Versailles - I lived right next door for a year, but never went inside. Since I qualify as a teacher through the assistantship, I received a 'pass education' which allows me into national monuments for free - it's a nice little perk that I hadn't taken advantage of until I went to the castle. It was gorgeous, of course, with everything made of marble and gold. The audioguide was fairly informative but at the same time rather dull and easy to tune out. However, when I paid attention I learned a lot.
The Super Bowl - Yes, the Super Bowl. I actually went out at midnight to watch it. I went with friends and had dinner at Chibby's Diner beforehand (for American diners, Breakfast in America is still the best), then we went to Le Players to watch it. We arrived early enough to get a spot at the bar before the game started, and Max went out to get some playing cards. We then played until the beginning of the game. Around the time the game was beginning, one of the bartenders took an interest, and started to put real money into the pot. Eva was the only one that continued playing, and she was on a roll. I think she got about 5 euros out of him (he'd come back and play another hand each time he got a tip), but at the end of the night gave it back in tips. The Super Bowl itself was disappointing - poor Steelers - but the atmosphere in the sports bar during halftime was pretty cool. Everyone was really into it, even if the papers say that it was the worst halftime show ever!
Chinese New Year - There was a parade in Chinatown to celebrate. There were lots of marching bands, karate demonstrations, fire crackers, and dragons. And it was so crowded! Everyone came out to watch. The French have relatively poor crowd control, not leaving enough space on the road for the parade, so there were spots along the parade route that it looked like the bands had to go through single file.
Walking tours - I've been trying to do a few walking tours of the city when the weather is nice. I've done a couple, one along the Promenade Plantée near where I live, and another one along the Canal St. Martin. It's good to see other parts of the city.
Chateau de Vincennes - I went with some other assistants to visit this castle/fortress/hunting retreat in Paris. We chose to go because the weather was supposed to be nice, but never trust the forecasts in France! We did get to visit for free, though, due to the educator's pass again, and it was worth it. Now I need to go back on a nice day to visit the park and woods around the chateau.
Hanging with the girls - I also regularly go to movies, dinner or listen to music with my other assistant friends here. And, of course there's always Disney!
Work, of course - The reason why I'm even here. I'm down to 7 weeks of teaching left. I guess I got to do some interesting stuff this week. I helped the youngest kids make crepes for the entire school, which was nerve-racking for me, but it was an experience I will remember. And I also got to see the kinds of stuff that the students are creating for their art show at the end of the year. Both groups I saw were using magazines. One of them was given nail polish remover, which causes the ink in the magazines to run, and they were trying to make photos look more like drawings. The other group was given glue guns, and they were creating shapes on magazine pages. When the glue dried, they peeled it off, and the color from the magazine page stuck to it, creating colorful plastic decorations.
Wow, that was more than I thought. The first crocuses of the year are starting to bloom, signaling that the dreariness of winter will soon be gone. Maybe the ennui doesn't exist after all!
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