La Belle France 2016 – Expatriation

Hemingway was an expat.

Some exciting travel news.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called February Fears, about how I was nervous about going to The Big City and getting my TEFL certification. Plans have changed, and here they are—

When I make plans, especially travel plans, I do a LOT of math; I’m constantly doing calculations and trying to save money and trying to lay out expectations so I’ll know how much money I’m going to inevitably spend…It’s an idée fixe, of sorts, doing all this math, but it’s also sort of a way to hide in study.

So once I started coming up with sums and products, I realized something that sort of blew my mind. I mean, once you start thinking outside the box and realizing that you can do so much in life if you’re a little creative and a lot open-minded, so it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it was still a bit of a shock. For as much money as it would cost to go to Boston for my month-long certification, I could fly to France, do my TEFL training in a little town with orange tile rooftops, and stay for a while extra, taking French classes and being immersed in the language and culture.

So I talked to some people, and wrote some emails, and put down a deposit, and now it’s on my calendar: France in March. The trip will be anywhere between one and three months long. And beyond that, I just may stay in Europe teaching at English summer camps. Not sure yet.

EXPATRIATION has never held so much meaning for me. I mean, it’s become a flippant, passing cliché in today’s world of hostels and hipsters. “I’m an expat…” “I’m going to be an expat…” “I wish I was an expat…” But you don’t realize what that means, exactly, until you start telling people that it’s going to happen.

You start thinking about who you’re leaving, and how long it’ll be, and what will change while you’re gone. Even for a period of time as short as one year, so much can change. Especially attitudes.

On the positive side of things, I’m hoping to be fluent in French by the time I’m done in France! I’ve never done anything this immersive before, and I’ll be sure to have some great “Schliemann” moments to write about while I’m over Across the Pond. [I realize this is usually meant to talk about USA/UK, but it is the same pond, after all, that separates The France from The States.]