Surprise picture day!

Monday all the kids at one of my schools had their school picture taken. It was kind of a mini cultural lesson for me, and a surprise! They put me in one of the class pictures and I was not dressed for picture day.

It seems though, that picture day in France (or perhaps it is only in this town or only at this school, because I would suspect it is a different story in Paris) is much less stressful than in the States. At my elementary school in California at least, everyone made sure to show up in their best outfits, and they would pass out plastic combs while you waited in line so you could make sure, last-minute in front of the little mirror, that you looked perfect. Here the kids didn't seem to be noticeably better put-together, and everyone was pretty relaxed. The photographer called each of the kids "ma cacahuète", my peanut, and teased them if they looked too stiff, making the whole class erupt in laughter. I guess because the school is relatively small, they took portraits of all the siblings together too, and it was quite an exciting event, for my students who had a brother or sister to run and get them from their class.

Also, their equivalent of "Say 'Cheese!'" is "Dis-moi 'Oui!'" That is something I did not know!