So welcome one and all to my very first blog!
I hope this proves a successful way to keep you up-to-date with my news while I'm away on my year abroad.
It's Friday night before I depart on Sunday morning with Mum and Dad. Katie has gone off in the car with Mum to Southampton tonight to start her second year at uni. The car is weighed down so much that Mum decided to take the real minimum for a night's stay - nightwear, a toothbrush and 3 tea bags - saying she'll borrow Katie's toiletries!
Hearing "see you at Christmas" from my sister's lips came as a bit of a shock...I hadn't realised it was going to be that long til I see her again and it was just a little overwhelming to think of everything that's going to happen between now and then. So I cried and Katie managed to hold off the tears and amazingly was able to say a few things that made me laugh in the middle of me clinging on to her. It's all the more strange because I'm so familiar with where she's heading and all the people that she'll be seeing and I'll be missing. She's off to welcome a new bunch of nervous freshers and I know she'll do a fine job of that.
So more about France...I suppose I've been anticipating the start of my year abroad for a long time, in fact, since the end of 2005 in the upper 6th when I was looking to apply for French at university and found out that the year abroad was compulsory on any course worth doing. With each year the anticipation increased, and for a long while it was a safe distance away. I was not looking forward to it at all. First year passed quickly and then second year followed. During the second year when applying for a post as a language assistant it all became a lot more real, and then it got to June, my place had been confirmed in Lille and it was only the holidays to go. I had to say sad goodbyes to many friends who I knew I wouldn't see for a long time. I was still not looking forward to it and the 3 month holidays still felt like a safe distance - packed with activity and time for preparation. But now the time is well and truly here. And I'm glad to say the dread has dampened a lot. Over this summer I feel God has really been helping to prepare me for what's ahead. I am very apprehensive still, but I'm now looking forward to what's ahead and have a peace about it which I didn't have before. I know that 'the Lord my God is with you wherever you go' (Josh 1:9). And what a great and reassuring truth that is.
I had to hunt for accommodation and God provided wonderfully. I was told the student housing market is currently very tough in Lille. I contacted people from churches in Lille, and the girl who was running the Christian Union at Lille University, and got back 2 temporary and 3 permanent offers of accommodation! I accepted the offer of a lovely flat in the centre of Lille, in which I'll be living on my own. The landlords are a Christian couple who live outside of the city. The flat has just been re-decorated and is near to the train station and metro stops. Through contacting churches about accommodation, I have made many friendly contacts who are looking forward to meeting me!
I was also out at Le Pas Opton (a campsite in the Vendée) for a fortnight very recently and met a lovely French girl, Marie, who will be visiting Lille every 2/3 weeks because her boyfriend lives there and she is very eager that we meet up and discover Lille together.
I start work on 1st October. I'm placed in two secondary schools, in Armentieres and Perenchies (on the outskirts of the city to the NW) and will be doing 6 hours a week in each. I'm not really sure what's expected of me at the moment which is a source of apprehension, but the teachers I have had contact with seem really lovely, which is great.
Right well I must go now, I've still got lots of things to do! I am convinced I will arrive and discover I have left something important at home...there's such a lot to remember, especially where French administration is concerned!!
Please pray that all goes smoothly with the last-minute preparations, meeting the landlords and journey over there.
Love to you,
Fiona
P.S. If you would prefer to receive emails with this stuff right under your nose instead of via a link, let me know and I'll send a message out when I update this.
