new neighbors, french lessons, and old friends

We have a new neighbor. He stays Monday through Thursday morning. So far, so good. He's quiet and doesn't really bother us. Not like our other neighbor who has seemed to have disappeared yet again. His car is here, but we haven't seen him for like almost three weeks now. Weird. But this new guy is seriously slow on the uptake. He started coming to dinner at the cantine Monday night. He ate alone that night, but last night C. invited him over to join us. We got a little bit of info on him. He's thirty-two, works at the other high school, and is from Lille.

C. started asking about his room. The guy explained a little bit about how basic it is. And then he says "j'ai des voisines" (I have some female neighbors). I'm staring at him, waiting for him to draw the connection, but he does not. Finally, I say that would be us. He looked surprised. Umm... how many random loud foreign girls do you think are wandering around this school? I know we were speaking French at dinner, but it's still pretty clear. Plus, we are the only girls in the cantine. Also C. seemed really surprised when he learned we had no kitchen. Someone hasn't been paying attention. (And I so gave him a hard time last night, because he yet again forgot my name. Sn. helped me with that.) Then, I commented about how it sucked during the holidays and weekends. C. is just like whatever and then it dawns on him that we're stuck when the cantine is closed. Oh, C.

So yes, new neighbor.

In other news, I started some French lessons with Claude. We're mainly working on rhythm and accent. I have the vocabulary and structure down (for the most part... he'll still suggest more current ways of saying things.) We've always done about 5-10 minutes before and/or after each class, but now, we're meeting for an hour. We did an hour yesterday and then another hour today. I do so well when I'm with him, but it's hard to keep it up when I don't have him stopping me and saying that it's wrong and to repeat after him. I also tend to lose it all when I get excited about what I'm talking about, because I'm more concerned with just saying what I want to say instead of how I should be saying it. We're going to keep working on it though. I know not much time is left, but every little bit helps, and if we keep up at this pace, all make huge progress by the time I leave. He's already commented about how much I've improved recently. Besides, I'll be going practically straight into intensive French courses this summer.

And now for the exciting part of this week... GUY IS IN FRANCE!! He's arriving in Paris today! He'll definitely be spending some time in Chauny. Yay! Part of the Chauny family will be back together again. Hopefully, we can also meet up with Hart. That's going to be hard because she has no free time, and I do technically have classes, but we will see. Hart and I aren't quite sure of Guy's plans, because he hasn't said too much to us. I'm half expecting to get a phone call tonight or tomorrow asking for a place to stay. Hart asked me if Guy had friends in Paris, but I told her I had no idea, but I really wanted to say "You." I really do think he'll be calling her tonight for a place to crash, and if that doesn't work, he'll be on a train to Chauny. LOL.