Last year in May (which is two school years ago), I was invited to give a ‘conférence’ by the lovely Laurent, who’s a teacher in France. We kept in touch since and in the meantime, he changed schools. Last month I did a lecture at his current school, Lycée Rotrou, in Dreux – a little west of Paris.
We had been a good team last time. I told the students about Galaxy Zoo, Hanny’s Voorwerp and how they can do science themselves, in English, while Laurent live-translated me to French. And we’d do the same thing here. I didn’t do all the touristic stuff again, although I did start a collection of fridge magnets and I got myself one with the Eiffel Tower on it.
Anyway, I stayed at one of the guest/student places belonging to the school, which came with a card to join in for meals. We don’t do this where I’m from – isn’t it nice to experience different customs? The place didn’t have internet access (!) so I walked towards the school building in the morning, to do some work. Some people thought I was the new English teacher, while I was contemplating just saying ‘oui’ to everything I was asked, instead of ‘I’m sorry I don’t speak French’.
My lecture was at noon, in the perfect classroom for it. The students didn’t have a lot of questions at the end (except for that one lovely guy at the front), but I later learned they weren’t used to speakers (from abroad). So it was a good visit in many ways. The head teacher thanked us personally, after which I had lunch with Laurent and a couple of his colleagues. Then he took me to the station – thanks Laurent! – as I had to travel back again (for another lecture at the end of this week!)
While I waited for my train from Paris Nord to Aachen, I noticed this French guy flirting with me. He had pretty eyes and I smiled back. Then I got on the train, before he could ask me things I probably wouldn’t want to say ‘oui’ to.
2 Comments
Hah, Laurent just sent me this:
“(* Laurent laughing at loud *)
I love this post and especially the last part… It will probably not change the way people in the world think about frenchmen!!! LOL! It can be fun however, especially when you have time to leave before any awkward questions!
Thank again for coming to Dreux and for the work together!
Cheers
Laurent”
(My reply:) Thanks Laurent! Can I post this as a comment on my site?
It wasn’t my intention to make French guys look like a cliché, I just thought it was a nice anecdote to end my visit with. And thank you again for inviting me! Cheers, H. 