Snow Days

I never work on a Tuesday, it's my day off (yep, it's super annoying not having it on a Monday or Friday so that I can have a long weekend...) so I wasn't going to trek up to Sophia Antipolis today. But once again, my brilliant luck means that today was a snow day down here and everyone got the day off school! Of course it couldn't have happened tomorrow when I have to go in.... I'm still hoping the snow warnings continue.
There's just one thing that's slightly weird about having a snow day today.

This is the view outside my front door, can you see any snow?! The buses aren't running because there is a snow risk, therefore school is closed. Not a single snowflake has fallen from the sky today - just bucketfuls of rain. 

I love French logic. 

Je vous souhaite une bonne année 2012

You know that feeling when you return from somewhere and it feels like you've never been away? That's happened to me twice in a month.
The first being - returning back to England before Christmas for a couple of weeks, and the second being a mere 3 days ago, returning back to France after said 'séjour' to England.
(I have also had the complete opposite of this feeling when thinking about blogging. It feels like I haven't been here in ages - oh wait I haven't.)
Going back to England was great, and in some respects it felt like I was never away, (even though i'd been away for about 3 months) however in others it was really weird. Hearing English being spoken everywhere was especially strange, and I of course, took full advantage of Topshop. Having Topshop would make France amazing. Oh and Marks and Spencer Food Hall. And Nandos. And Primark...this could go on a while. Needless to say I definitely enjoyed my home comforts, just a shame that most of them seem to include shopping or food...weird.
When I got home, I was surprised to find that i'd kind of forgotten about Christmas. I know that I was going home for that precise reason, but I was counting down to when I was going home, not for actual Christmas day. So after this revelation I had to dash over to Bournemouth to do all Christmas shopping in a day. Was successful and a much easier way to shop for Christmas so therefore I recommend forgetting about it until a week before.
And then the flight back to France came, and I found myself with considerably more luggage than I had when I left. Hmmm, not sure how that happened. After the comfort and amazing-ness of Terminal 5 at Heathrow, a few short hours later I found myself dragging two suitcases and a handbag through the arrivals gate of Nice Cote d'Azur airport, onto a bus and through the drizzling streets of Antibes. Looked more mental and deranged than most tramps by the time I got to my front gate but none the less I was home. Pretty much everything is the same here since I left, as they still (as i'm writing this on the 5th January) have Christmas lights and decorations up. Why?!
One thing that has changed is that everyone goes out of their way to wish you 'Bonne Année' - normal at the beginning of January, I hear you cry. True. What is not normal are the massive signs throughout the town saying that the mayor of Antibes et Juan Les Pins (insert appropriate French town) wishes you a good 2012. I've been told that people will still say 'Bonne Année' to you in February or later, if they haven't seen you yet this year. I'm hoping this happens and will be sure to report if I get any later than the end of the week.

Not sure who Michel Platini is, or why he and the Renault 12 wishes you a good 2012. 

Language and Light-sabers

I'm so surprised at how much my level of French has improved after only 5 days. I'm so pleased with myself! I'm not sure if it is just that I have more confidence or that I have actually improved.

Before coming, the idea of having a phone call in French would send me into a fretting, worrying, blubbering  mess about what I should say/how I should say it. But I've kind of realized that it doesn't have to be perfect at the moment. It's the same thing when listening to others, as long as you get the idea and understand most of it, the little words in the middle don't count! 

I've even started to speak to myself in French. Yes, I speak to myself.

One of the things I've found really frustrating is when French people speak to me in English. I know I have an accent!! I'm trying to learn the language and you're really not helping if you reply to me in worse English than my French! (Rant over.) Also not sure why I kept saying you in that sentence, the shop keeper/waiter/random person is probably not reading this...

Anyhoo, today I went to Cannes and spent the afternoon on the beach with a few other assistants. The weather here is much the same as what it is (amazingly!) like in the UK. It was nice to see Cannes, as I've never been (except for the forest-fire night many years ago! - It's another story for another day.) There is this massive cinema thing which is usually at the center of the Cannes Film Festival and they have those cutouts of famous people with holes to put your head in there! Jack Sparrow, Charlies Angels and Star Wars. However, I don't have a photo of it as I thought the people I've only just met might think i'm a bit strange...

So, this is the slightly more boring photo of me in the harbour of Antibes. Would have preferred this photo if my body was that of Yoda/Jack Sparrow and I was carrying a light-saber/sword... 

Je suis arrivée!!

So, got to Antibes on Tuesday and it is now Thursday evening. The first 2 days or so have been busy and full of mixed emotions. Therefore blogging has not been top on my list of priorities.
My dad came out with me for the first few days to help me which was good (especially as our hire car turned out the be the coolest Fiat 500 ever. Soft top and everything.) But thanks for coming Dad :-)
Me being me, a complete wimp, I've been tearful for most of the two days I've been here.My last post said I was excited and I kind of am but as soon as it hit me I was actually going to move to a country where I had to speak (pretty poor) French and where I know no one the excitement shimmied away. I majorly need a dose of man up right now.
So, what have I done? I have so far -
- Found the school i'm working in. It's not in Antibes but a town called Sophia Antipolis. It is the weirdest place ever. It's a relatively new town which was made especially to be a business district. The result of this seems to be a mix between Centre-Parcs (off of holidays when I was little) and RHUL campus. It freaked me out when we first got here, but i'm kind of used to it already.
- Met my 'responsable'. This is the person who is supposed to look after me a bit at the school. He seems nice and has given me my timetable and some very exciting books. I have a 'cahier de textes du professeur' where i'm supposed to write down things we do in class and to keep work i've collected from the students, a 'carnet d'appel par professeur' which is basically a register (exciting!). And a 'cahier de textes pour groupe' but i'm really not sure what i'm supposed to do with that one. Maybe I should find out.
- Temporarily move to Lycée accommodation. All I can say is my room is off of the 1970s and it's very orange. Feels like living in halls again, but more ... orange.
- Bought a French mobile. After much confusion I have a french number and the most amazing phone off of the early 2000s, which cost 24euro with 5euro credit on it. I thought that i'd be able to use my iPhone, mais non. I kind of feel like my arm has been chopped off without it, does France not understand that?!
- Organised viewing a flat. But this didn't go well because the flat didn't have a doorbell. How am I supposed to tell someone I'm here if there's no doorbell!? I decided not to go for that one...
- Got stopped in Carrefour on suspicion of shoplifting. This was whilst Dad was still with me, and he was carrying a back pack and the checkout woman wanted to see inside and then security came over. Unfortunately he had in there a pack of biscuits and a pack of croissants. The croissants were from a different shop, but the biscuits were from Carrefour - we just bought them the day before. Of course we didn't have the receipt so I learnt a valuable lesson not to wear a back pack and especially not in Carrefour. We got away with it and I don't think the police are tracking me...
- Opened a bank account. I think. Not entirely sure what i'll end up with or what I've signed up for but I guess we'll see. I don't understand banks in the UK, let alone in France!
- Took a bus. 1Euro a journey, bargain! Much cleaner/tidier/nicer than Wilts and Dorset buses (French bus drivers will answer your question about which stop you want!), even though every time the bus turns a corner you either fall over or fall out of your seat. The french are really bad drivers.
- Met people! I met two other assistants today in Antibes, and I was really glad to meet them and see that I hopefully won't be lonely for the whole time i'm here.
And finally I got over my not sleeping/not eating period caused by anxiety. So therefore, I must go finish my ridiculously massive apple (seriously it's like a melon) and then sleep. Night :-)

First Post Nerves

So, I'm moving to France in 22 days. That's 528 hours. That's 'I can't even work out how many' minutes. Despite the past year being about sorting out finances and placements and filling out countless forms I'm excited about going. (I say that now. Come back to me in 500 hours time. Things may be a little different.)
I thought I would try to start a blog to describe my life when I move, thinking that people will ask 'Rose, how's life in France?' and I'll say 'Well, just take a look at my blog whydontcha?' Of course, this may not happen. And I could be writing (as I am now) to no one. Posting onto the Internet for no one to see... The hardest part of this setting up a blog business was thinking up a hilarious name which was both thought provoking and ironic. As you can see, this didn't happen. Instead I called this blog 'Je ne comprends pas,' which I imagine will be a phrase I will be using a lot over the coming year. Unfortunately. I imagine some hilarity could emerge from my wonderful use of Franglais and of course it'll be published onto this blog for everyone to laugh at me. That's another thing - I've never had a blog before and I have two reasons why not. Firstly, I've never had anything to write about before. (I wanted to start one about which clothes I want to buy but can't afford. I was told that was a stupid idea) and secondly, I really don't want to sound pretentious. So I can't promise how well this is going to go. I feel like I might give up on it after approximately 3 posts. Much like a New Years Resolution to start writing a diary every night when you were a kid (I never got past January.)
I imagine everyone reading this I know, and know me. But I have this romantic idea that one day someone from a far corner of the earth will stubble unwillingly along this blog and become so enthralled by the content that they'll want to read every single post. So I'll introduce myself. My name is Rose. I'm 20 years old and currently living in Fordingbridge, UK. It's a teeny place no one's ever heard of so I'll say I'm from Salisbury (which no ones ever heard of either) so maybe I'll then move onto Bournemouth (sometimes that's known.) I go to University in another teeny place called Egham at Royal Holloway. I seem to like living places where no one knows so I say London. Then they say 'oh, where abouts? I've got a friend in Tottenham/Lambeth/Edgware' (delete as appropriate) and then I have to go backwards again and say 'Well actually it's in Surrey...' Anyhoo, I study French and Drama.
Therefore I have to spend my third year abroad in France so I am. I am going to be working for a lycée in Valbonne/Sophia Antipolis teaching English. So, I'm going to be living in Antibes in the b-e-a-utiful Côte d'Azur.
This is probably why I'm excited. Whilst I'm sat at home on a Monday morning and it's half raining, I'm dreaming of warm and sunnier climates. I'm excited about experiencing the French way of life, (but again maybe come back to me in a few weeks when I'm all alone in a hostel in France with no friends...)
My main worry right now is accommodation. I've got no where to live, which is a bit scary. Searching for flatmates on the Internet is weird, I don't like the idea of randomly finding someone and asking them to live with you! Usually I would want to get to know someone before I make such a decision... But, I have faith that I'll find somewhere soon. And in the mean time will procrastinate on making any decisions, preparing in anyway and packing. Maybe I'll go make some lunch instead...