March 29, 2021

Monday

Caught the 7:20 bus in Anthon to Pont-Chéruy. Weird to think that I’ll only do that one more time on a Monday. Ahh so close to the end of the program I can almost taste it!

When we arrived at school, I realized that I was still hungry and needed to go into town for a snack. I made my way through the stream of students heading to school and to the bakery. I got two coffee éclairs. On my way back, I noticed that the pharmacie was open. I went in and picked up some high SPF sunscreen. I will not be caught burned after the next picnic.

Back at school, I settled in with my coffee and a book. I read for about an hour before Iilaria came in. I went to sit with her as she prepared some lessons. We made plans to travel to Switzerland soon. So excited! I wonder if I’ll be able to get another stamp in my passport 🤔

Finally, it was time to start classes. I decided to tell the kids that we would have just one more class together. Next Monday there will be no classes because it is a federal holiday. The conversation took up most of our time, but that’s okay. I think it’s just important that they were speaking in English haha. They asked me a lot of questions about my plans for after I return. They didn’t seem to understand that I am not actually a full-time, rest-of-my-life teacher. When I told them I was going back to school they were shocked. They also did not get that I wasn’t coming back to France.

At lunch, I sat down at an empty table and started to read my book again. Suddenly, a few of the younger teachers scouted me out and we chatted about activities going on in the school. After we ate, I went back to the staff room and made a coffee beverage. Another staff member felt the need to lecture me on how it was unsafe to fill my cup so high. I don’t see why it mattered to her, but that’s really just such a French thing to do. Back to the safety of my classroom I read my little book until it was finished. I was happy to see that my next hold was ready for me, so I decided to save that for after school. I’m really making some progress to my goal of 30 books!

After lunch I had the 4eme. They were completely unmotivated, as usual. I let them know that I was leaving in a few weeks and suddenly they decided they would be sad to see me go. It was kind of funny. Like- you folks have not been thrilled to be in my class all year and suddenly you’ll miss me???

The 6eme were in good form. They finished their posters that we worked on the week before and stopped to show me in the hall. I told them I’d be leaving and they demanded we have a cheese tasting before I go. I told them they needed to clear it with the teacher, that maybe we could play games instead. They were happy with that. They loved the pictures of Boston and were amazed the Americans build things out of brick and wood. It was like they think we’re less civilized for doing so.

Finally, I got to work with the euro kids. They seemed to really enjoy the slang activity. They could not guess what any of the slang meant. They had fun joking and guessing with each other though. That’s what’s important haha.

I took the bus home and started my new book. I made my dinner immediately because I felt like I was starving. I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather and later curfew and went on a long walk around the village. It was great. I came home and decided to be a hermit. I sat and read my book the rest of the night.