School Days

As I remember school started in late September.  I was enrolled in the high school: Le Lycée Mixte Enghien-Montorency with Luce and Annie. The “mixte” means it was co-ed. My first day was not propitious.  Upon arrival, I was told to speak to the Surveillante Générale, the Dean in charge of discipline.  I don’t remember why?  But I knocked on her door, waited for a response and then went in.  A thin woman was seated behind a desk. Her hair was pulled back in a tight chignon. She eyed me critically and I became nervous and plunged my hands into my pockets.  I said, “Bonjour Madame.” and she barked something at me.  I didn’t understand.  She barked again and I must have looked like a deer in the headlights.  Then she got up and came around her desk and yanked my hands out of my pockets. It was not polite to put your hands in your pockets when addressing an adult. That afternoon, Tante Suzanne went back to the school with me to complain to the Directeur. After that the Dean honored me with an obsequious smile whenever we met.

I took, French, English, German, Math, History-Geography, Science, Music and a home economics class where we learned to sew by hand. Most classes met 2 or 3 times a week.  Each day I had a different schedule and Thursday was a day off.  However, we were given homework assignments to keep us busy.  And we had classes on Saturday morning.  During the week we had a two hour lunch break.

In French we did dictées to improve our written French, analyzed short passages of literature and read books and plays.  I remember reading Le Silence de la Mer.  It was written in 1941 by Jean Cruller under the pseudonym Vercors and published secretly in German-occupied France.  It’s about a German officer that is billeted in a French family in Brittany. The young girl and her uncle promise to never speak a word to the young officer.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Silence_de_la_mer).

A movie was made of the book in 2004.

We also read La Princesse de Clèves - a story about the court of Henri II written by Madame de La Fayette. 

The first week of English class was about how to make a proper cup of tea.  We memorized the lines : “I boil the water in the kettle.  I measure the tea into the pot. etc.”  The teacher spoke with a British accent which he considered the proper way to speak.  Sometimes he had me repeat the lesson aloud so the students could hear the American pronunciation.  This often elicited some giggles.

I particularly remember chanting verb forms:  For example present tense, past tense, past participle:  

bring - brought - brought, (I bring, I brought, I had brought)

sing - sang - sung, 

broke - broke - broken,
take - took - taken 

fall - fell -fallen, 

am - was - been.

In Math class we studied algebra and geometry on alternate days.  My Mother sent me a geometry book for reference.  On the whole Math was the easiest class because numbers could be understood with a minimum of words and many of those were cognates.

The teachers remained aloof from their students.  It was THEM versus US. There was none of the camaraderie that American teachers strive to engender.  When they entered the room, we all stood up; then waited for permission to sit down.  Sometimes the teacher would lecture all period at the board and perhaps call on a student or two to elucidate the homework. That might be your one and only chance to shine during the marking period.  All of this created a certain amount of tension.  Sometimes when the professeur left the room, the class went haywire; books went flying and students were bouncing off the walls.

On the whole my teachers and fellow students were friendly and helpful. At the end of the year there was La Distribution de Prix - a prize-giving ceremony.  The three top students in each subject matter received a prize, usually a book.  Very kindly, the school awarded me a poetry book…probably for making it through the year!