Tag: TAPIF

New Year, Same Miriam in Dijon?

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, TAPIF1 Comment

It’s officially 2021, and I’m struggling to comprehend that another month has passed. I know that people say that time has no meaning now (in our Covid world), but I genuinely believe it to be true a lot of days. Proof of that is that I didn’t start writing this post until the last week of the month because somehow, it hadn’t clicked in my brain that it was the end of the month. My brain did click though, so fear not, as I am here with my monthly update of all things going on in the life of Miriam in Dijon! I thought I’d go back to my “the good, the bad, and the pandemic,” format for this month given that in the final category (at least), I have a lot to say. I’m afraid this isn’t my most interesting month, but I hope it’s not too dull to read about.

The Good of January 2021

Although this wasn’t a year of massive New Year’s celebrations, France did have an online ringing in DJ sesh, which I watched as the clock struck midnight. I had a couple of days off before I resumed teaching on January 4th. It was very much straight back into it, and the adjustment from having two weeks off to being back on a “normal” schedule is always a fun one. Nevertheless, I did it, and January has been a pretty good month for teaching! I’ve started up with a new class at the lycée, and since they’re working on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, I’m getting to infuse some theatre into their class by having them act out certain scenes (given that I found the script online). It’s not a theatre class by any means, but it’s nice to get to use theatre as a teaching tool, and also partake in it (by osmosis), given that theatres will be closed for the foreseeable future. My middle school classes are also going fairly well, and it’ll be interesting to see what other fun lessons I get to cook up in the coming weeks.

Young woman stands in a classroom in France wearing a "Portland Blazers" sweater, and mask, posing
My timed classroom photo du mois

In December, I wrote about my struggles with sécu, and I’m happy to announce that I was able to tie a bow around my problems with them! When school started back up, and I was able to get access to my mail (one negative of living at the school during breaks is not having access to any mail), I was THRILLED to see a letter from sécu. I finally received my permanent social security number!! After essentially two years (granted that part of that time I was out of the country), I am finally legit. Of course they sent me a letter asking for a photocopy of my visa, which is not something I have (France seems to have issues with dual citizens when the place of birth is in the US but you’re applying as an EU citizen), but I was able to get that sorted. I had to call sécu but I got a very lovely human on the other end who was very understanding, and helped me gain access to my Ameli account. From there, I was able to order my Carte Vitale, and two weeks later, I had the beautiful green card that means I’m official and can easily do anything medical related. Absolute elation when I saw that envelope – it was such a hassle to get this flimsy card, but I have it now. Who says you never have victories with French bureaucracy? (Probably me, but at least not today).

Another exciting thing this month is that it’s snowed not once, but three times! Granted, it’s not been enough snow to cancel school, or to really allow for much fun in the snow, but it’s been enough to have a slight winter wonderland feel! I particularly enjoyed the Sunday where I woke up to snow and could observe it from my window. I wasn’t so much a fan of having to walk back from my middle school on a Thursday while it came down, though! The irony is that so many of my teachers and students told me that it rarely, if ever, snows in Dijon and here we are with four days of snow in my time here. I’m glad it happened though because there was a two week period where the temperature barely even got above freezing! If it’s going to be that cold and NOT snow – what’s the point??

Young woman in a Scripps sweatshirt stands in the snow, kicking it into the air for the photo
Couldn’t resist enjoying the snow, even though it was only 10am!

Another good thing of this month? My discovery of the app “Too Good to Go.” It’s an app to help reduce food waste, and you can reserve “magic bags” in different eateries around town for reduced prices! You never know entirely what you’re going to get – and my kitchen set up limits me to essentially boulangeries and small eateries – but it’s a fun culinary adventure nonetheless. I’ve gotten some very good pastries out of it.

Finally, because I decided I wanted to make this year even more different than the first time I did TAPIF (ignoring the obvious massive difference), I applied to be an assistant ambassador. This wasn’t a position that existed the last time I was an assistant, but it seemed in line with my international educational goals, so I gave it a go. I was selected, and now partake in monthly meetings with the other 20 ambassadors to discuss ways to share the program through social media (both the official pages and our own personal pages), as well as ways to promote the assistant program to people in France, and our home countries. It’s certainly a new experience, and I’m excited to see how it plays out over the next couple of months!

Announcement for assistant-ambassadeur through France Education International

The Bad of January 2021

I’ll admit there haven’t been loads of “bad” things this month, but no period of time is complete without its ups and downs. Unfortunately, for all the joy I might have had entering 2021, I promptly had some issues when the morning of January 1, I broke my retainer that I’ve had for eight years. Cue instant stress. Not only was I now having to deal with orthodonture in France, but of course I broke my retainer during a holiday weekend so I had to wait three days before I could call places. Logically I knew that nothing bad would befall my teeth in those three days, but sometimes, logic does not prevail. Needless to say, I was able to eventually sort it out (check out my blog post about visiting the orthodontist here), and I emerged on the other side with a fixed retainer. Hopefully, I won’t have to endure that stress again anytime soon.

The Pandemic in January 2021

As much as we all wished for it, the pandemic didn’t disappear the second the clocks struck midnight. Throughout the month of January, case numbers in France have been steadily increasing, and when the month started, the country was on curfew from 20H-6H. Within a week or so, my department reached a high enough level of incidence to be moved to a 18H curfew, about which I have very mixed feelings. Ultimately, the entire country moved to a 18H curfew, so now we all can’t be outside the house, except for very specific reasons, from 18H-6H. On paper, it seems like a fine idea, but in reality, it means that everyone is on public transport and out running errands right until the curfew, since grocery and other stores must close at 18H. I think it’s honestly counterintuitive to the purpose of curfews, but I guess the numbers will ultimately provide any clarity on it all. It seems (to me at least) that another confinement is around the corner, especially with the new variants. While the prospect of that isn’t thrilling, I’d actually prefer confinement to the curfew, if only because of the stress of only having 12 hours to do everything you need to do in a day. My favorite theory currently is that in following Disney Paris announcements, you’ll know the dates of the next confinement… they’re not set to open until April. Not sure if this is good or bad, but take that for what you will.

If there is another confinement, the question becomes whether schools will remain open. France has been adamant on keeping schools open despite confinements, but it’s unclear if that will remain the case if faced with another confinement. With the February breaks coming up, it’s possible that a confinement would attempt to line up with those dates, but given that the breaks are staggered between three zones in France, schools would only be closed for two weeks of however long a confinement would last. My issue with schools remaining open is that the French government continues to insist that education is a priority, but refuses to acknowledge teachers or education personnel as priorities. This is super evident in France’s vaccination program. While they’ve gotten the ball rolling a bit better than initially, the minister for education has explicitly stated that teachers will not be vaccinated sooner than the spring, which is when the general public is eligible to be vaccinated. I don’t understand the logic in saying that education must remain in person, but refusing to help teachers remain safe.

If schools close, how will I take my masked bathroom selfies to show off my cute masks?

I also will never understand the blatant ignoring of middle schools when the government discusses protocols for schools. There’s the hybrid model in high schools, and timed lunches for primary students, but time and time again, middle schools are forgotten. Invariably, this means that middle schools will have Covid cases. The hallways during passing periods at my middle school are as crowded as if there weren’t a pandemic going on right now. Classrooms are full, and there’s no way to distance students when there are 35 students and 35 desks. I won’t pretend to be a virus expert, but it makes no sense to me to implement essentially no sanitary protocols in middle schools and then go all *surprised Pikachu* when kids are constantly testing positive or cas contacts. The government has implemented an attempt to give teachers/students better accessibility to tests, though as part of an initiative to test around 300,000 students and teachers a week. The nurse at my high school was supposed to administer tests every Friday afternoon (from 12:30-16:00), via appointment only. I signed up for one as a precaution for the Friday before break, only to find out a week before that it was cancelled due to lack of sign ups. Turns out my lycée has now cancelled their slots for testing. My guess is that was due to the fact that tests weren’t at convenient times for teachers, and therefore they couldn’t actually take advantage of it. Feels very hand wavy to seemingly have this available but then cancel it. I could still go to another school somewhere else in the city, but at that point, it’s more convenient for me to just go to a lab nearby.

The French government has also now recommended not using cloth masks anymore, which I know is now being recommended in other countries, but comes right on the heels of schools distributing new “regulated” single layer cloth masks to all teachers. It’s frustrating from an environmental (and financial) perspective as well since surgical masks, or N95s, aren’t reusable. That being said, I do recognize why they’re being recommended, and will always follow recommendations for mask wearing, and anything else related to the pandemic.

As a final restriction implemented this month, France has closed its borders to all inbound and outbound travel outside the EU except for “motif impérieux.” This, along with closures of non essential stores, will go into effect at midnight on Sunday, January 31. It’s the government’s quasi last ditch attempt (in my opinion), to not have another confinement, but I’m not really sure that these two restrictions are going to actually help lower numbers. They’ve explicitly stated that the curfew is no longer helping in the same way that it was, and therefore is no longer efficient. I’m unsure what they think closing borders, but still allowing travel within France and the EU is going to do, especially given the new variants and the impending holidays associated with schools. It’s frustrating that so many governments around the world still seem to have not learned much from the last almost 12 months. I feel that if they do implement another confinement at some point that it will be too little too late at this point.

I’m afraid that’s really been my month… not terribly exciting really, but as the French say, c’est la vie! The February break for my zone is right around the corner (it starts the sixth of February), so in that regard, this month feels very stop and go considering the students (and I) only have six weeks of school before yet another break. I also wouldn’t say I’m looking forward to it since it’s not like I’ll really be able to do much during it! Either way, we continue on day by day, and we’ll see what the next weeks have in store – a plus!

Jardin Japonais in Dijon, France with snow
The Jardin Japonais on one of the days where it snowed

Visiting the Orthodontist in France

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France2 Comments

I certainly didn’t plan on having to visit any dental facilities in France, but as (bad) luck would have it, I managed to break the retainer I’ve had for eight years on January 1 (an excellent start to the new year). This led to me having to deal with the dental facilities in France, so I figured I’d write about that experience, in case someone else ever finds themselves in that situation!

The first step for me was calling around to all the orthodontists in Dijon that came up under a google search of “orthodontist Dijon.” The first few I got either wouldn’t take adults for orthodonture, or wouldn’t see non-patients for emergency appointments, meaning I had to take a new patient appointment. These were usually somewhere in February or March, which was a bit far out for my liking, unfortunately. I ultimately lucked out by mentioning my conundrum to one of my teachers who has a dentist friend, and she was able to get me an appointment that way.

It’s important to note that even if you have sécu, orthodonture is not covered for anyone over the age of 16. This means you pay full price for everything with no possibility of a reimbursement. If you want a partial reimbursement, you can invest in a mutuelle that covers adult orthodonture, but this didn’t make sense for me as this would (hopefully) be a one time visit/expense for me. Normal dental procedures are covered with the carte vitale.

Dental, much like doctor, offices are located in normal, apartment buildings in France. If they’re a “cabinet,” this will undoubtedly be the case so the dentist I visited’s office was located on the second floor of a building where people live. They have a special buzzer outside the door so you can be buzzed in and then up the stairs you go. I’ll admit it does feel a little odd to walk up stairs to the dental office, passing by doors where people live, but the dental office was pretty much what I expected upon entering. It wasn’t as big as offices would be in the US, but when the dentist saw me, it was exactly what you’d expect in a dental office. Before I was seen, I was registered as a new patient which included giving them my address, phone number, birthdate, and social security number (since I don’t have my carte vitale, yet).

Dental offices have doors like this in the US, right?

In line with how the French are, the visit was much more straight-forward, and quick than it would’ve been in the US. The dentist I saw was very nice, and very helpful, but didn’t talk me through things nearly as much as I’m used to when I typically see the dentist. As I mentioned, I broke my retainer so needed a new one. He told me he could repair it, but to do that, he took a mold of my mouth – with no warning! I saw it before it happened, but there wasn’t an explanation of what would be happening (or at least, not one I understood given my lack of French dental vocabulary). Luckily, I’m accustomed to molds, but it was certainly a surprise! Pleasantly, it was bubble gum flavored without my having to ask, so can’t complain about that. After taking my molds, he quoted the price to me, and then I was on my way with a return appointment to pick up the retainer.

Picking up my retainer was easy peasy (well, barring one snafu). I had my initial appointment on a Wednesday afternoon, and was told I could pick it up Friday – two days later – evening. I had to run from the middle school where I work on Fridays to catch the tram to the dental office, only to find out that my retainer was, in fact, not ready. Heaven forbid I get a phone call (which I find ironic considering everything is done by phone in this country)! Regardless, I was told I could come back Monday afternoon, and that’s exactly what I did. Within five minutes of the dentist seeing me, I had my new retainer, paid for it, and was on my way. As I mentioned, adult orthodonture isn’t covered by sécu, however, the price for my fixed retainer was still a little cheaper than what I would’ve paid without insurance in the US. I was given a receipt to show my insurer back home (not that it applies to me), and then it was done. All in all, it was a fairly painless experience (barring the stress at the start of it all). I am currently planning to make a dental appointment at some point before my contract ends in France, and I’ll be sure to write how that goes if I do!

All I want for the holidays is… déconfinement?

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, TAPIF1 Comment

Welcome back to another installment of Miriam in Dijon (think I’ll keep that trend going, thanks Netflix)! It’s December, which means it’s the holidays, and I think with the year it’s been, little things like lights and decorations have been a great uplift of mood. I mentioned last month that the decorations in centre ville have been up for several weeks, but with the introduction of being able to leave the house within a radius of 20km, and then déconfinement, more people have been able to enjoy them. Unfortunately, when I say more people, I mean exactly that, because the main square (Place de la Libération) was rather crowded the night I went to see the lights in action. It’s unfortunate (in my mind, at least) that people seem to view the pandemic as an “all or nothing” situation in terms of how they act, but before I get too into my thoughts on that (and believe me, I have many), let’s dive into my third month in France, and the last month of 2020!

Christmas tree and decorations in Place de la Liberation, Dijon, France

Two Weeks of Teaching

It’s funny to mention it, but I’ve yet to actually work a full month as an English assistant, and won’t actually do so until March (which will be the only month where I work a full four weeks). Regardless, I did work two weeks in December, which were weeks filled with a true mish mosh of content, but mainly holiday themed lessons, especially for my collège students. That being said, it wasn’t two weeks of back to back holiday content, so I did get to have some variety (much different from my experience working in primary schools). While I did do a lot of “Christmas song Jeopardy” with many of my classes, especially the last week before break, some of my classes were still talking about Gothic Literature, or Freedom of Speech before the final week.

English Teaching Assistant standing in front of a whiteboard, with "Christmas Jeopardy" projected onto it
Back with some more self timed photos!

Unlike the last holiday season I spent in France, there have been no school holiday lunches or celebrations to mark the season. My collège did have a repas de Noel in the final week, but I did not join in as that didn’t sound like something I would be comfortable with given the pandemic – I was not the only member of staff who did not participate. The schools are decorated with Christmas trees, tinsel, and lights, which is a nice mood lifter, but is also a stark reminder of the double standard of laïcité in schools. If you’ve been following me since Angers, you’ll know I had difficulty with this in 2018, and 2020 is no different. Essentially, laïcité means no religion (or politics) in classrooms or at school. However, this rule is seemingly thrown out the window when it comes to Christmas. I was told I couldn’t put a window cling of a menorah on my window because it’s “religious” but that Christmas trees are considered “secular,” and therefore are allowed in schools. The irony is not lost on me, and it’s not worth an actual fight about it, but I do use it to insist that I will speak about Hanukkah if asked. I think it’s important to learn about what other people do during this time of year because we don’t all celebrate Christmas, regardless of how “non-religious” the French may think it is.

Regardless of all that, I still had a good two weeks with my students, even if by the end I was ready to never hear “All I Want For Christmas is You” again (which is practically a sin, I know, but when you hear the intro 30 times in an hour two times in a row in one day? It’s hard). Even with the students slowly losing focus and the will to be in school, I made it through (as did they), and successfully segued into the break.

The Pandemic in France

I wish I could go a blog post without mentioning the pandemic but alas, 2020 isn’t that kind to us (still holding out judgement on 2021). I figured this would also be a good way to update people who aren’t in France on what the situation looks like here, because I know that international coverage of the pandemic can be very hit or miss these days.

On December 15th, France officially came out of lockdown, even though the numbers were nowhere near where the government had said they needed to be in order for confinement to be removed. In lockdown’s place, we now have a curfew every evening from 20h to 6h, and if you need to do anything during those hours, you need an attestation. Outside of the curfew, however, attestations are no longer needed. The curfew was not in place on Christmas Eve, for better or for worse, but will remain in place for New Year’s Eve. You could have six adults at your house to celebrate Christmas under the new guidelines. Personally, I don’t think France should’ve come out of lockdown, considering numbers plateaued, and were trending slightly upwards by the time lockdown was removed. Perhaps this is because my region is currently the worst affected in France, and the rate of incidence in my département is already at what it was when I arrived at the end of September, but really I think it’s just because I’m not sure how they expect numbers to go down when they were already trending upwards, and are now encouraging travel and get togethers. I understand that Christmas is important to many families, but after seeing what happened in the US post Thanksgiving, I’m not thrilled about France’s prospects in the coming weeks. It’s hard to look at numbers increasing and understand the logic in opening things, especially before a two week holiday for students, when people will travel (which is allowed). Not to mention I still see way too many people not wearing masks properly, or at all, when outside, so I’m hesitant to think the next few weeks will look fab. Maybe I’m a Scrooge, or a pessimist, but I find it a little hard to be optimistic about it right now, unfortunately.

In line with things being a bit of a mess with France’s handling of the pandemic, on the Wednesday of the last week of school, the government announced that high school and middle school students had the option to stay home for Thursday and Friday before the break. I find this particularly telling, and found that in my middle school (which is the school where I work on Thursday/Friday), that it was very much a mixed bag. Most students were present on Thursday, but one of my teachers was speculating this was down to the big holiday lunch more than anything. There were more absences on Friday, but not the amount I would’ve anticipated to see if a similar option was made available in the US. Either way, it seems a backhanded way to admit that perhaps schools aren’t as safe as they’ve been proclaiming them to be, and I’ll be interested to see what happens with schools if (and really it’s trending towards when) another lockdown happens.

On the vaccination front, France is starting vaccinations in EHPADs (old people homes) on Sunday 27 December in Paris, and my region (Bourgogne-Franche Comté). Their current roll out plan doesn’t see the average citizen getting vaccinated until at least fall 2021, but it’s at least a start.

Am I a cool “teacher” yet?

Spending the Holidays in Dijon

Due to the current health situation, travel for the holidays obviously isn’t the best idea. Even under normal circumstances (what even is normal anymore), I wouldn’t have gone back to the US for the break, but my parents most likely would have come over to Europe. Even if they didn’t, I would have been off exploring other countries to pass the time, rather than planning for two weeks holed away in my room. With the increase in cases (and an ever increasing R rate), I made the decision that staying in Dijon would be for the best, and have tried to make the most of it.

Christmas tree in Place de la Liberation, Dijon, France
Centre ville by day

Before the actual break began, I went into centre ville to see the lights after dark, and I’ll admit, it was a very pretty sight to see. Something about lights and decorations make me smile, even if I wasn’t a fan of how many other people were there to share that feeling with me at the same time. In addition to the big Christmas tree being lit up, there are several lit up trees in front of the Palais des Ducs, and a light projection display on the façade of the palace, and on one of the nearby churches. It’s not quite the ambiance that Angers had, but I don’t think I can truly compare given that I wasn’t in Angers during a pandemic, and much of the holiday festivities, like Christmas markets, have been cancelled this year.

Young woman stands in front of a lit up Christmas tree in Place de la Liberation, Dijon, France
Centre ville by night

I’m not going to lie, spending two weeks alone in a small room is not ideal. It’s not great fun, either. I kept telling myself that I was fine with it, and that I’m fine living alone, but when I got back from work on Friday, the 18th, I was suddenly hit with the realization that I would be having no social interaction for the next two weeks, and that there wouldn’t be much for me to do, given the current situation and rising numbers. It’s hard to justify doing something just to do it, when it involves public transport, or being indoors (like shopping more than just the one time a week I usually go). I know I’m on the more paranoid side of things, but I’ve made it this far without getting sick, and given that my region is actively the worst (our rate of incidence is now back above 200/100,000), I’m not keen on putting myself at more risk than necessary. Sometimes I wonder when I’ll feel comfortable just doing things again. I feel horrid when my teachers invite me over to their houses, and I can’t confidently commit because of all the variables involved with going over to others’ homes. It’s hard not to feel like you’re being ridiculous sometimes.

I’ve tried to go on daily walks to get some fresh air, and to just get myself out of my small room. I discovered a lovely park near the mall that was such a calm, peaceful walk. It even had goats, sheep, and chickens! It’s nice to “spice up” my walking trails, since for a while there, I was only doing the same one since it was within 1km of where I live. I’m trying to take advantage of being able to roam, given that (in my mind at least), there’s a strong chance for another lockdown come January. I’ve also been doing some embroidery, and reading to pass the time when I’m not binging something online. I can’t say I’m having the most exciting days, but I know that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy myself if I was traveling somewhere right now. I buy myself lots of pains au chocolat when I can, and purchased myself a slice of buche de noel for Christmas Eve, along with a Galette des Rois for myself, just so I could have a crown.

Queen of the (personal) Galette!

The rain has also made a return, which makes going out slightly more … wet, but I’m a PNW gal, so I can handle it! I keep seeing the little snow icon in my weather app, but I think it’s unlikely that it’ll happen considering that the weather doesn’t get *that* cold during the day, at least.

French Bureaucracy Troubles

I bet you thought I had sorted all my issues once I got the PIN for my bank card, but the troubles did not end there! Being a language assistant, we have the right to sécu, the social security/health insurance French people have. In order to be put in the system though, you have to apply for it. Once you apply, you’re issued a temporary number, followed by your Carte Vitale, which is in essence your social security, and health insurance, card. Last time I was an assistant, I never received a temporary number, despite numerous calls to the sécu office. Since I didn’t anticipate coming back, I didn’t make much of it and just left it. When I came back to Dijon, I obviously had to start the process again, given that I wasn’t in the system… or so I thought. Turns out, I *had* somehow made it into the system (lord only knows when) and when I sent in another application in October, they registered it, and sent my info to Angers, because that’s the last address on file. Even though there was a new address in the new application. Cue a long 45 minute phone call where I’m told I have to resubmit everything with a typed out letter stating I changed addresses in order for it to be put in the system, and registered that I moved… despite the paperwork saying I’ve moved. This country, I swear. Luckily, I have a lovely secretary at school who has been very helpful, and was more than willing to send off my paperwork for a third time. Fingers crossed I’ll have some documentation in January!

A 2020 Recap

Seeing as it’s the last month of the year, I thought I’d be remiss not to mention a little bit about some highlights of the year. My year did start out strong with NBA games aplenty, and being cast in my favorite Shakespeare play (a production which, unfortunately, has not come to fruition). I had plans all laid out for where I was going to go next, but we all know how best laid plans worked out this year… If you had asked me at the start of 2020 if I would be doing TAPIF again, I would’ve said probably not, and yet, here we are. I’m choosing to view my coming to France as a door opening, even if it wasn’t the first door I wanted to open.

That’s been my December! It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone, especially when I feel like I have very little to report back as accomplishments for the past 12 months. I obviously don’t know what January is going to look like, let alone what my next steps will be after TAPIF (which is a can of worms I’m working very hard to keep closed, and at the back of the shelf). It’ll be a new experience to ring in the New Year alone (and possibly a lonely one), but hopefully this year will be a one off. I’m looking cautiously at 2021, but I imagine most of us are at this point. All I can do is continue with this adventure one day at a time!

See you in January, and (weirdly) in 2021! Bonne année et meilleurs vœux!

Reflection of the Palais des Ducs in an ornament from the Christmas Tree in Place de la Liberation, Dijon, France
Reflecting on 2020 and hoping 2021 shines bright(er)!

November update: a month in confinement

On By notyouravggiraffeIn TAPIF2 Comments

Miriam in Dijon: November edition! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in France for two months, and that even though not much has happened, I’ve still managed to occupy my time in such a way that it’s almost surprising that it’s been two months. Since one of my new year’s resolutions for 2020 (hah, jokes) was to write more, I want to keep that goal up by writing at least a monthly update of my experience doing TAPIF this time around, even if there’s not a ton of exciting things to report. As such, I present to you my recap of November!

Welcome to month two in France – a month entirely spent in confinement. On the evening of October 29th, the entire country went into “lockdown lite,” meaning you’re only allowed to leave your house for essential activities, an hour long walk within 1km of your house (this was extended to three hours within 20km on the 28th of November), or work if your job cannot be done from home, for at least four weeks. Unlike the confinement in the spring, schools remained open, which meant that I still got to go to work! Because of this, my days were relatively the same as what they were before confinement, only minus potential weekend excursions to centre ville (which I was able to do at the end of the month to see the holiday decorations around town because of the increase to 20km).

For people not living in France, you might’ve heard about the attestations needed to leave the house. Personally, I feel like people outside France make a bigger deal of this than it actually is, and it’s not an arduous task to do it. The attestation is either a piece of paper, or a QR code on your phone, that outlines why you’re outside of the house. There’s a handy Covid app that the French government wants everyone to download where you can do your attestation in five seconds on your phone (the app also notifies you if you’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive). There are spot checks randomly in France, and you will be fined if you don’t have one filled out, or if you are breaking the terms of the attestation. You have to fill out a new one every time you leave the house, but with the Covid app, it’s super easy to generate a new one whenever you need to go grocery shopping, or want to go for a walk. Luckily, I don’t have to do one every time I go to work because I have a *separate* (this is France, of course), attestation specifically for work that lasts until the end of confinement.

With the confinement elephant out of the room, I can move on to my actual November update! I wish that I had loads of interesting travel tales or exciting things I’ve discovered about Dijon, but rather, my days have been fairly repetitive. Most days are me going to work and coming back to my room, trying to be productive, and utterly failing (finding motivation in general is hard, but throw in the uncertainty of a pandemic and… big oof). On days where I don’t work, I go grocery shopping, do my laundry, or go for a walk to the jardin japonais which is within a 1km radius of where I live. It does make for less than exciting weeks, but there is something reassuring to the known, repetitive schedule. Luckily for me, boulangeries are considered essential, and remain open during confinement (how French). This means that I can go buy a baguette every other day (a full baguette lasts me two days, even if day two means that it isn’t the freshest), and sometimes even treat myself to a pain au chocolat. There are at least seven boulangeries within the 1km radius of where I live, so I’m not lost for choice.

Carrying a baguette home in the sunshine in Dijon, France
Baguettes somehow always make the day a little bit better

Teaching During Confinement

Like I said, I’m still going to work since schools are still open. One of the big changes for education during the confinement is that the mask requirement was extended to primary schools with students from six and up needing to wear a mask in class – before confinement, the minimum age was 11. Since I work in both a high school and a middle school, I’ve been able to see how government restrictions have (or haven’t) changed the way things are done. In my lycée, the school is now on a hybrid model. This means that every week, the students present at the school varies in order to minimize the number of students present on any given day. The terminales (seniors) are always here, but the premieres (juniors) and secondes (sophomores) are at the school at a 50% capacity each week. Initially, the high schools changed schedules around so that instead of students moving from class to class during passing period, it was the teachers instead, but that only lasted about a week before the hybrid model was put in place. My schedule at the high school, luckily, hasn’t changed much, but instead of having alternating A weeks and B weeks, we now do two of each letter week to ensure that all students get to have that schedule before moving to the next week. It also means that in classes where I worked with half the class while half remained with the teacher, that I’ve had to modify my lesson plans as I either now work in tandem with the teacher, or only have a quarter of a class with me at a time. This scheduling and hybrid model will be in place at least through the 20th of January.

My collège (middle school), is a little different. Since the government’s stance is that high schools have more students, their restrictions and advice for limiting contact between students was only extended to the high schools in the country. As such, my middle school is still at 100% attendance, with students moving between classes, and mingling as much as they would’ve done pre-Covid. The classrooms are usually full, which means little to no distancing between students, and passing periods is a sea of children. From discussions with some of the teachers I work with (and even some of the students), they aren’t a fan of the current model, and some would even prefer schools to shut down entirely. Both of my schools have had cases, and even more students who are cas contacts (this is defined as someone who interacted with/was within 1 meter of someone who was positive for at least 5 minutes, and usually without a mask). Luckily, in both my schools, I have some classes where I work alone, in my own room. As such, I can make sure a window is open, and have fewer students with me.

Young woman in Lucy and Yak dungarees posing in an empty French classroom, wearing a mask
Having my own classroom makes me feel very official (but not so official as to not take a cheeky self timed photo)

The Good From the Month of November

I didn’t quite want to replicate my “good, the bad, and the pandemic” format from October, but I do still want to touch on the good things that have happened this month. Even though it’s been confinement, and my freedom to explore has been severely limited, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been able to make the most of my (stuck at home) situation.

As some good news, I finally got my PIN for my bank card! It turns out, I had written my address “wrong,” because I hadn’t included the name of the school where I live in the address. As such, the person delivering the mail didn’t see my name on the mailbox, and didn’t deliver the letter. After fixing that little error, my PIN came quickly and I can finally use my French card. It’s very much a relief and has made my life so much easier this month.

France tip: As soon as you move into wherever you’ll be living in France, put your name on the mailbox. If your name isn’t on the mailbox, the facteur won’t deliver any mail addressed to you! If you live at your school, be sure to include the name of your school in your address (there’s usually a space for a complement de voie when you input in addresses) between your name and the street address to be sure you’ll receive post!

In terms of my living situation, I have settled more into my school provided housing in the last month (part of that being due to the fact that it’s where I’ve spent most of my time, if I’m honest). I’ve put up some personal photos, fairy lights, and embroidery I’ve done (with more on the way), to make the space my own. While it’s still crowded, and contains minimal storage, as Tim Gunn would say (or a variation on what he would say), I’m “mak[ing] it work.” Not to mention that other flats that I’ve looked at or found are the same size as my current living situation, but around three times the price, without considering utilities. I’m not going to lie that my rent price is a big reason for my staying put, even if it’s not an ideal living situation.

My teachers have also been really lovely. I’m very appreciative of the level of communication I have from all of my teachers, and their willingness to answer my questions. They’ve all regularly checked in on me and how I’m doing in confinement, and with my classes. My collège, in particular, has really been looking out for me. Since the beginning, my prof ref has been looking into ways to get me more hours at the school as a way to increase my monthly salary. I knew that this was a possibility, but with everything going on, didn’t expect it to go much further than a brief conversation. True to her word, my prof ref asked about it, and my school was completely onboard with the idea! Since this is France, I had to complete a dossier in order to file the request, but once it was approved, I was able to add additional hours to my schedule, which means an increase in pay as well. The new teachers I’ll be working with kept asking me if adding morning hours was okay with me, and asking if it fit in my schedule, which I found funny considering I have nothing on my schedule other than work at the moment – it’s not as if I could go do things if I had the time! I’m not sure how much additional earnings I’ll be making each month, but something is better than nothing, right? I’ll admit that it does make for long days (I went from working just three hours an afternoon to suddenly starting work at 9:20 and going to 17:20 two days a week), but again, I’ve got nothing else to do, and I get to work with a larger variety of students now.

Another good thing has been my ability to go to the boulangerie all the time. I know I’ve already mentioned it, but I truly relish buying myself a baguette every other day and having that quintessential French food item with my dinners. I feel very French walking down the sidewalk carrying a baguette from a boulangerie – it’s also a great excuse to get some steps in and to go out into the world for a bit given the current restrictions.

Other Observations

Even though my exploration of Dijon has been limited for most of the month to a 1km radius from the school where I live, and the walk to and from the mall where the grocery store is located, I’ve gotten very familiar with the surroundings. One thing on my walks that I noticed (when it was warmer), is that I got much warmer when walking than I feel I normally do. I could walk to the grocery store in late October without a coat because I felt fine (which is very abnormal for my “always cold” self). At first, I attributed it to the fact that I’m wearing a mask when I walk, and that could be contributing a little to me feeling the way that I was, temperature wise. Obviously it’s just something I’ll have to live with but I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me! Not sure if this is the reason, but every time I check my weather app, the humidity is sitting between 80-100%, which is unlike the PNW on SO many levels. I’m not sure *why* Dijon is that humid, considering there are no bodies of water anywhere near the city, but it’s constantly telling me it’s that humid! Even with copious amount of googling, I’ve been unable to find any reasons as to why it’s so humid here, so if anybody has any experience with humidity in Dijon, I am all ears!

The temperatures have also started to drop in Dijon, so we are edging slowly but surely into winter territory. It’s luckily been very sunny most days, and it hasn’t rained in at least a month (knock on wood it stays that way), so at least I’m only dealing with cold on its own. The fact that I will sometimes be walking back from work after the sun has set (which is depressingly early now), means that sometimes I’ve over bundled for my afternoon walk, but I’m dressed perfectly for the evening. Coming from the US, where all you do is dress for the short walk from your car to wherever you’re going, it’s definitely a different mindset when you get dressed every morning here.

The decorations for the holidays are also starting to appear, and with all the stress of 2020, it’s a welcome sight to see all the lights and shimmering decorations up in places. I’ll save most of my photos regarding that for December, but everywhere, from the mall, to the streets of centre-ville, have little splashes of the holidays, which in my mind, is a great pick-me-up, even if just for a second.

Christmas tree and gingerbread men at La Toison d’Or - mall in Dijon, France
A fun center piece at the mall to lift the spirits before grocery shopping

Even as restrictions ease slightly in France, there is still very much a pandemic going on, and numbers aren’t in a place to go into déconfinement, yet. My region (Bourgogne-Franche Comté), is doing the worst numbers wise in the country currently – something that started post lockdown – although my département (Côte-d’Or), is at the lower end of the nine départements in the region. It definitely frustrates me to still see people either not wearing a mask properly (I see a lot of noses, even with some students in my schools), or not wearing one at all. I’m hoping the numbers continue to drop, but I’m still very hesitant about it all.

I’m afraid that’s really been my November! Other than the increased stress of being abroad during the election (I had to give several lessons about it, while waiting for results which was fun), this month was fairly lowkey. I’m still discovering new things about my neck of the woods (for instance, when I was told explicitly by my prof ref that I was going to the wrong boulangerie and to go to another one), and getting into a routine for every day. It’s sometimes weird to think that I’m in France currently, and that this is my life for the next couple of months. It’s definitely been a different experience to what TAPIF was like for me in Angers (for more than just the obvious, pandemic reason), and most of the differences have been positive. I’m interested to see how this experience continues to roll out over the next couple weeks before the holiday break, and into the new year!

See you for an update in December! À plus!

French vocabulary for a pandemic

On By notyouravggiraffeIn FranceLeave a comment

Even though I’ve been speaking French since I was three, no amount of lessons or immersion could’ve prepared me for the specific vocabulary needed to survive in France during a pandemic. Some of the words I knew already, just in a different context, but others were completely new to me, and as always with language learning, I had a bit of a learning curve. If you’re thinking of moving over to France soon (assuming you have the proper visa situation) or you’re just curious about French pandemic related vocab, I thought I’d write out some new words I’ve learned that might be of interest!

I sincerely hope that these words will at some point, not be a part of daily speech, but even if they aren’t, it’s a chance to learn some new French words! I’m sure the Duolingo Owl would be proud of you for that. In no particular order, here are the words that I’ve come across and learned since arriving in France.

  • Un masque – a mask
  • Le gel hydro-alcoolique – hand sanitizer
  • Gestes barrières (f) – “Barrier gestures” or things you should do in addition to wearing a mask to keep yourself, and others, safe
  • Une pandémie – a pandemic
  • Un couvre-feu – curfew
  • Le confinement – lockdown
  • Se faire dépister – to go get tested
  • Une quatorzaine – fourteen day isolation/quarantine
  • Symptômes (m) – symptoms
  • Tousser – to cough
  • Éternuer – to sneeze
  • Se laver les mains – to wash your hands
  • La santé – health
  • Cas Contact – contact case, or a person who was in contact with someone testing positive
  • Isolement – isolation
  • État d’urgence sanitaire – health crisis
  • Réanimation – ICU
  • Attestation – certificate that gives you permission to leave the house during lockdown

Obviously, this is a fairly niche realm of French vocabulary, and I hope one that won’t need to be in our lexicons forever, but it’s never a bad idea to expand your vocabulary in another language. Some of these words are used frequently in other contexts (like being sick normally, Halloween, or in the news), and others may (hopefully) not be commonplace again, but as a lover of language learning, I’m always appreciative of learning new words and phrases, regardless of if they’ll be ones that become part of my daily vocabulary.

Fun French “fact”! Covid in French is technically feminine so it is la Covid, but people use the masculine interchangeably as well. If you’re curious about why it’s feminine, the Académie Française has typed up their logic online (spoiler alert if you don’t read French: it boils down to Covid being a disease, which translates to maladie in French. Maladie is feminine, so Covid is as well! It was initially – and mistakenly – masculine because coronavirus is a virus, and virus is masculine in French. Go figure!)

Those are some French words for the pandemic! Please continue staying safe during these unprecedented times and if you’ve made learning a new language a stay at home goal (or even if you haven’t), I hope this post helps a bit!

A day in Beaune

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, Travel1 Comment

Even though I can’t travel internationally at the moment, or too much around France, that doesn’t mean that I can’t explore my region. I decided to take a day trip to Beaune, which is only 20 minutes away from Dijon by train. This meant that getting there was easy, but also that it wouldn’t take a long time to get back to Dijon if I was uncomfortable, or if Beaune ended up being too busy to be enjoyable.

The train from Dijon to Beaune runs 2-3 times an hour, so I wasn’t too concerned about booking my tickets in advance. As such, I showed up to the gare 15 minutes before the train I wanted to take left (I had done some research on when the trains departed so I could plan my journey to the train station), bought my ticket, and boarded the train. I left at 10:12 and was easily able to find a seat. It’s a TER, so a local, commuter train, so it won’t reach the top speeds of the TGV, but you can enjoy the views as you go. Beaune was the first stop on the journey (half the train was destined to Nevers, the other half to Clermont-Ferrand), so 20 minutes later, I was able to descend and start exploring!

Top tip: Download the oui.sncf app to see when trains depart before you arrive at the station. You can also buy tickets in advance on the app for longer/less frequent journeys!

The train station in Beaune is about a 15 minute walk from the center of town, but it was a fairly straight-forward walk. My first stop du jour was at the Maison des Climats, which is a free exposition on wine culture in the Bourgogne region. I had a dreadful time finding it because my maps on my phone directed me to somewhere where the museum was not, but it turns out it’s located within the tourism office! I ironically popped in there to ask where it was and saw the signage pointing to a back room for the exhibition. From my research, this is supposed to be a very interactive and digital exhibition, but unfortunately, most of the interactive options were not available due to the current health situation. It looked like that would’ve made everything a bit more interesting, but I was still able to spend a good 20 minutes in there learning about wine in the region, and about the climats, which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites! From what I gleaned, climats are different areas where grapes for wine grow, and they are determined by the soil, weather, grape type, people who tend the land, and other far more complicated criteria. There are 1247 of them in Bourgogne! Everything in the Maison des Climats is in French and English, so it’s perfect for visitors who aren’t as comfortable with wine terminology in French.

Since the Maison des Climats hadn’t satisfied my viticulture palate enough, I decided to head to the museum of wine. Along the way, I stopped to visit the Basilique Notre-Dame. I wasn’t super impressed with the interior of the church, but I’m always a fan of stained glass, and there was plenty of it inside the church.

Basilique Notre Dame in Beaune
Exterior of the Basilique Notre Dame

The museum is just around the corner from the church so I popped in and began learning all about the history of wine in the Bourgogne region! Did you know that wine has been in this region since the romans (and maybe even before)? At one point, Philippe le Bon said that Bourgogne had the “best wine in Christendom,” and he’s responsible for planting a lot of the vineyards that are currently still in existence. The main types of wine produced in Bourgogne are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The museum is on two floors and presents a pretty good history of the viticulture in the region, of the climats, and how the wine is cultivated. It also delved into the importance of wine in Burgundian culture and traditions. I thought it was an informative museum, and worth the price of admission (5,80€), which includes admission to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, if that’s your cup of tea. Even if you’re not the biggest wine drinker (like me), you can still learn about viticulture on the whole, which is way more complicated than I could’ve imagined it to be.

After the museum of wine, I went to the Hôtel-dieu, which is the best thing (in my opinion) to visit in Beaune. The building itself dates from 1443, and is also known as les hospices, as it was a hospital/convalescence home for several centuries. It’s recommended that you book your ticket online before arrival, as this is a popular destination to visit in Beaune. You can go online and see the availability for every half hour and either book there, or like me, see how busy the day looks and decide to buy in person based on the availability the day before. The first step on your self guided tour (you can also book a guided one but those are at set times), is entering the courtyard where you can see the beautifully tiled roofs. I spent a lot of time just standing there because I can’t get over the tiles!! There are some roofs in Dijon with that same design, but the roofs aren’t nearly as big as the one in Beaune. The self guided tour leads you through the hôtel-dieu, where you can learn about the nuns who used to live and work there (the last one retired in 2006), their efforts during WWII, and the full several century long history of the building. Once you enter, you can spend as much time as you want roaming through, but everything was in one direction only, so no looping back (this might be purely Covid related, but it might not be). All in all, I spent about an hour exploring the different rooms and reading about all the history of the place! It was fairly empty when I went, but I can imagine it taking longer if the rooms were packed with other visitors.

Hôtel Dieu in Beaune with tiled roof
The beautifully tiled roofs in the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune

When I’d finished visiting the Hôtel-dieu, I decided to walk to the outskirts of the old city to see the last remaining archway rampart that marked the entrance to Beaune, once upon a time. There’s a similar one in Dijon, and it shows that at one point, the whole city would have been encircled with walled ramparts. From there, I decided to walk to the Parc de La Bouzaize, which is a massive park with a small lake that you can take a boat out onto if you wish, lots of greeneries, and directly behind the park? Sprawling vineyards. I found an open gate towards the back of the park and was able to wander up close to all the vineyards and not only is it extremely beautiful, but it’s so impressive to see that many vineyards in one place, and for almost as far as the eye can see. It looked like there was a walking trail you could do, but it was long (4-6km), and I hadn’t prepared to do that much walking in a day. Duly noted for next time, though! I know a big attraction of Beaune is doing wine tasting and vineyard tours, and maybe that will be a more enticing thing to do when the global health situation has calmed a little.

Vineyards behind Parc de La Bouzaize in Beaune
So. Many. Vineyards.

My last stop in Beaune was the Musée des Beaux-Arts. This wasn’t an initially planned stop, but because my entry ticket from the wine museum included entry to this museum, I decided to pop in and see. This museum was also located in the Tourism Office (not that maps on my phone was telling me that), and I wasn’t super impressed with it, if I’m honest. It’s not very big, and I didn’t see any works of art in there that really fascinated me. I’m not sure that it would’ve been worth the price of admission if it hadn’t been included in the wine museum ticket.

After that final stop, I was ready to head back to Dijon. I checked the oui.sncf app on my phone to see train times, and headed back to the train station in time to buy a ticket, and get on a train within 15 minutes headed back to Dijon. For most of my day trips, I usually book return tickets, but since the fare was so cheap on the TER to/from Beaune, and the journey so short, I felt that I could take a more “winging it” approach to my trains. I managed to spend a good six hours in Beaune, and that didn’t include any cave dégustations (wine tastings), wine tours, or any time spent eating so it’s definitely a worthy day trip from Dijon. I found that arriving early in the morning was nice because things were much quieter before lunch time (although it didn’t become massively crowded or anything after lunch), and I almost felt like I had the city to myself! It also meant I was able to do the things that close for lunch before they closed, and then spend the lunch hour(s) doing the things that remained open. Regardless of when you choose to arrive in Beaune, there’s the perfect amount to do (in my opinion) so that you don’t have to get up early and stay super late to be able to do everything, but you can still pace yourself and enjoy the city.

Vineyards in Beaune
Enjoy this blurry, self-timer taken photo of me in Beaune!

Things to do in Beaune

Maison des Climats

  • Located: in the Tourism Office (6 Boulevard Perpreuil, 21200 Beaune)
  • Hours: 10:00-12:30/14:00-17:00
  • Price: Free

Musée du Vin de Bourgogne

  • Located: Rue d’Enfer, 21200 Beaune (if you go up Rue d’Enfer, it’s actually back behind in a little alleyway, at least, that’s how I found it)
  • Hours: 10:00-13:00/14:00-18:00
  • Price: 5,80€/3,80€ for students (includes entrance to the Musée des Beaux-Arts)

Hôtel-Dieu

  • Located: Rue de l’Hôtel Dieu, 21200 Beaune
  • Hours: 10:00-19:00
  • Price: 9,00€

Parc de La Bouzaize

  • Located: Avenue du Parc, 21200 Beaune
  • Hours: 8:00-18:00
  • Price: Free

Basilique Notre-Dame

  • Located: Place du Général Leclerc, 21200 Beaune
  • Hours: 8:00-19:00
  • Price: Free

Musée des Beaux-Arts

  • Located: in the Tourism Office (6 Boulevard Perpreuil, 21200 Beaune)
  • Hours: 10:00-13:00/14:00-17:00
  • Price: 5,80€/3,80€ for students (included in ticket for the wine museum)
Sign in the Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune with artwork wearing a mask
Even the artwork in the Hôtel-dieu is with the times and masking up to stay safe!

Miriam in Dijon: a month into TAPIF

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, TAPIFLeave a comment

I couldn’t resist poking a little fun with the title, considering the popularity of Emily in Paris (yes, I’ve watched it, and yes, I have a lot of thoughts). If Netflix wants to commission a show about what it’s actually like living in France, I’m definitely available 😉

I’ve been in France for a month now, so thought it was high time to start writing about my experience at the moment, especially since I’m already seeing so many differences between my current experience, and the one I had two years ago in Angers. We’re currently in the two week Toussaint break (I know, having two weeks off after barely working for two weeks seems unreal, but it’s like this every year), but it’s nice to have a somewhat introductory period before the “real” work begins at la rentrée. I figured I’d take advantage of my downtime, and write a little.

For so many reasons, I knew that coming to France this year wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, but as I’ve mentioned before, this month has definitely been tougher than I expected it to be. I’m sure I’m a bit biased because everything went *so* smoothly in Angers, that anything even the slightest bit off from that path would seem rough, but my experiences so far in comparison to Angers could not be more different from each other, and for more than just the obvious reasons. Without further ado, I present to you my first month in France with “the good, the bad, and the pandemic.”

A young woman stands in Place Francois Rude in Dijon with arms outstretched

The Good

Even though I’m struggling with a lot in Dijon, that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been good things about my month in France so far. Even though the housing provided for me by my lycée is very basic, I’ve been making it my own, and am appreciative of having my own space during a time when I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable sharing with others. I’ll admit that I wasn’t thrilled initially, but after that feeling of being completely overwhelmed by everything wore off, I’m less in a “I must leave now” kind of mood when it comes to my living accommodation. I’m sure part of it was that housing was *so* smooth and easy in Angers, and I didn’t have quite that experience moving into school housing in Dijon, or even looking for alternative options. I have my own bathroom, fridge, and microwave, and although I do have hot plates for cooking, they’re a bit too high for me to reach safely (being short always has some drawbacks). That being said, I can eat in the school cantine four nights a week for dinner because there are students who board at the school during the week. I’ve yet to take advantage of it because my French bank card still isn’t properly set up (more on that later), but hopefully I’ll be able to do that after the break.

My schools themselves have been lovely, and the whole process seems much more organized than it was when I was working in Angers. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m working at the secondary level rather than primary, or perhaps it’s just the way things have played out this year compared to last time. Within a week of observing at the lycée, I was given my computer log in, copier codes, keys to classrooms (something I was never given last time), and I had submitted the necessary paperwork for my application to social security (the healthcare system in France), and transport reimbursement forms through the secretary at my school. The students I have are also all seemingly more excited about English than the primary kids I had in Angers (could be a factor of age), and I’m even getting to tackle some interesting subjects with them like political cartoons and their meanings, or even doing literary commentary on The Tempest to help the terminales (seniors) prepare for the oral commentary section of the BAC. I can definitely sense that I’ll be able to engage with the students on deeper material than I could with the primary students I had, and even though it’s slightly terrifying to have that much free reign during a class period (I’ve been told with many of my classes to do what I want with them), it’s exciting to know that I have so many possibilities of material to cover with them, and that they’re excited to speak the language.

I spend half of my time in the lycée and half of my time at a collège (middle school) about a 20 minute walk away. It’s interesting working with such a variety of levels (sixth to twelfth grade is a wide range of ages), but it’s also interesting to see how teaching English works for different classes. Sixth grade is when English classes start for all French students (anything before that in public school is not mandatory for the schools to implement), so I’m working with some students who are just beginning their journey with English, and some who have been working on it for almost six years. Both of my schools have an International section, and I work with classes in that section, but also classes outside of it, which can make for a cool glimpse into different spheres of French education. I’m very appreciative as well of all the teachers I’ve been assigned to work with as they are all very encouraging of helping me figure out what to do with the students, and very communicative about their goals of having a language assistant in their classroom.

The organization and positivity I get from my schools aren’t the only good things, I’ll admit. I’ve been able to do some exploring of Dijon itself over the past month, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over how cool it is to see old, half-timbered houses nestled in between modern buildings. A lot of Europe has the perfect blend of the old and the new, and Dijon definitely has that as well. You might say it’s Dijon-vu (sorry, I had to throw in a Dijon related pun somehow) to see that perfect blend of eras, but it’s hard to get over it when you come from the US. I obviously haven’t done everything there is to do in the city, but the things I have discovered have been super cool (for lack of a better word).

One of the better days I’ve had in Dijon was discovering the parcours de la chouette. This is a trail that goes through centre-ville, marked by little triangles on the ground with owls (a chouette is a kind of owl) that brings you to historic landmarks within the city. I bought a little booklet from the tourist office to give myself context of what I was looking at, and doing the whole pathway really brings you on a quasi journey through time. It’s called the parcours de la chouette because carved into the building of the Notre-Dame church (no, not the famous one), is a small sculpture of a chouette. You’re supposed to touch it when you go by for good luck! I found myself actually having fun trying to follow the owls on the ground and going on a scavenger hunt to find the next one when they seemingly disappeared. Part of the journey involves the Tour de Philippe de Bon, which is a tower you can climb (316 steps) to get a spectacular panoramic view of the city. It’s only 5€, but definitely worth the price of admission.

View from tour Philippe le bon in Dijon, France
A view worthy of a 316 step climb (mask only removed for photo purposes, and with insurance of nobody else around)

The Bad

As I’ve already said, it hasn’t been the smoothest of times adjusting to life in Dijon. Sometimes I wonder if my difficulties are stemming from the fact that everything seemed so much easier in Angers, but while I’m sure that’s part of it, I know it’s not the cause of every difficulty I’ve faced. Moving abroad is stressful enough without the added weight of a global health situation that you can’t forget is ongoing, and it was a big lifestyle change for me to go from being unemployed for six months to having a daily routine (in another country, no less). No experience is ever 100% positive, so I think it’s important to also touch on the less than fabulous things that happen when you move abroad (or do anything in life, really).

The main thing that’s been causing me problems this time around is my bank. Opening the account was painless and easy, but three weeks after getting my card, I still don’t have a PIN for it. This means, even after three weeks of having my card, I still can’t use it (in France, they mail you your PIN separately from your card). Every time I ask my bank why I don’t have it yet, they tell me they don’t know, and that it should’ve arrived by now. As such, I’m having to have them reorder it for me, and once again, hope it arrives through the mail. The one problem with this is since I live at my school, and we’re on les vacances, I won’t be getting mail during that time as there’s no one here other than myself and another assistant who also lives in the internat. I’m very grateful that I got a credit card over the summer with no foreign transaction fees as most businesses are asking for customers to use sans-contact methods of payment (France has contactless cards, but other than having to insert and then sign for everything, my card works just fine, thankfully). So although I have a French bank account set up, and have a card for it, I can’t actually use it, and who knows when I’ll be able to do so.

As much as I also really enjoy the classes with which I’ll be working, I am sad that I won’t be able to have the same “first-name” basis relationship I had with my students at the primary level. Although in some classes I work with half of the class at a time, or even the whole class at once, there are others where I see a group of six once between now and the December break at my lycée. I’ll probably be able to at least memorize the names of all of my middle school students (assuming that I can figure out who is who from just their eyes and hair – all of my students wear masks in the classroom), but that’ll be the case only for some of my high school level classes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’ll just be a different experience with the students, and sometimes I miss the relationship I had with my students in Angers. That being said, it might be too early in the whole scheme of things to really be making any judgement calls on that particular aspect of things.

I figured I’d touch briefly on what makes my housing situation not the best, especially since having done the program before, I know how it’s not a guarantee to be offered school (and low cost) housing, so I do want to clarify that I’m immensely grateful for it, and I am super making do with what I have. Other than the hot plate situation being an unsafe one, the other issue for me is the lack of outlets in the space. There is ONE (1) outlet for the entire room where I live, and of course, it’s on the other side of the room from where my bed is! I brought an extension cord with me so that worked in my favor, but I still have a cord running through the center of my room (insert laughing emoji here). I know this is very much as 21st century problem, but here we are. There’s also the random thing that I can’t open my blinds for most of the day when school is in session because my window looks directly out onto the path the students walk to get into school. I live in the building where the students board, but luckily, I live on my own floor and only have to deal with the sound of the students entering and exiting in the evening and morning (they aren’t allowed in the building during the day).

Another bad thing? Spiders. I’m pretty positive I never saw a single spider in the entire time I lived in Angers, and yet, in Dijon, within four weeks I’ve dealt with three decently sized arachnids. I know, I shouldn’t be afraid of them, but I AM, and my room is not big enough to hide from them until they disappear. If anyone has any advice for ways to prevent spiders from entering your domicile, I am ALL EARS.

The Pandemic

I couldn’t go a blog post without mentioning this, unfortunately! It is absolutely a part of daily life in France, and especially in Dijon, considering it’s a metropole (and all of France is currently in an état d’urgence sanitaire). I find it fascinating how quickly my brain adapted from being in a situation where I only left the house for essential activities to one that involves leaving the house almost every day, but that also means that it’s super easy for your brain to forget what’s actually happening. Without everyone wearing masks in the street, it would be easy to go to centre-ville or the mall on a Saturday and think things were completely normal. I’ll be honest, I was massively disappointed in how many French people I see wearing their masks incorrectly, or just not wearing them at all. I also see so many French people dining en terrasse, and I know that’s a big part of French culture, but I know that I, personally, am still not comfortable doing that when it means removing your mask in close proximity to others, even when you’re outside. I know that a reconfinement is the last thing they want to have happen, but it seems like we’re inching closer and closer to that being a possibility as France’s numbers keep growing, and people seem to have taken a “let’s just live with it” mindset (this could be a gross generalization, I know, but is just what I’ve observed in Dijon). Coming from the US, it’s been super disheartening to see how the French government, and its citizens, are handling the current second wave, given that they did manage to have it under control by summer.

It’s also harder to justify going out for kicks and giggles when it’s technically not “safe” to do so, if that makes sense. Usually, I’d spend my free time going out and about, exploring Dijon, but as I’m trying to minimize my interactions with people that aren’t in my daily sphere of interactions, it does make that a little harder. This also extends to the breaks we get as teaching assistants. Usually, I’d be planning trips to other countries during my two weeks off, but given how quickly numbers and restrictions can change, that’s not really a feasible, or safe, course of action at the moment. Not to mention, even though I have enough masks, I’m always super aware of how many I have left before my next laundry day (I have to walk 15 minutes to the closest laverie, so I’m not doing laundry as often as I normally would do it). It can make the days where I don’t work a little longer and harder, if I’m honest, to have to weigh the risk of doing something versus staying indoors when I don’t absolutely have to be doing that activity. This has led me to go on walks in my neighborhood and discover where I’m living, but it’s not as interesting as everything in centre-ville (at least, to me).

For those of you who aren’t following what’s happening in France (which I understand, especially if you’re following what’s happening in the US), as of midnight on Friday, 23 October, 54 départements entered into having a couvre-feu, a curfew, that will last for at least the next six weeks. The département where I live is one of those 54. This means that between the hours of 21h (9pm) and 6h (6am), you aren’t allowed to be outside of your residence without an attestation. I figured it was coming for Dijon, but the step to make it for the whole département, and for so many of them, speaks volumes, unfortunately. It does feel like France is hurdling towards another lock down, but maybe these new restrictions will help minimize the chance of that happening.

Selfie from the top of the tour de Philippe de bon in Dijon
Are masked selfies going to become the next social media #trend?
Jardin Japonais in Dijon

That’s kind of what I’ve been up to and experiencing in the past month in France! It’s hard to think that I really haven’t been here that long, and yet, with everything that 2020 has thrown at us, it doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary for me (perhaps because I’ve been mentally planning on being in Europe in this time frame since April). I’m hoping to do some local day trips during the break, which I promise to write about if I go through with them (only if it is safe to do so), and really devote some time to planning class periods for my students, since I’m properly leading them this time around! I have a lot more free time than when I was in Angers due to the way I’m scheduled, so hopefully I’ll be able to update often (assuming I get up to interesting things), and keep this blog alive. For now, it’s back to the baguettes and being a flâneur (contrary to the belief spouted in Emily in Paris, this is not something that all French people are, and I am on les vacances, hence the flân-ing). À plus!

Traveling to France (during a pandemic)

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, TAPIF2 Comments

[I absolutely meant to publish this shortly after my arrival but time got away from me so please excuse the delay in putting this up on my blog!!]

I would argue that the largest mental (and actual) block for me in relation to participating in TAPIF this year was the actual element of getting to France. I’m happy to say that I survived it and that some of the fears I had conjured up for myself in my head were not as big of issues as I had thought they would be. Traveling to Europe is always an adventure from the west coast of the US, but even more so when there’s the added stress of a global pandemic and health concerns on top of the long journey.

I’ve done the flight over to France before, and there were several big differences this time around. Mainly, the requirement of mask wearing at all times except when eating or drinking. I went fully kitted in a face mask and face shield, which I wore for the entire duration of my journey (over 24 hours from start to finish). I was concerned about how this would feel, seeing as I haven’t really worn a mask for longer periods of time than it takes to run errands since wearing them became a requirement. I honestly didn’t notice it, and was able to sleep while wearing it. I used a cloth mask and other than the relief I felt when I took it off after everything was done, I was generally fine with wearing it.

Preparing for flight two of three

As a new requirement in light of the current pandemic, France is requiring travelers from the US to get a COVID test 72 hours before travel. You then have to present the negative test to board the flight. I was lucky that my health care provider has a travel clinic, so I was able to easily, and quickly get the test and results before my flights, but this was an additional thing to add to my “to-do” list prior to leaving.

My journey started before the sun rose on September 23rd. Since my first flight left from the Portland airport at 8:00am. I got to the airport around 6:00am, and it took very little time to check my bag and clear security. PDX felt pretty empty, and it was very easy for me to find a place to sit that encountered very little foot traffic. I was able to sit and collect myself, because I’ll admit, I felt very anxious about the whole travel experience. They boarded the flight from back to front, and gave us all a wipe to use upon boarding. I flew Delta, and they’re currently blocking middle seats, or only allowing one person in a row of two. The flight to Atlanta still felt pretty full, even with that reduction in number of people on board, though. I was definitely very aware of others in my section, and when they were eating/drinking, especially since this flight was the first time I’d really been around a crowd of people since March. Given that I had an early morning prior to my flight, and that I had been super anxious leading up to take off, I tried to sleep for as much of the flight as possible. I managed to watch one film, but I’m happy to say I slept a decent amount.

I had around a two and a half hour layover in Atlanta, and after transiting to the international terminal, only had a little under two hours before my flight took off, so even less before boarding. I had access to the Delta Lounge, so I used that space to find an area where I felt comfortable taking my mask off to eat. I also took a decent number of snacks with me from the lounge for the rest of my journey.

Due to current travel restrictions, and me being a dual citizen, I wasn’t able to enter France directly from the US. As such, I had to fly to France via Ireland. From Atlanta, I took the seven hour flight to Dublin, again, flying Delta. I’m pretty sure there were under 50 people on that flight in total – it felt very empty. The boarding area was essentially deserted before boarding started. Dinner was served almost immediately after take-off, which felt off given that I had just eaten in the lounge not too long before I boarded! The highlight had to be the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream pint, even though it made me absolutely freezing for a while afterwards. I managed to sleep through most of the flight, even if I was awoken frequently by bouts of turbulence. We arrived in Dublin early, just shortly after 6am. Due to how empty the airport was, I cleared customs very quickly, and then had six hours to kill before my next flight. There’s very little open in the Dublin airport, a surefire indication of what travel looks like these days. I even had to buy bottled water because there weren’t any water fountains open for use! I didn’t go through security for probably around four hours to avoid being stuck, and I’m glad I didn’t as there was truly nothing open on the other side. I was able to breathe some fresh Irish air for a bit and have some tea to calm my sleep deprived nerves before I eventually went through security, and headed to the gate for my next flight.

Dinner on board Delta flight to Dublin
Dinner on the flight to Dublin (with the sun very much still shining)

At this point, the fatigue was truly setting in, but I was only about halfway through my journey to France. Following my six hour layover, I boarded an AerLingus flight (I had to do two airlines for this trip) to Paris. Before boarding, every passenger had to fill out an attestation de déplacement, which indicated why we were traveling to France and contact information for us to fill in about ourselves. This flight was also fairly empty, and I managed to get a row to myself, which made me feel a little more at ease. Luckily, this was a super short flight and I managed to sleep through all of it so in no time at all, I was in France!

Rainbow overhead a plane sitting on the tarmac in the Dublin airport
A rainbow appeared while waiting to board my flight in Dublin

You’d think that landing in France would mean that the adventure was over, but nooooo, it wasn’t the end, yet! After clearing customs again, and retrieving my bags, I got a cab to take me to the Gare de Lyon. I could’ve taken the RER but between the stress of the volume of people that would be, and the amount of bags I had, a cab seemed the more sensible option. Traffic was horrid so that took a good 40 minutes, followed by a mad dash to purchase train tickets in the station for a train to take me to Dijon. There are ample trains going to Dijon from Paris, but I wasn’t keen on having to wait around in the station any longer than I absolutely had to, especially as I was there during peak commuting hours. I managed to snag a ticket with 10 minutes to departure and bolted to the train itself. The train journey took a little under 2 hours, and then I was in Dijon! By the time I actually stepped off the train, it was fast approaching 7pm on September 24th. I’d booked myself a hotel near the Gare for the night to avoid having to navigate my way around town too much as the sun set and without phone service. By the time I got in for the night, I was absolutely exhausted and ready for bed. I had some dinner because I hadn’t really eaten since my flight to Dublin (it’s hard feeling comfortable removing your mask, even if it’s just for a quick snack bite) and I cannot quite explain the relief I felt in taking off my mask and laying down in a proper bed. All in all, the journey took about 26 hours, not counting the jet lag of the 9 hour time zone difference.

Now the true adventure begins!

Getting settled in Dijon

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, TAPIFLeave a comment

My first week in Dijon has been a mix of stress (a very frequently used word on this blog, I’ll admit), excitement, and fatigue. There’s a decent amount of things you need to do when you arrive in France before work actually starts, so I set to doing those right away, to varying degrees of success.

I moved into school provided housing at the lycée where I’ll be teaching, and unfortunately found that the set up isn’t going to work for me on a long term basis. That sent me into a spiral of trying to plan alternative housing accommodations since I had hoped the school housing would work for me. I’ll write more about that later if I ever resolve it, or what I decide to do. There are a couple of things in addition to housing that you need to sort ASAP after arriving in France. Here are the ones I tackled:

Setting up your phone to work in France

There are a couple of options of ways that you can handle using your phone while doing TAPIF, but the easiest is to purchase a SIM card from a French provider and swap it out with your US (or other country’s) card. I’ve done this for all my abroad adventures and it works like a charm.

The first thing you’ll need to do is check if your phone is unlocked. Depending on your provider, they may require you to pay the phone off in full before it can be unlocked. If your phone is not unlocked, it won’t work with another provider’s SIM. Once your phone is unlocked, you’re good to go.

I’ve used Free mobile both times I’ve been in France, and had no problems. They have a 100gb data plan for 19,99€/month, which includes unlimited voice calls and texts, and calls to the US (although you can use WhatsApp over wifi/data if you don’t want to call the US with your phone, or buy the plan that includes those calls). They also have smaller plans if you don’t want to pay that much, but since my accommodation doesn’t have Wifi, I sprang for the bigger plan. You can, of course, upgrade or downgrade at any time for the next month. I went into a Free store in the local mall and was able to purchase my SIM that way. You can use any credit card to purchase it, and then change your card on file online once you get your French bank account sorted. You get to pick your phone number, as well! You’ll pay for your SIM and your plan at the same time, so be sure to budget 10€ for the card itself, but that’s a one time fee. Afterwards, you can insert the SIM (be sure to tape your old one down somewhere for when you return if you want to be able to use it again) and start using your phone! You can use an American card to purchase this, and then switch your details online to your French card.

Opening a French bank account

Dealing with French banks is one of my all time biggest annoyances of living in France. Everything is so bureaucratic and full of hoops. The first step to opening a bank account is setting up an appointment to do just that. You’ll go into a bank (of your choice – you can do some research of which banks are best for your area), and ask for a RDV (rendez-vous) to open an account. They’ll then give you a date when they have openings. Don’t be afraid to say no if they don’t have one soon enough for you. You need your RIB and bank account information by October 10 (15 this year) in order to be paid for the first month on time (if you don’t, you’ll still get it, but with November’s paycheck instead of at the end of October).

I visited five banks before I found one with an appointment under a week from when I asked them about appointments. Everyone was booked solid, some even up to three weeks out, which obviously wasn’t going to work. If you’re set on using a certain bank, you can go to different branches within your city since each branch has their own calendar. It’s possible one may have earlier openings than the others. If you’re like me with no preference, you can hop around from bank to bank until you find one with an appointment early enough for you. I’ve been told you can try calling banks as well to get a RDV, but I never got through to a real person when I tried that. You will most likely (it’s super unlikely) not be able to have a same day appointment, but you best chance at getting same day would be to start your visits as soon as they open. If you’re American, be sure to ask if the bank is willing to open an account for you. When I was in Angers, I had several banks that wouldn’t work with me because of the additional paperwork involved, and while it’s annoying, it’s better to know before you’ve opened the account than while you’re sitting at the desk sorting it.

After six banks visited, I found one that had an appointment within four days so I jumped on that. My appointment took about an hour from start to finish, and was relatively painless. I ended up with CIC and am pretty happy with how the appointment went. I turned in all the necessary paperwork (listed below) and signed a couple of forms for the bank. As an American, you’ll also have to sign a FATCA agreement, as well as fill out a W9. If the bank doesn’t bring this up, be sure to mention it since you HAVE to do it, but most banks know as soon as you say you’re an American. When they ask for your numero d’identification fiscale, you’ll use your American Social Security number. Some banks have a monthly fee to have a card with them, and CIC does, but it’s being waived for six months for me. A six month waiver is fairly common, especially for people under 25.

You can also get SIM cards and phone plans through your bank, sometimes at lower costs than other plans, so be sure to check that out as an option!

After you open a bank account, you’ll have to wait for the card to arrive. With CIC, I got a text when it arrived and I was able to pick it up in person. I had my appointment on a Tuesday morning and got the card Saturday morning. The PIN will arrive in the mail, and then you can add money into your account and use the card from there!

Bank tidbit: banks in France close for lunch at 12 and remain closed until sometime between 13:30-14:00. They are also closed on Sunday and Monday, and some branches operate only until 12/12:30 on Saturday. Keep that in mind when planning your bank visits.

Documents you need when opening a bank account
  • Arrêté de Nomination
  • Passport (with visa if applicable) (if you’re a dual citizen, you need both passports)
  • Justificatif de domicile (if you don’t have housing yet, ask your school if they can write one of these out for you to use at the appointment. You won’t be able to open an account without this)
Dijon centre ville
The view from outside my bank. Half timbered houses are all over in centre-ville!

Buying a Transport Card

Depending on where you live relative to your school, you’ll want to look into the transport options. You might be able to walk to work, but you might not be able to walk to the grocery store or other places you want to visit. As such, you might want to get a transport card. Each city has their own system (in Angers, it was called Irigo, in Dijon, it’s called Divia). You can find the information for your city’s transport system by googling “transport en commun CITY.” Most cities allow you to buy one trip tickets, or passes of varying lengths. It’s recommended you buy the monthly passes, since that’s the only kind of pass for which you can get a 50% reimbursement through TAPIF (some academies allow reimbursement for weekly passes). When I was in Angers, the monthly pass started whatever day you used it first, but in Dijon, the monthly pass is valid for the month, so I bought the October pass (valid starting October 1), and then a 10 journey pass to tide me over until October starts.

I had to go in person to the Divia office in centre ville to buy the card, and I had to do the same in Angers. You’ll need a piece of ID (I used my driver’s license, but a passport would work as well), and depending on the city, you might need to provide your own picture. Then you get a plastic card which you can use when you travel on public transport and can refill every month!

Divia transport card
My transport card – complete with horribly lit photo taken in the Divia office!

Orientation

After getting everything sorted, it felt like in no time at all, I was having orientation on October 1. Orientation felt slightly odd in that it was the largest group of people I’d been in a room with in several months, and it felt very different from the orientation I had in Angers when I did the program last time. Firstly, it was at a high school in Dijon, and everyone from the entire academie was there (or at least, was invited to be there – not everyone had arrived in France at that point, unfortunately). In Angers, it had just been primary assistants based in or around Angers, so where there were 14 of us there, there were easily at least 40 in Dijon, and that wasn’t everybody! Secondly, everyone was masked, and although it felt social and we got to mingle, it didn’t have quite the same feeling as I imagine it would in other years. We had small information sessions in the morning about what paperwork we need to turn in by October 15th to get the 70% advance on payment in October (the way French salaries work, at least within the departement d’education, is that you get a 70% advance of your salary the first month, and then the final 30% is added onto your next month’s paycheck), how to apply for sécu and what that looks like in France, and what next steps were for those in France on a visa.

After lunch, we played a round of Kahoot with the quiz questions being about the assistant position, and then dived into teaching exercises and ways to get the students engaged in the material. We broke off into language groups (Dijon has assistants for English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and German) to discuss what issues French students might come across with our language (such as the “th” sound, or certain vowel pronunciations for example). That took a decent amount of time and then it was the end of orientation!

I’m hoping to be able to explore Dijon a bit more in the coming weeks, which I will of course write about as I discover more. I’ve already been caught out in a flood warning level downpour, and I’m hoping that isn’t the norm here, but I bought some rain boots just in case (just when I’d mentioned in my packing post that I didn’t need to bring them!) I’ve already been in Dijon a week, and I start my observations properly on Monday so I’ll get to see what my classes are like both at the lycée and the collège where I’ll be teaching, and get a feel for the students English levels. I’m nervous, but also excited about being able to actually do something, and to figure out a routine for my days. Things seem much more organized with my schools in Dijon than they did in Angers – I’ve already visited the secrétaire at my lycée who had a packet prepared for me with printer codes, computer logins, and paperwork for me to fill out for sécu and for the rectorat.

I’ll admit that I’m feeling like I’m having a harder time adjusting to Dijon than I did to Angers. Maybe that’s because I don’t remember the stress or hard days in the beginning anymore, but I think it’s because I truly lucked out with everything in Angers. Even though I didn’t have the most organized schools, everything worked really smoothly from the beginning. I seem to be hitting wall after wall in Dijon, and it’s hard to stay positive about everything when that’s the case. I realize I’m not the first assistant to deal with housing issues, or to have French bureaucracy backfire on me and make my life more difficult, but with the added stress of the current health situation, I’m not going to lie, I’m finding everything to be rather difficult this time around. I’m just hoping that things will start looking brighter soon.

That’s the French adventure as it stands so far, wish me luck as it continues!

The first picture I ever took in Dijon!

Packing for TAPIF

On By notyouravggiraffeIn France, TAPIF, Travel2 Comments

One of the bigger stressors when it comes to doing TAPIF (or moving abroad for any period of time, like study abroad), is packing. There’s always a mild panic of have I brought too much? or have I brought too little? or what if I forget some oddly specific thing that can’t be bought where I’m going?? This is now my third time packing for a lengthy stay abroad, so I’d like to think myself an expert (or at least, someone with some experience… maybe expert is giving myself too much credit). For that reason, I thought I’d write about the tips I have for packing in preparation for TAPIF, and how to make the most of your (potentially) limited luggage. This post is a bit long so feel free to scroll down to the bottom this of the post to go to my packing list!

Every time I’ve had to put together my suitcases for my journeys abroad, my packing list has gotten shorter and shorter. I’ve learned what I actually need, what’s nice to have, and what absolutely isn’t a necessity (I brought Wellies with me when I studied abroad and wore them ONCE. They’ve never come with me since, even though I love them). The last time I did TAPIF, I travelled with a large checked suitcase, a carry-on, and a backpack. Even having done the packing debacle before I did TAPIF last time, I still ended up bringing things I didn’t wear, AND managing to forget things that might’ve been important. I’ll be traveling with the same luggage restrictions this time around (with a 20kg limit on my checked bag). Fingers crossed I get it slightly more right this time! You can bring more or less luggage, but remember that you’ll have to schlep everything you bring with you through the airport (possibly more than one if you have layovers), and carry it through all the transit you’ll need to get to wherever you’re placed. Only bring what you can comfortably carry/get by moving around with on your own.

Important packing tip: Make sure you put any prescription medication, along with emergency toiletries, and anything else you can’t live without or that is hard to replace (like your retainers) in your carry on! If the airline makes you check your carry on because of limited room, be sure to move those items into your personal backpack/purse!

What to pack

My general rule of thumb when it comes to figuring out how much to pack, is to first figure out your laundry cycle for clothes. Do you do laundry every week? Biweekly? Once a month? Then determine how many clothes you need for that amount of time and pack that, plus some extras (in case you travel for longer than your laundry cycle, or something happens). That’s a good estimate of what to bring, but of course, you can bring more or less, depending on how often you want to rewear clothes, and how fashionable you want to be.

The thing that always gets me, and takes up a ton of room, is shoes. I always bring too many pairs, and I have such an awful time deciding which ones to bring with me! Shoes definitely add a lot of weight, so you don’t want to weigh your suitcase down too much (most airlines have weight limits for checked bags, be sure to check them carefully before you set off to the airport, or you might have to pay for overweight bags), but it’s obviously personal preference how many pairs you want to bring. Think about comfortable shoes that you could walk in for a while if you travel, or if your bus stop is closed and you have to walk to the next one (true story, this did happen to me once). Flip flops are also good shoes to have as shower shoes for travel. I also recommend trying to stuff some socks/tights/small items into your shoes if possible to maximize space!

Another area of packing where you can reduce items is toiletries. Almost everything you use in your daily life toiletry wise can be found in France. This means you can save a lot of space by not packing a full carton (is it a carton?) of shampoo or a full tube of toothpaste to last you your whole contract. I usually bring a travel sized shampoo and toothpaste in my carry on in case I have my bags delayed, or in the case of France, can’t move into my permanent housing situation immediately. You’ll want just enough to tide you over until you can go to the shops/get settled, but you can buy most big name brands in France. The one toiletry I do bring with me is my face washes because I’ve gotten quite particular with my routine, and my skin always acts up when I switch it up – but that’s personal preference!

Random things to bring that might not have crossed your mind: laundry and lingerie bags. Makes washing easier and easy to transport (although a big grocery bag could also work if your closest laverie requires walking). Lingerie bags are great for keeping your socks together, and a potential necessity this year due to needing masks. Another thing: I also know assistants who brought spices/food items that aren’t available in France as a way to stave off the home sickness, but I personally rank this low on my packing priority list (to each their own, though)!

Clothes for different weathers

The first thing you should do once you have your placement (and you can even start this a bit after finding out your academie), is to look up the climate. Will you be in a mountainous region where it snows and gets quite cold during the winter? Are you in a temperate part of France where it might rain a lot? What will the average temperature be? Depending on what the average weather in your area looks like, you’ll want to pack the most clothes for that weather – keeping in mind the professional looking clothes you’ll need for teaching. Professional being jeans that aren’t ripped and clothes you’d wear as a “teacher”, but not so professional as to need a blazer or suit/tie combination. My rule of thumb is one step up from what the students would wear, but some schools are more lax/strict than others. Then, pack a couple of clothes for opposite weather. For instance, I’m bringing two pairs of shorts in case I visit somewhere warmer (assuming travel becomes possible), but no more than that since I won’t need them in Dijon! As a side note regarding shorts, women in France don’t seem to wear them – I’m not sure why, but it’s not something you see often, just as something to consider while packing!

Autumn/winter in France is not the warmest, so if you don’t have one, you’ll definitely want a warmer coat, preferably a waterproof one as well (or two separate coats, if you like). You can plan on investing in one once you get to France to reduce your packing load, but as I’ve already got one (that I bought in France ironically), I’ll be stuffing it into my suitcase. Bring scarves (or at least A scarf – scarves are very French so it’s a perfect way to blend in easily, but can also be bought in France), a hat, and a lightweight pair of gloves for potential early morning bus waits. My biggest packing tip for France is LAYERS. Bring clothes that you can layer, like lightweight shirts (t-shirts and long sleeved shirts), sweaters, cardigans etc… That way, you can mix and match depending on the weather, and don’t need entirely different outfits! Last time I did the program, my schools did not have great heating, so I was super thankful for my sweaters and layers (since wearing a coat in class is not comme il faut).

How to pack

The biggest packing hurdle is actually setting down to doing it. My first step is always to create a packing checklist (which I’ll post below), and to break it up into sections. I have four: toiletries, clothing, electronics, and miscellaneous (which is segmented into paperwork and personal effects). You can also then further divide into carry on and checked bag, but I’m more of a “wherever it fits” kind of gal when it comes to packing. You can obviously make your own categories for what works best for you and your packing style, this is just the way that makes the most sense on paper for me!

I kind of vaguely start the packing process pretty early, but don’t really dive into the real packing until like a week before I leave. I have a box set aside in my room where anything that isn’t clothing (mostly toiletries) that I’m definitely taking goes, and it’s grown slowly bigger over the past few weeks. That way, when it’s time to pack, I don’t have to do as much searching for various items. This is especially helpful if you’re buying toiletries/non clothing items for France so you don’t risk using them before you leave!

Another important packing tip: Use space bags! They’re a great way to reduce the amount of space your clothes take up. If you’re planning on staying in an AirBnb or temporary housing for a bit in France before moving somewhere permanently, I’d recommend dedicating a space bag for those clothes so you don’t need to undo and redo a bunch of space bags before you unpack for good. I also usually use Ziplock bags for underwear, bras, and socks as another way to reduce the space things take up in my suitcase. I do the Ziplock method for small trips as well, so definitely keep them in your suitcase after you unpack! Packing cubes can also come in handy for organizing and taking up less room, but they don’t reduce the space taken up in your suitcase as much as space bags.

I’ve always been told to look at everything you want to bring, and then reduce the amount by 50%, and that is how much you should take. I’ve never ascribed to that rule, necessarily, but I think it does showcase that you undoubtedly need less than you think you do. It’s a good idea while you make your checklist to think about what you’d wear if you weren’t abroad. I find that I tend to think I wear things more often than I do, and when I really think about it, I realize that a lot of the clothes in my closet don’t need to come with me because I don’t wear them that often here – why would I wear them often in France? Some questions to ask yourself might be: Do you really wear that sweater you’ve put on your list that often? Are you planning on going out enough to warrant multiple outfits for it? How easily can you wash that outfit? (this one is important if you’ve got a lot of dry clean only clothes… do you want to be searching for a dry cleaner if something happens to your favorite dress?)

I do want to stress that you should bring clothes that make you feel happy and clothes that you think you’ll wear. If it’s something that you might wear once or twice if a special event happens, it might be worth rethinking that, especially if it takes up a lot of space. However, if it makes you happy, and confident, and you want to wear it, go for it! I bought a new pair of dungarees over the summer and I’m bringing them because I can’t WAIT to show them off, and have an excuse to wear them. I think packing for TAPIF is finding a balance, because (in normal years, who knows with the current health situation) you won’t be in the classroom 7/7/24 and you might want to switch some things up while you’re there. Sometimes it’s worth having a pile of “if there’s room” clothes off to the side while you pack. If you put everything you definitely need/want to bring in your suitcase and have some extra room/pounds to spare, start pulling from that pile. This is also a good way to determine what clothes you could potentially live without in France.

My Packing List

As promised, here are my packing lists divided into categories for reference. Obviously you can add or remove based on what fits your needs, but if you’re trying to figure out where to start, hopefully this can be a somewhat helpful guide! Since I haven’t actually packed yet, this is all subject to change, but this is at least what’s on paper for me right now. I’ll start with my generic list of clothes:

Clothing I plan on packing

  • Shirts (long sleeve, and short sleeve. Since Dijon isn’t the warmest climate, I prioritize long sleeve, and only bring 3-4 short sleeve shirts)
  • Sweaters (three sweater tops that I wear as shirts, a crew neck sweater as an outer layer, a North Face sweater as another outer layer, and a sweatshirt)
  • Zip up vest
  • Cardigans (2-3)
  • Jeans (I usually bring 3-4 pair, but I live in them so that’s why)
  • Dress (I pack one in case I ever feel the need or desire to dress up)
  • Bras (sports and normal)
  • Socks (at least two weeks’ worth of pairs because one always gets lost in the dryer at some point)
  • Tights (1-2 pair)
  • Underwear (again, my estimate is two weeks’ worth)
  • Pajamas (I usually pack at least two pair: one pajama shorts and one pajama pants. Especially a pair I feel comfortable wearing in a hostel type travel situation)
  • Bath robe (because I am a little bougie at times)
  • Thermal underwear
  • Scarves (I have two: a heavy winter one, and a lightweight spring one) + hat + pair of gloves
  • Coats (rain coat and peacoat – can be bought in France to save room)
  • Work out shirts (I bring 2-3 tank tops, and 2-3 t-shirts. Enough for a week of working out every week day and some to spare).
  • Work out shorts/leggings (I only bring one pair of Nike shorts, and one pair of Primark leggings since I’m not the hardest work out person)
  • Shoes (number of pairs to be determined)
  • Dungarees (I have one pair)
  • Duvet (highly recommend NOT packing this if you don’t already have one. I bought one in France last time and since I already have several at home, it makes sense to try and bring it. No guarantees it’ll fit, though!)
  • Masks (a necessity for this year)
  • Lingerie + laundry bag
  • Single top sheet (France tends not to use top sheets and since I don’t fancy having to remove my duvet cover every week to wash it, I bring a top sheet so that’s all I have to wash)
  • Prescription medication that doesn’t fit in my toiletry bag (but still put in carry on suitcase)

Next, we have my packing list for toiletries. I’ve broken this up into what’s going into the checked bag and the carry on bag. Some things might have to be switched around depending on the size of things you want to take because of TSA restrictions, but again, it’s a rough guide. I have a large toiletry bag (soft shelled) where I store all of the checked toiletries, and a smaller bag that fits in my carry on so that they can easily be stored in my suitcase (and used for shorter trips). For any toiletries that have a screw on lid that aren’t sealed, I usually put some clingfilm/saran wrap over the top before replacing the lid – that way it won’t spill all over your bag!

Toiletries (checked bag)Toiletries (carry on)
• Electric toothbrush + charger• Toothbrush
• Flossers• Retainers
• Deodorant• Travel toothpaste
• Lotion/Aquaphor• Razor(s)
• Hairbrush + hairties + bobby pins• Chapstick
• Face wash (2)• Travel shampoo
• Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen/Motion Sickness Pills• Travel soap
• Nail clippers + nail file• Prescription medication
• Thermometer• Travel sized lotion
• Hand sanitizer• Travel hand sanitizer
• Retainer cleaner
• Hairspray (I have an anti lice spray I like to use when working in schools – by no means necessary)
• Neosporin
• Starter pack of bandaids
• Airborne (because I’m paranoid)
• Perfume (not a priority, but if I have room, it reminds me of home)
• Extra chapsticks

Toiletry packing tip: Bring painkillers from the US. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen can be harder to get in France (just because they aren’t over the counter), tend not to be as strong in my experience, and come in smaller packets. If you’re someone who uses these OTC medications, or just likes to have them in your purse, bring a decent supply with you, since the availability in France may not suit your needs!

After those necessities are packed, I have a list for electronics. Most of these go in my personal backpack that comes with me on the plane, but since there are so many cords these days, it’s helpful to write them all out, so here they are!

  • Chargers
    • Phone/iPod
    • Laptop
    • Headphones
    • Fitbit
  • Headphones
    • Apple headphones (2 – one pair for iPod, one for iPhone since the docks have CHANGED)
    • Wireless noise cancelling headphones for the flight
  • iPod
  • Laptop + case
  • Adapters (This one is my favorite because it has USB ports, multiple outlets, and even has a nightlight, but any will do. I usually bring at least two – the big one and then a smaller one that’s more suited for travel)
  • Extension cords (this can also be purchased in France, but I highly recommend investing in an extension cord with a French plug. It will make it so much easier to plug multiple adapters into one source of electricity, especially if where you live doesn’t have a ton of outlets. It will also let you have more freedom regarding where you move your plugs! Again, I’ve bought one already hence my packing it, but you can – and should – purchase it in France. This will undoubtedly go in my checked bag)

Finally, I have my list for miscellaneous things. This is my list for anything that doesn’t fit in my above categories, but that I feel I’m likely to potentially forget (or that I just want to check off to have a sense of accomplishment with it).

  • Journal
  • Paperwork for France (I have a folder dedicated for France paperwork)
    • Arrêté de Nomination
    • Birth certificate
  • Photos (both personal for decorating my living space and ID photos)
  • Glasses
  • Covid-19 Test (hopefully unique to 2020)
  • Passport(s)
  • Wipes for the plane
  • Face shield
  • Masks for the plane (separate from the ones going into my suitcase)

That’s what I use as my base line for packing! If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I hope it was somewhat helpful and offers some guidance when it comes to packing for TAPIF. Remember, you can always buy items of clothing/most things you might need in France if you forget them/find you need something you didn’t bring! Let me know if I forgot anything, or if you have any questions about packing for an extended period of time abroad!