When it rains it pours.... job offers

when it rains it pours..... that's fo' sho'

get this, I got ANOTHER job offer. From the other school i work at (cuz i work at two). the student representitive came to me saying all their other english teachers are crap and blowing my ego up. also saying he has the ear of the "dean" and is quite close to her, and they desperately need someone of my quality.
the long and the short of it is that they have an opening because their in-house full time english teacher has gone on to be full adminstrative; that leaves them with no full time english teacher.
That could be me!

whew! good thing i haven't signed anything at the first school yet.

really, who the hell gets two job propositions in two weeks? and i wasn't even looking! that's the kicker!

the very good thing is that i could (if i play it right) get more money that what was last proposed to me. at what was last proposed isn't bad (for France), so I've already told the second place that i've had another job proposition and the salary they've proposed. quite simply, if they want me they'll have to fork over more money. all this knowing that the first place really wants me. (i know this because the tell me constantly.) so maybe then they'll go up in their salary offer.
which would be a real dillema, it would be quite difficult to choose between the two.
however.....
The other interesting part is that actually the second job proposition will be more interesting because I (lil' ol' me) would be their only in house English teacher. meaning= the first job that was proposed I would be second in command, at the other i would be second to no one.

I'll be meeting the higher ups next week for the second job proposition. This while the first doesn't know yet and they've already started ordering office furniture for me / the new person.

The suspense is killing me; i really would love to know what's going to happen.
and when i do i'll keep you all updated.

France: the second world country

as i've said before, France definitely couldn't ever be considered a third world country, although when you go to the post office it feels slightly like it, so as a compromise i call it the "Second world country"

As opposed to of course the mighty mighty mouthy country we all know and love; the U.S.

a few snippits for comparaison purposes:

my wifi card -
i ordered it in Dec, still not here. why you ask? they have run out of stock. As far as I can remember anything I've ever needed in the states (except for car parts) is always available and at any time of the day.
The kicker is that the place where i internet ordered it from didn't even have the customer service-ness to notify me. (Have I mentioned that the US is the best country in the world for customer service too?As J.D. says "here the customer is king, but the king better know when to shut the fuck up")
so as of the 15th of Feb, i still have no wifi card. shucks.

my gym -
given, Rouen is a small town (250,000 in the center and surrounding mini-suburbs); and everything in France is teeny tiny. which i rather like. and so is my gym. I just signed up for a year's membership (hitting the diet trail again) and off I went.
Here's where you laugh. It has three eliptus machines (the ones where it feels like you're running but your feet never leave the footpads - running, but low impact), four bikes, one rowing machine, three treadmills, one of every weight machine, some other random torture devices, and the aerobics classes room. Oh, and yes for the cardio machines there is one tiny television to distract you from your fat-burning agony session.
Open till 8.30 pm (practically a revolution for France), half day on Sat and not on Sunday. (Who the hell could not have their gym open on Sunday?)
However the best part is a sauna - teeny and big enough for four people but hey, any sauna is better than none. Even though I do prefer steam rooms.

Now you have to understand I went with my friend K to her gym in the burbs - 24 hours; a tv for every machine, machines too many to count, steamroom and sauna, blah blah blah. you get the idea.

My "controle technique" -
For the first time in France, I got pulled over. Turns out every car older than five years old has to go to a technical control every two years. J.D. and i being two lowly foreigners (and first time french car owners) didn't know. and the lesson cost me 151 euros. FUN!
(Important aside - i gave him my american drivers licence and he didn't say anything, whew! that could have technically turned into a big mess, but that's a story for another blog)

So, now that i need to have one of these technical controls, i promply finish my day's work, go home and call one place that i drive by regularly. I call 'em up, they tell me their open, i say i'll be right over. WHOAH little girl! you have to make an appointment. Ridiculous. Like for the dentist's office? yes like for the dentist's office.
second world country. J.D. laughs and proptly reminds me I'm not in the US.
So i make my appointment and that dirty deed got done.
make an appointment?????
i still don't get it; the funny part is also that anytime i drive by one of these places, THERE'S NO ONE THERE!
could it be pessimistic of me to suggest that it could possibly have something to do with the french work ethic? (meaning - avoid real work as much and as long as you can)

well, i'm sure i'll have more for later, for the moment this will have to do.

Everyone knows someone who bombinates....

Another fun word to integrate into your vocabulary..... I love using words that no one knows...

bombinate • \BAHM-buh-nayt\ • verb

: buzz, drone

Example sentence:
Mr. Carter bombinated on, seemingly oblivious to the frequency of yawning and watch-checking in the audience.

Did you know?
"Bombinate" sounds like it should be the province of bombastic blowhards who bound up and bombard you with droning blather at parties—and it is. The word derives from the Greek "bombos," a term that probably originated as an imitation of a deep, hollow sound (the kind we would likely refer to as "booming" nowadays). Latin speakers rendered the original Greek form as "bombus," and that root gave forth a veritable din of raucous English offspring, including not only "bombinate," but also "bomb," "bombard," "bombilate" (which means the same thing as "bombinate"), and "bound" ("to leap"). However, the Latin "bombus" is not a direct ancestor of "bombastic," which traces to "bombyx," a Greek name for the silkworm.

Adulthood just a signature away

Well, our computer has just been put back together, a super powered trojan horse virus ate it up. anyway after much frustration and two weeks later, I've got news.

Adulthood will be a signature away on September 1st 2006.
But first let me explain, this story will come in two parts.

Part One - the golden handcuffs
Part Two - the following soap opera

Part one - I was offered a full time job at one of the schools where I work. I was stupefied. The whole deal, a thirteenth month bonus, 35 hours a week, retirement package, vacation time, personal days, etc etc. I would be considered their second full-time teacher / pedagogical planner.
This offer went around and around and around in my head for the afternoon, did i want to give up my free afternoons here and there? I kina liked teaching here and there. I was making enough money this way too so why would I change? Did I really want to work with a serious stress bunny? And no more two and a half month summer vacations.....
Then I talked to J.D., he put things into perspective. Yes, it would really be idiotic to turn this down. Especially in France where the kind of contract that they're offering me is the type people wait their whole lives for.
But what about my buisness? What about that doctorate I was planning on I don't know when? and and and and and......
and this would mean both J.D. and I would be appealing clients for a loan, meaning we could actually buy somewhere to live. Now that's adulthood if i've ever heard it.

so, at the moment i'm preparing myself mentally for next september 1st.

Part Two - the soap opera
list of charaters
Gretta - the English dept. head (my soon to be boss and stress bunny/American from Buffalo n.y.; smokes like a chimney; drives me batty)
Martine - the Langages dept. head (Gretta's boss and very nice / French)
The english dept teachers -
Hazel - an English woman of a certain age with certain opinions, been working in the dept for about eight years - smokes like a chimney; drives me fucking batty
Kate - an English woman also of a certain age, clever, vulgar, adorable and hillarious; working in the departement for about ten years; also smokes; drives me really fucking batty
Jane - an English woman of a certain age, really smart, sees things clearly and fairly, someone who i would like to grow up to be. Doesn't smoke; ahhhhhhhh
And the other 8 seasonal English teachers a fun, interesting group of anglophones; one under fourty, the others older.

Introductory Scene - (Me, gretta, hazel, kate and jane in the office)
Gretta comes in after one of her super-powered, long winded departement meetings (of which i will have the pleasure next year) and says that the Univ has created another full time job in the dept, and that it's been given to Leila.
Jane says right away "That's fabulous, congratulations!!!" and hugs me. (Turns out Gretta asked Jane if she wanted the job before me, she turned it down)

Silence from the other two. some mild clucking of surprise is made then we all leave to go teach.

After class, all of us back in the office, Hazel starts to let go; this is the worst management she's ever seen, absolutely dishonest, done behind their backs, how could she ever trust gretta again and on and on; and if her hours next year are reduced she's going to the "work courts".
True, Gretta made a decision that none of them would have wanted this job, which is why she came to me, which is why an announcement of a new job wasn't made.

Clearly this didn't appeal to them;
"It's not even that we would want the job" they say "but it would have been nice to have been asked"
and Hazel reassures me multiple times "this has nothing to do with you dear, nothing at all, it's management's mistake"
sure, not me. I kinda buy that. I waltz in, after they've been there for ten or so years, and five months later get a full time job. I would hate little, young, well-dressed, just arrived me.

Gretta apologizes profusely, and again; None of this satisfying the long-winded Hazel of course.

Days go by (I work elsewhere during this time) and i come back, tempers have intensified; hazel assures me that "e-mails have been flying around" etc etc. "I wrote a letter"etc etc.

so what i'm hearing is total delirium; the rest of the teachers have gone off the deep end and gone delusional; Kate will "never trust Gretta again, and yes she will hold a grudge"
And this is so unfortunate that all the shit has fallen on Gretta's head, all the bad will directed at her. so misplaced.

So I confirm with Martine that a meeting is necessary. We're having one next tuesday. hopefully this will clear the air. however i don't think they are going to want to hear what Martine and Gretta are going to say.

to resume : this is a private school: meaning - they aren't forced to give everyone a chance, they have a job, they give it to the person they want. as simple as that.

But I still have a job. HA! how's that for starting with a bang!


Well, hope you've appreciated this small vision of my good news and the implicated soap opera.