Re-Orientation

To those of you joining us again for season 2 of me blogging, welcome back. I hope that this provides you with something entertaining to read and a strong means for us to keep in touch. Well, then again, I suppose that's true whether you read the first one or not.

In any case, I might as well put everyone on the same page. Tonight, I begin travel from Washington, DC, USA to Grasse, France (located here). My job (yes, actual gainful employment) begins on October 1, and for it, I will help teach French elementary schoolers English, alongside their actual English teachers.* I should have about 9-12 hours per week of work, for which the French government has promised to compensate me fairly generously.

I should also note that this position is open to lots of people in lots of countries who speak many different languages: TAPIF (Teaching Assistantship Program in France) is a long-running, established, and quite successful French government program that brings in people about my age from around the world to do what I am doing at all levels of the French education system (you request age group and region when you apply, and yes, I did request the Azure Coast over Paris). This is a program I really think the U.S. should pick up.

As for this blog, you can expect more or less what came at the end of the last one, to wit:

--Intermittent (every few days...ly) postings about what I'm up to, what I've seen and done, and how work is going. There will be plenty of stories about funny little French kids.

--Recommendations. I probably recommended too much too soon last time, so I'll try to hold off this time around and save my suggestions for particularly great restaurants or things to do. I do this so that, if you're ever in this part of the world, I can give you a guide more easily. Recommendations will be in bold and I'll label the entry with the word "recommendations."

--Travel episodes. I will travel. I will travel fairly often, I will hopefully travel to a few terrific places, and I will write about it when (or, more likely, after) I do.

--Photos. I will post photos on Facebook and link to the albums here (and try to coordinate the two somehow). Don't worry if you don't have an account-- you should still be able to view them. If this gives anyone trouble, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

--Other random asides. If I see a good movie (like the new Cronenberg movie coming out in February), or if something big pops up in the news, I may give it a paragraph or two. Or six. But only if it's a movie.

--More concision. This entry may be a poor example, but I will try to ramble less this time, so that I can be every bit as offbeat and confusing, but in less space.


...So, just to get the plot rolling a bit, I'm landing in Grasse (the perfume capitol of the world-- and now you know) on Wednesday and staying in a B&B there for a week.** My objective will be to search for my first apartment, which was already going to be fun*** before I knew I'd have to do it in a foreign country. Since I spent about 4 hours in Grasse last summer (touring the Fragonard perfume factory), I didn't give the place much consideration. I'll check the place out and decide if I want to live in this cute, quiet, elevated town slightly off the coast, or whether I'm willing to commute 45 minutes each way by train and live in the lovely town of Antibes where I stayed for all of July in 2010. Also an option is nearby Cannes (home of the film festival, pronounced "con," not "can," and CERTAINLY not "cans").

Regardless of where I choose an apartment, chances are good I will make arrangements to share it with other teaching assistants (of various languages). We've all gotten in touch over Facebook over the last few months. It's like summer-pre-Vassar all over again.

For the record, all of France (and next-door neighbor Italy) is 6 hours ahead of East Coast time, so please keep this in mind when you're thinking about when we should Skype. And we should Skype. With that in mind, here's how else to keep in touch with me over the next academic year:

EMAIL: andy.j.weiner@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/andy.j.weiner
SKYPE: andy.j.weiner.17

I really do want to hear from you about you and what and how you're doing. I'm not sure what my internet capabilities will be right off the bat... could be several weeks until I get a stable situation, but I'll make it work. I'll also keep you posted on my schedule. Pretty sure that covers all the basics.


Well. I'm off.


-------------------
Footnotes
*I've been assigned to one school so far, but my predecessor tells me they surprised her with two more when she arrived.

**To those of you familiar with my screenplay thesis, I assure you that the irony is not lost on me, either.

***That's French for "Oh, bullocks."

****If you're curious, here's a link to my first blog, from JYA spring 2010: (199) Days of Europe