Prodigal Blogger

I have an announcement: I’m back to the blog. I feel ashamed that I’ve been away for so long, especially since I never finished logging this most epically adventurous year of my life (so far).

The truth is this: I returned back to my life, and my life is an American one. Not just American, but an American #teacherlife. We Americans, we value convenience. We value speed. We value efficiency. We as a society value being busy, and stressed, and overbooked. (WHAT the heck is wrong with us?!) Throw in being a high school teacher with 3 preps (2 of which are solo), which usually involves working 6 days a week at school. (Not to mention almost.every.other.waking.moment.) 

So, just like that, two and a half years have passed. (I just turned 29, y'all. I'm basically 30!) I’ve been busy. Too busy. Often too busy to spend enough time with the people that I love, and I hate that. (Still attempting to find a solution to this problem… please hold.) The good news is that upon my return, I was (obviously) gainfully employed and have had the same job ever since! (Story to follow, because the story of my hiring process from start to finish was straight up ridiculous.)

But it is time. The return was born of several things: the ache in my feet to travel to places they’ve never been, the more easily fulfilled desire to walk down memory lane, the need to write about old adventures and new* before they’re lost in my mind forever, the need to write, period,** and the some serendipitous encouragement of a friend. #shoutout

I will first be finishing “So you think you can France,” which will be a blog unto itself, solely following my year in France. I started some of the writing back then in May 2013, when I was getting ready to return. Some of the writing will be new, and therefore a little tainted or blurred by time. (I wish I'd finished sooner. But alas, here we are.)

I then hope to start a brand-new more general travel blog, which may include some other regular-life musings.

So, to anyone who’s still out there: I’m sorry if I never answered your comments, and that I never finished this blog. But here I am again… a casual two and a half years (un)fashionably late. But read this truth, from my fingers to your face: I’ve missed y’all. I’m glad to be back. Allons-y!

I look like this now. On a good day. Pretty much the same-ish. I hope. Oh I got LASIK! Bought this shirt in France... in 2013. Ha.

my 10 year high school reunion... I told you I got old.

But mostly, I do this. Wear a lanyard and school badge (but not makeup) and go to work. And look exhausted.

À bientôt!

Katy

*I did some traveling in summer 2015 that I need to write about, too!

**Thank you, Amy Poehler, for writing in a very real way that reminded me that writing is a beautiful thing. It’s like your words reached into my brain and coaxed my own out again. Except that I’m not as good as you. But I’m still doing it.

Blog, Interrupted.

Bonjour tout le monde! WELL. I have quite obviously dropped off the face of the planet. No worries, I am doing just fine. I'm back in Texas, and have spent the past month unpacking, working, interviewing, repacking, cruising the Caribbean, unpacking again, interviewing again, working again, and trying to fit in seeing all my family and friends I hadn't/haven't seen in 8-9 months! I have worked or interviewed every week day (except one) since I got home (well, that I wasn't on the cruise). It's been... busy. To say the least. I'm blessed. Happy to be home. And exhausted.

But I WILL be returning to finish my blog! I will be first blogging the Q&A, and then I'll be blogging my last few travel locations as well as some closing remarks on the year.

I'm sorry for the delay, thank you for your patience, and stay tuned!

Onward and upward!

The goodbyes are a-rollin' these days, and it's hitting me hard. I can't believe the time I've spent in little Narbonne with my amazing group of new friends has drawn to an end. But more about that later...

Today, it's time for a... travel announcement! It's onward and upward for me, and I mean upward! I'm headed north this time, ladies and gents! More specifically, tomorrow morning (EARLY), I'll be setting off with my backpack to...

...where I'll see Silje, my housemate from my first summer in Quebec (2006)!

Not sure if you can see that, but I'll be visiting Emily & Lottie, two of my assistant friends, as well as Nicole, one of my best friends from my second summer in Quebec (2007)!

Then a quick stop back to the ol' Narbo to pick up my giant bags before heading to the grand European finale...

Where I'll spend a few days reflecting on my experiences this year while strolling along the Seine and eating pastries before catching my direct flight to...

I really didn't wear this shirt on purpose, but it worked out!

That's right. I'm going on a 3-week backpack tour to wrap up my year of European adventures! This is the biggest trip I've ever done by myself (if you don't count the whole "moving to France" thing as a trip) AND the longest time I've ever traveled with only a backpack, so it's gonna be interesting. I'll be mostly RyanAiring it (with the exception of one EasyJet flight), and that is always an adventure, you know. I'm thrilled to see friends along the way (two friends I haven't seen in forever, and two friends with whom I've just spent the last 7 months), and to meet new people! I'm doing a little Couchsurfing, a little hosteling, and a little staying with friends, and it's going to be a fan-tastic. I've also never been to Scandinavia (this will now be the furthest north I've ever been - up until now it was the Baltic Sea!) or Scotland (as I'm part Scottish (several generations back), I've always been interested in going). I spent three weeks in England in 2007, but only really London and a couple daytrips, and I'm thrilled to see where Em & Lottie grew up and to see a bit of real English life, not just the touristy stuff. :)

Stockholm - Oslo - Edinburgh - Oxford - Fakenham - London - Narbonne - Paris - TEXAS. Europe 2012-2013: Final Round. Y'all ready for this?!

Time for a BREAK!

Most of you are in the loop, but just in case you haven't gotten the memo... I'm on vacation. Again.

That's right, mes amis. It's time for the THIRD (and final) two-week long school break of the year. This time, it's our vacances d'hiver (winter vacation).

Listen, a girl can only take so many 12-hour work weeks before she needs a break.

And by "so many" I mean seven. It's been seven weeks since my last vacation.

What adventures await me this time, you may ask?!

You have no idea how many attempts it took us to get a couple good ones of these.

For the FOURTH time in a calendar year (March '12 - Texas, September & December '12 - Germany, February '13 - France), I am getting to spend time with Irene. She is spending a week with me in southern France, just hanging out, fighting the wind, trying to soak up the sun (when we're not being blown away), watching movies, eating pastries, drinking tea, riding trains, meeting my friends, and generally having the fun. So far? Narbonne, Carcassonne, Montpellier, Sète. Coming soon? Perpignan & Toulouse. We're trying to profite au maximum from our time together - the most time we've been able to spend just relaxing together since 2009. 

And then...

That's right. Both photos feature alliteration. Get on board.

YES. On Saturday, I am heading with several other Narbonne assistants to MOROCCO. As in AFRICA. As in I'll be on a whole brand-new continent within the week. (!!!!!!)

I know Morocco is kind of cheating when it comes to traveling to Africa as it's comparatively westernized, but hey, it's a start. And this is the most adventurous/"different" place I'll ever have been. HERE. WE. GO.

Lottie & Emily (two other English assistants in Narbo) and I will be joining Carmen and Violeta in Marrakesh. We'll also meet up with Zack (the Canadian assistant of recent kebab fame) and his girlfriend Lyndsay. It's going to be a smashing good time, and our #1 goal is to ride camels, so stay tuned.

Tons upon tons of pictures will be showing up at some point. That point is not today.

Adventure awaits!

ps: It is someone very special's 8TH birthday today! Maddie, you officially have my permission to turn 8! JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE!

Sisterhood of the Legalized Pants

Thanks to my friends Melanie and Megan, I saw this little article which delivered a shocking piece of news regarding my current country of residence and my wardrobe:

It was (technically) illegal for women to wear pants in France up until this past Friday, February 1st!

You got a permit for them pants, little lady?

(Photo cred to Refinery29, who published the article.)

Who woulda thunk it? Glad to see that got around to getting changed. PHEW! Let's go, les filles, and ride off into the sunset into our newly-legalized pants.

Liberté, égalité, sororité!

Mamma Mia!

Well, first of all, I haven't posted much about my life in Narbonne lately, and that's because things have been busy! I have (finally) started working, and I am enjoying it! There's a lot of variety as I work with lots of different classes, and the teachers I work with are really great. I feel really lucky because I've heard some interesting stories from some other assistants in other cities. I will write later about all my teaching adventures so far, and what my job is like. (Which, by the way, is mostly awesome. At least so far.)

Second of all, why is this post called Mamma Mia?

1) A little shout out to my mom, who sent me two packages with things I really needed/wanted from home!

Ta-da! All the way from Texas! :)

It's been a week. I have two left. I'd say that's pretty good.

2) An announcement: I have a two-week vacation starting tomorrow for All Saint's Day, or Toussaint. That's right, people. I've worked for two weeks and I am now getting a two-week vacation. (And, hopefully, a paycheck on Monday.) Where, you might ask? Let me give you a couple of hints...

Never heard of this book, but hope it's good!

Shout out to Frank Bordoni!

Someone go buy this book.

You don't have to buy this movie if you don't want to.

That's right, people! You guessed it. 

Tomorrow morning, I leave for Italy and Greece for a 15-day trip with my friend Kimberly! I'm KIND OF excited. Tentative plans: Milan - Venice - Athens - Naples - Rome - Florence. It's going to be amazing. I'm off to pack... Ciao!

Home Sweet Soon-to-Be Home

Probably the most exciting/nerve-racking part of this entire process was figuring out where exactly I would be placed. Through TAPIF, you have some choice in your region of placement (e.g., Montpellier), but absolutely NO choice in your city placement. You wait until you find out, and then you have a choice to a) accept or b) decline. Thazzit.

Now, I tried to get what I wanted by choosing a region in the south. First of all, I've never been in the south, and I wanted to see something new! Second of all, I HATE the cold. Hate. it. Once I found out I was in the Académie de Montpellier, I was pretty excited. However, there is a portion that stretches somewhat north, and there are also the Pyrénées, so there was no guarantee of warmth.

In my mind, the worst possible scenario would be me in a tiny, freezing, remote village somewhere with no easy access to any larger cities. In this hypothetical situation, I cry often, write sad daily emails home, read a lot of books,* and attempt to befriend sheep.

Belle makes this look good. (Thanks Disney!)

I, however, would probably look more like Buster than Belle, in reality.
(Arrested Development Netflix series and movie... PLEASE?!)

... or this. (verydemotivational.com + me)

Like I said. Worst case scenario. (Only imagine me in that last picture with like four scarves and a wool hat, because it's cold in this nightmare, remember?)

Then, in my KatyMind, I had these two much better alternatives:

1) I end up in a bigger city, anywhere. (I always prefer the sun, but if I were in a bigger city with more to do and good transportation, I could do the cold... kind of. Maybe.)

2) I end up in a small, charming city, as long as it's a) near some water, b) near some bigger cities, and/or c) somewhere sunny.

Well, on June 16th, I got my arrêté de nomination and discovered my placement in Narbonne ("Nar" sounds just like it looks and rhymes with car, "bonne" sounds like bun, as in hot cross or honey), meaning I got alternative #2! I had never heard of this little city, which has a population of about 60,000 and dates back to the Roman empire, when what's now France was Gaul. It was located on the Via Domitia (first Roman road in Gaul), and it even has part of the original road exposed in the middle of the city (the history nerd in me is squealing). It also has a little canal, Canal de la Robine, that goes through the city! 

Reflections on the Canal de la Robine (www.narbonne.fr)

It's also about 10 km from the Mediterranean, and there are several beaches nearby. It boasts around 300 days of sun a year. 

Now you know where Narbonne is, thanks to GoogleMaps.

It's also about an hour away from both Carcassonne and Perpignan, an hour and a half from Montpellier, and two hours from Barcelona. 

Basically, I'm a happy girl. The small city thing will be interesting, but I'm actually really appreciative of it (in theory, at least) as a true departure from my life here in the States. (Lord knows I would never try the small town scene here (no offense, anyone). I'm definitely a city mouse!**) And I know that there will eventually be things I don't 100% love about the town. However, at this point, all-in-all I'm charmed. I'm a little in love with my soon-to-be home, and I can't wait to be there and take pictures and show you around myself. :)

*To be fair, books are a part of the worst case scenario, the best case scenario, and any scenario in between.

**What up, Aesop! I use the country mouse/city mouse reference all the time, and I feel like no one ever gets it. What is wrong with people?

In the beginning, there was The Decision.

Well, I spent a little time trying to figure out how to start this thing they call Blog. I've dipped my toe (very briefly) in the pool of blogging (wrote ever-so-rarely when I moved to Louisiana for grad school), but wasn't so successful in remembering to keep it up. (Also, grad school? Not really that great of a time to start a new activity that includes writing, extracurricular style.) I also wrote a brief blog over my Spring Break trip to Paris in March 2012 (with 34 high school students, no joke), but let's be honest, that was for the students' parents, not for any personal motive. However, I figure a stay in France will prove interesting enough to merit a return to the world of blogging, even if temporarily.

Basically, I'm going to start this blog by going back to the beginning: my decision to spend a school year in France. This means that this inaugural post will NOT be very exciting. I feel a little guilty about that, but hey, I really feel like you need to know the background before you get to the good stuff (i.e., eight months worth of adventures/my (hopefully) hilarious commentary). So, voilà, here we are!

If you're reading this blog, you probably know me, and therefore you probably know all this, and you can probably skip a lot of this initial post.* But just in case you've stumbled upon this without knowing me, here's a little bit of my story: I started learning French when I was 15 years old. It was my sophomore year in high school, and it came time to pick my foreign language. As I'd lived in Texas my entire life, Spanish didn't appeal to me because I was so used to hearing it so often (for the record, I would now love to be able to speak Spanish), and so I chose French. I vividly remember my amazing teacher (shout out MH!) teaching us the word quelque chose, which means "something." That a word so mundane in my own native tongue could be transformed into something beautiful in its novelty inspired me, and I was hooked. Three years later when it came time to pick my major in college, my parents' encouragement to pick something I loved (shout out mom & dad!) resulted in my choice of French (English minor,  btdubbs) and my subsequent Bachelor's and Master's degrees in French (and teaching career).

Of course, someone who chose to dedicate her educational and then professional life to the study of the French language will have spent significant time in France, n'est-ce pas? Guess what? Nope! I finished my undergrad in three years, and as my time at Tech with my friends was already shortened, I opted against spending a semester or two abroad (I instead spent two summers in Quebec, as well as some summer time in London and Paris). Then in grad school, once I was financially independent, I realized that while it would be enjoyable as well as professionally advantageous to spend time in France, I should probably get the heck out of school and start MAKING money instead of continuing to increase my student loan debt, so I finished in my two years and got back to Texas. After that, I started my career as a high school French teacher, and figured that as I was officially a "grown up," maybe my shot at being adventurous and living abroad had passed. However, at the wise old age of 24 (and in the midst of a very difficult year, during which being a "grown up" officially sucked) I realized, well, forget "grown up"-ness. (What's the rush, anyway!?) If I don't do this now, I may never. I mean really, up to this point I've spent a mere four weeks in France, mostly in Paris. I HAVE to go do this. So now all my belongings are in storage, my tiny dog is comfortably settled in with my parents (as is my 12-year-old car, which threatens to die at any point, really), and I await the day (September 17th) that I get on a plane (or three) and start my grande aventure. France, get ready. Readers, get ready.* Katy, get ready?

*Regardless of whether or not you finished this post, please, be sure to come back for more. I promise my future posts will be stronger on both the brevity and the entertainment fronts. It'll be fun. Believe me. :)

OH! Before I forget. I was clicking around on my stats and views (how does one get views before one even writes a post?!), and it turns out, I have not only already had viewers, but I have had a viewer in RUSSIA! (Does anyone else think it's weird they track that?!) So, here's to you, Random Russian Reader, who somehow found me before I posted anything. You'll always have a special place in my heart.