Tor and Margaux at schoolMonday (Lundi)

This is what a typical week at school is like. It is very different from Edison. First of all, you cannot just walk into school if you are late. In the morning, your teacher starts clapping and you’re supposed to line up behind her and then you go into your classroom. Then they lock up the school. So, either you miss the line or you don’t.

Tuesday (Mardi)

This is a Catholic school, which means they believe in God and Jesus and the Bible. So, on Tuesday, we have Catechism, a class in which we learn about the Bible. Oh, and I need to practice my poem. That’s something they never do in American school. They will have the entire class memorize a poem and, one by one, recite it in front of the class. The poems are in French, of course, and I recited one—“Valse de l’Écureuil,” or “Waltz of the Squirrel”—smoothly and without pause. Everyone clapped for me!

Wednesday (Mercredi)

No school on Wednesday!

Thursday (Jeudi)

There is a girl in my class named Margaux, like my sister. Her friend, Camille, helps me and is very protective of me, since I am often teased because I don’t speak French very well.  Margaux (my sister) has made a friend already and invited her to lunch at our apartment. Maybe I should invite Camille to lunch some time.

Friday (Vendredi)

OK, let me explain about the inviting-Camille-to-lunch-on-a-school-day thing. Gotta be fast, though. I have Anglais (English) class today (not that I need it), I am already late, and I can hear my cornflakes getting mushy. We have 2 hours off each day for lunch where you can either go home or eat in the cafeteria, which has food similar to a full-service restaurant. No tater tots here! But with that and no school on Wednesday, one would think that our school day would be pretty long. And it is: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Monday (Lundi)

Monday again! How time flies. Today we have gym at a nearby city gymnasium, since there is no gym at school. My teacher says we’ll get to go to the piscine (swimming pool) sometime soon but I don’t believe it, since school has been going on for 3 months now and we still haven’t gone to the pool. But still, school in France is great!

That’s all folks!
-Tor