One very French expirience I had on Tuesday day was my first teacher's strike. Apparently they go on strike a few times a year, and in this case it was to protest lay-offs as a result of budget cuts (at least we're not the only place where that's happening). In effect, all but one of the teachers I have on Tuesday were on strike, and since there's no such thing as a substitute teacher here, I didn't go to school until 2:00 and I didn't have class until 4:30.
After my sole class- in which I nearly understood the physics teacher!- I went directly to my Tuesday Rotary meeting. This meeting was of note because it was the Rotary Governor's visit to my club and after all the business was finished they treated him and the club to a four course meal. It was delcious and convivial, and it lasted from 9:15 to 11:15. By far the lastest and longest dinner I've ever had.
Yesterday, on Wednesday, I not only went to Rugby for the first time, I also recieved my first graded paper of the year. It was an in-class essay, a very typical assignment here, and it was graded out of 20 points as all assignments are here. I got a 13 out of 20, which as far as I can tell is somewhere around a C+ to a B. Even taking into account that the teacher may have been going easy on me, I was extremely excited to have earned this sort of grade on a paper written in French!
After lunch (which is when I finish on Wednesdays) I went to volleyball practice, where I attempted to learn an overhand serve and had a great time. I took the bus home, then left a few hours later for my first Rugby practice. I can say that I was more than a little nervous to be starting a sport famous for knowcking teeth out, but as practice began I found that the girls on the field were not only perfectly happy to explain what to do, but also extremely friendly and supportive. Eveyone was happy and joking, even in between scuffling for the ball. They range in age from 15 to 25, and thankfully, two of the other girls on the field were novices like myself.
After a ride home, a late dinner and a shower, I just about as ready for bed as it is possible to be.
Today, during lunch, I continued my new athletic streak by starting badminton with one other exchange student who is at my school for the year, a girl from Iceland, and a French girl who spent last year on exchange in Peru with Rotary.
My favorite thing right now is talking to the other teenagers I meet. After a month, my language skills are good enough that I really enjoy meeting all the new people on these teams and at school and I can have real, unstilted conversations with them. While my network had formerly been limited to my classe and the people my host sister introduced me to, I'm now starting to branch out to meet all sorts of different people.
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