Halfway Mark

I've officially passed the halfway mark for this year, and it's kind of surreal to realize that my time in Saint-Quentin is more than half over. The beginning of the second half of the year could not feel more different than starting the first half in October. Here's a look at how some things have changed (especially since I wrote this post in November).

My Job. Getting easier? No, actually. Coming up with a range of lessons that will interest the students, motivate them to work, and hit that perfect balance between age and English level continues to be challenging. What I have noticed, however, is that I'm more confident in front of a class than I was before. I am no longer disturbed by being stared at, and I'm much less worried about impressing the students with every lesson. Some days are great, some are flops, life goes on.

Language. When I was getting ready to leave Nantes after my 3.5 month long program, I felt like my French ability was just starting to really improve. I've been in Saint-Quentin two weeks longer than I was in Nantes, and I can already see a difference from just the two week addition. I've had a pretty okay time understanding French this year, but I've noticed an increased fluency in my spoken French in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully in my time left I can master the dreaded subjunctive, forever my nemesis in French.

People. My connections to the people here continue to deepen. I'm now tutoring three students and two adults, and my sessions with the adults are especially rewarding. I enjoy chatting with people who've had very different life experiences than I've had, but finding a lot more common ground than anticipated. I'm more and more at ease with the teachers at school, entering into conversations more readily with not just the English teachers but those in other disciplines too. I almost worry that I won't get enough out of these relationships in the comparatively short time I have left (there are, incredibly, only nine full teaching weeks left). I continue to enjoy trips, movie dates, and nights out with the other assistants (and a few French friends we've acquired along the way), and I'm getting more and more out of this lovely international group I'm lucky to be a part of.

Living abroad. Around mid-November, I was wishing time would speed up. I often felt that I didn't have enough to do in Saint-Quentin, I wasn't fully settled into my school, and I didn't know my friends that well. The Christmas break seemed like it was ages away, and the end of my contract in April might as well have been years away. Now, of course, time has finally sped up and I wish it would slow down a bit. I've gotten quite used to Saint-Quentin, and am even fond of some things here...the charming central square, which is currently setting up for a new fair only a few weeks after the Christmas market ended...the bakery down the street, where the bakers recognize me and smile when I ask, my accent evident, for a baguette and a pastry...even the movie theater, with its limited "original version" options, where I've resigned to seeing Le Loup de Wall Street in French. When I arrived, I was doubtful I would become attached to the town, but four months later I'm starting to realize that leaving may be harder than arriving.

Thanksgiving in France

This is the first year that I haven’t been with my family for Thanksgiving. It’s weird and a bit melancholy to be so far away on this holiday, which is my mom’s favorite. I’m lucky, though, for having my fellow teaching assistants here. We planned an international Thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday night and ended up having a wonderful evening. Here are the numbers:

5: nationalities represented (3 Americans, 3 Germans, 2 Brits, 1 Mexican, and 1 Italian)

2: Mexican games played (basically Mexican bingo and Mexican dreidel, and they were awesome)

5: bottles of wine, cider, and juice consumed

0: traditional Thanksgiving foods eaten (instead, we had lasagna, croissants, chips, fries, salad, broccoli, carrots, spaghetti with pesto, cookies, and chocolate mousse)

10: sincere and heartwarming recitations of thanks. This was the best part of the evening: going around and saying what we’re thankful for. While every family has a different tradition for this part of the holiday, it seemed important to include it with our international group. We also all gave thanks in French, which was certainly a new experience for everyone!

~ Paper turkey from home, which we used as a table decoration ~

~ Assistants at our Thanksgiving table ~