Bedding My Time

My family and friends can attest to the fact that I'm a very organized person, but now it seems my organization has worked against me. Remember how in my last post I said I emailed the woman in charge at the foyer to ask what size sheets I needed to bring? That was nearly a month ago and I had given up hope of getting a response. So I went online to the foyer website and saw that all the beds pictured in my residence were full-sized. I jumped to the pretty logical conclusion that my bed would also be full-sized. So I made a complete Ikea checklist and drove the hour and a half roundtrip to the behemoth budget home accessories store, bringing home all the full-sized bedding accoutrements I could possibly need. Needless to say, I opened and washed all of the bedding except the comforter, which was already conveniently vacuum-packed for perfect suitcase insertion. I was feeling pretty good about being on top of things. And maybe I got just a little too cocky.

Lo and behold, I wake up this morning to find this email from Eloïse:

Bonjour,

Vous disposerez d’un lit une place.

A bientôt

Written with Eloïse's typical curtness, she told me that I will have a bed....UNE place?? Ugghhhhhhhh. Because, of course, that's french-speak for a twin-sized bed. Fortunately, I can exchange the unopened comforter, and the duvet will be easy to tailor down to size, and I can even salvage the flat sheet, meaning I only need to get a fitted twin sheet. But another trip to Ikea, located in the hell-hole of Schaumburg, Illinois, is not exactly something to look forward to.

Oh, who am I kidding? I have 35 days to kill before leaving and I'd do anything in order to fill up that time. 35 days! It still seems like an eternity before I leave, but I know in just a week or so I'll feel that time has suddenly started to pass too quickly. My family is going to Door County next week for vacation, and by the time we get back, it'll suddenly be time for me to start seriously getting ready to go.

One aspect of France I HAVEN'T been thinking about is my actual job... the reason I'm going to France in the first place. Probably because I have no idea what to expect. I know I'll be working with kids 8-11, and that they will know little-to-no English. Which brings me to a stressful realization-- will I be speaking mostly French with them? When I applied for this job, I specifically requested primary school because only a "good" level of French was required, as opposed to middle school which needed a "very good" level, and high school which needed a "proficient" level. But the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. In high school, students mostly just need to opportunity to practice their English, so you'd think that there wouldn't be much French spoken in the classroom. That's certainly the way it was for me. In AP French in high school, we were NEVER allowed to speak English once we set foot in the classroom. But when I started taking French in 6th grade, the whole class was instructed in English. So it would only follow (if language classes are taught the same way in France), that primary school students would be taught English IN French. This is mostly just a problem because my French is only at a "good" level, and I sure as hell hope that they won't be expecting more from me.

Anyway, since I don't have any details on my job yet, I can't waste my time worrying about it. Clearly, my bedding is worry enough. (KIDDING.... or am I?)