First Day At School

This morning felt exactly like starting school, and setting out with no idea where I was supposed to be or what to expect, having still not received any information from anyone, I had that nervous stomach wrenching trepidation, that I am beginning to get quite used to. I made the bad decision of putting on a pencil skirt and shirt which I regretted as soon as I started trying to walk up the long hill to my first school- the skirt was seriously movement restrictive and a 5 minute walk can easily take 20 when you are walking like a penguin.

I arrived at the school and introduced myself to the Principal, Christophe, who looked at me strangely and said, you are supposed to be here tomorrow? I explained I had no idea- I had no timetable and he laughed and said, you were supposed to find out on Friday at the reunion but Florence forgot to tell you. From his expression is was evident that Florence was prone to forgetting things. So he sent me along to the Academic Inspection office where Florence arrived and gave me my schedule; Tuesday afternoon, 4 hours at École Saint-Exupéry, Monday at Henri-Bosco and Thursday at Jean-Giono, a great schedule- no early starts and Fridays off for travelling. This was all very well but I'd missed my first day already. Feeling exasperated, and trying not to show it, I asked if I should still go for the afternoon at Henri-Bosco to start the week of observation that all the language assistants have to do. You can guess the response....'you have a week of observation??!'

The way down the hillside was easier with the skirt and I found, having walked up a winding road that went back and forth and must have added an extra mile onto my walk, there was actually a footpath that led directly through the woodland, down the mountain and past this church, and a stunning view of Apt especially as the sun was still rising.

So next I headed to École Jean-Giono and met the principal- I might add that having purchased several smart dresses, skirts and shirts in England, the principal and all the teachers were in hoodies and jeans. He was friendly and was keen to practise his English on me as lots of the people here are, and told me I would start work on Thursday at nine minus fifteen. Then I went to Henri- Bosco, where again they were very friendly, to sort out my schedule and where I was to start my week of observation.

École jean giono

Alors, to begin with, all went well. I was introduced to the students who looked at me like I was a creature from out of space- but in a friendly, curious way. I explained to the teachers I had to do a week of observation- so they said that was fine and I sat at the back of the first class after the teacher introduced me, while the students kept stealing furtive glances at me and beaming from ear to ear if I caught their eye. I must have been lulled into a false sense of security because in the next class, the male teacher obviously wasn't aware it was a week of observation, and started firing questions at me in fast French that I struggled to understand, in front of a class of 10 year olds. When he had ascertained I was the new language assistant, I live in England and I study French at university, he then left me at the front of the class, as if expecting me to take it, in front of 30 children, all with eyes fixated on me, wondering what on earth I was going to say next. In all the last two weeks, this was probably the worst moment. I had to explain to him in front of the class, I had not prepared a lesson, as I thought it was an observation week. It was fine, but humiliating to say the least, though he was nice about it and made a joke of it. I then went on to my third class, taught by the directrice, where the children were much younger and very curious about me. I spent the end of the day there, and we did 'hello, what is your name? My name is.... and I am a girl, or I am a boy'. At the end of the day all the children took immense pleasure in saying 'bye bye' in English. They seem to really enjoy their languages here. So that was the end of my first day, and some of it was good, but I still cringe when I think of that second class. Next week I have preparations to do for all the lessons- (equipped with no internet and just a blackboard, I might add), but for now, it is just good to know, this time yesterday I had no schedule and no idea of what to expect from my year of work and now I know both of these things so that is positive!

In other news, wifi problems are still occurring every which way we try to resolve them but it was another beautiful sunshiney day here in Provence.