Sweet life in Perigood

Bonjour les amis,

Today I am writing (as I will be for the next six months) from the wonderful town of Perigueux, located in one France's top gastronomic regions: the Dordogne. I have been chilling here in since October, working as an English Assistant in three primary schools. In practice, my role has become more that of a teacher than an assistant and the work - although rewarding - is harder than I expected. But more on that later...

Before coming to Perigueux, I was in Toronto for a month after living in New York for the whole summer. I was very sad to leave NYC and Toronto. To say that I was not excited to come to france would have been an understatement at that time. But I packed my bags, said goodbye to my friends and family and embarked in my France adventure. In retrospect, I think I was not necessarily as sad as I was really scared to be so far away from everyone and everything I knew.

Everything has turned out pretty great until now. When I first arrived in Perigueux, I couchsurfed with a lovely French family for a little under a week. My boss helped me find small but cozy and bright studio in the centre of town. Location, location, location. I am close to the Cathedral, which is beautiful, and a lot of shops and restaurants. I share the floor with another assistant and this French girl who is really nice except that she is really racist. Definitely more on that on another post...

A view of the cathedral from across the bridge

In terms of my job, the three primary schools I work out have been welcoming and for the most part, I think the kids are enjoying my lessons and learning. It's hard work, but I least I only work 3 days a week so I really should not complain!

I have met all of the other primary and secondary school English, Spanish, and German assistants and so far they constitute the entirety of my social/friend group BUT obviously I am in a quest to find a lot of french friends (I think all of us are). I feel very lucky because there are a lot of us here and everyone is nice, interesting, and mostly excited about France and travelling.

I feel so silly - foolish, even - for having had such low expectations of Perigueux and of what this experience would be. It's kind of liberating though, to not have to live up to any standards.