Sunday, we went to see Un Secret at the theater. It was a little confusing at first... not the French, the jumping from one time period to another. Well, not even that. I was under the impression that it took place in WWII, but the first two time periods were 1955 and 1885, but eventually we got to WWII. And once we caught on, it was actually really good. Definitely a film worth seeing.

Today, I went to two primary schools with my contact person. Both classes consisted of the kids getting to "ooh and awe" over a real live American in front of them. Seriously, you should have seen their faces! They then got to question me in French... you wouldn't believe some of the questions I had! And since I am American, I therefore must know every American singer/writer/actor/etc. that ever existed. Next, I got to ask them some basic English questions (What is your name? How old are you? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Things like that.)

The first school we went to is in the very south of the town, just before the river. The students have apparently only been learning English for 5 weeks or so. They're so cute! The next school is in Sinceny, which is a small town near Chauny. We drove through Autreville. Yes, there is a town that can be translated as "other town"... I was always so confused when my students said they were from Autreville. At least I hadn't been stupid and asked "Quelle autre ville?" (What other town?) in class. Now, it makes sense. Anyway, Autreville was like a block (ha! A town smaller than Chauny!), and then we arrived in Sinceny where the most remarkable thing I saw was a big (and ugly) church. These students were very curious about me as was their maîtresse (teacher) who stayed in the room while we were there. It was just question after question!

I hope that I get to go again. I'll have to ask when I can go again. It was also nice to be able to talk to my contact person again. We compared small town France a bit to small town America. We also talked about the differences between schools and discipline. He's all for keeping the kids in line, while the maîtresse at the one school apparently isn't strict at all, which did cause some problems during the class - he would tell the kids to be quiet and behave, while she just stood there. I've been reading a lot in others' blogs and the forums that students are often out of control in French schools, so it was interesting to hear a teacher's perspective. I'm also picking up an extra class tomorrow, because he wants me to come to one of his BTS classes to talk about the document they're working with.

Tonight, at dinner, Katie and I sat with the two guys on surveillant (surveillance) duty at dinner. I'm not sure if it's like this in all French high schools, but most have a surveillant office. They are in charge of keeping track of the kids (i.e. absences, suspensions, where they are when not in class, watching over them during recreation and lunch/dinner) or as I like to call it, corralling the kids. There's also two each night who stay at the school with the students who live here. I've been slowly trying to get to know some of the people who work in the office since they are probably all around my age or a little older/younger. Like last week, I talked to the one who is usually really quiet (and who we had thought was a little aloof). He was unlocking a room for me, and as we were walking there, he suddenly became very talkative and asked me a bunch of questions.

Anyway, the two guys tonight are also really nice. The one, who we had nicknamed "Pink shirt guy" (he wears pink shirts a lot), because we didn't know his name, has always been really nice to us, so we decided to sit with them. They were very talkative to us, which was a surprise... a very nice one! We talked about France and the US, American music and TV, and a bunch of other things. We also got some important info out of them like their names! And the fact that they both live in Chauny! Our goal is to make local friends, so we're slowly making our way towards that goal.

We've made "friends" with some of the maintenance guys and technical teachers at lunch. They like to often talk to us. And then there's Antoine, our little anti-social philosophy teacher friend, who's at the school for only two days a week. At first, we had thought he was bothered by us, but then, we realized he's just really quiet and shy. Now, he makes it a point to always say "hi" and give us the bisous. He even sat with us at lunch today instead of going to an empty table like he usually does! Sadly, he wasn't here for dinner tonight. He normally lives and eats at the school Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but I guess he got out of town before the strike.

Oh yes! Have I mentioned the strike? I think I have... maybe not. The SNCF (train company) and pretty much all of the transportation unions started another strike this evening. It's for 24 hours... renewable for another 24 hours at a time... or something like that. Hopefully, it doesn't last too long! I need to have the option to leave Chauny when I want! But they're not the only ones. Tomorrow evening, the gas and electric companies are going on strike (and maybe some others... I don't remember). Then next week, it's teachers and most other governmental workers. Why all of the strikes? Sarkozy has made some reforms to retirement plans/pensions, so that's the main reason. Yes, workers must now work past the age of 50. Here's a BBC article if you're interested in learning more about the strikes. Will I have to work? Good question. With the train strike, some students won't be able to get to school, so some of my classes will be small or nonexistent. As for the teacher strike, I think it depends on whether or not the teachers I work with show up. And if the students even show up for that matter. We'll see. Of course, I'll be keeping you all posted.

Sorry for constantly writing so much. I feel like I just ramble on about nothing really that interesting. And I still haven't actually succeeded in writing some French in my entries.