ok worst blogger ever award

I want to apologize to all my loyal readers lol It has been a whirlwind since June.
July in France, August in Portugal and now September here in the Czech Republic.

So let us get caught up on July.....

July was spent in the lovely Brittany region, in a small town named Locmine. I worked in this town last year for a month, so it was nice returning to the familiar. Same ole tabacs, same ole pizzerias, same ole bars. It was wonderful. The school (Lycee Anne de Bretagne) was just the same as it had been. Even Christoff, the same chef! It was almost like coming home..... which is the same feeling I get every time I arrive in Paris as well.
The children both sessions were amazing!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed both sessions -- there were a lot of returning campers so it was also nice to see familiar faces. Again, I taught Level 1 (the lowest level) but since all the kids were 14-17, their overall English level was so much higher than I expected after Spring Sessions. Don't get me wrong, it's still challenging every day, but it's also rewarding to see the kids open up and gain confidence to speak English.

In between 1st and 2nd session, I was on convoyage. This means I had to take a group of kids back to Paris by bus/train and make sure their parents picked them up. Easy. Then I got two nights in a hotel paid for by my company, and 3 meals, so it was awesome. It was great returning to Paris. Hung out and drank wine with friends by the Eiffel Tower all day, practicing cartwheels and two-person somersaults lol. I also got to see a real-life mime taking a break with a beer! It also seems cliche when people say Paris is the best city, but it really is. I love it. I could never get bored there. There are always things to do.... and if there's nothing to do, there's a lovely way in which the French go about doing nothing. They are professional do-nothing people.

Second session, we had the most returners including two of my favorite girls from last year, Elsa and Ines from Valence. The returning kids and the popular kids all formed this little gang called ADS (AlcoholSexDrugs... i know i know) and for some reason I was their maman and NewCarSmell was their papa. I don't know why lol, but it was nice to be the "cool counselor." It was heartbreaking to say goodbye to the kids 2nd session. Some of these kids I genuinely consider little-sister-types.

Oh and as a side note, all the counselors obviously have nicknames. Locmine had.... me (Dr. Pepper), Nomad, Spanky, Tiny Dancer, Chainsaw, Mr. Whiskers, Motown, Sassy Kat, Buddy, New Car Smell, Dori, The Truth, Nancy Drew, Brown Sugar, Snowball, and Calamity Jane. There was also a Zorro, Cheeze Whiz, and a Sharkbait. Zorro left after the first session. Cheeze Whiz and Sharkbait... well they decided they weren't cut out for the job after a couple days and they hopped the barbed wire fences in the middle of the night to escape.... never to be heard from again. No really. jumped the fences with backpacks and everything... oh well no big loss lol


Well that about sums up July in France. This computer is about to lose all battery, so I will update the blog again tomorrow with August and the present.

Just for those wondering, I am in Prague right now (Praha 4 district, Budejovicka metro stop) staying with my host family. Really I am just with a family and I live in their upstairs. My host mama is actually the director of my school! Anyways, more on that tomorrow!!!!!

- Amanda