The last time I posted was December 2nd. With the holidays and the beginning of the semester, I've been rather busy. And lazy. But mostly busy.
I'm teaching 3 courses this semester, which is in addition to the responsibilities I have of holding interviews with students and office hours. I am teaching two courses for first-year students, known here as L1. One of my classes is WONDERFUL! The other is not so great. Hopefully they will get better, but I can only do so much. The other course I am teaching is for first-year Masters students, and they are fantastic. I walk out of that class everytime with a big smile. They are very motivated and they are open to anything, which makes for lots of fun and good results. Overall, I'm happy with the way things are going.
On the other hand, the university is undergoing some reforms and the teachers, most of whom are left (or very far left), are not so happy. As you may know, when people are unhappy in France, they strike! Both this week and last week were marked by strikes, and I have a feeling that this may go on for a while. I'm not on strike. Nor are the other anglo-saxons who work there. We are not affected by the reforms, so there is really no reason to strike. I have been trying to get as much info as possible about why everyone is so unhappy, but it is difficult. The people who strike use a post-marxist, propaganda-like discourse, so it is difficult to take things they say seriously. The media is covering it, but there are biases there as well. I'm sure I'll take a position on it at some point, but I'm not there yet. I'll keep you all posted, since I'm sure you're dying to know what I think about this issue that has nothing to do with you!
Otherwise, life continues to fly by. I go to the market every weekend, I cook, I bake, I eat. I eat. I cook some more. I drink wine. I drink beer. I walk. And walk. It rains, rains rains. Random sun appears and it goes away five minutes later. Life, quoi!
I'm teaching 3 courses this semester, which is in addition to the responsibilities I have of holding interviews with students and office hours. I am teaching two courses for first-year students, known here as L1. One of my classes is WONDERFUL! The other is not so great. Hopefully they will get better, but I can only do so much. The other course I am teaching is for first-year Masters students, and they are fantastic. I walk out of that class everytime with a big smile. They are very motivated and they are open to anything, which makes for lots of fun and good results. Overall, I'm happy with the way things are going.
On the other hand, the university is undergoing some reforms and the teachers, most of whom are left (or very far left), are not so happy. As you may know, when people are unhappy in France, they strike! Both this week and last week were marked by strikes, and I have a feeling that this may go on for a while. I'm not on strike. Nor are the other anglo-saxons who work there. We are not affected by the reforms, so there is really no reason to strike. I have been trying to get as much info as possible about why everyone is so unhappy, but it is difficult. The people who strike use a post-marxist, propaganda-like discourse, so it is difficult to take things they say seriously. The media is covering it, but there are biases there as well. I'm sure I'll take a position on it at some point, but I'm not there yet. I'll keep you all posted, since I'm sure you're dying to know what I think about this issue that has nothing to do with you!
Otherwise, life continues to fly by. I go to the market every weekend, I cook, I bake, I eat. I eat. I cook some more. I drink wine. I drink beer. I walk. And walk. It rains, rains rains. Random sun appears and it goes away five minutes later. Life, quoi!
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Todd, que je suis contente que tu es revenue. Je ne peux pas etre en France moi-meme, puis je m'interesse a tout ce que tu as pour nous dire!
RépondreSupprimerAck! Agreement!
RépondreSupprimer