Two days, forty-eight hours, two-thousand, eight-hundred and eighty minutes. That’s how much time I have left here at the quaint, rainy and lovely La Mazure. My head is still spinning at how quickly the summer has passed. I have seen four sessions of energetic French children and worked with almost 20 different people to make the summer the most fantastic and fun it can be. I have donned wigs, eaten food off the floor, sang karaoke and done regurgitated Chubby Bunny (a game that involves stuffing as many marshmallows in your mouth at one time as possible) all for the benefit and joy of young kids.
You might be wondering, what do I have to show for it? I can’t show you. The rewards from this crazy summer are not tangible. I can’t hold them in my hands or stuff them into my suitcase and hope they don’t tip the scales at the airport check-in. Normally if I spent two months working at something and had nothing to literally show for it, I’d demand my money (or in this case, my time) back right away. But in this case, the rewards I’m taking home in my heart and my head are beyond something money can buy.
I have picked up thousands of French words and phrases, including a few I wouldn’t want my mother to catch me saying. I have been shoved out of my proverbial shell and made a fool of myself over and over in different improvisational skits in front of the kids, and I’m not so shy as I once was. I’ve sung songs in front of almost 50 kids with no fear of them thinking I’m flat or off-key.
Watching the kids’ confidence in English grow in varying degrees over two months has encouraged me to learn more French and improve my own proficiency. Also, the beauty (and sometimes vulgarity) of the French language that I hear in rapid-fire conversations all around me each day has pushed me to stick my nose in a French dictionary tout suite!
I have met kids who are far beyond their age; who speak and carry themselves like adults. I have met kids who test my patience and make me re-think the challenges that parenting will someday bring. I have met kids who make me laugh and kids who make me come close to losing my voice because of how often I must ask them to be quiet.
I have learned three important lessons:
- French kids are not that different from American kids. Besides better table manners and, in general, a better understanding of world events, they are fairly similar.
- Don’t take yourself too seriously. This is one of the most vital lessons of camp. When you can, laugh it out and laugh it off. It may be a cliché of epic proportions, but LIFE IS TOO SHORT!
- Be aware. Awareness is so rare. Too often we are ‘turned off’; not focused on what is going on around us. Being responsible for several kids at all times of day and being aware of my own words and actions as well as their safety has heightened my awareness, and I can only hope that once I have regular internet access and a cell phone back that it won’t disappear.
Tomorrow is beach day and we’ll take a field trip to Granville. I plan to catch a few rays, eat one (or two) salambo chantilly fraise and finish this great travel book I’ve been hooked on. What are your plans for the weekend?
On Friday I will take a train to Paris, spend a sleepless night at my hotel (I’ll be too excited) and catch my plane the next morning. On Saturday my jet-lagged self will get on the next bus to Boston and finally meet my mom in Maine. With any luck I’ll have the strength to give her a hug and eat some Chinese food at our favorite restaurant. See you on the other side!
This is my last post for HC Abroad, at least until I book another flight. For now, check out Kay Away.
HC Love, Clementine.