The day that we have been anticipating and praying about for months! God has given us several good days of settling into our new home and adjusting to the time change which made our first early morning for school so much easier. I was particularly nervous for Mia as she is attending a French maternelle (or kindergarten) about 15 minutes from where we live. She has never been in school, let alone a French one so I have, admittedly, been fairly nervous for her.
This morning was smooth until we arrived to the school and had no idea where to go! Thankfully the director of the school (the principal) spoke enough English to help us get sorted out and soon enough Mia was whisked away into her classroom. The process was longer than expected and my class started in the morning so we had a brisk walk home (I would have probably cried more when we left the school, but I was too out of breath and sweating haha!).
One interesting thing here in France is that they take lunchtime (déjeuner) very seriously. So much so that you get a two hour break in the middle of the day for it! And you even go and pick your children up from school/daycare during this break (unless you pay to keep them at school). Such an fascinating cultural thing, but also a blessing to us today as it meant we got to see Mia for the afternoon and hear how the morning had gone. Adam picked her up by bike to help cut down on the travel time since 15 minutes of walking both ways cuts into our break quite a bit. Her report was that she loved school! What an amazing answer to so many prayers! She went back after lunch and had a great second half of the day as well. Tonight at bedtime she became pretty sad about having to go back tomorrow which was hard, but Adam spent a long time talking and praying with her. We won’t be surprised if she still runs into difficulties in the coming days and weeks as this is all so new to her, but we are thankful for such a positive start overall. We continue to pray for her transition to kindergarten!
Adam and I’s first day consisted of a tour of the school, which is just across the parking lot from our apartment building and then a placement test which assesses how much French you know so they can decide which class to put you in. Needless to say it was a quick test! Despite how little we currently know, doing the placement test gave us both a taste and excitement for all the learning ahead. Tomorrow we have orientation and will also find out which classes we are in. We have Wednesdays off every week and then begin normal classes Thursday. We feel privileged to be here! Thanks for following our journey!
Jusqu’à la prochaine fois (until next time) – Selina