i'm so proud!

I can't believe I forgot to mention this in my last post, because it's some of the best news I've had all year. At the end of June, Terminals (High school Seniors in France) take an exam called the BAC. Basically, for the context of this post, you just need to know that it's a difficult exam at the end of high school that students must pass in order to receive their diploma. Failure rates (especially at my lycee) can be relatively high, and the students at my lycee hover around average scores and not much more.

I think on July 6, I was almost as nervous as my students to hear who passed or not. I pulled up my email between two classes that day to find a message from my favorite student (the one who speaks only English to me) telling me that not only did he pass the English section, but he received 18/20! An 18!!! I was practically bouncing off the walls and telling everyone (especially the French) how well my student did! I know for Americans 18/20 doesn't sound that amazing, but in France (especially on the BAC) 16 and higher is freaking amazing and hard to achieve! 18 is basically the equivalent of A++++.

Another student of mine received a 16 which is also no small achievement.

I am so so so proud! Of course, these are the two students who've always been very strong in English, but I like to think I helped a bit.

In other news, today, looking at all the bread we have hear for breakfast that goes uneaten since we have no toaster, a friend and I decided to put on a brunch. With the help of everyone and Jeanne, we made French Toast, bacon, an amazing fruit salad, and mimosas. Such a great idea! Plus, it gave everyone a break and a chance to chat on our day off which most people (I'm going to try to make myself one of those) are using to do work.