Paperwork and Logistics, Oh La La!

I am have now arrived at the "pain in the butt" part of preparing to go to France next year. I had heard the paperwork was annoying, but I can definitely tell that I will be staying quite busy the next few months. TAPIF assistants received directions to fill out 4 copies of a form that our academies will use to get us work contracts so that we can legally work in France. Once the work contracts are sent to us over the summer, we will be able to apply for long-stay visas so that we can legally work and live in France for up to 12 months. The part that is annoying about all this is that they recommend that we book a visa appointment with the consulate soon and it is supposed to be at least a month before we plan on leaving so that we ensure our visas arrive before we are set to leave. However, you can't get a visa without the work contract and I have NO idea when they will send me the work contract. Apparently it is sometime between June and August. I'm just going to have to book mine for earlyish August and hope my contract arrives before then.

Also, since we don't know when the visas will arrive, the program recommends that we refrain from buying plane tickets until we at least have the work contracts. I know that is probably the safe thing to do, but it made me nervous waiting so long to buy it when the prices could go up a ton. Therefore, I ignored the recommendation of the program and went ahead and bought my tickets. I will be leaving for France September 26th and returning December 17th for Christmas break. Since we are supposed to start teaching October 1st, I'm not terribly worried about the visa not coming in time. I think the date I picked is late enough in September that it won't be a problem. There is also a lot I need to do when I get there (find a place to live, open a bank account, etc.) so I want to make sure I have a few days to settle in before I begin work. It definitely feels good to have at least one thing all figured out! A lot of other assistants seem to be buying their plane tickets now as well so I do not foresee any issues.

For anyone who plans on visiting me next year, here are the breaks I have:

1. October 22 - November 2
2. December 17 - January 3 (I will be coming home for Christmas)
3. February 11 - February 26
4. April 7 - April 22
5. April 30 (my last day) -

There are some of the places I want to visit:

• Ireland
• Scotland
• Spain
• Portugal
• Morocco
• Egypt
• Many places in France!!!

If you plan on visiting, start thinking about when you might like to come and where you might like to go.