A little less than a year ago when I returned from my semester abroad in Nantes, I was enchanted by France and vowed to return as soon as I could. I loved passing boulangerie after boulangerie on my way to school, getting to know new French friends over galettes, watching French television with my little host brother, vacations with my host family on the picturesque western Atlantic coast, and just overall experiencing France and all it's beauty. I’ve spent almost every moment since my bittersweet flight back to the U.S. yearning to go back.
And now here I am, staring with disbelief and excitement at the email acceptance that says another sojourn in France is in my near future. I’m so happy to share that I’ve been accepted to be an English Teaching Assistant in the académie of Bordeaux for the 2017-2018 school year. For those of you who haven’t endured my obsessing over TAPIF for the past few months while I waited for this decision, TAPIF is the Teaching Assistantship Program in France, a program that places native English speakers throughout schools in France as an English teaching assistant. The French school system is divided in académies which are large school districts. My acceptance says that I will be in the académie and greater area of Bordeaux, and I will find out my specific city and school placement soon, though I know I will be at a primary school. 
I will be keeping this blog to chronicle my experience for the year in France. During my semester in Nantes I kept a journal that I wrote in toujours (My host dad would joke—"am I witnessing the writing of the next great American novel?"). This time I want to share my thoughts, observations, and daily life on a public forum so my friends and family at home know what I’m up to. Feeling nothing but gratitude to not only be employed after graduation, but to be doing what I love in the place I love. The adventure awaits!