Students, Annecy, and a girl named Cecile

Hello my fellow bloggers! How are you doing! If you cant tell by that, im in a really good mood. I started teaching last thursday at the high school. Right away the english profs insisted i teach alone. So thursday morning i faced my first class of students: 22 french and italian boys who are in their second year of college. So yup, they are 19 to 21 years old! I thought i would only have high schoolers but nope, its a bit nerve racking to know im teaching men the same age as i am but ill get throught that somehow. My friday classes are 14 or 15 years old so about sophomore year in high school and much more difficult to control. They were more shy than the other students and so it was like pulling teeth to get them to talk. Even so, i find teaching interesting and fun and quite challenging. They ask different words of vocabulaire that is forcing me to dig deep in the french archives upstairs. One 21 year old even asked if he could have additional lessons during the week so that is really encouraging! I wasnt sure if they would be able to understand my WIsconsin accent. The youth here are really acitve; therefore im sure to learn a lot about mountain sports and soccer this year. I plan my lessons around what they enjoy doing.

Other than that, ive been trying to keep occupied. There is still the question of where im going to live long term. Last week however i met a really nice french girl in the landromat. Cecile just moved to the area for a job in occupational therapy but found it awful. So she has a lot of free time and doesnt know many people here either. After quite a comedy of errors trying to connect with her (because i dont have a phone and had no idea where her house was) we spent the day together. She made me a great french meal and then we drove to nearby town to explore the city. Annecy is a town close to the Suisse border and due to the Suisse influence a real expensive place to live. The town is surrounded by the Alps but unlike here in Ugine there is also a beautiful lake that surrounds part of the city and continues to lower elevations. The lake is the clearest blue water i have ever seen and its rivers run through the town itself, something like i imagine Venice to be like. We walked around the old part of town and the lake as well and talked for hours. It was very pleasant except for the topless sun bathers. I dont know if i cant get use to that!

Cecile is a lot like me. She studied in Brussels and studied abroad in New Zealand for a year ( so she helps me a lot with my french). She has also visited Rwanda and did a internship in the Cameroon. We have lots to discuss and i feel that God is really looking after me. Cecile even found me a place to live in her building after December. So i had a great day and should have a busy week ahead. I be working full time hours now and speaking a lot more french now i have Cecile around.

Take care! later gators