I promise I will catch up on these blogs asap!

6/10/09
Today, all of the assistants in the Lot-et-Garonne region met in Agen for an orientation. There were probably 30 of us there- about 20 English, 9 or 10 Spanish, and 1 German. I was under the impression that every school in France was assigned an assistant, but apparently that is not the case. Honestly I don’t know how the beaurocracy manages to wake itself up in the morning and get to work without filing out a million papers in triplicate in order to decide to wake up in the first place, et alone decide which schools are given assistants and which are denied the opportunity! As for Fumel, the state has declared that since the village is of little to no commercial importance (There’s a large factory here that is running on a quarter staff since the economic downturn - honestly it’s a bit like Detroit - everyone has someone in their family or at least knows someone who works/worked at the factory), the thing that Fumel needs to focus its energies upon is its education. I forgot the term for the type of city that Fumel is now classified as, but in essence, the mainstay of the city is the “cite scolaire” which includes the Lycée Generale (at which I work), the Lycée Technicale, and the Collège (at which I also work). Anyways, Fumel has been allotted an English and a Spanish assistant for many years. This year, through some clerical error I’m sure, Fumel was assigned two Spanish assistants. Now, in France the students are required to have English as their second language, but they are then given the choice of third languages. Most schools offer Spanish and German as third language choices. Suffice to say, the Spanish department is much smaller than the English department at the lycée and the collège. There are twice as many Spanish assistants as English assistants though….go figure.

Anyways, all the assistants met in Agen where we were given information about the MGEN, which is a health insurer for those in the educational field. Social Security covers a percent of medical expenses in France, but the rest you either have to pay for out of pocket or you subscribe to a “mutuelle” which then pays the remainder. MGEN is a mutuelle. It is not necessary to subscribe to them but it is necessary to register. You cannot register though until you receive your SSN. So that’s where I am right now, waiting for my SSN. Once that come through I will also have to go to Bordeaux for a medical examination in order to determine my Social Security status. Blah blah blah. Beaurocracy!

After a lunch of green beans and bread (there was some kind of dead animal product being passed out, but I obviously said “no, thank you”) in the canteen, we split into groups according to language and teaching level. There were three groups. English assistants (and the German girl) teaching at the lycée and collège level; English assistants at the primary level; and Spanish assistants. We basically discussed the DOs and DON’Ts of being an assistant, nothing earth-shattering or revolutionary. “Maintain control of the classroom” “Don’t beat the children” “Don’t work overtime, even if asked” etc. etc. After the orientation was finished, Rosa and I walked around Agen with the Spanish and German assistant assigned to the city then we headed home to Fumel.