Today was my second to last day as an assistant here at the lycee. I can safely say that the connections that I made to my students this year are not as strong as the connections I felt to my students when I was doing my student teaching in Broomfield. Very nice kids, of course, and I don't think it was a communication issue... I am certain that it was the fact that I saw kids one hour a week if I saw them frequently and one hour every six weeks on the other end of the scale.
I received some very nice gifts from students in a few classes. A bouncy ball (balle rebondissante), some candy, a Star Wars magnet of C3PO and as a gag gift, a razor. Then I was given a t-shirt with signatures and "WE (heart) YOU" on it. I cannot wait to wear that to a baseball game in the States!
Then, in my volunteer conversation class, I was given a very nice gift by two brothers. I accused them of stealing from their parents, but they insisted that they did not. I was given three beautiful bottles of wine. This may not mean much to many of you, but I received a 2001 Paul Jaboulet Aine - St. Peray (white Cote du Rhone), a 1999 Meursault (red Burgundy), and a 1996 St. Emilion (red Bordeaux). When I opened the box I was rendered speechless. If purchased in the States today this could cost about... umm... 300 bucks, easy. I am sure that the parents of these boys purchased the wine from the wineries the years they came out at any number of wine expos that go on in France any weekend of the year. That would have only cost em about 45 euros at the time, shoot in francs at the time, so maybe less. But the gesture is still incredibly nice! I will try and give the rest of my classes guilt trips an hopes of other nice vintage years!
All in all I beleive that the last 7 months were good. Friday starts the second chapter in our stay here. We're looking forward to the change!
In other things...
Marseille is a great city! We went there over the weekend with Patrick and Marielle (Math and English teachers) and their 3 yo boy Enslin. He's kind of a butthead, but he is three. Lots of repetition, but it was fun to hang out with a kid. It makes me want to play with my nephew, Zain, more than ever! Then I will hand him over to his mom and dad and look at a new nephew sleeping!
Marie, the German assistant, left for home last Thursday. This was kind of a owner as she is the one person whom I feel I really got to know while over here. It just means that my German will have to improve so that we can go visit her in Jena... and drink lots of beer!
I am looking for a job picking fruit. So far I have not had any luck, but I know that there are a lot of jobs and I just need to continue in my hunt. Apparently cherries are cheaper to grow in harvest in Turkey because they can exploit workers even easier! Not as good for me, but the apricots and blueberries will arrive soon.
The weather in Valence has been beautiful and it hasn't been raining too much. This city is a lot nicer in the spring than it is in the winter. I would have invited bombers to level it if I had received the offer in February. Now I am liking it more and more. Markets are lively again, and flower beds are full. That's nice.
So there you have it! Let's turn the page!
- Patrick
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2 comments:
I heard there's good work to be done in Egypt - slaughtering pigs. 35,000 of them, so says Derek's co-worker. The gov is getting pressure from the locals on account of the swine flu. Ironically, I cannot help but chuckle.
Cool, I was mentioned in your post. Unfortunately I don't know what "owner" means in that context. I've new pictures on my post. Bisous
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