Un Mélange

This post has been in the making for the last two weeks, but as with anything I write-- I'm a perfectionist. So that means, I write and rewrite about 10 times before I am absolutely satisfied with what I've said. But finally, I finished. I ended up making this post a bit of a mixture, un mélange, of three topics: Traveling, Au Pair-ing, and Teaching.

Travel:

We ate lunch next to this temple from 10 BC.

I love a good day trip: no need to pack a bag, just bring your camera and a bit of cash and you're good to go. My friend Christian, another au pair/assistant, and I had been talking about taking a day trip for a while, and we finally found a day and time to do one. We decided to go to Vienne, a small city not more than an hour and a half train ride away. I had heard about Vienne from my au pair family because it is known for its Roman ruins, which are somewhat rare to this region. When I lived in Montpellier, it seemed like every city had Roman ruins, but that was an entirely different region and the Roman history goes back much further there than in central France.

Assistant de Langue en France

I have had this post in draft mode for weeks, trying to organize my thoughts because I just don't even know where to begin with to describe my last month or two with TAPIF. As much as it's been beyond confusing and, at times, seriously stressful... I am still so happy that it has given me an opportunity to combine my two greatest passions in life.

I guess you could say that confusion has been the presiding feeling over the last few weeks. I came here assuming all the schools and their administrators would have already figured out when they wanted me to teach, what grades, and what classes. This was not the case. We actually started this discussion after I met with my assigned schools and from there it was difficult for them to all decide when would work best for them.  Luckily, it all was resolved after a month of back and forth and I received a definite schedule.

Today, I had my first day of teaching in one of my schools-- it felt SO good to get back to teaching. When I think about it, I haven't been in a classroom as a teacher in at least 5 months. It is always such a rush to be up in front of my students and be able to get them excited about what we are learning. It definitely put me in a great mood to be back doing what I love again.