Back To My Roots

About a week ago, I received an invitation from my former grade school to come and speak to a few classes about my experience in France.  I, of course, jumped at the chance to go; I love talking about what I do.

I didn't really know what to expect.  The age range of the kids is so wide (3rd/4th and 6th/7th/8th grades).  Honestly, I didn't know if they would even care about hearing my stories and seeing what I did.  I definitely didn't want to just lecture on and on; I really wanted to answer their questions and talk about stuff that they like.

Well, the day could not have gone more perfectly (except for driving a bit fast after I realized that a detour was taking me about 15 minutes out of my way and I might be late).  The kids--all of them--were so engaging and seemed genuinely interested in what I did, where I went, what I saw, etc.  I was really, really hoping for some funny questions (especially from the younger kids) and they delivered!  I talked a bit about France and the geography, but, of course, the most popular topics were about the foods they eat and don't eat ("What?!?! No peanut butter!?!?"), the sports they play and don't play ("They don't know about the Packers/Bears/Vikings/Brewers/Brett Favre?!?!") and stuff I can say in French.  In almost every class, I went around and told the kids their "French name" (or Franco-phied version of their American name), which was a big hit.

Of course, I also loved going back to revisit some teachers during my early formative years.  But, he best part was seeing the kids so interested in learning about a foreign country.  Living/working/traveling/studying abroad has been such a big part of my life, so to see kids genuinely interested in somewhere completely different from Platteville, Wisconsin, USA was awesome.  I don't know if they'll ever study or live/work abroad, but I don't underestimate the importance of learning about other countries and cultures.  To have four attentive, interested, participating groups was just icing on the cake.  But, then again, I wouldn't expect anything less than the best from St. Marys kids.