Another Stupid Meeting!

4 Octobre 2007

Today, I have another meeting with some of the English assistants, only this time, the meeting consists of the assistants who work in my département, which is Val et Marne (94). I had to ride the RER A again, only this time I took it south and got off at Joinville-le-Pont. Then I had to ride the bus 108/110 until the stop JB Clement, which fortunately, is right in front of our school where we are to meet. I had a slight snafu on the bus; since I only bought a ticket for the RER, mine didn’t work. Fortunately, the bus driver still let me on. There were about 20-25 students, most coming from England/UK or USA. It was nice to meet with them, but honestly, the meeting was a complete bore. It was supposed to be a training session with two teachers on how to teach or improve French students’ English. I just felt more confused by the end of the day. The nicest parts of the meeting were actually getting to talk with some of the assistants, although I never really “bonded” with one person. Once the meeting was over, we received a contact list of everyone’s emails and phone numbers so we could talk with one another. We headed back to the bus stop and managed to get our entire group onto one bus, but it was crowded throughout our ride back to the RER station. (And of course, the bus driver still let me on with my bad ticket.) By the time I got to the station, I realized that someone had stolen my Coach umbrella, that I received a few years previously and of course, I was pissed off! Already I was feeling frustrated and confused about the training, but now this made me even more upset because I felt like someone who had been taken advantage of. I had to buy another RER ticket to get home, only this time, the RER didn’t stop at Vincennes and went directly to Nation, which is a station on line 1 (remember this line because it’s the one you might be riding if you come visit me!!!). I got of the RER and went to take the metro but my ticket wouldn’t let me on the metro or even out of the station. Out of desperation, I went to a help counter with my ticket, and in my best French, I ask why my ticket wouldn’t work. I could tell that the woman behind the counter really felt bad for me and she told me to take the RER A again heading towards Marne la Vallée and that it would drop me off at Vincennes. I thanked her for her help and, after a couple frustrating minutes of trying to find the direction, I was back on the right RER and heading home. Overall, what a crappy way to spend the day. When I got back to Vincennes, I went to the salle des profs and Mickel was there. He asked me what was wrong and tried to cheer me up when I told him I had a bad day. I’m lucky to have such a nice roommate.