Thursday, June 19, 2008

Fairy tales, Kinder eggs and cafeterias

Today was my last day in a French school, and it did not disappoint! The teachers here have been so accomodating- they like learning about the U.S. just as much as I like learning about France. One of the teachers here loaned me a book of popular French fairy tales. Today when I returned it to her, she took it, wrote a nice note inside, and offered it to me as a gift! I look forward to reading through the whole book more thoroughly this weekend in Paris and telling my students these stories in class next year.


After school, Andrew and I decided to have a truly French snack. We stopped at the supermarket and bought Kinder Eggs, thin, hollow chocolate eggs with special figurines or toys in the middle. When we got home, we ate these chocolate treats and had chocolate milk with it (chocolate milk is a popular treat here too!).


It is interesting to see the difference between the schools in this town and the schools in the first town I visited. One thing that is really different is how many students stay at school to eat lunch. My host family says that 80% of students in this town eat at the "cantine"- the cafeteria. They always have three courses: first salad (most of the time with beets), then the main dish (chicken, fish or red meat), and finally dessert. Dessert does not always mean sweet, though! Most of the time it is cheese, yogurt, fruit, and every once in a while- a small cake.


I have some exciting news for my incoming third graders: do you remember writing the thank you letters to Luiza, who did the Skype conference with us? Well, she was so happy to get ther letters that she responded to each letter individually! She was very happy to practice her English, and she read each of your letters with care. When you return in the fall, each of you will have a letter from her.

2 comments:

Susan and Gord and Aaron & Emily said...

Kinder Eggs, are a huge hit in Canada too. Kids often give them as part of their birthday party loot bags. Do you want any transported from Canada to USM. Let me know for when i drive back in August. Have fun!

Adupee said...

Aaron, Emily and family- you are lucky ducks that you get to enjoy Kinder Eggs every summer!