Chapter 58: Stop, Drop and Roll

nerd blog post #63

Last night's theatre group was the last of the semester, as I leave for Paris next Wednesday afternoon. It was a good one. We did more scenes and this time they chose from French or English. We did some Miller and Albee, and then some French ones that are new to me. Next semester, things will change a little bit. We'll choose something work on more intensely and then show it at the end of the semester. I don't know if it will be a play, some scenes, or something we devise, but it will require more commitment with a final goal in sight. I'm looking forward to it.

During the class, a man came in and asked to speak to me. He's part of a team of doctoral students that are working on translating contemporary French plays into English. They got my name somehow, and are looking for a native speaker with a graduate degree in theatre (I have a feeling there isn't much selection) to join them. Sounds like an interesting project, but I told him we should meet in January to discuss it further. Right now, I have a pretty full plate for next semester, and I don't want to commit to too much at this point. But could be fun.

The British Christmas party was nice, though I didn't stay long. I am always tired after the theatre group, and I gave three exams today, so didn't want to be totally drained.

The exams went well. They were all second year pronunciation classes. There are about twenty sections of this course, and I have five of them. The professor in charge of the whole course was there for the first exam so I could get a feel for how the students should be marked. They had ten minutes to practice the reading of a text (that they were seeing for the first time) and then two chances to record it. After they left, we listened to each one and graded them out of twenty. This is their grade for the course, though the work they do throughout the semester comes into play as well. With the professor, six of my fifteen students failed, and the highest mark given was a fifteen. The average was around ten. I found it really hard to give such low marks to my students. They all come every class and try hard. And I know what it's like to have an accent and to work at it.. But I stuck to her strict guidelines for the other two classes.

During the final exam, the fire alarm went off. Disaster! I gathered my things, instructed the students to leave their papers in the classroom, locked the door, and wandered outside. When I got outside, a fire marshall asked me how long our exit was. What!? Umm.. Five minutes? Did I count my students as they exited? No.. Oopsies. In trouble by the fire marshall! I didn't know the rules! It worked out fine and no one was too rattled.. But it was pretty strange.

I went to Ikea with roommates Alexandre and Cynthia this afternoon. We got a Christmas tree and decorations. The tree is the biggest one I've seen here - almost my height! We'll decorate it before Cynthia leaves Saturday morning. Being in Ikea reminded me of home, as did the smell of the Christmas tree in the car...

Tonight, Merrill's friend is coming in from Paris. She's throwing a party and I'm leaving soon to attend. We're going to play Beer-pong. For those of you who don't know what Beer-pong is, it's played on a ping-pong table with ping-pong balls, cups and beer. I love this competition and expect an undefeated championship tonight. The problem with Beer-pong in France is that everything is miniature. The cars, the Christmas trees, every woman's waistline, and yes, the plastic cups. It will be interesting. A bunch of students are coming, too, which always adds. I just read that Beer-pong was invented at Princeton. I smell a Hincks sibling duel...

Hope all of you are well.

Signing off,
Hincks.