Dear Mme B----------,
I apologize. I meant to get this e-mail to you yesterday, but since then its content has required several major edits. I know you read my mother's last e-mail, which stated that after hearing of our meeting it would perhaps be best for me to stay with Madame G---- and to just work things out. Until yesterday, I was of that same opinion (I did not have the opportunity to say this during our meeting). As my mother said, I really do enjoy my roommate and appreciate eating vegetarian meals. I developed a list of problems and things that I believed needed to be improved.
Unfortunately, I no longer believe that these are issues that can be fixed. I have tried to explain, to understand, to compromise, and to adapt, but it has not helped. I would like to move forward with the process of changing hosts. Staying with Madame G---- has begun to deteriorate my physical and mental health, to the point that some of my
professors have noticed. I want to enjoy this time in France, so that in several decades I can look back on it fondly. I want to be able to speak well of France and the French after I return home. Let it be clear that I love my classes and the education I am receiving here; the teaching is just about tailor-made for my style of learning. I feel as if I have learned more here in half a semester than I have in two and a half years at my college in the States. Staying with Madame, though, is ruining my entire attitude to this experience. This is unacceptable, particularly as my parents are paying for me to live here. As Madame G---- has made it abundantly clear, her apartment is not my home. I am not a member of the 'family.' This leaves me in the position of 'tennant,' but Madame
does not treat me with the respect or privileges of someone who is paying to live here.
This is my greatest complaint against Madame G----. She consistently treats me with disrespect and a lack of common courtesy. Among other ways of showing this, she has made her disdain (or perhaps 'contempt' would be a better word) for the North American culture well known, and then continued on to tease me for being American. She has made noises of
disgust at me, and even rolled her eyes at me. It is not uncommon for her to scold me unkindly or for her to raise her voice at me. Sometimes she does this first thing in the morning. Again, I have tried to understand and to adapt, but it has not helped.
Madame G---- does not uphold her end of the contract (for even if it is not filed legally, Mme Boudellal, it is a document with certain agreements that she agreed to by signature). Our demi-pension plan states that we have paid for "continental breakfast every day," "Dinner six days per week," "One load of laundry per week (per student)," and "A complete room cleaning every week." Madame G---- has delayed our laundry being done
so many times that she owes me a total of two and a half extra loads at this moment. Laying aside the "complete" part of the room cleaning she is supposed to provide every week, she has gone multiple weeks without even vacuuming in our room. Madame refuses to provide us with continental breakfasts on the weekends if we wake up after nine o'clock, to the point that I once woke up eighteen minutes late and was not given breakfast. She
shows her displeasure if my roommate and I wake up to eat then go back to sleep. She has also just informed us that if we return to the apartment after 20:30 we forfeit our dinner, even if we have told her days in advance that we will be late. I could understand her not providing the dinner we have paid for if we returned at a truly late time of
evening, but 18:30 is not late. Many people eat dinner at that time. By saying we will be late, we are not asking her to to do any more work or to make any extra preparations. She could just leave food out for us and allow us eat it cold, but instead she has decided to
simply deny us.
Madame G---- has also complained that my roommate and I eat too much jelly for breakfasts. She said that she cannot buy one jar of jelly per week. I know from researching the products and brands she buys, however, that both my roommate and I save Madame money by being vegetarian and not eating meat. It is therefore absurd to complain that a single jar of jelly for a week of breakfasts is too much.
Madame G---- has made me late for classes twice, once by half an hour. She did this by breaking the normal pattern of the morning bathroom schedule without notice. I could not even brush my teeth. If she had forewarned me so that I could have woken up earlier it would have been different, but she did not. Again, I think this comes down to a basic lack of respect and courtesy.
Beside all of this there is the situation that occurred for winter break. She caused my family to spend 150 euros for my lodging and meals that she had already been paid to provide. She harrassed and guilted me into leaving by asking every single day if I knew what my plans were, even though I had already told her that I was waiting on an answer
from someone, and even after I had assured her that I would tell her as soon as I knew. She told us that she wanted to go see her family in Algeria, whom she had not visited for two years. After all this pressure my family and I finally capitulated, and said that I would leave. Unfortunately, the prices for travel skyrocketed the very next day, which
made if far too expensive for me to leave. When I told Madame G---- that I was staying in Aix, her eyes bugged out and she began exclaiming about how she was going to turn off the heat and electricity. She would not calm down until I said that I would rent an apartment from a friend for the week. I did not realize at that point that I was actually, by the paper agreement, allowed to stay in Madame's apartment even if she left.
Thinking about it later it made sense, though, because she had been paid for my meals and my lodging. In any case, she asked me to leave her apartment by 14:30 on the Saturday before break, and to not come back. I freely admit that on Wednesday I did stop by to pick up something of mine, but I had not realized she meant "don't come back" until my roommate retold me after break had ended what Madame G---- had said. On Wednesday Madame was sitting on the couch as usual. She told us after the break that she had gone to Paris, returned for a day, then gone to Rome. I find it highly doubtful that she truly did turn off the electricity and water, considering she returned during the middle of the week and they were on. You told me, Mme B---------, that you too had seen her during the
week, and that she had told you she "was here" (to use your exact words) because of me. Unfortunately, Madame G---- never told me that she would be in town at all, never checked on me, and - again - asked me not to return to her apartment. Thus, her explanation for being in Aix during break does not ring true. My parents and grandparents are furious about this omission of truth or lie, whichever it may be. I, too, am angry. My parents and I view this entire situation as a theft of the 150euros I was forced to
spend for lodging, six dinners, and breakfasts. If I had known I was permitted to stay in the apartment, I would have stayed there.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter,
Sincerely,
Stephanie Maniaci.
I apologize. I meant to get this e-mail to you yesterday, but since then its content has required several major edits. I know you read my mother's last e-mail, which stated that after hearing of our meeting it would perhaps be best for me to stay with Madame G---- and to just work things out. Until yesterday, I was of that same opinion (I did not have the opportunity to say this during our meeting). As my mother said, I really do enjoy my roommate and appreciate eating vegetarian meals. I developed a list of problems and things that I believed needed to be improved.
Unfortunately, I no longer believe that these are issues that can be fixed. I have tried to explain, to understand, to compromise, and to adapt, but it has not helped. I would like to move forward with the process of changing hosts. Staying with Madame G---- has begun to deteriorate my physical and mental health, to the point that some of my
professors have noticed. I want to enjoy this time in France, so that in several decades I can look back on it fondly. I want to be able to speak well of France and the French after I return home. Let it be clear that I love my classes and the education I am receiving here; the teaching is just about tailor-made for my style of learning. I feel as if I have learned more here in half a semester than I have in two and a half years at my college in the States. Staying with Madame, though, is ruining my entire attitude to this experience. This is unacceptable, particularly as my parents are paying for me to live here. As Madame G---- has made it abundantly clear, her apartment is not my home. I am not a member of the 'family.' This leaves me in the position of 'tennant,' but Madame
does not treat me with the respect or privileges of someone who is paying to live here.
This is my greatest complaint against Madame G----. She consistently treats me with disrespect and a lack of common courtesy. Among other ways of showing this, she has made her disdain (or perhaps 'contempt' would be a better word) for the North American culture well known, and then continued on to tease me for being American. She has made noises of
disgust at me, and even rolled her eyes at me. It is not uncommon for her to scold me unkindly or for her to raise her voice at me. Sometimes she does this first thing in the morning. Again, I have tried to understand and to adapt, but it has not helped.
Madame G---- does not uphold her end of the contract (for even if it is not filed legally, Mme Boudellal, it is a document with certain agreements that she agreed to by signature). Our demi-pension plan states that we have paid for "continental breakfast every day," "Dinner six days per week," "One load of laundry per week (per student)," and "A complete room cleaning every week." Madame G---- has delayed our laundry being done
so many times that she owes me a total of two and a half extra loads at this moment. Laying aside the "complete" part of the room cleaning she is supposed to provide every week, she has gone multiple weeks without even vacuuming in our room. Madame refuses to provide us with continental breakfasts on the weekends if we wake up after nine o'clock, to the point that I once woke up eighteen minutes late and was not given breakfast. She
shows her displeasure if my roommate and I wake up to eat then go back to sleep. She has also just informed us that if we return to the apartment after 20:30 we forfeit our dinner, even if we have told her days in advance that we will be late. I could understand her not providing the dinner we have paid for if we returned at a truly late time of
evening, but 18:30 is not late. Many people eat dinner at that time. By saying we will be late, we are not asking her to to do any more work or to make any extra preparations. She could just leave food out for us and allow us eat it cold, but instead she has decided to
simply deny us.
Madame G---- has also complained that my roommate and I eat too much jelly for breakfasts. She said that she cannot buy one jar of jelly per week. I know from researching the products and brands she buys, however, that both my roommate and I save Madame money by being vegetarian and not eating meat. It is therefore absurd to complain that a single jar of jelly for a week of breakfasts is too much.
Madame G---- has made me late for classes twice, once by half an hour. She did this by breaking the normal pattern of the morning bathroom schedule without notice. I could not even brush my teeth. If she had forewarned me so that I could have woken up earlier it would have been different, but she did not. Again, I think this comes down to a basic lack of respect and courtesy.
Beside all of this there is the situation that occurred for winter break. She caused my family to spend 150 euros for my lodging and meals that she had already been paid to provide. She harrassed and guilted me into leaving by asking every single day if I knew what my plans were, even though I had already told her that I was waiting on an answer
from someone, and even after I had assured her that I would tell her as soon as I knew. She told us that she wanted to go see her family in Algeria, whom she had not visited for two years. After all this pressure my family and I finally capitulated, and said that I would leave. Unfortunately, the prices for travel skyrocketed the very next day, which
made if far too expensive for me to leave. When I told Madame G---- that I was staying in Aix, her eyes bugged out and she began exclaiming about how she was going to turn off the heat and electricity. She would not calm down until I said that I would rent an apartment from a friend for the week. I did not realize at that point that I was actually, by the paper agreement, allowed to stay in Madame's apartment even if she left.
Thinking about it later it made sense, though, because she had been paid for my meals and my lodging. In any case, she asked me to leave her apartment by 14:30 on the Saturday before break, and to not come back. I freely admit that on Wednesday I did stop by to pick up something of mine, but I had not realized she meant "don't come back" until my roommate retold me after break had ended what Madame G---- had said. On Wednesday Madame was sitting on the couch as usual. She told us after the break that she had gone to Paris, returned for a day, then gone to Rome. I find it highly doubtful that she truly did turn off the electricity and water, considering she returned during the middle of the week and they were on. You told me, Mme B---------, that you too had seen her during the
week, and that she had told you she "was here" (to use your exact words) because of me. Unfortunately, Madame G---- never told me that she would be in town at all, never checked on me, and - again - asked me not to return to her apartment. Thus, her explanation for being in Aix during break does not ring true. My parents and grandparents are furious about this omission of truth or lie, whichever it may be. I, too, am angry. My parents and I view this entire situation as a theft of the 150euros I was forced to
spend for lodging, six dinners, and breakfasts. If I had known I was permitted to stay in the apartment, I would have stayed there.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter,
Sincerely,
Stephanie Maniaci.
It is such a shame that someone who clearly does not like kids is permitted to house them and take their money. I pray that this is quickly resolved for you.
ReplyDeleteLove you, Karen
Me, too!
ReplyDeleteWell-written, as expected.
Love,
Melanie