Hannah's schooling

James and I seem to be having a crash course in French bureaucracy and French law with trying to get Hannah into the international school.  We received a letter last week from the school board saying that Hannah's application was rejected but we could reapply when we had suitable one to one teacher aide.  We thought that I could volunteer as the teacher aide until we found someone so wrote a letter back asking if I could volunteer.  We got another letter back saying that under French law even though IST is a school it is considered a business and under French law it is not possible for someone to volunteer in a school.   Both James and I thought this was rather strange as in NZ we have parent help and volunteers in schools all the time.  We have later found out that in France they do not have any parent helpers ever as the theory  is that if you need to get some to volunteer to do a job you could be employing someone so therefore someone is being done out of a paid job.  I think in NZ if we did away with volunteers in businesses the whole economy would collapse!

At this point we were both getting fed up with email so decided to go and talk to the school.  Basically they said that we need to find a teacher aide, probably through an agency would be easiest then James' work can employ them through that agency and they can work at the school.  This is probably easiest for everyone as that way if the person doesn't work out the agency can replace them.  Also, I was worried about James and I employing someone independently when we have no idea how to do that in France.  At least with an agency they will handle all the taxes etc for us.  It was a good meeting and I feel we are moving forward.  The principal is lovely and I do think if it was up to her she would have Hannah there in a heartbeat but we just have to go through the process that has been set out for us.  We are use to this as in order to get funding for special needs children in NZ you have to also go down all the proper channels.   Apart from socially I don't feel like Hannah is missing out educationally.  The work from the correspondence school is fantastic and she works really well at home and is making progress.  She is such a hard little worker and is a bright wee button especially with her maths and spelling.  Yesterday when we were walking to school I asked her what her favourite part of the morning was Maths, spelling, reading or writing and she said morning tea - so she's just a regular kid really!!

There are still no guarantees she will be accepted into IST but if we find a teacher aide we like and then still get rejected we will use that TA to support Hannah at home.  It would be great if Hannah can go to school even just half days.  We are trying to get 15 hours a week and then hopefully when she's in the school and they realise she doesn't need full time support she can start staying longer.  We just need to get her in the door!!

It is another beautiful day here so I guess our PE lesson will be swimming!!  Hannah has come on so well with her swimming and is swimming lengths now - little superstar!

A day out in Toulouse

After a few stressful days with finding out our lovely school back in new Zealand has been earmarked for closure as well as getting a letter from the International School of Toulouse saying that they can't offer Hannah a place unless she has a full time teacher aide - which we have to employ, we decided to head into Toulouse for some sightseeing.

We parked in an underground carpark right under the capitol square and then we walked out we came up into the middle of the outside seating of a cafe.

We had decided that we would like to go on a boat cruise down the Canal de Garonne which is the main canal in Toulouse.  We couldn't find a timetable on line so thought we'd go to the information centre.  The man said they went about every hour, so we headed down to the canal.  On the way we decided to have a look in the capitol building, which had the most amazing murals on the walls and ceilings.  We even found a painting of a sculpture we saw on our boat cruise later in the day.

When we got there at 10.50 we found that the next one didn't go till 2.30pm.  There were lots of people hanging around by the boats and when one came in at 12pm they got on.  We decided to act like good little sheep and follow them on.  Everyone else went downstairs but we thought we'd get a better view from the top.  We thought it was a bit odd so went downstairs to investigate and discovered that they were serving lunch.  We decided this could be fun so found a table and sat down.  On the table was water and wine in jugs and a big basket of bread.  We then got broguht a big bowl of salad (at this stage we had no idea how much this would cost but told jasper that we could always scrub the deck to pay for our meals - he wasn't keen).  After that the food just kept coming with duck and potatoes for our main, then chesse and dessert followed of course by coffee.  james has decided to start drinking coffee although he does put 2 large sugars in it.

Yes all that cheese is just for us!

Such a lovely lunch and such a neat thing to do - a fantastic french experience.   The captain of the boat was a real character and all the staff were lovely and friendly.

We then went on the cruise down the river and had our first experience of a lock and how it works which was pretty neat.  We went through some very low tunnels and did feel slightly anxious when the roof of the boat was lowered and we were sitting up on the top deck!

 Going into the lock.

 Yes Penelope it will touch!

People sitting along the river enjoying the sunny day and the photographic exhibition on the walls.

 Well deserved gelato.

 The boat we went on for our lunch cruise.

A concert going on in the Capitol square.

A lovely day out and I even got to have 30 mins looking around the shops on my own while James and the kids got icecream.  

Things I have learned about France so far

We have been here almost two weeks now and we are adapting to the French way of doing things.  I thought I would pass on some of the lovely, quirky and sometimes frustrating things we have encountered so far.

Pedestrian crossings at roundabouts and cars always stop and let you cross.  Jasper biked home on his own today and his first comment when I got home was "People are so nice how they always stop and let you cross the road".

Lovely gluten free bread in the supermarkets - yah, but no gluten free goodies at any of the gorgeous bakeries (I am on the look out though!!)  Our local bakery does do gf meringues and I have also seem macaroons.

Siesta from 12.30pm-2.30pm.  We went looking for cars today and we missed going to several as they shut for lunch at 12.30pm - have they not heard of staggered lunch breaks.

Cheeses, salamis, olives - beautiful food and soooo many varieties and choices!!

Everyone is so lovely and friendly and always say bonjour and au revoir when you buy something in the shops.

Hardly any public playgrounds - Hannah is struggling with this thankfully we have a swimming pool to keep her happy!!

Banks closed on Mondays.

Shops closed on Sundays - I actually quite like this.

Still can't find rice crackers.

Great coffee if you like espresso, not so good if you like flat whites like me - I guess my going out for coffee bill will be alot smaller.

Castles, abbeys and just amazing random old buildings in the middle of some tiny village - so wonderful to behold!

Magic moments - going into the abbey at Carcasonne and being amazed by its splendour and then hear the beautiful sound of a four man choir filling the whole building.

Buying things from the supermarket and then getting them home to discover they were not as they seemed - pasta sauce fill of olives (kids not so keen on this), gf crackers with cumin in them - I have eaten the whole box as again kids not keen.

Buying a box of magnum type icecreams on the way home after school when it's 34oC - yummy and very cheap.

Discovering that there is a reason why a bottle of wine (even French wine) is only 1.99 euros (about $3.50)! I think I will have to pay a bit more next time to get something decent!

Well that's enough ramblings for the moment.  I hope everyone is keeping warm at home as I read on stuff that the weather has turned quite wintry.