You told us so

Before coming to Paris for our sabbatical year, friends would say to us, “you’re never going to want to come home”.  True enough, we have met a number of families who came to Paris for a year and have been here for two, three, five and more. The school tells us that their main problem is not getting families to come to the school but in getting them to leave. Because the girls are in a special “adaptation” class, all of the students are new. If everyone chose to stay on after their adaptation year the school would have a problem absorbing them all. 

Our girls were accepted at the school for one year with no guarantees they would be allowed to return. Very shortly after the school year began we saw how energized they were and how happy and engaged they were with their learning. School was harder, there was more homework, and they had to wake up much earlier than they were used to but at the end of the day when I would greet them with their goûter, they were glowing, bubbly and full of stories. As we were integrated into the school we learned that at the end of an adaptation year the kids would be “functionally fluent” but not necessarily fluent. A second year would make a big difference.

When the school offered us the opportunity to stay we were excited and anxious. The girls were proud that they were strong enough students to be accepted into the mainstream French classes but it meant we had some decisions to make. We explained to them that if they took the opportunity to do an additional year in France, their chances of having French as a language for life would be much higher. They have met so many people here that speak multiple languages: it is not uncommon for kids their age to have two to three and everywhere we go we meet people who have three to five. Being surrounded by multilingual people has definitely inspired them to want to count themselves as, at least, bilingual. 

We took the weekend to think about our choices and on Sunday night we asked each girl to write their wish on a piece of paper. It was hard. They were torn. They miss home and really, really miss their friendships. As we took their tiny slips of paper they didn’t make eye contact. Both of them said they’d like to do one more year. I think they surprised even themselves.

So that is our new plan. We are going to have two years in France: one to learn how to speak the language and a second to use it. We have promised each other that there will not be a third year and we have promised the girls a visit back to Canada this summer. H is in the process of figuring out how to manage a job in Calgary and a family in Paris.

We think one of the reasons we love our life here is because we know it isn’t permanent. There are a whole lot things you just don’t worry or think about when you are living in a time limited bubble. Our two year plan will not change that: we still want to make the most of our time here, to be thoughtful and purposeful and soak up as much of the experience as we can. And when we go home it will be all the sweeter for having milked everything we can out of our sabbatical year(s).