Time to say goodbye

It's begun: the good-byes. The inevitable act of bidding farewell upon parting. It sucks, it's sad, and it's necessary. And it's started already. And with it often comes the imminent waterworks, or at least a tear or two.

It started last Friday when I said my good-byes to my responsable and 2 other teachers (who happened to be my favourites) since they were leaving on the school trip for England for a week, and I wouldn't see them again before they got back. As such I had made a little parting gift for all the teachers, in the form of maple pecan cookies, which turned out really well and which were made with maple syrup from a farm back home, all nicely packaged up in little loot bags I found at the 2 euro store.

cookies for the teachers!

They made me promise to stay in touch and let them know how everything goes next year when I'm in Edinburgh. While I managed to hold back tears for the time being, I knew that once I had to say good bye to everyone (ie. tomorrow) it might not be so easy...

Next came my last trapeze/tissu class on Tuesday. I had (again) made maple pecan cookies and brought syrup, and after a particularly productive class, the entire group of us, including my teacher, had a little picnic until midnight in front of the lovely Basilique Saint-Epvre in the old city. One of the girls had even made a very tasty apple banana tarte for the occasion. It was nice to have a little goodbye party! Everyone wanted to know what I'd be doing before I left for good and when I got home. I had had an amazing year learning aerial circus arts with these people and I was so lucky to be part of such a welcoming group. And yes, I cried walking home for the last time.

Elsa and the cake she made!

Today was a particularly hard good-bye - my French friend Clémentine! Over the past 7 months we saw each other at least once a week, and I had a great time getting to know her and hanging out with her. I learned a lot from her, both linguistically and culturally, and she became a good friend. We (along with her boyfriend Flavian) went to the fair last night to have a few thrills before I left, and today we got together to enjoy a drink under the sun in Place Stanislas. As a little souvenir parting gift I gave her a framed photo that was taken of us together a month ago when Alex was here. I'm not sure when I'll get to see her again as she's heading to Australia in the fall for 6 months, but we promised to stay in touch and hopefully one of us will get to visit the other when I'm in Scotland come the fall. And yes, I cried walking home.

lucky to have such a great "tandem"!

 It's also starting with the students, and as I tell each class that it's my last time working with them, I get lots of "thank you!"s and "good-byes" and in the case of my 2nde Abibacs, groans and moans, which makes me feel I must have done something right this year. I even got thank you cards from the International Section, the group I helped create a yearbook with, before they headed off to England. So sweet!

 And finally today, two of the teachers approached me to give me a goodbye present! They were all apologetic that they couldn't round up all the teachers so they could all be there (there are 8 of them, so finding a convenient time in all their schedules is understandably difficult). They gave me a beautiful silver necklace designed by local artists in the shape of a Ginko Biloba leaf, an inspiration to the art nouveau movement in Nancy, and some "pavé" soaps with mirabelle, bergamote and fleur d'orange scents. It was such a thoughtful gift, I absolutely loved it and I couldn't thank them enough! I managed to hold back the tears since it was just before class. I'll likely bawl tomorrow.

pavé soaps

my necklace

With a few good-bye's out of the way, there are more to come, and I'm hardly looking forward to them. The hardest? Saying goodbye to my beloved Nancy, my home for the last 7 months. There is so much I love about this city, and I'm not quite ready to leave it just yet. That post will come soon enough.