Teaching day #1

So, today was my first day actually teaching English to the kids, as opposed to just talking about myself. I did the basics like "Hello, my name is..." with each class, as the English level is low enough to do the same work with pretty much every age group. That said, I'm going to accelerate with the older kids because they seem to be able to take more in - the youngest pupils seem more interested in looking at the bug that just appeared at the window than learning a new language which they can't even use (I don't blame them).

Aside from general schooling, not much happened today - I didn't even take any particularly relevant photos, so here's a snap of Montluçon's lovely medieval centre to tide you over. There are about a dozen streets like this, each packed with cute little shops and restaurants. They're fenced in by a ring road which is where most of the buses stop, and it's somewhat livelier - lots of bars, a few supermarkets and some public buildings. The whole town centre is bunched around the foot of a hill, atop which sits Montluçon castle (pictures at a later date). It's all quite lovely, and that's just the old town - there's plenty of newer stuff which is just as interesting. There's not really such a thing as a dormitory suburb here, and even Sault - a tiny village in my commune - has a restaurant.

The other good news is that my schedule is packed! The locals are very keen to involve me, which means I don't have a dull moment this weekend:

- Tomorrow evening I'm meeting the local Club Anglais for drinks, which sounds to be some kind meeting place for Anglophile locals and British ex-pats. It's at the Bar London, which I assume has kitsch coming out of its ass.
- On Saturday I'm meeting some people from CouchSurfing who have just invited me to their VIP box(!) at the Clermont-Grenoble rugby match on Saturday. Chouette!
- And on Sunday, Madame Duclos is taking me on a trip to Moulins, another impossibly pretty-looking town which is about 50km east of here. Expect photos!

While I was typing out that list, I remembered: "I am being paid for this." Life is goooooood.