Now where was I... After arriving in Brittany, the assistant teachers gathered together in their separate départements (mine is Côte d’Armor) on october 3rd for an orientation at which we filled out lots of necessary papers and were given some tips on teaching. It wasn’t quite enough to prepare me for my very first day of class, but I think mine was an extreme case; most assistants don’t start teaching by themselves right away.
I teach in 4 different schools, for a total of 12 hours a week. I teach English in an elementary and middle school in Dinan, and at an elementary school in Lanvallay, the town across the river from Dinan. As ridiculous as it sounds, I’m also teaching Spanish at another elementary school in Dinan, because Lidia can’t yet. There are only 2 students, and although they know almost as much Spanish as I do, I’m getting by all right for now. It helps to have Internet. It’s actually quite fun to dredge my memory for vocabulary I learned in high school.
It seems like school just got started, yet our first vacation is almost here. Toussaints, or “All Saints” vacation lasts from October 22nd to November 2nd. I’m still not sure what I’ll do during my week of freedom, but I know the Australian assistants are planning on visiting Bordeaux. I may look into visiting a farm nearby, I’m not sure. It all depends on when I get paid…
I’ve taken a few pictures of the city. Here you can see the port of Dinan, nestled close to the river Rance. Most of the city is actually up on the hill behind, but there are many nice restaurants and old houses along the river. In the second photo, you can see the bridge I cross to get to Lanvallay. The third photo is of one of the towers on the ramparts, which are still intact.
