Il ne reste que 37 jours!

Only 37 days to go until I will be landing in Paris CDG airport, getting more excited yet terrified about the thought as each day passes!

I had a very productive day on Tuesday organising year abroad related things.

I got in touch with my predecessor at the lycée who emailed me back very quickly with lots of useful information that has put my mind at ease, commenting on the openness of the staff, my future colleagues, in the English department, the friendliness of Troyes and with a landlord recommendation who has offered me a room opposite where I will be working.

I have scanned lots of useful documents to my laptop to save room in my case which I need to fill with as much knitwear as humanly possible (I have a slight obsession as far as jumpers are concerned)

I completed my medical form ready to take should I need it, which made me laugh as it classes hay fever as a disease, really? I also completed my risk assessment form for university insurance purposes.

I spoke to a friend who has already had her birth certificate translated ready for official purposes at a very reasonable price so I need to get sorted in that respect.

With more things organised I am feeling much more confident about leaving.

I have already started to make a list of the places that I plan on visiting during my time abroad as I want to make the most out of the time I have whilst away (and the most out of the Erasmus grants, assistantship salary and student loan).

Please feel free to comment with any suggestions for blog posts or message me with any useful tips relating to living in France for the first time.

Merci bien pour écrire x

L'organisation est la clé

Bonjour tout le monde,

I have finally sent my passport application off, about time as well! I'm hoping the current backlog doesn't affect me too much, but I suppose it doesn't matter as long as I have my passport before my flight to Paris CDG on the 27th of September!

After receiving my arrêté de nomination I have accepted my posts at both the lycée and collège directly through the académie and sent letters to both of my new work places, asking as many questions as I could humanly think of relating to everything ranging from accommodation, to what I will need to wear to work, to who I need to contact when I arrive. Already looking forward to getting my responses, real post in real brown envelopes, covered in real French writing with real French postmarks is a very exciting thing for me!

I have ordered my self a travel scrapbook to take with me so I can fill it with anything and everything so I have something special to keep

I will post again to share what I hear back from my new bosses which I'm hoping will be sometime over the next week (I am probably being too hopeful)

A bientôt x

Routes into Languages

Whilst I am on my year abroad, I will be participating in Routes into Languages 'Adopt a Class by a Third Year Abroad Student’ project.

The aims of the scheme are to raise awareness amongst young people of student mobility opportunities, to bring a bit of a country into the classroom, to enthuse young people about studying languages and to support teachers in promoting MFL as an option for KS4. 

I will visit a Year 8 class over the coming weeks and give them an introductory presentation, whilst I am away I will correspond with the class, using a blog and sending resources, helping to make the language and the country come alive. When I return to university in October 2015, I will visit the class, who will then be Year 10 students for the final time.

I will be using a secondary blog for this project, as it is primarily a project carried out through the target language of the students, it will be written mostly in French.

If you are interested in looking at my work with the project, my second blog can be found here; http://la-vie-en-troyes.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Merci x

Les images de Troyes

Où se situe Troyes?

"Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about 150 km southeast of Paris."

Bonjour!

Bonjour tout le monde, je suis Dan, j'ai 20 ans et je vais partager mes expériences de la vie
à l’étranger sur ce blog!
 
I will be leaving my lovely hometown of Deganwy, North Wales, for my year abroad on the 27th of September 2014 and will be away until June 2015 at the earliest, returning to complete the final year of my French degree at the University of Chester.

I recieved my arrêté de nomination last week which has allowed me to start making plans.

I will be spending my year abroad in the city of Troyes, in the Champagne-Ardennes region of France.

My surname is Rhodes, pronounced the same as 'roads', hence the blog name!

I will be working as an English Language Assistant for the British Council in both a lycée and a collège, which is very exciting indeed.

L’académie de Reims was my second choice for my assistantship after Nice, with my third choice being Clermont-Ferrand.

I stated that I would prefer to be working in a large town or city as I would personally prefer city life to rural life, and luckily I was placed in Troyes.

Through this blog I will document as often as possible my experiences of being abroad for my own gain, so I can look back and remember, but also with the aim of sharing what I have been doing with family, friends and other interested readers in general.

This is the first time I have created a blog so bare with me technologically!

Feel free to get in contact if there is anything year abroad related you would like me to discuss on my page

Merci bien pour l’écrire, je vais poster encore très bientôt x