Lundi 11.12.06 Bus Stop Business
It’s back to the bus for me this morning. Nic doesn’t have school until 9,30 so she’ll be taking the car into town on her way into work.
It’s almost Christmas so I can pull out the decorations and Santa Hats for class this week. ‘Tis the season J I start off with season’s greetings:
Merry Christmas. Happy Christmas.
Happy New Year.
I get them to shake hands with one another while using the greetings and moving on from that we sing We wish you a Merry Christmas. I translate the lyrics for the children and the older children sing the second verse too… Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. It did strike me that the words themselves are a bit old fashioned but most of the kids know that tune and its Christmas so that’s my reasoning for this festive seasoning.
We then work on Christmas vocab, or Xmas vocab as I explain the alternative secular spelling. I bought some sparkly posters and made cut-outs from them of: Father Christmas/Santa Claus, Snowman, Reindeer, Rudolph, presents, decorations, stars, bell, holly, scarf, hat.
I’ve added a big, round, red nose to Rudolph. I explain that he is le chef and I ask them why he has a red nose. He’s the boss I’m told but I tell them he has a permanent cold from living in Lapland and that he needs it to light up the route across the night time sky as he and his team fly to our homes.
We play Listen and Repeat and Listen and Touch with the cut-outs and for the last round I divide them into teams of Holly and Ivy, and each team wins a star for every correctly identified item. With the younger classes I use a Christmas poster and get them to find some of the items on it. We also practice counting because there are numerous hats and scarves to be found.
Of course there’s something missing. Most of them are on the ball and reply: le sapin de Noël. I’ve already go one chalked unto the other side of the blackboard (actually it’s a greenboard here). The next exercise involves placing the Christmas cut-outs on top, on, under or beside the Christmas tree. I use my Santa Hat to demonstrate the various prepositions and I place it on top of the cupboard, on the shelf, under the table and beside the pot plant. It’s then back to the drawing board to place the star on top of the tree, the decorations on the tree, the present under it and the snowman beside it. The commands are simple and each pupil gets a go to:
Take a decoration. Put it on the tree.
And when they’ve got the hang of it I start making things a bit more difficult:
Take a star. Put it under Rudolph.
Class is soon finished and we wrap-up with another rendition of We wish you a Merry Christmas. I ask them all to bring in four cut-out images of the presents they would like for Christmas – we will write letters to Santa Claus with them.
Mr Duval is not in this morning. I have a few of his pupils in Madame Caruge’s class and I also ask them to bring in cut-outs for our wish list; I’ve got time to kill and so I write a very festive note on his blackboard so that the whole class will be notified.
Madame Acina is back in today so Alwin is gone. She had a three week break as she was suffering from chronic fatigue. The shelf behind her desk is laden with crepe flowers and little wrapped presents from her pupils. I haven’t cracked just yet but one of the kids gives me a Pinocchio picture as a present. I think Madame Thaly will be the next to drop-off. I’ve noticed recently that she’s becoming more and more agitated with the class. The pupils seem to pick up on this and they mimic her mood which isn’t good for anyone. It’s important to keep your calm in the classroom and to stay composed, as the children are affected by the teacher’s behaviour.
I spy Madame l’Inspectrice in the yard with Madame Dau. There’s a group of teachers huddled around them. I shake Madame l’Inspectrice’s hand as she flashes me a big grin. Madame Dau acknowledges that I have recently met with Madame l’Inspectrice and they ask me to furnish a letter stating so.
Since Christmas is coming Madame l’Inspectrice suggests that something be organised for the children for the final week of term. Ideas for a trip to the cinema or a play are offered up but expense seems to be the biggest factor. As Madame Dau and Madame l’Inspectrice disappear the teachers start to debate about the suggestion; they complain, gripe and bitch about the proposal and the cost. Nobody seems to come up with an alterative option. Dominique is heading into town and she offers me a lift. I tell her that perhaps it would be an idea to rent a projector. No doubt someone would have something to say about breach of copyright but on verra.
Since I get a lift to town I’m in just before midday. I hurry to the Europcar rental outfit but it’s closed even before the chapel bells chime for lunchtime. I call Nicola and meet her at the other rental place where she has only just left the car back. She had a bit of a shock this morning as when she was parking it in the high-rise parking lot she heard a scraping sound. “Bye-bye caution,” she thought, but fortunately the sticky ground surface in the building was the reason for the strange noise and nothing was damaged.
We decide on Chinese for lunch. I’m stuffed on poulet piquant and rice, and the Coca Cola tops me up. Nicola hops on a bus as she’s off to take her private lessons. I waddle to the bus-stop. I have to stand for ages for a bus and I have to withstand leering looks from smarmy lads; one guy, who looks rather normal and respectful in a checked blue shirt and Oakley shades, sidles up beside me in the already packed bus shelter. “Tu est mignon,” he whispers. I shudder, suddenly feeling cold even though its 30ºC. I completely ignore him. I ignore his glances and his utterances and look straight past him as he continues to talk to me in a low voice. After a few minutes he gives up and walks off.
A dude cycles around in circles in front of our bus shelter. He doesn’t give me any grief but he looks ridiculous on his procured children’s bike which would be too small for a 6 year-old. Some of those waiting for the bus look semi-amused but others start to complain about the state of society and those who wean everything off the state. I strike up conversation with an old, harmless man beside me by stating that perhaps Santa Claus will bring the poor peddler a proper bike for Christmas. The old man goes off on a tangent about the cost of Christmas and the crazy prices people pay for things. The advertisements here do not do anything to keep the seasonal expenditure down; at the end of the street there’s an ad for a 4” television for €799: I can see another billboard advertising a quad for €1,299: besides that there are jazzed up advertisements overhead for laptops, car tyres, gold jewellery and a toy fire-engine for €49,99.
I can’t really give out about getting welfare off the state. Of course I’m entitled to some social payouts so why not cash in? I arrive home and Charles pops out to give me the day’s post. There are two letters from the CAF – one for Nic and one for me: our CAF applications have already been processed and we’re getting 40% of our rent money back! That’ll be a nice little sum every month. I text Nicola that happy news but she hasn’t checked her phone all evening and is clueless until I tell her. We’re in the mood for celebrating and crack open some tins before settling down to watch a French DVD. One of Nic’s pupils has a hoard of DVDs and has lent her a handful. We stick on Le Placard with Gerard Depardieu. It’s only when we’re half-way through do we start to realise that we’ve seen it before – in Brussels… it’s one of those films.
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