My Last Day of Class at the Alliance Francaise

Today was my last day of class at the Alliance Francaise. The teacher had us meet in the cafeteria instead of the classroom and we started out the day with fresh croissants and friendly conversation (in French) about the various customs and songs of Christmas in each of our countries. So interesting! I don’t think I've talked much about the students in my December class. They were even more diverse than the 1st group!

This time, I was the only American. And other than a girl from Canada and a girl from Australia, everyone else was from non-English speaking countries. But just as before, they ALL spoke at least some English and that was how we communicated with one another during breaks (the only time English was allowed). The people in my class came from: Uganda, Pakistan, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Luxembourg, Ukraine and Israel.

The guy from Israel (Ron) was a polo player who has traveled (and lived) all over the world – including the U.S., and South Florida. He knew West Palm and even mentioned City Place to me. Small world, huh? The girl from Canada (Celina) was really nice. It was too bad we didn’t meet sooner on my trip as we likely would have hung out together. But she had just arrived in Paris as my trip was coming to an end. Her husband’s company transferred him to Paris and they will be living here for at least two years. It was interesting hearing her stories about figuring out how to do the things necessary to actually live there – search for an apartment, apply for a residents visa, etc. I envy her opportunity of being able to spend the next few years in Paris. We exchanged email addresses, so hopefully we’ll keep in touch.

After class, I went to the office and picked up my certificate (Rebecca will appreciate this) showing that I completed 4 weeks (or 80 hours) of instruction – Basic, Level 1. So when I continue my study of French I can use it to help get placed in the correct class (or show to a prospective employer who may requires a basic proficiency in French). After that, I was off to the train station – Gare du Nord – to catch the Thalys train to Brussels!

I’m actually on the train now writing this. The Thalys trains all have WiFi – free for 1st class passengers, at cost for us 2nd class citizens. So I’ll wait until I get to the hotel in Brussels to actually post this ;-