It is now all set. My gracious co-author, the excellent lady from Faeriesrevenge, will resume working on our little writing experiment for a set of short stories. Of course, the theme will be fairy tales!
I can’t wait to start writing again and I feel overjoyed with the mere idea!
Sewing is a legacy inherited from my grandma. Sadly, it is incredibly time consuming and living in a Parisian flat doesn’t really help me in this particular endeavour.
Knitting is something I have never liked because of its origin in my life, but I have decided to give it a go… I now truly enjoy knitting. It is incredibly relaxing. My first project is knitting a blanket made of Peruvian wool. I shall post some pics at some point.
🙂
My current life has a monastic quality to it: work, university, work, study, sleep (sometimes).
I keep running between the lycée and university. I am blessed with the most amazing fellow students. If I were looking for a reason to fail my exams, this could be one.
Life takes strange meanders.
Nonetheless, my soul is craving for artistic endeavours… I can’t fulfill these requests as I simply have no time for sewing, writing, making jewellery.
I make time to read but it is solely for exam purposes.
My inner artist is starved but she will have to wait until the exam period is over.
I have been dead silent. My blog is becoming this fast-growing abandoned woodland of words.
This year, my commitments are beyond belief:
But, this weekend, an unspeakable violence has unleashed itself on my beautiful city. People who believe they hold the truth, decided to kill innocent people who were just enjoying themselves.
I am lucky. Very lucky. I was supposed to be in that part of town to attend a Nanowrimo event. Tiredness got the hold of me and I didn’t go. My friends were over there though. I stayed calm. They survived. I was blessed not to lose any of my friends. Thanks the gods and the goddesses for this.
Nonetheless, criminals have hurt and killed people who didn’t deserve to die because they enjoyed life.
I can’t stay silent. I wish their souls will find the rest they deserve. The pain and the anguish have gained my body. My mind refuses to surrender to fear though.
Fluctuat nec mergitur…
At the minute, I am snowed under papers. Papers to grade have invaded my home. This is the burden of having almost 200 students. I am praying the Gods that I will successfully pass my exams and will be able to enjoy a year of respite next term. (Well, one can dream!)
The packs never cease to disappear. I feel like Sisyphus rolling his rock up the mountain…
The holiday break is coming up soon and I shall return to my homeland, Brittany. I have missed the salty air, the sea. It will be great to feel the fresh air on my skin once again and walk around town.
My father’s house is spacious and bright. Despite the fact that I have never lived there while I was growing up, I feel at home when I am there.
This time will be wisely spent to prepare for the exams.
I got a sewing machine, the famous sewing machine from Lidl last year with the money Dad gave me for my birthday. I hadn’t opened the box yet. Life gets in the way!
I have been collecting all the patterns I can get my hands on and stocking them neatly in my flat, in prevision of better times when I won’t be preparing a competitive exam.
Last time I went to my dad’s house, I brought back a skirt that I started 6 years ago! One day, I was suffering from a headache, I decided to keep my hands busy to distract myself from the pain. I finished my skirt made of gorgeous crushed velvet.
My grand-mother would probably have a go at me as my finish is less than perfect but unless you flip it over, nobody will notice. I sewed a zipper (invisible-style) for the first time and it all went like a charm.
I am very proud of it and wear it on a very regular basis. I can’t wait to make more clothes!
I created a blog for all my students! 🙂
You can check it out at the following url: missker.edublogs.org
January has brought a whole lot of things to deal with in my newfound teacher’s life. I had to contend with parents in evenings of wits and unpleasant truths. On the overall, the track record is rather excellent, I daresay. A lot of parents told me that they approved the content of my lessons. Some confessed that I have reconciled their children with English. I felt quite good when I heard this because somewhat this is all what I am about.
I shouldn’t say this because the French school system is all about performances especially measurable ones, but I don’t really care so much about the marks than I do care about students enjoying English during my classes. In the future, whatever they choose to do, they will be confronted with the necessity to speak English. I don’t want them to be afraid of speaking.
Right now, due to the academic calendar, I am finding myself confronted with an ocean of papers to grade: they seem to arrive faster than I can correct them. Â I produce a few tests. Thereafter, I have to deal with 150 papers to grade before I know it. It feels like being a modern day Sisyphus!
I have almost given up on preparing my exams during school time… It seems that it is an impossible task. Instead, I have decided to dedicate myself to my exams preparation when I will go to Brittany in February.
IRL, I teach in a high school in Montrouge where one of yesterday’s terrorists attacked took place.
Everyone was still in shock with happened on Wednesday. I spoke with my older classes. We had a debate about freedom of speech, the press and of course Charlie Hebdo. I was pleased to hear that they thought muslim didn’t rhyme with terrorist. Many of my students are actually Muslims despite the fact that I work in a Catholic high school. I do like the fact that tolerance is one of the key values of my workplace.
My little students in 7th grade were so terrified with what happened in Montrouge yesterday that I had to find a way to dissolve their anxiety. They asked me: “Are you scared, Miss?” and I said a kind “no”. They felt a little bit better. The only way I could soothe them down was to give them the task to write a fairy tale in English, in groups. They lost themselves in the writing and stop being afraid.
This worked better than any speech I could make. Their anguish became dragons that could be slain by magic swords. I wanted them to work in groups because quite a few of my students have Islam as a religion. It is important to stay united in tolerance.
Being a teacher/writer, I firmly believe words can change the world. It’s true; you can fight with words
I was very happy this Christmas because I spent it with my family. Having lived abroad for over 12 years, I haven’t spent Xmas for a while.
It was good to be back home (Britanny) and to see my father & brothers. A typical dinner including shrimps, foie gras and smoked salmon followed by a delicious Yule log.
Now it is time to wish you a Happy New Year!
My little brother and I
The Brighter Life 