Europe

Chuck came to my classes today.  My first class was completely in French so he didn't understand any of it.  But he did understand what was happening as the first order of business before class started, even though this was all happening in French, too.  The teacher handed back our midterm tests.  In the U.S., the teacher often hands back the tests to each student, face down, and the grades stay private.  Not the case here.  He set the stack of tests on the desk of the girl next to me, and she shuffled through them to find hers and then we passed the pile around the room to get our tests.  So, in effect, we all got to know each others' grades.  Then he wanted the student with an A+ to let the class know what they have written.  The person with an A+ did not volunteer themselves, and so he went across the front row trying to find out who had the A+.  He checked each test and read the grade aloud "B...B+....A....A-...." and then "...A+!  Voila!" he said as he got to my desk.  Apparently I was that student.  Great, but also incredibly nervewracking.  "Oh!" I said and then "What am I supposed to do?"  "Read it aloud now," he said.
So I read three single-spaced pages on the history of Provence in French aloud this morning.  I felt like I droned on for hours.  My cheeks were flushed bright red.  My heart was racing.  I could hear my grammatical errors fall through the air.... like a ping-pong ball rolling away from the table and under the couch so you can't get at it, and you can only continue with a new one and hope you don't do it again.
We met Bradie for lunch. She's the person I'm closest withi here and of course he's the person I'm closest to at home.  I wondered if I was the same to both of them, or how they'd get along with each other and what that meant about how I was changing over here.  They got along really well, joking and laughing with each other from the very start, and it felt very right.
In French class, poor Chuck couldn't have been more bored.  This class is pretty boring anyway, just learning grammatical structures, so if one does not even understand what's being said, it has to be even worse.  The good news is she told us we have no test for Thursday.
Our 4th grade class today was crazy.  We brought in bingo and they couldn't have been more out-of-control.  Chuck could hear them from the courtyard.  I couldn't imagine being with those kids all day for five days a week.  I suppose you would get used to it, but just one hour per week is so difficult for me.