Oh hey didn't see you there

Today I bring to you a random assortment of thoughts:

1. Just about everything is cheaper for students/young people/people with small salaries. This includes everything from lunches for faculty to Breton lessons. When I arrived for my first Breton class (a group class) the teacher was like oh well... since you are a student (I'm not...), we will something out for you. Well, okay.... Pas mal.
2. Speaking of my Breton lessons, I love them. I've only had one so far, but the group is super amusing and even if I don't learn to speak Breton I'm going to have an excellent time linguistics-nerding-it-up.
3. I love French kids. Aside from half of one class (out of 30 classes at the middle school... so I won't see them often), the students are really lovely and wonderful. They're inquisitive and excited to meet a foreigner. They don't always like to speak English (they can be really shy about it), but sometimes they surprise me with their enthusiasm.
4. The primary school students... oh my goodness... they are so precious. Now that they all recognize me when I come into the school courtyard, a crowd of ten to twenty will run up and start asking me questions. Or just staring at me. I've gotten very used to being stared at. One little girl (a 6 year old, so she hasn't started English yet/won't have me in class) ran up to me today and asked if I was the one she saw at Leclerc yesterday. Well, little girl, I don't know what to tell you. I was at Leclerc yesterday, so maybe yes. Girl: huh? Me: It could have been me. I didn't see you, but maybe it was me. Girl: huh? Me: ... it was me. Girl: yayyyyyy! (runs off to friends)
5. The elem kids LOVE language games. I will describe some of them in an upcoming post.
6. When I mess up in French life, I don't mind too much because they lead me to Unique Speaking Opportunities (which I will now call USOs). Thus far, these have included a really nice chat with a taxi driver when I missed the last bus back to Quéven, asking a stranger about getting a taxi, talking on the phone with all sorts of people about bureaucratic paper-y French business. I like USOs. Because of USOs, I now say oui to surveys and don't get upset when I do stupid stuff like miss the bus because it came a minute early and wasn't marked the normal way. Who cares, I got back earlier than the bus anyway.
7. I now have a Tabac where the people know me, but no boulangerie. There are two and they seem to alternate being open late afternoons. As such, I have not succeeded in claiming one as my own and I feel super guilty for cheating on both of them. I'm sorry boulangeries, I've tried.

Okay, that's all for now. France is awesome, as always. I've finally met the other language assistants in the department and they're wonderful. I'm sure you'll hear more about them soon.

Bisous

MCJ