05 September 2009

Les premiers pas...or Baby Steps

 Welcome to my blog! YAY! 

This blog is for friends and family to follow my (mis)adventures in Europe and will hopefully be a good place to keep in touch. I have about three weeks until I leave for La France, country of amazing cheese, wine, body hair, art, culture, etc. I am preparing to be a teacher assistant in an English class for a French public high school (or lycée) in Vesoul, close to Besançon, and near the borders of Germany and Switzerland. Here is a google map overview, actually. And this site lists a few of Besançon's highlights, including a giant astronomical clock from the 1800's here.

I don't yet know where I will be living, whether in a room at the school I will be teaching for, or in Besançon, the larger town. I am also not sure how to get from the EuroAirport, where I will arrive (near Fribourg, Germany, Basel, Switzerland, and Mulhouse, France) to Vesoul or Besançon. Interestingly, the EuroAirport is the only airport in the world that sits on the border of two countries, which may make customs very interesting. So I'm not sure if I will spend my first night in Mulhouse, which seems to have a train directly from the airport, or if I will want to make it to Besançon or Vesoul that first night.

I am sort of mired in loose ends at the moment, trying to do last minute tasks like selling back textbooks and (hopefully) defering my student loan until after my return. Also deciding whether to take bike and/or skis with me. I did get Skype recently, so if anyone would like to chat with me you can find me by name or by the username "Booktress."

I am looking forward to seeing many of you before I leave, but I know I will miss you all very much while I am away. Please let me know how you are doing!!
Lots of Love,
Linds

On a final, awesome note: I have stumbled across the lunch menu for the elementary students of Vesoul. They have a four course meal every day with some rather incredible items--Monday, September 28, for instance, the children will have grapefruit for hors d'oeuvres followed by ravioli for the main course, then a cheese course with a cheese called "Coeur de Nonette" (Nonette's heart??) and finally, for desert, chocolate mousse. Um, I must find a way to eat lunch in a primary school...that sounds pretty fabulous. With a different, special cheese every day, it's no wonder these kids will grow up with the greatest palates on earth. And this is just one of the many reasons why I am sure my time in France will be very very interesting.

3 comments:

  1. Yay! You go! Girly Whirl!

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  2. Looks great! Can't wait to get the updates! The city looks beautiful!

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  3. Odysseus says: I already miss you Linds! The bookstore will be less cheery with you gone, but you're off to see the world...in France, a dream come true. We'll see one another before you leave, inshaa'allah. Even if I am quiet and withdrawn I think you know that we're tight friends with many years of travel correspondences stretched into the future for as far as the minds-eye can see. Peace be with you

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