The end!

I guess when you take such a big move as this one, living in France for seven months, you don't really ever think the day will come for it to end. And now it has arrived and we're all a bit lost and shocked. Certainly it was difficult to explain to the kids why I'm leaving at Easter break (and not at the end of the school year, like a normal teacher would). But also for me it's hard to swallow the fact that my life for the past seven months is ending- once again I'm picking up my stuff and finding a new thing to do.

It's been a great run. Two schools, ten classes, 208 students, plus two video sessions. How many names do I remember? Some classes more than others... but here they are in all their glory. Silly and happy and always ready to learn English, even if at times they yell out "Imanta, j'ai pas compris..." It was all part of the journey. And everyone seemed to come out of it better than they were before. My French has improved tremendously, although I have lost some of my writing skills. And even if they still mix up "How are you?" and "How old are you?", the seed has been planted for enjoying English and for pursuing the discovery of a different culture than their own.

The last days at school were much easier than I had expected them to be, that is, emotions weren't as crazy as I thought they might be. But that's for the better, I really wanted to leave on a high note, celebrating everything we had accomplished together. We spent the last day playing Simon Says and singing all of the songs we had learned throughout the year- most popular being The Wheels on the bus (go round and round), B-I-N-G-O, If you're happy and you know it. I received more love letters than I have ever received, and more hugs (and kiddy germs) than I want to imagine. It was great to have such a fun-loving relationship with the kids! So here they are for you to see- all the "gamins" with whom I spent my days...

Ecole Marie Curie

(The big kids! CM2)

(The best class CM1)

(The little devils CE1/CE2)

(The babies CP/CE1)

Ecole Jean Macé
(The youngest CP)

(The oldest CM2)

(The most loving CM1)

(Attentive and enthusiastic CM1)

(Just so darn cute CE1/CE2)

(Wild child CE1/CE2)

45ème Fête des Jonquilles!!

(In front of my school!)

Eh, ben, voila!

The famous daffodil festival has come and gone with much excitement in between! There was certainly a lot of build up!

All the festivities started already Thursday afternoon, when the kids from my schools began the daffodil picking. Olivia and I went to the office of the Association des Fetes to pick up our passes and to prove that we live in Gerardmer, so we didn't have to pay the 12 euro entry fee. The office was above old factory buildings which were packed with floats ready to be decorated with daffodils for the Sunday parade. We walked in and everyone stared at us- there were a few awkward moments of "who are you, what are you doing here", when all of a sudden one of the men goes, "Oh! You are the Americans! Yes, come in!" And we got our passes without any problems. As we walked out they started shouting "God bless America" and "Viva America"... wow. We repaid with "God bless France"... haha

I joined one of my schools on Friday morning to see what the daffodil picking as all about. The schools do this as a fundraiser, because each bouquet they make brings back 0,25 euro. Each bouquet must have 50 daffodils: ready, set, GO! And the kids go running around the fields a few miles outside of Gerardmer picking flowers, trying to make their classes quota and receiving candy for their hard work. Child labor and easy days at its best!

(On the trek to the daffodil fields Friday morning)

(Counting the bouquets to see if we've made our quota!)

Friday evening Michelle came to visit from Nancy. It was actually her second time in Gerardmer, but her first time visiting me. :) But nothing was officially starting with the daffodils until Saturday.

(Olivia, Michelle, Thomas, Charlene, Me, Mathieu at "French brunch")

Saturday morning we had "French brunch", made by the frenchman in our group- Mathieu. So we all packed into his apartment for a late morning tasting of what the french typically eat. (Although the concept of "brunch" doesn't really exist for them) Then we set out to see the decorations of the stores and the floats getting ready. Throughout town radios were set up (like for the Fantastic Film Festival) and they kept announcing that they were missing 10,000 daffodils for the floats! Oh no! We didn't do much about it. Later in the afternoon we met up with a family that had contacted us through CouchSurfing. We sat in a restaurant and had delicious ice creams and cocktails!

(Michelle and I enjoying ice cream and cocktails)

That evening we played beer pong in the classroom next to our apartment and had dinner. We hiked down to town to see what was going on for the festival- a concert in our favorite bar, tons of people everywhere! At the very end of the night we ventured to see the floats and even put in a few daffodils (although most of the work was already finished and everyone was cleaning up!)

After getting back home Michelle and I watched the Pendulums concert via Ustream! It was great and I'm truly proud of the group's growth and development. Check out their videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/tmk77721

The next morning it was our turn to make "American brunch"- a much bigger affair than French brunch! On the menu: hash browns, home fries, scrambled eggs, bacon, and mimosas! Oh yes! It took forever, but it was well worth it because the meal was perfect and we all got a bit homesick...

Then it was time to head downtown to take our spots for the parade. My goodness how many people! I was shocked to see that little Gerardmer could handle so many visitors. The floats were already in place and we took a tour around to take pictures. It was one of the slowest parades EVER... so we ended up walking against the movement of the parade to see everything. But the floats were amazing, intricate and beautiful. Crazy how many daffodils were needed to fill everything up!

(The daffodil princesses)

Of course, right as the parade ended Michelle needed to catch her bus to get back to Nancy... well, everyone else was leaving too... so traffic was at a halt. Unfortunately there is only one main road that goes through Gerardmer in either direction to Epinal or Alsace, so there wasn't much to be done. We waited for about two hours, then she waited longer and FINALLY got on a bus to catch the last train to Nancy. Phew!

(They brought down snow from the mountains to use it as beer foam!!!)

A great weekend- followed by the last week of classes, which are going well. I'm hesitant to make a big deal about it to my students, aka, I haven't told them that it's my last week. Thursday and Friday are going to be difficult and sad!

Hike in the Vosges!

(Spring in Gerardmer)

(Everything in bloom and my allergies are having a field day)

The end is near... so I have to live it up as much as possible in these next two weeks!

This weekend we had a choir concert, which was nice. Our choir is quite horrible. Most of the members are over 60 years of age... and to listen to a soprano section that is over 60 is NOT pleasant. But they are a joyful bunch and sing more for the social aspect that it brings. And I am sure only 1% of them actually read music. No matter, the concert had a pretty good showing and even with more than a few mishaps we gave a good performance. (However, if we ever sang like that in any of my former groups... ouch)

Sunday Charlene, Mathieu and I decided to hike one of the highest points in the Vosges- the Hohneck. Situated right on the border of Alsace and Lorraine, it's a beautiful mountain reaching 1363 meters. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny, warm, breezy- the perfect day to hike! We weren't too sure about which trails to take, so we just went with the flow, arriving quite quickly to the summit, which was still covered in a bit of snow. Among the snow patches were the famous jonquilles (daffodils), which will be making their grand presentation this weekend at the daffodil festival.

(Charlene, Mathieu and I at the beginning of the hike)

(Charlene, Mathieu and I at the top- behind us is Alsace)

We were hoping to stop at an auberge on the trail to have lunch. Les auberges usually have fresh, homemade products (cheese, smoked meat, fresh milk, etc) and local delicacies, but we were out of luck and the one we passed wasn't open- probably too early in the season...

(View of the auberge from up top)

The hike ended with a windy way back up the mountain with many steep drops down. Quite a day! Exhausting, but so perfectly relaxing. In those moments everything was good- no worries. Have to remember that feeling more often!

(At the end of the hike, Col de la Schlucht Alt 1139 m)

(After hike snack: tarte flambee with munster cheese and salami sandwich!)

The past week I've been going to the schools to which I give video conferences to proctor the English evaluation for the oldest kids. It's been a challenge trying to get them to talk- especially because the only English they had were our 20 minute sessions over Skype. Not too conducive to speaking English! I made one little boy cry, he was just so nervous and panicked because he couldn't find his words. But my other school was much better and it was clear that the teacher put a much bigger emphasis on trying to teach English outside of my sessions with the kids. It was so rewarding to see them confidently asking and responding to questions in English! A job well done.

(field of daffodils right behind the high school aka our back yard)