Monday, April 25, 2011

...et il commence!

So, now that I'm am officially a part of the TAPIF program, this means that I am officially about to deal with the "pain-in-the-assness" that is French bureaucracy!  Today I mailed in the CERFA, which is the form that needs to be filled out so that I can a.) get my work contract and b.) get my visa.  I've already heard horror stories from many about how annoying the paperwork process is, so I have psyched myself to be prepared  for the absolute worst and the utmost annoyance.  But who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and the process will go smoother than expected (but again thats a BIG maybe!).  My only wish is that I get my contract ASAP so that I can quickly move onto another more annoying part of the process!



As excited as I've been about this journey I am about to embark upon, I can't help but feel a sense of fear.  I've only ever been on a plane without my family once but I have never dome anything close to this program before.  Whether I liked it or not, I've always been a sorta home-body, my life so far as always revolved around the same 25 mile radius, so moving to another country with a different language and being expected to hustle like everyone else for a euro...wow, it all seems soo real, almost too real.  I think it just my nerves getting the best of me, especially since my family doesn't yet know, so I'm am worried about their reactions.  I can't wait to get my work contract so that I can start looking for a proper place, not that it's stopping me now, but there are so many options and I can't agree to any of them without knowing where I'm going to be.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Turn that frown upside down!

So as you all are very ware by my last post, I was waitlisted for the TAPIF program.  Of course this sad/ slightly devastating news bummed me out and made me reconsider my whole life for a second becasue i was really hoping to be accepted.


Well, 16 days after that email, I got another email today:

I got accepted to the Académie de Créteil!!!


OMG OMG OMG, soooo excited and I mean really excited.  I was in the library studying when I got the email and I literaly started screaming and jumping up and down, "I'm going to Paris!" "I'm going to Paris!" "I'm going to Paris!" 

Now of course I know Créteil is not quite Paris but it is the Paris region, so there is a possibility that I can live in Paris and commute (and trust me being from MD and having a job in DC I am more than familiar with commuting to work!) 

Whew...so in the meantime I need to start doing research on Créteil, seriously brush up on my French and dust off my teaching skills by volunteering at my old job.

Monday, April 4, 2011

The REAL agony begins now.....

Well, I got the email I have been waiting for for 4 months now and.....

I was waitlisted

When I saw it my first response was *Gasp*.  I couldn't believe it, I felt like I had done everything right and that I was qualified for the program, almost so that I felt kinda insulted by the email.  Well I guess it's better than a flat-out rejection.  So, the real agony begins nows....I will hear a final response as to whether or not there is a spot for me by July 1st.  Great, just what I needed more waiting.  Well, the only thing I plan on doing is to hope for the best, but prepare for the absolute worse.


Well, I'm still pretty bummed by the news and it will probably keep me bummed for the rest of the week.




...in other news, I lost 5 pounds! Random happy tidbit I wanted to share.