THE STUDENT NAMED GREGOIRE
Did you know that about two weeks ago I was told I would receive another French student?! He came already, but that is not the point of my story. This is the point:
On Friday I got a call from EF saying I would have two Japanese brothers arrive on Saturday and a French student arrive on Sunday. The Japanese bros came and they are so quiet! I still don't really know if they understand anything I say. They just repeat a few of my words and nod anytime I ask them or tell them something.
But the French student didn't come on Sunday. By the way, if you have been following my blog for a while you would know that not a single French student has arrived on time. Every one of them has had plane delays, complications, etc. This time when the student didn't come on Sunday I just figured maybe he canceled and wasn't coming. Sometimes students do that.
I called the school on Monday just in case and Marlene, the secretary there, didn't see anything about a late flight, or a missing student-- all she said was, "I just see that you have a student Gregoire there." And that's true-- Gregoire has been here for about two weeks now. Oh well. I figured my French student canceled, missed his flight, whatever.
Even more strange, I received a long distance call at work that Monday. From country code +33. I thought it was Vittorio's dad, since he had been trying to reach Vittorio via my cell phone recently. When I listened to the message later it was a French lady calling to see if Gregoire had arrived and if everything was ok. Well of course Gregoire had arrived! He's been here for two weeks already! I was confused: perhaps Greg hadn't emailed or called his family yet in the time that he has been here. Sometimes students do that.
Everything made sense when I was at home cooking dinner later that night and the missing student shows up at my door: Gregoire, from France. They sent me ANOTHER student named Gregoire!
Now I have two Gregoires from France in my home and they are both in the same room. It's pretty silly.
Showing posts with label french. Show all posts
Showing posts with label french. Show all posts
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
THE BREAKING NEWS
My students came home from camping. Mikhail, Daniel, and Emmanuel came in with bags of leftover food.
And they brought the French student.
My lost French boy has been found! Or rather, he was never lost. By yesterday I had started assuming he was with them. Boy am I glad my assumptions were correct. That would have been quite a nightmare otherwise.
Despite the slight scare I had, I am really happy that my students took Michel along with them. What a great welcome to a new and unknown house/city! They all came in exhausted and dirty, but with big smiles. Everyone said they had an awesome time.
Now I am off to take my 44-year-old Brazilian to CompUSA for his laptop purchase.
My students came home from camping. Mikhail, Daniel, and Emmanuel came in with bags of leftover food.
And they brought the French student.
My lost French boy has been found! Or rather, he was never lost. By yesterday I had started assuming he was with them. Boy am I glad my assumptions were correct. That would have been quite a nightmare otherwise.
Despite the slight scare I had, I am really happy that my students took Michel along with them. What a great welcome to a new and unknown house/city! They all came in exhausted and dirty, but with big smiles. Everyone said they had an awesome time.
Now I am off to take my 44-year-old Brazilian to CompUSA for his laptop purchase.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
THE BRAZILIAN
Today my new student came! I am now the host father of a 44-year-old Brazilian man. A 44-year-old Brazilian man who has a wife and two kids.
He is nice and very low maintenance, which I love.
P.S. The French student is still gone! But I am beginning to believe he is with the other students. If he is, then I am pissed. How was I supposed to know? Talk about disrespectful, irresponsible, and inconsiderate. But mostly inconsiderate.
And they left a sink full of dirty dishes!
Today my new student came! I am now the host father of a 44-year-old Brazilian man. A 44-year-old Brazilian man who has a wife and two kids.
He is nice and very low maintenance, which I love.
P.S. The French student is still gone! But I am beginning to believe he is with the other students. If he is, then I am pissed. How was I supposed to know? Talk about disrespectful, irresponsible, and inconsiderate. But mostly inconsiderate.
And they left a sink full of dirty dishes!
THE MISSING STUDENT
It is 1:30 in the morning and my 18-year-old French student is officially lost in Santa Barbara.
Last night when Michel arrived I gave him a key to my house and a map of the city. I circled our house on the map, showed him where the downtown area is, etc. I had to work this morning and Michel was very tired, so I knew I wouldn't see him until five o'clock or so. I wanted him to have the freedom to explore the city on his first day in America.
Well, what a first day in America this must be for him. It's cold outside. The map is still on the table. The Japanese student hasn't seen him.
When I came home from work this afternoon the new student wasn't home. I figured he must still be out, enjoying the good weather. When he didn't come home for dinner I was a little concerned, but not too bothered. My students don't have to be home for dinner. So I went to a friend's house for a while and came home at eleven.
Michel was not home. That was the moment that I knew something was wrong. Because NOBODY stays out until 11:00 without a map, phone, or friends on their first day in a new city. Nobody.
I called the EF emergency number and was simply told to wait until morning. If he is still missing we will take the next course of action (call the police?).
My only possible hope is that at the last minute he joined my three other students on their camping trip.
It is 1:30 in the morning and my 18-year-old French student is officially lost in Santa Barbara.
Last night when Michel arrived I gave him a key to my house and a map of the city. I circled our house on the map, showed him where the downtown area is, etc. I had to work this morning and Michel was very tired, so I knew I wouldn't see him until five o'clock or so. I wanted him to have the freedom to explore the city on his first day in America.
Well, what a first day in America this must be for him. It's cold outside. The map is still on the table. The Japanese student hasn't seen him.
When I came home from work this afternoon the new student wasn't home. I figured he must still be out, enjoying the good weather. When he didn't come home for dinner I was a little concerned, but not too bothered. My students don't have to be home for dinner. So I went to a friend's house for a while and came home at eleven.
Michel was not home. That was the moment that I knew something was wrong. Because NOBODY stays out until 11:00 without a map, phone, or friends on their first day in a new city. Nobody.
I called the EF emergency number and was simply told to wait until morning. If he is still missing we will take the next course of action (call the police?).
My only possible hope is that at the last minute he joined my three other students on their camping trip.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
THE TARDY FRENCH
What is with the French and arriving late?! OK, so maybe it's not all French people. Maybe it's just my students.
My last French student was named Remi, and he was scheduled to fly into Los Angeles at around 5:30pm. It's about 2 hours from LAX to Santa Barbara, so taking into consideration customs and traffic, he was expected to arrive at my house at 9:00pm.
I got a call from Remi at 9:00. Still at LAX. He didn't see the shuttle bus that was supposed to pick him up. I told him I would call EF and find out what's up. I also told him to call me back in 15 minutes. So I called the emergency number for EF, talked with the staff lady who was unlucky enough to have the cell phone that night, and told her what Remi told me. She then tells me that the shuttle bus driver was waiting for three hours right outside of the gate for Remi and didn't see him. So the driver left. Which makes sense; that's about when Remi called me. The big mystery is What the heck was Remi doing from the time the airplane landed on time at 5:30pm until 9:00?? I never got to find out.
The EF emergency phone holder told me to tell Remi to wait right outside and the driver would come around for him again. Too bad Remi didn't have a phone. Just a payphone. He called me back... at 11:00pm! By now I don't know what to say. What was he doing for the past two hours? Why didn't he call me in 15 minutes like he said? He missed the bus, literally. The driver couldn't find him. And for this driver, it has been about five hours of waiting. So, he left. Naturally. In the middle of Remi's phone call we got disconnected. So I was done waiting, too. I had to substitute teach at 8 in the morning the next day! I figured he would find a hotel to stay in overnight and find a way to come to Santa Barbara tomorrow.
At four in the morning I heard loud knocking on my door. I was in some deep sleep and I think the knocking must have gone on for two or three minutes until it broke through my dreams and into my consciousness.
Remi paid a TAXI DRIVER 300 dollars for a fare from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.
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Last night was not as bad. But my new French student, Michel, was supposed to arrive in Los Angeles at around 9pm, which meant he was supposed to arrive at my house at midnight. He came at 1:15am. Given Remi's whole ordeal, I was quite glad to see Michel at one in the morning.
What is with the French and arriving late?! OK, so maybe it's not all French people. Maybe it's just my students.
My last French student was named Remi, and he was scheduled to fly into Los Angeles at around 5:30pm. It's about 2 hours from LAX to Santa Barbara, so taking into consideration customs and traffic, he was expected to arrive at my house at 9:00pm.
I got a call from Remi at 9:00. Still at LAX. He didn't see the shuttle bus that was supposed to pick him up. I told him I would call EF and find out what's up. I also told him to call me back in 15 minutes. So I called the emergency number for EF, talked with the staff lady who was unlucky enough to have the cell phone that night, and told her what Remi told me. She then tells me that the shuttle bus driver was waiting for three hours right outside of the gate for Remi and didn't see him. So the driver left. Which makes sense; that's about when Remi called me. The big mystery is What the heck was Remi doing from the time the airplane landed on time at 5:30pm until 9:00?? I never got to find out.
The EF emergency phone holder told me to tell Remi to wait right outside and the driver would come around for him again. Too bad Remi didn't have a phone. Just a payphone. He called me back... at 11:00pm! By now I don't know what to say. What was he doing for the past two hours? Why didn't he call me in 15 minutes like he said? He missed the bus, literally. The driver couldn't find him. And for this driver, it has been about five hours of waiting. So, he left. Naturally. In the middle of Remi's phone call we got disconnected. So I was done waiting, too. I had to substitute teach at 8 in the morning the next day! I figured he would find a hotel to stay in overnight and find a way to come to Santa Barbara tomorrow.
At four in the morning I heard loud knocking on my door. I was in some deep sleep and I think the knocking must have gone on for two or three minutes until it broke through my dreams and into my consciousness.
Remi paid a TAXI DRIVER 300 dollars for a fare from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last night was not as bad. But my new French student, Michel, was supposed to arrive in Los Angeles at around 9pm, which meant he was supposed to arrive at my house at midnight. He came at 1:15am. Given Remi's whole ordeal, I was quite glad to see Michel at one in the morning.
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