J'arrive!

The time came! On Friday 28th September I very tearily left my beloved Angleterre to begin my year en Provence! I was scared and nervous and the excitement hadn't really kicked in yet due to a stressful and emotional last week at home, for several reasons. Then, having flown to Milan, as Turin, the closest airport, had no flights that day, we faced about a 4 hour drive, stuck in traffic for an hour solid. This did nothing to help my stress and left me feeling EPuIsÉE! (Shattered!!!) But then, my friends, the sun came out. Literally, because we arrived at 8:30 pm here so pitch black. And I have had an amazing first day. Firstly, I met my Head of English who is literally the nicest person in the history of the world. She offered to do my washing! Yeh, I know! AND she had purple eyeshadow which is a sure sign of a complete babe of a woman. She gave me the keys to my room YEY! I unpacked and made it all pretty :-) pictures will follow once I take some... And then, the best thing happened. What's that I hear you say? Could my day possibly get any better? Well yes, invisible reader, it could! I went and did the dreaded phone sign up. I was a wee bit anxious as I don't understand mobile phone contracts en anglais let alone here. But I had a little chat with the lady, successfully purchased a French mobile phone (flip phone and everything. Oh yeh, don't say the English don't got style) and a French pay as you go sim AND (here's the best part) was told by the sales assistant that I spoke French VERY WELL! She didn't laugh or anything when she said it so I can only presume she was telling the truth. She is now my favourite person here. Well maybe joint with my teacher. Tonight I'm off to meet my fellow English speaking teachers here. We are gonna head on down to the English bar (original) and hopefully have a spiffing evening. So all is well here. I'll post some pictures very soon. I promise. Bisous x

Told you there was loads...this isn't even all of it! x

T- 12 days til Zut Alors!

Well mes amis it's now just 12 days until my not so little French adventure begins and so I thought today would be a good day to pack and generally make sure I'm organised. About 5 hours later I managed to get 4 hoodies, 20ish jumpers, 3 cardigans, about 20 tops, 10ish pairs of tights, 3 pairs of leggings, 5 pairs of jeans, endless socks and underwear, 3 pairs of sweatpants, gym gear, and 2 pairs of boot shoes in one poor case. I began to feel like I had packed mire clothes than 5 people could wear in a whole year. But as my town has an average temperature of 2•c in January, lower in some cases, and snow from November until March, I felt layers were a necessity! I have spent £189 on clothes, bed linen and a variety of other wondrous items in Prinark (I think the biggest transaction they have ever experienced) and a further £180 on ONE pair of ugh boots. Hmm... I'm not a fan of uggs and these are my first pair but I must admit they are very purty. When I look at them I think of snow and Christmas and Beauty and the Beast (I have no idea why the latter is there but it's true!). Planning lessons is going quite well and I've organised all my documents and photocopies, especially my £108 worth of birth certificate translation. Jeez this French malarkey is expensive! I haven't even got ski clothes yet which I'm told is essential for where I am. Having never skied I feel this may end badly...with a very bruised derrière but alas I will try! On top of that I just have to get a kindle, sort of photocopying for my research project, get a camera and photos to put up in my room and then EVERYTHING else that I'm sure I'm forgetting. But I'm nearly there. And despite a lot of nerves I'm so excited and can't wait to begin my year en Provence! It's like a film (albeit a very dull one involving much knitwear and English lessons). Bring it on. I'm off to pack my union jack head boppers (not a joke, they will be a prominent feature of my lessons...) Bisous x

Mon arrivée approche

Less than 3 weeks until I am off to Briançon, 'chez moi' until about May next year. I managed a quick visit to the town last week with my parents. It's so beautiful, surrounded by mountains. I visited the lycée I am teaching in which seems really nice, but so much like a time warp compared to what we are used to in England. Everything seems about 20 years dated, but not necessarily in a bad way. Everything just seems to take a slower pace here. My room is in the lycée, along with other assistants and teachers who stay there. The view is breathtaking but the room is basic. But I'm looking forward to making it my own using my Laurence Llewelyn-Bowenesque prowess. It's all feeling a bit real now as I start prepping lessons and worrying about little details. I'm sure it will be amazing but I just hope my kids like me and my lessons and I make friends and don't become morbidly obese from overindluging in croissants and AHHH... besides that I feel just dandy. Anyhoo, better go prep for more English lessons. Am I fun to an 18 year French student...? Soon find out. Bisous x