Week 6

Greetings one last time from Brest!
It is so hard to believe that we have arrived at our final week in Brest. And with the final week come lots and lots of work and activities! The students spent last week going to classes and preparing for our final show. Students were allowed to eat lunch in town Friday afternoon. Many students took advantage of the free afternoon to eat lunch together at a local bakery and then play laser tag. Saturday was Bastille Day, so students were able to spend the holiday with their families and enjoy French barbecues or watch the fireworks.
Today (Monday) was our last day of classes. Tomorrow, students will take the final test that is given to objectively measure everyone’s’ progress, followed by exit interviews with the teachers. Wednesday we will spend the whole day rehearsing for the final show that night. After the show there is a farewell party with a DJ and dancing with the families.
Friday morning we are leaving at 6:30 AM for Paris. We will spend the day at Versailles and Friday evening we will all go to the Eiffel Tower. Saturday and Sunday we will visit as a group the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. Students will also have some free time during the afternoons to go sightseeing in smaller groups. We depart from Paris Monday afternoon.
We cannot emphasize enough how impressed we are with this group of students. They have improved tremendously throughout these past six weeks! Thank you all for all the great feedback you have given me throughout the summer! We will see many of you in Chicago at the airport next week. I hope you all have great reunions with your children next week and enjoy the rest of your summer!

photo link

here is the link to the updated photo album:

http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa128/brest2007/

Week 5

Hello from sunny Brest!

Last week was by far our busiest yet! Here’s what happened:

Monday evening was La Danse Bretonne! All of the students, their host families, and the teachers hooked pinky fingers and gathered in a huge circle to learn how to Breton dance from the experts. Dancing in a rather small room filled with LOTS of people allowed the students to experience first hand the lack of air conditioning in France. Between each dance the students ran outside to get a couple breaths of fresh air then ran back in to learn another. We spun, stomped, ran, fell, and sweat the whole evening! As everyone filed out dragging their feet, completely soaked with sweat, and laughing, it was clear that the event was a hit!

Tuesday Nina Dury’s birthday! We celebrated at lunch time with a chocolate cake complete with eighteen candles and the happy birthday song in French!

Wednesday, of course, was the Fourth of July, and the students participated in a ceremony honoring the Franco-American collaboration during WW2 and the soldiers who fought in the war. The mayor of Brest was present. During the ceremony, the students sang “La Marseillaise” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the two national hymns. After the ceremony was our Fourth of July dinner party. All of the families and students enjoyed a tasty meal and then hit the dance floor. It was a wonderful celebration!

Thursday morning we boarded a bus at 7:30am and embarked on our second excursion, this one to Normandy. Our first stop was in Dinan, a small town where students visited the town’s church, clock tower, and had a picnic in the park. After Dinan, we went to Mont St. Michel. We all went up to the top together, which is not an easy task, especially in the rain! After visiting the abbey the students were able to go to all the stores that line the path leading up to the abbey. Mont St. Michel was our last stop for the day, so we headed for the youth hostel. After dinner at the hostel, we went for a walk near the beach, and the students stuffed themselves with waffles, ice cream, and crepes at a carnival-like booth. Because it was raining, we spent the evening playing games together in the hostel.

Friday morning we were up early to eat breakfast and were pleasantly surprised by the sunshine! We visited the WW2 memorial and museum in Caen, and watched a film about the Normandy landings. Afterwards we ate a picnic at the museum and then headed to the American Cemetery and Omaha Beach. The cemetery is a very emotional site for many, but everyone enjoyed the experience. Students were also able to visit Omaha beach. After the cemetery we stopped at the Pointe du Hoc. The point is covered by huge holes in the ground from the bombardments during WW2. After the Pointe du Hoc, we headed back for Brest. Although we put on a movie in the bus, many stagiaires took advantage of the long bus ride to catch up on the sleep that they missed in the youth hostel.

This weekend was the nicest weekend we have had yet in Brest, and many students and their parents took advantage of the sun to go to the beach or do other activities outside.

Today was Meghann Pogue’s birthday, and we celebrated and sang to her at lunch time!

This week is our last regular week here in France. Tomorrow, Jacqueline Danner will arrive. She will be visiting the classes with the students for the remainder of the week, and we are sure that she will be pleased by the progress your children are making!

As always, please let us know of any questions, comments, or concerns. I hope your summer is going as well as ours!!

Week 4

Hello once again from Brest!

Can you believe that we are starting our fourth week here in France? This past week was a calm one for the students. Students went to classes every day, and they started memorizing their lines or music during their activities for the end of the summer program.

Tuesday, it was actually sunny out (!) and so we were able to go to a beach and play sports right by the water! After that, most of the students and teachers went on a boat ride around the Brest seaport. Friday, the students did not have any afternoon courses, so they were able to spend a bit more time in town together. I know that many of them took advantage of this time to try new restaurants as well as go shopping. The annual “Soldes” (clearance sales) are taking place right now, so it is easy to get some great deals in virtually every store in town!

We have an extremely full week coming up ahead of us:

Monday evening is our soirée Danse Bretonne!! Students will have the opportunity to learn traditional Breton dancing with the help of their families! I am certain that a great time is to be had by all!

Wednesday teachers, students, and their families will be attending a ceremony and party that both celebrate the Fourth of July and commemorate the Franco-American collaboration during World War 2. The celebration starts with a ceremony at the American Monument in Brest.
Students will sing both the French and American national anthems. The area surrounding the monument is actually American territory, so the students will be on American soil for a few minutes of their national holiday. After the ceremony, everyone will gather for dinner and dancing.

We will wake up early Thursday morning for our excursion to Normandy that includes visits to the abbey of Mont St. Michel and the city of Dinan. We will be spending the night in a youth hostel, and then Friday we will visit the WWII memorial in Caen, the American cemetery, and Omaha Beach. The students have spent some class time studying D-Day and World War II, so their studies will tie in nicely with our second excursion.

I am more than certain that this week is going to absolutely fly by! Have a great week, and we are always ready to receive any comments, concerns, or questions.

Brest 2007

Photobucket Album

Week 3

Hello once again from (extremely rainy) Brest! We are at the beginning of our third week in France already!

Tuesday, the teachers met with most of the host mothers to discuss how the home stay is going. We got very positive feedback from the families and were able to answer their questions in regards to cultural differences, as well as communicate to them any concerns of our students. Last Wednesday was our first student evaluation. Now that everyone has adjusted and progress is being seen, it is time to kick it into full gear! More attention is going to be given to the fine points, and the already rapid progress is sure to become even more evident!

Last Friday was our first excursion. At eight in the morning, we all piled into a bus. The students were sleepy, but they began to perk up when the teachers put in a CD of French music of all different genres. There was much laughing, dancing, and—of course—singing in French! Our first stop was Locronan, a quaint medieval town. Students visited the beautiful cathedral, and took many pictures of the picturesque village. Almost everyone tried the Kouign Amann, a sugary, buttery Breton specialty! We boarded the bus once again, and headed toward the Pointe du Raz for lunch. The students picnicked right next to the sea. It did not rain, but the gray clouds and fog created a very dramatic and stunning scene. Our final stop was Quimper, a city famous for its pottery, full of history and full of shopping! We all went together to the center of the town, and then the students broke into small groups to explore the cathedral and all of the shops that line the streets. We returned home to Brest around 7:30pm, and although all of the students were quite tired, I am convinced that everyone had a wonderful time!

This week will be a relatively calm one. Tuesday, we are scheduled to go on a boat ride around the port of Brest (fingers crossed that it doesn’t rain!!). We were not able to take our group picture last Wednesday because of the rain, so we are hoping that this Wednesday will be a sunny one! Other than that, the students have a full week of classes and activities ahead of them. I think that some students were interested in organizing a group game of Laser Tag for Friday, so I will let you know how it goes! I am also attaching a link to a photo album that includes pictures from our visit to town hall, pictures of the town of Brest, and pictures from our first excursion!

As always, I hope everyone stateside is having a great summer. I know that ours is flying by!! Please do not hesitate to contact us with any comments, concerns, or questions! Have a great week!

Week 2

Hello, dear parents! How quickly time passes! Already we are into our second week here in (rainy) Brest!

Classes are well underway at the University of Brest, and the stagiaires are getting used to their daily routine of arriving at school (usually by bus) at 9:00 am, eating lunch together at 11:30 am, and finishing their afternoons at 3:25 after two more courses and their activities. The theatre groups and the choir have begun their daily rehearsals, and it is evident that we have a talented bunch of actors and singers this summer! After their activities, many students spend a few hours together exploring the stores, pastry shops, and restaurants of the downtown area. On Fridays we finish a bit earlier, and there are no afternoon activities. This allows the students to go into town and try new types of cuisine together—I believe that last Friday, many of them indulged in some delicious crepes!

Last Friday, the students and their host families came together for our reception at town hall. Zoe Masters and Allan Summers presented our program and thanked the city of Brest for its warm welcoming of the honors program. There was also an article describing the honors program and a photograph of the entire group in Le Télégramme, the city’s newspaper!

This week is, of course, a busy one! Tuesday, the teachers are hosting the annual mothers’ meeting—a kind of question and answer session with the host mothers and staff to make sure that everything is going smoothly for the students. We are taking our group photograph Wednesday afternoon, and the annual French music festival is on Thursday. Our first excursion is this Friday. We will be visiting the region to the south of Brest all day. Included are visits to a medieval village (Locronan), a city famous for its pottery and traditional Breton culture (Quimper), and a picnic on a seaside cliff (Pointe du Raz). Everyone is looking forward to it, and the culture class has already started preparing for it!

As you can see from our activities, everything is going very well in Brest. The students are learning a lot about French language and culture, and they are learning it very quickly! We are already seeing improvement, and we will only see more as the students become more and more accustomed to life in France. More updates will be sent to you in the next letter! I hope everyone is having a great summer. And as usual, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns!