Tying Up the Loose Ends

These past two days have been a bit sad, in a way; they're the last days that I've worked at the lycée.

Originally, when I came to France, I was expecting a rather usual experience: most of the teaching assistants, for example, work with high school students. Instead, I got something very different, mostly with students about my age. At first, it was daunting in a way... but things got easier and, in a way, being with older students allowed me to talk more about things that they would have first-hand experience with (such as politics, cars, travel, work, etc.). So, in a way, it was a bit more rewarding and easier to relate to the students. This doesn't mean that I didn't have a good time with the seconde classes, though; I also found energetic students who were more than happy to learn and practice English, some of whom I would want to see more of if I had the chance to stick around.

I still have one day of work left at the collège before I shove off for Lyon. That, too, was great. It was disheartening to hear that previous assistants didn't like working there, and I found it hard to understand why they hated it so much: the teachers there are friendly and the students, while younger, generally less shy and less loath to speaking English and making mistakes. But maybe that's just an aspect of me being a bit of a positive person; always looking for the plus in a situation and not being discouraged by the fact that some of my students spoke not a word of English.

The hardest part of it all, though, it imagining how quickly this year's gone by. It doesn't seem like too long ago that I was getting ready for graduation from Ripon College, having my rear end handed to me by Chemical Instrumentation, and preparing to go to Germany for my BASF internship. Now, I'm looking at heading back to the US and starting graduate school in the fall. And I really wish I could get the contract renewal and spend more time here in France; with each passing day, receiving the contract renewal seems less and less likely. But the fingers are still crossed.

With regards to the election, though... some of the results were quite shocking. The second round will take place after I've returned to the US, and that also looks to be interesting. Not as interesting as 2002 was, mind you, but still a potential adventure.