Ma vie en France

I’ve now been in France for almost two weeks, but with limited internet access I haven’t had a chance to post anything to my blog... this is the shortened version of what I've been up to!

I have finally arrived in France after months of planning.  Monday, the day of my flight was very stressful.  I arrived at the airport an hour and a half before my flight as instructed, only to be told that my flight to Philadelphia was delayed, but it should take off around 2:15.  I finally decided to say goodbye to my parents and go through security because it was getting busy, only to find that the flight was actually delayed until three.  When we finally landed in Philly after the loudest plane ride (it was basically a prop plane) I found that the bus connecting the terminals wasn’t running due to construction and was forced to walk the entire way, and go through security AGAIN.  The second time there was apparently a problem with my shoes.  I got to my gate about fifteen minutes before we boarded the flight when I thought I would have three hours.  The flight to Paris was uneventful, and after I picked up my bags I made my way to the train station and got on a train to Rennes and then to Saint-Brieuc, the biggest city in Côtes d’Armor. 

I spent my first few days in France with my contact person and it was wonderful.  I was able to relax and we went to the beach.  My first glimpse of Guingamp was on the Thursday after I arrived and the town is very cute.  I met some teachers at the collège (middle school) and got the key to my room.   I am living in an apartment with another American, a girl from Switzerland, and an Italian.  This weekend a Spanish assistant is moving in with us, but she has been in Guingamp for three years already.   Our apartment is pretty bare bones but it is cheap, linens are provided, and our kitchen has almost everything we need, even if those things don’t work very well.  We also have a TV, but no internet.

                       The view of Guingamp from my window.

I spent the first two days of this week in Saint-Brieuc for orientation, the first day was orientation for elementary assistants and the second was for everyone in middle and high schools.  I am assigned to three hours each at two elementary schools (one is pretty far away!) and six hours at the middle school.  I’m really looking forward to starting my routine on Monday!  I will also be helping other teachers with their English one night a week for six weeks starting in November.  It was great to meet other assistants, and we finished a lot of administrative work, so I now have health insurance and am set up to receive part of my salary in October instead of waiting until the end of November to receive some of my salary.  I also almost have a bank account open (still waiting for the card in the mail along with the pin and information for online banking). 

So far I love being in Bretagne and am very happy with my placement.  This town is great and so are the people I’ve met so far.  I’ve had some setbacks but that’s part of moving to a new country.

À Bientôt!