Mon Retour

Well, it's official, I will be heading back to France come September (the 29th, to be exact). I've just received my assignment: assistant English teacher in a public high school. Just when I thought I was done with high school forever, now I have to revisit it in all of it's French glory. To be honest, I'm a mixture of total excitement and utter fear. I'm pumped to head back over the pond, but I'm not sure if I'm cut out for the job. I've heard stories, good and bad, and frankly, I'm not an aspiring teacher so I don't know if I'm the right person for the job. I've never taught anything out of the pool in my life, though at least I can say that I'm well versed in the subject matter. But, as any teacher can tell you, knowing the subject yourself and teaching it to people who don't know it are two totally different things. And high schoolers, well they're just a bundle of hormones and teenage angst (yikes). The hard part is that I can't know yet how it'll turn out, because it all depends on the school I'm in and how helpful (or not helpful) the teachers will be. But, I've always been one for an adventure, and it's the crummy circumstances that teach you the most. So maybe I don't want next year to be all daisies and roses... who knows.

Since I'm not exactly well informed about what's going on when I get there, I thought I'd take this time to tell you what I do know. My city, Avranches, is in Lower Normandy, on the north west coast, right next to Mont St Michel (this sweet castle on an island that I always meant to go to but never did --you can see it from Avranches' botanical gardens!). Avranches is a city of a little less than 10,000 (1/4 of the University of Madison...). I'm slightly worried about it's size, but then again, I did the city thing once and I think I might enjoy the quaint small town thing this time around. And besides, this city has been around since the middle ages, so I'll definitely be in for some amazing history. In fact, the library of Avranches stores the ancient manuscripts of Mont St Michel that were moved during the Revolution and WWII. There are medieval texts complete with calligraphy and drawings, as well as Diderot's first Encyclopedia. Yeah, I'm a dork, so what. I've also found two evangelical (yes, evangelical!) churches online that are in "downtown" Avranches. So I won't have to rely on mass at the cathedral, and maybe one of the churches will be a happy one! It would be so amazing to meet some Christian French folks while I'm there, not just because I'll need friends in general, but because I'll be in dire need of fellowship.

My saving grace, interestingly, will be the fact that this city has a TRAIN STATION, the best (and my favorite) way to travel. So, if I get bored, it's off to Montpellier to see my buddies down at school there (you remember Elodie, and I met two amazing girls in Madison this semester at the agriculture school down there).

So, once again, I'm looking forward to everyone's wonderful prayers and support. I'll need it much more this time around because I really am flying solo. No other students, no plan, no housing (!!!), no money, no friends, no idea how to teach... you get the idea. But God is good, and He's never left my side. In fact, last time I was in France I felt Him with me more than ever. When you're finally in a country where no one is shouting about God, it's quiet enough for you to hear his real voice. And it's there, waiting to help you along.