globalization and the french

“Why do I write in French? It is the possibility to belong to a culture that is not mine, not my mother tongue.” - Andreï Makine, Soviet-born writer

This is a quote that from the New York Times article "In an Age of Globalism, Pardon my French". This article touches so much on what I wrote about for my French honors thesis and I highly recommend reading it -- the article, not my thesis that is. :)

Voila le link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/arts/25abroad.html

the perks of dealing with americans

Saturday I emailed my resumé and cover letter inquiring about the possibility of interning with MICEFA, the exchange program through which I did my year abroad in Paris. I open my email Monday morning and already a reply (thus the title of this blog entry) - and a positive one at that. Things seem to be falling into place nicely. It'll be nice to have a reason to go into Paris on a regular basis, instead of staying in the suburbs.

the day paris and i met

When I was younger, I thought I wanted to move to London. For some reason, London seemed like this magical, marvelous place. Convinced that London was the greatest city on earth, I was so excited when my family decided to go on a family trip across Europe. We went through Italy, Switzerland, France, and England - London was to be our last stop. The stop before it: Paris.

Driving into the city of Paris, the city doesn't seem all that impressive. Like most outskirts of a major town, there was graffiti, run-down buildings, and way too much traffic. We were on a bus tour and arrived in Paris as night was falling. By the time we got into the city it was already dark. Before going to our hotel, we stopped at Trocadero, the main tourist location from which to view the Eiffel Tower. Then it happened. I remember this moment so clearly: stepping off the bus, looking up, and there she was. Yes there was the Eiffel Tower, lit up so bright that it seemed to me like if I reached out my hand I would be able to touch the monument's cold metal. But it was more than that. No, there in front of me stood Paris. I was struck by a complete coup de foudre. It was in that moment that I fell in love. There, amidst the tourists and barterers loudly selling Eiffel Tower key chains, I fell in love. Despite all that was going on around me, all I could see was Paris and how beautiful she was. All I knew was that I wanted to get to know her. And that my friends, was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

the long-awaited acceptance letter

I am now officially accepted into the teaching assistant program for l'Academie de Creteil. Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that I will be placed in/near Maisons-Alfort so I don't have to commute 2 hours to work. I'm also in the process of trying to secure an internship so here's to hoping everything goes my way . . . .

patience is a virtue

The study guide for my history midterm sits in front of me but I'm finding it hard to concentrate on memorizing the amendments of the constitution. Instead I am obsessing over whether I'll get accepted into the teaching assistantship program in France and if I do get accepted, whether I really have to wait until mid-September to get my visa as per the official guide on the French Ministry of Culture website. That would ruin my plans of arriving August 1, plans that I am quite set on.

On the positive side of things, I did however read about someone who got placed in the high school at Maisons-Alfort. Now wouldn't that be great, being able to work in the school whose bells I can hear from the bedroom window? One can hope, right? Of course, I applied to teach primary school, but there are bound to be primary schools in M-A too!

I just need to get used to waiting because waiting is what I'm going to be doing for the next four to five months.