We may be staying in Annecy a little while longer than planned. I had my heart set on Lyon if we were to stay in France since finding a job there would be easier, but we don’t really have a choice. I’m a little sad about not being able to move to Quebec sooner, but we need to save money anyway. At least one of us will have a job this summer…
I suppose I should start planning to send out my CV to all the language schools in the area. The end of April will be here fast. I’ll probably try to be a local recruit for the rectorat next year too, though being an assistant isn’t as fun anymore. It could just be the commute, or it could be the immature students, who knows. I don’t really want to work for the rectorat anymore, but I don’t really want to work in the private sector either. But really, what else can I do here?
I’m trying to accept the idea that teaching English may be the only job I can get here. I don’t mind it so much right now, but I don’t know if I want to do it forever. I’ve always wanted to teach French in an Anglophone country, like Canada or Australia. Teaching English doesn’t challenge me. I don’t learn anything new. I know a lot of people need to learn English for their jobs or whatever, but I’d rather help people learn French than English.
Plus working in the private sector would probably mean driving a lot to different companies. I am glad to have a car now, but I’m still stressed about driving here especially since I can’t get my car to start properly. It stalls at least once every day when I’m trying to go to work. Some days it takes 15 minutes to start. I realized the démarreur switch is a manual choke, which I have never seen before and have no idea how to use correctly.
I bought my carte grise this morning, which was only 108 € thanks to the age of my car. I know I shouldn’t complain about the cost of gas or insurance since I knew I would have to pay for those when I bought a car… but still, it annoys me that my French car is as expensive as my American car, and yet everything about my American car is a thousand times better. I’m so tired of having to pay so much for everything here.
I guess I’m just being bitter about being so poor. I went to university for 6 years to earn a Master’s degree, but that means absolutely nothing to the French. I want to work to earn a decent income and pay off my student loans, but I don’t see that happening any time soon in France. I have a feeling we are going to be poor until the day we finally leave this country and the Euro far behind.
