School Update: 2 Weeks into the Year

This is a long post about the first 2 weeks of school!

Schedule

We are still adjusting to the unique French school schedule. The kids' schedule is:

M, T, Th, F - 8:30 to 11:30 AM AND 1:30 to 4:30 PM

We pick them up for lunch, and there is enough time to eat a hot, healthy lunch and still play! Wednesdays are completely off school, so those are exploration days.

Max

Max’s class is CP (cours preparatoire), which is similar to Kindergarten in the US. This is the 6-year old class.

Max’s teacher, Mme. Seguy, had her “Back to School Night” this week. Wow. That’s all I could say: Wow! This event lasted 45 minutes, and Mike and I were 100% focused. That was HARD. I would pick up a word every now and then and think, "Okay - I've got the gist of this!" I'd be so happy that I figured something out that I would loose the rest of the sentence - then I'd be completely lost again.

When we got home, I told the kids that I was incredibly proud of them for the hard work they do in school listening to their teachers and friends speak French for 3 hours straight. They got a cookie, too.

Max’s day is much like a Kindergarten day in the US; however, he is already learning cursive here! His “Reading with Dagobert” book, which is how they learn to read here, has printing and cursive for all the text. The first page is:

La Rentree (The Return)

Je vais a l’ecole. (I go to school.)

His math book is far below his skill level, so we know he will excel in math here. He could complete the entire CP math book in a matter of days. We’re glad that there is a scholastic subject that he can ace – so he can focus on French.

Max’s nickname at school: American Boy. If you haven’t heard the song, please check it out!

Josey

Josey’s class is CM1. This is the 9-year old class.

Josey’s teacher, Mme. Evelyne Denaes, caught us after school on Thursday. She was concerned about Josey. To paraphrase: They had a math lesson Thursday morning, and Josey wasn’t able to follow along due to the language barrier. Apparently, they were talking through number places (thousands, millions, trillions, etc.). Josey does not know those words in French yet, so she couldn’t follow along. (And, by the way, it is very difficult to hear and understand numbers in French! There is no 70, 80, or 90. To translate, 70 = 60, 10 (soixante dix); 80 = 4 20s (quatre- vingts); and 90 = 4 20s, 10 (quatre-vingts dix). Completely non-trivial to learn!). So, Josey spent 20 minutes looking bored.

The teacher explained that she translates as much as she can, but she doesn’t always have time. We assured her that we appreciate any translation she can do, and we are working on all the homework diligently. Then Mme. Denaes said that she wanted to make sure that Josey wasn’t discouraged or unhappy. Quite the opposite! Although she can’t follow along yet, Josey is loving school.

This week, we worked together to conjugate the 2 most common French verbs: etre (to be) and avoir (to have). Of course conjugation is done naturally when you learn a language, so it was difficult to explain the concept to Josey & Max. They got it! However, the memorization of the words is proving to be a challenge for Josey, as we expected.

If you’ve never learned a foreign language, let me give you a brief glimpse of conjugating the verb etre – and this is only in the present tense (there are about a million tenses in French!):

I am = je suis

You are (informal) = tu es

He/She is = il/elle est

You are (formal) = vous etes

We are = nous sommes

They are = ils/elles sont

You have to know the pronoun, the conjugated verb, and whether you are speaking informally (to a friend or child, for example) or formally (to an elder or someone you don’t know well). It also changes depending on whether “they” is a group of males or mixed gender (ils) or all females (elles). Whew. It’s tough!

Friends (Des Amis)

Of course, at this age, friends have a lot to do with the kids’ happiness level in regards to school. Josey has had friends since the very first morning, and they all play together at every recess. That makes Josey very, very happy!

On the way to school last week, one girl, Emma, waited to walk in with Josey – holding her hand! How cute is that?

Max was not so happy the first few days, although he wouldn’t admit it. His sadness was due to the fact that he didn’t have any friends yet. However, Josey made it her mission to include him at recess time. She’s so awesome!

Max was included in the games, and he has a new friend, too – Noah. Apparently, Max and Noah sit next to each other in class, and Noah talks to Max all the time! Max, on the other hand, is still mute in class. He’s beginning to understand some of what is said, but he’s not interested in trying to speak yet. Soon, we hope.

As soon as Max and Noah paired up, Max was significantly happier!

Dado and I made a new friend, too. Her name is Sandra. She (conveniently) is Noah’s mom! Her daughter, Victoria, is in Josey’s class, and Josey & Victoria play together every recess. As it turns out, Sandra loves, loves, loves America, and she wants to learn “American” English.

We have started family play dates. The kids play while the grown ups trade language lessons: we speak in French, and Sandra speaks in English. We correct each other, so everyone learns! It is wonderful!!

Yesterday, they hosted the first play date. She made a pizza, and she had "French products" for snacks: fois gras, cheeses, wines, baguettes (bien sur), and special cookies for the kids. We were there about 2.5 hours, and it was great. I have to admit, we were exhausted by the time we left. It's difficult to speak and listen in French for that long - but very rewarding, too. And . . . I like fois gras!

English

Guess what? Mike and I may teach the English lessons in Max’s class. His teacher speaks French and Spanish – no English. So, we volunteered for the task. We’re awaiting a call from the District Supervisor (well, the French equivalent thereof) for details. However, Max’s teacher announced during Back To School Night that we are teaching that content! We understood that. We’re excited!

We wanted to volunteer to work in the classroom, much like in the US. However, in France, you have to have formal permission from the District Supervisor. When we speak to him about English, we hope to get permission. It would be great to learn some French with the kids at school.

Another tidbit: They lock the doors at school 5 minutes after the bell rings. If you are tardy – you miss school!

Love to all!

A Bit of Home in Bouzigues

This week, we've indulged in a bit of "home" while in Bouzigues! We had Debb and Reed over for dinner, and Dado made delicious spagetti. The kids set up a "Little Gamers" room, complete with Casino, for entertainment.

This morning, we had pancakes for breakfast! The kids said that they weren't quite as good as Grandma's back in the US, but they were still good. Of course, this is the Carrefour recipe, so it can't be as good as Grandma's! Grandma's are made with that special ingredient known as "Grandma Love."

Kisses from Bouzigues!

The Nitty Gritty Part 2: Shopping

Where do we shop in France? There are two answers: the famer’s markets and the Carrefour.

Farmer's Markets

I’ve told you about a bit about the farmer’s markets. There is a different farmer’s market in a different village every day of the week except Monday. Monday seems to be the day of rest for farmer’s market vendors.

We like the Pezenas market the best, which is on Saturdays. Unfortunately, it is at least a 2.5-hour event due to the 30-minute-each-way drive, so we only go every few weeks. But they have the best herb sausage, dehydrated strawberries, goutalis (like falafel, only much better), and frommage – especially the frommage de cheval (goat cheese). It is also a larger market than the others, so there is more to see there – including clothes, bags, knick knacks, etc. It’s similar to the Flea Market in Santa Cruz, only everything is new.

Every Thursday, we go to the market in Meze, which is the largest village nearby (5 minute drive). All the market pictures in this post are from Meze. Meze has the best paella and grapes (sold by a sweet, little old man!).

Most of the markets are completely outdoors, but Meze also has a building that houses regular vendors. In the outdoors section, the meat is sold from trucks. Picture this: goat brains (I’m serious!) beside rabbits with their entrails hanging out (still serious) beside pork chops beside chickens with their feet still on beside sausages beside mystery meat – all open to the flies. And, the butcher will serve one person goat brains with his bare hands, then serve up your order with the same hands! No gloves, no soap and water, no signs of refrigeration! Debb says that you can taste the difference between the butcher’s meat and the Carrefour (see below) . . . but I’m afraid to try that particular experiment!

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is an idea of what our shopping excursions look like.

The Carrefour

At least once a week (usually twice), Dado goes to the Cultural Center. That is the locals’ nickname for the Carrefour. The Carrefour is a grocery store – and so much more. You all know how I feel about our weekly trips to Costco back in the US, right? Well, the Carrefour is much like that: huge, crowded, time consuming, but absolutely necessary. The Carrefour defies description. I’ve never seen anything like it in the US. It sells everything you can think of besides live animals. Computers, school supplies, art & craft stuff, clothes, every type of food available in the area, meat, cheese, produce, linens, bikes . . . It’s like a Walmart, grocery store, strip mall combination. And, did I mention that it’s huge? And crowded?

To fully understand the size of the Carrefour: The gophers actually wear roller skates to get around the store!

The Carrefour is where we buy our meat and staples: kid food, canned stuff, etc. Well, we certainly don’t buy this kind of meat at the Carrefour! If the picute isn't clear enough - that is viande de cheval = horse meat!

All of our bread comes from the local boulangeries. Our Bouzigues boulangerie has the best tradicione (similar to a baguette, but more rustic) and sliced Moison (think whole grain). There is a boulangerie in Meze that has the best croissants and another in Meze with the best pain au chocolate.

For the truly curious, there are more pictures of the market on our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billats/

The pictures on the Flickr site are always better than what you see here, too.

Love to all!

The Nitty Gritty Part 1: Workouts

Many of you have asked about “real life” in France, including the food, school, and workouts.

Here is my first blog about day-to-day life in Bouzigues, France - Workouts

How do we workout in France? Excellent question!

I run just about every day. I have two running routes: La Plage and Beverly Hills.

La Plage (the beach) is what I call my route around L’etang de Thau (that is the lagoon on which we live). It’s about a 10K run from my house to Balaruc Les Bains, which is the next village over in one direction, and back home again. This run is mostly flat, except for a few hills – including the killer, loooong hill close to the end. I’m always glad to finish that hill!


During this 1-hour run, I pass by the port of Bouzigues, the flamingos, the edge of the lagoon, the river with the fish that don’t eat, and the dechetterie (small dump). There is no lack of variation in scenery!
Beverly Hills is what the locals call the hillside that looks over Bouzigues. This hillside is covered in McMansions, thus the nickname. It is also very hilly, as the name implies. On this route, I run away from Bouzigues, up a super steep hill that provides the most gorgeous view of L’etang, down the other side of the hill into vineyard country, into the village of Loupian where there are Roman ruins on La Via Domitia, and back home again.


This week on my Beverly Hills run, I startled an older Frenchman (probably late 70s). We had a great conversation in my broken French about the length of my run. I was able to communicate that I live in Bouzigues and run over the hill. I told him I thought it was maybe 8 kilometers, but he assured me that it’s at least 10.

Mike does a bike ride almost every day – through the hills behind Beverly Hills. Thanks, Reed & Debb for loaning us the bike!

We also windsurf, but we’ve decided that that is not really exercise. The hardest part about it – physically – is carrying the board and sail to the beach. However, while one of us surfs, the other is doing push ups on the rocks, or dips, or squats, or lunges! Yesterday, I had to walk to the boat launch, and I decided to do walking lunges the whole way there. I know, I’m sick.

Weights

I forgot what weights look like! I’m atrophying, and it’s so sad! We have a miniscule gym in Bouzigues – right next to the school. However, it doesn’t open until Sept. 15.We plan to be there on Sept. 15! From what we can glean from our limited French, we actually get a key and open and close the door whenever we want to use the gym. Cool!

Until the gym opens, guess what weights Mike got for me? Rocks! I’m serious.


We were at L’Orb river this week, on a rock-covered beach. Mike started hefting rocks. He handed one to me and asked, “How would this work for biceps curls?” It was perfect! We found another that was perfect for delt side laterals and another that was perfect for overhead presses. Now I have a 3-rock set of weights for home use.


That is a lot better than doing curls with the computer bag or overhead presses with the space heater. That’s what we were doing our first week here.

I’ve also discovered that doing lunges with Josey riding piggyback is quite challenging – especially with my back foot up on the stair.

Although our town is very small, 1200 residents – and most of those are not year-round, there are also local yoga, step, and elder-aerobics classes next to the school. I’m definitely going to give the yoga classes a try. Of course, those don’t start until October.

I’ll let you know about the gym when we get there.
Love to all!

First Day of School in France!

Drop Off

We just walked the kids to their first day of school. It’s a five-minute walk from our house.

There were a lot of children and parents waiting outside for the doors to open. Everyone was very excited about the first day of school and the re-opening of the school (it was completely refurbished over the summer).

The four of us loitered in our own little spot, separate from all the people who obviously know each other. I think they will all know us by the end of the week because I don’t think there are many new comers in the area – especially not American new comers!

As I watched Max and Josey’s little faces, I reminded them how important it is to smile a lot. As you can see, Max's smile isn't too sincere.

When the doors opened, Josey's teacher noticed us walk in, and she introduced herself right away. Her name is Evelyne, and she speaks English very well. Josey was visibly relieved.

When we entered the playground area (it’s inside the main building), the kids went onto the playground looking a bit nervous. It was priceless - Josey was approached to play tag within 3 minutes. Whew! Max was trying to join in, but he was looking pretty nervous.

Max's teacher speaks French & Spanish – no English. Mike spoke to her in French to introduce Max. We watched Max walk into his classroom, looking brave and nervous. Keep your fingers crossed for him!

I'm nervous! We pick them up at 11:30 for the 2-hour lunch break. I can't wait to hear how the first morning went for them.

Lunch Break

They were both smiling when they walked out the door! However, Max’s teacher did tell Mike that Max was very sad. Max wouldn’t admit it, though. Maybe he was smiling when he walked out because he was so glad to be leaving?!

When we asked him what his favorite part of the day was so far, he said, “Getting to go home!” I said, “What else?” He couldn’t think of anything else. I hope he has a better time this afternoon.

They reported that there is a long recess, and they got to eat their snacks during recess.

During recess, Josey was surrounded by the girls in her class. I thought it sounded fun, but the way she described it, “One girl got so close that the water from her mouth was hitting me in the face, so I kept looking away from her.”

When we asked Max what he did during recess, he said, “I tried to rescue Josey because those girls had her surrounded.” Yikes! At least they all meant well. Josey said that they wanted her to play “cat” – which is apparently just what you think, kitty cats.

On the walk back to school for the afternoon, they were both excited about going back to class. They said, “It’s really fun! More fun than Carden.” Carden was their last school, which they loved. Hmmm . . . amazing how your outlook can change after a good lunch break!

Mike made them an offer: The first one to learn the names of 3 classmates gets a euro! We’ll see who wins.

End of the Day

They were both smiling when they walked out again. When we asked them how the afternoon was, they both reported an enthusiastic “Great!” But that is their standard response to everything.

Josey knew 3 names right away, so she wins the euro. Max was apparently too shy to ask anyone’s name!

Mike and I both think that Max didn’t like his first day at all. He hasn’t made any friends yet because “I don’t speak French yet.” My extroverted little angel is turning out to be shy in French school. He was looking forward to making friends at school more than anything else. Well . . . we knew it would be hard in the beginning. He’s not being forthcoming with any details. Maybe my little boy is just like me – smile and let everyone think things are good while you work through all those emotions internally.

Josey didn’t seem to have any trouble at all! She was bouncing around talking about her day just like she always does. She just said that it was weird listening to French all day. Her teacher had her write down some French phrases, and it turns out that Josey knows more French than her teacher expected. The teacher was surprised when Josey could count to 40.

We had ice cream on the way home from school to celebrate, and we also ran into Reed in the village. He was very interested in hearing about the kids’ first day of school. We stopped at Eva’s shop to check her lollipop supply, and she asked them a lot of questions, too. It’s good to have some local support & friends!

I'll keep you posted.

More August Adventures

Some other fun adventures we have had in the last 2 weeks . . .

Lions and Seals and Bones - Oh My

The Dinosaur Park of Meze

It turns out that Meze, the closest large town to Bouzigues, is also rich in paleontological history. They have a very kid-friendly Dinosaur Park filled with dinosaur skeletons, exhibits, and reconstructions.

We learned that the smallest dinosaur egg ever discovered was discovered in Meze as was the largest dinosaur nest of eggs every discovered. Cool! This has re-inspired the family interest in fossil hunting. We have to do some research and see where we should go to look for fossils.

When we went to La Cirque de Moureze, we found a preserved paleontological site where a huge dinosaur was discovered. All four of us are fascinated with the idea that we could find some really cool fossils around here! We don’t expect to find our own dinosaur – but we can dream.

The Montpellier Zoo

This was quite an interesting zoo. First, it was free, which is extraordinary around here! Second, it was like taking a hike and getting lucky enough to see animals on the way. The enclosures are spaced very far apart, and they are very large. The animals have a lot of room to roam – and to hide. We saw bears, lions, zebras, lemurs (the lemur house was cool – complete with half eaten rats from the lemurs’ lunches!), and other critters.

After the tiger incident in San Francisco last Christmas, Mike and I were noticing the barriers between the animals and the people in Montpellier. I don’t think the Montpellier barriers would pass the US requirements. Hopefully no one here tries to taunt the leopards.

The Seaquarium of Le Grau-du-Roi

We of course have been spoiled in Santa Cruz with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so we left all expectations at the door when we entered this small Seaquarium. It has some gorgeous fish displays, and it has a really, really cool shark tunnel! You literally walk right under the sharks, and then you get to look down on them, too.

As we were walking under the sharks, the view was so clear and close that I noticed that you can definitely tell a boy shark just by looking! A little too much information perhaps? J

They also have a seal and sea lion tank where you can watch them swim from above and through a glass tank. There was an adorable seal who was playing with the kids – seriously! Josey could put her hand on the glass, and he would put his nose on her hand and follow it around whereever she moved it. It was really cute. They named him/her Mr. Flippers, and they were entertained by that seal for at least 20 minutes.

I didn’t realize that the Seaquarium is right on the coast of the Meditteranean! We didn’t bring our swim stuff, and we were bummed. We could have swam right there!

On the way to the Seaquarium, we saw tons of flamingos, too. That was amazing! They are in small bodies of water right along the roadways – flocks of them. Max especially loves the flamingos.

The town/city of Le Grau-du-Roi reminds me of Venice Beach. It’s very, very touristy, since it is literally on the Med. Lots of restaurants, touristy shops, people, hotels/condos, etc.

All pictures in this blog are brought to you by Josey! She received her Sony camera from Grandma Pat in May. She has taken 496 pictures since then. A shutter-bug is born. We will upload her pix to our Flickr site soon.

Love to all!

A Week's Adventures - August 30, 2008

The last 2 weeks, we’ve done a lot of kid-friendly day trips, hoping to see as much as we can before school starts on Sept. 2. I’ll post the zoo, seaquarium, and dinosaur park pix later (they are on Josey’s camera).

This week, the highlights were La Cirque de Moureze, La Gorge d’Heric, and the Cassan Abbey.

La Cirque de Moureze

Moureze is a tiny village, and it is also the starting point for beautiful hikes through amazing rock formations. We went for the 1-hour “yellow” hike. Considering the heat, an hour was perfect. The pictures don’t convey how awesome this area is (2-dimensional pix vs. 2-dimensional views in real life), but you can get an idea.

http://www.decouvrir-l-herault.com/moureze.htm

We had lunch at Chez Maxime before the hike – perfect name!

The church in Moureze is magnificent.

And the view of Moureze from the trail is a perfect example of a quaint, ancient French village.

On the way home we did some exploring and saw some ruins on hills in the middle of nowhere. It’s fascinating to think: Why did they build that here? What did it used to be? Who lived there?

La Gorges d’Heric

As the name suggests, this is a gigantic gorge through the French mountains about 1.5 hours away from Bouzigues. We hiked around a bit – all to find L’Orb river. We found a gorgeous small swimming hole in what will become a raging waterfall this winter. The water was perfect: cold yet swimmable. The kids had fun searching for mica (very, very shiny rocks that look like gold) and evading the snake that we found in the water. When we leave France, we are going to have an extensive rock & fossil collection.

Sorry - no pix. I didn't want to carry the camera down the hiking trail.

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/routedherault/heric.html

Chateau Abbaye de Cassan

On the way home from La Gorges d’Heric, we happened upon an amazing castle/abbey. It was built in 1080, and throughout history it has served many purposes. Most interesting, it was a hospice/hospital. We had fun wandering through the visitor’s areas, especially since they had a scavenger hunt for kids. That made it more interesting for them.

Check out the website for lots more great pictures. Mine don't do it justice.

http://www.chateau-cassan.com/fr/histoire.html