A Home Away From Home: Getting Involved in The Community

From the beginning of my arrival in France, the organization that I am with Andego, highly encouraged its teaching assistants, like me, that had moved abroad to get involvement within the community during the year. At first, the idea of participating within the community around where I would live did not come to mind when I decided to move to France for a year. Instead, my mind was preoccupied with all the wonderful places I would visit each and every weekend. And trust me there's been lots of time for that! I've had to remind myself that I’m here for a year and not just a two week tourist vacation. But as the months have passed, I've realized how important it is to get involved and put yourself out there to join or experience different aspects of the community. 

I tend to refer to my first month here in France as the honeymoon period (I know it's an odd term) During this time, the idea of getting involved or doing things in the community didn't come up a lot for me as I was preoccupied with settling into new host families, continuing to improve my French and learning about my position as a Language teacher. I was enjoying the newness and adventure of living abroad, soaking up the sun in the nice autumn weather, visiting nearby cities with friends and spending time with host families. Yes there were hardships that came but everything was a new experience. However, when the weather started to get colder, darker and rainier more often and I was given more responsibilities at the college that I worked at, I realized that this wasn't a vacation, it was where I was to call home for the next 10 months. Getting involved in the community wasn't just a decision that I decided to get up and do on a random day, it has more been as I’ve met new people, made connections or visited other areas of my little town and the city of Angers in the past few months. I've come to find that when opportunities come up it comes down to just saying.. Yes! 

The English Library:

There is a group of other interns in Angers nearby and I have so enjoyed getting to know them and hanging out most every Wednesday that we have off and the weekends. Through exploring the city on Wednesdays we have come to discover the English Language Library that sits within the center. While we don’t visit the library every week, I enjoy the times when we can discuss lesson plans inside, browse for books and read the quite large collection of English teaching lesson plans, books and games for all ages. We have even discovered an area to find whole lesson plans prepared and ready in a bag to use for classes (Major teacher cheater).To our luck, the library normally charges a fee for membership but gives all language assistants in the area a card free of charge! While I have yet to go to the library's English meet-ups or volunteer events (and I do plan to) it has been special to meet other English speakers and find a place to gather throughout the week.     

A Cellist in France: 

I had put on my resume when applying for the internship that I was a cellist, and I can remember the first time I met the music teacher at le college de Sainte Emilie that he said..“To let you know, I'm in the works of finding you a cello, or as the french say Violoncelle” Since driving to pick up the cello in October, it has been such a blessing to work with the music teacher here at St Emilie and most especially the ways he has provided for me to play for the students. To close out the 2023 year before the holidays, I was asked to not only play with the school choir at the school's Christmas mass but perform a solo as a surprise for the students. Yes my music fell off the stand during the outdoor windy performance and of course I had to play the well known Bach's Cello Suite unknown to many French middle schoolers. 

However, most recently I had the privilege of being invited to play in a local band known as Cendrio that plays traditional jazz and pop/rock french music! The music teacher at the middle school is the pianist and knowing the songs within the group had convinced the lead singer that a cellist was needed in some of the songs. And so, it was an incredibly unique experience for me (especially as I am accustomed to classical orchestra and symphonic arrangements). But even more so that I had rehearsals practicing and improvising in ways on the cello but speaking and being given instructions in French! Before coming to France I had figured that if I were to play the cello in a different country it would have been easy (music is the same language in all countries right?!) Incorrect. Since learning an instrument in America, I have been taught the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G. On the other hand, France and other countries use.. La, Si, Do, Ré, Mi, Fa, Sol. And so, the repetitions were difficult not so much in learning the notes of songs but the differences in French musical vocabulary! However, after a full day of technical set-ups and repetitions the concert went beautifully, and it feels extra special to say that not only was it my first experience at a French concert but that I got to support the music making by playing the cello. 

Friend of a Friend of a Friend Connections: 

If you're moving to a new country or simply just visiting an area, I highly recommend reaching out to your friends and family who may have connections in a different country. Before I moved to France, my parents had reached out to a whole lot of our friends and through doing so we have found people nearby that I’ve been able to meet recently and look forward to meeting in the next couple months! Through one of these connections, I’ve come to get involved in a great church in the area through a couple that is a friend of a friend of a friend of my dads. While being able to attend services most every week can be hard a times, I have so enjoyed the community of people that I've met, got invited over to enjoy a meal with and have gotten to know outside of services. I am equally as grateful for the time spent within a young adults group that has formed! Even so, I have come to find that there is a surprisingly large number of people at the church who speak English (sometimes it's like a breath of fresh air after a week of speaking and being constantly immersed in French.) While I will admit, pursuing people and connections has never come easy to me. Often, I tend to get wrapped up in the busyness of life and pull to the side connections with people that I could have made. However, moving to France and in a way starting my life over with a new culture, new language and new people, I have most especially learned and realized just how taking the time to reach out to others and making a new connection is incredibly important. And even so, At the beginning of my time here in France, I wondered how I would come away different in a way and I already can see that I no longer shy away from pursuing new experiences and new people. As I said before, it's just saying yes!