Rugby rules!

So, this is a day where the whole school talks about everything rugby, even all the students ahve put together rugby teams and are playing eachother this afternoon. There was a lecture about the Argentinian rugby where the woman just read off of a sheet about it's history. After this hour of blah, the school had brought in some former professional rugby players to encourage the young boys to concentrate on their studies no matter how certain they are of their future rugby fame. I don't know anything about rugby, even in English. Fortunately, there were some French girls who feel the same way, so I went with a group of about 10 and their teacher and I conducted their English class instead of attending the assembly. They were fairly good with their English and were curious about American tv, politics, and music. They asked me who I thought the Democratic candidate would be. I said I wasn't sure, but I guessed Hilary Clinton.

Since all the borders in my dorm go home on the weekends, the woman who hosted me my first two nights is having me stay with her tonight so I wont be by myself. This should be good, because as much as I like peace and quiet, without a radio or tv or computer, 3 days of silence might be a little much.

Oh, guess what?! I have my address:
Mlle Carolyn Hagglund
Residence Felix Despagnet
29 rue Felix Despagnet
#47
40800 AIRE-SUR-L'ADOUR
FRANCE

Off to class!

Inside the lair....

What's that smell? Qui sait? You mean the garbage goes in the dumpster, not the hallway? Ohhhhhhh.

Yeah, that's great. And I get to teach them.

I will be teaching post-high school boys. It's not that no girls are allowed, it's just that not a lot of girls in France want to be electricians and paper makers. There are 3 girls. Around 80 gentleman. Yay!

6th graders are way cuter than I remember them.

Aren't 6th graders supposed to be little pre-teens with attitude? Well, these 11 year olds reminded me more of 8 year olds and they are TINY! Maybe I've never been as short as them, ever. But they did ask me how tall I am, and when I told them 178 centimeters, their jaws dropped and their eyes got big. I guess 5'10'' is a little extreme for them... It's true I do tower over just about everyone here, even the male teachers. On the street in Bordeaux, some guy came up to me and said 'Quel taille!' (What size!) So Emily, I feel your pain. Now we can both tell stories of how we creatures of northern Europe inspire a sense of shock and awe amongst the inhabitants of southern Europe.