National Anthem

I wanted to describe the kids' personalities a bit.
First, Pablo, the 4-year old. It never fails that during dinner time, he has to use the toilet. The rest of us are peacefully eating when we hear strange sounds coming from upstairs. At first, it sounds a bit like crying, but when you listen closely, it is actually the Australian national anthem. Yes, Pablo sings the Australian national anthem when sitting on the pot. It is frickin hilarious. I keep telling his mom that we need to record it for when he's older. After he comes back to the table, we ask him to sing it for us, but he always refuses and says, "not until after dinnah" in a cute whiny Australian accent. The kid can be really entertaining, but then the next minute a kicking, screaming drama queen. He's pretty jolly most of the time though.

Elliot, the 7-year old is very sensitive. The slightest thing can set him in a crying, bad mood. The good thing about that though is that he gets over it quickly and can be the happiest, bubbliest kid in the world. It seems that every night (at least last week and this) he has a tempertantrum before dinner and then is fine the rest of the night. I really don't know what's going on with him. He is a pretty sweet kid overall though.

Chloe is a bit bossy. She can be very loving, but everything has to be a certain way. She makes sure her brothers and everyone else follow the rules, except doesn't quite hold the same standards to herself. She means well most of the time, but can be a bit moody.

I'm really curious to see how my relationships with all the kids develops. So far, I feel like I've integrated into the family pretty quickly. The kids all seem to be fine with me being here. I have to remind myself that I've only been here 2 and a half weeks.

So, just a bit about my school. I've once again changed classes. I swear, I've never had to deal with administrative ignorance like this before. I found out that there is another beginner class that I could have gone into that started last week. It's not for au pairs because it's everyday (the kids are off wendesdays), but it's so much better than my other class. This one seems to be following a logical grammatical path, where as the other one just bounced from topic to topic. It doesn't matter how much the teacher speaks to me in French, if I don't understand why things are the way they are, then I will never get it. Anyway, I'm going to try this class and hope that it works out better. I think it will...

Lessons...

Do not do any activity that could remotely be confrontational right before bedtime (basically everything)
Do not do or say anything yourself that you want the kids to repeat over and over and over
Do not laugh at anything you don't want the kids to repeat over and over and over
"No" does not equal compliance and re-direction does not always work on the committed
TV is not necessarily all bad

Loza Lives!

I forgot to mention yesterday that it snowed! I woke up to big flakes landing on my skylight. The ground was too warm for it to stick, but I don't think fresh snow will ever get old for me. Today it rained in the afternoon and a rainbow came out. Not the most novel thing in the world, but I really enjoyed it especially with the old Parisian buildings in the foreground. Ah, I have a picture, I will post it.

Today was a pretty good day. In my French class, we learned how to describe physical features. If you call someone noir, you are referring to their skin. If you want to say they have black hair, you have to say chauveux first. It was good because everyone in the class was learning it for the first time, so we all struggled together (not just me). It was pretty funny when we made mistakes and it felt good to laugh.

Let's see...Oh, I found an ultimate team to play with! Well, at least I found out where they practice. Tomorrow (Friday) I am going to check it out. If that doesn't work out, it's still OK. I might pick up with a team from Paris for a beach tournament in Spain at the end of the month. Ooooh, I hope that works out!!!!

Viola!

Today was my second Macrede (Wednesday) in Paris. Meaning, the kids didn't have school. It was a pretty good day overall. Denis (their dad) came over around 13:00 then we took the bus to one of the many local swimming pools. I hadn't been swimming in a pool in a long time and I have to say, I had a lot of fun. Also, no major temper tantrums or crying episodes. I had to scold Chloe for not clearing the table when she said she would, but other than that, everyone seemed to get a long pretty well (and my scolding probably doesn't have the bite that some others may have).

I feel like I'm finally starting to get better because I realized that some of the food I've been eating actually has a different taste than I originally thought. Now that my nose is less stuffy, everything has much more flavor! It's funny though, I found when doing my homework that some of the French words were easier to pronounce with a stuffy nose.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I have 2hrs of class then the rest of the afternoon free. I think I'm going to give my brain a bit of a rest and go see Babel at the theater close to my school. I guess the American movies are all in English with French subtitles. There are a lot of marketing for American movies here! Everywhere on the metro there is either a poster for Nuit en le Musee (Night at the Museum) or Hannibal or something. It's pretty obnoxious. Anne-Marie told me that the French government actually had to pass a law forcing French TV stations to show a certain percentage of French TV shows because all they were showing were American ones. Speaking of which I haven't talked at all about French TV. Pretty much all I've watched to far are cartoons, but they are pretty cool. There is one that the kids watch all the time that, from what I can tell, is about history. From what I gather, there are French explorers that travel to different historical periods/events and interact with the characters there. This morning the cartoon was about people going from Oklahoma to Oregon on the Oregon Trail!! How cool is that? Of course there is still all the marketing to kids during the breaks and I swear after every one Chloe says, "I want that!" How many little pocket ponies or whatever do you need? I guess it's not about need eh. I haven't watched too much TV otherwise, but I'm curious to see the differences. There is so much else to do though, I'll get around to it later. Ah, I can ramble on for quite a while, but I need to stop... Oh, totally off the subject, I found out today that France runs on about 85% nuclear energy. Interesting huh? In the 60's they made a decision not to depend on petroleum and sell their energy to surrounding countries. Where do they put the waste you ask?? Hmm, good question.

Alright enough, I'll write more later. Keep in touch!!!

PS: Above is a link to a French news website that Denis sent me. There don't seem to be too many stories, but it is very worldly and best of all, UN-SENSATIONAL. I frickin hate when the news tries to entertain. Just tell us what frickin happened. Anyway, if you can't see the link, you can still click on the box and it will take you there (same goes for the link to my pictures as well).

Adventures in Babysitting

Apparently, the picture link didn't work. Try this one...
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=lauren.gross&aid=576460762388442820&pid=&wtok=hClHu5i56iRJAVNMD4F4Yw--&ts=1170799925&.src=ph

La Petit Explorer

Ok, a lot has happened since I last wrote in this here blog. I continue to swing from good feelings to bad to good to bad, etc.. I have only a bit of time to write as I have some homework to do before bed and before my brain starts to seize up entirely. I will write a bit about my exploration adventures, my visa and school bureaucracy and learning adventures, the kids, and bitching about being sick.

And, if you don't want to read this long story, here is a link to some pictures:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/lauren.gross/album/576460762388442820

First, my exploration adventures:
Some time last week, after dropping the kids off at school, I didn't have class so I decided to just walk around. You really can't get too lost in Paris. Even without a map, all you have to do is find a metro station and you can find your way from there. So from their school, I took a bridge across La Seine and just walked through the little alleys. I turn a corner and voila! Notre-Dame. It was great being there at 9am because no one else was around and they were having a church service. Listening to the chanting and singing in that great big church was absolutely amazing! I didn't stay long, but really enjoyed myself.
Last Saturday I was still a bit sick, but it was such a nice day that I had to get out in the sunshine and fresh air. I went up to Sacre-Coeur, which is another famous church on to of the highest hill (?) in Paris. It was beautiful and you have a view of the whole city from there. That minor excursion took so much energy, I went home and slept until pretty much the next morning. (sorry, not to the bitching part yet).
Sunday, Anne-Marie, Pablo and I went to the local open air market to get groceries for the week. There are markets like this all over Paris, all selling cheese and meat and bread and fruit, and vegetables and fish and ahhh...

On to the Visa and School:
Briefly on the visa: went to get my card. Did all the paper work, talked to the people, got everything in order, waited in line...then they tell me, "well, we have to wait 6 weeks to "make a decision about your visa" then at the end of the 6 weeks you have to take a medical examination. What?! Fine, I know, it's not the worst thing, but hey, it's a pain in the ass and I can bitch about it because it's my blog.
Briefly on the School: I have to say it is a really strange experience sitting in class not knowing what the hell is going on. Yeah, I can pick up on some things and try to answer the way the teacher wants me to when it's my turn to answer, but I usually pronounce it wrong or have no idea what the exercise is about. It sounds funny now, but it really sucks and it's frustrating. Yes, it was only my second day of class, but patience was never a virtue of mine when it comes to things like this. And with the kids and class it's a bit difficult to find time for homework. Ok, in addition to walking more, and saying what's in my head (eloquently if possible), my other new year's resolution is to plan and prioritize my time.

Ah, the kids:
I don't think I have enough time now to give this topic justice (really not the other topics either). The kids are both great and aggravating. Which, I have to say, I prefer. At least they are being themselves. There is a lot going on in this family now with the whole family moving back to Paris and with the parents splitting up and of course a new person taking care of them. It was my first time giving the two boys a bath the other night and I might as well have gotten in the shower with them because I was pretty wet by the end as well. And, tonight I was very proud of myself for getting them to eat all of their lettuce by pretending that they were sharks and the lettuce was little fish that they were gobbling up. Hey, if it works, I'm gonna ride it out as long as possible. The mom works pretty late some nights and I can tell the kids really don't like it. It's good for them to cry and let it out, but it's hard to see them sad. Anyway, that's the jist, I'll write more next time.

Last, being sick:
This probably won't be a very interesting bit, but it feels good to bitch into the internet void so here it goes...
I have been sick now for going on three weeks! First, it started as a cough then moved into my sinuses and last week/weekend I had a headache for 3 days!!!! It is amazing how much we take being healthy for granted! I have never ever experienced that! Holy shit it sucked. From Friday night until just this morning I had to turn my head very slowly for fear of what felt like a sharp whap to the back of the head feeling. I'm pretty sure it had to do with pressure from my sinuses, a bit of dehydration, and a bit of jet lag still. Thank the lord for making me put 3 little Advils in my toiletry bag before I left the states! Saturday I woke up around 9, had breakfast, went back to sleep, woke up around noon and went out to explore. I came home around 3:30 and slept pretty much until 8:30 the next morning. Luckily, Anne-Marie and the kids were at a birthday party all afternoon and evening, so I didn't feel bad about not being around. I do feel better today, but definitely not all better. Speaking of sleep it's now 10:30 and time to go to bed. I will do my homework before class tomorrow since I drop the kids off at 9 and my class is not until 11. Ah, this will be interesting...

Thanks for reading, Bon Nuit.

But I am le tired

It is only my 4th day on the job and I am exhausted! I am still sick and I am expending a lot more energy than I thought. The kids don't have school on Wednesdays so we (the grandparents and I) took them to the science museum in the afternoon. It seemed like it would have been a really interesting exposition on space if only I could have understood what was being said. We got home and had crepes for dinner with a variety of toppings (creme fresh, jam and nutella) for the second night in a row and soup. Tonight we ate waffles. I asked Chloe if this was normal and she said yes. Seriously, what a great country.

I had a good and bad day today. First the bad: I had my first day of French today and had to deal with the school bureaucracy. Apparently I need a paper saying that I need 10hours of French per week to qualify for my temporary visa. The paper the school gave me previously said that I only have 6hours. They were supposed to put 6hours of class and 4 of homework. Because they didn't do this (and after arguing with them for about 40minutes), I had to cough up another 100 euros and register for the 10hour class. This means that I will have 10 hours of class plus homework. That doesn't sound too bad initially, but I am extremely pissed as this. There is a huge difference between 6 and 10 hours and the normal hours for au pair is the 6 hour class. The good thing is that I will have more practice than the other au pairs, the bad is that it is coming after the term is already 3 weeks in.

The good: I asked some people where the post office was in French and understood enough of the answer to actually find it all on my lonesome. I also managed to maneuver my way to my school and back home using two different metro lines. Did I mention that my language school is about 5 blocks from the Arc d' Triumph?

Well, tomorrow I don't have class, but I do have to deal with more bureaucracy when applying for my temporary visa. Arrg, I don't want to think about it...