February 1, 2021

Monday

Wow! Already February. Hard to believe that I have been in France 3 full months now! It feels like a strange fever dream- it’s hard to believe this is really my life for the time being.

Monday felt like a splash of cold water to the face. It jolted me back to reality after my wonderful weekend getaway. We got news from the French government that the confinement we feared would not be happening, at least for the time being. Vacation would go forward as planned. That was certainly good news! I think it might be the highlight of my Monday.

I took the usual 7:25 bus to school with the kids. My bus card needed to be refreshed, but thankfully the bus driver let me on for free after I stammered that I would be recharging it that morning. When we arrived at school, I hopped off and went straight to the little store where I was able to recharge the card. It was more expensive than if I waited, but relieving the anxiety was worth the price for me. I found a fun little present for one of my friends that I was very excited to send off some time during the coming week.

I got into school about an hour before my classes, so I sat in the staff room and enjoyed some coffee from the machine. It might be my best friend at school haha. I chatted with the Italian professor, the young history teacher, and a few others that passed by as I caught up on Twitter and the news.

Classes started at 10am with one of my most difficult groups. The teacher wanted me to talk to them about sexual harassment. This group has such a low English level, the 20 minutes felt like an eternity. It was difficult to give them vocabulary and translations because I haven’t studied the subject in French. I was frustrated that the teacher ignored me the night before when I tried to express these concerns. Ultimately, I feel that this lesson was unproductive.

At lunch, I sat with the Italian teacher and two secretaries. I felt awkward with the secretaries after the Italian teacher left, so I scarfed down my lunch and sought refuge in my empty classroom. I watched the late night shows from the night before to relax and started a new book.

My 2pm class was the new group 4ème. I tried to teach them about jazz, country, and rock. The lesson didn’t seem to interest them at all, which surprised me. All the other classes I’ve used it with have enjoyed it. The students were frustrated when I refused to speak in French with them and insisted on using English.

I left the classroom to retrieve my 6ème class from their teacher. When I came back, the door to my room was closed. Someone sat inside with a parent and refused to look up when I knocked. My lesson was projected on the board and my things were on the desk- it was obvious that the space was occupied. Still- other teachers insisted that I find another room. We had to wander the halls to find an empty spot. When we did, the computer didn’t work. The teacher wouldn’t allow me to blend the two halves of the class so they would both have time to speak English, so we wandered some more until we found another room. Again, the computer didn’t work. As we wandered the halls, the teacher that was angry with me weeks before for having a loud class stood menacingly at the other end of the hall and watched as I struggled. I know there will be complaints from her going forward.

Finally, the last hour of the day arrived. Only half of the 3ème euro group was present because the other half was on a field trip. We went outside to play games with the teacher and came back to play hangman inside. It was such an easy end to the day. The teacher informed me that the person I work with on Tuesdays would be gone the next day because her son’s daycare was closed. We agreed that it would be better if I just stayed home on Tuesday. Free day off!

I rode the bus home with the students and took a nap when I got back. I went for dinner at the Bodet house and we enjoyed wine, risotto, and shrimp. We watched the news together before I went home. There was a flood warning for the coming days. I was thankful to have the next day off.