I am getting alarmingly close to the end of my ex-pat adventure. Which for the last few weeks has been making me panic about fitting in everything that I can while I'm here, within my financial means. The other part of me is worrying about what I will do when I get back. Luckily I have some very supportive and flexible roommates so that has helped cut down on the stress, but I have been searching for jobs and doing everything I can to simplify getting certified to teach from over here.
Teaching has become pretty...intermittent. Remember how I was waiting to actually work a "full" twelve-hour week? Yeah, that never happened. They finally found another replacement for the teacher on maternity leave (two months later!), and he's really nice but says, "For the time being, I don't need you which I'm not really proud of coz a native speaker is a real asset." So I will be working maybe nine hours a week for my two weeks left, and I have two weeks of vacation in the middle, which is just kind of unreal when you think about the fact that I'm still getting paid the same amount despite all of this. But hey, I'm not complaining. Just dumbfounded.
I have been enjoying the teaching that I actually get to do. Recently I have been working on gun control by using articles about Gabrielle Giffords being shot and Bowling for Columbine. I have also been using the language lab and having my students listen to NPR programs and then presenting to the class what they learned, and they seem to be really into it. I'm glad that I have been able to spend my year abroad continuing to prepare myself for a career in teaching.
In other news, Dave will be here a week from today, and is staying for two weeks! I'm so excited to have the chance to pick him up from the airport and to show him Paris after years of going to see him in Los Angeles. He's also never been to Europe, so it should be an incredible experience for both of us. The first week we are spending in Paris, and I'm cramming as much Parisian goodness as I possibly can into it. The following Saturday we are taking a train to Giverny to see Monet's gardens. When I was researching it someone said that renting bikes for the four miles to the gardens from the train station was the way to go. Should be a relaxing Saturday outside of the city.
The next day we will leave for Nice, where I studied abroad last summer. I have never seen water the same color blue, and I am so excited to show him. We're taking day trips to Cannes, Monaco, Cape Ferrat, and maybe Antibes. We will also visit my host family from when I stayed there. Then, when we get back to Paris we'll finish anything we missed, and spend the last Saturday relaxing at Versailles.
We both agreed to have a tentative plan but that the main purpose is to relax and enjoy ourselves. I don't want to be a slave to the schedule.
For the next three weeks the family I au pair for will be out of town (that timing couldn't be more perfect!), so I am spending this week teaching and getting ready for Dave to arrive!
