Week 1 of Teaching Down...

BONJOUR TOUT LE MONDE!

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So, week one of teaching is down and it has been full of surprises.  I'm going to list them because I love lists!

1) I am pretty good at lying.  Generally, lying is not in my nature but I have recently developed this skill, mostly telling those people who try to get me to join Greenpeace on the streets in DC that I don't speak English - "Je ne parle pas l'anglais".  Par contre, at my French school I have been instructed to tell the kids that I don't speak any French.  Last week, during some of my hours of observation, I introduced myself to the students and they had the opportunity to ask me questions in English.  Without fail, the question "Do you speak French?" came up.  And I had to respond with a "No", which always brought about the follow up question, "Not even a little?" And I held firm ... It was WACK since for the past 3 years I have been answering the question "Do you speak French?" with "Yeah I'm basically bilingual."  When my students asked what I studied in college and if I had been to France before, I had to omit my 5 months at La Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris in favor of, "yes I have been to Paris, only on vacation." ... LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR.  I had to be creative with the question "Why did you chose to come to France" (which I usually respond to by saying that I LOVE FRANCE and I LOVE FRENCH) with the much less exciting "I thought it would be fun."

2) I am better at teaching than I thought I would be.  I was sooo nervous but it turns out all of the class presentations and SPEAC/BEATBias programs that I planned and carried out have really prepared me to stand in front of small groups of teenagers and exercise my authority.

3) Outside of their English class (aka in real life), many French kids are afraid of speaking to me.  On Tuesday I accompanied a field trip to Thoronet Abbey, and I had been introduced to all the students as (of course) "The American assistant who doesn't speak French."  Few kids approached me to talk, and when I approached kids to ask what they thought of the visit, I got a lot of SCARED EYES and kids who either agreed with everything I said (even when it wasn't a question) or looked desperately at their friends, asking for help and saying that they didn't understand.  Kind of disappointing but this is just the beginning of the year, I'm sure as I get to know them, they will realize that I am not a scary American monster.

Ok dahhhhhhhhlings that's all for now as I have to go plan lessons for tomorrow.  We're going to discuss the rugby world cup.  France is going to the final....

xoxoxo
Samantha

P.S. On Saturday I'm going to Berlin, Prague, and Vienna with my roommate Steph.  If you have been to any of those places and have any recommendations, email me or leave a comment!!