So I decided to start this blog because when I was applying to the TAPIF program I started reading pretty much any blog I could find from other people who did/are doing the program, and it was super helpful in the application process and in my decision, and probably for my time in France, so it made me want to start a blog myself. I've just been waiting to find out if I got in before starting it (I didn't want to jinx myself). Now that I have been accepted, though, this will be a way for me to channel my excitement so that my friends don't have to deal with me talking about it all the time, since it's pretty much all I want to talk about. It will also be a way for me to look back and remember everything that I did.
So I'm not really sure who is going to be reading this, probably mostly family and friends so they can see what I will be doing next year, and maybe other TAPIFers or prospective TAPIFers. I thought I'd give a little bit of my background though in case there are people reading this who don't know me.
My name is Allison and I will be graduating this May as a French major with Math and Sociology minors. I know it's a random mix of things, and I have absolutely no idea what I really want to do with them, but I'm hoping that maybe after doing this program I will find that I enjoy teaching and go on to become a French teacher here.
Last Spring I studied abroad in Dijon, France. It was most definitely the best experience of my life. I lived with a host mom who was kind of crazy, but probably wasn't really as crazy as we thought she was now that I look back on it, but it was definitely interesting living with her. Living with two other students who I became really good friends with definitely helped. I also became really good friends with two other girls (one of which will be doing this program with me!). They were all American/Canadian though, so unfortunately I didn't speak French as much as I should have, so I didn't get my French to the level I would have hoped. But the first week I was in Dijon, I also met a French guy who I am still dating today. He lives in France though (obviously), which makes it a little difficult, but he's come to visit multiple times and I will be going to see him in June! I am working on speaking French more with him since none of his family speaks English besides him, plus it will help prepare me for when I move there in the Fall. He is also from Nantes (where I will be next year), so if I run into any trouble it will be nice to know that his family would be able to help me. He, unfortunately, will be doing a year abroad in Budapest next year. But hey, at least we'll be in the same time zone.
For now though I am just trying to finish school and enjoy the rest of college.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Get Excited!
Because I'm going back to France!!!!!!!
Back in November I decided to apply for the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) which is a program where the French government brings people from all over the world to be language assistants in their schools. The contracts are from October to April and the teaching assistants work for 12 hours a week and get paid about €790 per month, which is around $1,039. I first heard about the program over the summer but didn't think much of it because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after graduation, but I submitted the application on January 9th, a few days before the deadline, knowing that I still didn't have any other ideas for next year.
So after months and months of waiting to hear back, I finally got the email on April 2nd finding out that I had been accepted! I will be an English teaching assistant at middle and/or high schools in the Nantes region, which is on the west coast of France. I won't find out where exactly I will be working until June or July, so I won't know where I will live until after that since it's rare that you are placed in the actual main cities of the region.
But do ya wanna know what's even more exciting? One of my best friends that I met when studying abroad last year is doing the program too! In the same region as me! So I won't be alone on my journey there. Still hard really believe that it is actually going to happen.
I am just so happy that I finally know what I will be doing next year. So when people ask me what I'll be doing or where I'll be after I graduate, I can actually give a definite answer.
Back in November I decided to apply for the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) which is a program where the French government brings people from all over the world to be language assistants in their schools. The contracts are from October to April and the teaching assistants work for 12 hours a week and get paid about €790 per month, which is around $1,039. I first heard about the program over the summer but didn't think much of it because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after graduation, but I submitted the application on January 9th, a few days before the deadline, knowing that I still didn't have any other ideas for next year.
So after months and months of waiting to hear back, I finally got the email on April 2nd finding out that I had been accepted! I will be an English teaching assistant at middle and/or high schools in the Nantes region, which is on the west coast of France. I won't find out where exactly I will be working until June or July, so I won't know where I will live until after that since it's rare that you are placed in the actual main cities of the region.
But do ya wanna know what's even more exciting? One of my best friends that I met when studying abroad last year is doing the program too! In the same region as me! So I won't be alone on my journey there. Still hard really believe that it is actually going to happen.
I am just so happy that I finally know what I will be doing next year. So when people ask me what I'll be doing or where I'll be after I graduate, I can actually give a definite answer.
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