May 13

Sunday, May 13, 2007

I am in some serious need of sleep here…People think I am nuts with the amount of sleep I need…but I can not function on 6 hours of sleep plus thinking in French all day! It tends to wear a person out.
Before we ate breakfast this morning at the hotel, I went for a short run up to Talon (a small village on the outskirt of Dijon that has now become part of Dijon) and back. It was nice to do that, but my lungs still aren’t their 100%…I definitely got a nice and strong cold there! It felt good though.
We were on the road to the school by 8:00 after having (finally) a petit pain for breakfast! I was quite excited (and we all know how I love IBIS hotels too…although now, compared to that one on Friday night…the Holiday Inn Express…the beds weren’t at all comfortable!).
The Lysée where I spent the day today will be where I spend the next three days. I am going to school with the parents of this family where I am staying now. It is huge and bare, like all of them seem to be! It’ll be an interesting few days though…again, I don’t really have any idea of what I am actually going to be doing. I think I am mainly going to the school because, like last time, the family doesn’t actually live in Dijon, but in a small town about 10 minutes outside of Dijon and they feel bad just leaving me here where there is nothing to do. So, we shall see.
Today ran rather smoothly, apart from the obvious power struggles that exist between Mme Lenfant, who is very gracious and appreciative of everyone (and is the “chef”) and the regional director here. He seemed to think he was in charge of everything and that he knows everything. It should be interesting because I am going to live at their house (Bernard and his wife Michelle are retired English teachers and seem to be very particular about everything) for two nights this week. Anyway, Mme Lenfant was great about giving him the power he wanted, but that created a few snags in the set-up process. Other than that though, everything went as per the programme.
My “family” came to get me at the school and they seem really nice. As I said, both are teachers in the same school and their house is in a cute little village right beside a canal and a little river. They have one son left at home as well as two kids that are gone. And I can’t tell you their names…because I actually don’t know!! So far I really like them though because they are a nice break from my last “family”!!
I can complain a bit about my last house now that I am no longer there…Really the only thing that bugged me was their obsession with closing doors. I know that sounds really weird, so let me explain. We leave doors open…and I think most people do. The laundry room door isn’t always shut, and the bathroom door is open when there is no one in it, as well as all the bed rooms upstairs. These guys would close ALL the doors in their house ALL the time. I just didn’t understand! Even if I was in the room and wanted the door open (I like it that way when I am just reading or something…it is easier to feel part of the family and to know what is happening!) they would come and close it! What a weird thing to be annoyed by…and I guess I wasn’t really annoyed, more than it was a weird thing for me. I had fun leaving as many doors open as possible though…until I felt bad…and then I’d go close them all!!
Here…My bedroom door is open and I’ve been watching everyone going back and forth and it is quite nice. These people have a lot of energy and the mom really reminds me of Miss Dolph, actually…maybe a mixture of Miss Dolph and Miss B!! And despite their house not being my “typical French house” they have a very cool toilet seat that is all multi-coloured and cool!!
And that was today…
-Allison