At last! Something to write about!
The week started really well when Pieter and Tilly arrived
on Sunday afternoon. They had come by
car which is quite a stout effort as they first had to catch an unbelievably
slow ferry from Palma, Mallorca, to Barcelona in Spain. Then they drove from
there to us, stopping overnight along the way. It was lovely to have them here
even if it was only for a terribly short time. The weather also wasn’t
conducive to sightseeing, being grey and cold most of the time, but it didn’t
seem to bother them as they were both busy on computers and cell phones for
quite a lot of the time. Work never stops for these two.
On Tuesday, we had bravely invited our French-speaking
neighbours over for a drink; an invitation which they accepted. Although we
were quite nervous at the thought of having to converse in French, we needn’t
have worried. In the first place, Tilly was here to fill any gaps and to
translate where necessary, and with their limited English and our limited
French, we managed perfectly and it turned into a very enjoyable evening.
Slowly, slowly, we are getting there!
Next day they had to leave which was sad but apart from
needing to go and spend some time with Tilly’s parents who live near La
Rochelle on the west coast, they also had to make way for our next visitors,
Leigh and Courtney, who arrived on Thursday. Courtney will be starting school
in Villefranche on Monday so it has been quite a scramble around to get
everything ready for her. She will be a weekly boarder, which is pretty much
being thrown in at the deep end as far as learning French is concerned but she
seems to be fairly relaxed about it all and is even excited at the prospect.
Personally I find the school remarkably lax about helping new students to find
their feet. We have no idea if the boarders are supposed to return to the
hostel the night before school starts as was always the case in our day, and
also in our children’s day, and as we don’t know any other boarders, we can’t
find out. School books are available through something called the Parents
Federation but they only operate on Wednesdays. And students need a special
Student card which gives them discounts on things like books but we can’t get
one until Neels and I have been granted legal parental authority and that will
only happen on the 27th February. To catch the school bus on a
Monday morning and Friday afternoon, Courtney will need a bus card which has to
be applied for online but who knows what the website is! As I say, a little
lacking on the information side. Perhaps if it was the beginning of the school
year, things might be different, but as one of the few schools that take
foreign students, one would have expected them to be equipped to handle new arrivals
at any time of the year. No doubt it will all shake down in the end but it is
worrying for Leigh at the moment as she tries to make the transition as smooth
as possible.
At least the weather perked up for them and they were able
to have a day out on Saturday when they went to Sarlat. The full name is
Sarlat-le-Caneda and is world famous for its Saturday market which has been
held weekly since the Middle Ages. Sadly my hip was playing up again and I
missed the outing but Neels was so impressed with the whole day that he has
promised that we will go again. The market is apparently huge and stretches up
and down several streets in the old medieval town with very few of the stalls
selling ‘junk’. Both Leigh and Courtney were impressed with the prices they saw
as well as the items for sale which were interesting and novel. I am looking
forward to going there.
Also on Saturday, Courtney received an invitation to go and
visit one of the girls she met when she first visited the school. So today,
Sunday, we took her to the friend’s house and met the parents who are very
pleasant people. One of the other girls that she met that day lives right here
in Ols, but not right in the village as we do, so we hope they will get
together some time too. Needless to say, the more friends she makes and visits,
the more parents we will get to meet which is exactly what we need to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment