Le Premier Jour d'Ecole (The First Day of School)

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The outside wall of La Chambre de Torture (The Language Lab)
School Pictures...new friends Hugh (from Provence) and Elizabeth (from Australia)...a view from a classroom balcony and the sunrise from my apartment...

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Mon Dieu! Where to begin? The first day of school was fantastique...but only after a beginning that was like a mauvais rêve (bad dream). After making plans with Bruno to meet at 8 AM yesterday to walk to school (for expected 8:30 arrival), I slept through TWO ALARMS and woke up at 8:27. What could be worse??? Late for the first day of school! I took a 30-second shower, brushed my teeth, dressed and was out the door by 8:33! Bruno, after waiting 10 minutes, was long gone, I didn't know how to get to school and it was raining! I ran down the stairs to my front door, turned around when I saw il pleut (it was raining), grabbed my umbrella, went back down the stairs, realized I forgot my carte (map), ran back, and began a mad dash for school--UP HILL! A 20-minute walk in 10 minutes, and I was at school by 9:00. I missed le petit déjeuner et le café (breakfast and coffee). I did, though, arrive in time for the opening remarks, and from then on, it was magnifique! It was a wonderful first day of school. I met so many nice people so quickly... it's pretty amazing when there are about 80 people, from all over the world with different cultures, different economic status, different genders, different everything--all gathered together in one place for one common purpose. It's a great equalizer. We are all, for a short time, just alike.

After school my new friends, Bruno and Sylvia, invited me to go to the Casino (not the one in Monaco; this is a grocery chain). They have une voiture (a car), so it was great for me to be able to stock up on groceries and not have to lug them up (or down) hill. I bought some inexpensive yet REALLY GOOD red wine (no sulphites! pas de mal à la tête). I love la vie francaise!

The school is lovely, housed in an old villa, perched on a hill overlooking the bay of Villefranche. We have communal meals, and only French may be spoken sur la table. The food is wonderful, Chef Nathalie is right from a French movie, the company is indescribable...In just two days, I have shared meals, classes and conversations with people from Georgia (the country), Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, France (mais oui!), Italy, Poland, China, Austria, and, naturellement, the United States...university professors, employees of the State Department, the World Bank, a Swiss bank, a train engineer, an antiques dealer, a shipping company owner, a bicycle shop owner, a lawyer (a former military judge who held court in Panama during the Vietnam war), a psychologist, a Delta pilot, a pediatrician, a worker from a human rights organization... What a remarkable experience this has been already. I can't imagine that I have another three and a half weeks of this incredible experience ahead of me.

The first day of school consisted of the introductory remarks, orientation to the program and placement testing. Yesterday they spoke to us in English. Today, we were fined one euro if we were caught speaking English (or any other language other than French). At the end of the month, the euros raised by catching people speaking in foreign tongues will be spent on champagne for everyone on the last day of school. There's some consolation in that. I did not speak a word of English today, from the time I awoke until I returned from school at 5. It was a very intense day of learning (and I think they will all be) but it was fantastique! We had language lab, pronunciation, grammer/verbs and more verbs, and then more verbs.

After a long (and yes, tiring) day at school, I met new friends (a woman from Australia and a woman from Canada) for dinner at a wonderful French restaurant in the old port of Villefranche-Mer..."Au Clair Obscur" http://www.auclairobscur.com on rue Obscure (I love the address!). It was so nice to share stories and experiences... I am struck by the fact that no matter how different our backgrounds are, we all have so much in common with each other--it makes me wonder why there are wars...

I digress, it's past time to do my homework, and my comfy little bed awaits...

Bonsoir!