New Beginnings

Greetings from Bordeaux! Yes, here I am. One of those Americans who moves abroad and starts a blog about the trials and tribulations of being an expat. I know it's a bit silly and super cliché but hear me out. I have several motivations for writing about my experiences: Firstly, I spent a long time preparing for this epic journey by reading blogs from other Americans who quit their normal lives for something more European and I can only hope that I may be of such service to someone else in the same position someday. Secondly, I am here by myself for at least another two months so I need something to pass the time when I am not involved in baguette-eating or wine-drinking (which is a surprisingly significant amount of time at the moment, especially for those of you who know of my love for all things bread and booze).  Finally, and probably least flattering, it is out of sheer laziness that I am chronicling my adventures so that I just don't have to repeat myself every time someone asks me what I'm up to these days. "Yes, I am living in Bordeaux now. Yes, they really do eat a ton of cheese. No, I haven't seen a lot of armpit hair but it is November so maybe it's just lurking beneath all the sweaters and scarves." Instead I can simply reply, "Things are great! You should check out my blog!" and I don't come off as the girl who is constantly bragging about her fancy new life in fancy-ass France. I'm already annoyed just thinking about me.

Bragging online is 100% acceptable, though, through the pseudo-anonymity of Internet, and I will forewarn you that it may occur from time to time.

So let's get right to it, shall we? Here's a quick recap of my life for those of you who, like me, are suckers for context and back-story.

I'm Nicole. I grew up in a small town outside of Rochester, NY with my parents and two brothers. When I was 16, I got my first taste of international travel through a four-week summer program at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. I learned more Spanish is four weeks than I had in four years of studying at my school back home and my life was forever changed. After high school, I majored in Spanish Teaching at Ithaca College, spent the spring semester of my junior year in Seville, Spain and graduated in 2007. Because of my perceived aptitude for teaching and for lack of a better option, I applied to the Teach For America program and was accepted to teach in Baltimore starting in the fall of 2007. I spent five of the most [insert any adjective here: frustrating? beautiful? terrifying? inspirational?] years of my life working at a public high school in the heart of Baltimore City, teaching Spanish to juniors who often struggled to locate Spain on a map and seniors who would profess "But I do my work!" upon receipt of a failing progress report, in spite the fact they had not completed a single assignment to date. (For the record, I love my students with all of my soul and being. The problem here is not my kids. It is a system that allows, dare I say encourages students to perform at the lowest level possible so that no one, teachers, parents, students, and administrators, don't have to work that hard. But that's another story for another day...)

While living in Baltimore, I met Jason, also known as the love of my life, and we have been together for almost three years. About a year ago, Jason mentioned that he was nearing the end of his PhD in biomedical engineering at Hopkins and he started investigating next steps. When a post-doc research position in Bordeaux came up, we decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up and began making plans to move. After a long summer or researching ways to get me into the country for a year or two, and an even longer fall of paper work and trips to the French consulte, I was granted a student visa and was scheduled to begin my studies of the French language in November.

And so here I am. Just another expat, living life, now with 100% more French!

Next time: The logistics of moving to France