Same Blog, New Content

Preparing for the Teaching Assistant Program in France

Dear readers,

Welcome to my new and improved travel blog, To Sea the World. After using this blog to document my journey on Semester at Sea, I’m now turning to my next adventure: teaching English in France. While I love a good nautical theme, it’s a tad less fitting for my land-based adventures in France, so I’ve had to spend a bit of time tossing cartoon-y pictures of anchors overboard and scrubbing salt water out of the nook and crannies of the blog’s inner workings. Excessive nautical imagery all simply to say: here’s my updated blog, slightly less “sea” themed, ready to go. (Although, as many of you know I can’t resist a good pun, so the blog title quite obviously had to stay).

Posts on this blog from here on out will all refer to my experience doing the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). I’ve wanted to live in France since I first started taking French in seventh grade. It’s been on my bucket list right there next to “learn to ride a unicycle” and “attend the Kentucky Derby.” (In case it’s cause for concern, I’ve updated the list since seventh grade and “achieve impressive unicycle feats” is no longer on the list. I don’t know where that one came from). Despite many changes over the years, my desire to live in France for some period of time has not changed. Learning the dreaded subjunctive tense, watching film after 1960s Nouvelle Vague film, and spending long hours attempting to understand Camus have not shaken my resolve. If anything, my desire to deepen my understanding of the language has increased with every French class I take. So it is with a great deal of excitement that I turn to this next chapter in my life.

What will I be doing exactly?

I actually don't know too much. I know that I'll be working with high school students in small groups in a little village called Mayenne, in the Nantes school district. I know it's pretty rural, and I should have lots of time for exploring. I anticipate that I'll be eating far too many croissants and pastries. The rest is a mystery, an adventure I'm eagerly awaiting. 

So, from here on out begin a series of posts documenting my next great adventure, my move to France. I'm counting down to my departure on September 26, and I hope to keep you posted as the day approaches. In the meantime, you can read more about the program on my about page, here.

Much love,

Nicole