Le Tampon (La Réunion Island, Indian Ocean)

To find a place nicer than Aberystwyth to spend a year was always going to be hard until I heard about La Réunion Island.  It is a tiny, volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, yet it is an overseas department of France, and I was fortunate enough to spend nine months there as a language assistant. It is an island of contrasts, with sandy beaches, mountainous cirques, coral reefs, waterfalls and the Piton de Neiges, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
As an assistant, I worked up to 12 hours a week, which leaves plenty of time in between to go hiking, surfing, mountain biking, canyoning and even paragliding, or like most people, putting up a hammock on the beach and taking a long siesta.  Do not expect to get things done quickly in Réunion though, as the Réunionnais, although friendly and welcoming, are very relaxed, a bit too relaxed, and also love to go on strike.  They speak in Creole, a language loosely based on French, yet completely incomprehensible for even most French people, let alone us anglophones.  Being a teaching assistant wasn’t a problem though, as my pupils (who were aged from 14 to 24) were always really keen to learn English, while most of my friends over there were “zoreilles”, (people from mainland France), so the lack of knowledge in Creole didn’t cause many problems. 
Possibly one of the best aspects of Réunion is its location; it is an excellent base from which to explore the Indian Ocean, and with more school holidays than the métropole, there is more time to go exploring.  I visited Mauritius (twice!), plus Rodrigues and Madagascar, but there is also Mayotte and the Seychelles are equally easily accessible.
So if you’re looking for something a bit different to France, and don’t mind spending several months on a baking tropical island, then I would definitely recommend it!

Joseph Ratford