Le Malentendu

This morning, I had early morning classes again. But with coffee, I was "golden," as one of my friends at Covenant used to say. European coffee sure does give you a boost to get through the day. Vive le cafe! When I got to the school, one of the teachers informed me that yesterday, the students had gone to the wrong classroom TV1. They had not noted the change in room and building. That was the reason why my classroom was empty yesterday. Un malentendu (misunderstanding) with miscommunication. I feel much better about that, knowing that everyone was indeed present. We will work it out next week. At least I will get to see the students right before the vacation.

As for classes, I thought they went pretty well. I talked about Columbus Day once more, using images, video, and a song. It ran pretty smoothly; however, I could tell that the students were tired from the week and from the early morning. It's tough being a student that early in the morning. I have many times suffered through this as I am not a morning person. Nevertheless, it went smooth, and I am done for the weekend.

For lunch, I have a steak, camembert cheese and bread, and yogurt. Not too shabby. I'm going swimming at the pool after lunch, and I'll get to try out my new European shorty (non-Speedo) swimming suit-- to see how comfortable it might be in the water. Really, all you need to do is just swim and self-consciousness seems to disappear. Just do it-- the Nike way. Swimming was great for me at Middlebury. I'm sure it will be a good experience here in Mayenne.

More graduate school stuff to work on and "Le neveu de Rameau." I'm enjoying seeing two opposing viewpoints on morality, a topic often treated by Diderot, the famous encyclopediste. I will likely practice violin some more and then finally, this evening, I plan on attending the Night of Prayer in Laval from 23:00 to the wee hours of the morning. Fortunately, I will be able to sleep in tomorrow (there is no orchestra in the morning). A special concert to play for tomorrow. The weekend promises to be enjoyable and productive.