This was an interesting class. Of eight students, four were from the Paris area, two were from Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), and two were from Italy (both Milan I think). The out-of-town folks were a lot of fun, we did meals together and some sightseeing.
I've done this class on four continents now. North and South America, Europe, and Australia. I've gotten accustomed to the students "stretching" any break I give them. Ten minutes breaks become 15 or 20 minute breaks. But I have to say that the French are the worst. Class was originally scheduled to begin at 9am. They complained that it was too early. So I agreed to start at 9:30. Little did I know that 9:30 "Paris time" is actually 10:00. They might arrive at the building at close to 9:30 but then there had to be time for a leisurely coffee, conversation and for some a smoke. The Spaniards and the Italians would be in the room and ready at 9:30. The French would show up at 10:00 or just after.
Breaks and lunch were the same way. No matter what I told them for breaks it would be at least twice that long with a minimum of 45 minutes.
Oh, well. Not a big deal. We got thru most of the material that was slated for the week. I haven't flipped thru my evaluation forms to see if they liked the class or not. But no matter, it's done.
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