Catching Up

I spent the weekend in Metz, visiting my school, going to dance class, catching up with friends and exploring the Christmas markets. It's always refreshing and relieving to get out of Paris, and this weekend fell perfectly between vacation a few weeks ago and the last three weeks of the semester.

On Friday morning when I got off the train and headed to the bus stop, an older woman immediately began asking me questions about the bus route and which line she needed to take to get to the Eglise Jeanne d'Arc. I told her it was the line 16, which had just passed by, and so she sat down to wait for the next bus, while I was waiting for the 13. She continued chatting with me, talking about the weather, the Christmas decorations, the marché de Noël and other things. It struck me as incredibly telling that I was no longer in Paris (Toto!). What funny thing to notice, I thought, that after a few short months in Paris I take it for granted that strangers at bus stops and on the metro completely ignore each other... and those who don't are obviously crazy! What a nice, simple thing, to chat amicably with a fellow bus-waiter, if only to take your mind off the fact that it's freezing and the 13 is running late. An older man came up a bit later and reminded us both that a year ago it had already started snowing in Metz - what a fun memory that was! As the 13 pulled up, I wished them both a lovely day and got smiles and "good day!"s in return.

I spent the day at school. When the first class of my former students saw me, I was immediately bombarded by little 3rd and 4th graders (they're so big!!!) with hugs and kisses and much clamoring. They all wanted to know if I was coming back to teach them and were disappointed to hear it was just for a visit. I spent the day feeling like more of a rock star than I ever did before - save maybe when I came back for the second year. It was really adorable. It was so wonderful to see all my colleagues too. Everyone had stories to tell and catching up to do. I helped out in a couple of classes in the afternoon - doing a reading test with 4th graders (who tried to persuade me to bag the test and just have English class instead!) and watching a 2nd grade class do wrestling in gym class (never would happen in the US!).

The rest of the weekend was calm and enjoyable - dance class, hanging out, walking around Metz, listening to live music in a funky bar and talking, talking, talking and laughing with friends.

Now it's three weeks until I go home for Christmas and I can't wait! I just have to make it through 'til then.