So, this guy I work with sings in a choir with this English woman who works at the Centre de Liaisons et d'Echanges Internationaux in Amiens. A while back, he asked me if it would be okay to give her my coordonnées, because she was interested in inviting me to give a presentation. My celebrity status is growing! But seriously, she invited me to intervenir and talk about the American education system. We set a date, and the CLEI reserved a salle municipale in town. I then set to work making a beautiful presentation with iWork '08 (which can then be exported to PowerPoint or Quick Time, among other things). Explain the education system. In 45 minutes. Right.
Last night was the big night. I wasn't too nervous because it was in English, and we all know I have no problem talking! The stress came when they couldn't get their computer to work with the projector, and they didn't have the right cable for my Mac. Good thing I had made copies...unfortunately, 35 handouts weren't enough; Shân said there were more people in attendance than usual! I was reassured when I saw a few familiar faces: Maryse and Jean-Louis, whom I met during my first trip to Amiens in 2006; people I've met through them and the France-USA club; Elise from the Rectorat and Emmanuelle from Poix. At that moment, I really feel at home in Amiens. And when one of the attendees asked me to dinner afterwards, I had to decline because I'd already accepted an invitation to eat with Véronique, Jean-Pierre and the girls.
Despite the technical difficulties and the tightly-packed room, my presentation went well. After my 30-minute speech, I fielded questions from the audience, and also sought comments from the American students in attendance. Their opinions and insight were an unexpected but well-appreciated addition to what I had prepared.
1 comment:
You're famous!
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