Wednesday, we held
our final class. We finalized the departure details, noting that
Christina was already leaving for Geneva that very day, as she
had a very early flight out of Geneva on Thursday morning. Of
the eleven remaining students, seven more are leaving on an afternoon
flight out of Geneva, and the four others will be doing some independent
traveling in Europe.
Wednesday evening,
we all met at the café "Aux Deux Savoie" for
a farewell drink. There was some good-natured clowning around,
and several of the French "siblings" showed up as well,
along with one wandering Australian. But there was still some
more packing to do in preparation for the next day's travels,
so that we all went home at a reasonably early time.
And then came the departure
day. Glenn, Chris and Kendra headed early into Annecy to catch
the train for their respective destinations in Europe. Tony will
be staying in Faverges a few more days before heading north to
Copenhagen. The seven who were to take an afternoon flight out
of Geneva (Bianca, Brian, Emil, Jeannette, Jennifer, Oswaldo,
Sondra) showed up at noon to load their luggage into our chartered
bus. A few tears were shed, many bises were proferred,
and the bus left on time for the hour and a half ride to Geneva
airport.
As I type these lines,
the seven are somewhere in the air over the Atlantic Ocean, all
of them sure to come back to Faverges and France one day. They
all know that they will have a French family waiting for them
when they return. Living proof appeared in the form of Jennifer
Hollering, a participant in the 1999 Program, who showed up yesterday
and who will be staying with a couple of different families over
the next ten days. Another 1999 participant, Renée Chlysta,
will be coming in early July to spend a month with her host family
and to work as a volunteer in the Archeological Museum.
Now there is grading
to do, a budget to balance, and some prospecting to carry out
for future programs, so that, as far as the teacher is concerned,
the Program is far from over! But, all in all, things went extremely
well this year, and all of the students made a great deal of progress.
Thus ends this final page in of the
report on The University of Akron's
2001 Summer Study Program in
the French Alps.
On the strictly academic side, our
class contact-hours where composition, reading, conversation and
civilization were covered, exceed the requirements of an entire
fifteen-week semester's class on campus in Akron.
To this intensive curriculum, the immersion
in French host families afforded many more hours of conversation
and exchanges that could never be met in a classroom situation
on campus.
The acquisition and constant practice
of the language are only part of the benefits of the Program.
Traveling and living in one of the most picturesque regions of
the world has been of course the focus of the coverage of these
reports on the internet. Yet, beyond the enjoyment of discovering
Paris, Roman ruins and the fabled Alps, beyond the mere "travelogue"
aspect of the reports (who indeed would aim the camera only at
school books and classrooms!), students came in personal contact
with ancient history, art, architecture, customs, but most of
all with a different way of living in a modern democratic society.
Close observation of different sets of values, family life, schools,
transportation networks, health care system, news coverage, as
well as social concerns in France, have given our students a new
perspective on how people live and prosper on the "old continent"
of Europe in this first year of the third millennium.
Students are now returning home tired
by the pace of the last six weeks, but enriched for a lifetime
in their view of the world. Their professor, utterly exhausted
by weeks of preparation, covering details such as budget, travel
planning, lodging, scheduling, guiding of excursions . . . as
well as teaching practically non-stop, finds great satisfaction
and pride in the results of the Program.
Bon été à tous
et à toutes! (Good summer to all!)
