Reverse Culture Shock

I'm sure most of you have heard of this phenomenon, and those of you who have lived outside the United States have certainly experienced it. I am still coming out of reverse culture shock this week after recovering from jet lag. Things seem really different in the United States, the culture, the pace of life, entertainment, and even the food. And I feel perhaps even more isolated than before, isolated, not only in the physical sense of separation, but also in my interactions with my friends. It's going to be a difficult recovery, but I'm sure I'll be able to get out of it soon enough. What makes it even harder is the fact that currently I am in a waiting stage between two life experiences, France and Brown. In ways, this is the summer of purgatory, but maybe it doesn't have to be.

Fortunately, I have been making a reading list, continue to read daily devotions in my walk through the Bible in a year, and am starting to get into contact with the friends I haven't talked to in a long time. I also have some travel plans to see friends and people I have missed. These things don't make it any less difficult for me to get out of my current state of confusion, between France and the United States. The language transition was a little rough at the Paris airport, but I'm feeling a bit better about it now.

I guess it's the price that you pay for being away from the United States for several months. That doesn't mean that it's not been worth it. It's just that there are challenges that I'll have to continue to go through. Necessary challenges all the same. Coming back to the United States, I feel like a different person, someone who has grown up living on my own abroad. No price tag can be placed on that kind of experience. It's like the Mastercard commercials.

As I finally close the blog, I leave my experience in France behind with details archived in the blog text, only to retain the memories that will always stay with me, wherever I go. It's been easily one of the most formative years of my life. But I'm ready to take it with me to the next stage of my life. So here goes.

Home at Last

My final day in Mayenne was a true joy, aside from the slight malaise that ached at my heart as I said goodbye to my colleagues at the lycee and college. Saying goodbye is hard for anyone, but this time it especially was painful. I made Mayenne my home for almost 7.5 months, and it was incredibly difficult to leave it. It was slightly depressive to walk outside in the glimmering sunshine that showered over the small country town and to know that I wouldn't see it the next day. However, it was reassuring to think that I would return to this beautiful place once more in a couple years when I will come back for my graduate program in French studies at Brown.

For lunch on the eve of my departure, I went to a family's home from the Reformed church. They're an elderly bourgeois couple. And that truly manifested itself when I arrived at their home in Fontaine Daniel, which turns out to be literally a former abbey from the 11th-13th centuries. I was wowed with the elegance and majesty of the edifice. The monsieur told me that there used to be a church, which was burned in the incendie (or great fire) during the French Revolution. After a beautiful lunch with their eldest son, I took a tour of the gardens and the walkway where the nuns would walk to mass. I also toured the surrounding area and saw the cloth-making factory, hidden behind an exterior that blends in with the abbey that is right next to it. It seemed likely that the monsieur owned this factory.

After saying my goodbyes to this elderly couple, I went to the lycee and said my goodbyes to my colleagues from the English department. We took pictures and then I headed out to do my final preparations. Coming to terms with my departure became further difficult, but I prayed that God would give me the peace to leave this place with a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

The next day, I woke from my bed around 4:30am, pressed with the question of what I should declare to the Customs agents at the border control in Chicago. So, I ended up calling my father and asking him what to do. It turned out to be much simpler than I expected, which was a relief. I got everything out and into the family's car and left for Laval around 5:45am. Said goodbye and embraced my host father and left on the earliest TER for Le Mans. Once in Le Mans, I ran over to the middle platform to board my TGV for Charles De Gaulle (which happened to have a terminus in Lille). Around 9:30, the train arrived at Charles De Gaulle (Roissy) airport. I grabbed my luggage and headed into Terminal 2, where I proceeded to run into Sam B., one of my Covenant friends, which was exciting. Sam was in Paris for May Term, and we grabbed some coffee together. I then headed to check in at American Airlines and went through security.

I waited on my flight, which left on time, to my relief. It was a 9-hour flight, but I kept myself busy with reading and listening to music the whole time, so it didn't seem long at all. Once in Chicago, I had to walk what seemed like half a mile through the hall to reach the Immigration and Customs area. Got my passport examined and told the people there I had been in France for 7.5 months. They asked to see the contents of my suitcase, much to my chagrin. But nothing was questionable to my relief. I had to go through security yet another time in Chicago and then I went to my gate after grabbing some cash from the ATM and getting a snack before the final flight. I finally arrived in Atlanta at 8:20pm, which was close to 21 hours after I had first woke up in Mayenne. Exhaustion yet hyped with adrenaline. I was so happy to see my parents. It felt so great to be home at last.

The end of a beautiful, life-changing experience

My departure is in five days and I have a few more days to enjoy France. By now, I feel ready to return home. I will return with the souvenirs of an incredible experience that I have chronicled here in this blog. It has been an amazingly splendid journey, and I have enjoyed sharing the various aspects of my life here in France with you. This blog has kept me busy for the time I've been here, and now I prepare to close this chapter of my life and enter into a new one in just a couple months. Here's what I will be up to in the next couple days:

(1) Packing for the departure. This takes some time, seeing as I have to select what I will take with me and leave here (or throw away)

(2) Buying some last minute items to take home to the family

(3) Hopefully going to see Philip and his family for the last time.

(4) Attending church at the Reformed church for the last time.

(5) Visiting the Lycee and college for the last time on Monday.

Departure schedule :

Tuesday morning: TER regional train at Laval at 6:20am, correspondence TGV in Le Mans, arrival at Roissy (CDG) airport at 9:14am.

Flight schedule: Departure at 12:15pm for ORD Chicago O'Hare, arrival at 2:24pm local time. Departure for ATL at 5:25pm. After all the traveling I will have finally arrived at 8:15pm EDT.

It'll be here really soon.

Adventures along the Spanish Costa Brava with the orchestra (Days 3-5)

The third day was the biggest adventure of all. Our driver was stopped near the border for apparently having not slept enough the night we arrived in the South of France and for not properly scanning his documents. We spent about 45 minutes trying to negotiate with Spanish policemen, who were demanding 1000 euros. The French got it down to 300 euros. Kind of embarrassing. This shortened everyone's visit in Barcelona in a significant way. But wait, there's more...

We hardly got to visit Barcelona at all, given that we only had a couple hours to walk around and do the stores. Everyone, at the very least, got to snap shot the cathedral shown above. The town of Barcelona is filled with pickpockets and it is really infernal how much theft happens in this international city. Spain, being a poor country, in comparison to France obviously has its share of crime and poverty. This turned out to be to the group's disadvantage when a pickpocket stole a bag with the medication and passports of two elderly New Zealander chaperones. This happened right in front of their eyes. I think, in the end, the couple has been able to contact the Embassy and get necessary paperwork together, but still, they were robbed of credit cards and 400 dollars in cash. Such a sad reminder of the world we're living in.

The second and final concert of our trip took place in a middle school in Sabadell, which is a suburb of Barcelona. A truly beautiful room where we gave our concert. The kids seemed to be appreciative of the music, even though they weren't well-behaved. But kids will be kids, no matter where you go. Of course, I know this well after having taught middle school for 7 months. They started clapping to the beat at the end of "Pirates of the Caribbean," which was pretty funny but enjoyable. And we gave an Encore performance of the piece at the end.

When we were done with the performance, we greeted our bus, which was escorted by the police. I have to say, our bus driver was the weirdest part of our trip, since he got us turned around multiple times, had to turn around on what seemed like a cliff. And for all the mishaps that he caused us, he never once apologized. But you have to forgive the poor guy, since his job wasn't exactly simple. Oh well...

The fourth day was pretty free. And I took advantage of opportunities to shop for my family. Got to drink Sangria on the beach with the entire orchestra. The brass band played and entertained beach-goers. And it was a pleasant moment to wade in the Mediterranean Sea in spite of the rocky state of the beach. Later, in the evening, I went with the English travelers to a bar to drink more Sangria, prepared by the Spanish. We had some complementary hors-d'oeuvres with our Sangria. Nice ending to the orchestra trip.

Day five: Traveling all day from 8:30am to 8:30pm. It was a long day, but fortunately, I picked up a Le Clezio book to keep me occupied for the remainder of the journey. There is so much joy in the journey.

Now to pack my things and prepare for the departure home.

Adventures along the Spanish Costa Brava with the orchestra (Days 1 and 2)

My travel adventures have, as of yesterday, come to an end. It was a bittersweet ending to it all, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the chance to discover four different countries across Europe during my stay here. The travel adventure in the South of France and the eastern cost of Spain was interesting, convivial, and, not to mention, French. Just like my experience in London, almost everything was done in French, making it perhaps less authentic than I would have liked. That did not, however, keep me from enjoying it. Little things spoke to me as I hung out with my orchestra colleagues.

The Orchestre Symphonique de la Haute Mayenne is more than an organization; it's a family of people who gather weekly not only for the music but for enjoying one another's company. That is something I haven't ever seen in the States. I suppose it has to be very French for it to be so convivial. It certainly is a testament to the French lifestyle of living healthy and happy lives. The conviviality of the group helped make this trip a thoroughly worthwhile experience.

We started out early on Saturday morning, heading to the Gare de Laval, where we would board our TGV train for Avignon. TGV trains still excite me just as they did when I arrived in France on my very first day in September. I love reveling in French superiority when it comes to high speed rail, because they really are among the best in that area. (They are in other things like healthcare, too. But that's for another time.) Our train arrived in Avignon after five hours of traveling, where it was pretty hot. And we transferred to the autocar (bus) to take us to Goudargues, where we played our first concert at a Roman church in the area.

Goudargues is actually in the South of France and it is a very beautiful town. It's actually where our conductor grew up. It was such a balmy and sunny day in the South of France, and I relished every minute of being in that area of the country. (In fact, I'm recognizing how many times I've actually traversed the country and how many areas I've actually seen. Pretty cool.) Our concert went okay. Unfortunately, due to the reverberations of this old church, it was extremely difficult to stay together, and I found myself struggling through. I wasn't the only one in any case. The people of the town provided us with a beautiful dinner with pate, couscous salads, and various other things from the South of France.



The next day, after spending a night in a Formule 1 hotel, we crossed the border into Spain, traversing the Pyrenees, which was very enjoyable. We went to the Dali Museum in Figeras, which was a shrine to surrealism. As much as I tried to get into surrealism, it didn't really work. I enjoy psychoanalysis in literature, but when it comes to art, it's very hard to understand certain things from a psychoanalytic perspective in surrealism. The art is very exaggerated, very out of real life, almost in another world. Perhaps, however, it goes into a deeper part of reality that which lies within the human psyche. That makes it more difficult to figure out. That's the reason why I was rather perplexed upon leaving the museum. Nevertheless, it was interesting. After the museum, we checked into our hotel in Lloret de Mar, the Aquarium.

Costa Brava (Mediterranean Sea)

 

 

 

 

Barcelona

 

The Pyrenees

 

Goudargues, France

 

Goudargues, France

 

Refuge in the Storm

I have received word that my family is safe following the devastating storms that ripped through the Southeast yesterday. Dozens of tornadoes touched down across the American South. My hometown in Ringgold, GA was hit very hard and the downtown area almost does not exist. The restaurants have been battered and torn. Schools are in shambles. Many people have lost their homes and some their lives.

The repercussions of such a disaster are felt across the Chattanooga region and may affect natives of Ringgold, GA for weeks, months, maybe even years to come. I am very sad for Ringgold and I grieve with people around the area. There have been numerous recent storms that have scarred places (Katrina, the tsunamis in the Near East, etc.). We never expected anything similar to these storms, anything remotely close, to hit our area. Yet, indeed storms swept by in an unbelievable way.

The Lord is with us in all things. Wherever we may be, he is there also. He has created a magnificent plan for us and gives us strength where we feel weak. He will carry us on and permit us to persevere in all things. In our grief, He is there to comfort and restore us. The Lord Jesus is our refuge in the storm of life. We clearly see that He is by looking at the passage of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and seeing how Jesus calmed the storm. Through our faith in Him, we may be comforted as we cling to the hope in Christ.

May we hold to the truth and hope in Christ, even as we grieve for the losses both in persons and in material from these storms that have ravaged the American South.

Easter in France

My Easter in France was special in two ways: (1) I played a large part in the worship service at the Reformed Church and (2) I benefited from a large party at the Griffons that included a barbecue and fellowship with friends and family of my host family. I felt blessed in both aspects of this truly beautiful Easter weekend.

At church, I was responsible for accompanying the hymns and songs for the Easter worship service. I did so with my violin. Realizing that I had a larger responsibility than I thought, I felt humbled to be able to share my violin music with the church. It gave me joy to play the hymns with the congregation. Since the church is a small room in a building, it made the worship seem even more "homely" or intimate. In addition to playing for the hymns, I also pulled out St. Patrick's Breastplate prayer to play following the message. It's such a beautiful piece to play and I enjoyed playing for the public. The message itself was encouraging and a good solid message for Easter. At the top of my head, I don't remember the exact scripture references, but the lay leader who preached focused on how the Lord took on the sin of the world even as an innocent person to cover the sins of the world. Through actively participating in the service, I felt I was giving a good part to the service. An elderly man came up to me at the end of the service and said that the violin greatly enhanced the music for the service.

When I returned from the service, the Griffons were getting ready to welcome many people for their Easter party. We took the aperitif and had lunch and then we went to the cemetery and jardin des souvenirs (memory garden), where we paid our respects to Nathy's mother (who passed away tragically in a car accident last year close to Easter). It was a solemn moment and everyone was rather sad and not many people had much to say about Nathy's mother. I honestly had no idea what to think. I didn't know if she knew Christ or not. I hoped that she did.

While at the party, I met two young women in their early thirties, one who has dual citizenship in the US and in the EU and an Asian girl. Both of them knew English so we spoke a little bit. I enjoyed eating and drinking with them during the party. Sometimes, I feel awkward in these social settings, not just because the French but because I usually don't know the people that I see. Fortunately, I was able to enjoy conversation with these women, who were nice to talk to.

Later in the day, we had our meal, which consisted of Andouillette sausage, the boudin, fruit salads, vegetables, bread, cheese, and excellent chocolate cake with custard. It was a marvelous meal and we have continued to benefit from the leftovers even today or two days later. Indeed, it was a blessed time both at the church and at home for my Easter this year.

A week in London with the Lycee, Days 4 and 5

Shakespeare's Globe Recreated (almost to meet original specifications)

The British Museum

Day 4 :

Our fourth day in London was fun and was a slight bit more relaxed than the other days. We went to the Globe Theatre in the morning, which was a welcome change. As a literary scholar, I very much appreciated being near where the actual Globe was (the one we were in was a replica of the original completed in 1997). The museum was interesting and gave me a new sense of what Shakespearean theatre was like. Having read at least half of Shakespeare's plays, I appreciated looking around and seeing things about Shakespeare's theatre. To top it off, our guide was a really cool guy and had a good sense of humor that helped our group to understand the information and stories being told.

Following our visit to Shakespeare's Globe, we went to Covent Garden. When I thought of this place, I envisioned seeing the chapel in "My Fair Lady" at the beginning of the musical (a play inspired by George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion") And behold, I saw it with my own eyes. It's a really nice place. We had our lunch in this area. Immediately afterwards, one of the London street performers came out and attracted a large crowd. He did tricks that were quite remarkable to see. However, as all other street performers, he basically demanded money from everyone in the square, telling everyone he wasn't paid by the city of London. Interesting but maybe not the most attractive of entertainments.

One of my colleagues and I went to the British Museum a couple hours later. We went to see the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and mummies. For some reason, the Egyptians fascinate the French and me. We were both surrounded by hundreds of French tourists who were there for perhaps the same reasons as we were. It's a wonderful museum. I found a bookmark for my dad that has the museum edifice on it that he will like. The fatigue continued to be heavy on everyone, but soon we were in the bus on our way home.

Day 5 :

The last day was easy and not too bad in the least. My group did their filming for interviews with Londoners for their class project. They talked about the diversity of population in London, a sociological question that they explored with about three different people. Finding a person who would share was difficult, but they managed well.

Lunch and then the 12 hour trip back home. We stopped at a cafeteria on the way home to have a comforting French dinner. Everyone was pleased to have that after only having the choice of pizza, fries, and pasta for four nights in a row. A welcome change again.

We arrived in Mayenne at about 1:00am and everyone was so glad to be home. There really is no place like home, and for me, Mayenne is home.

A week in London with the Lycee, Day 3

Day 3:

Day 3 fortunately turned out to be better, since we went to Buckingham Palace and got to see the changing of the guard, a bigger deal than I previously thought. I have been to the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington and it's a solemn ceremony. When I thought of the changing of the guard, I thought it would be something similar. Yet, of course, I recognized I was in front of a "royal" palace rather than the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The ceremony was even funnier than I expected it to be. It was a spectacle, complete with marching of the royal guard and trumpet fanfare. Perhaps even funnier was the music that came from contemporary sources such as from the musical comedy "Hairspray" ("You can't stop the beat"). I almost had an attack of laughter when I heard this music playing. What's more the entire ceremony lasted for about two hours and everyone was sweating in the heat and absorbing UV rays. ]

Through all of this, I could only think of how funny it was that even in the midst of a democracy (Parliament) in Britain, there is still this sense of tradition in the monarchy, something that shapes the conscience of the Briton. It was pretty fascinating to feel that. Britons are proud of their history, their Pound Sterling (in spite of the Euro), even the fact that they still drive on the left side of the road. My time in front of Buckingham Palace made me think of how particular the British are. Pride in the country, the tradition, the efficiency. No wonder, so many people think London is the center of the world. (After all, every country's time zone is based on GMT or Greenwich Mean Time, which is based from a town not too far from London). Yet, it also reminded me of my own pride in the United States.


After seeing the changing of the guard, we then walked up to Trafalgar Square, where we found the National Portrait Gallery. Instead of looking at the art, I went with Anne (a colleague) to buy some tea and do a little bit of shopping and went inside Saint Martin in the Fields. (This of course, reminded me of the time when Academy of St. Martin in the Fields orchestra came to Covenant College a couple years ago. It was fascinating to go inside this church that holds a history of classical music in the London area.) Our visits were followed by a bus tour around London to ease our weary feet. (Not actually sure how far we walked, but it had to be 10-11 miles a day, almost the equivalent of a theme park. In fact, so much of being in London, made me think we were inside a theme park, looking around and queuing up for attractions. Interesting reflection to think about.)

A week in London with the Lycee (Part 1) Days 1-2

This has been an incredibly busy week and yet it has been enjoyable. The bus ride to London was long but somehow the time was able to pass rather quickly. We left in the middle of the night and arrived in the middle of the afternoon Monday. The most exciting part of the trip was crossing the English Channel (La Manche), where the bus literally boarded a train car that would take us in the Chunnel (a trip that took about 35 minutes). It was one of those Mission Impossible moments where I recalled the chase on top of the Eurostar train. Pretty sweet stuff.

Day 1: Honestly, when it came to London, I really had no idea what to expect. I had seen the sites in movies, but I was not that excited about going. Not to say I didn't want to be there, it's just I wanted the adventure. And the entire week was a fascinating adventure.

When we arrived in London, we went to a large department store called Harrolds, which sort of reminded me of Macy's in New York. Everything, of course, was out of my price range. And it felt more like a museum for la mode than a store that the middle class person could see. Then again, there are people who indeed do their shopping there, namely the aristocracy of London.

After looking through Harrolds with the students, we went to the Museum of Natural History, which had dinoasaur bones and sculptures and other cool artifacts. This museum seemed to be designed for the kids. Little kids strolling with their mommies looking at a big Tyrannasaurus Rex, amusing. This museum reminded me of the pictures I had seen of collections in my science text books from the Dark Ages (fourth and fifth grade).

Later, we checked in to the hostel, which was located in a residential area of town close to Hyde Park. It was a charming area to be in. Some of the houses lining the streets reminded me of the most recent version of the "Parent Trap," or Natasha Richardson's home in London. Interesting to think about all the representations of London in film, novel, etc. and to actually be there. The hostel was well positioned and while, it had some shortcomings as far as cleanliness and the like, it was livable for the week we were there.

At the end of the day, we went to the Pizza Factory, which turned out to be the place where we would be eating the entire time. It was incredibly funny to me when we, to our surprise, found out that we would be eating pizza, pasta, and fries (with salad)the whole time. I was with French people. The French love to eat balanced meals with bread, cheese, meat, salad, and yogurt for dessert. Unfortunately, we did not get all those things with our meal plan. What was even more funny was the fact that I sort of wanted to complain as well, seeing as I have eaten these foods for seven months and like the French diet. We survived in the end, which was good.

Planning for the next day's scavenger hunt,then we went to bed.

Day 2

Day 2 was perhaps my most stressful day, given that I would have to take a group around London all by myself and try to get my bearings on a city that is enormous. My group was all girls, who were nice and kind. The scavenger hunt turned out not to be a race but rather one in which we would see the various sites around Central London. We saw Big Ben, Parliament Square, St. Paul's Cathedral, the famous toy store in Piccadilly Circus, and a few other spots that were interesting. I have some good pictures of these areas as well. We ended up getting lost trying to get back to the Auberge (hostel). And thanks to my bad navigation skills, our treasure hunt forced us in the end to cross the entire city to get back to our hostel. However, it was good even though a little tense at times, and I had to apologize to the girls who were completely worn out by the end of the day.

Things got better, however...

Mayenne in the Spring Part III

 

 

 

 

Mayenne in the Spring Part II

 

 

 

 

Mayenne in the Spring

 

 

 

 

The end of the road...finally.

Generally, this week has been fun and enjoyable. I handed out Mars chocolate bars to my 1eres and Terminale students at the middle and end of the week, and asked the students in Terminale what they will be doing next year. Needless to say, I am sad to see them leave but happy for what they are going to be doing just as I did at their age, pursuing higher education. They're great kids, no doubt. And I've so enjoyed working with them. Saying goodbye was difficult. At the same time, I couldn't restrain my excitement of leaving at the end of it all.

Take when I was at the middle school. Yesterday was a total disaster in two classes. They refused to listen to me, had paper wad wars, and it just overall was total chaos. Not my favorite way of leaving a class for good. Fortunately, some of the girls came up to me this afternoon and apologized for being so impolite and bad-behaved. I respected this gesture. At the very least, I have a souvenir of them apologizing for causing me so much trouble on my last day. I would much rather block out the other souvenirs. It's too painful. Trust me. You don't want to know the rest.

Meanwhile, today was better. I talked to my colleague and decided just to show Shrek for the last day. I certainly did not feel like doing anything with them. It's my last day with classes that happen to fall at the end of the day, the worst time to keep any kid's attention, even the good ones. That went okay. The kids were a little dumbfounded when I told them that today was my last day. It seems it only just began a couple weeks ago when I switched from being with 6eme for three long months. I'm ready, however, to leave the school with good memories. Even if it's been the most challenging and demoralizing part of my teaching experience, I want to remember the times like when I played violin for the kids, when we watched certain videos and the kids laughed, and even when they would race each other to finish their word puzzles. To many of the kids, my presence has been a huge asset, even if I only taught them two or three words of English. Not exactly what I had planned, but it's better than nothing. Fatigue has ensued, but the Lord has permitted me to persevere all along. And I must be thankful for that, because even when I've wanted to give up, the Lord has lifted me up and given me the confidence to continue and not quit. I'm not a quitter anyway. Determination and perseverence are gifts for which I am thankful.

I have a weekend to get ready for London, which will be fun, exciting, and, no doubt, exhausting. In any situation, it should be worth every minute. I'm going for free, so I will not do any complaining. Planning on enjoying what is sure to be an interesting journey. Educational and interesting. We leave at 4am on Monday morning and should arrive back in Mayenne on Saturday at midnight. See you on the other end. I'll come bearing pictures and blog entries by next weekend. Blessings, jcm.

A Karaoke Party with Terminale students

A couple weeks ago, I wanted to do something special for the terminale students that I see every week, after having seen their progress, attentiveness, etc. So, I decided to throw a karaoke party with them today. Each person brought a dish (a cake, brownies, drink, etc.) and together, everyone shared in the enjoyment of a snack with each other's company. Compatible with the French lifestyle and Americanized. I baked a set of old fashioned sugar cookies that I thought was pretty much a staple of American desserts. (Looked up a recipe online and went with it although messing it up once before getting it right... the mixture of metric measurements as opposed to English system measurements and other factors). Regardless, I was able to make cookies that would be gone at the end of the day.

We listened to various pop songs, most of which the terminale students knew. Everyone enjoyed singing along to Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Diddy, etc. It was an enjoyable atmosphere, relaxed and without any pressure. I felt that these kids definitely deserve it in light of the stress that looms with the Baccaulaureat at the beginning of June. Several of these students will be going to the university next year in areas such as languages, psychology, and business. Others will go to preparatory classes (2 year course of study) for the Grandes Ecoles, which are the most prestigious universities in France (these universities are very difficult to get into and require the highest scores on an examination). I have faith in these students. They're bright and capable of doing good things in their next chapter. They've been such a joy to teach, and I feel as if their presence and attention in class have kept me going through the challenges that have accompanied teaching other groups of students.

My opinion on the rewards system

I plan to offer similar treats to the 1eres at the middle of the week and Terminales at the end of the week. Rewards for good work, such a good feeling. I enjoy giving rewards but only for continued progress and achievement of the select few that put in the work. For the 1eres that I see on Monday morning, I did not reward them. They've given me a big, fat nothing the entire year, and they honestly do not deserve any of my lauding. As much as I've tried to initiate them into a brief conversation, they've responded in talking in French, staring into space, and demanding to leave early every time just for lunch. That doesn't deserve anything from me. And if I were giving them a grade, the majority of the class would get below a C. Average grade: C-. Perhaps, such aspects of my opinions on rewards will carry into my philosophy of grading as a future teacher.