i kinda like it in my brand new place, i wipe the spots off of the mirror, don't leave the keys in the door...

thursday continued: we got my keys from the neighbor and went in to my new home for the next 8 months. i couldn't believe it. i was excited beofre but really doesn't begin to explain how perfect this place is. i have everything i could possibly need and more; they said fully furnished but wow. everything is small but i have a double bed. i have a little kitchen with everything there! dishes, cutlery, pots, pans, microwave, etc. i have a large wardrobe type closet and a small chest of drawers; there is a desk with a lamp, a bedside table with a lamp and a cute round dining table with an overhead light. the bathroom has lots of storage space and a large shower- bigger than Pond! and the water pressure is perfect. i even have 3 small windows in the bathroom! the odd thing is that there's a thing that looks like a urinal but isn't and i don't know what it's for. so i ignore it. the landlady even put in special touches like a blowdryer, an iron and ironing table and extra pillows and blankets and towels!

thursday and friday:
then i went and checked out the school. it's pretty big, around as big as harvest park but with less outdoor space and fields and whatnot. it's kinda old and grimy especially the toilets which look frightening from the outside so i haven't yet ventured in. it's a closed campus that's a bit more harsh than pleasanton cuz these fences, though they are white, look more daunting. but students are allowed out for an hour and half for lunch- not all students, just the ones that live in Sérignan. There are students that come from neighboring villages; there are 5 or 6. I can't really imagine places smaller than Sérignan so i will definitely check these out.
I have observed classes over the past 2 days and have very few conclusions about french middleschoolers. they are all incredibly well-dressed for village-dwellers. They are surprisingly sweet. They are terrible at English. They are pretty good looking as well and almost all of them are athletic in some way or another. From rugby to tennis and baseball and dance, they seem to keep busy. But i think this is pretty much the same of kids in a lot of places. they even have cell phones. so i guess they remind me of pleasanton kids a lot.

The teachers are harder to observe. The english teachers all have very adorable french/british accents when they speak english. i was told that they usually do not like having a native speaker around since they are not native speakers and they are teachers, but none of the teachers i have worked with so far seem to have any problems with that. some even double check pronunciation and facts with me in front of students. i think this is very cool of them and i think i'd definitely do the same. most of them are pretty young- mid30s max. there are more women than men and they all seem to get along. i must admit that i find the staff room a pretty boring place after having wondered what goes on in here all my school-going life. teachers just hang out and talk and gossip between classes. most teachers eat at the cafeteria at lunch and i need to figure out if i will as well. i have been informed that there is one vegetarian teacher around but i have not met him/her yet. it costs around 4 euro for lunch every day. which is definitely cheap for this country.

today i observed a class vote for their délégués- class reps and they did it to mimic the french election style. it was all very serious and professional with voting booths and stamps and real-ish ballots and voter registration cards and numbers and id checks and everything. the kids were all solemn and cute and took it seriously. it was interesting that they laid out ballots with each candidate's name on them and had each student take one, then they went into a booth where they each selected 2 candidates from the ballots and put those in an envelope and through out the rest. they came out and got in line to check their ids and put their envelopes in the ballot box that had a counter and required 2 keys to open. it seems to be a clearer way to do it than in america biut i'm not sure since i can't vote in america. then the votes were immediately tallied and marked on a chalkboard. two girls named melody and sara won by more than the required absolute majority. if not they would have had to vote again and again until they had one. interesting stuff.

last night i was too pooped to care so i had some veggie instant noodles i found and i bought the most delicious raspberry tart. i live a minute away from a very good bakery which is not good for me i'm sure. i figure if i allow myself no more than 2 desserts there a week i should be okay but it's going to be hard to resist.

and now i'm heading home cuz i'm tired and hungry. i won't have internet until tuesday when i have classes!

what oh what am i going to do this weekend? at least the weather's lovely.

craving: another raspberry tart and some bread and cheese!
currently listening to: the same persistent tube light and a custodian sweeping