Noel approaching and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

As I write this this, we are just over a month away from Christmas day and that means that Part 1 of the Year Abroad is coming quickly towards its conclusion, my train tickets home have been booked. It's going to be my first time I will have traveled internationally all alone, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Elsewhere Paris is slowly becoming the festive city that you see in all the photographs. Tonight the Champs-Elysées will see its christmas lights turned on, and that is in addition to the Christmas Market that opened last week, markets are popping up across the city rapidly (www.paris.fr/noel for those interested and reading from the Paris region). Even the McDonalds are starting to get festive with each of them getting some rather incredible lights outside. I'll write more about Christmas in the Paris area next month, but I thought it'd be nice to share a few photographs.

Elsewhere, I've finally begun to do 30 minute sessions alone on whatever I want to do with the students. Which was initially a terrifying prospect, until I just decided to teach them about things I know. So far this has included Rememberance day, Children in Need, Fireworks night and Sherlock Holmes.  I'm pleased to say these all went quite well, and so hopefully I'll be able to carry this on next week. Note to all assistants: Kids love British comedy. It goes down a storm.