We Survived the Test

Dear Friends,

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day here in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  We ate lunch outside by the sea without the aid of a heater and then took  a nice long walk along the beach.  There were children playing in the water and a few adults sunbathing.  It was about 60 degrees, but the sun and lack of wind made it very comfortable.

The nice lunch permitted a small dinner so we stopped at what is rapidly becoming our favorite store, the Villefranche-sur-Mer Primeurs (the small shop with fresh produce, cheese and wine).  We picked up some pasta and red sauce as well as fresh broccoli and wine and had a complete dinner.  We could relax in our flat with a nice dinner and only have to worry about the test the next day.

We both awoke in the middle of the night much more from from anxiety than jet lag.  Why are we so nervous about this test that is only to place us in the right class?

We were ready to go to school first thing - backpacks filled with pens, pencils, notebooks, dictionaries, etc.  We left on time and walked up the hill in the beautiful sun towards the school.  We meet two other students on the way.  We arrived 15 minutes early and much of the class was already assembled in the main salon.  The group was so type A that we were ready to start at 8:20 instead of the scheduled time of 8:30.  Since it only seems fair to give you wonderful readers a real sense of the hardship of going to school in Villefranche-sur-Mer, I took this picture from the balcony outside the main salon.

The entire group is about 60 people from the US, Australia, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Nigeria, New Zealand and Russia among them, but there may be others because we did not meet everybody.  One of the first people we meet lives 2 blocks from us in Minneapolis.  It is a very small world.  There was also a woman from Jackson Hole, about our age, who is a democrat.  We could make some connection with almost everybody we met.  Most people seem to be here because they just want to learn French and not because it is required by their jobs.  The age range is very large from some who either have just graduated from college or are perhaps still in college to midlife crisis people late 40s and 50s to a few retirees like us.  The guy from New Zealand is I think the oldest as he said he had been retired for 15 years and had taken the course each January for the last 5 years.

The TEST was not as bad as we had imagined.  The main part was for the entire group where statements were made in French and we needed to comprehend what was said and sometimes respond in written French.  We also had to read two paragraphs in French and respond to questions about them.  After all that, each individual spent about 5 minutes with an instructor speaking in French.  All the parts of the test are graded and put on various axis and a final grade given.  The head teacher has all the papers and grades and will spend tonight drinking wine and making the final decisions about placement into classes.  Jane and I know that we answered many questions differently so we do not think that we will be in the same class.  Anyway, we will find out tomorrow.

The rest of the day today was spent in English on administrative matters and discussing the teaching philosophy of the school.  The focus is on speaking not writing and at all levels you are expected to speak with ease and correctly.  By the end of the day, we were very tired.

We walked into town and decided to eat in again tonight.  We bought the ingredients for the meal at the Picard Surgeles (frozen food place) and added wine and salad makings from our favorite shop the Primeurs.

Tomorrow not only do we get our class placement, but the nothing but French speaking is enforced.  There is a 2 Euro fine for speaking your native tongue at the Institut at any time.

More later,
Jane and the Unabashed Liberal