Day 1: Cantigny

Our first full day in France began with an overcast morning and a cool breeze. Here is Madame Soucaze, and English teacher at our partner school who is hosting Madame at her home for the two weeks we will spend in Montdidier. Admire the beautiful view of the countryside in Picardie right next to her home:

After a brief breakfast and reception with the principal of our partner high school, Lycée Jean Racine, the students went to the town of Cantigny with Madame Robillard, Ms. Worster, and our cooperating teacher, Madame Dangreville, who teaches History at our partner school. 

Cantigny is important because of a battle that was fought there 95 years ago TODAY, which was the first battle of World War I in which Americans soldiers officially fought. Worthy of note: The 1st Infantry DIvision of the US Army, also known as "The Big Red One", fought heroically and defeated the Germans who had occupied the village of Cantigny. 

So, Cantigny was both their first battle and their first victory. May 28th is a very important day here, one the villagers commemorate every year, but we missed the celebration this year because the "Big Red One" just finished their tour in Afghanistan and asked the village to commemorate this battle a few days early (last Thursday) so the active members of the division could pay hommage in Cantigny on their way back from the war in Afghanistan. Of course, the village agreed.

The monument to American soldiers who died in the Battle of Cantigny, May 28, 1918

Caroline and Kiel at the battlefield at Cantigny

The Westmoore students with their teachers at the roadside along the fields
where the Battle of Cantigny was fought.

But we weren't disappointed, because we had a great learning experience, starting with a stop just outside Cantigny at the official monument for the Americans who died in the Battle of Cantigny, which overlooks the battlefield where there once were trenches and minefields.

(L to R) Monsieur Lefever, Katie, Michaela, Allison, Caroline, Kiel, and Riley at the World War I museum/collection created and maintained by Monsieur Lefever

Monument to the Big Red One, 1st Infantry Division of the US Army, in Cantigny

Allison, Carly, and Katie in the van on the way to meet Monsieur Lefever in Cantigny

Who is Monsieur Lefever? He is a wonderful human artifact of the village of Cantigny where he grew up. At the age of 20, when he was 2 weeks short of his release from serving his mandatory military service in the French army, World War II broke out. He was sent to the front along the Maginot line, he fought and survived through the 10 days of the forced retreat as far back as Dijon, and then his officers surrendered to the Germans and surrendered him and his fellow soldiers over to the Germans. He served five years in a German work camp before the American Army liberated him and countless others in 1945. Today he is 96 years old and he finds great joy in honoring the soldiers of World War I (whom he considers true heroes) and telling his own stories of fighting the Nazis and surviving as a prisoner of war (which he considers his duty to the nation). The students met him and explored his collection of artifacts.

Kiel and Madame with Monsieur Lefever

Madame Worster with Monsieur Lefever

Such a great living artifact!

One of the exhibits in Monsieur Lefever's private museum

 The Westmoore students gathered at the official monument honoring the sacrifice of American soldiers in Battle of Cantigny and the great victory they won. This monument is maintained by the American Battlefield Commission and it sits on ground given by France to the United States in perpetuity for this purpose.

Upon our return to the the high school, we ate lunch in the school cafeteria (except for a few students who went with their school partners off campus). Then we went to classes and Madame even got to teach two hours of English to the same students who came to Westmoore last year: Mathilde, Eren, Lucas, Matthieu, Laurine, Chloé, Hélène, Alexandre, Adrien, Kevin, Gabriel, Charles, et al.

All in all, despite some travel fatigue, we had a great day and learned a lot!

On est arrivés!

After a frightening, sad, and turbulent week, when school had ended far too abruptly and our community was literally torn to shreds, the French students of Westmoore gathered on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm with Ms. Worster and Madame Robillard at the airport and they were joined by Monsieur and Madame Tarter with their students from Moore High and Southmoore. The journey began with the usual bagage and boarding pass stress, then tearful yet happy farewells. As soon an the group made it through security to the other side, we began to develop bonds and become one cohesive group. Everyone got an assigned number in French to help us easily keep track of our group. 

The flights from OKC to Minneapolis and from Minneapolis to Paris were smooth and uneventful. Some students were able to sleep during the international flights, others were not. The flight was not full, so we were able to spread out a bit. The service was excellent, we could select movies to watch on individual viewing sets at each seat, and the food was passably good. For the record, Madame got close to six hours of sleep on this flight! (As she has predicted!)

Once on the ground in Paris, everything went smoothly, but it was hectic and we had to keep a pretty pace going to get from  point A to point B to point C, etc. Everyone's bags came through just fine. We figured out the system for purchasing our subway tickets at the automatic booths, we made it to the North train station in Paris, purchased our tickets for Montdidier, and finally had time to sit, eat, and relax for about an hour. 



Then, the students got to learn how to pull off train travel in France: Get the ticket stamped, walk the length of the platform to the 2nd class cars, load up the bagage, get settled. The train trip was smooth and the rocking of the train with its smooth ride slowly convinced several travelers to catch a nap. Realizing that they were about to meet their host families and dive in to the deep end of French speaking, students were practicing high-frequency expressions and resolving questions related to their immediate personal needs.

The train station in Paris known as la Gare du Nord from which we took the train for Amiens.

The change of trains in Amiens happened very quickly, with a lot of luggage hauling, but we made it with time to spare on our final train. Despite a slight delay halfway to Montdidier that made us a half hour late, when we finally arrived our host families and familiar friends from last year's visitors to Westmoore were there to greet us with a banner for our Franco-American partnership, cheers, and hugs and smiles all around.

The train station in Montdidier where we arrived and met our hosts.

Exhausted, we each scattered to the four winds with our hosts. Now, we are settling in, getting showered and fed, and hopefully waiting for a normal bedtime hour to arrive so we can get some much needed sleep!

2012 Pearson Global Learning Fellowship

In a few short hours I will leave for China. Including layovers, it will be close to a 24-hour journey. I am grateful for the chance to see China --- I never thought I would get to go there! Here is a list of my pre-departure impressions:

Biggest fear: Not surviving the experience
Greatest hope: Making lifelong friendships with people in my group or with Chinese people I meet
The one thing I'm really looking forward to seeing: The Forbidden City
The one thing I will not do: Eat grasshoppers
The one thing I simply must do: Experience an authentic marketplace
The one thing I am not looking forward to: Getting sick

Please follow my adventures here and let me know your thoughts about all that I will share with you about this amazing journey.

Thank you to the NEA Foundation and the Pearson Foundation for this opportunity.

2012: A Year of Travels!

Madame is currently in Washington D. C. to learn about the educational tour of China she will be taking in June 2012. In fact, this will be a year of many travel experiences:

• February 2012: Washington D.C.
• March 2012: Picardie, France
• April 2012: Phoenix, Arizona & visiting students from Montdidier, France
• June 2012: China
• July 2012: Washington D.C. and (possibly) Haïti

The educational tour of China is for the 2012 Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellowship. We will be learning about Chinese history & culture through an online college course and then touring Beijing and Shanghai, China. We will see the sites and visit schools while we are in China. It should be quite exciting!

Day 7 in Madrid: Sunday

Our group split into two: Those who went to El Escorial and Segovia and those who went to the Flea Market and on a funicular ride in Madrid with a visit to the Pyramid.

Later in the afternoon, several members of the group went to see a genuine bullfight while others went shopping at Puerta del Sol.

Day 6 in Madrid: Saturday

We started our day with a 9:00 am arrival in a Madrid train station. The overnight train was more fun and comfortable than many of us expected. Since our hotel rooms would not be ready until the early afternoon, we started our day with a guided bus tour of the city of Madrid and a visit to the Royal Palace (Palacio Real).

There were some "let's-all-stand-still" street performers who were quite interesting, such as this "invisible man":

After touring the city of Madrid and the Royal Palace, we checked in to our hotel and freshened up a bit. All the students were surprised to find they had a bidet in their bathrooms:

 Here's a picture of Jordan and Alexa on the rooftop of our hotel in central Madrid:

Then, students went to the Prado Museum:

Finally, we met for dinner and had a special, truly Spanish tapas meal (all items presented in order, as they were served):

 Mancheco Cheese (local to Madrid)

Madrid dried ham

 Madrid cooked ham

Spanish potato tortilla

 Croquettes with potatoes and ham inside

 Salad with lettuce, onions, carrots, cucumber, tomato, white asparagus, tuna, and Mediterranean olives.

Fried Calamari with lemon juice

The meal was very filling and wonderful. It was a great cultural experience and everyone enjoyed it immensely!

Day 5 in Paris, Part Two: Friday

After visiting Suresnes in the morning, we had the rest of the afternoon to explore Paris. We began at the Panthéon --- France "Hall of Honor" (so to speak) for all the great people throughout French history. There are graves and memorials in this building for all the great writers, philosophers, scientists, politicians, and leaders of France. The building was initially intended to be a church for St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, but it never really served as a church. The walls are lined with murals telling the story of the history of Paris and France. It was built to fulfill a promise made by Louis XV when he was ill that if he recovered, he would build a more worthy church for St. Geneviève. It took some fifty years, but the church was finally completed in 1790 as France was in the throes of the French Revolution. So, total it honors France's legacy of great thinkers. IN the very center of the church is Foucault's pendulum with which he proved that the Earth rotates around the Sun. It is a glorious building, located in the heart of the Latin Quarter on Paris' Left Bank.

We saw the graves of great men such as Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Voltaire, Léon Gambetta, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Jaurès, Jean Moulin, André Malraux, and Alexandre Dumas (père). We also saw a memorial for St. Antoine d'Exupéry. Here on the left are the graves of Nobel prize winners for Science and Physics, Marie and Pierre Curie.

Next to the Panthéon is the beautifully eclectic St. Étienne du Mont church, so we stopped in for a look:

We met up with the rest of our group for a late lunch on the left bank and then we caught our train to Madrid at the Gare d'Austerlitz. We took a night train to Madrid, sleeping in couchettes for the 12-hour trip.