Tuesday, April 20th

Today the American students shadow French students at Nogent High School. Their school day is quite a bit different than a typical day at Potsdam or Canton. All the classes run on the hour. School starts at 8:00 AM. Then the next class is at 9:00, and so forth. Lunch is one hour long, from 12:00 to 1:00. Some classes my even run from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. Students can come and go from the school grounds when they are not in class, as can teachers. Sounds exciting, right? On the other hand, you might end up with a 5:00 to 6:00 class, which makes the day really long. Your schedule is not the same everyday. I guess you could say the schedule resembles a college type of schedule. There are about one thousand students at the school. That's close to what Canton and Potsdam would be combined. Which brings up another difference. Nogent HS is a regional high school. The school has a dormitory! Some students live so far away that they stay in the dorms during the week. The dorms are heavily monitored, with very specific check in times, and all lights go out at 10:00 PM.

The cafeteria is huge, and everyone eats at the same time, and they have an hour to eat. The teachers have a separate faculty area off to the side of the cafeteria. I found the lunch to be large and good. In fact, I couldn't finish all of mine. I don't know the cost.

The day started at 8:00. The American teachers met with the Nogent Principal and Assistant Principal. He spoke almost no English, so I sat through an hour of French conversation. Tom Ham would occasionally fill me in. Surprisingly, I was able to understand bits and pieces of the conversation. It is amazing how much of the language you can pick up just by being totally immersed in it. The principal is an avid supporter of the exchange.

After the meeting with the Principal, I spent a couple of hours in the faculty room. It is large, with several chairs, couches, tables, and about ten computers, all connected to a working printer. The room is actually two floors with the computers on the second floor. I logged on to a computer and worked on updating the travel blog. I still have to fight with the foreign keyboard. I brought my latest blog entries and some photos on a USB drive just in case I found a computer. For once, all the technology worked and I was able to upload everything I wanted.

At 11:00 I attended an English class. There were about twenty-five in the class. Now this is another area where Nogent High School is different. The class was for students who have already completed the traditional High School route, but are taking additional classes to prepare them for work in the business world. In general, at about the end of eight grade students are directed toward specific programs. Some may attend trade schools, similar to the BOCES schools in the US. Others are directed to college prep work, such as the high school in Nogent.

After the English class, we spent an hour in the lunchroom. Boy, this is a far cry from the twenty minute lunch we get in Canton or Potsdam! After lunch, I went walking around Nogent's streets and downtown with Danielle and Martha Chisolm, the Canton French teacher. They shopped, I watched. :-)

At 3:00 Martha, Danielle, Tom and I joined Pat for tea (oh all right, maybe a beer) at her house. Pat is the English teacher who's class we visited earlier in the day. Pat and her husband Dan are also Tom's hosts. Pat and Dan have this amazing home right across the street for the huge castle in Nogent that we visited early in the trip. Pat has developed her garden into a very pleasant and beautiful surrounding. The setting was gorgeous.

The American students, and some of their French hosts, met at the Mayor's office at 5:00 for a short welcoming ceremony. There was just a short speech by the Mayor's assistant, followed by cookies and punch.

Last item on the day's agenda was the potluck dinner at the High School at 7:00. All of the French host families brought in all kinds of dishes. The crowd was huge. The American students were mixing with all the host families. This was probably the last chance for such a large gathering of American and French students before the Americans go home on Thursday. These students are becoming such good friends that the farewells on Thursday are going to be difficult.

Speaking of Thursday, as far as we know, our flight is still a go. The volcano in Iceland is still raising havoc with European air travel. We have heard that the travel situation is improving, but nowhere back to normal yet.

More tomorrow...........