The Final Countdown

It's Tuesday, and I leave for France on Friday. I'm currently in England, with Rachel and her aunt and uncle in Kingstone Winslow, a village in Oxfordshire. I'm finally starting to adjust a bit to the time zone, although still having a hard time falling asleep and having lots of funny dreams.

Clocks for all the places I've lived/will live soon.

Our flight to England was very empty, which was great! We had about three rows of room to spread out. The staff was also happier because they, too, had room to stretch and sit, which made our experience more pleasant.
While I spent the day before leaving in a weeping panic, as most of my big transitions in life begin, I'm starting to feel a little more at ease with the idea of leaving for France. The facts are: I'm going to a beautiful country to do something I know I love—to teach—and to teach something that I both know inherently and have studied—English. While adjusting to speaking French in other contexts will be difficult at first, at least most of my job is to speak in English, to play games, and probably talk a lot about my own experiences! Hopefully this optimism will carry through to the big day on Friday. The plan is to fly into Charles de Gaulle, arrive around 5 30/6 PM, and to meet my friend from high school, Jordan, who will also be teaching in a city about a 45 minute train ride away from me. Together, we will travel to a hotel to rest for the night, and then head out to our destinations on the same train the next morning. My stop will come first, about an hour away from Paris. My wonderful supervising teacher, Isabelle, will pick me up at the train station, and I will stay with her and her family for the first night in France. After that, I will move into the young worker's dorm ("foyer jeunes travailleurs"), and show up to an all day meeting on Monday meant to orient all living language assistants in the area. After that, I'm not sure of my exact schedule, but everything is go with the flow in a complete immersion experience!
I've spent a little bit each night skyping with friends, as a little bit of homesickness has already kicked in. Google + allows you to skype with many people at the same time—it so nice to feel like we are all together! It's actually nice how being away from home makes you appreciate hearing from friends and family even more.

Google + gives you the option of wearing hats and eye patches!

Today Rachel, her Uncle Jonathon, and I all took a long hike on the ridgeway, which felt really nice as it's been raining most of the time we have been here. 

Me and Uncle Jonathon! 

The ridgeway in rare sunlight!

Jonathon found a nice spot at Wayland's Smithy monument

I've also put together a presentation for my students, with details and pictures of my friends, family, hometown, college life, and hobbies and interests. If you care to look at it you can go to this link:

http://prezi.com/bfuyzlzihl7a/about-me/ I'm open to suggestions for its improvement, and always open to ideas for lesson plans!

That's all I have to say about life right now for now. Missing those of you across the pond—think good thoughts for me on Friday & Saturday! Comment with your address if you'd like to receive mail from me in the future. When I know my address I will also post it here.

Love,
K-la