Well, hello again and welcome to my “new” blog!
Or shall I say… bonjour et bienvenue!
I am thrilled to be back and this time, I’m not going to start a third blog for yet another European adventure. Therefore, I’d like to welcome you to Around the World in Katie Days as I embark on the most exciting journey yet – as an Assistante de Langue for the Teaching Assistant Program In France (TAPIF) in the Académie de Besançon.
TAPIF is sponsored by the French Ministry of National Education where people between the ages of 20-35 head off to France for a seven month contract to work as language assistants in local elementary, middle, and high schools. When I originally applied, I thought it was only for English language assistants, but after following the TAPIF Instagram and reading more on the program, I’ve realized that they have programs for multiple languages! Which will be very fun once we all arrive in France and have the opportunity to meet even more people from around the world.
So… what exactly is a “Besançon” or an “Académie”?
France is broken up into Académies which is, simply put, school districts. Besançon is the main city for its school district and is located in the north-east of France, bordering Switzerland and Germany. Guess who is taking some pretty fun weekend trips? Besançon was my first choice (although I would have honestly been happy nearly anywhere) after days of going through every option and taking in every pro and con. Getting Besançon is especially exciting considering my host sister from my first exchange to France lives nearby and has family in that region, plus I have another French friend who was here on study abroad that lives in Besançon! So that’s definitely going to add to this experience.
So how did I get here?
The application process started back in November which included getting recommendations, ordering my university transcripts, and writing a 500 word essay in French. Let me tell you, that was an adventure. I found myself tracking down my old French notes and piecing together sentences and conjunctions and how do you use the subjunctif again? Eventually, I submitted the application a few days before the original deadline in January and waited.
Then they extended the deadline.
Then they extended the deadline again.
And naturally, during this time, I researched every Académie and went in circles on where I’d want to teach.
Hey, an island in the Caribbean could be interesting, but maybe I’d prefer to be closer to mountains or would I rather be closer to Spain or to Belgium or maybe I should pick an area that I’ve already been to, rather than try out a new region.
Needless to say, it was a whirlwind of a selection process. Eventually, I settled on Besançon for my first choice, Lyon for my second, and then No Preference for my third and continued to wait which was a rollercoaster in and of itself. See, I thought the selection committee was solely based in France, so if I didn’t wake up to the email, then I would never get it. Rewind to Tuesday morning (April 9th), groggily opening my email and seeing no signs of TAPIF.
Ugh, fine, I’ll wait another day.
The email came during my work break. I felt my heart stop as I scanned the header and saw the words Teaching Assistant Program In France.
Looking back now, I see that it says “Acceptance” and “Congratulations” in the preview text, but I was so nervous and excited that my eyes literally filtered all the words down to just TAPIF. My heart stopped as I quickly opened the email and see this beautiful, beautiful thing:
I was accepted! I got my first choice! I AM GOING TO FRANCE.
And I am so excited to be back in France, learning a language in which I’m already familiar, reuniting with my very first host family, and eating croissants every day for breakfast.
My last trip to France in 2017!
So now that I’ve explained what I’m doing and how I got here, allow me to introduce myself! If you’re new to my old blogging lifestyle, here are a few things you should know:
My name is Katie.
I’m a francophile.
Traveling and writing are two of my greatest passions (hence… a travel blog).
Dual-citizenship is rad.
Over the course of my life, I have lived in Canada (12 years), France (six weeks in 2011), Bosnia-Herzegovina (ten months in 2012-2013), Lithuania (six months in 2017), and now I’m returning to France again for the 2019-2020 school year!
Side note: I have another blog with my Bosnian travels if you really want to know what kind of person I was as a senior in high school.
I can’t wait to start the process of applying for visas and packing and figuring out where exactly I’ll be teaching. If you care to follow my journey, please follow along and I’ll try to update as often as things happen.
Anyway, I’m off to celebrate!
Until the visa process begins,
– Kate
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