A Day in the Life

Since I'm finding my routine, it's getting a lot harder to tell what's worth blogging about and what isn't. So, I figured I'd play the odds and, well... blog about the routine. Here's a pretty typical Monday/Tuesday, my two busiest days of the week. Note: this is all in military time because that's the way it goes over here.

06h00: Wake up, shower, dress, pack backpack, leave the apartment.
06h30: Walk to bus station, stop for croissant and pain au chocolat along the way.
07h00: Wakin’ up in the mornin’, gotta’ be fresh gotta’ go downstairs. Gotta’ have my bowl, gotta’ have my cereal –
STOP THAT. 07h00: Meet one of the teachers, who drives me to St-Vallier as the sun rises. Have discussions of cultural differences, politics, and other enlightening conversations.
07h30: Arrive at Collet de Gasq elementary school, check email, and finalize lesson plans.
08h30: First class, with 8-9-year-olds... Tell them to be quiet upwards of 20 times, and consistently break my rule of 100% English because they only seem to shut up when I ask them to in French.
09h15: Second class, with 9-10-year-olds. Actually teach them "What is your name?", "Where are you from?", numbers, pronouns, etc.
10h00: Break. Further lesson prep if necessary, conversations with passing teachers.
10h30: Third class, with 10-11-year-olds whose English will one day be better than mine.
11h15: Kill fifteen minutes.
11h30: Lunch in cafeteria. The principal, who eats there every day, thinks the food is “insipid,” but I’m less picky, especially given how little I’m paying for a decent warm meal.
12h15ish: Walk to Emile Felix elementary school, admiring the clear mountain air and scenery.
13h30: Fourth class, with adorable 6-7-year-olds.
14h15: Fifth class, with 8-9-year-olds.
15h00: Walk around St-Vallier’s one non-residential street, sit on the green at the center of town enjoying the weather and free time, and/or go grocery shopping for the week (if it’s Tuesday).
16h30: Bus back to Grasse. Admire the view.
16h45: Walk home.
17h10: Stop at the government-sponsored internet café/space for adult classes. Check email.
17h25: I read the news today – oh, boy.
18h00: Get home, ask Martina and Erika about their days, laugh at French TV commercials, and wonder why all this particular channel shows is The Simpsons, dubbed in French.
19h00: Throw together dinner. Eat on the balcony if so inclined. More of what happened at 18h00.
20h00: Decide I should probably do my lesson planning for the next day.
20h05: Start my lesson planning for the next day.
20h15: Finish my lesson planning for the next week.
20h16: It varies.
21h45: Go to bed. Remember there are 7 more days until in-home wifi.

-Andy