Week 4: Cinema, Stress and Politics

On Monday, I usually have my day off, but we had a training session with Birgit and Mareike from the Academie. On the way there, I saw a beautiful morning sky on the train and took photos of funny stickers for compliance with the corona rules.

Today, I was able to take away many new ideas for lesson planning, for example a game called 'Two Truths and a Lie' or a presentation on two places on the world map and why they have special significance. We also had to make name tags to represent our languages in some way and had a very healthy meal in the school cafeteria.

In the evening, I went to the cinema again, this time with a school class, and watched a German film called 'Exil'. After the screening, I went to a nice bar with Julia and her singing teacher, who had accompanied us, and we discussed the film, the school system, and the need for rules. It was very interesting! When I got home, I had to finish preparing my lessons for Tuesday, but I got plenty of input today.

After a short night, I was allowed to teach small groups of up to 12 students for the first time on Tuesday! In two of the groups, we had a relatively free introductory session where I incorporated many things from the previous day. In the third group, we focused on image editing and selfies. Because the schools are digitally well equipped, I was able to support the lessons with PowerPoint presentations and a whiteboard, which was very suitable for both lessons. I really enjoyed working with the students! In the afternoon, I participated in a class of the Prepa class, and the German level was much lower than expected, but they also had a focus on written work that day. During the lunch break, I got to know the music teacher of the school, who spontaneously invited me to the last lesson, as he sings with a class and I could support him. Music lessons at a school in France are a privilege because not every school can offer them, and it is not a mandatory subject. That means that all the students in this class actively chose to take part. We practiced some gospel songs, and then volunteers were allowed to improvise, which was really amazing! There were some really good voices among them. It was fun to sing in a group again. Stephane, the music teacher, also offered me the opportunity to conduct a choir practice, so we'll see if I accept the offer. Conducting a choir in French?

In the evening, surprise, I went to the cinema again! Today, 'Deutschstunde' was playing. After that, we didn't go out with the teachers again because I had an important commitment in Germany: I had decided to participate in a competition for arrangements for girls' choirs and still had to finish writing the arrangement of my own song. The deadline is Thursday, and today I received some feedback that I would like to incorporate. So I spent the late hours working on my music writing program.

After another short night, on Wednesday I was able to teach more classes on my own. There is also a podcast project with a class that should set the poem 'Der Erlkönig' to music in a way that can be understood even without knowledge of German. The rest of Wednesday until late at night, I spent finishing the song. (That rhymes, haha!)

On Thursday, I printed everything out and took it to the post office and sent it by registered mail. I had to choose between express shipping and tracking, and I chose tracking and hope it was the right decision. I'm not quite sure if the postmark from October 15th counts or if it should have arrived on October 15th. Fingers crossed! Afterwards, I was able to take a deep breath and let go of all the stress. I took a long walk along the Canal St. Martin and realized that the French really love playing boules. Finally, I was able to visit the small exhibition of the artist I know from Instagram. On the way there, I passed a cat café, where I then calmly drank a lemonade and flipped through a magazine while a few cats slept on chairs and a piano and rubbed against my legs. It was nice!

On Friday, I had an unspectacular school day at the collège and used the afternoon to practice. I actually dared to practice flute, singing, AND piano in the apartment, even though Victoria was there! It felt good to make some music again. In the evening, I had a truly cliché evening, as you imagine it in France: my colleague from the collège, Anne-Lou, who is 28 and in the teacher training program, invited me to her home. In her small one-room apartment on the 7th floor without an elevator, which is less than a 10-minute walk from my place, we sat around a small table with three of her friends, ate baguette, hummus, and cheese, and drank red wine. And because so many French people smoke, of course, they smoked with the window open. And just because it was cliché doesn't mean it wasn't nice! On the contrary, it was a really fun evening, and I hope there will be many more opportunities like this.

At least in the near future, these opportunities will no longer take place in the evening, as a curfew will be imposed starting tomorrow from 9pm to 6am. During this time, everyone must be at home, and you can only be outside with special permission. It's really drastic! I'm curious to see how I will experience and fill this time, and I'm curious to see how Paris as a whole will deal with it. Maybe this measure can flatten the curve of the increasing number of cases, and the curfew can be lifted again after 4 weeks, we will see.

On Friday evening, when I arrived in my room, I received another shocking news. North of Paris, about 45 minutes away, a history and geography teacher was beheaded by an 18-year-old on his way home. The teacher had previously addressed the topic of freedom of speech in class with cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad from the magazine 'Charlie Hebdo'. He had already received several threats. After reading the news, I had chills for a few minutes. It's unimaginable that someone would do something like that. An act that not only attacks the teacher himself, Samuel Paty, but also all teachers and their freedom of speech. If you are already worried about which content to address in class because you have to fear for your life, then something is definitely wrong. I am simply shocked.

On Saturday, I had a relaxed day in Paris. I wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was crowded. There were some demonstrations by some Gilets Jaunes, I think it was against the corona measures. There was at least one man dressed as Jesus without a mask and shouting something that I didn't understand. I was also approached by a woman, also without a mask, who asked me if I believed that there was currently an epidemic and, as a chemist, she advised me to wake up and look at the numbers. Phew, discussing with coronavirus deniers in German is already exhausting, but in French it's a different matter altogether. In the evening, I had Lebanese food with Luca, who is a language assistant in Paris. We had to hurry to pay around 8 o'clock because I had to catch my train to be home on time at 9 o'clock! Crazy affair.

Today, there was a large demonstration at Place de la Republique for freedom of speech and in memory of Samuel Paty. I was there with Bernadette, another foreign language assistant. Despite the coronavirus, thousands of people were there, applauding for minutes, singing the French national anthem, and giving speeches. It was very emotional, and many people made signs. Now there are two weeks of vacation, but I'm sure this topic will continue to be discussed in many schools afterwards - important!

Also, I may have broken my little toe today, there was simply a cabinet in the way! (Update: I don't think it's broken after all, but it still hurts.) In the evening, I enjoyed a beautiful live concert by the LandesJugendChor. That's how you can handle the curfew.