"Leggo"

INTRO

Oh January, oh January, oh where'd you go January? I kind of knew this would happen. You know, that I wouldn't write to you for a long time again. I also kind of had a feeling that I might end up hearing from one of the graduate schools to which I applied that had rolling admissions (Northwestern) before I finished my fourth and final application to the school (Virginia) with the latest deadline: February 15th. Well, I'm pleased to report that I submitted my application to the postgraduate Master of Teaching program at UVA's Curry School of Education last night (January 31st), and am now done with that part of the process. I am also thrilled to announce that I did, indeed, hear from Northwestern before I had the chance to finish the UVA app. As I arrived home from a snowy night at the movies on the evening of January 18th, something told me to stop by the common room in order to check my email on one of the desktops. Upon opening the letter attached to an email from an admissions officer, I found those words that make your heart swell with joy:

"Dear Ms. Lyles:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted for graduate study as a matriculated student in Northwestern University's Master of Science in Education Program in the area of Secondary Teaching - French (K-12 standard special certificate) beginning in Summer 2013."

Hallelujah! Now I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that graduate school is at least a real possibility. Unfortunately, there was nothing about merit scholarships or graduate assistantship included with the mailing I received, but I'll keep patiently waiting to see if they send further info as well as to hear from the other schools to which I've applied (Wash U, Stanford, and Virginia). I did start filling out my FAFSA today, though, in order to qualify for loans from the government, and, unlike the experience I had during my undergraduate process, it confirmed that, now that I've left the security of my parents' nest, I'm pretty much broke.

This post is a little random, but now that February's here, I knew I had to get something up. Besides this intro and the conclusion (which explains the title of the post), there are three parts, each of which includes pictures: Class Photos, The Snow, and The Void. I guess you'll just have to go check them out to see what they're about. Hope all is well with all of you. Enjoy!

I. CLASS PHOTOS 

I was told both before and after the holidays that my schedule was going to change such that I would no longer be working with the same groups of students, effective the week of January 28th. Well...as of the time of writing to you on February 1st, I have yet to see said new schedule. So I awkwardly took pictures with (or of) my classes during the week of the 21st and kind of said goodbye to them, then reappeared the week of the 28th. Thankfully, they seemed pleasantly rather than unpleasantly surprised. So here are most (but not all) of the faces I've had staring back at me since October. Keep in mind that I was typically responsible for 1/2 or 1/3 of the groups at a time based on the class size.

Wednesdays @ 8:25 am - "11th graders" (or at least the age equivalent thereof) on the literature track.

Wednesdays @ 9:25 am - "10th graders" not yet on an academic track. (Oh, and it was super abnormal for us to be in the language lab on this day. The teacher asked me to work alongside her rather than taking a group on my own because they had a special project to complete.)

Wednesdays @ 11:35 am - 1st year associate's degree students on the international trade track. (For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, this is the one I chose for my new cover photo to replace the great drawing by my college friend Stenka that represents me as a doctor. Thought it was a bit outdated...)

The class that meets at 10:35 am on Thursdays was cancelled on 1/24, so I ended up taking a picture of a subset of them on 1/31 (last one in this series). Sorry if the interruption in the chronology upsets you ;)

Thursdays @ 11:35 am - "12th graders" on the literature track.

[Haven't yet managed to get a photo of the English-language History/Geography class for "12th graders" that meets from 12:55-2:50 on Thursdays, but I'm pretty sure I'm working with them for the duration of my contract.]

Thursdays @ 2:55 pm - "10th graders" not yet on an academic track.

Thursdays @ 4:05 pm - "10th graders" not yet on an academic track.

[My rowdiest class, which meets on Fridays at 1:55 pm, started "acting a fool" when the teacher announced that she was going to take our photo, so she wouldn't allow it. Then at the end of our breakout section in another building, the group of students I'd worked with asked a girl in the hallway to come take the picture for us, but it wasn't there when I went to look for it afterwards! And I totally forgot about it with the group I had today (2/1) because I was so focused on keeping the class running smoothly. So much for that.... I think I'm working with them for the duration of my contract as well, though, because the teacher said she appreciates being able to split the class in half once a week.]

Fridays @ 2:55 pm - "10th graders" not yet on an academic track. (If not for my characteristic smile, I feel like I would blend right in with them. Plus I'm still wearing my black coat because I'd come from another building to get to this classroom.)

Fridays @ 4:05 pm - "12th graders" on the Sciences track. (If you're looking for me, you won't find me. When I said something about taking a picture, this teacher just sent all the students to my classroom, and it wasn't worth it to clarify that I wanted her to come take the photo for us.)

The aforementioned class that meets on Thursdays @ 10:35 am - 2nd year associate's degree students on the international trade track. (This time the teacher seemed too stressed out to be bothered at the beginning of class, so I just took a picture of my small group at the end of our breakout section. Don't know why about 4 of them were absent from this third of the class.)

II. THE SNOW

So as I locked the door behind me at the end of one of my classes on Friday the 18th of January, my faculty colleague next door - one of the ones who opened this door for me in the past when I didn't have the right key for this building and who always steps out of his room to say a few words in English to me during this class change now - told me that he thought it was going to snow. I replied that I'd heard it was supposed to snow over the weekend, but he said, "No, tonight!" Little did I know that he was exactly right. As I exited the train station in Paris after commuting home from the high school in the suburbs where I work, I was greeted by snow flurries. But this time, unlike the other night (Tuesday 1/15) when I'd walked home from Young Adult Bible Study at the American Church and updated my Facebook status to include these meaningless flakes, the snow was here to stay...for days!

These 2 photos show what the courtyard of my building looked like when I went back out to the movies with my friend Verity after eating dinner on Friday 1/18. It was still actively snowing. One of my hallmates was like, "You must really want to see The Life of Pi!"

These are some photos I took on my walk home from the movie theater. It had been snowing for at least 5 hours or so by now.

The snow was so ugly on the streets! I had never noticed that before. Oh, life in metro Atlanta...

It was about at this moment that I noticed a couple of drunk guys armed with snowballs that they were launching at us innocent pedestrians. I gave one of them my best "You wouldn't dare" look (Mallory knows what I mean), and his expression immediately changed from one of pleasure to one of fright. He then told me he'd throw a snowball at a couple involved in PDA instead because "they deserve it, don't you agree?" Unfortunately, his partner-in-crime totally missed this whole interaction, so he threw a snowball at my back as I walked away.

Mom, Dad, and Mallory: You should recognize something in this photo...

I meant for this to be a before-and-after type of deal with the entry courtyard to my building, but I don't know if you can really tell how much snow had accumulated since it was so dark.

This is a photo I took on Saturday morning (1/19) looking out of my window down into another courtyard that my room overlooks. I don't think it was snowing at this moment, but there was still a lot of ground cover.

Again, out of my window on Saturday, looking at a balcony/fire escape-thing across the way.

On Sunday 1/20, I decided to go to both of my regular churches (French and English-speaking) as usual, in spite of the fact that I was startled to find snow pouring down outside the window when I went to make breakfast that morning. (I guess I hadn't opened my bedroom window while getting ready.) On my walk home from the American Church that afternoon, I found this guy. 

This is pretty much the same photo as the one above it, but I moved over slightly to the left in order to get the French flag in the shot. So now you KNOW that I'm in France, in case there was any doubt ;)

Doesn't this just look like a winter wonderland?

Or how about this one? Everyone was enjoying the wide open space between Pont Alexandre III (the bridge in the background whose gold-topped columns you can see)...

...and Invalides (military hospital now mainly used as a war museum most famous for housing Napoleon's tomb).

Thankfully, no one threw any snowballs at me here, although a dad was warning his kids to take care not to hit anyone else during their game as I was taking these photos nearby.

Again with the filthy black slush. But those were some brave drivers! At my French-speaking Baptist church, some folks were talking about the accidents they'd seen and/or been involved in that morning due to the weather.

 

III. THE VOID

Although I'm doing my best now to tell you about what's going on in my life at this moment (approximately), I know that there's still a substantial chronological gap in the narrative I've created through this blog because of my failure to keep up in the past. So for the next few posts, I'm going to try to fill this void (from my trip to Beauvais on Sunday 11/18 through the Christmas holidays) bit by bit. Here's a week's worth of daily memories:

1.       Monday 11/19: Stealing the show during our weekly theater class at the Equipes d’Acceuil et d’Amitié des Etudiants Etrangers (French club for foreign students...and teaching assistants!) while playing the role of the Mayor of Nantes (city in western France) presenting the pros of constructing an airport in the city in spite of the environmental complications during an improv activity. Struggled to come up with all of the words in French, but the other foreigner playing the role of the moderator on our panel said something like “at least she’s got the spirit!”

2.       Tuesday 11/20: Electing to eat spinach – a vegetable I normally can’t even spell – as part of my dinner. Of my own volition, I mean! I guess if you get bored enough…  ;) It wasn’t the first time I’d eaten it or anything. But definitely the first time I’d done so when I was in charge of the meal.

3.       Wednesday 11/21: Spending several hours at the Office of Immigration and Integration with some of my Fulbright peers in order to get my long-term visa validated. Even had to get a chest X-ray (got to keep the scan!) and answered questions about my medical history in French.

4.       Thursday 11/22: [from my handwritten nightly journal] “Today was Thanksgiving…in France. I still ate cranberry sauce, turkey with gravy & sweet potatoes with marshmallows, but having to go to work all day & only getting to see my family on Skype made things kind of weird.” Attended potluck dinner hosted by Fulbright Alumni Association; they provided the bird and beverages. My contribution was sautéed cabbage (remember there’s only one oven for the 90 girls in my building, and I can’t cook anyway, so this was an easy, original [“Southern”], stovetop dish). Venue was a bit odd – former refrigeration building for meat/cheese now rented out to artists for individual studios – but someone had connections for us to use the café. Not necessarily “homey,” but ok. Oh, and remember that the Fulbright program works both ways, so these alums were French people who had gone to the US to do research or work as French TAs in universities in the past.

A hallway outside some of the artists' studios. Like I said, not grandma's house.

My plate, including my cabbage to the right as well as (counter-clockwise from there) turkey and gravy; cranberry sauce; sweet potato casserole; and green bean casserole. Note the American-themed décor.

Music was provided by a couple of Fulbright friends.

Didn't mention it in this blog post, but I went to another Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night (11/24) at the American Church in Paris. Don't think they had marshmallows, but the dressing/stuffing was unique.

5.       Friday 11/23: Remember how I told two young men on 10/19 that they couldn’t attend their next “breakout section” (sorry for the college jargon) with me because they had been disrespectful to a classmate [see the November entry titled “So Much for Shorter Entries…”]? Well this was actually the next time that I met with their colleagues in their absence, and it was pretty much the best class ever! When I told the students that IN GENERAL, women cook the Thanksgiving meal while men watch football games in the U.S., they started a (very civilized) dispute about gender roles of their own volition. All I had to do was make sure they spoke English instead of French to express their points of view. Without the two class clowns, the 10 or 12 others – especially 3 or 4 of them – had their moment to shine.
a.       Obviously, as a teacher in future (Lord willing), I won’t be subject to the “teaching assistant” clause that does not require me to deal with disciplinary issues in my classroom; I won’t be able to just eliminate students who cause problems.
b.      And, as a secondary sidenote, when I asked these guys not to come back the next time, they weren’t just “talking,” which probably 30% of my students do…I mean, it is high school. It was a question of respect.

6.       Saturday 11/24: Finding the perfect card for Dad (in terms of what the card said, I mean) and mailing it along with a Paris golf ball for his collection exactly three weeks in advance of his birthday. Learned my lesson with Mallory’s birthday when I sent a package two weeks in advance that arrived a day late (“…and a dollar short.” I always think of Rose saying this to Troy in August Wilson’s Fences when I hear this expression. If I had to read Rose’s part once, I had to read it a million times when we studied that play in a couple of my high school English classes. Wonder why? It’s not like I was the only African American woman in the classroom. Oh, wait, yeah I was…)

I think the ball was black with white writing and had the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Church, and the Sacre Coeur Basilica on it. Sorry the photo didn't turn out very well.

Snapped this shot very fast just before putting everything in the envelope at the post office. As I've said before, I like to have proof that I've attempted to send something just in case it doesn't make it on the treacherous journey :) But this time it did, thank the Lord!

7.       Sunday 11/25: “2 churches w/ 2 friends” as I said in my handwritten journal. Instead of attending my regular French-speaking Baptist church in the am, went to the Paris campus of Hillsong Church – a global ministry known especially for their music – with Alison, my Election Night friend who was heading back to the States soon after studying abroad for a semester. I usually don’t go for the jump-up-and-down, scream-and-shout, rock-band-concert style of worship service, but I think it’s refreshing to see different perspectives on praise and faith in general, particularly the Christian faith that I profess. After the bilingual service, I bought a French translation of a book by the Australian founder of Hillsong – Brian Houston – called Une Vie, Une Vision, Un But (One Life, One Vision, One Goal, but I don't know if this is actually the title in English) that has literally given me new words to understand my relationship with God. After attending this service, the “contemporary” pm service at the American Church in Paris that I normally attend with Verity, a British friend who is also working as an English TA, seemed “rather subdued,” to quote my journal again.

Hillsong Paris meets at the Bobino Theater. It wasn't hard to find since they had this Scooby-Doo van parked outside thanks to a show they had going on.

To the right in the foreground, you can see the sign-in area for kids. Down the stairs, you can see where it says "Bienvenue à la Maison" or "Welcome to the House" under all the ads for the plays.

I tried to take a picture really fast as we walked into the huge crowd, but the chandelier in the theater lobby kind of messed it up. Still, I think you get the idea - LOTS of people were in the midst that day!

CONCLUSION

Perhaps you'd like to know why I titled this post "Leggo." Maybe you think I spelled incorrectly the name of those building block toys for kids. Nope. I'll treat you like I treat my students: "Which English words could be put together to form this slang word?" (Think "gonna" or "wanna," which both came up in the Will Smith song "Just the Two of Us" that we studied together.) The correct answer is "let's" + "go." Perhaps some of you know exactly what song intro containing this word that I'm thinking of:

"I don't see how you can hate from outside the club. You can't even get in! (Laughter) Leggo!"  - Chris Brown's "Look At Me Now" (feat. Lil' Wayne and Busta Rhymes)

I used to listen to the CLEAN version of this song last school year when I was getting dressed to "get hype" for the day. My roommates Mary and Hillary, who were just across the hall, never complained, so it must not have been too annoying ;) It's just another stupid song about nothing, essentially, but somehow it had the right beat and espoused the right (?) go-getter attitude to get me moving.

So now, as I cross the threshold into my last 100 days in France (as of February 1st), literally the first word (imaginary or not) that comes to mind is "Leggo!" It's time for me to "seize the day" before I look up and the day has passed me by. I can no longer blame grad school apps for taking up my time or say that I'll do things "later" because "later" is not and never has been a guarantee. So here's to taking in all of the precious moments that these final 100 days will afford to me (Lord willing) in the land of "Liberté, Egalité, [et] Fraternité" (Freedom, Equality, [and] Brotherhood).

LEGGO.

Peace and love,

Morgann A. Lyles