I am back at home and can type on a real keyboard instead of the tiny digital one on my phone!!! But I just got back from a VERY long (and somewhat dramatic!) six and a half hour bus ride so I’m copping out slightly by writing a quick introduction to my fellow Cheer Peppers, especially those I haven’t met yet!
Hi! I’m Anne. I am from Washington, DC (Arlington, VA if you must know…) and I currently live in Marseille, France. This is the second year I have packed my belongings into two small suitcases and flown with them across the ocean to work as an English teacher in French public elementary schools. I’ve been learning French since I was 12 years old, but it’s only in the past 3 or 4 where I have felt truly “fluent” or “proficient” or whatever it’s called when you can pretty much get by on a day to day basis, but still wildly guess the gender of nouns about 85% of the time.
I write mostly stories about living in France, travels that I am lucky enough to have thanks to my government sponsored 8 weeks of paid vacation, weird quirks of the French language or culture, and sometimes silly things like poems about dog poop or photo essays about recess duty.
As I’m gathering ideas for what to write on this month, I’d love to know what YOU’RE interested in learning or gaining a new perspective on about France or the French….
Here’s a story to whet your whistles: I don’t know what it is about French people (especially young French men), but they seem to be convinced that everyone wants to listen to the same music they are listening to. In parks, on subway platforms, on the street, you’ll almost certainly encounter at least one dude or group of dudes listening to rap music or watching a youtube video at full volume, often even with a speaker!
Take for example, the strenuous bus ride I was on earlier tonight. We cross the border out of Italy and take new passengers in Nice. The relatively empty, quiet bus is now full and frankly a bit rambunctious for a bus at 9:00PM. Some men at the back of the bus are not only playing music loud enough for the entire bus to hear, but singing along! Maybe an hour later, the singing has died down but the music is still going strong.
The woman seated behind me has apparently had enough. “Excusez-moi” she shouts towards the back of the bus. “Excuse-moi, je te parle en fait.” She switches into the informal tu. “Excuse-moi, est-ce que tu connais le respect des gens?!”
Ohhhhhhh snap. This lady instantly becomes everyone’s hero.
He’s mad, she’s calm and rational. The secondary bus driver comes back to check it out. “I paid for my ticket!” the dude shouts. “SO DID WE!” everyone basically shouts back. “Listen, the music’s way too loud. You’ll only be on the bus for 40 more minutes, turn it off,” says the secondary conductor. Dude mutters something about how he turned it down what do these people want from him. Ten minutes later, the head driver pulls into a gas station/rest stop. He stomps to the back of the bus. “I AM NOT DEALING WITH THIS ALL THE WAY TO PARIS. IF YOU WANT TO CAUSE PROBLEMS, GET OFF THE BUS.”
Meanwhile, cut to me laughing my head off but silently thinking…..if that lady hadn’t said anything, they would have just let that guy keep playing his dumb rap music all the way to Marseille for the entire bus to hear. WHAT THE HELL, FRANCE. ❂
presentperfectblog.com 
Hey Anne. 🙂 I’m totally with you on the joys of a normal sized keyboard. 🙂
The bus ride sounded frenetic even after the music was lowered, ha! But I am glad you are there to experience it so we can too.
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I would love to hear more stories like this of your day to day life. Quirky things and differences you notice. Yay for the hero of the bus in getting the music stopped! 😀
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Traveling definitely offers plenty of crazy stories to tell back home. That was one heck of a bus ride you had there; hopefully, other rides will be less insane!
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Haha yeah it was quite a journey. But also like the most hilarious most french thing to ever happen!
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love reading your blog so much! it’s a combination of really good writing, funny and interesting anecdotes, and really cool travel pics and stories as well! 🙂
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Awwwe thanks that really means a lot! I’ve enjoyed your posts too, can’t wait to read more 🙂 cheers!
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I want to know if kids in public school really get gourmet meals for lunch every day!
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Recently came across your blog because I am incredibly interested in TAPIF. I wanted to ask, what is your advice when it comes to choosing Académies? I feel like this is an incredibly crucial part of the application process and any input as to how to go about choosing an area (and what to take into consideration) would be greatly appreciated! (love your blog)
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Hey Maia, thanks so much!! In the following post, I elaborate a lot on choosing your top regions: https://presentperfectblog.com/2015/01/13/so-you-think-you-can-tapif/ Size, accessibility, cost, and location are all things to consider. Do research into all of the academies that interest you and then go with your gut. Don’t let the fact that certain academies are very popular deter you from selecting them if that’s what you want! I think I had the impression my first year that choosing less sought-after academies would give me a better chance of being accepted, but that’s not true at all. They don’t look at your region choices until after you’ve been accepted. Good luck, and feel free to reach out with any more questions here or by email 🙂
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Hey Maia! Sorry, I just came across this comment and realized I never replied! My post called “So You Think You Can TAPIF?” goes a bit into detail about choosing your academies, but my best advice (which I understand doesn’t sound very helpful right now…) is to just go with your gut. There are pros and cons to each academie of course, so you really just have to go with your instincts I think. Think about the size of the academy, how many medium and large cities there are could give you a feel for how accessible the academie will be on the whole. The average cost of living is another criterion to consider. Please don’t hesitate to contact me by email (on my about me page) if you want to talk further!!
🙂 Anne
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