Sound of The Suburbs Part 3

So here it is, the Final part of the three part series Sound Of The Suburbs Enjoy!!!

Sound Of The Suburbs Part 2

This series only gets better, funnier and more insightful!!! Keep watching if you know what's good for you!!!! ENJOY!!!

Sound Of The Suburbs Part 1

So... I don't know if any of you will remember the riots that occurred in the Parisian suburbs a few years ago, but I do! To sum it all up, there are neighbourhoods surrounding Paris that basically look, feel and are pretty much the same as any American hood and probably derive from the same issues; class inequalities, racism and a lack of government concern. These neighbourhoods are over run with drugs, gun violence and struggle... but as we all know along with drugs, gangs, and struggle, Rap music is never too far behind. I found this video that barely tackles the issues surrounding the troubled suburbs of "picture perfect Paris", but it's really funny!!! And I love anything that takes me into the weird world of rap music. Rappers are the weirdest people, and are even weirder when they are speaking a beautiful language like French. This is the part of France/Paris I will probably never see but wish I could be a part of. I guess this video will have to do for now. I'll post Part 2 and 3 as they come out!!!

Nous Chantons

As I prepare and get my 'ish together for leaving in a month, I get to do one of my favorite things before traveling anywhere - Creating playlists to listen to. Normally I have a few standard play lists "chill music", "strong females", "OG music" and this time "French Music" most of my French music is outdated so I am currently on the search for some new stuff. Here are some of my all time favorite francophone songs. Hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do :D

                                                                                        

                                         

Do it yourself French

So I recently came across this really cool website for those of you who only took French until grade 9 and have since only used their French to read the other side of the cereal box.

This is basically a website designed to give you very basic but useful French lessons and tips. It's broken down into categories and is very easy to follow. It is simplifying the language but eight times out of ten if you stick to these basic rules the other person will at least understand the gist of what you are trying to say.

So if you are Planning to come visit me!!!! or just want to brush up on your French for your next road trip over to Montreal, make sure to check out this website.

www.thefrenchexperiment.com

Italy? Yes Please!

Spending the afternoon looking through Lonely Planet books and planning a tentative  itinerary has got me way too excited to spend the year in Europe.

My best friend Lauren is going to be joining me in France at the end of my seven months, and then we are off to Italy and Paris for approximately three weeks. We decided to start planning way ahead because we think that it might be too hard to plan everything via Skype... but mainly because we are so excited!!!

As of right now, we are planning for her to join me in Montpellier (or just outside) for about a week, and then head out to Florance, Rome and Venice, spending no less than three FULL days in each city. Then we are off to Paris, for a week.

Just planning for the trip we are discovering sooooo much. I have learned that; I am horrible at pronouncing Italian words, We are probably going to spend most of the time turning the names of Ancient Italian sights into dirty words, and finally that we have a heck of a lot of reading up to do on ALL the art, and history.

Needless to say I AM WAY TOO EXCITED!!!!

Lost in translation

I came across this and I thought... what better way to describe what will probably be every interaction I have while in France.  Lol!

The beginning

So it is exactly 40 days until my take off to the land of wine and cheese. I have begun this blog because I am dedicated to keep you all updated about my travels and whereabouts.

I'm going to update you guys on what's going on so far! 

So in about June I received my arrête de nomination, which, I guess, is like my contract and placement. I will be teaching at Lycée René Gosse in Clermont L'herault which is a city about 30 minutes outside of Montpellier. 

Along with my contract I also received e-mails of a few people I could contact for some advice, guidance and help. I e-mailed them asking a few questions about my classes, students and school but what I really wanted to know was if they could help me find a place to live. To my pleasant surprise one of the very very nice ¿teachers? (I'm still unsure of her position) that I contacted informed me that there is a very nice lady who lives about three minutes from my school who rents out the three spare bedrooms in her home to the language assistants of the school every year. I was given her e-mail and just like that I had arranged for a place to stay. I will be staying with who I believe is the Spanish Assistant at my school. 

About a week ago I received my work visa, which was sorta like the finalization of all that I have to do in my home country. From here on in it's packing, saving money and spending some quality time with all the friends I will be missing like crazy!!!!