Life in Lille

It's now been a month of living in Lille. As long as I can count my time here in days, in weeks that I can number on my fingers, it seems to lack a sense of permanence, and the heavier realization that I will stay here, be here, carve out a little corner of life and space here for myself. For the moment I still have the feeling that I'm pretending, playing make-believe-- I was always good at that game.

But if it's all pretend then my made-up life is going really well: my work is expanding as I've started another teaching job in the little town of Dunkerque, even further north than Lille, about 10 minutes from the Belgian border. I'm working at a little collège called Sacré Coeur, teaching English and music with students from about 11-14. It is definitely not my preferred demographic, but it is such a fantastic opportunity and I immediately fell in love with the teachers and the atmosphere at the school-- very warm and inviting and so enthusiastic to have an American English assistant! I have truly been overwhelmed with kindness during my short time here and I think it would do Americans an unbelievable amount of good to come here and meet these people who are so generous, so genuine, so interested. The "freedom fries" folks just might have to re-think their philosophy a bit, because I can honestly say that I have never been to another place where there was so much positive interest and excitement at getting to know an American-- it's a wonderful feeling and a great responsibility, I think, to represent the USA here, for people who have never had any interaction with someone from the States, and I am as happy and as proud as I can be (particularly with the outcome of the recent elections) to show Europe what being an American really means, just as the French are daily tearing down my own pre-conceptions and cultural captivities regarding the Old World which surrounds me here.

So I'm starting to feel very settled and very at home in Lille. I've definitely gotten into the groove of things here and I'm so glad for that. I've got that destiny/fate/cosmos-in-the-chaos sense of calm and peace about me here, with a lot of happiness and relief thrown in. Several things have made me feel this way, I think. Jumping on stage at the Guapa Bar was definitely one of them, and so was buying my guitar. Watching my friendships here open up and grow as we all become comfortable with each other and start to trust and depend on one another, getting into fun and mischief together and looking to each other for help. Being involved in other people's lives, like having students who look to me for some sort of knowledge or baby-sitting for a friend's nephew-- I'm started to feel entangled here and it's exactly what I had hoped for from the start.