Love-hate relationship with french classes - 4

Luckily or unluckily
i fell sick and need to see a doctor
and ended up with 2 days MC
So, i didnt went for class.

First, i receive a text from classmate N (lucky 4)
that she was alone, 
none of us came
so i told her i will be back on Monday

then, i receive a text from classmate T (unlucky 2)
that her name is not in the class
so she is leaving and to find out what to do

after, i received 2 calls from the school
asking why im not in
and i explained that i have 2 days MC
both calls reminded me to return to the new teacher class
on monday
i guess that means i definitely can continue my class
in the new class and teacher
and shall see how it is

im worried for my class buddy
because she is away for vacation this week
and will only be back on Monday
I am unsure what her arrangement will be
because unlike our teacher 
who claims this class is not required
and we can go for vacation
the new school is super strict
like checking whether i really have a MC

I really felt that we are abused
no explanation
last minute changes
although the classes are free
i guess the governement pay the school
and i think we deserve better
not sure how its going to work
since i wont be able to attend class after 23 december
i wont be in paris for the week
husband and i think that we may need to write a formal email
to complain and request that i can continue in January
frankly, after all these dramas,
im not sure whether i want to continue the class here
oh well,
i hope all will be fine on Monday....

love-hate relationship with french classes - 3

Since my friends were here from Singapore
I tried not to be bothered by the drama
and just wait for the call / text
but till 7pm,
i received nothing
whats new right?
i texted our teacher for the location and hours for thursday
and now she insist that nothing is changed
im to go for class with the new teacher
WTF??!!

The crazy thing is i received a voice message 
from our replacement teacher 
that i can join her class in the afternoon
and she will text me the address
which she did not.

But its totally crazy to expect me go to point A to have class at 9am
and at 1pm to go to point B to have class
so i text our teacher what am i supposed to do
then she claimed that she couldnt contact our replacement teacher 
so i just go back to the new teacher
so much for being responsible and organised huh!

Next my classmates started texting me
because they didnt receive any calls or texts
so i just told them that our teacher asked us returned to new place
nothing is resolved again
and we are back to square 1
No idea when our class will end
and not sure how long we are to stay in this class..

And i shall see what happen the next day...

love-hate relationship with french classes - 2

Husband thought its wonderful i get more hours
but anyway,
i woke up super early on Tuesday
and was happy to see my classmates
because we have no idea which class we will be in
Initially, we waited outside the class of our level
and i realised there were 7 of us!
Must be the effect of changing teacher
haha

After 10 mins,
we were informed that the class is full
it is impossible for all of us to attend the class.
I guess our teacher didnt check it before sending us here
and we returned to the waiting area
where i think our presence totally freak out the receptionist
and this wait became a wait of 3 hours!

Our teacher was uncontactable
she claimed she is in class and will call
finally she called and explained the situation
to the receptionist
but it was not helpful
because the class is full!
Ended up it felt more like a class gathering
than a class

At 11am,
some of us were thinking to leave
and our teacher finally text us to wait for her till 1130am
finally, a ray of hope!
I guess we didnt mind whether there will be class for the day
but we just want an explanation
then till 1145am, there was no sign of her

at 12pm, she texted again to say wait till 1230pm.
I dont know whether is because im sick
But i was really pissed off
At 12.15pm,
the receptionist informed that we are to split up into 2 classes
for me, i was among the lucky 4 to be in the same class
for 2 of my classmates, 
they are to attend moning class with group A and teacher A
and attend afternoon class with group B and teacher B
which i feel is totally unfair and bad for learning!

As the receptionist rushed us to join the class
since it will be lunch time soon
I called our teacher, and guess what?
She said she wont be coming and she want us to go to the class now!
WTF?!
It means from 11 - 1230,
she was never on the way??
We will simply waiting for someone to come up with a solution?!
Despite my explanation that is unfair for the 2 and the split up issue,
she simply tell me that she will call us to explain.
I WANT A FACE TO FACE EXPLANATION
NOT BULLSHIT AGAIN!!!
Which till today, i didnt have it...

By the time, we went to class,
it was lunch time so we need to wait till 130pm.
And the 2 classmates left because they want to call our teacher
and clarify what is happening.
I was a little worried about the class
becaue im unsure whether we are of the same level
especially when my classmate spoke to the teacher
before the class,
and the teacher insisted that she should be in class A1
and not A2 because her french is not good enough

Lucky, all was well in the class
except my terrible headache
which i think was worsen by the morning drama
apparently the class started a week after us,
so we are about the same level
but then the news came,
the class is to end on 31 december!
which means it is going to screw up my christmas holidays
because initially my class was to end 23 december..
WTF

But the class was nice 
and after we did the usual self introduction
the lessons started
and i think this teacher is better than our teacher
in terms of her ability to explain and engage
so, it seems great that i can finally stay in the class...

i have no choice but to text our teacher
to ask when is our end date
now, she claim she will be checking with our usual replacement teacher
to take us in from Thursday onwards
and we can end the class by 23 december, 
so all we need to do is wait for her call on Wednesday

And as usual, shit continues...

love hate relationship with french classes - 1

Despite the usual post-holidays blues
I returned to class on monday
sadly, the usual shit is still shit
there is no heater in class,
apparently the building didnt pay.
there was only 4 students,
including me.
Before you start thinking is great
to be in a small class
I must say I hate this class to be small
because we finish more assignments
since we do it faster
but end up we are constantly 
Responding to the teacher
that I felt I have no time to think
before it was my turn again
or another topic.
then again,
I dont know why the rest are not coming
maybe because no one really like the teacher

New happenings...
the toilet lights dont work
the electrical sockets dont work
and no toilet paper
-.-"

By noon,
another classmate decide she was leaving
she felt cold and 
that she wasnt learning
So the teacher decided to end the class
instead of 3pm
she decided that class is too small
and room is bad
that we should go to another location for class
that she will text us by evening
of the new address

End up no news from her
and she finally called after I texted her
talk about being responsible
-,-"

So new changes,
apart from changing location
Which will take me 45mins to go,
the hours will be 9-5
And days to be mon, tue, wed, fri
and a new teacher!
I was pissed at the last minute change
the hours are longer than before
and I am lucky that I took off from work
cant imagine if im still working..
and my friend was coming
I planned to meet her on wed,
which I cant because of the new schedule
but the teacher assured that 
our group will be together
and I can inform the new teacher about wed

I guess the idea of a new teacher
sounded so good
that I decided to try the new place..

Thats when the nightmare starts..

Paris syndrome

I recall reading an article
about paris syndrome
which is depression etc caused by
expectations differences
when people arrived in paris
yes, it exists
and apparently affects mainly asians
I think japanese

I guess I did have high expectations of paris
like how husband always wonder
why there are so many pictures of effiel tower
used on notebooks, cups, etcs
to indicate love in singapore
subconsciously, we are to think
paris is the wonderful city of love
or the place to be??
anyway, for my first few trips here
I admit im facinated by the city,
language and culture

But now, coming to a year
of living as a normal citizen
I guess most of the fascination wears off
despite of scary stories from friends,
my sister's encounter,
my personal struggles, 
experiences
and my constant struggles with the language
I think I kinda of fitted into life here

when friends are paranoid 
when they are here,
people giving my contact to friends on trips
in case of emergencies,
When my classmates speak
about negative experiences,
It surprised me how im starting
to defend paris. Haha

Well, it may not be the safest city
in the world,
I still get shit from people,
and I cant stand the inefficiency
but hey,
im starting to get used to this home!
thats a good news right??

I guess maybe 
I didnt had the paris syndrome..

Ps to anyone reading this
im not complaining 
about stop being paranoid here
because you really must be cautious!
Dont stop giving my contact to people
im still very happy to help anyone
just that im glad I got over
some parts of my own paranoid
Yay to that!! 

Our short trip in bordeaux

I was really looking forward
To a short break from school
Although im not working
Well at least for this month
The daily school
And mandane daily activites
Do tire me out
So came the opportunity
For us to take a short trip
To bordeaux to visit grandparents
The last time we saw them was for our wedding
And is my first trip with mother in law

I have no idea what to do in bordeaux
Except to eat canalles
But thankfully mil is our guide
That husband and i just follow
For the 3days trip
Haha

Strangely we sleep and wake up early
I guess when in rome
We do what the rome do
husband even woke up at 7am for breakfast
When normally he cant even wake up 
At 8am for work...
Ehh i only woke up at 830am
Im fine to miss the cozy 7am breakfast..
Haha

We didnt do much exploration
Except visiting the city centre
Big shopping mall beside us
Christmas market
The quay
And the random streets
Christmas lights everywhere!

Is not my first time to visit christmas market

I been to a small one in paris

And another in compiegne

But the one in bordeaux is the biggest i have been

But sadly,

It was selling more clothes, jewellery etc

Than christmas stuff

I guess is like sg pasar malams nowadays

Where you can find more handphone stuff

Than traditional stuff and food...

But we did have a nice hot spiced wine

On the way back

Husband and i were excited to see 

The shelock holmes pub!

We have been huge fan of sherlock holmes

Since we watched the serial "sherlock"

Okay, husband been a fan since young

Reading the books

And me..just for the cute actor, haha

Too bad we were rushing home for dinner

Else, i think we will go in for a drink

I think the best of the trip is the food!

Grandmother in-law is a great cook

That i end up having 2nd/3rd servings

And is strange how she can make me finish

My garlic, leek and parsley

Because she make them taste so good...

Is really authentic traditional fremch food

Now i truly understand

The taste of grandma's cooking

Is better than any restuarant!

I have been cheated by husband's cooking

That i assumed that french food is often

Full of cream and cheese...

Haha

Is crazy how i put on 1kg in 3days!

I think it doesnt help that we take a nap

Straight after lunch

Hmm if we lived here for 3months

I will suspect is a conspiracy 

to sell us to a butcher

After making us fat!

But the good food is worth

The extra weight to bring home

Oh well, the winter weight 

To hide under the thick coats..

Tonight is our last night here 

husband and I are doing the usual tv surfing

That we do whenever we travel

Because we do not have tv channels at home

Okay time to enjoy our last moments

In bordeaux...

My first french exam - part 2

After a short drink
We returned to the exam halls
We will put in waiting rooms randomly
There are 7 examiners
Who went to the rooms and search for candiates
I guess they can reduce search time
If they have made us sat in certain order
Oh well

My appointment was 1130am
And i was called at 1140am
All was done by 1150am
It was really fast!
Unlike trial tests,
The examiner dont ask much,
Dont ask you to stop,
Or give any response
So you are to babble on
Till you say you are done for the question

I dont know is it im nervous
Or the question is hard
My grammar was all over the place
And i was struggling to continue to speak
I was really glad that it was over...

Since i need a total of 50/100 
I guess i should have no problem passing it
Even if i did badly for my oral
Oh well, shall see the results in january
By the way, in age of internet and rapid post,
We need to go down to collect our results..
Sigh

Anyway is holiday!
currently enjoying our short weekend
At bordeaux
Visiting grandparents
And stuffing ourselves with awesome food!