thankful, even though there's no French word for it

Let's go back in time...

My 23rd birthday! I LOVE celebrating birthdays, and we do them big in the Wedemeyer/Yeaworth family, so we tried to recreate that joyous ongoing celebration even in France. On Saturday night (before my bday) my friends came over and we had Pizza Hut and coke and cider (all my favorites) and they made me a chocolate cake with chocolate bar and marshmallows melted on top! It was absolutely scrumptious and so much fun. Tuesday, my actual birthday, was chock full from beginning to end. I took the early train to school to pick up a form that I'd forgotten. Then I came back to the city and had eggs, pancakes, toast, oj, the whole shebang at Breakfast in America. So great. The day continued with shopping at H&M and then a visit to the Préfecture de Police to finish my application for my carte de séjour. Afterwards, I went thrift store shopping, and I found the same store that Kara and I browsed in for hours when we studied abroad years ago. It was such fun! That night I went out to a fancy Thanksgiving dinner with two of the English teachers from the lycée where I work. It was delish, and they even sang me Happy Birthday and put a candle in my lemon meringue pie! 

Thanksgiving is SO not the same in France. I tried to teach all my classes about it, but most were disinterested. I think the fact that there's really no word for "grateful" should have been a sign that a holiday based completely on that concept might not resonate well with French teens. Anyway, last Thursday I overslept, missed my 8am and 9am classes, and rushed right out so that I could at least be there for my 11am class. The Spanish teachers aren't usually at school on Thursdays, but I had the pleasant surprise of being able to chat with them (that helped turn my day around), and one even invited me to have tapas with them and all their friends! It's really exciting to start to have friends even outside of the other assistants, just so that I feel like a professional. ;) I had lunch at the KFC where I read some Harry Potter. (9-year-old Paul is lending me his HP books one by one since I've never read them. So far, I love them! I finished #2 today on the train home today, and I'm so excited to read the next one.) Then I had a new group of students in my atelier de la conversation at the collège, and they are so fun! Really interested in English and willing to talk. Perfect. I caught the early train home, and my friend Mary Beth texted me and we met up and had a delicious five-course Thanksgiving dinner at The American Dream! Yum. After a peaceful bubble bath, it was a magnificent Thanksgiving after all!

On Friday I woke up early so I got the train early so I got to school early. It was nice to have plenty of time to catch my breath instead of rushing off to class. My 9am group was wonderful! They're one of my favorites: so enthusiastic and friendly, really willing to speak English and learn the nuances of the language. It is so much fun! Then I had lunch with three of my students. I was walking with my tray to the faculty room, where I usually eat with all the teachers, and all of a sudden I heard, "Katie! Katie! Come eat with us!!" What a treat and a sweet invitation! And it was such fun to chat with them. They wanna make it a weekly date! I love having kids say hi and want to chat in the hall. What a unique and marvelous position it is to be a Teaching Assistant. I'm loving getting to know people at my schools and being someone they can come to when they need a friend or smile. 

This weekend I babysat a bunch, had delicious hot chocolate at yet another adorable café, went to Hillsong worship on Sunday morning, and then had a dinner party at James and Tom's where we made homemade pasta and watched 12 angry men. So fun! Yesterday we had Breakfast in America again, and then hung out at Starbucks for a while, journalling and chatting and relaxing. After babysitting, I met up with some friends for Music Quiz, a delightful trivia night at Longhop bar. We didn't make it to the semi-finals like we did last week, but it was still a blast! Today was a magnificent day, with no tardiness and little stress. All four of my classes were wonderful. We talked and laughed and sang and joked, and I even made new friends! It's really fun to see the differences between students that are 14, 16, and 18 years old. Younger ones love High School Musical, and say so proudly, and older ones smoke and try to act like they don't love anything. But I'm having fun drawing the silliness out of them, bit by bit. Laughter is amazingly powerful. 

With soft raindrops gently serenading me, I think I'll get rested up for the the days ahead: more time with my sweet b-sitting kids, my kind Assistant friends, and my lovely home away from home. Sacre bleu, there sure is a lot to be thankful for! 

Paris holds the key to your heart

It's so nice to be getting back in the swing of things around here! Vacation was such a lovely treat, but having so much free time makes it really easy to think about home, and all the people and places that I dreadfully miss. I'd rather be out of my mind with busy-ness than have so much spare time that I start to want to go home. So I've been making the most of my freedom and deliberately spending each moment, soaking up the nuances of this enchanting city. 

During this first vacation I spent time with a new crew, and had a blast listening to their melodic English accents and commiserating about the challenges of life abroad. My blond British boys are absolutely delightful: what a blessing to have two chivalrous, hilarious, beautiful young men to spend time with, as well as their charming group of friends. We frolicked up by Sacre Coeur, dancing and singing HSM3 tunes; we saw VickyCristinaBarcelona and Quantom of Solace (so cool); we ate Chinese food and pizza and Thai food and crêpes and quiches and croques and gelato and réligieuses and so much more; and we explored the meandering streets of this gigantic yet increasingly familiar city. A special treat was that I got to have dinner with Betsy and her parents who were in town. It's so nice to be around family for a while, even when it's not actually mine - good for the soul. It's amazing that in a metropolitan ville that's home to millions and millions of strangers, you can run into a friend just on the way to a café. That's the beauty of life here: this big city doesn't seem so huge anymore.

Speaking of what a small world it is, after all... I went to Disneyland!!! EuroDisney, right outside of Paris. On Halloween four other assistants and I went and played our little hearts out in the most magical place on earth (at least on this continent). We rode on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Teacups, the Haunted House (how brave am I?!), tons of other rides, and Space Mountain 2 twice - it actually goes upside-down! We had pizza-burgers for lunch, cool idea but not as delish as it sounds like it could be, and I got my favorite treat: cotton candy! Or as they say in England, candy floss, or in France, barbe à papa. Sweetness for the tummy and the soul. It was rainy and cold and could have been a miserable day, but since we were in the happiest place on earth, we had the happiest day - wahoo!

Teaching is going well. On Thursday and Friday I had the pleasure of my first train strike... fortunately, since they're scheduled grèves, you can usually track down the schedule and see what trains are running, when and where, but on Friday everything was conspiring against me. It was raining and I was an instant late each step of the way (I literally ran up just in time to watch my train pull away), which caused me to be thirty minutes late to school - eek! Thankfully I have such kinda teachers who gave me extra grace since the trains were wacky, and overall it ended up being a fine Friday. 

Babysitting's going wonderfully, as well. I am completely crazy about the kids that I take care of, and I think the feeling is mutual. :) Georges and I have the greatest conversations. I love the matter-of-fact way in which he sees life: everything is so simple and clear to him, even when it's not the same as the reality familiar to adults. It's refreshing for me to see how honest and earnest he is. When he's happy and he loves you, you absolutely know it. When he's unhappy or cross at all, you know it, too.  Fortunately, he's generally joyful, and his playful spirit reminds me so much of Hunter (my precious cousin and best friend for life) that it makes my heart soar! It's such a treat to have a little substitute to play with while I'm so far away from my actual family. Georges looks a lot like Luke, my other wonderful cousin, so I have sweet family coming from all sides to keep me company over here. 

This weekend I went to worship at Hillsong Church, a glorious and spirit-filled house where passion and love truly reign. I'm really excited about getting involved with that family, starting with the Welcome to Church party this Saturday night. One really cool thing about this church is that it's the same group as Hillsong United, one of my favorite worship groups, based in Australia. We've sung a few songs over the past couple weeks that I've loved, but when I googled the lyrics to try to download them, they're not even published yet! So we get to experience worship songs while they're still a work in progress. What a treat. It feels so earnest and heartfelt since it's not studio-censored or commercialized... just pure, joyful, singing love to God. 

Okay, that's all for now - time to go to sleep so that tomorrow morning can be productive with laundry and a visit to the préfecture... soon I'll be a legitimate, short-term French citizen! :)