Today I visited 5 classes, 4 were new and 1 I thought was going to be new. I did my introduction of myself and I don’t know if I was less enthusiastic or the classes weren’t as good or the middle school was just more fun, but it didn’t seem as great as the first day or two. I found myself saying “Um” a lot during my presentations and was quite disgusted with myself; started a conscience effort to not say “um” or “like.” We’ll see how things progress in the classes; there are some of the students with whom I’m looking forward to working. It might be a little tough to prepare things for the classes since, in total, I’m working with 5 different teachers, who don’t all seem to plan much in advance.
I left with Françoise after all the Friday classes were done and I thought we were going to her house where I’d be passing the weekend, but I wasn’t completely right. We went to a town called Forbach about 10 or more minutes away to deal with the issue of my phone. The part that made this more confusing was the fact that I was driving… I sort of love Françoise’s car now; it is some old VW stick shift that drives and shifts oh-so nicely. I drove through my first roundabouts and started on inclines (not hills – the one hill I had to drive up, I thankfully didn’t have to stop on at any point). OH and I drove in reverse for maybe 10 meters (probably less) in-between curving stone planters! Though, I will admit, Françoise parallel parked the car.
Over all we got the phone without too many problems. They needed more documentation about me living at the school (they wanted a copy of the principal’s ID… as if he’d just give that to me); now, according to SFR (the phone company) I live at Françoise’s house. The plan I got has 1h30 minutes talk time with an additional 1h30 on the weekends, unlimited texting and unlimited internet access. They don’t sell plans without the internet now… My plan is a “blocked” plan, which means that if I use my phone in other countries or to call/text foreign numbers – I’ll lose my minutes faster, but they’ll never charge me more than my contract; instead, I’ll just not be able to do phone calls or foreign exchanges. I picked a plan without a phone because they charge you 5 euros more per month if you get it with a phone – so my plan costs 22 euros a month (way cheaper than the US). For the moment I’m using a quite old phone that Françoise’s family had, but I might end up buying one of the cheaper phones that can access the internet, just since my plan allows me unlimited access…
Driving home also went well. I felt like I was surprisingly familiar with driving in France. I’m currently assuming that’s from navigating so much when my parents and I traveled in France.
*If anyone in France/Europe would like my phone number, email me or fb message me. The same goes for anyone who would like my address (and on the off chance that anyone is thinking of sending me objects that I might not need immediately in France – don’t – remember I do have to pack everything for my return to California eventually).
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