Location, Location, Location

I received my post on the 4th of July after much anticipation. I will be in the suburbs of the city of Orléans (the two suburbs are St-Jean-de-Braye and Chécy). I will be teaching middle schoolers at le collège Saint-Exupery and le Collège Pierre Mendès France.

Orléans is exciting because it is only 1 hour away from Paris, looks beautiful and is full of history.

In 6th grade I did a project on Joan of Arc, and find it remarkable that I am somehow coming full circle. What's the connection? Joan of Arc liberated the city of Orléans in 1429 and the city is forever grateful (there is a lot of homage paid to her... statues, streets, she is even known as La Pucelle d'Orléans, or the Virgin of Orleans). There will be more information about the city itself to come, but just wanted to inform every curious soul out there who was wondering where I am headed.

Justine blogs again

The purpose of this blog is to document my time spent in France teaching English to middle schoolers (my "séjour" or "sojourn"). It will surely include travels throughout Europe, my trials and tribulations being a teacher in a country whose first language is not my own, my perceptions of French culture, and my general sentiments of living abroad again. This will be quite the experience... it is the longest time I will live in a country outside of the U.S. and it will be a completely different experience from the two semesters I spent in West Africa. First, I am working, not studying (therefore, getting paid, but also living on my own, paying for rent). Second, I had the luxury of some sort of program as support while I was studying abroad, whereas in France I am fending for myself (with a little assistance from my schools), setting up a bank account, finding my way around town, meeting people, going to the doctor, etc. Third, I won't be enrolled in language classes and will be 100% immersed in the French language (with the exception of the 12 hours of English I am required to teach). Needless to say, I am both extremely excited but a bit nervous about the whole she-bang.

You may ask, why France? Well, my primary goal to achieve while there is to substantially improve my French skills. I hope in the future to work in/live in Francophone Africa and feel that I would not be very productive without some level of competency in the national language of 31 countries in Africa. Supposedly the region of France where I am going (Le Centre) is known for their mastery of the language.... so hopefully some of that will rub off on me.

So, why not France? I have recently developed an interest in French history (particularly in relation to colonialism... think assimilation, Haiti, Senegal, etc.) and have been following French politics since Sarkozy won (I just think the news surrounding him is so funny). And there is such a romanticized view of the French from this side of the ocean (or we hate them for being cowards and not supporting us in the war in Iraq... "remember, they would be speaking German if it weren't for us...") and a general intrigue of the French culture that I will be experiencing first hand.