The last few weeks have been spent settling back into our life here and also transitioning back to school. After arriving in August we had 1 full week and 2 weekends before school started up again. We took advantage of the time to head to the lake, reunite with friends, unpack, get the house in order, and get everything ready for the start of school.
Love this one of Lola and her buddies! She actually took this herself!
(notice the brother of one of her friend's trying to sneak in the back, ha!)
What'a return to France without a return to SWEETS!! ;-)
Exploring some trails not too far from our house!
Thankfully the girls first two weeks of school have been really good! Such a sharp contrast from La Rentree of last year! If you're new to the blog, you should definitely head back and read some of those posts from last September. The struggle was real; for them and us alike! This year, all in all, it's been quite smooth. Certainly helps that they returned to the same school and to the same friends. They know French and knew what to expect. Both girls seem quite happy with their new teachers and ready to take on the year. Teah was a bit more nervous than Lola leading up to the first day. Admittedly without us speaking any French over the summer, she had lost some of her confidence and was scared she was going to struggle. But she quickly jumped right back onto the French "wagon" and had a great first day!
First day pics!
I can't believe these 2; first day of 2nd and 3rd grade.
Also known here in France as CE1 and CE2 respectively.
Reunited with friends!!
Lola's friend showing off her new back-pack that actually says on it "All You Need is Lola". Ha!
Getting lined up in their classes. Mind you this is the only day throughout the entire year that parents are allowed within the school gates!!
Teah walking in with her buddy! For those of you who followed along last year you might recall that Marc had to walk Teah in as she was a crying mess the first day. Notice today...smiling, walking confidently, holding hands with her friend. Ahhhhhhh (that's my sigh of relief)!
La Rentree is also the start of a new sports year. After-school sports and activities are organized quite a bit differently here. They follow the school year, so you have to sign up at the start of school and you pay for the entire year. There's no such thing as track in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. Whatever you pick, you're doing ALL year! You do get all the school holidays and the summer off though.
Trying to learn what activities are available and get the girls signed up before the classes were full was a real endeavor. No easy-breezy websites to peruse like we might expect in the States. Nope! Each city, town, or commune has a "Forum", which is a half-day generally held at the local "Maison-des-Sports" (literally translated as House of Sports). All the activities available in that area have a booth and advertise their sport, schedule, etc. Here's the kicker though. Don't expect to just meander around taking it all in and then deciding later what you want to do. Oh no! That won't work. You have to decide right then and there what you're kid's going to do, sign-up, register, and pay on the spot to reserve your spot! But what if you just want to try a class you ask?? Well it depends on the activity. It seems like most of them want you to register and write a check for the whole year and then come to the first class. You have to decide after the 2nd class and if you choose not to continue then you get your money back. Okay. Fair enough. Except.......if you've spent the first 2 weeks trying something that your kid decides they don't want to do, guess what.......everything else has filled up!! Not so easy to change your mind.
This was just 1 room at the Thonon Forum!! I have never seen anything like this before. Every possible sport or activity you can imagine (over 150!); for kids and adults alike.
Marc working at the swim team booth with the head coach and another parent. By the way, this so happens to be the same team he swam for as a kid! Full circle, people!
With Lola it was pretty easy. She knew she wanted to get back into swimming and there's only one swim team, so decision made. Except they have a really long waiting list for new swimmers. The coach told us that he actually had parents lined up at 3am before the Forum to sign their kid up!! Can you believe that?! 3 am!!! I can't imagine being motivated enough to do that. Thankfully Lola (and Teah if she wanted) was assured a spot on the team once Marc decided to accept a coaching position for them. Yup!! As much as Marc did not think he wanted to keep coaching, he did want to get back to swimming and teaching, and while he works towards creating his swim school it seemed like a good opportunity to connect himself into the swimming world here. So back to the pool!
With Teah though, not so easy. She wanted to get back into dance. Okay. That narrowed it down, except there's a bunch of different dance schools and classes at different times and different locations. And trying to be mindful of Lola's swim practice schedule made it a bit challenging to find some classes that would work. Needless to say we signed-up to try 3 different classes and got on a waiting list for a 4th class. We have 1 more class to try this week but it looks like she's narrowing it down to a Wed afternoon ballet class and a Tuesday evening class that combines several different dance styles including flamenco and rhythmic gymnastics; should be interesting.
A modern/jazz class she tried.
And a ballet class. I won't even try to point her out! ;-)
For Marc and I we too feel like we've had a "Rentree" back into work. I'm getting back into my groove writing, posting, and Skyping with clients, while Marc is getting ready to start coaching this week!
Here's to a good return and renewed success in whatever your endeavors this Fall. Wishing everyone a "Bonne Rentree"!!
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