Pre-Departure Chaos

After I accepted my teaching position with TAPIF, I assumed that getting ready for my departure was going to be similar to my study abroad experience. However, as you can guess, I was very wrong. Going abroad with AIFS was a seamless and simple process. They took care of everything for me; getting a visa was as easy as walking into the consulate and out, my flight was reserved for me, my departure and arrival was all organized, I had my best friend, and more. Needless to say, the most I probably had to do was drive to the Italian consulate in Chicago and back...

However, now preparing for my time in France with TAPIF, a lot more was needed on my end. Not only are the paperwork and online articles endless but making sure you have everything organized and making sure you have what you need is really a two month process. First off, as expected, the french government is insanely slow when it comes to anything...slowly but surely my paper work, contract, contacts, and more crucial information arrived in the mail throughout the summer. Finally once everything arrived, copies of everything were made and my flight was booked. 5 copies of my passport were made, 5 of my visa, 5 of my contract, 5 of everything really...I have a folder stuffed with papers (better safe than sorry I guess). 

Once the logistical side was taken care of, it was now time to learn about my city. I am working in the Nantes academie (a french "school district") and I am specifically placed in Angers. Angers is about 150,000 people and I will be teaching english in two schools for ages 6-11. While I am scared to arrive and see how bad my french has degraded in recent months, I am very excited to be teaching english to this age group and just living in France in general (obviously...) and hopefully my french picks up again while I'm there! 

Getting yourself organized for TAPIF is filled with catch 22s. No matter how much you try to prepare there are tons of things you cannot take care of until you arrive in France, only making you feel that much more UN-organized. For instance, while I have all my paperwork together and am almost all packed (despite trying to get two bags under 50lbs) I do not have a place to live. 

Finding lodging in France is obviously something i would like to do before I get there so I can arrive in my city and just move in. However, choosing an apartment while living in a foreign country and basing it off of pictures or descriptions on the internet is very risky. Therefore, the apartment searching will commence the second I arrive in Angers. I will have about a week and a half to find an apartment before I am supposed to leave for Oktoberfest (lol priorities right?). 

While part of me feels very organized and the other part just really doesn't know how to get ally belongings to France in two 50 pound bags, I couldn't be more excited. Obviously approaching the unknown of what the year will bring is very nerve-wracking, but thankfully the excitement outweighs the nerves and I can't believe the 3 and a half months have blown by so fast. 

See you in 5 days France!

A Bientôt

Libby