le commencement

Welcome to my blog!  I've decided to keep a record of my time in France as an English Teaching Assistant during the next seven months (October 1, 2011 - April 30, 2012).  I began this journey as a senior at Susquehanna University when I applied for the Fulbright program which also recommended applying for the TAPIF.  Fast forward seven months to April 2011 - I finally found out that I had been accepted to the TAPIF and that I was placed in the Académie de Rennes, which can be seen in the picture below.

My official placement is in the town of Guingamp which is west of Saint-Brieuc on the map.  I will be working at one elementary school and one middle school and my time will be split evenly between the two.  I have no teaching experience, my majors were International Studies and French, but the TAPIF program is the perfect way to experience life in France.  The middle school I am placed at has five English teachers, and so far they have been incredibly helpful, and are willing to help me with putting my ideas into lessons.  I don't know anything about the elementary school, so it will be a surprise when I arrive!

So far I have a flight, my visa approved (I still have to get back to NYC to pick it up), and lots of paperwork filled out, but I'm starting to realize how much work I still have to do in the next three weeks. It will definitely be overwhelming, but exciting at the same time.  Hopefully I won't have much to update between now and then, because that means that everything is going smoothly.

À bientôt!