one week in!

I have been in my studio a week now, and I've also had my first two guests! I met Alyssa in Lille on Saturday morning, and we did some shopping, exploring, and eating before heading back to Valenciennes. We had a very yummy dinner on the Place d'Armes (the main square) where we had entertainment! It was some random event (I already forget the name) that included marching bands from around Europe. It was fun to see and hear. Anna arrived on Monday, and I had an amazing time wandering around with her and catching up. We had a wonderful dinner in an Italian restaurant which was completely packed on a Monday night! I'm sad she won't be staying in France as planned, but it sounds like she made the right decision for her.

In between my visitors, I met with another lectrice in Valenciennes last week and another one last night. We're hopefully all getting a drink in a bit. I'm looking forward to some friends even if they are Anglophone, because it's always easier to broach the Frenchies in a group. I also met up with two people off Couchsurfing who live in Valenciennes. That was nice, and we chatted for a few hours.

I met with one of my colleagues the other day. Jane is who I'll primarily be working with. I'll be alone in the room, but we will be teaching the same things (at least for now) with our groups. I have another meeting with her tomorrow afternoon which means that tonight I actually have to research some lesson ideas. I really need to get on that.

Other than that, I've been running all over the place getting all the paperwork together that I'll need to get paid at the end of the month. All I can say is thank god I lived in France before, because I had most of it at least setup. I couldn't imagine arriving here with none of it. I definitely wouldn't get paid, because I need to give it all to them at the end of the week to do so. I did the last thing today, so I'll be able to give it to HR tomorrow when I have my meeting with Jane.

Now is the big rentrée in the French system. Teachers went back today, and students go back tomorrow. I'm really missing my colleagues and students at the moment. I still can't really grasp the fact that I won't be working with crazy absentminded Claude this year. I miss him. I was at that school longer than some of the teachers! It's hard. I'm definitely going to go down to visit as soon as I know Claude's and my friends' schedules so I can see the people I miss the most.