La rentrée

I'm starting to think these long French vacations might not be such a good day. These kids have a week or two off for every six weeks of school. That means a week in November, two weeks for Christmas, two weeks in winter, then another two weeks for spring. After two weeks I'm usually adapted to my new vacation lifestyle and I have to drag myself back to the real world. However, I somehow got through yesterday relatively smoothly. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was extremely well rested after break, so even though I had about 5 intense dreams and woke up in between each of them, I was pretty energetic yesterday. It might've helped that I ran up about 6 flights of stairs to barely make my train on time. I really need to be in the metro at 6:50 in case, like yesterday, I miss the 6:52 train and another doesn't come for 6 minutes. You never realize how a few minutes can make a huge difference in your life until you have a 7:18 train to catch. Regardless, I made it. Next challenge of the day was the mother fucking hurricane going on outside. It was really picking up right at 10 am, when I was making the 10 minute walk in between schools. I was wearing a hat and coat and boots and brought my umbrella, but for whatever reason I decided my raincoat wasn't necessary. But of course you can't use the damn umbrella because it will turn inside out and impale you. So I just dealt with the pelting rain.
As far as classes, it wasn't that bad. A couple times I had to sip some water because the yelling was making my voice crack, but I think the kids got their energy out over break. I'm almost finished with the textbook thing I've used to teach them (which I'm not even sure is an ideal method, but it's just not French to tell me what they want me to use) and I'm glad because soon it's going to be all speaking, all the time. It's more work for me but it's better for the kids and keeps them more entertained. The little ones always want to sing songs, which is good for them but I can't help but feel like a giant dork. When I was in French classes I hated singing songs. Godfrey used to make us sing along to Notre Dame de Paris and I just couldn't control myself. The one hit was a Carla Bruni song, so maybe playing some popular music would work better. I could make them sing The Beatles or *NSYNC or something (haha). Or maybe a nice, resounding chorus of "Rehab," since they like it when I emphasize England (I don't think they realize that I didn't know what "pants" meant in England until recently, or that a bollock is an actual thing. I'm really not an expert). It's like asking them to teach me about Québec. Fuck if they know anything about those separatists, right? Same deal.
Anyway, I will solider on. When I got home, it looked like a tornado had ripped through my apartment. And actually, that's kind of what happened. Aside from leaving my raincoat at home, my #2 dumbass achievement of the day was not locking one of my windows (the one above my bed) before I left. When I walked in, the thing was wide open and there half the things on my nightstand had blown off, including about 200 flashcards. There was a puddle under the window, and my poor cat was freezing. In fact he spent the rest of the night spooning my leg under the covers. However this assuages my fear that he will jump out the window if given the chance -- it was probably open for 5 or 6 hours and he's still alive. I really can't wait for this hellish weather to pass. Clouds, rain, and cold are one thing -- but things like hail and hurricane winds are way over the top.