while the food in the school's cafeteria is relatively good, they always cook the shit out of the broccoli. and there's nothing worse than limp, bleached-out broccoli.
this week the terminale students (aka the seniors) are taking the "bac blanc," a fake baccalaureate exam to test their cumulative knowledge and add to their grades. i don't envy them -- today was four hours of philosophy (but think of that for a moment-- they get to take philosophy in high school? cool!!), but it has made for a quiet campus.
i had to explain to a pushy after-high-school-english-teacher that i was not going to meet with her students to practice their english for free. there is an english "practice night" for free at a local bar every other wednesday beginning next week. i'm happy to talk my head off at that but i don't have the time to arrange another session for her kids. i could tell she was irritated but she hid it well. i talked to other assistants and a few other professors and they all thought it was ludicrous for me to meet with students, provide a service and not charge anything.
on that note, i start tutoring someone one-on-one after the february holidays. we're meeting tonight to get to know each other and so i can see exactly what she wants from our sessions. i'm interested to see how it goes, if i'll like tutoring, if it will be challenging, etc. the money will help, too.
it wasn't freeze-my-butt-off-cold today, which was a relief. it's still cold enough to want a hat and gloves, but i was able to skip the longjohns. and it's february!! yay! i really loathe january. it's always my hardest month, so i'm glad it's finished!