SNOW DAY!

Il en faut peu pour être heureux moi c’est tout ce que je sais. Today was a day that proved that the simple things in life are often the best. This morning I had a new class for the first time, which I think will probably turn out to be my favorite. The kids were all really nice and when their teacher put me in charge of them for the second hour (he had a meeting to go to) they were really cooperative and did what they were supposed to do. I took turns with each of them being a disgruntled customer who has a bunch of complaints about charges that have appeared on his hotel bill. I think I like them the best not only because they did really well, but also because they actually tried to figure stuff out and asked me questions if they needed help rather than just saying, “Ben, j’sais pas.”

After class, I headed back up to my room to email myself the worksheets I had prepared on prepositions for my afternoon classes at the collège. When I opened my email I saw the title of one that my teacher sent me: “cours annulé.” Involuntarily, I jumped out of my chair and got caught mid-celebratory dance by my Chinese neighbor who came over to read the email and see what all the excitement was about. After almost 5 years without a snow day, I was long overdue.

The Musée.

In all seriousness though, it was completely ridiculous that they cancelled school. There was, at most, an inch of snow on the ground and all the roads were clear, but the buses weren’t running, which means that the kids couldn’t get to school. In my morning class at the lycée the kids were asking me if it snowed much where I live and I told them about last winters’ storms. “In France,” one of them said, “we panic when there is anything more than 3cm.” And it’s true; half the départments (counties) in France are in “vigilance orange” because of the weather, and just like at home the news sensationalizes the impact of the storm.

One of the many "ruisseau" that run through Louviers.

In Normandy we have palm trees too.

I took advantage of my day off and caught up on sleep, but not before my neighbor and I took a walk around Louviers to appreciate my favorite type of precipitation.