SPRING!

I’ve found that hand motions make teaching French children more effective and definitely more entertaining (for me, not necessarily the kids). Feelings, weather, animals, and with help from another assistant, I even have “gestes” for the seasons. Winter you shiver and go “brrrr,” summer I have them fan themselves, they like to pretend like they’re falling for fall, but spring definitely is the favorite. I taught them to shout “SPRING!” and kind of jump up in the air and pop out their hands (similar to the second verse of “Hey Fightin’ Tigers,” but with both hands and only once). They get excited about it, and rightly so. Living through an actual winter makes the fairer season all the more welcome. Especially when accompanied by the occasional sunshine, me being shockingly pale. At the first opportunity to bask in its radiation I happily laid out my towel in the exact same spot where we had built a snowman a week before. If interested, you can find a small collection of seasonal pictures here.

Spring brought out the forsythia that I've come to consider as Besançon’s version of Baton Rouge’s azaleas. (Confession: despite having a florist mother and horticulture professor father I only knew the plant's name after asking three different people and spending 30 minutes on Google trying to spell what I thought I heard.) Ubiquitous they are; planting the bright yellow forsythia and daffodils (jonquilles) seems to be some sort of city-wide residency requirement. Their brightness makes them stand out so much in the grayness that they look Photoshopped. The nice contrast almost makes me appreciate the monotone buildings for once. Oh, I’ve finally gotten to a cave! The Gouffre de Poudrey, known not for its formations or number of chambers but for its volume. Definitely no Carlsbad but what can you do? The National Park Service has me spoiled. A decent St. Patrick’s Day,a few cultural dinners and a carnival have also contributed to my spring as well as planning for the upcoming (and final) vacation, set to include many exciting southern cities each hosting many exciting opportunities. But for me, all that’s left to make this season complete is some boats. Because I love boats. ALL boats.

So basically, spring is off to a decent start. Too bad they were predicting snow for later this week...