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So as you can see I arrived safely in Chartres, France last Tuesday to begin my 9 months as a teaching assistant for the French Embassy in two elementary schools here. I've been here less than a week and it's already been an action packed several days. I was met at the Chartres train station by my contact person, Catherine Ferant, at 2:30 after 19 some hours of traveling - 3 planes, 2 buses, 1 metro ride, a train ride and an empty stomach, who then said "I hope you don't mind I've arranged a meeting for you with one of your principals” I responded "Oh of course not" while I was really thinking "I'm pretty much brain dead, look really rough, haven't gotten a chance to brush my teeth and all I want to do is eat and sleep for the next 2 days, sure why not have an important meeting in French!" Luckily, I didn't have to do much talking; I just sat there and listened as intently as I could while Catherine explained what my position would be to the principal. She then drove me around Chartres and showed me where my other school would be, directly beside the Cathedral (for which Chartres is famous) which I'm excited about.

Chartres - more than just a Cathedral

Lisa Damico
2006-10-05 20:44:25

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So as you can see I arrived safely in Chartres, France last Tuesday to begin my 9 months as a teaching assistant for the French Embassy in two elementary schools here. I've been here less than a week and it's already been an action packed several days. I was met at the Chartres train station by my contact person, Catherine Ferant, at 2:30 after 19 some hours of traveling - 3 planes, 2 buses, 1 metro ride, a train ride and an empty stomach, who then said "I hope you don't mind I've arranged a meeting for you with one of your principals” I responded "Oh of course not" while I was really thinking "I'm pretty much brain dead, look really rough, haven't gotten a chance to brush my teeth and all I want to do is eat and sleep for the next 2 days, sure why not have an important meeting in French!" Luckily, I didn't have to do much talking; I just sat there and listened as intently as I could while Catherine explained what my position would be to the principal. She then drove me around Chartres and showed me where my other school would be, directly beside the Cathedral (for which Chartres is famous) which I'm excited about.

I then had a meeting at 4 PM with my landlord, turns out because I was the first teaching assistant to call him I got an upgrade on my apartment. As you can see my apartment is the upstairs one on the front of the house with the balcony. Photos of the inside to come next time as I still have no place to store my clothes so they're pretty much everywhere (with the exception of the ones I've put in the box that my dishes came in . . .) I’ve found the key to living in a small apartment is finding double uses for things. The apartment is bigger than I had expected and even more importantly I don’t have to pull my bed down out of the wall: there's a main room with a desk, couch that pulls out into a bed, a coffee table and small nightstand. Off of that room is a bathroom with a full bathtub and shower ...