Good things that happened in 2016

HEY GUYS! ✨


I hope you had a lovely Christmas with your family and that you have been spoiled! :) It is the 26th December which means the end of the year 2016 is approaching!
As most of us think, 2016 has been a really difficult year by seeing all the bad things that happened in the world - death of numerous celebrities, Brexit, Donald Trump, conflicts in Syria, ISIS and many more - but I believe it was also tough for me on a personal point of view.
However I think in these times, thinking about positive stuff is the best thing to do and that is why I wanted to share a list of random good things that happened in 2016!

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🌟SOME POSITIVE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE WORLD🌟

~ The number of tigers is actually growing! For the first time in 100 years, the number of wild tigers has increased (3,890 while around 3,200 in 2010) which shows the effects of the fight to protect the endangered species. Also giant pandas are no longer an endangered species!

One of my favourite memes about Leo!

~ The Oscar winner we have been waiting for years: Leonardo Dicaprio! After being the object of various memes all over the internet, the American actor has finally been awarded with an Oscar for best actor in The Revenant, hooray! I haven't seen the movie myself but Leo is undeniably a great actor and 2016 was his year.

~ A plane flew around the world without fuel. Indeed, the Solar Impulse 2 is the proof solar energy can be used for flights which means no need for fuel! It might have taken 2 years to achieve 40,000km but it is only the beginning and technology improved quickly nowadays!

~ People are getting more generous! Global spending on aid and development increased by 6.9%, and the aid given for refugees has doubled. Maybe it is not the end of misery in the world but it is still good news.

Eddie Redmayne is "bae"

~ Fantastic Beasts came out in November 2016 which marks the return of Harry Potter! The latter might not be in the saga but it allows us to know more about the wizarding world on the other side of the Atlantic with the awkward but lovable Newt Scamander - Eddie Redmayne - and the movie was just amazing! (You'll notice I didn't mention The Cursed Child on purpose)


From a personal point of view, I would say having the chance of being a language assistant in such a good school is one of the best things that happened to me as it literally changed my life, as well as travelling with my friends, having a new dog, and spending time with my loved ones. This year hasn't been perfect but I believe there are still little things which make life good and enjoyable. I hope you had a good year; if not, I hope you will have an amazing year 2017!


Did any good things happen to you in 2016? Do you have any plans to celebrate the beginning of the new year?


Julie XX

End of the Autumn term: highlights!

Hey guys! ⛄️

It's the 16th December today and I am heading back to Paris, fun times! Yesterday was the last day of term, I taught my very last lesson of the term which went very well (can't go wrong with quizzes and games, can we?) and then we had drinks + Christmas lunch with all the members of staff reunited, I had such a nice day and this kind of moments makes me realise how grateful I am to work in such a lovely school. As I am in my Eurostar with my computer, it gives me some time to think about all the good things that happened at school this term - not that I want to brag, I am just so amazed that you can have so much fun at your work place, and I do hope everyone is having an experience as nice as the one I am having.

The Christmas jumper I was wearing for Christmas jumper Day at work

Last photo of the School House before heading back to France

- I think I have to start with this one: at the beginning of November, the school organised fireworks for the members of staff, the students, their family, and even the locals. To me, finding "fireworks" and "school" in the same sentence is R E A L L Y unusual but I have to admit I enjoy watching them so I was thrilled! They even had stalls with food and drinks - I had my first glass of mulled wine for the occasion - and the fireworks were displayed with music: it was amazing even if it started raining at some point, but I guess it lives up to what we usually expect from the British weather! Unfortunately I did not get to take any pictures but watching them in person is the best anyway.



- This one isn't directly linked with the school but I had this opportunity thanks to it. In Sonning there is this lovely theatre called The Mill at Sonning where you can see plays, musicals, but also have a drink and a nice dinner. For the premiere of High Society, a musical based on The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 movie starring Grace Kelly and Frank Sinastra, the Mill nicely offered 10 tickets to the school (meal + musical) and the members of staff were given the chance to have their name drawn to attend the premiere and as I am talking about it, you can imagine I have been one of the lucky winners! It was the first time I was going to The Mill and the venue is just lovely: it looks very cosy, like a countryside house, and it was already decorated for Christmas as it was the 24th November. The food was delicious and I really had a good time with my colleagues. I didn't know much about the musical itself but I totally loved it! Very entertaining and funny, and as we have been lucky enough to have seats in the front row, we could see every actor very neatly as well as their acting which was as good as what you could see in West End. They also had wonderful voices and the songs were really catchy. If you live around, I would recommend you to just go for it, you won't be disappointed!

- Every year at the end of November in my school, some students which have an interest in drama/singing or who just want to get involve take part in the school musical. Last year Les Misérables was performed and I have heard so many good thing about it that I couldn't wait to see this one: Grease. About a fortnight before the show, the director of Drama at school were looking for members of staff who wanted to take part in the show backstage, helping with things such as make up and hair so I decided to volunteer! Indeed, getting involved at school was something I wanted to do and hair and make up sounded appealing to me plus as I am living at school, it is very easy for me to get there in a minute. The students performed during a whole week (Monday-Friday) therefore I went there every evening to help out. My task? Doing the boys's make up! It was not difficult, simply applying foundation and some blush so they don't look good on screen and it was fun to see their reaction through the week, from being relunctant having their make up done to asking for more blush by the end of the week! I would do the make up and then attend their warm up sessions that I particularly enjoyed: you could see how the teenagers were enjoying themselves and it would give a kind of positive ~vibe~. It was a nice experience getting to know more people and students and it was really rewarding to see the last performance on the Friday after having worked on it.

A photo I have taken during the warm up!

- Last but not least, the Science Department was going on a day trip to the Natural History Museum and Science Museum with the Year 7 students and there are a lot of these little ones, they needed members of staff to come along. The trip was on a Wednesday which happens to be my day off so I ceased the opportunity and went along! We left school at 9am to arrive there at around 10.30 and we were separated in two groups so we wouldn't bring 100 students in the museum at the same time. I first went to the Natural History Museum (one of my favourite museums as I mentionned in a previous post) then to the Science Museum where I went last month. I just had to look after a group of 15 pupils and I was free to look around and play tourist!

I feel really lucky to have a school where they organise so many interesting things and to have the occasion to get involved. During next term, I am going to Lille for a few days with my mentor teacher and some Year 13 and Year 12 students and I am already looking forward to it!

What have you been up to during this term?


Julie XX

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

HELLO EVERYONE!

The end of term is approaching therefore I am really starting to feel festive! As I have said in my previous post, I felt like I had to write a post about Christmas as it's such a big thing in the UK. It is only the 11th December at the time I am writing and I already feel like it's being the Christmas seasons for weeks! There have been Christmas decorations for awhile now and I had my first mulled wine at the beginning of November, something that would never happen in France unfortunately! I am going back to Paris in less than a week and I am really looking forward to see the city decorated for the occasion, as well as all my relatives to properly celebrate Christmas: I have watched Love Actually twice, have bought my Christmas jumper and done all my Christmas shopping so now I'm ready!

There is not much to add to what I have said already but I just wanted to share some pictures of the various Christmas markets I got to visit during my Erasmus year and this year or even cities decorated with Christmas lights so here you go:

CARDIFF

It was my first Christmas market in the UK and I loved it so much! It was also the day of a football match for which Wales was playing so the ambiance in the streets was just amazing!

LONDON

How could I mention the UK without London? Winter Wonderland (pic 1-4) is big and amazing, however, even if I visited it at the end of November, it was O V E R C R O W D E D...! I had to queue 40 minutes to get in but I got to see it in the dark, which was even better since there were Christmas lights everywhere! If you fancy going to a small amusement park and getting some mulled wine and sweets, you should definitely go! (also if you're not broke, it's fairly expensive). The last picture is Harrods, the British Galeries LaFayette! I didn't take any pictures from the inside but it's definitely worth seeing!

I had to take a picture with phone boxes on it #playingtourist

BATH

The last Christmas market I have visited this year: Bath. This city is beautiful during the whole year, but it becomes even more amazing during Christmas time: they make a real effort to decorate everything is unbelieavable, you even have Christmas decorations in the phone boxes! The market is probably one of the most popular in the UK and you can see it by how crowded it is from November onwards!

Fancy going to the North Pole?

BOURNEMOUTH

I went to Bournemouth mid-November to visit my friend Camille (thank you for hosting me again!) and I was pleasantly surprised to see they already had the Christmas market! Unfortunately I didn't get to take many pictures of it as it was raining the whole weekend.

When the pub is also decorated so it makes you feel at home>>>

NORTHAMPTON

I paid a visit to my good friend Julia in Northampton and even if they didn't have a Christmas market, there was still lights everywhere like in this street with a Christmas tree at the end! 

WINCHESTER

Last but not least: Winchester! This city is one of my favourite in the UK so I really love the Christmas market there. It is even better as it is next to the cathedral which I would recommend if you are nearby!

Have you been to many Christmas markets this year?




Julie XX

Weird things British people do

Hey guys!

As it is my second year in the UK, I got to notice a few differences between Britain and France - I admit I got used to some of them but I still find some quite weird to be honest! Of course every culture is different, I am not saying French culture is better or anything, but I found it funny to list weird things British people do from a French person's point of view so here you go:


~ Since it is the season (to be jolly) I am going to start with this first point: in the UK, Christmas seems to start before Halloween! Indeed Christmas decorations, advent calendars and Christmas gift ideas start to pop up in shops slightly before Halloween, what's the hell, British people?! During my first year in the UK, I found it proper weird if I'm honest since it is not what I am used to in France where Noël barely starts at the end of November..! However I got used to it now and I actually enjoy this aspect of British culture! Some people may think Christmas time is more enjoyable if shorter but I think there is not such a thing as Christmas starting too early now (as long as it's after Halloween); I start to feel Christmassy from November onwards, getting excited about decorating my room and the Christmas tree, planning my visits to Christmas markets, watching Christmas movies, and I start listening to Christmas songs as soon as December starts -which is even considered too early for some of my British flatmates. I also get myself a Christmas jumper for the occasion, which is totally not a thing in France - my family won't stop saying how much they think they're ugly!
I actually like how British people are enthusiastic about the Christmas celebrations; even if we do celebrate it in France, it doesn't seem that much of a big thing unfortunately. I will probably write an article this month about Christmas by the way!

Me on the 1st November

~ The Brits are already famous for this so I needed to confirm it: they say sorry all the time! They even say sorry when it's not their fault as they also use it to express empathy such as "sorry about the weather", therefore it is not only a way to apologise. I find it disturbing sometimes because I fear I am being rude for not saying sorry in some situations but I took the habit to say it way more than before, so now I feel like people in Paris are rude! (spoiler alert: most of them actually are)

~ I know there is an explanation for this but I still hate it: on most sinks in the UK, you don't have one but two taps: a hot and a cold tap! For those who didn't get to experience it, basically the cold tap is freezing and you definitely don't want to use it during the Winter while the hot tap is burning hot! I can't tell you how happy I am when I am somewhere with a single tap in this country. #expatproblems

The cause of my most terrible nightmares.

~ I have to mention another thing temperature-related: Some British people never seem to get cold! I swear I have been to London in October and saw a guy wearing flip flops, or also people wearing shorts in November - maybe on a sunny day but it was less than 10°! Whenever I go to the club during the Winter, the girls never seem to wear tights or a coat, why?! It really does feel like British people have a different type of blood running in their veins.

~ While being an Erasmus student at uni in the UK, I have notice a really funny thing concerning untold social rules: people call each other by their first name. It means that, while being a student, you get to call your lecturer John or Sarah, without anyone finding it weird. Also when you have an appointment somewhere, let's say at the doctor or the job centre, people will call you by your first name as well. I find it quite nice as it removes this invisible barrier between people that you have in France, where people have to call you Monsieur/Madame and using "vous" instead of "tu", but I felt really awkward doing so at first.

~ I am going to end with one last thing: drinking cider in France and in the UK is T O T A L L Y different I must say...! In Great Britain, you can find cider in cans, or even in plastic bottles as you can see below. Indeed, cider is something you can drink at any time, and is often used as a way to get drunk for young people, it is similar to beer. While in France, you can find cider in glass bottles like in the second picture below. Looks fancier, huh? There, it is something you drink with starters or pudding, for when you have guests for example, or also when you eat galettes bretonnes! So you can imagine how surprised I was to see freshers drink up cider from their plastic bottles..!

Strongbow, most famous cider brand in the UK.

A nice cidre in France.

📚Funny thing I've heard from a student after +2 months at work:

"Miss, are you in the UK on holiday?"

Have you noticed any other weird things British people do?

Julie XX

Museums of London + sorry for the disappearance

Bonjour bonjour!

I hadn't expected to disappear for so long from here but unfortunately I have been quite busy these last few weeks. As I said in my previous post, two friends of mine visited me during the half term break, we went on day trips and to the clubs and we caught up -we had ~banter~ basically- plus my French university finally decided to give me access to my courses so I have a whole month of lessons to catch up. I also need to start my UCAS application to apply for universities next year as I want to do a PGCE in the UK and I've planned quite a few day trips in the following weeks so no time to get bored. The funny thing is that I never have 0 visit on here, I secretly wonder if my mom is coming on here (hello Mom?!)

Anyways! As the title of the article suggests, what I want to do here is to share some museums I would recommend in London (I've told you before my blog wouldn't be exclusively about my job, haven't I?)



As you probably know, most museums in London are amazing... and free! They are so many of them, amongst which you can find:

- the British Museum in central London. If you cannot really decide on what kind of museums you want to visit, I would recommend going there. It's huge - visiting the whole building would take more than a couple of days!- and you can find things from every continent! It is dedicated to human history, art and culture; in fact it is similar to the Louvre if you're familiar with this one (but without Mona Lisa!).
Personal recommendation: Have a look at the Egypt and Ancient Greek sections, I would say they are my favourite

- the National History Museum in South Kensington (a place where you can also find the Victoria and Albert Museum). There you can find specimens from various species in times (yes, they do have dinosaurs!). This museum is brilliant but also looks amazing. I have some pictures from my visit two years ago and I might edit this post so I can share it with you on here. It's a nice place to visit when you do not really want to read long texts and just want to look around.
Personal recommendation: If you spot a school group, avoid the dinosaurs section!

- the Science Museum in South Kensington. I have to admit: science isn't my thing. But I have decided to visit as many museums as possible and be adventurous so since one of my friends wanted to go there, I gave it a go (hello Alice!). Actually I enjoyed it and learned some new things as signs with simplified explanations are displayed (let's ignore the fact that they were for children, okay?) and the vintage cars in there are just amazing (see photos).

The Science Museum

- the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square that I have visited recently. There you can see famous masterpieces from the Renaissance to the 20th century, from Turner to Van Gogh. I enjoyed the paintings but even the building is worth the visit: last time I went I couldn't help staring at the ceilings and the columns!

The National Gallery

There are also museums that aren't free of charge but which are worth visiting. You have probably heard about the Sherlock Holmes museum in Baker Street, I have never been there myself but it''s definitely on my to-do list. However I wanted to mention the Clink Museum. During my year as an Erasmus I would walk past it almost everytime I went to London so last year I decided pay a visit. This museum is a former prison therefore you can learn more about it, its (most of the time innocent) prisoners and what was their life like. Many torture devices are displayed, it seemed funny at first but it gets rather spooky the more you stay in there especially because of the sound effects so beware! 👻

The Clink Museum

📚Funny thing I've heard in the classroom:

"I am not getting married, more money for me since I won't have a wife who will spend my money!"

Do you have any favourite museum in London? Any recommendation? Feel free to share :)

Julie XX

Half term break!

Today was the last day before the half term break, which means free time! I have arrived in the UK a month ago and I can tell it went very quickly! I am hosting a couple of friends during the week from tomorrow onwards that's why I'm writing tonight before getting too busy.

My job is going very well. I can already see some of my students already improving, feeling more confident talking to me which is extremely rewarding. I enjoy my conversation sessions but also attending other lessons as I get involved - I sometimes get to teach the class for the whole period or for the first ten minutes! I sometimes find it hard to find things to talk about depending on the topic I have to discuss (talking about francophone music to British people isn't the easiest thing to do, believe me) but some of my students are really interested in the culture and are very talkative.

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Two weeks ago, I've learnt that I am very likely to go to a school trip to Lille in February and I'm quite keen on going even if it is not Paris. I don't know if it's common where you're from/where you're teaching but the school here is organising so many school trips it's just amazing. In addition we have some events taking place, like House Drama evening, fireworks at the beginning of November and some students are even performing Grease the musical at the end of the month!

Now I am just going to enjoy my break with my friends coming over, going on day trips, doing shopping and catching up! It's Halloween season so here's a picture of some pumpkins from Borough Market I took on a day trip to London! So what about you, what are your plans for the break?

📚Funny thing I've heard in the classroom:

"British food is better than French food, we have fish & chips... and curry!"

Julie XX

Settling in.

I have arrived in the UK one week ago now, it's going so quick! I wanted to write a post a bit before but I haven't found the time (laziness? What do you mean?) I arrived on Wednesday 21st, a bit early compared to the other language assistants as the contract is supposed to start on the 1st but I found it more convenient. I have been welcomed by my mentor teacher at the station which showed me around, from the school to the surroundings before leading me to my accommodation, the School House (aka Hogwarts) where I live with four very nice British teachers from the school. The following day was my induction day which means I had to meet with many people from the staff and deal with paperwork mostly. It is amazing how everyone seems to be nice here, it feels like you can never feel alone and isolated. My mentor teacher nicely took a lot of time to show me everything and to tell me about my prospective students: Year 12 French, Year 13 French, two students who have a French native speaker as a parent and three students meeting difficulties with French. I will also work along the French teachers of the Modern Languages Department a few hours a week, either to help or as a ~guest~.

Where I am going to live for a year  Hogwarts

Actually I started this post one week after my arrival and I am currently writing, one week later (it's getting complicated, I know.) I was feeling inspired and such when my DBS check came through so I had to quit on writing to plan my lessons for the following day, feeling excited but anxious at the same time - am I going to get lost in the school? What if my students don't show up? What if I end up not having anything to tell them at some point? #backtoschoolanxiety


My first day

It was on a Thursday, starting at 8.40am with the ~spiritual assembly~: every Thursday, a short 15-minute Assembly -where the whole school attends- takes place, dealing with religion and moral values. As a French person who received a state education, I am not used to such a concept but I have to say it's rather ...interesting? They also have a Business assembly every Monday. Thursday also happens to be "CCF" day in which the pupils/teachers take part in the cadets training and wear a military outfit. Witnessing the few differences compared to what I am used to on my first day was rather cool!
Concerning my lessons, they all last 35 minutes (it seems like this time has been adjusted for the Modern Languages Department which means most other subjects have double lessons) which is actually quite short! My first lessons were about getting to know my students in Year 12 and Year 13 while I started teaching the other ones I had on this day straight away. Everything went well, it wasn't my first experience in teaching and that helped me a lot to feel confident in front of the students. I attended some of the other teachers's lessons, helping in the classroom and sometimes taking part by reading a text to the class or answering questions. It is nice to do so as the students, especially the younger ones, were really excited to see me - I received a row of applause after reading the months of the year in French! :')
This first day left me very happy and enthusiastic, realising I am really doing what I want this year and I still feel this way after one week of being a language assistant. It is the very beginning so I'm waiting to see how it's going to go later on but I feel very happy with my life right now. ❤️

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📚Funny things I've heard in the classroom:
- "Miss, you're so good in French, you're a genius!"

Me : - Can you spot Lille on a map?
Pupil: - Yes! *points Nice*.
Me: - Lille is close to England, can you try again?
Pupil; - *points the Mediterranean Ocean*


If you are a language assistant, how was your first day? Anything funny/nice to share?





 If you want an idea in which kind of ~atmosphere~ I was writing, listen to this!


Julie XX

One week before my departure (!)

I am heading to Reading in one week. O N E  W E E K. And I cannot really say I am entirely ready. I still need to pack, I still need to do all the paperwork, I still need to deal with my university's bad administration as I am supposed to do a Master's degree in English studies this year. (for all the French people reading this, I assume you know what I mean!)

Me when I've found out I was going to be a language assistant in Reading

I can hardly believe I am going back to live in England in such a short amount of time after one year, since I have waited this moment since my departure after my year in Erasmus. I remember the exact moment I have found out I was selected to be a language assistant: having a relaxing afternoon with my friend, Julia at the Jardin du Port Royal in Paris (I know, so cliché...) and all at once we received the email we were expecting for months telling us we were both accepted! This gif is quite faithful to how we reacted*. :)
Same city but different situation for me since I am going to be working this time! I am sure many of you have heard about the Erasmus programme but what is a language assistant?

As I pointed out in my previous post, it is a different experience for everyone because it can differ in many aspects:

1. Where you are working: I assume working in London is way different from working in a small village in Yorkshire for example; not the same environment, probably not the same kind of profiles concerning students, not the same way of living etc. Also I am sure working in a private school is not the same as working in a state school.
2. The number of school you are working in: a language assistant gets to teach in up to four schools while some will only teach in one. I can imagine there are several drawbacks and benefits in both situation such as experiencing diversity in teaching in several schools or getting to know the pupils and the staff better in a single one.
3. The key stages you are teaching: As a language assistant, you get to teach either primary school level or secondary school level. Not the same things will be expected because obviously a 7 year-old child isn't taught the same way as a Year 13 student.
4. How familiar you are with the UK/teaching. Depending on your experience with the UK and where you come from, you might find it harder to adapt to the British culture (Am I being rude? Do they all drink that often?). Same with teaching as if you don't have any experience in it, you might find it hard to prepare classes and such.

For instance, I will work in one school: a private one in a nice little village in Berkshire, next to Reading. I am lucky enough to already have a roof over my head for when I arrive, sharing accommodation with some of my youngest colleagues who probably are very lovely. I will be having conversation classes with the oldest students (Year 12 and Year 13) but I will also get to work with younger pupils alongside the other French teachers. A language assistant works around 12 hours a week (lot of free time, yay!) and needs a few extra hours to plan the lessons.

This post was rather informative so it might be a bit boring to you but I wrote thinking about my friends and relatives who were asking me: "so you are going to be paid to speak French, right?" or "it's like you're going to be an Erasmus again?" and wanted them to know in details what it was all about! Hopefully my next posts will be a bit more entertaining. ;)

*: unfortunately, no pugs were involved.

Julie XX