Visa arrival

Wow, this is amazing! My French Consulate appointment was Friday morning in Chicago, and my visa was already delivered via express mail this morning! I wasn't expecting to receive it for at least a few weeks.  

As you can see, the visa is a sort of sticker affixed to a page in my passport. I look like a secret agent in my photo!

The arrival of my visa gives me the legal right to live and work in France for one full year, which means I'm cleared to leave September 21st.

Getting my French Visa in Chicago

I'm officially one step closer to France! Dad accompanied me to beautiful Chicago for my Visa appointment at the French Consulate, where I had to appear in person and submit my arrêté de nomination, as well as my passport and some paperwork.  My Visa should be delivered within two weeks, at which point I will be free to leave for France!

Dad and I had an absolute ball!  Being cut from the same cloth, we get along famously! We wandered the streets all weekend, photographing everything in sight, and eating quite well too!

Highlights of the trip include:

*Cloud Gate, a three story steel sculpture affectionately known as "The Bean," in Millenium Park.

*Visiting Seurat's Un dimanche après midi à la grande Jatte and Hopper's Nighthawks at the Art Institute of Chicago.

*Dinner and Guinness at Elephant and Castle Pub.

*The stained glass museum at Navy Pier (refreshingly air conditioned and devoid of crowds.)

*Free Opera performance at the Jay Pritzger Pavilion in Millennium Park.

*Exploring our two favorite skyscrapers: My favorite is the Tribune Tower, and with its neo gothic architecture, and stones and bricks from places all over the world, including the Pyramids of Giza, Notre Dame de Paris, and Edinburgh Castle. Dad's favorite is the Hancock Building, the structural expressionist masterpiece in the commercial district.

*Outdoor breakfasts, drinking in the sounds of the city waking up.

What an unforgettable trip! I'm thrilled to have shared this experience with my dad! As amazing as our trek across the city was, it was the conversations we shared that I will treasure the most.  

FINALLY: The arrival of my Arrêté de Nomination!

At long last, it's here, my Arrêté de Nomination, which is my work contract.  My darling, yet nocturnal college student sister slept through an attempt at delivery yesterday morning, and so I had to wait until this morning to pick it up at the Post office. (ohhh the suspense!) Thankfully, I had today off, so I was there 15 minutes before opening, and the clock could not move quickly enough! I was so nervous about whether or not I would receive the contract length I wanted.

When the envelope was safely in my hands, I could not stop trembling with excitement, which made opening it take longer, and of course, put me in even more of a panic.  Once I had torn the envelope open, my eyes darted all over the page, scanning for the vital information... This took awhile too, as the document is entirely in French. Ahh, there it was! 9 months!!! Primary!!! Exactly what I wanted! Sweet relief!

Now that I have my Arrêté, the next step is to travel to French Consulate in Chicago to obtain my visa, which will give me the legal right to work France. 

Bonjour, Metz!

Although I've known since April that I've been accepted to the Nancy-Metz académie, better known as the Lorraine region of France, up until today, I had no idea what city or town I'd be placed in, the length of my contract, or the age group I would be teaching. The odds of getting one of the two large cities of Lorraine (Nancy or Metz) are pretty slim, and I anticipated getting a small town or suburb. I didn't even want to get my hopes up for one of the big cities.

Today I received my first contact from my school district in France, via email.  It seems that indeed I will be teaching in the city of Metz "proper", the capital of Lorraine! This is wonderful! It's a fairly large city (not by American standards, of course). 

After some Googling, I've determined that Metz (pronounced "mess") will be a lovely place to live. It has a gothic cathedral, Saint-Etienne, which contains stained glass windows by my favorite artist of all time, Marc Chagall.  It has a large train station which means I'm only an 82 minutes from Paris, and even closer to Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium! The city center is closed to traffic, and very pedestrian friendly.  The Moselle River splits in two around a small, picturesque island in the centre ville. Nicknamed the "green city", Metz has a number of public gardens and parks, all beautifully landscaped. 

Of course, the arrival of my work contract, or Arrêté de Nomination, will tell me what age group I'll be teaching, as well as the length of my contract. I'm hoping to teach primary aged children for the longest contract available, which is nine months. I want to spend as much time in France as possible.  Apparently, the Arrêté should arrive this month. I can hardly contain my excitement... I need to know!

Accepted

"Congratulations!  We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the French Teaching Assistantship Program for the 2009-2010 academic year..."

When this popped up in my email today, that's as far as I read before my heart began turning joyful cartwheels in my chest. No, no there must be some mistake... these kind of things don't happen to me! But, as I continued to read, I learned that yes, indeed it was true! I've been accepted to the Académie of Nancy-Metz, in the northeast of France. I was trembling with joy, and had to close the door of my office so I could thank God, jump up and down, and attempt (in vain) muffle my excitement. I was literally screaming "THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" with my hands clamped over my mouth.

The excruciating five month wait was over! I had sent my application to the French embassy at the end of November, which was a nightmare of paperwork, essays written in French, recommendations from French teachers and professional references, medical certificate filled out by my doctor... everything that had to be just so, or I would risk being disqualified from consideration for the position. I knew that thousands of Americans were vying for the 1500 teaching positions throughout France, and that it was an extremely competitive program. Vividly, I remember the day I surrendered the precious package at the post office, how I returned to my car, put my head in my hands and prayed to God for this. Ever since my first class in French language at age 12, I have known that I have a special destiny with France, and have been trying to get there ever since.

Unsuccessful in my attempts to contain my delight in front of my coworkers, I was forced to run to the parking lot to phone my parents from the safety of my car. Although my frenzied shouting into the phone was difficult to understand, my parents were able to deduce that I had been accepted, and cheered loudly. They greeted me with a champagne toast when I arrived for dinner. Jim also greeted me with a gigantic hug, and told me how proud he is of me. His facial expression was so genuine, his eyes seemed to say "I'm going to miss you terribly while you're gone, but I am so thrilled that you're accomplishing your dream!" We went to Starbucks for drinks, and he could not stop beaming at me. This is so bittersweet. I'm beyond delighted that I'm going to France... but the separation from my boyfriend of six years is going to be very difficult for me. At the same time, I know I have nothing to worry about, since he is such a trustworthy, loyal, and supportive force in my life. I will fly home for Christmas, and he will visit me in the spring.

I wasn't expecting notification of acceptance for at least another month, and am absolutely thrilled to receive this early surprise. I still don't know what level I'll be teaching or the length of my contract... but I'm going to France! I'm really going to France.