High time I started talking about my Mighty Flight. I should have started in March but what with busy schedules and lazyness. Its about to happen on the 28th of September. From the Indira Gandhi International Airport. This is , literally, a dream come true. A dream that is at least three years old. Something I've been wanting with all in me.
2010
Adeline ma'am mentions it to me for the very first time. I'm doing my B1 at the Alliance Francaise and for some reason teachers think I'm good and I must be informed of this. Well its this program called the "English language assistant program" through which English speaking foreigners are selected by the French government to assist English teachers in its schools. As an assistant you are supposed to be conducting conversation classes to high school and primary school students, conduct games and workshops for them... make sure they speak good English etc. You are paid a monthly salary/stipend of 750 euros per month and you'll have to work for a few hours per week. This obviously caught my fancy. As someone who found pride in speaking the little french I knew then, as someone who listened to all French stories wide eyed, who had so badly wanted to see the Eiffel tower... It was the best thing that could happen to me! But I had to wait. This wasn't done that easily.
2011
I finish college, I've had a one year break with French. I'm still stuck with just level 3. A three day trip to the EFLU Hyderabad (temple of foreign languages and foreign language research) gets me wanting to do M.A English and become a research scholar who discusses semantics and linguistics with a fellow English professor till about 2.AM on a night train journey (like the ones who travelled with me to Hyderabad). There is something incredibly .... how do I put it... umm... Hot... about someone who can quote Shakespeare or Keats or just any good author/poet at the right time and in the right way. But I digress. So once I return to Chennai I have this long discussion about how I wanted to pursue a Masters degree course in English. By now Adeline ma'am has suggested that I do M.A French simply because I was good at it and it is great as a career option too. And she reminds me about the English language assistants program. (At this point I see this as my one ticket to get out of home, try fending for myself, with my own little salary and probably my own little apartment (Thank you Friends, HIMYM, Happy Endings and BBT) and in lovely France of all places! Cheese and Bread to eat, coolio wine to drink, flirty French to speak; how COULD I deny THAT!) So I drag Sharon along to Madras University buy off two applications... one for M.A English and one for M.A French. I fill both of them up. Submit them both. Wait patiently for threee long depressing months, threee long depressing months I spent on the couch doing nothing but watch TV and cope with headaches from all the TV watching, not knowing what happens next.
Department of French and other foreign languages, University of Madras sends me the first call letter : Interview two weeks later. Ahha so suddenly I saw myself walking up a chilly foggy mountain road with a Baguette in hand. After a lot of dilemma I decide to go. Masters in French! Take that in. So they ask me Why I'm going cross major (UG major English) and I say "pour le plaisir!" ( 'For the pleasure' , it sounds so much more lovely in French, trust me. Anyway the jury seemed happy with me, I was able to answer properly despite my one year french gap... I was just happy I had gotten through this.) And after the interview it became clear I wanted to do french.
Department of English also sends a call letter : written exam a week later. So Shilpa and I (she had also applied) go to the test venue but do not sit for the exam. We just went out, had fun at the beach and went home and told our parents we did the exam well. But it came back to bite our asses. Shilpa doesnt find a seat at Ethiraj, so Amma talks to Madras Uni English department Head, discovers we did not write the entrance exam at all. And well what happened after that didn't kill me. So no English Dept. And I join French.
First day of Uni, My HOD talks about The English Language Assistant Program. And I love her so naturally I love this thing more.
2012
I had to apply for my passport and needed my birth certificate for the same. That's when my family realises my birth isn't registered at the Municipal office. (This is also when I think maybe I was adopted I mean let's face it they didnt register my birth) But then LKG 1994 records are dug up at school and they find mine.
I also had to write IELTS and my IELTS score decided whether or not I get in.
The French embassy calls for applications for the program in September.
Last date to submit applications December 15th.
January 15th Recieved confirmation of Pre selection.
January 22 sent my " coupon de confirmation et la convention pour le programme" to Delhi.
March 20th ( Turned out to be an important date for special reasons) - Recieved my confirmation. YAAY!! I'm going to Rouen!!!
So I'd applied to Nantes because it was suggested by Someone. But I'd gotten Rouen. Hey No I'm not complaining. I'm happy to go anywhere in France. I'm still awaiting my "arrete de nomination" which tells me to which exact city and school I'm posted to.
June 5 - Booked my ticket. Delhi - Paris. Indira Gandhi International Airport to Paris CDG. Leaves Delhi on the 28th of September at 3: 20 AM and reaches Paris at 10: 45 am. Air France. Seat 17J.
17J. It really is happening. And yet it feels like it hasn't really sunk into me.
2010
Adeline ma'am mentions it to me for the very first time. I'm doing my B1 at the Alliance Francaise and for some reason teachers think I'm good and I must be informed of this. Well its this program called the "English language assistant program" through which English speaking foreigners are selected by the French government to assist English teachers in its schools. As an assistant you are supposed to be conducting conversation classes to high school and primary school students, conduct games and workshops for them... make sure they speak good English etc. You are paid a monthly salary/stipend of 750 euros per month and you'll have to work for a few hours per week. This obviously caught my fancy. As someone who found pride in speaking the little french I knew then, as someone who listened to all French stories wide eyed, who had so badly wanted to see the Eiffel tower... It was the best thing that could happen to me! But I had to wait. This wasn't done that easily.
2011
I finish college, I've had a one year break with French. I'm still stuck with just level 3. A three day trip to the EFLU Hyderabad (temple of foreign languages and foreign language research) gets me wanting to do M.A English and become a research scholar who discusses semantics and linguistics with a fellow English professor till about 2.AM on a night train journey (like the ones who travelled with me to Hyderabad). There is something incredibly .... how do I put it... umm... Hot... about someone who can quote Shakespeare or Keats or just any good author/poet at the right time and in the right way. But I digress. So once I return to Chennai I have this long discussion about how I wanted to pursue a Masters degree course in English. By now Adeline ma'am has suggested that I do M.A French simply because I was good at it and it is great as a career option too. And she reminds me about the English language assistants program. (At this point I see this as my one ticket to get out of home, try fending for myself, with my own little salary and probably my own little apartment (Thank you Friends, HIMYM, Happy Endings and BBT) and in lovely France of all places! Cheese and Bread to eat, coolio wine to drink, flirty French to speak; how COULD I deny THAT!) So I drag Sharon along to Madras University buy off two applications... one for M.A English and one for M.A French. I fill both of them up. Submit them both. Wait patiently for threee long depressing months, threee long depressing months I spent on the couch doing nothing but watch TV and cope with headaches from all the TV watching, not knowing what happens next.
Department of French and other foreign languages, University of Madras sends me the first call letter : Interview two weeks later. Ahha so suddenly I saw myself walking up a chilly foggy mountain road with a Baguette in hand. After a lot of dilemma I decide to go. Masters in French! Take that in. So they ask me Why I'm going cross major (UG major English) and I say "pour le plaisir!" ( 'For the pleasure' , it sounds so much more lovely in French, trust me. Anyway the jury seemed happy with me, I was able to answer properly despite my one year french gap... I was just happy I had gotten through this.) And after the interview it became clear I wanted to do french.
Department of English also sends a call letter : written exam a week later. So Shilpa and I (she had also applied) go to the test venue but do not sit for the exam. We just went out, had fun at the beach and went home and told our parents we did the exam well. But it came back to bite our asses. Shilpa doesnt find a seat at Ethiraj, so Amma talks to Madras Uni English department Head, discovers we did not write the entrance exam at all. And well what happened after that didn't kill me. So no English Dept. And I join French.
First day of Uni, My HOD talks about The English Language Assistant Program. And I love her so naturally I love this thing more.
2012
I had to apply for my passport and needed my birth certificate for the same. That's when my family realises my birth isn't registered at the Municipal office. (This is also when I think maybe I was adopted I mean let's face it they didnt register my birth) But then LKG 1994 records are dug up at school and they find mine.
I also had to write IELTS and my IELTS score decided whether or not I get in.
The French embassy calls for applications for the program in September.
Last date to submit applications December 15th.
January 15th Recieved confirmation of Pre selection.
January 22 sent my " coupon de confirmation et la convention pour le programme" to Delhi.
March 20th ( Turned out to be an important date for special reasons) - Recieved my confirmation. YAAY!! I'm going to Rouen!!!
So I'd applied to Nantes because it was suggested by Someone. But I'd gotten Rouen. Hey No I'm not complaining. I'm happy to go anywhere in France. I'm still awaiting my "arrete de nomination" which tells me to which exact city and school I'm posted to.
June 5 - Booked my ticket. Delhi - Paris. Indira Gandhi International Airport to Paris CDG. Leaves Delhi on the 28th of September at 3: 20 AM and reaches Paris at 10: 45 am. Air France. Seat 17J.
17J. It really is happening. And yet it feels like it hasn't really sunk into me.
No comments:
Post a Comment