Real first day - daytime

Monday, 3rd of October 2011, first day at school. Remember, in a previous article I told you I spent the previous night out. So, when I woke up… God, my ears...

Nevermind. I had to be in the best shape I had never been. After all, I was going to meet around 200 pupils this week, and all the members of staff. Eye of the Tiger. I remembered what Anna told me about the dress code: “something smart, but casual”. Grey trousers, purple top, high heels…  make up ( or “how a girl can feel more confident behind chemical stuff”).Really, though I met Anna before,  I was so so so nervous :s.

That stupid nervosity increased when I reached the bus stop. Not that I was scared I could miss the bus or take one which didn’t go to Bishop, nooooooooooo. I’m not that silly, I can read timetable. No, what scared me was black, maroon, about 1,60meter tall and talkative… Children! Yes, during a year, I had to wait for the bus with students of Saint John’s catholic school (even if, trust me or not, the kind of things they discussed of were not very catholic…).

Bishop Auckland, bus station. Only after a while I found out it was better for me to stop in the town center to be on time… But I have never been late at school (indeed, I can run quite well with high heels).

At school, I discovered how it works. Blue badge for members of staff like teachers, green badge for 6^th forms, red badge for teaching assistants and visitors. Sign in in the morning, sign out when you leave school. I wondered if they sold maps of the school at the office, and I thought I could look stupid if I asked one. I looked around me for a sign with “French class: this way” written on it, but couldn’t find it. I decided to stay next to the office for a while, until I saw someone I recognized and that I could follow. Yeah, that’s clever, I know J

I didn’t know my timetable but heart then. I only knew who I had to work with (Anna, Janet, Anna, Anna on Monday), but not the classes I would meet. Anna was reassuring and explained me everything. The first class was the year 8A. 12 or 13 years old, good level. Anna asked me to introduce myself, in French, to the class. They didn’t understand. So, I did it in English, and then they asked me a lot of questions. I was expected something like “what did you do/study to work here?”, “Is it hard to move far from home?” but what they asked was more… well, it was different. I had to answer questions such as “ have you ever been to Disneyland Paris?”, “Do you eat snails?” ( I did when I was a kid, until I discovered what it actually was… Hey, don’t look disgusted, I’m French!), “ Do you eat frog legs?” No, but I used them for science, “Do you live in England?” No, I’m so rich I take the plane everyday honey ><”

They all asked the same kind of question. On Thursday, Thomas, Year7A, asked if I had children… At least, it was different from the other questions.

During the first week, when I met the students/children, they all look lovely (except for some year 11… Ha, teenagers!) though some of them tried to make friends with me ( which was useless because I was not the one who would mark their work hihi). Lovely indeed, but it was only the beginning…