(12th March 2012)  This was a nice day, getting to know each other. A bit of French, a lot of English, they enjoyed the challenge !

 

 

 

 

 

Hi !

Little by little I am organising your day with us /me (& with Odile, a bit).

In each of my classes I suggest we mix the Norwegians and the French students so that they can have a chat as they feel it, with whoever wants to. I'll ask my students to be wearing their first names on a card so that your students can make out who answered the Xmas cards for instance.


MONDAY 12th MARCH 2012


(Before 9.00 : see below : buy tickets for the canteen).


- I start at 9.00 with the music students. They are lively and not really shy. Pretty talkative. They are eager to see you all. It should be nice.

- From 10.00 to 11.00 I have a class of Year 12 (lower 6th/1ères). The Principal and the Deputy Head will be coming some time during this period and we have planned to bring some fruit juice and crisps ! They are keen on seeing you, too. The Head knows Norway and loves Stanvanger.

- 11.00 to 12.00 with Terminales (Upper sixth). You will stay only half an hour with them.

- at 11.30 my "secondes" (year 11) will be coming for you and take you to the school canteen. They are doing that especially to see you because I have no class with them on Mondays and they usually go home for lunch or eat out.
They are also very happy about the opportunity !
I can join you just after 12.00.
YOU MUST BUY THE MEAL TICKETS IN THE MORNING. THE BEST WOULD BE JUST BEFORE 9.00. I don't dare buy the tickets in advance, just in case everyone changes his mind !

- At 1.00 pm  (till 2.00) I have a lower sixth again; you can mix with them as well; they are looking forward to seeing you !

After 2.00 I am free and I can be with you. Odile starts at 2.00 (!) and wishes to see you, too, but to take only four or five pupils in her classroom for her students to have a chat in English with yours in small groups.


But by then you will all be fed up with having chats !!!!
So we may plan something different for you (as far as I'll be allowed in such a structure; or would you like to visit a museum ?)

I am starting to have ideas...

See you soon !

 

 

 

Bonjour, élèves de Hetland !

A votre tour vous allez pouvoir faire connaissance avec notre lycée,

(Now it's your turn to get a glimpse of our school)

situé entre mer et centre-ville, à deux pas de la Vieille-Ville.

(which stands between the sea and the town centre, quite close to the Old Town)

Voici une vue générale depuis la terrasse au pied de la Tour de l'Horloge (vue est)

(This is an overview (east)  from the terrace with the Clock Tower)

 

Les façades jaunes, au fond, sont celles de la Rue Désiré Niel

(the yellow façades/fronts in the background are from the houses in Rue D. Niel)

Ici vous voyez plus à gauche (nord-est)

(Here you can see further left: north east)

et voici notre belle Tour de l'Horloge.

(and this is the old clock tower)

Malheureusement, toutes les salles de classe n'ont pas encore été rénovées et ont conservé le charme de la vétusté !^^

(Unfortunately our classrooms have not all been renovated yet and look quaintly  ...dilapidated !^^)

We'll send pictures of this later.

(à suivre...)

 

 

Wow, our five-day trip was worth it indeed!

Stavanger, the Petroleum Capital of Norway, is no city of concrete (pas du tout une ville de béton) but is a lively and nice-looking place of about 200,000 people (126,000 for the inner city - or harbour area). The old centre and all the islands north and northeast of the harbour are quite picturesque. 

The city boasts loads of intimate or bucolic places along the fjords

(peut s'enorgueillir de beaucoup de lieux plus intimes ou plus bucoliques dans les fjords - avancées de la mer dans les vallées glaciaires)

 

 

 

                    (Hafrsfjord)

                         and historic places

( the SWORDS IN THE ROCK Monument commemorates the battle of Hafrsfjord, in 872, after which King Harald Fair Hair (Harald à la Belle Chevelure) united the three districts of western Norway to make one single kingdom)

 

        and crystal-clear waters in the 'ocean,' as they call it (= the North Sea)

 with soft sandy beaches,

                               plus mountains for hikers,

 

   (Mark the green roof for eco-friendly insulation)
   (here, a Preikestolen hytte)

   Below: on our way to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock)

 

 

 

  It was ever so windy ! I had never seen such a thing !  We had to crawl our way to the edge and hold tight!   But what a reward!

And the two-hours' hike up there is varied and sporty!

 

 

 

           There are also facilities for children on small beaches along fjords.

Sea-food is their everyday treat  (les produits de la mer sont leur régal de tous les jours)

            (fresh shrimps)

 

but the traditional meal (repas traditionnel) consists in meat balls and vegetables + mashed chick peas (purée de pois cassés) or green peas, with lingonberry jam! (avec de la confiture d'airelles rouges)

People are very welcoming and friendly. We met someone in the harbour who offered us to take a seat on his boat (a lovely old wooden boat)

 

and on another occasion our host borrowed a towel from a posh hotel nearby so that I could dry myself and get changed after a swim in the North Sea !  No way they would have done that in France !  

(la réception d'un hôtel très chic nous a  prêté une serviette de bain pour que je puisse me sécher et me changer après avoir été nager !)

We were able to visit the Oil Museum (Musée du Pétrole)

which looks out onto the sea

 

 

and even stands above the waves.

 

I also visited Hetland Secondary School further south

and met the French class who should be penpalling with my own pupils !

 

But time to leave was drawing near -

Farewell, rowan trees  (adieu, sorbiers)

 

and Norway !

 

 

 

... Perhaps my pupils themselves

will be able to see all this

some day in Stavanger, won't you ?!

*************

In the meantime (entretemps)

we'll send you pictures of our own school in Nice

under the heading 'TRIPS' (rubrique "voyages")

and articles from the community of pupils/students

should give our Blog a new lease of life !

(devraient donner une nouvelle vie à notre blog !)

 

 

 

Vivement un peu de fraîcheur ! 32° à Nice aujourd'hui...

La maison d'Unni est sur une île qu'un pont relie à Stavanger. 

Nous avons hâte de survoler la côte si découpée à l'approche de l'aéroport de Sola, de marcher sur la plage puis de découvrir, à un peu plus de vingt kilomètres, le rocher de Preikestolen 

ou le bloc coincé à 1000m d'altitude au-dessus du Lysefjord :       Kjeragbolten.

  

Sans parler de la vie en Norvège, de la cuisine, des habitudes de tout un chacun...

Et peut-être pourrai-je rendre visite à une des classes de français d'Unni ?  Comme elle-même l'a fait dans mes propres classes au printemps 2010 .

Ici, une photo d'Unni (premier plan) avec moi.

 

  

See you soon !    Ses snart !