The outsider looking in

Being taught in schools in one country definitely gives one an interesting framework through which one views the system in another country. And, having worked here for two weeks now, I've been paying a lot of attention to how the schools here work, some of the aspects of the system here in France stand out more prominently than others.

• Bell rings for a game of musical rooms- at least in the US, with most primary and secondary schools that I've seen, the usual is that the teacher remains in the same room while the students move from one room to another as needed. There are some teachers who were "nomadic", at least at my high school, who changed rooms, but those were infrequent and the rule was that teachers had their own rooms.
  Here, not so. None of the rooms are permanent, so it's a bit more like university in the US and UK: both the students and the teachers switch rooms frequently. Therefore, the "room" for the teachers is the salle des professeurs, analogous to the teacher's lounge in the US. And at both my collège and lycée, it's a rather nice little room: coffee/beverage vending machines, some snacks, computers, and the mailboxes. So, naturally, most of the teachers are in here when they don't otherwise have classes. (Or if they're not smoking a cigarette.)
• University-like scheduling- Unlike the standard in the US, where one meets for fixed periods at fixed times throughout the week, that's not what happens here. Most students will see a teacher for two to three hours per week for a total of about 30 hours of classes per week, and the teachers, accordingly, are assigned to work not the same hours. Not to mention there's a nice two-hour lunch break and several pauses de récréation throughout the day, so the students, unlike in US middle and high schools, aren't running from 8:30 to 3:30 with only a 30 minute break. In a way, it's also nice for the teachers.
• Wine for the teachers- How else would they get through the day? Okay, I know, not all of them drink it, but teachers can have wine with their meals here at the lycée. As I explained to one of the teachers I'm working with, that'd be a huge no-no in the States. Part of it, of course, comes in that most teachers drive to and from work, and the other part is that people in the US are very strict about enforcing the drinking age and prohibiting access to alcohol by people under 21, so it's slightly illegal (at least) to bring alcohol to a high school.
• Stuck together like glue- In the States, the same group of students doesn't take the same classes after elementary school: you pick your schedule and you move around. Here in France, though, it seems like the same groups of students, all chosen based on the classes they take and their degree program, move together throughout the school day for their classes.

As the year progresses, I'll have more observations to add. Probably.

What's great is that the teachers here are very friendly, and it makes me want to spend more time with them. Especially at the collège, since I'm only there for one day each week... and not at all this upcoming week, as it's vacation time! Oh, yeah, and the French are serious about vacations: the normal rhythm here is 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off, it feels, with two months instead for the vacances d'été. Next week are the vacances de Toussaint, and they last until the 3rd of November (well, in any event, I go back to work on the 4th).

So, yeah, have a good week/weekend, and more stuff will probably materialize over break.