new chauny arrivals

Let's see... what has happened since I last updated?

Up until yesterday, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny and warm! Didn't even need a jacket. I even got a little bit of sun while in Paris. Of course, now it's back to the rain and gloom.

Thursday, I helped Natasha and her family find things for her room since I knew where the larger stores were. I successfully directed them to Auchan where I have never been to except the McDonald's next door, but I got them there! Somehow, I have gained a sense of direction in France.

That night at dinner, I saw surveillant S. for the first time. It was so funny. He glanced at me, looked away, and then his head jolted back to me in surprise. So we had a nice dinner. I also chatted with the new surveillant C. We just griped on each other the whole time. It was hilarious. We were laughing so hard the students thought we were insane. Love that I can now joke around in French.

Friday, I went to my first class - the Terminale S, so I had most of them last year in 1re S. It was nice seeing them. Of course, Claude chose my very first day to resurrect Torture Shannon Time. He made me translate an article into French on the spot. Not fun. But I did pretty well. After class, I asked him to make me a schedule. He decided that it would be better to photocopy his for me. I have to go to the BTS classes and to the Module for the secondes (which is only once a week this year). Other than that, I can just go when I want. Nice. So I'm just picking the classes with the students I love. Easy.

Saturday, Natasha and I headed into Paris for the Amiens assistants meet up. On the train, we happened to sit directly across from two English teachers from St. Quentin who were also going to the meet up. It's a large train, so what are the chances of that? The four of us grabbed a coffee after arriving in Paris to chat before meeting up with the others. There were only about 8 of us assistants, plus the two teachers on the train, and then one more teacher from St. Q who lives in Paris. I am happy to say that I only spoke French to the teachers. The others stayed mainly in English, but I decided to practice my French especially since the one teacher was not an English teacher. We wandered around Paris together, seeing some sights, seeing a flower exhibit in the Luxembourg Gardens, and then hanging out at the one guy's apartment. It was all and all a great time.

After returning to Chauny, Natasha and I shared a pizza before heading to Cuba. We were exhausted so we only stuck around long enough for T. to come so I could at least see him for the first time and chat a bit. I love him! He's so sweet!

Yesterday, we met up with the other Chauny assistants. The Spanish teacher from the other school told me that a girl, Maria, was there, so we went down and just knocked on the door. She was surprised to see us. She's really nice. This is her second time as an assistant. She was an assistant in Soissons five years ago. While there, Paul arrived so we got to meet him as well. After my class with the new BTSers(!!!!), we met up with Maria for a drink before dinner and then returned to the other high school after dinner to chat some more. Maria and I need to watch it a bit, because we pretty much dominate the conversations. We're both pretty comfortable with French, so it's just nonstop for us.

So it looks like I'm the only American here this year. Maria is from Spain, Natasha is from England, and Paul is from Scotland. There should be a German arriving soon as well.

Well, I should probably stop boring you now. I'm still waiting on paperwork from my school, so I have yet to open a bank account which means I have yet to start the process to get the internet. Sucks. Oh well, soon.