The other day at lunch, Jeanne-Marie came to see
me. She has been out and wanted to check
on the work she was missing. I always look forward to lunch visits from
students. There is something about being able to talk to them in a quiet
environment and connect with them in a new way. I am always, well almost
always, in my room for lunch. If it weren’t for the fridge, I probably wouldn’t
get lunch. Where can I go for 30 minutes,
actually 25ish minutes, that could be more peaceful than my room? Putting on a
Ted talk makes it even better some days.
Back to Jeanne-Marie. Last year, we had our
differences in the beginning of French one. As the year went on, things got
better and better. It is interesting how students mature and change over the course
of a year, or even a month! Summers can
be even more dramatic!
I came to really enjoy Jeanne-Marie’s enthusiasm and
interest in French. As her skills increased, so did her confidence and our
relationship got more and more positive.
When she came to me to talk about work, she also
brought up the idea of going to France. She and another student had talked
about doing a semester study-abroad next year as juniors. I so want them to go
and experience being abroad. A part of me is being selfish and wants to be the
one to take them to France. Is that being selfish? Maybe. I want to see the
look on her face when she sees the Eiffel Tower for the first time or rides the
metro. No matter how many times I go, I never get tired of being a part of
others’ experiences of such a wonderful country.
Money is the issue. Isn’t is always? In the past, I have
planned trips on my own to keep the costs down for students and it has been a
great experience! Students have had to work hard to go and their appreciation deep. I have some other stories about those which
will follow. I know that I will have
365+ reasons!
Another inspiration from the coffee shop was this organization
called workaway.info. I found out that
it is an organization which connects people who want to travel somewhere who
are willing to work for someone when they get there in exchange for lodging.
Awesome!
Jeanne-Marie and I took a bit of time to check out the
site. I honestly hadn’t taken the time to do so before but decided it would be
cool to check it out with her. It was amazing to find that in exchange for 4
hours/day of help in the garden and selling vegetables at the market, one could
stay in a big house on the French Riviera. Really? Really!
We are now on a path that did not exist before because
an encouraging gentleman took the time to listen to my story and then share his
own. How interesting that our lives intersect and create more paths than we
imagined existed?
Merci Jeanne-Marie pour to intérêt dans le
français et ton désire d’y voyager avec moi. Je serai ravie de voyager en France avec toi !
The possibilities of
sharing unique travel experiences with students which I know will forever
transform us….
This is why I teach! 
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