SarahGreetings from France!
It feels like it’s been forever since the last post. Sometimes chaos and life shifts inspire creativity, and sometimes they make you feel like you can’t pick up a pen… some kind of writing bottleneck. Here are some updates & pics; this may be interesting to friends, fam and other TAPIF arrivals.
So here’s the lowdown of my last couple of weeks:
Arrived in France
My bags made it too! Trekking 90 pounds through the Metro was interesting. Grateful for the abundance of strangers that volunteered help. My travel philosophy = independence comes through comfortably managing your own bags… however, that hasn’t transferred to my moving-for-a-year philosophy.
Salut Paris
Briefly explored Paris, and made it up the Eiffel Tower for the first time! It was also nice to connect with other assistants thanks to social media. I was there only briefly, and was mostly jet-lagged, so I’d love to return soon to explore properly.
Passing through Heidelberg
Whizzed over to Germany on a 300km/h train. 🙂 Felt proud (relieved?) to have conquered that stretch of solo travel, but also pumped to reunite with friends near Heidelberg. Didn’t sleep much that night… Had a great evening with coworkers etc., snoozed for a few hours, and we miraculously still caught the 6:45am train.
Hamburg
Voyaged up north w/one of my best German friends. A couple highlights included the funny and beautiful Chopin Dances (choreographed by Jerome Robbins) and a walking tour. The Aladdin musical was interesting; it was surprisingly adapted to the region. We also saw the plaza of the beautiful, huge, and controversial Elbphilharmonie building (not pictured). Next time I visit, I will try to book a show or tour there far in advance.
Tschüss, Heidelberg
This time I had the opportunity to catch up with several more people. I was also recruited into playing piano at church, which is classic Sarah, but was really quite lovely. On the one hand, reconnecting is nice, but at times the weekend was also a bit melancholy. Back in the same context as last year, I remembered how it feels to adapt to a totally new culture, and it started to sink in that I was about to trade vacation for everyday life (and arrival paperwork!) in a place I’d never even visited.
To the South
This stretch of the journey was a bit brutal: 8 hours, 7 (?) transfers and 3 countries. My luggage handle got broken somewhere in there, and I realized that it’s profoundly awkward to squish your life’s belongings into a washroom stall (if one’s train transfer even allows time for that). Encounters with stair-only train platforms have also made me aware of the importance of accessibility. This was only an inconvenient and tiring day with luggage; if I relied on a wheelchair every day, a lot of locations would be genuinely daunting to navigate.
Another highlight was a closed train station requiring everyone and their bags to clamour onto “substitute trains” (buses). Chaos aside, I was grateful the voyage was still relatively smooth and got me where I needed to go.
Arrivée: Nouveau Chez Moi
Finally made it to cute Héricourt! 🙂 I’ve been there for a week now. I’m gradually feeling less lost, and my colleagues have been extremely welcoming. I’ll expand more later, but suffice it to say that I’ve started exploring my surroundings and am feeling optimistic about the year to come.
Finally, I’ve already done “Ask the Canadian” with a couple of classes. One highlight thus far: “Do you like tacos??” Looking forward to hopefully channel their curiosity into motivation to practice English.
A la prochaine fois <3
Sarah