brrrr it's cold in here, there must be some clovers in the atmosphere!!

at the serignan mediatheque (library). it reminds me a lot of a slightly smaller british council library.

wednesday: school was great as usual. i only had 2 classes in the morning so i could leave and get things done afterward. today's class started with the teacher asking the students what they remembered of my self-introduction and question-answer round las week. they remembered almost everything! it was a bit strange to hear one child at a time raising their hand and calling out things like "you were born in 1988!" "you 'ave one seester!" "you're muzzher leeves in san francisco!" and they were quite excited when they were correct! They then had to print out paragraphs on Shakespeare thy had written in partners and go over them for a pronunciation review in which they would individually read their paragraphs to the teacher and be evaluated on intonation, pronunciation, speed, comprehension, etc.

Their paragraphs were very well written and it made me wonder if they had actually written them. I always feel awkward asking someone if the words on the paper are their own. (not a situation i'm in often thankfully) And even here I avoided asking to simply observe. We only had time to listen to 3 presentations and all 3 girls did not know what a 'century' was though they used the word several times. They also had no idea where Stratford upon Avon is! They all mentioned it at least twice too!

All of this really makes me think back to my first french classes and whether i too was as clueless about random french culture things and oral tests. i wish i could remember.

i was really nervous for the kids when they were presenting too and i would always ask the easiest questions. i think one girl almost cried when the teacher was giving her feedback and i felt really bad. thankfully this particular teacher is very kind and gentle. phew!

last night: i met my landlady. she is unbelievably nice. i feel so very lucky! she knocked on my door and when i opened it was all excited to meet me and she just talked for 15 minutes straight about her past tenants and how she hoped i was settled in and to ask her if i needed anything and what changes she could make, etc. and she gave me a great big hug!

wednesday contd: this morning after classes she took me shopping to the local hyper U which is like superstore. she told me about her life and she has a daughter and 2 grand children. they're very close and she keeps in touch via internet. (her wifi password isn't working for me so i gotta get tech support to figure it out) her name is gladys and her husband passed away a long time ago. she lives with a partner named jean paul or jean pierre and they are adorable. she also told me that she lost her 17 year old daughter in a car crash 26 years ago. and i don't know what to say to something like that in any language.

i found ginger! and daal! so i bought some veggies at the market (happens every wednesday and friday) and i'm gong to make daal tonight! with rice! yay!

there is one thing about this place that i am opposed to: i can't find any oatmeal. i searched all over the hyper u and couldn't find any, gladys didn't even know what i was talking about! i'm worried too, cuz the mornings are so cold and cereal for breakfast isn't going to cut it! what a random thing for a grocery store to not have!

one thing i do like: i have never met a french person with an automatic dryer. all their laundry is dried outside on clotheslines. i'm sure up north and near the mountains and in the colder places they use dryers but everywhere they don't need to, they don't even buy them. this is pretty cool. and i'm reminded of this only because i gotta do laundry while it's still sunny out. the weather is so unpredictable!

dilemma: in 2 weeks there is a 10 day holiday for toussaints (all saints day) and i have no idea what to do or where to go if anywhere. i don't think i should stay here in serignan since it's so tiny and i don't have friends. but i don't know where i could go...

and in an effort to read books in french i have started reading a french translation of a gossip girl book. it's pretty hilarious and there are SO many words i have to keep looking up! and french gossip girl has all principle characters smoking! i don't know if it's there in the english books too and they just omitted it for the tv show, but yikes. not the best example for our youth.

more tomorrow!


craving: wifi at home so i could be online, talk to my loved ones, stream tv and cook at the same time!
currently listening to: the humm of natalya (my laptop) in this quiet quiet library