Settling in!

 Wednesday, June 12th, 6:30pm

 Bonjour les familles américaines !

The first few days have been intense and full of discoveries, but students are settling in nicely!

On Sunday, students stayed with their host families to rest after the long trip to France. We learned on Monday that most of them went on various adventures, including exploring town and going to the beach. We received reports that, despite it being a sunny day, the Channel was still too cold for most to take a swim...!

Monday was the first day of classes, and we started with the start-of-the-program exam:

 

 

 

 

 

Once exams were over, we organized activities for students to discuss their host families. They were very excited to learn that Nohemy has twin sisters, that Ketsia has two horses, and that Ana and Nicole have four younger brothers!

 

 

 

In the afternoon, we gave them some time to start organizing the farewell show and the program magazine. We were happy to see that most of them already had good ideas of how they could contribute to both, and even though we won't see the results until the end of the program, their propositions are very promising!

In the evening, we had a host families meeting that students didn't have to attend. However, most of them did, and so we took a group picture as well as pictures of the students who were present with their host parent(s)/sister(s)/brother(s):

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was the first day of morning classes, and, in the afternoon, students took a city tour, with our guide, Sophie. 

 

After the city tour, students were free to roam the streets of Saint-Brieuc, and as Shannon and I were about to go back to our apartment, we saw a big group of them, stopped at the corner of a main street. They were in front of La Mie Câline, a very popular bakery chain, and they got to try a number of delicious French pastries, desserts, and other sweets (pains au chocolat, croissants, entremets citrons, chaussons aux pommes, beignets au chocolat, pepito, etc.). I unfortunately didn't take a picture... However, I should get another opportunity to capture it soon: something tells me that this wasn't the last time the bakers of La Mie Câline will see our students!

 

Today is Wednesday, and students had classes in the morning:

In the afternoon, we went to the gymnasium for some exercise. Students had several options, from basketball, to soccer, badminton, and yoga among others. However, a large circle quickly formed and a game of volleyball alphabet started. Despite all-out efforts and 100% commitment to reaching Z, they never quite managed to get there... Fortunately, this is only the first of many attempts!

Tomorrow, we will spend the afternoon with French high schoolers: our group is going to teach them American games (including euchre), while the French students have surprise activities for us. Friday, we'll go bowling after class, and on Saturday we will have our first day trip to the famous Mont-Saint-Michel!