We were warmly greeted on Sunday afternoon at the TVG station in Aix by ALL the families, as well as Bernard and Fabienne. Our students were a little nervous about having to communicate in French with their families. But the fact that they already knew their "correspondents," as the French call them, helped a lot. Since June 1 was a national holiday (Pentecost), Axel Arnal invited everyone over to his house for swimming, etc., followed by pizza (18 in all, made by him!), cooked in the pizza oven in the garden. Madame Arnal explained that when they bought the lot about 3 years ago, Monsieur Arnal was adamant that the first thing planned on the property would be the pizza oven. Then, think about the house. I like the sense of priorities!
The chaperones and French teachers were invited to join the party at 6:30, along with all the other parents. The cutest moment was when all our students and the French students were in the TV room absorbed by a movie (can't remember name, but it was in the "horror" category). It's always a challenge to get the students to mingle, when faced with the temptation of sticking together and speaking English, and vice versa for the French. Our students think that the French students' English is better than their French, but I'm not sure. The French would probably say just the opposite.
In the French school system, school is for academics, and that's all day, often from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Some days an individual student might start at 9:00 and get out at 4 or 5. No sports at school, except for gym class, which is held out in the main courtyard. They don't have a gym yet (the present facility is only 10 years old), but they are trying to get it worked out that they can use a field behind the school to build one.
The girls who live in the dorm seem to love it. They are very animated and have fun, even at breakfast--as well as dinner. Their life seems to be fairly regimented, and they study a lot. Last night they had a special buffet out in the courtyard to mark the retirement of the dorm supervisor who is retiring. They played all sorts of silly games, such as "Simon Says" (Jacques a dit), so it's not all serious. Next year there will be both girls and boys in the dorm. They will have room for 50 girls and 50 boys. I have been promised a tour of the premises next week.
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