"Do you have a gun?"

After a few months off of teaching and a lot of initial paperwork confusion, stepping into a classroom again instantly felt like home.

The downside to my teaching schedule is the number of classes I work in.  English is the most popular foreign language for students, and as a result, there are more English teachers and classes than there are for other languages.   I would have had plenty of work to do just at le lycée every week being shared between five English teachers and twelve classes total, but l'académie decided to divide my time even more by placing me half-time at un collège (a middle school) in the nearby town of Aizenay: that means five more teachers and twelve more classes.  One difficulty is remembering how each teacher wants to use me in his or her class and what I need to plan - some teachers want me to take half the class and teach a short lesson; others want me to speak individually with students to build their speaking and listening skills; others want me to co-teach with them in front of the whole class.  I get Wednesdays off, but I'll be spending those days studying mes trombinoscopes (my class rosters with pictures).

My first full week of teaching was at Collège Soljenitsyne in Aizenay...the middle school whose name no one can pronounce.  Getting there is a little complicated; it's fifteen minutes away by car and the buses only run once per day in the afternoon, so several staff members who live in la Roche take turns driving me as it fits with their schedules.  (This week, on my day off, I attempted the bike trail between the two towns.  It weaves through lots of small, cute farms and you have to be careful not to hit horses and other cattle.  I made it, but without a proper distance bike, it took four and a half hours round-trip...and I wasn't able to move very much in the days after.)

Collège Soljenitsyne

After my first fifteen minutes at the collège, I knew I was going to love it.  As teachers started filing into the salle de profs (teachers' lounge) in the morning, they all greeted and welcomed me, some giving me a tour of the school and talking excitedly about their classes.  The students were, if possible, maybe even more friendly, excited, and curious.  Most students come from farming communities in the area.  Most of the English classes had prepared questions to ask me about my life and family, Minnesota, and the United States; I brought lots of pictures and maps to help explain.  Since this region of France is not a popular tourist destination for the average American, people from the U.S. are considered exotique...and a true rarity.  It was fascinating to discover the things that surprised students and I was taken aback by some questions - "Do you have a gun?" and "Have you shot someone?", for example.  They were very interested to learn about immigration from Mexico into the U.S. and to discover that Spanish is a very common foreign language for American students to learn.  Some were also floored to learn that the U.S. has more than Hollywood and the Empire State Building, that I've never bumped into George Clooney (or any other celebrity) wandering through the woods of northern Minnesota, and that I've never seen a caribou.  They ogled over the picture of St. Paul streets covered in snow and the picture of an "average-sized" house in the U.S., and wanted to know if I ate hamburgers for every meal.

Streets of Aizenay;
St. Joseph, a small chapel;
inside St. Benoit des Landes

Teachers and staff are also curious and friendly; the staff lounge is always a welcoming, lively place to relax and chat.  There are several five- to ten-minute breaks throughout the day when everyone congregates there to have coffee, and of course everyone stops for at least an hour at lunchtime to eat together.  I've had a hard time explaining the "time is money" mentality of the U.S. to students and teachers alike here.  In English, we say that we "spend" time; in French, the translation is to "pass" time.  This also pertains to work time too - in class, there is no real rush to learn too much too quickly - but students learn at least as much since they aren't as stressed.

I had no morning classes on Thursday, so I explored the town of Aizenay on foot.  It's very small; at the center, there's a large, beautiful church surrounded by small shops (many boulangeries and patisseries, of course).  I stopped for a coffee at a brasserie which, it turned out, is owned by a father of one of my students, and I made friends with several people on the street who were happy to show me around and chat for a few minutes.  Small experiences like that melt my heart; people are so happy to "pass" time talking with strangers.

Lycée Edouard Branly

My second full week of teaching was at Lycée Branly, where I live.  It's definitely a different environment.  High schools are bigger and have many more teachers; the community is not as close-knit, so it's difficult to get to know everyone.  Lycée Branly is also a lycée professionel - the American equivalent is a technical college or trade school.  The stereotype of LPs is that students are not very motivated or intellectually inclined; while I can see where the stereotype comes from, I found that students' motivation really depends on their teacher.  I have some classes that will be a joy to co-teach and others where the teacher just wants me to take over so he/she can have a break.  Either way, it will be interesting and fun to teach specialized lessons using culinary, business, and shopping vocabulary.

After only two and a half weeks of teaching for the assistants, it's already time for les vacances - two weeks off!  Time for more travels!

Most of the foreign language assistants in la Roche-sur-Yon:
representing England, Germany, the U.S., Canada, and Spain

"L'auberge espagnole" - me, Julian, and Laura - roommates at Lycée Branly