talked about school and introduced some teachers. It lasted ten minutes. Then, we were told that around Newcastle, the accent is quite difficult to understand, and the vocabulary used is not proper English. NO, REALLY??? o_O what a surprised ><"

He made us repeat the sentence " She sells seashells by the seashore" and told us the world "hinny" stands for "honey" in Geordie. Then, he asked us to leave our internet address to be warned for next meetings. That's all. I spent two hours in a bus, half an hour in the streets with feet on fire for, let's say, a meeting which lasted half an hour, and I had to spend two other hours on the bus to go back home...

I felt like I wasted my time at this meeting - at least, the school had a proof that I was involved. Nevertheless, right after the meeting, I exchanged phone numbers and face book details with Marion. I didn't know it yet, but she was about to become my friend - and a very good friend :)

Real first day - daytime

Monday, 3rd of October 2011, first day at school. Remember, in a previous article I told you I spent the previous night out. So, when I woke up… God, my ears...

Nevermind. I had to be in the best shape I had never been. After all, I was going to meet around 200 pupils this week, and all the members of staff. Eye of the Tiger. I remembered what Anna told me about the dress code: “something smart, but casual”. Grey trousers, purple top, high heels…  make up ( or “how a girl can feel more confident behind chemical stuff”).Really, though I met Anna before,  I was so so so nervous :s.

That stupid nervosity increased when I reached the bus stop. Not that I was scared I could miss the bus or take one which didn’t go to Bishop, nooooooooooo. I’m not that silly, I can read timetable. No, what scared me was black, maroon, about 1,60meter tall and talkative… Children! Yes, during a year, I had to wait for the bus with students of Saint John’s catholic school (even if, trust me or not, the kind of things they discussed of were not very catholic…).

Bishop Auckland, bus station. Only after a while I found out it was better for me to stop in the town center to be on time… But I have never been late at school (indeed, I can run quite well with high heels).

At school, I discovered how it works. Blue badge for members of staff like teachers, green badge for 6^th forms, red badge for teaching assistants and visitors. Sign in in the morning, sign out when you leave school. I wondered if they sold maps of the school at the office, and I thought I could look stupid if I asked one. I looked around me for a sign with “French class: this way” written on it, but couldn’t find it. I decided to stay next to the office for a while, until I saw someone I recognized and that I could follow. Yeah, that’s clever, I know J

I didn’t know my timetable but heart then. I only knew who I had to work with (Anna, Janet, Anna, Anna on Monday), but not the classes I would meet. Anna was reassuring and explained me everything. The first class was the year 8A. 12 or 13 years old, good level. Anna asked me to introduce myself, in French, to the class. They didn’t understand. So, I did it in English, and then they asked me a lot of questions. I was expected something like “what did you do/study to work here?”, “Is it hard to move far from home?” but what they asked was more… well, it was different. I had to answer questions such as “ have you ever been to Disneyland Paris?”, “Do you eat snails?” ( I did when I was a kid, until I discovered what it actually was… Hey, don’t look disgusted, I’m French!), “ Do you eat frog legs?” No, but I used them for science, “Do you live in England?” No, I’m so rich I take the plane everyday honey ><”

They all asked the same kind of question. On Thursday, Thomas, Year7A, asked if I had children… At least, it was different from the other questions.

During the first week, when I met the students/children, they all look lovely (except for some year 11… Ha, teenagers!) though some of them tried to make friends with me ( which was useless because I was not the one who would mark their work hihi). Lovely indeed, but it was only the beginning…