Bienvenue a Creteil!

Sorry, the only picture I have of Creteil that is horizontal is of the church!

Today was my first day of work!!!! I went to Victor Hugo at 8 this morning; I even took the bus to the school because I was scared of being late. Luckily when they say class starts at 8h20 they really mean 8h20; I was actually early. I got to talk to Mme Tejerina, the one English teacher they didn't have me working with, and I planned on going to one of her classes in the afternoon; apparently there's some in-school politics with her and Mme Bluteau, the woman who makes my schedule. And apparently Mme Tejerina wants me to come on Monday afternoons to work with one of her classes, it was Mme Bluteau who told me this and she didn't sound too happy about it. More on that later....
The first class I went to was a 3e (so the last grade in college) with Amel Kerkouri, the young, really nice professor. She told everyone that I only spoke English, so I had to pretend I didn't understand them, which was really difficult. I introduced myself and let them ask me questions. They're doing a unit on Shakespeare, so I think for next week I'm going to bring in some information about an American playwright (at first I was like, Oh, Tennessee Williams, but even 16-year-olds shouldn't be reading that in a classroom...) and I think it'll probably be Thornton Wilder, because can you honestly go wrong with 'Our Town,' ever? Anyway I liked that class pretty well, and I met some of them at the end of the day, too...
The second class was with Mme Bluteau, it was a 4e and they were so incredibly enthousiastic that they spent the entire hour asking me questions, and eventually they discovered my real age, that I have 10 piercings and some tattoos, and that I have a boyfriend. Persistent little buggers...but they were asking me in English, and with proper grammar, how could I lie? no, really, they were cool, and a couple of them found out I speak 'some' French, so I talked to them in French too. I really feel like the ones who are interested in getting to know me are going to get an American culture lesson even speaking French...I'll be able to speak better because I don't have to use a child's vocabulary and speak so slowly, and I know that they understand. I mean, I do want them to speak in English, but if they want to know things about be and ask me in French, I'm not going to not tell them just because they can't ask in English. When we get to the point that I can explain to them how to ask things in English, I'll do that, but for the first day, I'd rather they didn't think I was a monglotic idiot.
Anyway the third class I went to was definitely my least favorite of the day, it was the 3e C with Mme Bluteau. They were rude to her and to me and just were not interested in listening or doing work or anything, and later Mme Bluteau confided in me that she isn't very fond of them either. :-)
Then I meant to go to Amel's class at 11:30, but I couldn't find her, so they sent me to the teacher's union meeting...they're thinking about striking on the 18th of October, I'm not sure why because I don't know any of the laws or regulations they were talking about and I also don't know the abbreviations...so it was kind of hard to follow, but still cool. I kind of hope they strike while I'm here - not so I don't have to work, but so I can go block up a petrol station for something that I'm sure I'll eventually understand.
Mme Bluteau invited me to her house on Sunday for lunch, it's only one RER stop past Creteil and by then I'll have 3 zones on the carte orange, so I'm definitely going to go. I'm really excited, I think it'll be good to get to know some of the teachers outside of school, since I'm kind of autonomous from them. I mean, I work with them, but I can kind of follow my own path according to where the kids are most interested. So it should be cool to get to know her a bit better, she seems really nice, and I know she has one 12-year-old son, I hope I get to meet him.
Then I had lunch and talked to someone who I think is the physics teacher, some nice guy who apparently lives on my street. Afterwards, I had class with Mme Kanoute, a 5e (so I kind of just introduced myself and then let her have class, they are still learning 'Are you from Ireland? Yes, I am Irish' and stuff like that). She seems to have most control over her students...she's the only one who can make them be quiet and listen, thank goodness one of them can.
At 3 I went with Mme Tejerina, I guess it's a 3e because I saw some of them with the European section at the end of the day. Some of them were really pretty good, and some of them didn't seem to know anything or really care either. For her I think I am going to do a little presentation about DC history, because she really likes DC and some of the kids have studied it a bit. I'm not sure how I feel about her, she seems to be a big Sarko fan and doesn't like immigrant parents who don't speak French...I totally led her on for a bit and she told me she supports building a wall on the US-Mexican border and that she was scared of the Black people at Union Station last time she was in the US...I'm sort of thinking I know why Mme Bluteau isn't her biggest fan. Anyway I'm not sure it was totally appropriate to write that publicly but it's really interesting for me because honestly I think it will reflect on how she treats her students...
Anyway the end of the day, I took a break at 4 because I had too many hours, so I went and hung out with the awesome secretary whose name I can't seem to remember, who filled out my forms like an awesome person so I can get paid. She's totally great and helpful, yesterday at the orientation for TA's they told us to become good friends with the secretaries, she seems to like me well enough, so I think I'm in luck.
Finally at 5 I went to Mme Kanoute again because she's got the European section, and I think they're the ones who will benefit most from talking to me because their English is most 'advanced' anyway (it's kind of relative) but they were really not enthusiastic...they had read a text about William Wallace and had to read sentences they wrote about it. So by the end, I was with one small group, and I just kind of let them ask me stuff (half in English, half in French) because it was all about what I did and liked in the US, it's cultural enough for the first day. Some of them had been in Amel's class in the morning and they were really shocked when they found out I spoke French, it was kind of great. They were good kids, just a little trouble focusing at 5:30 in the evening, that is a long freakin day!
Overall I think it went well, they seemed to be interested enough in having me there and hopefully the things I have ideas about are interesting enough for them. I think a US history lesson will be good, especially DC history and WV history (because most of them don't really realize WV is not just the western part of Virginia....like most good Americans), and some random other things too, like some rock music and maybe some of those kids' books. Hopefully this Thornton Wilder thing will be interesting and not completely useless. :-)
tomorrow starts classes, and apparently my student card will be ready, but honestly I don't think there will be time for me to get it and go register at ILPGA. Hopefully I'll have really great things to post about tomorrow!!!!