19 October 2013
Well it’s been a week since I last wrote and what a week it has been! Like I said last time, I came to Paris last weekend to do some Grad School Application work, plan out my upcoming 2 week vacation, eat well, see civilization, and try to think about what the next steps would be in terms of my teaching position and Chalons. I had a fairly good idea of what would be my final conclusion, but it was really hard to accept.
I felt betrayed by the program that seemed so incredible yet left so much to be desired. 12 hours a week of working isn’t much, and going into it I was excited that it left me ample time to do my own personal work: graduate school applications, research, writing, museums, all kinds of things. It was going to be great! But soon after I arrived I realized that, with the lack of wifi in my living accommodations, the most important part of my goals: grad school applications, would be impossible. Maybe this is an exaggeration, but really… researching and writing really good applications is difficult when you are forced to do it from a bar. Even if I chose to give up my grad school dreams and put them off for another year, the social scene in Chalons was lacking. I did the three museums, I’d visited the churches, I did the Jard (the large public garden). Really, there wasn’t much that remained. While I liked my job, 12 hours really isn’t that much time working… I asked many of my colleagues what there was to do in Chalons and, like my students, they all had the same response: why did you ever pick to come here. (I didn’t.)
So I spent my weekend in Paris thinking about things and weighing my options. I wrote my blog post which really got out some of my anger - perhaps too well. I walked around, I played tourist, and just tried to think of a reason that Chalons was great for me. And I couldn’t. On Saturday I met up with Ann Lawson and we had a really great dinner at Sir Winston, in the 16th near the Champs Elysées and on Sunday I met up with my host mother’s daughter and son-in-law, Cécile and Thierry and we had a magnificent brunch at Mariage Frères.
Mariage Frères, dating to 1854, is a very old and well-established tea shop in Paris that sells over 700 types of tea, while upstairs is a very nice little restaurant/salon du thé. As I opened up what I thought was a very vast menu, I was very surprised to find an entire 8 (yes EIGHT) page menu dedicated to teas. I then came across the real menu with its various brunch or à la carte options including my personal favorite, and one that I will have to try next time: the snob salad which combines smoked salmon, shrimp, house-made foie gras, and of course bunny food or greenery of some sort. In the end, however, we all ordered the classic brunch which included eggs (not really scrambled, not really very cooked, hard to describe actually - I thought it was macaroni and cheese when it first came out), smoked salmon, shrimp, little wispy mushrooms from Japan, and little bits of greenery. It was beautiful and delicious. And the tea was, obviously, really good as well. Over brunch we talked, at quite some length, about my current situation and what my options were, and once again I heard what I already knew I had to do.
Some jams, monsieur?
Just a corner of the 700 tea selection.
After our brunch we walked along the quai de la Seine which was, until recently, a road. It has been recently transformed, however, into a pedestrian highway and it is really nice. You walk right along the Seine, with the barges tied up, and there are kids running around or zipping about on their scooters, people biking, families out for their Sunday stroll, and it’s just a really nice atmosphere. In certain places are little vendors selling coffees or sweets, and in a few places they’ve placed these large floating barges with lounge chairs and benches which appeared to be popular, especially the two person lounge bed things. Those seemed to be quite popular with the dating crowd, if you catch my drift.
As we got closer to the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars, where Cécile and Thierry live, we noticed that there was a very heavy police presence, and before long we realized we couldn’t get any closer to the Tower itself. Apparently a bomb threat had caused the Eiffel Tower to be evacuated and the entire area was cordoned off. We finally got back the apartment, had a coffee (clearly it was a heavily caffeinated day, thank God) and then I went back to the apartment to gather my (now clean) clothes, pack, and leave.
On the train ride back to Chalons I thought more - about what I felt, about the email I’d written to the American lady in charge of the program, and how best to proceed from. Well, by the end of the train ride I realized it would be best if perhaps I didn’t come back to Chalons after the vacation and by Thursday midday it was official. Perhaps not in the exact way I saw it happening, but I thanked the proviseur for the experience, but made it very clear that I was unhappy in Chalons and that it would be best for everyone if I didn’t return after the break. I had my last Chalonnais meal and by dinner on Thursday night was mostly moved back into my old digs in Paris.
The 9 am commuter rush in Chalons
As I’ve said a billion times before, in this blog, on my facebook, in person, to anybody who would listen: my time in Paris in 2011 was probably the most fun time of my life. Adding to that happiness was one of the most successful host family pairings I could have imagined. I am so incredibly lucky that 2 years later, in the midst of incredible unhappiness, it was be my adopted French family that came to the rescue. I arrived in Paris and moved back into my old room as if nothing had ever changed. Not being very hungry that first night I decided to go out for a walk to clear my head and start enjoying my new life - or re-discovering my old life. I walked over to Trocadero, ate a sandwich, and looked at the Eiffel Tower. It’s one of my favorite spots in Paris and I try to go there as often a possible. There’s great people watching, alway something going on, and face it: it’s the best view of the Eiffel Tower.
So, where am I going from here? I don’t know. Seeing about getting transferred to another school? Finding another job? Taking classes? Becoming a vagabond? Traveling throughout Europe? The world is my oyster. I’ve never been in this position before and I never thought I would be. But I’m happier already and I can’t wait to see what’s to come. I’m 23, I have nothing to hold me back, and dammit I’m going to make the most of the months to come!
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