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!

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.