Three weeks in...

So I find myself in the internet café once again…at least it only costs me one euro to buy a coffee :)

It’s been about a week since my last post, so here’s a bit about what I’ve been doing.

I’m afraid I never made it to Besançon; the French rail workers have been on strike all week, which means there are very limited services. I didn’t fancy getting stuck in Besançon, so stayed in Montbéliard. Really hoping that this doesn’t last much longer, we are supposed to be going for an assistants’ training day in Besançon. AND, it’s almost the school holidays, I’m hoping to meet Chloe (uni friend and fellow assistant) on Sunday for a few days in Annecy, and would really like not to have to worry about getting stuck there!

The unrest is still very visible here. On Friday, I wasn’t able to get to school when I wanted to because students were in the street, blocking the buses from passing. They were running through town and just generally making lots of noise. We had about 50 police officers outside the school where I’m living. There were quite a few people missing at school yesterday as well, as part of the national day of strikes. The other big worry here is petrol. Lots of the refineries are striking, so petrol is becoming harder to come by. It’s quite unsettling, but fortunately there hasn’t really been any violence.

On a happier note, I began teaching this week. I’m taking groups of about 10 students at a time for conversation practice. It’s been going well, haven’t had too many awkward silences or confused faces! The ‘kids’ are only a few years younger than me, but they’re pretty well behaved, so it’s been quite fun.

Last weekend, I spent most of Saturday and Sunday on my church’s weekend away. When I was first invited I was pretty unsure about going, especially since I hadn’t know anyone for longer than two weeks, but it turned out to be fine! The church here isn’t that big, so I’ve now met a lot more of its members and they know who I am (the English one). It was exciting to hear them talking about where they saw themselves in the community and what they could be doing to better serve God. I’m finding it hard to see where I fit in, especially with my lack of communication skills! But I’m sure that it will become clearer once I’ve been here a bit longer.

With love from France x 

ps. Things are looking more promising on the internet connection front, watch this space...