Fear and Loafing in Lex Vegas

I just got back from a weeklong visit to the city of my alma mater. Two friends (to now be referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Curls) were getting married and I had the honor of being a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful wedding and a great trip. It was also my chance to say goodbye to a lot of friends. Now that it's less than a month until departure, things are becoming more and more real. Prior to leaving for the wedding, I read a post by another person accepted to the TAPIF program for the Brittany area. This person left for France early on a trip with her parents. After visiting her future home, she decided to quit the program. I'm not going to lie, that was pretty unnerving to read. It was the area that led her to this decision. She had previously studied in the south of France. My hope is that she was just expecting to find the south of France in Brittany and that's what caused her discontent, not the area itself. Brittany is not and should not be the south of France. I spoke with an alum of my school who taught in the same area. He said that Lorient was a little bit ugly, courtesy of WWII bombing, but had a thriving student population, courtesy of the university. Win.

Now that I'm back at home, I don't have too much to do aside from prepare for France. This involves a lot of reading former assistant blogs (that's productive, right?) and googling different locations. Today, I found this video made by young Quévenois shot in Quéven that (1) makes me feel better about the town and (2) reminds me that people are generally not so different across the world. Young people will always try to be "cool" and fail, adorably. It also made me feel both positive and scared about my French levels. Maybe it's just that I should watch more CSI-type shows in French haha. (Les Experts = CSI in French)

Now, back to fixing up my French and emailing my future coworkers. I'm not too anxious about my French right now because I know I will learn a lot of French on my arrival, but it's still intimidating to realize how many random words I don't know.

Je vous prie d'agréer l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.

MCJ

Books about living in France

This post is mostly intended for future TAPIF-ers or people moving to la belle France.

Aside from reading through pretty much any and every blog by a former TAPIF-er I could find, I have tried to read as many books about living in France as a foreigner as I could. Here are a few:

I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do) by Mark Greenside [This was decidedly my favorite memoir on living in France as an American. It didn't hurt that the writer was writing about living in Brittany. In this book, you see the true warmth and nature of French culture. It was a decidedly comforting read and highly amusing to boot.]

French or Foe by Polly Platt [This book was recommended to me before I spent a high school summer in Paris by my French teacher as a way to understand the differences between French and American culture. It is absolutely excellent. It same me up with a very positive view about French culture and helped me to avoid the frequent pitfalls of Americans in France (always say bonjour! people don't smile, etc). Thanks to this positive view and better understanding of the culture, I had an excellent time. Whereas some of my fellow Americans came away finding the French rude. As a disclaimer, I have not reread this book since high school and did not take all of the book as The Absolute Truth. There are a lot of great basics held within, however.]

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris [The second half of this book is loosely about Sedaris' attempts to learn French while living in Paris/a small French village. It doesn't offer that much about being an American living in France, but it is hilarious.]

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard [This memoir is a charming account of an American who falls in love and moves to Paris and her struggles and triumphs with French culture. As a bonus, it contains many delicious recipes!]

French Toast: An American in Paris by Harriet Welty Rochefort [This didn't add very much to my understanding of French culture, but it might help someone else.]

Les plus beaux voyages se font par la fenêtre!

The most beautiful trips start with the window. (Le Roi de Cœur, 1966, one of my favorite movies in any language)

I took this picture on a 2008 trip to France. I had taken a course on Paris during the spring semester and the class took a trip to Paris that summer. A friend, Curls, and I decided to add on extra travel before and after the class trip. This picture was taken on the Île d'If (where the Chateau d'If is located... which is where the Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned). This trip was an exceptional introduction to France. Though I had spent a month in Paris in high school, it was the three weeks that summer that gave me a real taste for the country. From an early age I had felt drawn to French and had the good fortune to begin lessons with a French neighbor when I was ten. It's amazing the sheer diversity of France. For a comparatively geographically small country, it packs in so much history and so much culture.

Nearly nine months ago, I was trying to choose what three Academies to list as my preferences for teaching in France through TAPIF (Teaching Assistantship Program in France). Down to the last hour before the application was due I was still beset by uncertainty. And yet, despite days and days of research and confusion I kept the same three academies as my top three: Strasbourg, Rennes and Rouen. I wanted to be placed in a region with a distinct culture separate even from the French. This thought process motivated the first two, the third choice was the hometown of the woman who taught me French. Though I actually feel very drawn to the south of France (especially after spending four years in the sun in Texas), the added bonus of being in a linguistically diverse region was too much to pass up.

In April (after months of anticipation), I was accepted to the program and was delighted to find out I had been placed in the Rennes Academy! Rennes (and its Academy) is situated in Brittany. Some time after that, I received my placement in the commune of Quéven (or in Breton, Kewenn). I will be working in elementary and middle schools there. Lorient is known for its Festival Interceltique and I hope to gain plenty of exposure to the Breton language (and possibly take classes?). The Breton language has a particular draw to me as a Celtic language. My great grandmother was Welsh and her legacy instilled in me an interest in the Welsh language. Welsh and Breton are both Brythonic Celtic languages and share many features that I, as a Linguistics major, find really fascinating.

I'm happy to be taking this window of opportunity to learn more about another culture and more about myself.

Helpful links for the Lorient region:

Local Transportation around/in Lorient

BreizhGo (in English -- an itinerary planner for the whole of Brittany)