I do not like! End of contract is approaching (finish of April) and I have spent some time conisdering the next step. I really considered a lot of things, from renewing my assistantship contract, to doing a working holiday in France or Spain, to au pair work, applying to be an assistant in Spain, or even doing some kind of gap year programme.
I have just recently decided that, unless I find an au pair job within the next 2 months, I'll travel for a bit after the contract and then head back home. It's a shame not to be able to stay in Europe for longer, but I can't deny that I'll be pretty glad to get back to the homeland and see all the folks/friends again!
Basically, visas are super-annoying! So, even if I took the easier option of doing the assistantship thing again, I'd possibly still be visa-less between contracts for a bit (therefore no home base and no right to work and earn myself some more moolah!) and perhaps even have to go back home to renew anyway. Stuff that! I'm not going all the way home just to come back again; I'll at least stay for a while. And, anyway, this year has shown me that I don't want to be a school teacher... so not a lot of point in playing that game for another 7 months. ;p
Unfortunately, that means some more decision-making in terms of career! Come on, Rugby World Cup. Make me a job in Napier that involves hanging around with les Bleus...
Showing posts with label visa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visa. Show all posts
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Legal Formalities and Pink Brick
... aka A Day In Toulouse.
After an epic fail in which I missed my first appointment to get my visa validated (because I got the mail telling me about it after the appointment), I was determined to get there this time. Sadly, I had a 9am appointment so had to catch a 7.05am train. Yep, I've got soft since leaving AXA.
Had been a tad worried about finding the place, but it turned out to be a case of a metro ride and a short walk. Still, am pretty glad I left myself an hour to get from the Toulouse station to the office, because I needed most of the time!
Arrived, and was directed to a waiting room... waited... got asked a few questions by a nurse... back to waiting room... chest x-ray... back to waiting room... doctor looks at chest xray and asks me a couple more questions... back to waiting room... lady puts 'viginette' (ie extra stickery thing confirming that I've completed the formalities) in my passport. Done. I swear that the Army wants to know more about you than France does. Although Mum did remind me that I had a semi-medical before leaving home. Anyhow, in sum, I think I probably spent more time waiting than actually with a medical professional. But I don't care, cos now I'm fully legally in France AND to come and go as I want (while my visa is valid!).
That done, my day in Toulouse commenced. Train ticket costs equivalent of about NZ$20 and I had no classes on Weds, so I was determined to spend the day in Toulouse and make the most of being there! Il faut en profiter! Lol, I like this phrase more in French... Also, it was a freakishly warm day (for winter): 19C. So it felt like summer. I was clearly meant to enjoy this day.
Profit, I did. Including in terms of my metro day pass. Why walk when you can metro? Well, actually it's way better to walk, because you see what you're passing AND you're not limited to going where the metro lines go, but I was still trying to get rid of a cold so therefore was avoiding long walks.
Went for a random walk in the direction of a church spire that I'd seen from the visa place, just because I could. Was trying not to make too many turns though, as my map of Toulouse didn't extend to this area, and didn't want to get hopelessly lost. Glad I did walk to it though, 'cos it had this awesome sculpturey thing on the side.
On the metro again, and went to the Canal du Midi and walked along the banks. Rather nice.
Walked right into town, and wandered a bit, looking for somewhere to sit and eat some lunch. Clearly was looking in all the wrong places, as I couldn't find any parks (and later, there seemed to be heaps around). I suppose the smart person would have looked at their map but, well, I wasn't the smart person that day.
Did see this awesome Basilisque though (Saint-Sernin). Love the way it's just kinda at the end of a street... Nothing major.
Eventually decided that there must be somewhere in the main square. Glad I headed there, as the Christmas market was in full swing. The whole place was filled with little chalets with all kinds of food (tartiflette, hot chocolate, mulled wine, savoury dishes, cheese, pastries, almond paste decorationy things...) and all kinds of goods (funny t-shirts, hanging decorations, saints etc for nativity scenes, clothes, violet products...). So, after my brief lunch, I had a wander.
Also found an advent display, where there were present-shaped boxes for each day of the advent, so checked out the ones which were open.
Next stop was the tourist office, of which the gift shop was very tempting. Bought a reduction card for Toulouse (some shops, hotels, tourist attractions) and found a brochure for a Resistance walking trail.
While I fully intended to do the Resistance trail, I was distracted after about 2 stops... by a Quick. Which seems to be the French version of McDonalds (even though they have McDonalds). It wasn't so much the food as the free wifi that I wanted, though. So, one strawberry lolly milkshake and 3 'extra cheesy' (yes, that is what they are called in French - they're bite-sized fried cheese thingees) later, I was settled in with my laptop and had a reasonably lengthy internet session. Which was nice.
By the time I finished, I had lost all motivation for the Resistance trail... however, I do intend to do this properly on a future trip, when I'm not carting my laptop and a heavy document holder in my backpack!
So, instead, I decided to go on the Metro again, and find this bridge which appears in all the photos of Toulouse. Very glad that I did this, and am sure you will understand why after seeing the following pix.
Back on the Metro and into central Toulouse to have a quick squiz in the shops. Kinda a nice change to have so many people around, and things going on in the streets (random fire-stick-twirler dude in a park, for example, or the following...).
By this stage, the thought of tomorrow's 8am class, and a good sleep to get rid of this cold, were starting to play on my mind, so it was time for a final metro trip to the station. While I was waiting for the platform number for my train to come up, a couple of policemen leading 4 or 5 armed, camo-clad soldiers came past. Just casually. Also ran into an assistante who works with Kate, the other Kiwi, so was nice to actually see someone I knew!
Oh yeah... got to love the way rugby is so engrained in the consciousness that it's used to show people how to behave on the metro.
Then had a chat with a nice girl on the train home. Happy times... even though my French is far from perfect, it is getting easier and less worrisome to talk to people. :) I'm more likely these days to just talk than to spend time before thinking about what I need to say and how to say it!
After an epic fail in which I missed my first appointment to get my visa validated (because I got the mail telling me about it after the appointment), I was determined to get there this time. Sadly, I had a 9am appointment so had to catch a 7.05am train. Yep, I've got soft since leaving AXA.
Had been a tad worried about finding the place, but it turned out to be a case of a metro ride and a short walk. Still, am pretty glad I left myself an hour to get from the Toulouse station to the office, because I needed most of the time!
Arrived, and was directed to a waiting room... waited... got asked a few questions by a nurse... back to waiting room... chest x-ray... back to waiting room... doctor looks at chest xray and asks me a couple more questions... back to waiting room... lady puts 'viginette' (ie extra stickery thing confirming that I've completed the formalities) in my passport. Done. I swear that the Army wants to know more about you than France does. Although Mum did remind me that I had a semi-medical before leaving home. Anyhow, in sum, I think I probably spent more time waiting than actually with a medical professional. But I don't care, cos now I'm fully legally in France AND to come and go as I want (while my visa is valid!).
That done, my day in Toulouse commenced. Train ticket costs equivalent of about NZ$20 and I had no classes on Weds, so I was determined to spend the day in Toulouse and make the most of being there! Il faut en profiter! Lol, I like this phrase more in French... Also, it was a freakishly warm day (for winter): 19C. So it felt like summer. I was clearly meant to enjoy this day.
Profit, I did. Including in terms of my metro day pass. Why walk when you can metro? Well, actually it's way better to walk, because you see what you're passing AND you're not limited to going where the metro lines go, but I was still trying to get rid of a cold so therefore was avoiding long walks.
Went for a random walk in the direction of a church spire that I'd seen from the visa place, just because I could. Was trying not to make too many turns though, as my map of Toulouse didn't extend to this area, and didn't want to get hopelessly lost. Glad I did walk to it though, 'cos it had this awesome sculpturey thing on the side.
On the metro again, and went to the Canal du Midi and walked along the banks. Rather nice.
Walked right into town, and wandered a bit, looking for somewhere to sit and eat some lunch. Clearly was looking in all the wrong places, as I couldn't find any parks (and later, there seemed to be heaps around). I suppose the smart person would have looked at their map but, well, I wasn't the smart person that day.
Did see this awesome Basilisque though (Saint-Sernin). Love the way it's just kinda at the end of a street... Nothing major.
Eventually decided that there must be somewhere in the main square. Glad I headed there, as the Christmas market was in full swing. The whole place was filled with little chalets with all kinds of food (tartiflette, hot chocolate, mulled wine, savoury dishes, cheese, pastries, almond paste decorationy things...) and all kinds of goods (funny t-shirts, hanging decorations, saints etc for nativity scenes, clothes, violet products...). So, after my brief lunch, I had a wander.
Also found an advent display, where there were present-shaped boxes for each day of the advent, so checked out the ones which were open.
Next stop was the tourist office, of which the gift shop was very tempting. Bought a reduction card for Toulouse (some shops, hotels, tourist attractions) and found a brochure for a Resistance walking trail.
While I fully intended to do the Resistance trail, I was distracted after about 2 stops... by a Quick. Which seems to be the French version of McDonalds (even though they have McDonalds). It wasn't so much the food as the free wifi that I wanted, though. So, one strawberry lolly milkshake and 3 'extra cheesy' (yes, that is what they are called in French - they're bite-sized fried cheese thingees) later, I was settled in with my laptop and had a reasonably lengthy internet session. Which was nice.
By the time I finished, I had lost all motivation for the Resistance trail... however, I do intend to do this properly on a future trip, when I'm not carting my laptop and a heavy document holder in my backpack!
So, instead, I decided to go on the Metro again, and find this bridge which appears in all the photos of Toulouse. Very glad that I did this, and am sure you will understand why after seeing the following pix.
Back on the Metro and into central Toulouse to have a quick squiz in the shops. Kinda a nice change to have so many people around, and things going on in the streets (random fire-stick-twirler dude in a park, for example, or the following...).
By this stage, the thought of tomorrow's 8am class, and a good sleep to get rid of this cold, were starting to play on my mind, so it was time for a final metro trip to the station. While I was waiting for the platform number for my train to come up, a couple of policemen leading 4 or 5 armed, camo-clad soldiers came past. Just casually. Also ran into an assistante who works with Kate, the other Kiwi, so was nice to actually see someone I knew!
Oh yeah... got to love the way rugby is so engrained in the consciousness that it's used to show people how to behave on the metro.
Then had a chat with a nice girl on the train home. Happy times... even though my French is far from perfect, it is getting easier and less worrisome to talk to people. :) I'm more likely these days to just talk than to spend time before thinking about what I need to say and how to say it!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Contact with Schools, and Past Assistants' Knowledge
A few more important things have happened, so it's time for an update!
- I reapplied for my visa, and it has been processed and arrived at Mum & Dad's place. Hooray! I am now officially allowed into France, which is a very good thing. However, it was interesting that my (this time) carefully-selected, signature required envelope was simply left in the letterbox. Then again, it's still a big improvement on last time.
- One of my schools replied to my email! Huzzah. While they didn't offer me a lot of info, they did respond to the questions I had asked, and the principal's secretary (who responded) was also going to forward my email to the assistant coordinator for the school.
They also said that I may be able to get accommodation at one of the collèges that I'm teaching at. Fingers crossed for that. (Really would like to have a bit more certainty than that at this stage, but anyway. Apparently, this is typically French!) - I caught up with a former assistant over lunch one day, and it was good to get her insider knowledge. Apparently, I need to be prepared for some teachers not to be too bothered about whatever I teach the students. And I probably will be alone with the class, even if I'm told otherwise. I need to get into all my paperwork as soon as humanly possible, and expect the processing to take a long time. She even had one guy ignore her when she spoke because he thought her French was bad!
However, I can also expect an awesome time. :)
It really is only a matter of weeks now, which is insane. I think I've gained a new appreciation of my current life, probably helped along by the imminent changes. Anyway, am making the most of it while I'm still here!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Passport+Visa=Lost!
Well, without even having actually begun, it's already an intersting journey!!!
While it'll all turn out fine, I've suffered the minor setback of having my passport, complete with French visa, get sent back to where I was living, but not get to me... After much to-ing and fro-ing, it seems that a series of unfortunate events (probably mainly me not having got a courier envelope to send passport back in, and the Embassy not thinking to enquire about this, and sending it in a non-signature envelope) has led to no-one knowing where said passport is. I'm still not sure why I had it in my mind that I was going to have to pick up my visa, but anyway.
Basically, it was a $150 mistake, and my new passport should be being delivered (to work!) soon... Then off it goes to get its visa again.
So much for thinking I had it all organised well in advance, eh?
Passport/visa FAIL
While it'll all turn out fine, I've suffered the minor setback of having my passport, complete with French visa, get sent back to where I was living, but not get to me... After much to-ing and fro-ing, it seems that a series of unfortunate events (probably mainly me not having got a courier envelope to send passport back in, and the Embassy not thinking to enquire about this, and sending it in a non-signature envelope) has led to no-one knowing where said passport is. I'm still not sure why I had it in my mind that I was going to have to pick up my visa, but anyway.
Basically, it was a $150 mistake, and my new passport should be being delivered (to work!) soon... Then off it goes to get its visa again.
So much for thinking I had it all organised well in advance, eh?
Passport/visa FAIL
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