Introducing...Professor Katherine!

Hello! So, after all those exciting travel updates, we're back to the mundane ones again. AND, on top of that, I have no pictures of my latest adventures, so. Sorry!

In any case, after we got home from our crazy two weeks, I pretty much went on an oreo diet and slept all weekend. Welcome to my life. xD Then I had classes all week--mehhh. Well, I actually do really enjoy my classes for the most part. But, I came to the shocking realization that we have FOUR WEEKS left in the semester. That's terrifying guys. It really and truly is. So, I've got a couple exams this week that I need to study for, yada yada. But I will do that tomorrow.

The most exciting thing this week (other than the weather--HELLO paradise) was that I got to do an "intervention" at a local college (read: middle school). Basically, my temporary host mom works as a math teacher at a local middle school and she asked her English professor colleagues if I could come talk to their classes. So, that's what I did.

Yesterday, my temporary host mom picked me up after my class in the morning and took me to the school where she works. I got to eat lunch with some of the teachers in the teacher's lounge which was really cool. They actually have a little courtyard with a big table so that they can eat outside. It was pretty cool.

Then I went with Cécile to her class of students in the 5th....level (I have no idea how to express this in English, but it makes sense in French, I promise). Essentially, it was a class of 12 year olds (so 6th grade/7th grade ish). They had prepared some questions for me (in English, of course) and then I told them a little about myself and tried to get them to talk. This proved to actually be quite difficult. They talked amongst themselves quite a bit, but when it came to speaking in English in front of the whole class, they were pretty shy.

After the 12 year olds, I had two different groups of 14 year olds. This time, the professor did not stay with me. So I was on my own, at the mercy of 12 adolescents. They were actually remarkably well behaved, but had the same problem--too shy to talk much. In the middle of the "lesson"/conversation, there was also a fire drill. That was interesting. But it all worked out.

After that, there was a little break and then I had a different group of 14 year olds. This conversation went much the way of the first two. By this time though, I had loosened up a bit, so even if I couldn't get them to talk, I could at least get them to laugh.

Next week I get to go back. I'm hoping I get to see the same kids since we know each other a little already. This time will be a real challenge though--trying to actually get them to open up and talk in English. I'm thinking of having them play some improvisation games.

Last night I also got to have dinner with my temporary host mom and some of her English professor colleagues (who are now retired). It was actually really fun. We interacted mostly in French, but since the two professors spoke English quite fluently it took the pressure off a bit--if I didn't know how to express something in French, I could express it in English and have them help me put it into French. I know sometimes this isn't so good for French--obviously having to find another way to express what you're trying to say is a really good exercise for language, but sometimes that doesn't work so well.

In any case, we had a little aperatif--a before dinner drink. One of the English professors made us all whiskey sours. My temporary host mom made spaghetti bolognaise (spaghetti with meat and tomato sauce) for dinner. It was so delicious. Red wine in spaghetti sauce--who'd've thought?! We then, of course, had cheese and bread. YUM! Goat cheese. Then we had pears smothered in melted chocolate with pear sorbet for dessert. You guys, I LOVE the food here.

By the time I got home, it was almost 1am. And I was exhausted. I made the mistake of wearing heels yesterday (wanted to look professional; professionally killed my feet). So I pretty much passed right out when I got home.

This morning I went to see The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe. I have to say, I did not think it was going to be that scary. But it was slightly terrifying. Daniel Radcliffe was, of course, impeccable. I'm definitely super impressed with his transition from Harry Potter star to big time actor. Not that I really had any doubts. He's pretty wonderful.

When I got home from the movies, I was exhausted, so I napped for a good three hours. This teaching stuff is HARD! Hopefully it gets easier as it goes on. Yesterday was actually my first time ever really "teaching" a class. I thought it went pretty well, all things considered.

After my nap, I made no bake (chocolate oatmeal) cookies with the resident chef, Ines. They actually turned out really well, in spite of my ineptitude (accidentally doubled the amount of peanut butter... oops!). It's also really hard to translate cups into...not cups here. So I kind of eyeballed the oatmeal, and the rest I hope was right. I mean, the cookies turned out well, so I'm guessing it all worked out.

And that's pretty much all I've done this week. Next week I have two exams, another English "intervention", plus registration for classes next year. Plus it's Springtime at the Cinema! So tickets are only 3.50 instead of 5 euro tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday. So maybe I'll go see some movies.

À la prochaine!