So much kindness, a field trip, and lots of exercise!

Over the past two weeks we have experienced so much kindness from this sweet village. Our landlord, the teachers at the kids' schools, random people on the street, the sweet employees at the town supermarket.. the list goes on. In all of our travels I'm not sure I have ever been somewhere where everyone says hello on the street like they do here, it's so inviting and comforting. I know it is still early but I am so thankful for all of the little things that have helped us to feel welcome.

A little more about the kids' schools:
E is in a class with 3 and 5 year olds and we have 10 minutes where the gate to the school is open. You drop off your child in their classroom and take their backpack and jacket to another hallway where you also check off whether or not they will be having the cantine lunch or not. If your child is crying too much for you to escape before the gate closes they have to buzz you out :-p This may or may not have happened a few times. Poor little gal.. at least she is always happy at pickup!

 The courtyard of her school. 

The boys' school has a gate as well that is open for 10 minutes. During this time the teachers & principal stand on the left and welcome all of the students into the courtyard. They're also open to speaking with parents :) At least two of the teachers have their own children in their classes.. it's very sweet to see and reminds me of home.  


The courtyard with a little soccer and basketball area. For field games they walk the 200 m to the village soccer field and for gym time the rec center is beside the soccer field :) This past week L has been doing rhythmic gymnastics in the gym and H's class has been doing relays on the field.


 This is the bigger playground in the town that is just around the corner from the maternelle. E enjoys it but it is also lacking monkey bars... the search continues!


This past week I had the pleasure of joining L and his class on a field trip to a nearby town for a day of sports at the sport complex. There were 20 groups created with a mix of students from 8 classes (I think) from around the region. It was freezing and the kids, teachers and parent helpers were out learning new sports for 5.5 hours - tough french kids! They had a pause for lunch that included many students and parents dancing to some hit tunes. I was in charge of a group of 14 students that found it pretty interesting to help me with french and me to help with their english.




I am so thankful for time to exercise! The weather has been very similar to Victoria's weather (except for no rain) and therefore perfect for getting out and about. Each day we bike to and from school and then Jeff and I either go for a big walk or run almost each day. On the weekends we have been hiking/walking and/or biking with the kids.  Last week I also decided to join a running training group which I did not know at the start was comprised of some very fit men and women.  I have a lot of catching up to do :)  The mountains by our house have me itching to try out mountain biking and once it warms up a bit I hope to get out biking on the road. It's supposed to get super chilly in the next week so we shall see how life without a car feels in -3 with the mistral blowing!




Comments

  1. Oh the teary dropoff! I remember hiding the in the cloak room peering out at crying Remy, waiting for some sign that he would settle. He always did. I am so glad you are enjoying your experience so far. I agree about the kindess of people, I love the ¨¨Bonjour¨ exchange. I can´t wait for you to enjoy the strawberry season in May!

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    1. We don't even have anywhere to hide, hehe. I cannot wait for the strawberry season either, or the poppies, or the flowering fruit trees.. or perhaps even some skiing. It snowed here twice today. I didn't know weather could change even faster than is does in Victoria :)

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    2. Thanks for the message Susan :) I think of you guys often!

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