The Penultimate Week

It feels very strange to be writing my penultimate blog post from France. It's only just started to dawn on me that my year abroad is coming to an end, and although there have been many times during the last 7 months when I've dreamed of this week's arrival, now we're here there's also a larger than expected part of me that is sad to leave.

I haven't felt like I've done very much this week, as I only took 6 classes (half my usual amount) and most of my things to do have been outside work, including cancelling the internet, closing my bank account, responding to a random letter telling me that I'll be entitled to a French pension (!), organising my journey home and of course starting the dreaded task of packing. I have however had some great classes, highlights of which include being told "my boyfriend is a cooker" (she meant chef), and finding out that one of my pupils is an amazing magician! I've been trying to make the most of teaching as up to know I've kind of been taking for granted how much I enjoy it and how much I'll miss it. It feels very strange that I'll be jobless and no longer an assistant in less than a week's time. It also feels odd that my next job will likely be in England, as I've never worked for more than about a month in my own country, and it will be a whole new world of etiquette and expectations to discover.

Anyway, at the risk of getting over-sentimental before I've even started my last week, I'll move onto talking about last weekend. I went to Basel, although this time it felt different as my reason for going wasn't that I felt like I had to have a break from France, or even that I wanted to spend some time in a city, but actually because I had some Swiss francs that I didn't want to bother exchanging back in the UK (I know, I am the epitome of laziness). Basel was fantastic as usual, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had done previous times, I think partly because the weather was bad, and also because I feel sufficiently happy and comfortable in France now that it felt unnecessary to spend Saturday in Switzerland, rather than making the most of being in Alsace. I've saved this weekend for that though, and tomorrow I'll be paying a visit to "La Montagne des Singes" or "Monkey Mountain"!

A bientôt!
Alice x