Meghan Glendinning 1999 Kast Grant summary

Childhood is always compared to a journey. As much as I believe this, I can’t help wondering, however, when it is that the journey ends. Is it after middle school, upper school, and college? Maybe it ends after marriage or after the third child is born. Does the journey, in fact, ever end? Perhaps the fairytale journey that leads us through childhood ends, but if we, as educators, are to continue to learn, I believe we must continue the journey. Our age and relative"sophistication", however, changes the direction of this journey. We need to be more conscious of the direction we take because mom and dad simply aren’t there to guide us in the process. The continuance of the learning process later in life for me is quite literal indeed - involving more of a physical journey - travel. There really is no better way to learn about other cultures than through travel. In the process, we also learn invaluable lessons about ourselves, our expectations and our limits. Life is simply richer and better for the venturesome and the courageous. It is also critical to look beyond the immediate; to be involved in the world around us, to understand it and be willing to take the steps available to make a difference. Fortunately for me this past summer, the journey continued.

In early July, I left Philadelphia on a journey that took me to Lyon, France for a week and then on to Paris for a week. This particular voyage gathered French teachers of all levels from around the country. The mission of the trip was focused on language and culture and was taught by a professor from Bates College in Lyon as well as a doctoral candidate at the Sorbonne in Paris.

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As luck would have it, I left Philadelphia during a heat wave and was welcomed in France by 70-degree temperatures. Aside from the guilt feelings of leaving my three children behind with my husband for two weeks, it seemed too good to be true. When I was able to "quell" those guilt feelings, I settled into my seat at the airport and started to acclimate myself in Europe. Breathing the perpetual scent of cigarette smoke is always the first step. It takes about ten minutes in the Charles de Gaulle airport to feel as though I’ve smoked a pack of cigarettes- ahh Europe.

I was placed in a family that had three boys. Wait a minute, didn’t I just leave this scenario? The family was wonderful and very welcoming. Although it’s always somewhat of a risk to opt to stay with a family I have always had the most culturally rich experiences from it. Once I got over the fact that I had to share a bathroom with two teenage boys I was much better. Although there were times, however, when the fourteen-year-old was jamming on his electric guitar that I shuttered to think of my life back home in six years; I guess this was part of the journey that taught me limitations. This family took me all over Lyon and showed me the town. They took me to a beautiful house in the country where I saw an entirely different way of life and they engaged me in numerous intellectual conversations around the dinner table. We talked about the government structure and family allocations as well as how little everything was in France. We laughed as I described what a small soda was like at the movies and the fact that everything is jumbo in the US. They have these small rolls of paper towels- even the yogurt containers are smaller. I guess that would also explain why everyone there is so darn thin; eating a big lunch and small dinner really is the answer- not to mention the smaller portions.

My days were filled with activities that were planned by the program coordinator. We would spend the mornings in class studying and the afternoons on field trips. One of the highlights of our excursions was our visit to the mosque in Lyon. Not only was it fascinating for me, never having even laid eyes on one, but it was also exciting and interesting. We were lucky enough to sit down with the Imam from the mosque, which is really quite a big deal. He explained to us that he has known the Koran by heart since he was eight years old! He was asked some tough questions by some of the Jewish women in our group but he masterfully answered all of the questions. There has been and continues to be some controversy about the role of women in the Muslim religion or lack thereof.

Some of the other excursions included a visit to a silk shop where they still silk-screened the scarves and used very few high tech methods in their processes. I had never realized how time consuming the process was. Since Lyon used to be the capital of silk trade in ancient times it was interesting to see and understand this richly traditional line of work. We spent an afternoon at Fourvière- a cathedral that overlooks the city and an afternoon traboulling: going through the houses on the hillside by way of tunnels or small hallways so townspeople don’t have to wind their way up and down the hills twice a day. One afternoon we had a lunch cruise on the Saône River learning about the history of Lyon another was spent at an elementary school talking to other teachers. The experiences were varied but each one enriching in its own way. We also had the opportunity to go to a piano concert at a chateau that was absolutely amazing. When I got over the fact that Tom Cruise had once rented it for his family and that I could be walking in his footsteps, I was in awe of the beauty of this place. The lavender and other shrubs were gorgeous and the concert pianist was great not to mention the outfits on the women; the French are just so sheek! The stage in Lyon ended with a dinner at a restaurant that is only known through word of mouth. We sat on a terrace that overlooked the Sacré Coeur to the one side and The Tour Eiffel to the other.

The second stage took place in Paris. Our teacher in Paris was extraordinary and her English, when I overheard her a few times, was almost good enough to pass for an American. She lectured to us each day about history and art and took us on a special trip to the Louvre. She told us that if you spent three minutes in front of every piece of art in the museum, it would take three weeks to see each and every piece. Each of her lectures was complemented by a field trip that had pertained to her lecture that morning. One of the highlights of the trip was a walking tour of La Marais. La Marais was historically a marshy section of Paris that has the same flavor that Greenwich Village has in New York City. We stumbled upon a synagogue that was in the back of a small house. The Rabbi spoke to us extensively and told us about what life was like for Jews in France during World War II. He showed us all of the religious books and a copy of the Koran that had just been redone.

We were also fortunate to be in Paris for Bastille Day. On the evening of the 13th, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and stood with thousands of other people to see the fireworks display. What a sight it was to have the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop for such an amazing display. The one bizarre thing about it was that they were blasting music of old show tunes and in the middle of this splendid and proud display, I heard the West Side story song I want to live in America; somehow it didn’t quite fit. We spent the next morning at the military parade on the Champs d’Elysée watching all the different troops in full uniform march down the avenue. Three F14 fighter planes screamed above our heads- one trailing blue smoke, the other white and the third one blue smoke. It really was quite a sight.

After two wonderful weeks, I was ready to go home. Believe it or not, I missed my children and it is always taxing to try to get the dynamics of fifteen teachers, some of whom had nothing in common, to get along. Albeit trying at times, it was so worth it. I made fabulous connections with teachers whose work in the classroom I wholeheartedly admired. Trips like this always infuse me with a sense of mission, and renewed passion for teaching.

Any journey, whether to a third world country, the summit of a mountain, or simply a walk in the woods supplements our inner resources and, therefore, builds character. It is character that provides both a sense of direction and a means to fulfillment. Moreover, strong character asks not what I want to be but who I want to be. In the end it is the strength of my moral foundation and fortitude that makes me a better teacher and mother but most importantly a better person. I firmly believe that the strength of GA lies in each of us teachers- in our inner strength and in the conscience that forms our attitudes, shapes our ambitions, and turns our aspirations into achievements. Each trip I take is initially an aspiration that inevitably becomes an achievement. Thank you for the opportunity to continue the journey.