LESS THAN ONE WEEK

oh boy.
things are moving along quite swimmingly. as of now, there are people looking for roommates who are considering me to take the spare room in their apartments and houses. oh, what kind souls they are. it's been difficult doing that from here, mainly because of the time difference. but, katie banaszak ( i love you katie) has offered to meet me in paris, take the train to tours where her host family lives, and the two of us will stay there for the weekend and hopefully i can get set up with a home shortly thereafter. it'd be nice, considering i need an address for a bank account and to get my carte de sejour and all of that nice stuff.
doreen 'if you don't bring your tap shoes with you i'll disown you' keith so nicely informed me that tap (les claquettes) is quite big in france. if i'm looking for extra money on the side, i should bring my claquettes and claquette my sweet self silly. so i have bought some new tapping shoes since the taps on the old ones were paper thin, and i'm ready for tap class. do i dare take a ballet class IN FRANCE???? dun dun dun.
it is a large university city. the population is 25% students, and the illustrious bill carter informed me that it's basically like living in french cambridge. sounds fantastic to me.
but i keep forgetting i'll have to work, and i keep forgetting this work will involve teaching small children english and practicing their english skills. so i also took some small child music from doreen (i never knew meryl flippin streep sang lullabye) and have a stock supply of children's music saved on my computer. including 'i must practice' maybe i'll have my claquette students do that at the end of every class. learn english and tap! oh boy!
lately it's been hard because i just want to go. this transition period is killing me. it also doesn't help that all of my friends are off having adventures... gavin got to see james carter AND matt lehet. lucky duck. stimmer came home from scotland for a bit, so we've been having phone conversations to pass the time, since we're both in the same boat. i'm packed and ready to go, and want to head off into this strange land called france.
i had contemplated taking the metro from de gaulle to the train station i need to hit to meet katie and head to my city. then i realized the last time i was on the paris metro i was 16 and being lead around by martha lorden. i've decided that a cab sounds much more inviting considering i will have luggage and be tired and jet lagged and missing home and my friends and family terribly. although i was given a "instead of thinking, 'oh, i'm in tours' you'll think 'OH I'M IN TOURS!'" gift. thank you, thank you.
for today i'm working at the dancing store to get in some quality time with the tutus and the glitter and the boas.
next time you hear from me, i'll be in the land of wine and cheese and castles and napoleon. ohhhhh fantastic
i love and miss you all.
i'll send a mailing address sooooon.

moving right along

Still in the states, as I'm sure many of you are aware of. However, I do have:
all of my paperwork from the dept. of labor
a visa
a translation of my birth certificate
and funds.

all I need now is a place to live. Which seems ridiculous, because I have been focusing most of my time on finding a home. I've contacted several people looking for roommates, and had someone who agreed to send me pictures of the apartment, but has yet to do that. Quite frustrating. I have also contacted the heads of my department at the school for help, but since they are on holiday, they are not responding. Yehaw.

All in all, I'm excited. I have a list of the other assistants in the area, and some information on transportation. I figure worse comes to worse, I just live in a hostel for a bit.

still in the u.s.

and it begins. As of right now, I have an acceptance letter, a list of things I need to do, a confirmation from the directors of education for the Orleans - Tours academie, and a confirmation from them that I will be teaching in 3 different schools in the city of Tours. I've had everything sent to me in both English and French, and I'm learning that banking terminology, governmental lingo, and legal vocabulary are not part of my own vocabulary, so I'm already learning. As of right now, I need to get a visa, translation of my birth certificate (can I do that myself??? I don't know), money, tickets, and start eyeing places to live. This means a trip to the consulate in Boston. Yehaw. When I get there, I need to get my carte de sejour, open a bank account, and get some housing.

Everyone's been asking if I'm excited or not. I'd say I am excited, I'm nervous at the same time, and I'm trying to figure out how to stretch my dollar there... or Euro... whatever.

It's fun researching the city, and the weather, and the hot spots to hit up when I'm there. It's quite different than the camp leader/store clerk life I'm living at this moment... but hey, as a wise woman once said "It's always an adventure."

keep you all posted.