3 weeks in

I've not been very diligent in writing on here, but now we have internet in our house (albeit erratic and tempermental as wireless always is) hopefully I will be better at updating this now! I have been in Blois 3 weeks today, but it feels like so much longer.

All is well in the house- except for bad plumbing (the water in the bath takes half an hour to drain, minging) and Sylvie our cat has a skin disease (also minging)... M. Bride has promised to take her to the vet, though has done nothing yet about the bathroom. I swear he cares more about that cat than any of us! Still, at least we have internet and TV now (including the BBC world channel- it's like home away from home) and feel more in touch with the world.

We had a housewarming party on Friday with other assistants from Blois, and our neighbours, which was fun, except that I had a little too much of the old vin rouge...! Saturday was a nice lazy day, and on sunday morning I was up bright and early for church. It was only my second sunday there and I was feeling a bit apprehensive, but everyone was really nice and made me feel welcome. There's a small youth group and they've invited me to a debate next weekend on the subject of Halloween!

After church we cooked a traditional English breakfast (or brunch) for two of our neighbours, Yann and Xavier... they were slightly perplexed by the notion of having sausages for breakfast but I think they enjoyed it all the same! Rose and I have been introducing everyone here to Marmite, with limited success... oh to be in Blighty, where such things are embraced!

So... school. Im working 4 days a week (tuesdays off) and although I'm meant to be doing 12 hours, I actually have less. I'm at collège 8 am on mondays, which means a bike ride in what feels like nighttime... quelle horreur! Last week I just observed my classes to see what level they're at, and to be honest I'm quite bored; I want to do some actual work! In collège I will probably be staying in the classes with the teacher and maybe having one group on my own... the kids are quite sweet actually. At least they are noticeably younger than me; whereas at lycée I'm taking some of the BTS students , all boys, who are all older than I am! In lycée I will be taking small groups on my own and helping them to prepare for their oral exams. I'm going to offer to do extra tuition for any students who want it, since every day I finish by 1 and I am getting so bored! I'm also going to have Spanish lessons with one of the Spanish teachers in exchange for teaching her English.

Susan has been teaching us a few spanish phrases so that when her family phone for her we can say enough to get by... eg, 'hola... susan no esta.... susan esta en paris. cual es tu nombre?' except that each time someone calls they insist on speaking rapid fire spanish at us, despite our repeating over and over, 'no hablo espanol!'. French-wise I have good days and bad days- days where I feel quite good and can hold a conversation, and days where my brain won't function at all. So far though, I am loving it here. It's so much easier than I thought it would be in many ways, and harder in some. Next week Toussaints (holidays) start so I am going to go down to Montpellier for a few days... I can't wait :)