25 août, 2008

Mattress Musings and a Pet Peeve


So, I'm back in Rennes enfin. I could have easily missed my flight since I got to the airport only an hour before my flight(a bunch of traffic and a little getting lost on the way to Newark from CT), but luckily there weren't many people going through security, so I made it with a few mins to spare. I was a bit stressed considering I'm the girl who gets to the airport like an hour early just to be sure I have enough time and/or won't be rushed. I had to say a quick bye to the fam and then was off back to my second home in France. The flight went by pretty fast (love those direct flights!) especially since I had a really good book to read(Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, in case you're wondering.) Now I'm back to the ole rigamarole of pursuing the ever-evasive tarte de mesjours (I daren't utter the word!) which will probably mean several trips to the dreaded Trefecture to convince them I'm an asset to their country. Umm, yeah, we'll see how that goes. Pretty much more of the waiting game, I'm waiting for the boss lady to call me back because she's in a RDV which makes me nervous because she used to always conveniently be "in a RDV" when I was harrassing, I mean, calling her back in July to get more info about the poste.



I also have to go for an interview to see about this other job that would be teaching classes to university students and teaching them how to interview in English, write CVs and other job-related things in the anglophone world pertaining to their studies. It sounds really interesting and it's more hours to tack on in my goal to be as close to the French 35 hr work week as possible. As it stands, if I get all the jobs I'm planning on getting, I will have 5 jobs that will total about 30 hours. One is working for the same primary school as last year teaching 5&6 yr olds, another is tutoring a brother/sister in English, my main job working in a primary school with 2.5-7 yr olds, another tutoring job teaching a sister/brother in English and then the job at the university. I'm hoping to connect with the guy at the university soon, but every time I call, he isn't into work yet which leads me to my pet peeve. I called this morning and the lady who answered said "oh non he won't be in until the afternoon, bien sur" (insert patronizing tone that says "duh, idiota, you should know that!") I'm sorry I don't know his schedule by heart lady seeing as this is the first time I've called him and he just said "give me a call" with no specific day or time. Jeez! So, I called back at 14h and her response was that he was "pas du tout there, it's only 14h, why don't I call back in an hour, he should be there then." I swear to dog if he isn't in at 15h30, I'm gonna jump through the phone and clock that lady. I guess it's possible for her to have no clue when he's coming in, but why does she have to act like I'm ridiculous for asking if he's there every time I call? This wouldn't bother me so much if it were the first time I've encountered this strange reaction when you call looking for someone at a place of business. But, I've definitely experienced this before and it gets on my nerfs. Grr. Ok...back to waiting.



PS-I just got a new mattress and box spring while I was gone (a friend works for a company and got me a good deal) which is exciting because no one likes to sleep on two mini beds at different levels...or at least I assume that's not just me, anyways. While I'm grateful to my pote, I find the mattress to be pretty hard. I know hard is supposed to be better than soft, but still, it's kinda uncomfortable. Do any of you know if such a thing as like an egg crate or one of those soft down layer thingies exists in France? I asked a couple Frenchies and they thought no...but I'm thinking you expats might know for sure. Help!?!

Update: I finally got through to the dude at the university (the same lady I talked to before was this time surprisingly pleasant ps, quoi?) and I have an entretien demain which is bon. Then, bad/good news about the school, bad news being that I won't be able to meet up with them until the end of this week, good being that it looks like I should have 3 or 4 more hours than prevu'd!

8 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

Hellllo
So, your goal is the 35 working week then? Mine is a CDI. Is it too much to ask for? Me thinks so. I've got a lectrice gig this coming year and have just sold my soul to a teaching primary school kids in a private language school. and I HATED (most) of my year as an assistant at primary school last year. So, maybe I'm questing to get 35 hours a week too. hmmm

How did you get your primary school job? Cos I wouldn't lind doing one of he schools from last year again but the three i did come as a package. please enlighten me.

welcome back to france btw :o)

Leah a dit…

Well, my goal isn't really to have 5 jobs in order to have 35 hrs, but choosing to teach English to primary school kids means that I will probably have to always have 2 or 3 jobs minimum if I want to have enough money. It's not so much the number of hours as the money, although I do get bored with too much time on my hands! A CDI would be sweet, it will come eventually, you just gotta hang in there!

Hmm, I personally like teaching the little kiddies, but I've also had hellish classes, so I def comprend ya. I got my jobs by just randomly sending out my CV by email and post to all the private primary schools in Rennes and even ones outside of the city, but in my department. I only sent CVs by post to the ones in Rennes, of course, because otherwise it would've cost me a fortune. Anyway, I got (in theory) 2 jobs out of it and one is (in theory) getting me a green card, so it wouldn't hurt to try! I know you don't need a green card, but I mean to get some extra work in! Good luck, Emma!

BlondeInFrance a dit…

Welcome back as well! Sounds like you have some good options! And I've noticed having more jobs and less free time is the best, since free time with me always leads to spending lots of money I don't have, so with lots of jobs and no time you end up saving tons! Yay!

Leah a dit…

Thanks! It does sound good, I have to agree...whether it will pan out, on verra! I do like my free time, but I also do things I shouldn't when I have too much on my hands...like watching ridiculous reality shows on mtv.com on a teeny, tiny screen. Yay for (hopefully) making some mulah and then not spending it! Wait, what?

MilkJam a dit…

i hope things go well!!
just a quick note about the egg carton thing, a couple years ago i looked everywhere and no luck. it wasn't expensive for my mom to buy me one at linens & things and ship it (they're wayyyy light!) i think i paid her about 40e for all of it with the exchange rate
but just last week i was looking in La Redoute catalog and they have them!!! they're more expensive but if you know someone who has a LaRedoute discount (people who have ordered from them before get a slew of promos...) then it might be worth it.
good luck!

au soleil levant a dit…

Happy being back in France! Sorry that you've got a bunch of junk to deal with, but hopefully it will resolve itself soon and leave you with a shiny tarte de mesjours and some cash. I'm with Andromeda on that free time = spending money thing. I shopped waaayyy too much those last few weeks in France when I wasn't working.

Btw, what do you think a tarte de mesjours would taste like? Since it comes from the Trefecture I would say it tastes pretty darn bad.

Leah a dit…

K-Thanks! I just looked online and it looks like the surmatelas I'd want would be 34 which isn't too ridic. I do know of a couple people who have the discount, so once I get to earning mulah again, I will def do that. Mercy buckets!

M-Thanks! I think a tarte de mesjours would probably taste like...hmm...merde?

Anonyme a dit…

Hope you enjoyed Twilight. It's a fun read!