Orientation day

After a long (and hopefully restful) weekend, the students came in at 09:00am on Monday for orientation day. In the morning, they completed a language proficiency test. After the test, we gave the students old-school flip phones with which they can call and text, but cannot access the internet or any kind of app. Our students (born between 1999 and 2002) had to learn yesterday how to text with the old T9 system - the one where you have to press the first key three times to get to letter C. They LOVED it! (No, they didn't). Then lunch was served at the cafeteria at the Igloo. The food here is amazing! After the students realized yesterday how good it was, I think lunch was the only thing on their mind came 11:00am today! In the early afternoon, the students received a visit from Kim Manlick, a French teacher at Carmel High. The two students that we have from Carmel this year were very surprised. Carmel has very dedicated teachers who discreetly follow their students abroad to make sure they stick to the language requirement! More seriously, Kim was an IUHPFL student in Saint-Brieuc in 1982 and I had the immense pleasure to teach her daughter Ellie in 2016, also here in Saint-Brieuc. Kim talked to the students (in French, of course!) about how important it is to keep in touch with host families after the program ends as she and her daughter were in Saint-Brieuc visiting host family members from 2016 as well as from 1982! After Kim and Ellie left, we completed orientation with activities designed to get to know each other better. Then the student went home and came back with their host families at 08:00pm for our first host family meeting.