By Amelia Lipcsei
Mrs. Eilers, the benevolent AP Calculus AB teacher, lived in France for most of her teenage years, moving to the United States after graduating from high school. Generously, she offered to share some of her cherished memories and experiences from France. With great fondness, Mrs. Eilers conveyed that her favorite part about France was the summer. “There are celebrations everywhere,” she explained; music festivals, theater festivals, 14th of July (Bastille Day), and other festivities often take place during the summer. Likewise, during the warmer months the sun sets late, allowing for more activities to occur. Mrs. Eilers expresses that she loves the sunset, which “is around 9:45 pm, and is nice to eat outside and stroll around places” during the late hours. Although France has multitudes of delicious foods, the calculus teacher loves “duck breast with shallot sauce,” and her favorite places to visit in France are Le Pont du Gard and Montpellier.
Unfortunately, moving to a different country can make communicating with family difficult, but Mrs. Eilers asserts that she tries to visit France “every year to see [her] parents” because all of her family lives in France. Staying in touch with her loved ones remains one of her top priorities. Even with the long distance, Mrs. Eilers says that she tries to “call [her] family in France at least every other weekend,” but that the “nine hour [time zone] difference makes it hard to find the appropriate time to call.” Despite the fact that many people living in the United States don’t speak French, Mrs. Eilers has found many opportunities to continue speaking the language. Mentioning that “there are many French families in the Bay,” the skillful teacher details that she has “quite a few friends who speak French” who provide her with chances to speak the language often. However, she still finds herself missing aspects of France occasionally, especially her “family and the warm Mediterranean Sea.”