Well, it is 10h21 on Sunday evening and the butterflies in my stomach have awaken. Tomorrow's journey will be the start of a once in a lifetime adventure, that of which I am both excited and nervous about. As most of you know, I like being in control - going to a foreign country for the school year with lots of unknowns is not the most comfortable situation for a control freak like me :). I hope it will be a good learning and growing experience, and something I look back on with fondness.
I will head out around 1h30 tomorrow to go to the Philly airport for my 6h15 flight. I chose a time right during rush hour, so we're leaving a little early to make sure my parents don't have hours to wait in traffic on the way home. I will arrive in Paris, France during the middle of the night US time, and will arrive in Nantes right about when everyone is waking up on Tuesday. I will be sure to post at sometime on Tuesday to let everyone know I am there.
If I did not get the opportunity to say goodbye to you, au revoir! I will miss you all dearly....
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Packing!
I just packed my two large suitcases. They both weigh in at about 48lbs. EEK! So close. And fortunately I figured they would be heavy, so I left lots of extra space in my carry on. I think it will be well utilized....
The Grove City Nantes kids leave in 2 days. Crazy. I am very happy I will get to hang out with them in just a few short days :).
The Grove City Nantes kids leave in 2 days. Crazy. I am very happy I will get to hang out with them in just a few short days :).
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
What I'll Be Doing
So, I figured today I would let everyone know what I'll be doing in this far, far away land!
I was selected as an English Assistant through the French Assistantship Program, run by the French government. My French prof at Grove City told me about the program over a year ago, and since then I have been in the process of applying, waiting ( A LOT of waiting), and finally preparing. I was given a position at Lycee La Herdrie (http://www.la-herdrie.com/index.htm) right outside of Nantes, France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantes). A 'lycee' is a high school in France. I will be working with the entire English department, composed of six teachers. I will be in a 'student teacher' role, as I will never have full control of the classroom. This is a good thing to me since I have no background in teaching! I am sure I will be challenged trying to keep 25 hormonal teenage students entertained and learning each class period!
Outside of teaching, I will also be taking 6 hours of French per week through l'Universite de Nantes. This is not required, but I figure I might as well try to become as fluent as possible while I am there. Not only that, but each class is only 150 euro! Not bad, huh? I might as well take advantage of the cheap schooling while I can!
Besides that, I will be spending time with Marco and his family, visiting Mathilde (the French exchange student we hosted this summer), going to N. Ireland to visit a few friends, getting active in the church I go to when I'm there, and just assimilating to French culture.
Today is a designated packing/errand day, so hopefully I will get what I need organized some more today. I am still paranoid that I am missing some important piece of paperwork. Fortunately my check list tells me otherwise :).
I was selected as an English Assistant through the French Assistantship Program, run by the French government. My French prof at Grove City told me about the program over a year ago, and since then I have been in the process of applying, waiting ( A LOT of waiting), and finally preparing. I was given a position at Lycee La Herdrie (http://www.la-herdrie.com/index.htm) right outside of Nantes, France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantes). A 'lycee' is a high school in France. I will be working with the entire English department, composed of six teachers. I will be in a 'student teacher' role, as I will never have full control of the classroom. This is a good thing to me since I have no background in teaching! I am sure I will be challenged trying to keep 25 hormonal teenage students entertained and learning each class period!
Outside of teaching, I will also be taking 6 hours of French per week through l'Universite de Nantes. This is not required, but I figure I might as well try to become as fluent as possible while I am there. Not only that, but each class is only 150 euro! Not bad, huh? I might as well take advantage of the cheap schooling while I can!
Besides that, I will be spending time with Marco and his family, visiting Mathilde (the French exchange student we hosted this summer), going to N. Ireland to visit a few friends, getting active in the church I go to when I'm there, and just assimilating to French culture.
Today is a designated packing/errand day, so hopefully I will get what I need organized some more today. I am still paranoid that I am missing some important piece of paperwork. Fortunately my check list tells me otherwise :).
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Preparation
Well, I just said good-bye to the last of my Grove City friends from last night's farewell party. It is now starting to hit me that I will not see these people for over 8 months. It will be hard to almost start a new life for awhile, but my excitement is starting to increase as well. I have not had much time to think about moving/packing etc, so now that I do, reality of my imminent departure is here! 8 days and counting.....
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