Sunday, March 10, 2013

Are you crazy?

When people hear I am taking twelve teenagers to France for two weeks, the inevitable response is, "Are you crazy?"  Then, when they find out that I am a high school French teacher, they nod knowingly and say,"You are crazy.  I could never do what you do."

So, why do I lead these trips to France every two years?  Well, it's simple, really.  Some twenty years ago, I had a chance to live in France for a while and it changed my life.  When I first arrived I wondered what I had gotten myself into and refused to say a word in French to anyone.  I was much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, hoping that if I clicked my heels together three times I would be magically transported back home.  But I soon realized that going home wasn't an option and I might as well get with the program.  

I soon realized that the French were not as unfriendly as everyone claimed them to be.  They were actually quite nice and appreciated that I was willing to try and speak their language instead of expecting them to speak mine.  I discovered so many new and wonderful things.  I no longer wanted to go home but relished every moment.  My life in France was so different that my life back home in the States and I loved it.    I loved discovering new things, new places and new ways of doing things. I loved the people,  their sense of humor and way of life.  France had become my adopted home.  
Me and my frenchman in 1992

When I came back to the United States and returned to my university studies, I had some decisions to make.  I could finish the work I started and become an elementary teacher or change my major and continue my love affair with France and the French.  I must admit, the fact that I had fallen head over heels for a certain frenchman and my future husband, made my decision quite easy.   So, I changed my major and the rest is history as they say.
Lorka ( far left ) and Sadie ( far right)
with their host sisters in Dinan, France.

I have been teaching French for a long time now and one of my greatest joys is taking as many students as I can abroad to share with them a little bit of the magic I first felt some 20 years ago.  I never get tired of their excitement when they see the Eiffel Tower for the first time, the apprehension on their faces when they meet their host families and say, "I'm not sure if I can do this, Madame" and the tears that are shed when it's time to say good-bye and they have to leave to come back home.

Am I crazy?  Maybe, but I wouldn't have it any other way.



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