The Blois Blog: Beginnings

Hello family and friends! Well, I'm off to France again. This time I'll be working as an English language assistant (assistante de langue) in a French elementary school starting October 1 and ending April 30. The Blois Blog will keep you updated on my adventures. I will use it as a space to share my experiences, post photos, recipes, and facts, practice my writing, indulge in some cultural and philosophical pondering, and, in general, touch base with you, the people who have empowered me to take this journey.

After an extensive application process and much waiting, I have been selected to teach in Blois (pronounced "Blwah"), a small city (approx. 50,000 residents) on the Loire River, in the heart of France's famed château (castle) country. In fact, my 15m² studio apartment is just a couple of blocks from the Château de Blois, which once hosted France's kings. Blois is about 30 minutes by train from Tours and Orléans, the big cities of the region, and less than two hours from both Paris and my beloved Rennes, where I studied abroad in 2011.

Here is a link to Blois's Wikipedia page, in case you're curious:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blois

And a map of Blois:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202781485586169892264.0004c987103cccc5a00ed&msa=0&ll=47.587179,1.330998&spn=0.007656,0.021136

My countdown is well under way; I only have 12 days left until I board the plane to Paris on September 24th. I am, of course, excited, but there's no denying that this radical change in scenery is making me extremely nervous. I will be exercising many of my adult "firsts" across the pond--renting an apartment, setting up a grown-up bank account, seeking medical insurance, working in a professional environment, grocery shopping and cooking for myself, not to mention all the extra fun things I get to do as a foreigner to appease the French authorities--all in French and without the immediate support network of my friends and family. I know it will be challenging, but I am prepared for that and am encouraged by the fact that this will not be my first time to France.

As an exercise in new beginnings, I would like to create some goals for myself before I get over there and become overwhelmed and busy (and I'm counting on you guys to keep me honest!). So, here it goes:
1. Approach challenges confidently and calmly; things will work out.
2. Dedicate effort and energy into being a good teacher and encourager for my students. Learn all my students' names (I will have up to 300 total for as little as an hour per week, so this is no small task).
3. Participate in the community. Join a church choir, a yoga class, a dinner group--whatever gets me out of my apartment to meet new people.
4. Speak French as much as possible (a challenge when teaching English and living alone).
5. Become a regular somewhere: coffee shop, bakery, library--perhaps even a bar (!).
6. Explore Blois and know it well; go for a walk everyday.
7. Eat like a French person, and learn to cook like one--on a budget, of course. (I'll post some of my favorite new recipes here.)
8. Take risks; don't miss an opportunity to discover something unfamiliar.
9. Read and write. Profit from free time and alone time for intellectual development and personal reflection.
10. Keep up with this blog--at least one post per week.

Everything looks so simple when reduced to ten checklist items. But this simplicity is oh-so-misleading. I'll let you know how this list is holding up three weeks from now.

Just some final details to wrap up, and then it will be time to start packing. Going for one suitcase and a backpack... Wish me luck!