Elsien's Traveblogue

 I've been busy … Not enough days in the week to go out exploring; I'm shocked to find that our ittle trip to Aigues Mortes was the most recent one. Not that we haven't been anywhere since then – went to UK end of October, to Paris in November for a most inspiring TESOL France conference. I keep meaning to follow up some of the contacts there and still haven't got round to it.

Busy with exams at the end of the year – each lecturer has to design their own, even though we all teach the same programme, which is so prescriptive that it is almost Teaching by Numbers. I feel like doing a whole blog on English teaching in France … I might still do that!

Montpellier is festive, but not 'over-the-top. We have a Christmas market, Christmas lights and the shopping streets are as busy as anywhere else. The weather is not very Christmassy yet – grey and rainy, but I have hopes it will cheer up soon and we will be able to have Boxing Day lunch outside on the Promenade in Palavas, our seaside resort.

I'm doing most of mine on-line as they have to be sent to UK and Netherlands, so better Amazon than me queuing up at the Post Office. The French Post Office is pretty good though: it's all automatic, put your letters / parcels on a scale, choose your country and it prints your stamped labels. Beats Britain by a mile. They also have late opening hours, until 8pm, great!

Here for Christmas until New Year, then off to Holland for a week and then …. not sure! My little job at the University of Montpellier has come to an end for the moment, as all the First Year students will be 'taught' by e-learning next semester and my services will not be needed. The University communication systems are pretty bad, so I only found out about this last week – a bit late to organise alternative employment. Trying valiantly though and it's lucky my main employers, a language school in Brussels, seem to be able to provide me with a constant stream of my own e-learning students. All this stuff for my blog on English / language education in France – watch this space! E-learning: the death of teaching? Or new opportunities? One of my e-learning students is organising a conference on Education and Technology and thought I might do a presentation there … speaking to her soon, so I'll find out.

In the meantime, a few pics of festive Montpellier ...