Bon Michelle!

Today was the day! Lycée Palissy students came to our school and were taught Art, Music and Drama by our staff and students. I can't emphasise enough how wonderful this day was. Everyone was outstanding and I'm so proud!

It did involve me having to stand up and speak French to a hall full of French and English people...scary stuff...but I realised one thing: You only ever have to be courageous for 20 seconds.

Ok, so I stole that from the movie/book: 'We Bought a Zoo'...but thinking about it, it's so true! Some examples...

...the time it takes for the flap to be made in laser eye surgery: 20 seconds.
...the time it takes to paddle through the biggest wave of the set into calmer waters behind: 20 seconds (well, if you're lucky!)
...the time it takes to push through the initial "I don't want to be running anymore!" feeling at the start of a 6 mile run: 20 seconds (after that, you're in it for the long haul.)
...the time it takes to walk to the front of the hall, switch on the microphone and get everyone's full attention: 20 seconds (at least the first one did...and after that, who's counting?!)

Basically, once you've done something scary for 20 seconds, it becomes a lot less scary. Except maybe being in a particularly creaky elevator...

The photo shows my Head of Department's sense of humour. He got me the bottle to say well done for organising today's events. Funny!