Coucou, tout le monde! / Hi everyone!
It has been a busy three months since I was accepted to TAPIF! Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration… most of my “busy-ness” has been working, church projects, and practicing French via DuoLingo and FaceTiming my host sister.
See, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I had even received my school placement. Up until that point, I had just been telling everyone, “Hey! I’m going to France to be an English language assistant!” and that seemed to hold everyone over. But, then I started getting the questions like “Where are you going to live?” and “What city will you be in?” and “When do you leave?”
Well I’m pleased to say I can finally answer all of those questions!
I have been placed in the quaint town of Pontarlier, which lies about twenty minutes west from the Swiss border, an hour away from Besançon proper, and about 3.5 hours south-east of Paris. Also, obviously not where the featured photo was taken place, which is in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles (if only!).
Once there, I’ll be teaching at a local lycée (high school) and collège (middle school) and living in the provided housing for language assistants. As I’m the only English language assistant, I’m excited to be living once again with people from all over the world. I have yet to meet them, but I am eager to do so!
As for departure, I bought a one-way ticket leaving September 19th! It’s absolutely wild that what happens after this year is completely unknown. Do I get a job in France? Do I come home? To I move to a completely different part of the US or head back to Canada? It’s all a guessing game at this point and it both excites and terrifies me. We’ll see how it all goes.
My visa appointment is next month after church life slows down a little bit and after seeing all the horror stories on the Assistants de Langue Facebook page, I’m worried I’ll incorrectly fill in a form or forget an important document. I’ve re-read the checklist a dozen times over, so here’s hoping it all goes smoothly!
Anyway, time to read the handbook just one more time.
Until my visa appointment,
– Katie
Comments