So! A lot has happened.
1. Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving here in France was very bittersweet. On the one hand, you are far away from your family who you know is digging into the traditional meal of food on top of food, smothered with gravy, and finished with whipped-cream slathered pumpkin pie. Le Sigh.
On the other hand, the new family that I've formed here in Nice came over to my place and we made due with what we could scrape together. I found (pre-cut) turkey breast that I roasted with vegetables. We also had garlic green beans, cous cous, apple pie (soooo good) with cinnamon whipped cream, mashed potatoes, and delicious apple sauce. The best part, though, was definitely the company. My little salon housed about 12 people who were all happy to dig into the delicious food and the lively conversation. What a nice way to feel a little closer to home without having to travel anywhere.
Day Trip:
As I mentioned before, I am determined to see as much as I can of the Cote d'Azur before I leave for the summer (more on this later). I took a day trip to Eze with my friends Emily and Rachel. Eze is a gorgeous little medieval village perched on a hill top. It provides stunning views of the sea and the hills. The narrow, stone roads are just so adorable and quaint and all of the little ships are carved into the old stone walls of the city. We hiked up the hill on a path called the Chemin de Nietzsche which took about an hour, but was a nice change from the city life. Hopefully in the coming weeks, when I have 5 visitors coming over the winter break, I will be able to discover more of the coast!
General Life Direction:
I think I have figured out a short-term plan for myself. Finally. After I graduated from the U of M, I felt completely lost. A part of me wanted to just settle into a teaching job because it seemed like the easiest thing that I could do at the time--I mean, what else does one do with a double major in French and Political Science in Minnesota?
Then I came to France and my eyes were opened. At first it was overwhelming. I came here expecting clarity to be the end result, and it was just such a scary thing to realize that I am not confined to the limits of Minnesota. I could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone I wanted to be. This realization made me feel lost and like I was stumbling around in the dark--not a good combination when paired with bad news from home and homesickness.
Then I had a breakthrough. I have always considered working in a study abroad office for a company or university to be one of my top choices. However, most of those positions require a master's degree of some sort. I didn't quite know how to approach this predicament. Do I pursue a graduate level degree in French? International Relations? Linguistics? What to do? There are far too many academic interests that I hold dear to me...how do I choose one? Enter: Lisa.
Lisa is one of the American assistants here in France. She and I have become pretty close and we often have discussions about future plans and options. Through these discussions, I learned we are interested in pursuing the same career paths--coordinating study abroad programs. Well, to be more specific, this is just one of the many paths Lisa is considering as she has many academic interests as well. Anyways, she told me that she had read an article on international education, which definitely peaked my interest. Essentially, it's a master's program in how to coordinate international education programs...Bingo! Yahtzee! GOAAAAAAAL!
So that is my new goal. Life is infinitely easier when you have a goal in mind. SO! *drum roll please.....*
My current plan is to: try to renew my contract for next year in France, take the GRE in the summer of 2012 (must start studying...grr), start a TEFL certification class, re-take the GRE if necessary, and then apply for jobs. If no jobs take, apply for graduate programs which would begin in 2014. I might also try my luck with jobs in the US for next year as well...but it is difficult to secure a position without a master's. What up, life goals.
It's such a relief to have this feeling...that what I am doing right now in France is applicable to what I want to do with my life. At first coming to France was sort of a diversion tactic. I had the mentality of "Oh...I have no idea what's happening right now so...Travel!" But it actually ended up doing exactly what I wanted it to do--provided me with clarity.
Picture time!
Eze:
Happy Ann:
Hugs and Kisses
Ann
My one piece of advice would be to spend the time now in looking at specific programs you might be interested in and see what they require for prep. Some grad programs do not require the GRE. You probably already knew that, but I didn't have to take it. It could save you some money (I think it costs a couple hundred) and time. Also I started classes before I was accepted into a program. Most places let you do that, and you just fill out paperwork so that those classes get counted towards the degree you want (when you get into it). It lets you get a jump start on finishing the degree. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought of that. Unfortunately, most of the universities that offer the program are pretty fancy...so most of them require the GRE--but I have more digging to do :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice, lovely sister-in-law!
As a random stranger who happened to stumble across your humble ramblings, may I just say that this post is awesome? I just graduated with (wait for it!) a political science major and a French minor. I'm about to leave for TAPIF and have no idea what I'm going to do after that. It's so comforting to see that other people eventually get that figured out!
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