Thanksgiving

This month has passed much faster than the last, and now, at last, I have some form of a weekly routine. I've gotten the hang of my teaching work schedule, I've started running again, I'm provided regular balanced meals with my host family.

Since moving to the little village to live with my host family, and since settling into a routine, I haven't seen a lot of the other English teaching assistants. Last Friday, we were all summoned to Reims for a medical visit and to have our visas validated by the office of immigration. Rubbing shoulders with them again made me think about how blessed my situation is.

Living with the host family, I don't have to worry about searching out French friends to make the experience worth it--every day back at the house is great practice for my French speaking skills. I don't have to trek to the laundromat and shell out money--actually, my host mother took my laundry and did it. I can't complain about not having an oven or eating alone--there's a fully equipped kitchen, groceries, and we eat home-cooked family dinners every night. It's true that I had to give up some independence-I rely on them for transportation, so I have to plan it with them if I want to leave the village. And, it really is a tiny town. To many other young people it might seem deathly boring - and there certainly is no nightlife or other college students. But there's a boulangerie-patisserie-chocolatier (yum), a supermarket, a post office, two churches, a library, at least one park where I can run on trails, and maybe three shops. That's really about all. But that, with the internet and a host family so I'm not lonely, is plenty for me.

Speaking of things I'm thankful for...today I am writing from, not Châlons, not my little village, but the southwestern part of France where I am visiting Helen Hunter for Thanksgiving! I arrived this morning, after a night train and a train ride through the rolling countryside. (There are HILLs here! What a change from the flat terrain of the Marne department.) I asked to reschedule my two Friday classes so that I could come, and I'm so happy and grateful that I can be with her for Thanksgiving and see the town she's living in.