"Welcome to Bacon Country"

Strange title, huh? Well, this is a direct quote – and actually the only thing said to us in English – by the academic director of the Rennes region at our Assistant Orientation on Monday. I didn’t take notes on the specifics, but I think the quote refers to the fact that the region produces a large percentage of French meat/sausage/etc. Fun to know, I guess. Anyway, the orientation was actually pretty cool; there were about 60 assistants there total, from all over – Argentina, Chile, Nicaragua, India, Russia, Austria, Ireland, England, Canada, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, etc etc. First we all just introduced ourselves, got lots of administrative info, had lunch, and then split into language workshops where they gave us some teaching advice. In general the orientation was really helpful, but I left there a bit overwhelmed with all of the admin paperwork that needed to be done in the next few days.