It's been way too long since I have written a new entry, but a lot has been happening. This past Thursday I had my first day to observe the classes and meet the kids. Unfortunately, on Thursday I missed my stop because the bus routes had been rerouted for construction and I rode the bus all the way to the end of the route and was by myself and had no idea where to go. Luckily, the principal of the school was kind enough to come retrieve me and take me to the school. The day was quick and I did not do much except plan lessons for Friday. On Friday, I had my first day of teaching. I was really nervous in my first class, because it was the first time I had ever taught a class. The kids were all very energetic and I was enjoying the experience, but lost track of time. The teacher did not want to be rude and she let me continue teaching so finally I realized when it was time to go that I had spent an hour and 15 minutes in the class when it was supposed to be only 45 minutes. The teacher just laughed and said not to worry and asked if I would stay to answer the kids' questions about America so I did that for the last 15 minutes. It was interesting to hear some of the questions that the kids asked me. One of the arab kids asked me if everyone in the United States was rich. The question took me by surprise, because our country is certainly a wealthy country, but by no means is everyone wealthy. I looked at the teacher and she gave me a nod which I interpreted as do your best to answer this. I explained that the United States was a country just like any other country where there are lots of wealthy people but there are also lots of poor people. I realized later when I reflected back on the question that a lot of what children think is from what they hear in school, their homes, and from their parents so if they hear it at a young age they are more likely to believe it and think it is true. after the first class, I had a little bit of a break to make some photocopies and talk with the teachers. the next class i had was the CP class (which is made up of 6 year olds). it was very difficult not to laugh when i was speaking to them, because they really are cute kids. they were all giggling and laughing as i assigned them each an American name, but after the teacher helped me calm them down I went through and assigned each child a name. They would repeat the name and then as an entire class say the name together. Their class period only took 30 minutes and this was what took up a majority of the class. The last class of the day was the group hat is just one year older. They were all familiar with how to say hello and goodbye, so I taught them a few things and in general it was a somewhat productive class. Overall, I think my first day was a great experience. I was extremely nervous when I began the day, but now I know what to expect and I think I will be comfortable standing in front of the class and teaching them this year. It will take some time (and a lot of patience) to find the most effective teaching methods, but in the longrun it will certainly be worthwhile.
After school on Friday, I decided it would be better to walk home since it was a nice day out. This school happens to be in Soyaux, which is the town over from Angouleme, making it a rather long walk but I figured it would be nice to see the are a little more. I walked to Centre Ville in search of a decent lunch. I decided that I would venture through Old Angouleme and find a small little place that had a decent crowd and enjoy something nice to eat. I found a quaint little Italian bistro and sat outside to have my lunch. I had a great pasta dish and some water for just 7 euros. It was a nice treat for a Friday afternoon. I enjoyed the time I had to sit alone and reflect about what I had just experience as well as what I was to expect of the year. After lunch, I decided to continue walking all the way home to my dorm. The rest of the afternoon was low key and I took care of some housekeeping and forms, etc. Friday night was the first night that all the assistants went out in Angouleme together. It was also the France-Albania Euro 2012 qualifier match. We watched some of the fist half in the dorm and then arrived in Old Angouleme for the majority of the second half. The atmosphere was a little disappointing, because it did not seem as if the people watching the match were into it as you would expect a bar in France to be engaged in an important match for the country's team. However, the rest of the night was definitely entertaining and we went to a few different bars in the Old part of town.
The rest of the weekend was simple and enjoyable. I spent most of my time doing some research, grocery shopping, and just relaxing. On Sunday, Esven and I went to a soccer field near our dorm to kick the soccer ball around. About midway through some kids came over to kick the ball around a little and eventually a small pickup game was organized and we played some 6 v 6. It felt good to get out and run around on the soccer field again. it has been way too long since I have done that. Sunday evening, the two Canadian assistants wanted to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving so we had a potluck dinner and all ate together. It was nice to share each other's company and we laughed and joked for a while. Afterwards, I made the mistake of offering to do the dishes since I didn't cook. I know it was the right thing to do, but I legitimately have never done that many dishes in my life. Now it is time for me to say thank you to my Mom, because she never complains and does that every night. So thank you Mom.
Today, I had my first lesson at my other school where I will be teaching two classes a week. The name of the school is Georges Sand and it is the school I mentioned before that I thought was in a highly populated immigrant part of town, and I found out today that I was right. Most of my students are either black or arabic. They seemed extremely excited about me being in class today, and some of them already knew a decent amount of English, but others could not even say "My name is ____". So I taught them how to, and then we moved on to the Months. I can tell this school is going to be a little more challenging, because the kids seem to be a lot less disciplined and there is a lot less structure in regards to what they want me to do. Having said that, I do anticipate having a breakthrough point with the kids and from there it will certainly be a lot easier. I just have to gain their respect as anyone does in the position I am in: being a foreigner and also young.
After class, I went by the Apple store to see if they could fix my iPod, but they told me that the track is broken and that they cannot fix it. When I got home, I found out that my warranty is expired, so that leaves me without an iPod. Upsetting. I will be fine though, it is just irritating because I really enjoyed having it to run with. Today was definitely a productive day for me though. I got a lot of my travel plans squared away, and figured out the details for my fall break as well as Christmas vacation.
I decided today that I am going to try to make a blog entry on more of a regular basis and will try to tone down the details a little bit so I can make the entries a little quicker of a read and more consistent. That will make it easier for me to update this regularly, because I will not have as much time since I just found out this weekend that I was accepted for the Rollinglobe internship! I am very optimistic about the opportunity and am looking to take full advantage of it, but it is going to be a lot of work. I already have a deadline for next Monday that I need to start working on tomorrow. So much for not having anything to do over here! I think the market will be here again tomorrow so even though I do not have work until the afternoon, I am going to try to get up to pay the market a visit. Looking to do a little traveling this weekend, and am excited about potentially going to Bordeaux for the first time or paying a day trip visit to Cognac. More details to come on Wednesday. Bon nuit.
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