My last days teaching at the Lycee were two weeks ago. As my time in Belley was quickly approaching its terminus, what my life will be after this experience was overwhelming my thoughts. I still didn't have a plane ticket home (still don't), I didn't have a job for this summer and definitely not one for next year yet, and it just didn't feel right to be leaving anytime soon. Although I'd enjoyed every minute of my strange split life in Lyon/Belley, a big part of me was not satisfied with the experience yet. When I signed up to this program I had a hard time leaving Milwaukee, knowing I'd be away from so many great friends, my family, and a great city. I knew once my life in France would start though I'd be content, and the time would fly by as long as I'd stay busy. But I never thought I'd contemplate staying longer. The plan was to return home, take the GRE, and find a job to hold me over until starting grad school. But life here felt so normal, natural. Every day feels like a small accomplishment, knowing I'd survived living in a foreign country and felt at home. I began wondering what my life would be like in the States or what it'd be like if I stayed in France. Obviously I love French and I love being in France, so which is likely to make me happier.. living the French life everyday or living in America, teaching French? Do I really want to be going home without a job secured (or possibly, teaching French in a high school) and living with my parents again, losing some independence, or do I want to stay here...with all the independence and freedom and cultural stimulation I've been thriving on the past year? Could I really stay here..? Wouldn't that require a lot of visa/paper work? Could I really stay away from my family for so long? But... what do I really have to lose? After all, I'm in my twenties and that's what you do, right? Take what you can get as a job while/if you can. But this is soo much better than that.
I started looking around for jobs (or at least, intended to more seriously..) in February. I applied online to an English teaching/tutoring job which I never heard back from, and suddenly didn't find time for many more applications as friends came to visit and I jetted off to Iceland and London. At this time Helena happened to share with one of her English professors (who happened to be the head of the English department) that her study abroad was such a great experience and she's even living with an American she met there... who just happens to be wanting to stay in France longer. He told her to have me talk to him/send in my resume to see if he could help me out. Thinking he might have a connection to a casual, not-so-serious English teaching/tutoring job in the city I kind of forgot about it when my life got busy with travels/visitors. And then I started catching back up with my family, learning that my parents would be getting a new puppy at the end of April, and I got really excited to be having a new puppy to play with (even if it meant living with my parents again) and being back in Milwaukee for the summer (my friends, camping, kayaking, amazing cultural/music festivals, lounging at the lake, driving again, Festa Italiana with my family, Kopp's frozen custard, and the glory that is Alterra) and I was also trying to get my papers together to apply to this high school French teacher position which I was pretty confident about. And then a few weeks ago, while I was mentally preparing myself to be going home in a few months, Helena ran into her professor again, immediately sending me a text "I talked to my American teacher and he is down for giving you a teaching job next year cuz apparently American teachers are hard to find :p email him ASAP." Ummm, answer to all my worries??? Yes, I think so.
I revamped my resume, expedited it to him and the next week I found myself in his office for a short and concise interview of sorts. Two weeks later I got a call about my contract and renewing my visa. What what what. And this isn't even an assistant position. This is a full-on, serious professor position. Totally unreal. Although I'll only have about 9 teaching hours/3 classes and will be technically half-time, it's a really amazing opportunity to be living up to my dreams of living in France and vacationing back home in summers (I wanted to do the opposite before, but this seems much more agreeable).
So that's the news! I'll have one first-year class, one second-year class, and a third-year class which I get to choose the topic for!
Unfortunately, though, it's hardly as simple as it seems. While the excitement is still fresh, the stress is piling on the more I look into visa renewals, housing, finances, taxes, and all sorts of legal bureaucracy that could very possibly trample my dreams. But I won't let that happen! Determination is key.
So this is where I will be spending the next year or so of my life. *excitement*
You're all more than welcome to come visit (again, for some of you). =)
Also, just because there are no pictures in this post.. and since I've been demanding so many puppy pictures from my mom... this is what I'm missing out on:
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| Beacon!! (and my brother too I guess) |
Trust me, if I were home the obsession would be worse (instagrammin' ALL the time).
