Fête de l'école & Versailles

Tänään esikoulullamme oli fête de l'école eli "kevätjuhla" (vaikkei nyt enää kevät olekaan ja koulua jatkuu vielä viikon verran). Juhla oli hyvin erilainen verrattuna Suomessa tottumiini lukuvuoden päätöstilaisuuksiin. Lapset kyllä esittivät pari laulua vanhemmilleen, mutta siinä se yhtäläisyys sitten olikin. Useilla lapsilla oli mekon tai kesäisen juhla-asun sijaan naamiaisasu, kuten Spiderman, Ironman, Frozen-teemainen puku tai leppäkerttu. Vanhemmat toivat mukanaan suuren määrän juotavaa, kakkuja, piirakoita ym naposteltavia ja asvustivat kasvomaalausten teossa. Me, koulun henkilökunta, olimme puhaltaneet ilmapalloja sekä keksineet kivoja leikkejä lapsille ja vanhemmille joko heidän haastaakseen toisiaan tai toimiakseen tiiminä. Oikein mukava viimeinen lauantai-työpäivä! Ensi viikon perjantaina loppuu sekä lukukausi että minun määräaikainen sopimukseni. (Joskin näyttää siltä, että saatamme kirjoittaa myöhemmin uuden sopimuksen alkamaan syyskuusta..)

[Today we had fête de l'école at our preschool (even though we still have one week of school) and it was very different from the end of the year celebration in Finland. The children sang a couple of songs for their parents but that's the end of the similarity. In stead of a dress or another kind of summer clothing, many kids wore a costume, such as Spiderman, Ironman, Frozen theme outfit or a ladybug. The parents brought a big amount of drinks, cakes, pies and other snacks, and they helped with the face-painting. We, the school staff, had blown balloons and come up some games for the children and parents to either challenge each other or to play as a team. A very nice last Saturday working day! Next Friday is the end for both the semester and my fixed-term contract. (Even though it seems that we might later make a new contract for me to start from September..)]

Työpäivän jälkeen otin junat Versaillesiin. Tapasin siellä uuden CE-tuttavuuden, joka on asunut kyseisessä kaupungissa koko elämänsä ja kuljetti minua ympäriinsä. Luonnollisesti ensimmäinen kohteemme oli Versaillesin palatsi, joskin kiersimme sen hieman kauempaa valtavan väenpaljouden takia, emmekä edes yrittäneet sisään. Oppaani sen sijaan tiesi suuren puiston alueelle hiljaisemman sisäänkäynnin, joka johti suoraan luonnon keskelle: metsää ja peltoa! Ihanaa, niin rauhallista ja kotoisaa! Kävelimme melkoisen matkan pitkillä suorilla teillä puistoalueella ja sen jälkeen kaupungilla ja lopulta suuntasimme urheilubaariin seuraamaan juuri alkanutta jalkapallon MM-kisojen Ranska-Argentiina-ottelua. Tunnelma totisesti oli hieno väen noustessa seisomaan asti vähän väliä innostuessaan. Väliajalla lähdin jo kotiinpäin, koska kotimatka kesti tunnin, mutta jälkeenpäin ajatellen olisi voinut seurata matsin loppuun asti, koska toinen erä oli ilmeisesti hyvinkin kiinnostava. Päivän ainoksi huonoksi puoleksi voisin nimetä liian kuuman kelin. Yli 30 astetta ja aurinko paistoi lähes pilvettömältä taivaalta.

[After the working day I took trains to Versailles. There I met a new CE acquaintance who had lived in that town for his whole life and took me around. Naturally our first destination was the palace of Versailles, though we went around it from afar due to the big crowd and we didn't even try to get inside. My guide knew a more quiet entrance to the huge park and it lead straight to the nature: forest and fields! So wonderful, so peaceful and homely! We walked quite a bit along the long straight roads in the park area and in the town and finally headed to a sports bar to watch the world championships of football when France faced Argentina. The atmosphere surely was great when the people also stood up for the excitement every now and then. During the halftime I left to go home because it took one whole hour to get back but thinking afterwards, I could have stayed until the end of the game because the second half must have been interesting. The only negative thing to say about today is the too hot weather. Over 30 degrees and sun shining from an almost cloudless sky.]

Taustalla häämöttää itse palatsi.
[On the background is looming the palace itself.]

Muutamia muita mielenkiintoisia hetkiä kuluneilta viikoilta:
-Sain aikaan kohahduksen omilta oppilailtani, kun kerrattuani sääntöjä kaikille eskarin lapsille varmistin ranskaksi "c'est compris?" (onko ymmärretty?), sillä sääntönämme (minun luokassani) on, että minun kanssani käytetään vain englantia. He jaksavat aina hämmästyä kun kuulevat minun sanovan sanankin ranskaksi.
-Yksi päivä vein kouluun veljeni tuomia salmiakkikarkkeja ja annoin niitä omalle luokalleni. Halusin varoittaa, etteivät ne ole ihan samanlaisia kuin lapset ovat tottuneet syömään, mutta he olivat ehkä turhankin varovaisia. Nuolaistuaan suolaista pintaa kaikki yhtä lukuunottamatta kävivät heittämässä karkit suoraan roskakoriin.
-Tällä viikolla kävin yksin uimassa, sillä H on työmatkalla. Mutta tylsän uimiskerran sijaan siitä tulikin kaikkien aikojen paras uimahalli-reissu! Uituani pari kertaa altaan päästä päähän, "lasten altaassa" (=matalampi allas, lämmin vesi, poreita ja hieromasuihkuja) alkoi vesijumppatunti. Kävin kysymässä, onko se kaikille avoin ja niin minäkin päädyin sinne. Se muistutti monien kappaleiden osalta vedessä tanssittavaa zumbaa ja biisivalinnat olivat loistavia aina uusista suurista hiteistä Crazy Frogiin ja Pirates of the Caribbeaniin. 1,5 tunnin jumpan jälkeen kyllä väsyttikin.

[A few other interesting moments from the past weeks:
-I got a genuine stir from my students when after repeating some rules to all of the children at the preschool, I asked in French "c'est compris?" (is it understood?) because we have also a rule (in my class) that only English should be used with me. They still get surprised every time they hear me saying even one word in French.
-One day I took some salmiakki candies that my brother had brought to school and I gave those to my kids. I wanted to warn them that they might be quite different from other candies they have eaten but the children might have been a bit too careful with tasting. After licking the salty surface all except one threw the candies straight to the bin.
-This week I went to swim alone because H is on a work trip. But in stead of a boring swimming time it became the best visit to a swimming hall ever! After a couple of rounds in the pool, there was a water aerobics lesson starting in the "kids' pool" (=shallower pool, warm water, bubbles and a stream). I went to ask if it is open for everybody and so I joined them too. It reminded a lot a zumba class in water and the playlist for songs was great from the newest hits to Crazy Frog and Pirates of the Caribbean. After 1,5 hours of water aerobics I did feel tired.]

Erityismainintana vielä eilen töistä lähtöä tehdessäni 4-vuotiaan pojan kanssa käymäni ihana keskustelu (vapaasti käännettynä englannista):
Hän: "Odota! Tahdon lähteä kanssasi!"
Minä: "Haluat lähteä kanssani Pariisiin asti, minun kotiini?"
Hän: "Kyllä. Haluan lähteä kanssasi."
Minä: "Eivätkö isäsi ja äitisi ole surullisia, jos et ole täällä kun he tulevat hakemaan sinua?"
Hän: "Mutta sinä olet iloinen, jos tulen sinun kanssasi."

[As a special mention a sweet conversation I had with a 4-year-old boy when I was about to leave from the school yesterday:
He: "Wait! I want to go with you!"
Me: "You want to go until Paris, to my home?"
He: "Yes, I want to go with you."
Me: "Wouldn't your mom and dad be sad if you are not here when they come to pick you up?"
He: But you are happy if I come with you."

Sain viikolla lahjaksi rasiallisen suklaata ja 4-vuotiaan kirjoittaman kortin.
[I got a box of chocolate as present and a card written by a 4-year-old during this week.]

Konvehdit muistuttavat hyvin paljon suomalaisen rasian sisältöä.
[They look very much like the ones in Finland.]

Disneyland, Sacré cœur and skeletons with my brother

I got visitors from Finland for the second time here when my brother who is inter-railing in Europe, stopped in Paris for some days. He came about two weeks ago on Friday, so just perfectly before the weekend for me to spend more time with him. The most interesting destination for us was Disneyland. H got there for the first time but for me and my brother that was already the second time. Not that I would have remembered much... Actually almost every place looked like I would have never seen them before, which might partly be true since Disney has got many new famous story tales since my childhood. The queues for the rides, especially the most "hardcore" rides, were long but there was much to see also outside the rides themselves.

The castle of Sleeping Beauty in the center of the park.

The theme park is divided in 4 areas. One of them is Frontierland. It looked like entering the Wild West with wooden houses and red rocks. We took a boat that went around an island that had the most interesting-looking roller coaster. Unfortunately the estimated queuing time was one hour so we decided to skip it.

On the other side of the central square there is Discoveryland that looked mostly having the theme from Star Wars. I have to say I was impressed with the robots they had there (and actually many robots around the whole park) because they seemed quite real. It was not only one part of the robots moving but the mouth was synchronized to the speaking and the arms and other body parts moved in a surprisingly real-life way. I enjoyed very much the Buzz Lightyear lazer gun war where the visitors got to collect points by shooting the stars and the bad robots from Toy Story.

Since there has always been living an adventurer in me, the most interesting area in Disneyland was Adventureland. Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, the dark caves where you actually didn't know the right direction, a robe bridge and a house in a big tree. I felt like a kid again! Taking the water ride of Pirates of the Caribbean was nostalgic because that became our favorite ride during the last visit. Though it had also changed a little bit due to the new movies. But a bigger change had happened with the Indiana Jones roller coaster that my parents have been talking about. I didn't take as a child but (/because) they told me it went backwards. This time I was more than willing to experience that so no wonder it ended up to be a disappointment because the passengers were facing forward all the time.

After experiencing the dangerous adventures it was time to feel at ease with the Disney princesses in Fantasyland. The funniest place there was the labyrinth of Alice in Wonderlands and the castle of the Queen of Hearts in the middle of the labyrinth. Even though Disneyland was maybe smaller than we expected and we couldn't take many (exciting) rides, it was a great way to spend a free day and live in a fairy tale for a while!

I could still use my next free day, Wednesday, with my brother and we had decided to visit the catacombs of Paris. The underground caves filled with skeletons was a tempting and a strange idea at the same time. Nevertheless, we had to pick another place to visit because of a strike that had at the catacombs. We were disappointed but somehow not that surprised. So, in stead we took metros to Sacré cœur. I had been at the church at least three times before but I had never climbed the 300 steps to the main tower to see the view from there. Good exercise and a good view!

"Life is beautiful, and you are like it!"

After Sacré cœur we needed to find a restaurant selling frog legs because that was one thing on my brother's list to do in France. Google Maps is a friend in this situation too, but many of the restaurants were selling those only as starters and with the price of 12-15 euros. Finally after walking and metros and walking we finally found a restaurant selling frog legs as a main dish. After the late lunch we still had time to go to the Natural history museum's paleontology part. Skeletons, skeletons and skeletons. I don't remember seeing that many skeletons anywhere before. My brother was lucky to visit Paris before he is 26 years old because he got inside to the museum for free, just like he would have got inside for free to many other museum here.

Some sea animals.

Also dinosaurus