off on another adventure

Trying to make sure a trip to France was included in my summer plans, I applied for two grants earlier this year, and to my surprise and great delight, I received not one, but both! The first was shared with me by my friend, fellow Fulbrighter and IB French teacher, Tuan. The program is sponsored by the French Embassy, and pays my tuition and housing for a three-week immersion workshop on teaching FLE - French as a foreign language - at the CAVILAM in Vichy. (Thankfully, Tuan and I both got the grant, and I'm looking forward to catching up with him this summer). The other is through Fund for Teachers, an organization that supports teacher learning by providing grant money for educators to pursue a project of their choosing. While reading more about the Embassy grants, I stumbled across an immersion-cooking class specializing in regional cuisine and the French culinary arts. As a budding chef (last night, I made a fantastic lemon chicken served on a bed of onions and homemade croutons, fresh spinach with garlic and pine nuts, and espresso custard) I'm excited about learning the secrets behind French cuisine and enhancing my classroom lessons with my insider-information. And who knows, when I get back, maybe a few of you will get invited to a tasting!