MishMash

Here are random bullet points about my life:

School:

• A normal school day starts at 8am and ends at 5pm, with 1-2hrs for lunch - I would rather get out earlier!
  
• The teachers and students always have a 15 minute break at 10am and at 4pm
• Students can't eat, drink, chew gum, or wear hats during class, it is seen as disrespectful
  
• Students AND teachers change classes every period
• There are 3 years of high school: seconde (15-16yrs), premiere (16-17yrs), and terminale (17-18yrs)
• They have 'school buses' just like us, but they're a little more discreet...no yellow bananas!
• There are no chalk boards, only white boards
• All teachers have a little cubby in the teacher's lounge where they keep their papers (aka 'pigeon hole' since most teachers speak in British English)
  
• There are no computers in the classrooms

Teaching:

• I start every class with the date and the time - seems to be difficult for any level
• I have the students call my Barbara -I am NOT a 'Madame.' When they do say Madame, I quickly correct them
• I have a student who is obviously anti-American and who thinks that 9/11 was a conspiracy - I pretty much ignored him.
• During introduction questions a student asked if I liked French kisses - I was somewhat shocked so just stood there for a few seconds then moved to the next question
• Students don't know the movie Braveheart! Like a knife in the heart....
• When I look at my students, it's always a sea of black
• The bell between classes is like a fire alarm - I am going to be deaf by the end of the year
• All of the teachers try to speak English with me which is pretty cute
• Their handwriting is very similar to each other - when they are young it must be a very specific way
• Their paper is like graph paper on legal pads and they write with calligraphy pens
  

France:

• All windows have these metal shutter things (picture below). Makes it very dark at night but you know you are safe!
• The murders in France in a year are equal to the number of murders in Philly alone in one year
• The cars here are much smaller than the ones in the US - even the Toyota Corolla in the US is bigger (and better of course :) ) than the one here
• At the grocery store there is a HUGE cheese counter with hundreds of cheeses - the wine section is equally as big - I want to try them all!
  
• Girls NEVER spit. It is seen as gross for a girl to even spit her gum in trash can. You have to first take it out of your mouth and then put it in the trash.
• Public transportation is wonderful and much cheaper than owning a car
• There are hardly any garbage disposals
• They all have a medical card (looks like a credit card) which they must carry with them everywhere. They're like portable medical records.
• They use military time
• It's normal for the toilet and the shower to be in a different room
• They randomly say 'quoi' ('what') at the end of sentences - similar to how we say 'like'

Okay, there's my mishmash of updates!

Pictures are of the window shutters (they're half down), a cheese counter, and French handwriting!