Bonjour à tous! Just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived in Lyon safely and on time- in fact my trip couldn't have gone any better, (except maybe in the airline food department- salmon might have been the wrong choice, but the chicken didn't look much better...) My CS hosts, Jean-Rémi and Nathalie, are so nice and have a cute apartment, which I have had to myself since 1:30 p.m. (I arrived here at 12:30 p.m.) until they get home from work later tonight. This works out perfectly, as I could then shower, check emails, and rest a bit (or a lot, as it turned out). I was so tired that I broke the rule of international travel of staying up until it's bedtime in the country you've just flown to, and succombed to a three hour nap on their comfy couch. We'll have to wait and see how that affects my sleep tonight, but it was a damn good nap! There is another American assistant and an Austrailian girl coming over tonight for dinner (both through CS) and there's a big pot of ratatouille slow-cooking on the stove, so that should be delicious! Tomorrow I'm hoping to reactivate my cell phone and wander around a bit, and tomorrow evening there is a huge get-together with most of the other assistants in the city. And I suppose I should start looking for a place to live!

That will have to be all for now; I'm having trouble navigating the French keyboard! I mean come on, home row is 'asdf,' not 'qsdf'! And don't get me started on punctuation...!

I leave for France in a week!! And in keeping with the French style of doing things, about five days ago they finally decided to tell me the exact location of my school! It is not in Bourg-en-Bresse, as they had told me it might be, but is actually in the (very) small town of Jassans-Riottier, 30 km north of Lyon. However, they suggested that I live in Lyon proper, which I'm extremely excited about! I visited the city quite a bit while I was studying in Grenoble, and I love it- it's beautiful, fun, cultural- and it has a mini version of the Eiffel Tower! All good reasons to come visit me!

I will be teaching English to primary school kids (ages 6-11) for 9 months. My contract runs from Oct. 1st to June 3oth, and since the French are so fond of vacations I have at least 5 weeks of paid vacation througout the year. Oh, and I'm only working 12 hours a week! They pay us enough each month to live on (or so they say) but having that much free time plus access to the French healthcare system makes it more than worth it in my book! Since I just found out where I'm going to be, I don't have housing yet and will have to find it once I get there. But I just heard from a teacher at my school who might be able to help me out, as well as the assistante who worked there last year, so I'm feeling a lot better about the whole process. I also have quite a few friends of friends who live in Lyon, not to mention the other assistants, so I'm not too worried about being stranded, friendless and homeless! I'm planning on couchsurfing for the first week or so, and have arranged to stay with a woman and her kids in Bourg-en-Bresse when I go there for my orientation meeting on Oct. 2nd.
My next post will most likely be a few days after I arrive there and get settled (or as settled as I can be without housing)...