assistant no more

well hello there. i confess that each time i remark to myself that i should probably write something on my blog, i feel rather lackadaisical. and of course the purpose of a blog, or at least so far as i see my blog for the year in France, is to chronicle my life over here. regularly. informatively. right.

so in unusually timely fashion, here is a little post that relates to the very event of the day: my last day as a teaching assistant in Paris. that's right, my 7 month contract has run its course, and my surcharged schedule of lengthy teaching commitments and extensive planning required for said teaching has thus been greatly reduced. believe that if you want.

it has been a bit of an odd week---i returned from Athens last friday night, knowing full well that i had a mere 10 days before i'd take off again for China. last saturday morning as i performed my weekly market routine, i felt much less a resident of my neighborhood, already or once again a stranger. and while that feeling has subsided in part this week, i know full well that that sensation will become more and more of a reality as i approach my return to les States. subsequently, this week has not been very strenuous at school--a few classes had farewell parties for me, while others ended on an anticlimactic goodbye. one class even failed to show up, so no goodbye was even issued. leaving the school today(and snapping a few pictures while i still had the chance), i felt a conflicted sense of sadness in realizing that 7 months of my life and the very reason for my being in Paris had now terminated. it wasn't quite like leaving high school or college; i guess it was just hard to believe.

so there you have it. i am no longer an english teaching assistant. i do, however, continue to reside in France, for the time being. and living in France without any obligation is AWESOME, if you didn't already know it. i hope that gives me sufficient time to enjoy the little-seen parts of the city, to spend more quality time with the people i'll be leaving behind, and to prepare myself for the path ahead.

pictures to follow from Turkey and Greece. and sooner or later China.