Welcome Wagon

God bless my principal. He is really in to this, and that's a relief. Having worked previously at a school where the principal's reaction was "No, and don't ever ask me again," it's been an absolute thrill to work with Mr. R on this exchange and to know that I have his full, enthusiastic support.

Today he called a meeting of the Mentoring Team, which was entirely his idea and buddy, let me tell you, he was not messing around. He had notes, he had an agenda, he had intentions: assign roles, handle the media, plan a Welcome Event.

(Side story on media: there was talk of a press conference, but I'm hoping that if I hold my breath and Think Good Thoughts, that will be forgotten. Actually, what happened was that Mr. R said he wanted to put out a press release, which my beloved colleagues believe is the same as a press conference. And even though my mass comm degree was absolutely screaming in pain, I sat very very still and bit my tongue till it bled while my beloved colleagues discussed the best location for the press release. [Okay, I might have backslid a little and suggested the fax machine as the best location for a press release, but they didn't hear me.])

Today we mostly talked about greeting the new girl and assigning "roles" to the various committee members to ensure that all bases are covered. Two faculty members, who sponsor the two largest clubs, are in charge of internal social activities, and as if to demonstrate what great choices Mr. R made, Estle has already planned a welcome breakfast. (There was a brief debate over whether she should be subjected to local breakfast delicacies, to which I emphatically responded yes. I mean, it's not like we're going to make her peel her own crawfish, more to the point, I want shrimp and grits.)

Everyone is very concerned about Florence feeling welcome and at home here; I tried to explain some of the differences in the education systems so they know what she's up against. (I'll never forget Mr. R's flabbergasted reaction when I explained that French schools have no sports, pep rallies, etc.)

And in the course of the meeting, they kept asking if the school in France was making the same preparations for me, which just made me laugh. Talk about cultural differences. The official answer is, I highly doubt it. In general, I find that the French have a much more hands-off approach; they are very respectful of people's privacy (to the point of ignoring them, in my opinion) and tend to approach the professional aspect with an attitude of, "You're a competent, well-educated person, and we have every confidence that you'll figure out what you're doing on your own." Complimentary, of course, though in my case it's a disaster in the making. Good times to come...