Doodah

New Red Shoes

New Red Shoes, originally uploaded by sarahwoo.

The States.

It's all about a new lifestyle for us. Car driving, junk food eating, and of course, shopping. It's fun to try on new skin every once in awhile.

For Felix it is like Christmas although he doesn't realize that yet. He just has loads of different people who want to play with him and brand new shoes.

Our first week is almost over. It was wonderful to relax in Vermont but tomorrow we head out on a mini-road trip. Planned stops: New Hampshire, Connecticut, and NYC. Stops planned by me unbeknown to Tibo: TARGET!

Guess what?

It's raining again!

But it is a soothing steady rain. I don't feel as bad about spending all my time today in front of the computer. I took a little camera break wanting to capture a sense of the day but without stepping outside for too long. So I perched myself in different positions in our living room looking for outside shots that were possible from inside.

The side of our house, the living room side, is covered in grape vines. The grapes are small and flavorful if the birds don't get to them before we do. The vines are what do it for me. I love sitting in our living room, looking out through the jungle. I can almost forget that I am in a city. They always feel especially vibrant on rainy days.

We rarely cut them back though and consequently they make their way towards the gutters or the roof  and sometimes they even try to come inside...but I don't mind. They give me reasons to sit and pause for awhile.

Time

Lazare's Sandals (1), originally uploaded by sarahwoo.

This weekend has been flowing so nicely so far. It is great to have time. Time to do nothing. Time to change plans and then change them again. Time to sit in the backyard with friends until past midnight. And then do it all over again the next morning.

Time to try on shoes that are too big. Time to play with a new camera.

While our life is no way structured around a daily routine (well, except Felix's of course) it still feels like we have broken away a bit from the shackles of the  mundane.

The goal is to do this all the time not just the weekend. If we can manage to change our state of mind and our perspective we can approach everyday like a Saturday.

We really do have all the time in the world.

At least it is fat-free

Vote for Disctraction #9574, originally uploaded by sarahwoo.

Which I can't say for most of the other things I use to distract myself.

But I can't knit AND work at the same time. On the other hand, I can totally handle chocolate eating and typing.

One more distraction

Creme Citron....drool.....

Staring at my feet

originally uploaded by sarahwoo.

This is what today looked like. Well, not exactly. More like me, in the bedroom, at my desk all day. The job anticipation coupled with a few heavy teaching days put me behind in my classes online. So today I was doing homework. All day. I felt such a relief after all my exterior work ended that it is hard to force myself to work here at home. Needless to say, I moved very slowly and distracted myself a lot.

I took a break at one point and wandered around taking photos of the bedroom. Not much came out well, it was a very grey day today but I liked this one. Something about the light coming from my big toe.

Set the sails...

On Monday I had a final interview for a new job* in September. This final interview was, I hoped, the last step in what has been a long process. First, I had to create my resume IN FRENCH. Then, I had to write a motivation letter IN FRENCH. Next I had an interview with the director of the school, representatives of the parents association, and some of the teachers IN FRENCH. Two weeks later they called asking me to come into the school for a day long visit. It went great. I love the school, the staff is nice, and the ambiance is just the right type of controlled-chaos, active learning, creative environment that I love.

Then that was it. Nothing more. During my visit it felt as if I had the job. The way the staff and the director spoke to me about the future made it all feel very definite. But no one had confirmed anything.

Later I was contacted by the president of the parent's association so that we could get together to chat a bit. This was the interview on Monday. We met in Paris and found a little cafe it sit in on the cold, rainy day. Our conversation was fun and animated. I tend to ramble in French because I am never quite sure if I am getting my point across. As we neared the end of the conversation I finally managed to ask, "so, do I have this job?" (It was much more polite and formal than this as it was IN FRENCH.) Her reply was, "Yes, I THINK it has been decided."

THINK? How about just a "yes"?

And today, I received this:

See where it says "votre candidature a été retenue"? I am pretty sure that means - I'm hired!

Ever since I moved to France I have felt a little lost. Leading backpacking trips and teaching ecology was so right for me in the states but that direction of my life changed when I decided to move across the pond. Finding myself again in a place where I started out knowing no one and not speaking the language has been nothing short of challenging. This job represents in so many ways the progress I have made not only in terms of speaking French but also in my ability to navigate my life in foreign waters. I think we might be getting somewhere.

*I will be teaching English at a private school not far from my home. This school uses active pedagogy which means that the I can teach the way that I love to - through movement, creativity, games, nature, music, and more. The school includes levels maternelle (3-5 year olds) up to CM2 (10-11 year olds) with 6 classes of mixed ages. I will be splitting the work with another teacher but I think I will be primarily responsible for the older students. English hasn't officially been taught at the school before so we have the opportunity to develop something really cool. I can't wait.

Getting past the road-blocks

I am grasping little moments here and there to work on various projects. Today I was inspired to start fixing up this blog a bit. Perhaps it was my fun new purchase that inspired me. Or maybe it is a secret project that I am working on with a friend. Or it could just be the mellowness of another grey day here in France. Whatever the reason, you can see that I managed to make a little progress. (It is far from being finished though.)

We leave for the states in two weeks. I can't wait. Life has been a whirlwind lately and this trip really represents rest and relaxation for me. We plan on staying very low-key with a few trips planned throughout the Northeast but mostly spending the month in Vermont. I hope to find some time to organize my thoughts about this blog. I have a lot of ideas (especially at 2 am) but they take time to implement and a certain level of commitment to see them through. Am I up for it? We'll find out...

Tomorrow is Tibo's 31st birthday. We happen to have a few zucchini ready in the garden so I think it is time to whip out the Chocolate Zucchini Cake recipe again. Yum...so good.

In the meantime you can enjoy one of  my favorite things: