My last ten days

Over. Six months, gone just like that! I'm currently on the train to Saarbrücken, the farewell tears have dried up and I can slowly start looking forward to going home. Anyway, I really enjoyed my last 10 days to the fullest (was that even in line with COVID-19 restrictions?).

My week started with an antigen COVID-19 test at one of the pharmacies because I started coughing the day before and I definitely didn't want to infect Philipp or my parents. But everything is fine, it was just a mild cold, and the test is negative!

On Tuesday, my farewells slowly started. On my way to the music room, I ran into the actor Bruno, with whom I initially worked on the Erlkönig project during my stay. He told me that he works a lot with the DFJW (Franco-German Youth Office) and is often in Dortmund. They are still looking for people who can bridge the gap between art, language, and pedagogy. The project is called Eurofiction and if I am interested in working there, I should just let him know. Really cool opportunity!

On Tuesday morning, a class was canceled spontaneously, so I took the opportunity to record a recorder trio of "Nun will der Lenz uns grüßen" all by myself. That was fun :D

In the afternoon, I met up with Luca and we had lunch at L'as de fallafel because Luca hadn't been there before. We chose a park as a relaxed and quiet place to eat, and there were a few young men smoking weed next to us. Suddenly, 8 police officers on bicycles arrived and put a stop to it. They were searched, asked for their papers, and so on. Luca and I continued our conversation as normal, but one police officer watched us frequently and stood near us. After a few minutes, he came up to us and asked what language we were speaking. "German!" we answered, of course, to which he replied that it didn't sound like standard German. However, since Luca is from Berlin, we don't have a common dialect and actually just speak standard German to each other, maybe a little faster (normal speed). Then the police officer told us in German that he also speaks some German and didn't understand anything we were saying, so he asked us about it. The conversation was very nice, but we were a bit afraid that the group of young men would think that Luca and I had called the police because he was speaking to us so friendly. But well, we just continued on our way and ended the early evening at Nation with wine and cake. Then we said goodbye to each other and I really hope to see each other again in Cologne or Berlin!

In the evening, we had a Zoom call with Bubs and our last songwriter. The songs should be finished by May 1st, so just another month to go! I'm really excited to see what comes out of it :) After that, I started transcribing one of Christian's beautiful piano pieces called "Stella". On Wednesday, I continued working on it and I was already finished after about 4 hours thanks to a video he sent me. Transcribing was really fun (and a pleasant procrastination from writing my presentation for music education).

On Wednesday, I met a student named Marie on the schoolyard to chat because she is interested in studying music, possibly in Germany. She sings really, really well, but she doesn't play the piano yet, so I advised her to learn piano if she wants to study in Germany. She's only 16, so it might still work out. It would be really funny if she also studied in Cologne in a few years. In the afternoon, I was back in class with Sebastian for the Euro class of Première to prepare an escape game for the new Euro class students. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to be there for the actual game because entrance exams will be taking place this week. After work, Anne-Lou and I had some champagne by the canal. I had a Zoom date with my tandem partner Philippe, and then I finished "Stella".

Thursday, my day off, was also very relaxed. I baked some tarts to bring to school, I was invited to have tea with Anja, I read by the canal, I had a meeting with the district's music youth organization, and afterwards, I discovered fun face filters in a Facebook video call.

Friday was another day of farewells. My colleagues were very happy about the tarts, but they were all surprised that I had to leave in the middle of the school year. Lea in particular, whom I hadn't talked to about it because we kept missing each other for three weeks, was a bit sad and it was very sweet. At the end of the day, I was greeted with two books (a graphic novel about music history and a puzzle book about Paris), a pack of Schokobons (as compensation for the "ange gardien" - like a guardian angel), and a card with lots of little kind farewell wishes. The students in the classes were also really sweet and said heartfelt goodbyes to me. Unfortunately, one class wasn't at school due to quarantine regulations, so I couldn't see everyone anymore. That was a bit disappointing, and we discussed whether I should make a little video message. The farewell from the teacher's lounge was also a bit dreary because we couldn't have a big farewell celebration. Héloise said some really kind words, and then I said goodbye to the school.

On the way back, I felt a bit melancholic because I really enjoyed working at the Collège with the staff and the students. Madame Feniche, the principal, even offered me the opportunity to do an internship with them anytime, and the rest of the staff invited me to the end-of-school-year celebration if there will be one. I really hope that I can see everyone again then!

In the evening, Rémi let me use his living room to invite Mathilde, Chloé, and Pauline. We had potato gratin with vegetables, drank beer, listened to music, and mostly the other four (who didn't really know each other before, two from Collège and two from Lycée) chatted with each other. It was usually very fast-paced, and I listened a lot and simply enjoyed the evening. Since there is school on Saturdays in France and Pauline had to work at 8 o'clock, we didn't stay up late, but it was just beautiful to have four such great friends around me and spend the evening with them.

I spent the rest of the weekend in Le Raincy and we ate burgers (how delicious is Beyond Meat?!!??), played Mario Kart, enjoyed the sun on a walk in Chelles, and I designed a poster for the district's music youth organization and started looking for small furniture for my new room in Cologne on Ebay Kleinanzeigen (German classifieds website). During the walk in Chelles, I took a photo of the Mairie (town hall) because almost all the houses in Chelles and Le Raincy look like that, with these stones and plaster. I had never seen that in Germany before. Also, every little village here has a Mairie, which I also find crazy!

On my last day with plenty of time in Paris, I dug out my e-book with 111 things to do in Paris (e-books just don't appeal to me) and picked a few things I wanted to do on this Monday. But first, I went for a short run. After that, I wanted to go to Butte Bergeyre, a community garden not far from me, but it was closed on Mondays, so I could only peek at it from the outside. However, this garden is not far from Buttes Chaumont, the most beautiful park in Paris in my opinion, and one of my favorite places along with Canal Saint Martin. Then I went to the Arts et Metiers metro station to appreciate the artistic design of the station. In the recommended Greek restaurant, I got a delicious stuffed eggplant with rice and ate it in a park in the 7th arrondissement in the sun. There, I also visited the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-la-Médaille-Miraculeuse. It contains the relics of Catherine Labouré, a woman who allegedly saw the Virgin Mary three times in 1830 and was instructed to create a coin with her image. After the coin was associated with miraculous healings, Catherine was believed.

To travel back home on Wednesday, I needed a negative COVID-19 test no older than 48 hours, so I took another test on Monday evening, again at the Hôtel Dieu near Notre-Dame (the other Notre-Dame now). When I wanted to admire the view, enjoy the sun, and read a few pages after the test, I had a funny encounter: I just took a photo of Notre-Dame when a man passed by me and said, "Yes, it really is beautiful! Wait, aren't you studying at the Sorbonne?" Of course, I denied it, and then he told me that I resemble someone there very much, and asked where I come from (because of my accent). I answered that I'm from Germany, to which he asked if I study something else here, and I explained that I work as a language assistant. He was very interested and told me that he is a professor of French at the Sorbonne and also has some German students in his classes, and that I have probably benefited more from such a work-related exchange program than from studying. In the end, he said goodbye nicely and mentioned that while he could tell that I'm from Germany, it's better to speak good French with an accent than accent-free but bad French. I took that as a compliment and he left with the words, "Maybe we'll meet again at the Sorbonne one day!" Haha, yes, maybe :D

On Tuesday, my last day before departure, I enjoyed a free period in the sun on our beautiful schoolyard before my class with Terminale, where I taught another lesson on the topic of "Special Heroes". After that, I actually went to the cafeteria for the first time and got myself a panini for lunch. The cafeteria staff spoke broken German with me, which was very cute :D I spent the extremely sunny afternoon, with temperatures of 25 degrees, mostly reading a book by the Canal Saint Martin. Anne-Lou came by for an hour, and in the evening, I took another walk with Hacène, the waiter from the bar. After the curfew at 7 pm, I baked tarts and chatted with Florence. It turned out that Victoria had been in Egypt for 2 weeks already and I had no idea :D I had noticed that she wasn't around much, but I was also not at home on the weekends and tried to spend all my free time outside. Well, funny! I also partly said goodbye to Florence because I didn't know if we would have a chance to see each other calmly on the last day. Of course, I also packed my suitcases, which took gooooood two hours and was very exhausting. To end my final evening, I had a cozy sushi dinner and watched a TV series, and I couldn't realize at all that I wouldn't be in Paris anymore just 24 hours later.

My last day was beautiful. At the Lycée, I only played games with my Première class (animal name circle game and whisky mixer), and with the Seconde class, Julia and I moved the whole lesson outside to also play the animal name game with the entire class. It was really fun, and now the class knows at least 24 animals in German! At the end of the lesson, the class said goodbye to me, they gave me chocolate from Pierre Hermé and a self-made card with farewell messages from each student. It made me sooo happy! In my subject, I was greeted with a book gift and a kind card from Anja, as well as a book and a card from Héloise (delivered by Julia). I had tarts with Chloé and Pauline, Rachel and Sebastian, Julia and Romain, and Stéphane and of course Fred from the Accueil. We took some memory photos and exchanged warm words. And then it was time to say goodbye to Lycée Albert Schweitzer. Thank you for the good times.

At the train station in Le Raincy, I met Rémi, who accompanied me to Paris. At the apartment, we sorted my luggage again and then took another little tour of Paris. We had dinner, visited a bookstore, and then we had to hurry a bit to be back at the apartment on time. Unfortunately, Florence wasn't home, but she left me a little note saying "Bon voyage". But I was able to say a quick and painless goodbye to Gloria. And then suddenly, it all happened very quickly. Rémi fortunately helped me store my suitcases on the train (the nice railway workers let him onto the platform), and then I had to say goodbye. To Rémi, the past six months, my everyday life in Paris, my work in Le Raincy, the canal, the French language, the students, my friends, and the staff.

The past six months were not always beautiful or easy, and not everything always worked out, and above all, I imagined them completely differently. I wanted to join an orchestra or a choir, maybe play handball or dance, drink in bars and eat in restaurants, sing karaoke and meet people. None of that could happen, so I'm even happier that I was assigned to two schools where I coincidentally met some really nice colleagues who I can now count as friends. I had many heartfelt encounters (e.g. Julia, Stéphane) that gave me a lot and motivated me to continue working the way I do. The positive feedback showed me that I am on the right path with my decision to work creatively and pedagogically, and I have met so many great teachers who have inspired me, so I want to learn even more. Despite all the circumstances, this time was an absolute gain for me, and I would make the same decision again to choose this program and this period of time.

The difficult part about this farewell is that I'm not sure if I will see everyone again. The students? Probably never. The staff? Some of them. Friends? Most likely, but certainly not all together again. But I'm absolutely certain that I will return to Paris.