“Do you have a boyfriend?” “No” “YAAAAY!!”

Today could not have been more opposite than yesterday. It’s like when I woke up this morning, Fall decided that it was going to wait a little longer to join us. You could not see a cloud in the sky today and the temperature was a brisk 80 degrees Farenheit. Not bad for the middle of October, eh? 

Not to mention that it was a Wednesday, and as you should know from previous posts, not much happens here on Wednesdays. The high school here is not open on afternoons and many shops close down, leaving it hard for one to be productive. Actually, in Apt, the only days you can truly get things done are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and maybe Saturday.* That leaves about half the week to relax and spend time doing… whatever. No wonder it is said that the French do nothing, half of the week is dedicated to relaxing!

At school this morning, I taught my first “real lesson” by myself. I took the class in two groups, so I had half an hour with about 10 students. Since I heard that they were working on reality TV as a topic, I decided to have each of them introduce themselves to me (since I hadn’t met this class before) and tell me about their favorite TV shows. After, we divided into teams and played a game kind of like Taboo, but without the forbidden words. On the pieces of paper were popular TV shows, mostly American but a few English shows as well. After the student picked the paper, they had 2 minutes to describe the show to their team, without saying the title of course. The students had fun trying to describe the different shows and were excited when they heard that I watch some of the same shows that they do. The only problem was that they didn’t know all the shows, so sometimes it took a few picks to find a show they’d recognize. I tried to do my research on what shows play on TV here in France, but I guess I didn’t get it quite right. Either way, they seemed to have a lot of fun and said they couldn’t wait for next time. I’d say it was a success!

In my other class, it was just another day of introducing myself and answering any questions the students had for me.** It is hard that I only see most of my students every other week, as I have SO many faces and names to try and remember and I feel like it has taken me awhile to meet everyone. I would like to just jump into making lessons and teaching them things, but I understand that this getting-to-know-you process is taking a little longer in my case. When I come back from break though, it’s my lessons all the way – and I can’t be more excited! 

This afternoon, I bought some groceries, stopped by Pizz’Burger and grabbed my adapter***, did laundry, dusted and washed the floors in my room and did some budgeting/organization for my upcoming trip that I am taking. Doesn’t sound like a typical French way to spend a Wednesday afternoon? Well I did spend an hour sunbathing through the living room window.

View from my sunbathing spot. Heavenly.

And I even tried to make a new recipe on the infamous hot plate tonight: gnoochi with tomatoes, avocados, basil, garlic, oil and lemon juice. And who can forget the baguette and wine – truly enjoying this French mercredi!

Yum.

*The reason I say maybe is that things are open, but with the many tourists and the chaotic nature of the market on Saturday mornings, one is left mostly to just dedicate the day to shopping. What a bummer.

**The title of this post is again another question that I get about once each class, but this had to have been the funniest reaction. Even the teacher couldn’t stop laughing for about 2 minutes.

***Yeah, they finally opened today, AFTER I had just bought a replacement adapter, which cost me a fortune. The way I went about it was a little sketchy though, I just walked in, grabbed the adapter still in the wall where I left it on Monday and walked out, while two French construction workers, who were watching a French soap opera mind you, just watched me like I was a side-show freak. Oh well, got my adapter back!