L’arrivée

I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Saturday, September 26, 2009. This was my first stop before going to Dijon (yes, same as the mustard), where I currently work as an English assistant. I have been hired by the French Ministry of Culture and Education to teach English in a French high school near Dijon, and I decided to start blogging in an effort to share my experiences both as a teacher and as an American living in France.

My parents and I decided to make a little trip to Paris before going to Dijon. I decided to take the SNCF train to the hotel where I was staying for the next few days before I would be leaving for Dijon, and allow me to suggest that you take a cab to your destination because there are too many staircases in Paris, and you will regret taking the train.

When I finally reached my hotel room in Paris and took a mere glance at the view, I began to cry (I promise this isn’t me running amuck with literary license to make things sexy). To be honest, I really don’t know why I did. Looking back, I think it was an mishmash of emotions whose only release was in a flurry of quiet tears: I was tired after having been awake on the eleven hour plane flight, after which I had dragged a boatload of heavy luggage up and down every staircase in Paris; I missed my family and friends; and yet, simultaneously, there was an unmistakable sense of apprehension and enthusiasm at what lay ahead...