(the end)
78 pages of french were written this year.
4.5 journals were filled.
5 countries visited.
1000ish photos taken
4 AMAZING friends made
about 60 more friends made =D
thousands of memories lived.
I'm still not ready to go...but I have to. 'Il faut partir pour revenir,' as my host mum says - you have to leave to come back. tomorrow I leave to go to Paris to spend 4 amazing weeks traveling with mum and papa - and God knows I'm excited about that one!!
there will probably be a couple posts, but I promise nothing.
this year abroad has been my dream for 10 years - and I was NOT disappointed in my dream come true.
and now I'm off to one last sortie with my Nantais girls...il faut profiter!!
à +!
15 May 2008
12 May 2008
251 vs...4
days ago I arrived in Nantes...days until I leave.
those chiffres (numbers) scare the living daylights out of me. I can NOT believe this year is over. I'm in the midst of finishing my IS (25 pages so far, and still not *quite* done), taking final exams (only three, thank goodness) and trying to pack (HAH!). of course, there's also the trying-desperately-to-savor-everything that always happens at the end of a school year.
it's just that it's even more extreme than usual. the past two years, it's been to leave for the summer and then come back in a matter of months. now, it's leave for the summer...and come back eventually. sometime in the future. I know perfectly well I'll come back...it may be thirty years from now like mum (who arrived safe and sound, if jetlagged this morning!!), it may be shortly after graduation. on sait jamais (one never knows).
all the same, I'm a veritable jumble of emotions right now. I'm VERY ready to see Mum and Papa and travel with them. I'm DEFINITELY very ready to finish with this IS!! I'm ready(ish) to come home to the states, even though I know it's going to be a really rough transition -but I'm dying to see all my friends, so it'll be more than worth it!! I'm ready to face the summer and all the changes it's bringing to Whitman. I'm REALLY ready to go back to Wooster in August and see all the people I've missed so much this year.
but...(there's always a but) I'm not ready to leave France. I'm not ready to go back to no trams that'll get you anywhere you need to go. I'm not ready to go back to speaking english every day. I'm not ready to go to a place where I can't get fresh baguettes and pain au chocolat whenever I want. I'm DEFINITELY not ready to leave the AMAZING friends I've made here. I'm not sure I'm ready to face the growing pains that I know are waiting for me when I try to find a place for the new person that I am in the old settings.
on verra...(we'll see).
back to IS/studying/packing for me!
à +!
oh yeah...a couple more pictures!
those chiffres (numbers) scare the living daylights out of me. I can NOT believe this year is over. I'm in the midst of finishing my IS (25 pages so far, and still not *quite* done), taking final exams (only three, thank goodness) and trying to pack (HAH!). of course, there's also the trying-desperately-to-savor-everything that always happens at the end of a school year.
it's just that it's even more extreme than usual. the past two years, it's been to leave for the summer and then come back in a matter of months. now, it's leave for the summer...and come back eventually. sometime in the future. I know perfectly well I'll come back...it may be thirty years from now like mum (who arrived safe and sound, if jetlagged this morning!!), it may be shortly after graduation. on sait jamais (one never knows).
all the same, I'm a veritable jumble of emotions right now. I'm VERY ready to see Mum and Papa and travel with them. I'm DEFINITELY very ready to finish with this IS!! I'm ready(ish) to come home to the states, even though I know it's going to be a really rough transition -but I'm dying to see all my friends, so it'll be more than worth it!! I'm ready to face the summer and all the changes it's bringing to Whitman. I'm REALLY ready to go back to Wooster in August and see all the people I've missed so much this year.
but...(there's always a but) I'm not ready to leave France. I'm not ready to go back to no trams that'll get you anywhere you need to go. I'm not ready to go back to speaking english every day. I'm not ready to go to a place where I can't get fresh baguettes and pain au chocolat whenever I want. I'm DEFINITELY not ready to leave the AMAZING friends I've made here. I'm not sure I'm ready to face the growing pains that I know are waiting for me when I try to find a place for the new person that I am in the old settings.
on verra...(we'll see).
back to IS/studying/packing for me!
à +!
oh yeah...a couple more pictures!
06 May 2008
sometimes life is just about making a fool of yourself
So this evening, instead of going to conversation club, Brianna, Vanessa and I performed a little sociology experiment. Near the opera house, there is a roundabout - essentially there version of a four way stop, except that it joins 6 streets, is a heck of a lot more confusing, and has this little grassy circle in the middle. actually, it's a pretty big grassy circle. Since it was a nice, sunny, warm evening, we decided, for lack of anything else to do, to sit in the middle of this roundabout center. So for a good hour, we sat around talking - and people watching from the middle of Place Graslin.
After a few minutes, we turned it into a game. French people can be very...stubborn about showing emotion in public. They live in their own little bubbles - getting a smile on the street from a stranger is UNHEARD of, believe you me. I'm personally convinced that they WANT to smile - they just don't. So we started trying to MAKE them smile. We started by just waiting to make eye contact with people in the cars and smiling. Sometimes they smiled back...and then we started waving. The idiotic, overexcited little kid wave. And trust me, we got more than one laugh out of people!! The best ones were the people that saw us...and then we saw their facial muscles twitch, trying not to laugh. And sometimes, they even waved back! The best ones were the buses that drove by...we got some of the BEST reactions out of the passengers. You could practically see them thinking "what on EARTH are they doing?!"
and it was one of the best spent hours in a long time =)
(a couple more pictures, by the way!)
à+!
After a few minutes, we turned it into a game. French people can be very...stubborn about showing emotion in public. They live in their own little bubbles - getting a smile on the street from a stranger is UNHEARD of, believe you me. I'm personally convinced that they WANT to smile - they just don't. So we started trying to MAKE them smile. We started by just waiting to make eye contact with people in the cars and smiling. Sometimes they smiled back...and then we started waving. The idiotic, overexcited little kid wave. And trust me, we got more than one laugh out of people!! The best ones were the people that saw us...and then we saw their facial muscles twitch, trying not to laugh. And sometimes, they even waved back! The best ones were the buses that drove by...we got some of the BEST reactions out of the passengers. You could practically see them thinking "what on EARTH are they doing?!"
and it was one of the best spent hours in a long time =)
(a couple more pictures, by the way!)
à+!
27 April 2008
down the homestretch
It's difficult for me to believe that this semester is almost over. I've been here since september, and now it's almost may. I'll be in Paris with my parents in less than three weeks! While I'm uber excited to see them and go on our whirlwind tour of France and excited to see everyone back home and spend another summer at Whitman and go back to Wooster...I'm not ready to leave France. As frustrating as things have been sometimes (I can't wait to go back to the American education system) and tiring (speaking in my maternal language will be a plus as well) and overwhelming, I've come to love this country so much.
Fortunately, there are still a few more weeks to profite bien (enjoy well)! and I plan on doing just that...as well as finishing my IS, of course =D
the second round of break pictures are up! I didn't take as many pictures as I had thought in egypt, simply because Bri and I were already conspicuous enough, taking pictures of random things probably wouldn't have helped our cases. ergo, it's essentially the tourist areas that we have pictures of...but that's okay! and the album is titled SPF 100 because I did, indeed, wear SPF 100 sunscreen. good thing I did, too...cause even still I got a little pink!
SPF 100
back to IS...à+!
Fortunately, there are still a few more weeks to profite bien (enjoy well)! and I plan on doing just that...as well as finishing my IS, of course =D
the second round of break pictures are up! I didn't take as many pictures as I had thought in egypt, simply because Bri and I were already conspicuous enough, taking pictures of random things probably wouldn't have helped our cases. ergo, it's essentially the tourist areas that we have pictures of...but that's okay! and the album is titled SPF 100 because I did, indeed, wear SPF 100 sunscreen. good thing I did, too...cause even still I got a little pink!
SPF 100
back to IS...à+!
26 April 2008
vive le beau temps!
so it's currently about 75 and sunny here, so I'm going to profite (enjoy) the good weather by doing some work out in the garden instead of cooped up in my room. but first...
pictures!
la dolce vita -easter weekend in Italy with Pete and Andrea
athenian adventures - the grecian portion of spring break with Bri...egypt should be coming tomorrow!
and now I'm gonna go (try to) be productive for a bit before dinner
à+!
pictures!
la dolce vita -easter weekend in Italy with Pete and Andrea
athenian adventures - the grecian portion of spring break with Bri...egypt should be coming tomorrow!
and now I'm gonna go (try to) be productive for a bit before dinner
à+!
23 April 2008
don't forget the sunscreen!
Where to begin?
The adventure to Greece and Egypt was, essentially, amazing. Though I'm going to need to do a cliffnotes version for my own sanity...I haven't even finished journalling it all, and it's already at a dozen pages!
Grecian highlights (we were only there for a couple days, so there arent quite as many as Egypt. that's not at all to say I didn't absolutely love it, though!!):
-hanging out at the Acropolis for a good four hours. Bri and I were sitting in the remnants of the for a couple of hours, just chilling and talking and basking in the sun before we even made it up to the acropolis...and then when we did, we lingered for a couple more hours! It really was amazing to see the things I studied in 6th grade social studies classes literally in front of me...its a shame transatlantic field trips are too expensive!
-swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! We went to Aegea (...or something like that...) which is an island near Athens and sorta just...chilled on the beach! and despite the fact that the water was QUITE chilly, we decided we couldn't NOT go swimming =D then we spent an hour or so talking in broken english -since we're french, of course - with a couple of Grecian boys who came over =D it was utterly random but highly entertaining!
-the yogurt. I'm already a fan of yogurt, but I had the most incredibly yogurt there...it's the consistency of frozen yogurt and when you drench it in honey, it's amazing!
Egyptian highlights:
-the Khan al-Kahlili: Brianna is a MASTER at haggling, so we got a ton of cool stuff for very little money =D including some lotus flower perfume and some gorgeous papyrus paintings
-the Citadel...the mosques are beautiful...and ornate. and very peaceful, actually, once the tourist crowds disperse a little. There was something about one of the smaller ones that reminded me very much of the ashram described in Eat, Pray, Love.
-the various politically-incorrect catcalls Bri and I got: Chocolate and Milk, Chocolate and Cream, Chocolate and Mayonnaise (thanks, Reda...), Brown and White Sugar, and (my favorite) Nefertiti and Cleopatra
-going to Alexandria with a group of students from Algeria and Iraq. Interesting experience for me as an American, but it just reinforced the fact that the conflict between our countries is NOT the people's conflict - we all just want to live our lives in peace. plus the dance party on the beach was uber fun as well =D
-tea. everywhere you go, you get offered tea as part of the Egyptian hospitality. We drank a lot of very sweet tea
-the various misspellings of english words...things like narkin, looby and caffee
-of course I saved the best for last...and this will be more than a bulleted item, since it deserves a proper telling of a story!
One of the other quotes that Kim sent me reads "I rather like my stumblings. Sometimes they lead me to some pretty great places." This quote essentially epitomized our first day in Egypt. We left our youth hostel with the intent of finding (eventually) a tourism office so that we could get a map. Our stumblings led us instead to the Four Seasons hotel where we asked if they had a map. Not only did they give us a map, but they also gave us free water (quite the blessing in Egypt!) and asked where we were headed. When we said Giza, they offered to call a cab for us! Said cabdriver was so nice...when he saw us oohing and ahhing over the view of the Nile, he actually stopped and pulled over to take a picture of us! We got to Giza and he took us to the tour guide that I have to assume the Four Seasons sends all of their clientèle! The man in charge described the tour to us, told us how long it would be, that sort of thing. We agreed (after getting the price, he didn't want to volunteer THAT information up front! it wasnt bad, though) and next thing I know there are two horses standing in front of us!! We toured the Pyramids on horseback!! What pleased me was that when the tour guide saw that I was actually riding and holding the reins and everything, he told the handler to take the lead rope off =D The Pyramids are absolutely breathtaking to see...I can't imagine how something like that was accomplished...and how they're still standing today! As we were wandering around, drinking in the sights and baking in the desert sun, we saw a couple of people literally race by on their horses. I looked over at Bri and said "you have NO idea how much I want to do that!!" Our tour guide heard me and told me with a sly grin "We can. Once we get to softer sand...we'll race." and race we did! The tour guide latched onto Bri's arm (who isn't a rider in the same way I am), spurred our horses into action...and we literally galloped across the Sahara Desert on horses next to the Great Pyramids! It was unbelievably exhilarating...I've never in my life been given the chance to just...run like that. It's always been in a ring, an arena...and this was nothing but empty desert. and we ran.
and it was amazing.
à+!
The adventure to Greece and Egypt was, essentially, amazing. Though I'm going to need to do a cliffnotes version for my own sanity...I haven't even finished journalling it all, and it's already at a dozen pages!
Grecian highlights (we were only there for a couple days, so there arent quite as many as Egypt. that's not at all to say I didn't absolutely love it, though!!):
-hanging out at the Acropolis for a good four hours. Bri and I were sitting in the remnants of the for a couple of hours, just chilling and talking and basking in the sun before we even made it up to the acropolis...and then when we did, we lingered for a couple more hours! It really was amazing to see the things I studied in 6th grade social studies classes literally in front of me...its a shame transatlantic field trips are too expensive!
-swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! We went to Aegea (...or something like that...) which is an island near Athens and sorta just...chilled on the beach! and despite the fact that the water was QUITE chilly, we decided we couldn't NOT go swimming =D then we spent an hour or so talking in broken english -since we're french, of course - with a couple of Grecian boys who came over =D it was utterly random but highly entertaining!
-the yogurt. I'm already a fan of yogurt, but I had the most incredibly yogurt there...it's the consistency of frozen yogurt and when you drench it in honey, it's amazing!
Egyptian highlights:
-the Khan al-Kahlili: Brianna is a MASTER at haggling, so we got a ton of cool stuff for very little money =D including some lotus flower perfume and some gorgeous papyrus paintings
-the Citadel...the mosques are beautiful...and ornate. and very peaceful, actually, once the tourist crowds disperse a little. There was something about one of the smaller ones that reminded me very much of the ashram described in Eat, Pray, Love.
-the various politically-incorrect catcalls Bri and I got: Chocolate and Milk, Chocolate and Cream, Chocolate and Mayonnaise (thanks, Reda...), Brown and White Sugar, and (my favorite) Nefertiti and Cleopatra
-going to Alexandria with a group of students from Algeria and Iraq. Interesting experience for me as an American, but it just reinforced the fact that the conflict between our countries is NOT the people's conflict - we all just want to live our lives in peace. plus the dance party on the beach was uber fun as well =D
-tea. everywhere you go, you get offered tea as part of the Egyptian hospitality. We drank a lot of very sweet tea
-the various misspellings of english words...things like narkin, looby and caffee
-of course I saved the best for last...and this will be more than a bulleted item, since it deserves a proper telling of a story!
One of the other quotes that Kim sent me reads "I rather like my stumblings. Sometimes they lead me to some pretty great places." This quote essentially epitomized our first day in Egypt. We left our youth hostel with the intent of finding (eventually) a tourism office so that we could get a map. Our stumblings led us instead to the Four Seasons hotel where we asked if they had a map. Not only did they give us a map, but they also gave us free water (quite the blessing in Egypt!) and asked where we were headed. When we said Giza, they offered to call a cab for us! Said cabdriver was so nice...when he saw us oohing and ahhing over the view of the Nile, he actually stopped and pulled over to take a picture of us! We got to Giza and he took us to the tour guide that I have to assume the Four Seasons sends all of their clientèle! The man in charge described the tour to us, told us how long it would be, that sort of thing. We agreed (after getting the price, he didn't want to volunteer THAT information up front! it wasnt bad, though) and next thing I know there are two horses standing in front of us!! We toured the Pyramids on horseback!! What pleased me was that when the tour guide saw that I was actually riding and holding the reins and everything, he told the handler to take the lead rope off =D The Pyramids are absolutely breathtaking to see...I can't imagine how something like that was accomplished...and how they're still standing today! As we were wandering around, drinking in the sights and baking in the desert sun, we saw a couple of people literally race by on their horses. I looked over at Bri and said "you have NO idea how much I want to do that!!" Our tour guide heard me and told me with a sly grin "We can. Once we get to softer sand...we'll race." and race we did! The tour guide latched onto Bri's arm (who isn't a rider in the same way I am), spurred our horses into action...and we literally galloped across the Sahara Desert on horses next to the Great Pyramids! It was unbelievably exhilarating...I've never in my life been given the chance to just...run like that. It's always been in a ring, an arena...and this was nothing but empty desert. and we ran.
and it was amazing.
à+!
10 April 2008
A picture's worth a thousand words
I'm failing at the updating this blog thing...it's been an IS week, so my writing capacities have been exhausted by writing about Merteuil and feminism and libertinage and Les Liaisons Dangereuses...but hey, it's at 8 pages already! so instead, you get pictures! Corsica, Monaco, a little bit of Paris and Normandy.
Day trippin'!
Gambling and Island hopping
you all should expect a flood of pictures in about 3 weeks, though...on Monday I'm leaving with Brianna for our epic spring break adventure - Athens and Cairo!! I'm SO excited it's not even funny! so you'll get all those pictures, as well as the pictures from Rome and Florence =D
quick anecdote before I head back to the IS:
apparently France has brought out my chatty side. I was talking with Tim before our religion class started about the book I borrowed from him, A Thousand Shining Suns (AMAZING, by the way). I was talking about how good it was, how it made me cry, etc etc etc. all of a sudden the cahier d'appelle (roll call notebook) is waving in front of my face...my prof was trying to get my attention. I apologize for talking, saying I didn't realize class had "started." before he starts the roll call, he looks and me and says "nous l'appelons une perrouche dans une cage. est-ce que vous êtes familier avec la perrouche?" when I respond that I don't, not knowing this particular vocab word, he informs me that a perrouche is "un oiseau qui fait beacoup de bruit!" (we call that a female parrot in a cage. are you familiar with the female parrot?...a bird that makes a lot of noise!)
essentially, I got burned by my 60 year old professor...cassée!, as they say here!
à+!
Day trippin'!
Gambling and Island hopping
you all should expect a flood of pictures in about 3 weeks, though...on Monday I'm leaving with Brianna for our epic spring break adventure - Athens and Cairo!! I'm SO excited it's not even funny! so you'll get all those pictures, as well as the pictures from Rome and Florence =D
quick anecdote before I head back to the IS:
apparently France has brought out my chatty side. I was talking with Tim before our religion class started about the book I borrowed from him, A Thousand Shining Suns (AMAZING, by the way). I was talking about how good it was, how it made me cry, etc etc etc. all of a sudden the cahier d'appelle (roll call notebook) is waving in front of my face...my prof was trying to get my attention. I apologize for talking, saying I didn't realize class had "started." before he starts the roll call, he looks and me and says "nous l'appelons une perrouche dans une cage. est-ce que vous êtes familier avec la perrouche?" when I respond that I don't, not knowing this particular vocab word, he informs me that a perrouche is "un oiseau qui fait beacoup de bruit!" (we call that a female parrot in a cage. are you familiar with the female parrot?...a bird that makes a lot of noise!)
essentially, I got burned by my 60 year old professor...cassée!, as they say here!
à+!
04 April 2008
La vie n'est pas toujours belle...
(life isn't always beautiful)
This past week has been...hard. While I can't say too much (it isnt my story to tell) I've been spending the past week with a friend here who is going through one of the hardest times of her life. I'd go over to her house in the afternoons and stay with her during the nights so that she wouldn't be alone. And it was hard. It was hard to see a friend I care so much about hurting so horribly...and it would bring back to the surfaces my own feelings when I went through similar situations -she and I are a lot alike, so I could understand why she was feeling the way she was. and since she went back to the States today, it was also hard to say goodbye. So this was a very difficult week for me and all my Nantais girls.
Last week, I received an Easter card from my wonderful adopted mommy Kim and y compris là-dédans (included in it) were a bunch of days from her page a day calendar of words of wisdom from women. I immediately put them up on my bulletin board next to all the photos of my friends, and upon coming home yesterday after saying goodbye (until I go visit her in NC, of course!), I noticed one of them in particular: "Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage." - Maya Angelou. It's going to take a lot of courage for my friend to pull herself through this. But she is one of the most courageous women I know, so I know she'll survive.
and this week to come for me is all about courageously plunging completely and totally into work!
à +
PS: in my wanderings in Nantes to and from the fac (I decided that since it's beautifully warm and sunny not to bother with the tram) that au bord de l'Erdre (on the banks of the Erdre) there are THINKING TREES! for those of you who don't know the history of Thinking Trees, they're called Cherry Trees in real life. but when I lived in Princeton, I used to spend hours upon hours climbing in a particular cherry tree, which I called my Thinking Tree. My favorite part was during the spring pulling at the branches to make the pink petals fall off and shower down. As I was walking back today, I noticed those iconic pink clusters. and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a nice day too, so that I can go back and take pictures =D
This past week has been...hard. While I can't say too much (it isnt my story to tell) I've been spending the past week with a friend here who is going through one of the hardest times of her life. I'd go over to her house in the afternoons and stay with her during the nights so that she wouldn't be alone. And it was hard. It was hard to see a friend I care so much about hurting so horribly...and it would bring back to the surfaces my own feelings when I went through similar situations -she and I are a lot alike, so I could understand why she was feeling the way she was. and since she went back to the States today, it was also hard to say goodbye. So this was a very difficult week for me and all my Nantais girls.
Last week, I received an Easter card from my wonderful adopted mommy Kim and y compris là-dédans (included in it) were a bunch of days from her page a day calendar of words of wisdom from women. I immediately put them up on my bulletin board next to all the photos of my friends, and upon coming home yesterday after saying goodbye (until I go visit her in NC, of course!), I noticed one of them in particular: "Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage." - Maya Angelou. It's going to take a lot of courage for my friend to pull herself through this. But she is one of the most courageous women I know, so I know she'll survive.
and this week to come for me is all about courageously plunging completely and totally into work!
à +
PS: in my wanderings in Nantes to and from the fac (I decided that since it's beautifully warm and sunny not to bother with the tram) that au bord de l'Erdre (on the banks of the Erdre) there are THINKING TREES! for those of you who don't know the history of Thinking Trees, they're called Cherry Trees in real life. but when I lived in Princeton, I used to spend hours upon hours climbing in a particular cherry tree, which I called my Thinking Tree. My favorite part was during the spring pulling at the branches to make the pink petals fall off and shower down. As I was walking back today, I noticed those iconic pink clusters. and I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a nice day too, so that I can go back and take pictures =D
27 March 2008
The best way to get to know people?
Travel with them =D
I had an absolutely fabulous Easter weekend with Pete and Andrea in Italy. It was, in a word, overwhelming, but amazing all the same! Day one (Good Friday) was Rome...within 5 hours we managed to visit the Vatican City and St Peter's Basilica as well as the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. The Vatican City was very...ornate. VERY elaborate. I didn't remember that St Peter's housed Michaelangelo's Pieta, which I studied in my art history class, so I was uber excited to see it in person!
The Sistine Chapel was impressive - it was SO neat to see the ceiling in person, though I was sad you couldn't take pictures. It's hard to imagine that one man painted that whole ceiling...and the walk through the Vatican Museum to get to the Sistine Chapel was impressive in and of itself. While we didn't linger very long in each room it was fun to wander through and see all these statues and paintings...I saw another statue I studied in art history, though I regrettably forget the name of it =(
The Trevi Fountain was one heck of an impressive fountain...though we got a little lost trying to find it. The map in the metro made it seem like it was a stone's throw to get there once you leave the metro...maybe if it's Hercules throwing the stone! I threw my coins in to ensure my return to Rome and the granting of my wish...though you'll sadly just have to imagine what wish I made, I'm not telling!
Our last stop before our train to Florence was the Colosseum. There's a REASON there's a linguistic link between Colosseum and colossal...because that's what it is. A colossal, overwhelming, incredibly ancient construction that takes your breath away. It's amazing to think of how they possibly could have managed to make something so big that has lasted through centuries of weather, wars and bloody history that is still standing millenia later.
Easter in Florence was...kind of horrible, simply because of the pouring rain and cold temperatures...so we won't go there. But Saturday? Saturday was PERFECT. the weather was amazing - we all got a little sunburned! - and the sights were breathtaking and the gelato was delicious (we got gelato 6 times...). I was proud to be a PK (pastor's kid) in Florence and Rome...knowing the stories from the Bible really made things like the Sistine Chapel and the Bapistery by the Duomo all the more meaningful. I could stand there for hours, never getting bored, always picking out a new story and scene. We exhausted ourselves in Florence, drinking in the sights of the impressive Duomo, the beautiful statues at the Piazza della Signoria (where the practically identical copy of David stands), the silly overpriced trinkets at the vendors stands. We ate a ton of gelato and pasta, enjoying every bite and stuffing ourselves silly. I gave the weary backpackers backrubs and we laughed over the stupidest had-to-be-there moments. and I loved every minute of it! Especially the part where I got to hang out with my big brother and practically-big-sister =)
as a side note...there's nothing like Italian men to boost your self confidence. I can't count the number of times I was stared at, winked at, hit on and "ciao bella"-ed!
now I have to come back down to earth...and stay put for a while! I realized that in the past 4 weeks I was in 10 different cities in 3 different countries! (Monaco is it's own country...) but now I'm focusing on the school work. Nose to the grindstone on my IS and...well, getting the IES work done, too. But I'm ready to stay firmly put for a while and live it up Nantais style =)
à+!
ps - the photo thing is going to be done in segments...voila part one!
...my friends take a lot of pictures!
for the benefit of non-facebook peoples
Rats, Bats and other Legendary Creatures
Nice was nice!
et la troisieme...
more to come: Paris, Normandy and Italy
I had an absolutely fabulous Easter weekend with Pete and Andrea in Italy. It was, in a word, overwhelming, but amazing all the same! Day one (Good Friday) was Rome...within 5 hours we managed to visit the Vatican City and St Peter's Basilica as well as the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. The Vatican City was very...ornate. VERY elaborate. I didn't remember that St Peter's housed Michaelangelo's Pieta, which I studied in my art history class, so I was uber excited to see it in person!
The Sistine Chapel was impressive - it was SO neat to see the ceiling in person, though I was sad you couldn't take pictures. It's hard to imagine that one man painted that whole ceiling...and the walk through the Vatican Museum to get to the Sistine Chapel was impressive in and of itself. While we didn't linger very long in each room it was fun to wander through and see all these statues and paintings...I saw another statue I studied in art history, though I regrettably forget the name of it =(
The Trevi Fountain was one heck of an impressive fountain...though we got a little lost trying to find it. The map in the metro made it seem like it was a stone's throw to get there once you leave the metro...maybe if it's Hercules throwing the stone! I threw my coins in to ensure my return to Rome and the granting of my wish...though you'll sadly just have to imagine what wish I made, I'm not telling!
Our last stop before our train to Florence was the Colosseum. There's a REASON there's a linguistic link between Colosseum and colossal...because that's what it is. A colossal, overwhelming, incredibly ancient construction that takes your breath away. It's amazing to think of how they possibly could have managed to make something so big that has lasted through centuries of weather, wars and bloody history that is still standing millenia later.
Easter in Florence was...kind of horrible, simply because of the pouring rain and cold temperatures...so we won't go there. But Saturday? Saturday was PERFECT. the weather was amazing - we all got a little sunburned! - and the sights were breathtaking and the gelato was delicious (we got gelato 6 times...). I was proud to be a PK (pastor's kid) in Florence and Rome...knowing the stories from the Bible really made things like the Sistine Chapel and the Bapistery by the Duomo all the more meaningful. I could stand there for hours, never getting bored, always picking out a new story and scene. We exhausted ourselves in Florence, drinking in the sights of the impressive Duomo, the beautiful statues at the Piazza della Signoria (where the practically identical copy of David stands), the silly overpriced trinkets at the vendors stands. We ate a ton of gelato and pasta, enjoying every bite and stuffing ourselves silly. I gave the weary backpackers backrubs and we laughed over the stupidest had-to-be-there moments. and I loved every minute of it! Especially the part where I got to hang out with my big brother and practically-big-sister =)
as a side note...there's nothing like Italian men to boost your self confidence. I can't count the number of times I was stared at, winked at, hit on and "ciao bella"-ed!
now I have to come back down to earth...and stay put for a while! I realized that in the past 4 weeks I was in 10 different cities in 3 different countries! (Monaco is it's own country...) but now I'm focusing on the school work. Nose to the grindstone on my IS and...well, getting the IES work done, too. But I'm ready to stay firmly put for a while and live it up Nantais style =)
à+!
ps - the photo thing is going to be done in segments...voila part one!
...my friends take a lot of pictures!
for the benefit of non-facebook peoples
Rats, Bats and other Legendary Creatures
Nice was nice!
et la troisieme...
more to come: Paris, Normandy and Italy
17 March 2008
We didn't start the fire...
...it was always burnin' since the world's been turnin'...
and this past weekend only confirmed those lyrics for me. I went on one of the most depressing-in-an-inspiring-way weekend trip to the Normandy region. More specifically, to Caen - to visit the WWII memorial, to Omaha Beach - and the American cemetery, and Point du Hoc -the German forces' base. It was overwhelming, to say the least. At the memorial museum in Caen we watched a couple of films that included footage from the battles, but nothing compares to actually going to the beaches and seeing what the Allied troops were facing. Omaha beach, for example, is HUGE...much more so than I was expecting. There's also all sorts of marshy vegetation to fight through...and a very large hill. and of course, the troops were also dealing with the enemy fire raining down on them...it's no wonder that the cemetery is as large as it is. It's a sight that will take your breath away...crosses and Stars of David stretching on for what seems like forever in perfect rows...
It was an emotional weekend for me. I always remember the Albert Einstein quote whenever I think of war..."One definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result every time." I have to wonder when humankind will find the new approach, rather than trying that same thing over and over.
Being the broadway baby/music aficionado that I am, music marked a lot of this weekend for me, too. I had Billy Joel's "We didnt start the fire" going through my head as we were watching one of the films at the Caen museum that showed image after image and footage of so many of the wars and armed conflicts that have happened in the past century. It was...bouleversant (moving, distressing), to say the least. but then...a new song started to play in my head while I was at the cemetery. A song most people don't know, because it's 8 years old and part of an obscure musical created by an international theatre troupe that doesn't exist anymore. It's called A Song of Peace from A Common Beat, created and performed by Up With People. UWP came to Ontario when I was in 7th grade. I have the soundtrack memorized...and on my iPod.
Can we sing a song of peace in a world that's full of fear? Can a melody of hope ever hope to dry a tear? It's an easy thing to say and it's so hard to hear...will the fighting ever cease if we sing a song of peace? Can we sing a song of love when we're hostages of hate? Will it be heard above the shouting at the gate? Can we stop the sands of time if we hold a hand of faith? In this world of push and shove can we sing a song of love?
Clouds are gathering on the horizon and on the winds...overtures of war. It may be too late to settle for peace if we wait till they settle the score
Can we sing a song of peace when they're knocking down our doors? Can you hold an olive branch, hang on to what is yours till the weapons that destroy go to join the dinosaurs? Will there still be hope at least if we sing a song of peace?
à+
and this past weekend only confirmed those lyrics for me. I went on one of the most depressing-in-an-inspiring-way weekend trip to the Normandy region. More specifically, to Caen - to visit the WWII memorial, to Omaha Beach - and the American cemetery, and Point du Hoc -the German forces' base. It was overwhelming, to say the least. At the memorial museum in Caen we watched a couple of films that included footage from the battles, but nothing compares to actually going to the beaches and seeing what the Allied troops were facing. Omaha beach, for example, is HUGE...much more so than I was expecting. There's also all sorts of marshy vegetation to fight through...and a very large hill. and of course, the troops were also dealing with the enemy fire raining down on them...it's no wonder that the cemetery is as large as it is. It's a sight that will take your breath away...crosses and Stars of David stretching on for what seems like forever in perfect rows...
It was an emotional weekend for me. I always remember the Albert Einstein quote whenever I think of war..."One definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result every time." I have to wonder when humankind will find the new approach, rather than trying that same thing over and over.
Being the broadway baby/music aficionado that I am, music marked a lot of this weekend for me, too. I had Billy Joel's "We didnt start the fire" going through my head as we were watching one of the films at the Caen museum that showed image after image and footage of so many of the wars and armed conflicts that have happened in the past century. It was...bouleversant (moving, distressing), to say the least. but then...a new song started to play in my head while I was at the cemetery. A song most people don't know, because it's 8 years old and part of an obscure musical created by an international theatre troupe that doesn't exist anymore. It's called A Song of Peace from A Common Beat, created and performed by Up With People. UWP came to Ontario when I was in 7th grade. I have the soundtrack memorized...and on my iPod.
Can we sing a song of peace in a world that's full of fear? Can a melody of hope ever hope to dry a tear? It's an easy thing to say and it's so hard to hear...will the fighting ever cease if we sing a song of peace? Can we sing a song of love when we're hostages of hate? Will it be heard above the shouting at the gate? Can we stop the sands of time if we hold a hand of faith? In this world of push and shove can we sing a song of love?
Clouds are gathering on the horizon and on the winds...overtures of war. It may be too late to settle for peace if we wait till they settle the score
Can we sing a song of peace when they're knocking down our doors? Can you hold an olive branch, hang on to what is yours till the weapons that destroy go to join the dinosaurs? Will there still be hope at least if we sing a song of peace?
à+
13 March 2008
work, play, and...World Wars?
In exactly a week, I'll be taking a train to the Charles de Gaulle airport (which always amuses me to abbreviate, since it's mum's initials!). Why? To meet Peter and Andrea so that we can take a train to Italy! It's so weird that it's only a week away...we've been planning this visit/trip together since LAST semester and it's finally (almost) here. I'm so excited!! It'll be so good to see family faces - and it's been a good year and a half since I've seen Andrea =)
In the meantime, however, I've been making myself get work done. Since I didn't sleep last week and therefore got nothing done, I've made this week a work week, and even more so next week - at least until Thursday! Granted, I still went out to Bucks on Tuesday after conversation club, but I still managed to sleep...some! What's so weird here is that I never seem to *do* all that much each week, but the time still flies by. I always tend to sit here, trying to write a blog entry, and finding that unless it's about travel, I don't usually have much to say. I suppose that's a good thing...it reminds me that I've moved from being a foreigner in a strange country to...someone living here. Things have settled into a relatively normal life, rather than this overwhelming feeling of being foreign.
Well, that's to say that I don't constantly feel foreign. Only sometimes!
Random Fact of the Day: Yesterday Lazare Ponticelli died at the age of 110. He was the last living French "Poilu," c'est-à-dire a soldier of WWI (poilu meaning hairy one, born of the fact that the soldiers in the trenches could never really shave, so they tended to have bushy mustaches and beards) . I learned about him in my religion class earlier this semester, and my professor was saying that when he died it'd be sure to be all over the news. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to watch the news yesterday, but I DID receive a news text message about it =D
and speaking of World Wars, I'm headed to Normandy this weekend with IES!
à +!
PS - does anyone know why one particular website wouldn't work on my computer, even though it does on other computers? I can't seem to log into facebook, even though I'm able to with friends laptops or the IES computers. While it's not the end of the world (since I have the IES computers to use, of course!), it's getting on my nerves, mainly because I want to upload pictures from Nice, Monaco and Corsica, and that's easiest to do with my laptop. Plus, with Normandy and Italy adventures to come, I want to get them up before I have HUNDREDS of pictures to post at once!
In the meantime, however, I've been making myself get work done. Since I didn't sleep last week and therefore got nothing done, I've made this week a work week, and even more so next week - at least until Thursday! Granted, I still went out to Bucks on Tuesday after conversation club, but I still managed to sleep...some! What's so weird here is that I never seem to *do* all that much each week, but the time still flies by. I always tend to sit here, trying to write a blog entry, and finding that unless it's about travel, I don't usually have much to say. I suppose that's a good thing...it reminds me that I've moved from being a foreigner in a strange country to...someone living here. Things have settled into a relatively normal life, rather than this overwhelming feeling of being foreign.
Well, that's to say that I don't constantly feel foreign. Only sometimes!
Random Fact of the Day: Yesterday Lazare Ponticelli died at the age of 110. He was the last living French "Poilu," c'est-à-dire a soldier of WWI (poilu meaning hairy one, born of the fact that the soldiers in the trenches could never really shave, so they tended to have bushy mustaches and beards) . I learned about him in my religion class earlier this semester, and my professor was saying that when he died it'd be sure to be all over the news. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to watch the news yesterday, but I DID receive a news text message about it =D
and speaking of World Wars, I'm headed to Normandy this weekend with IES!
à +!
PS - does anyone know why one particular website wouldn't work on my computer, even though it does on other computers? I can't seem to log into facebook, even though I'm able to with friends laptops or the IES computers. While it's not the end of the world (since I have the IES computers to use, of course!), it's getting on my nerves, mainly because I want to upload pictures from Nice, Monaco and Corsica, and that's easiest to do with my laptop. Plus, with Normandy and Italy adventures to come, I want to get them up before I have HUNDREDS of pictures to post at once!
08 March 2008
Lesson of the Week: sleep is a good thing...
sadly, lessons like that usually have to come from NOT succeeding.
three straight not-enough-sleep nights is not conducive to a successful, productive, fun week.
Monday night wasn't bad...but I had an 8.15 midterm tuesday morning -tuesdays are always sleepy days. then, after conversation club, I went out to watch the lyon vs manchester soccer game...and while none of us really watched the game, we all had a heck of a lot of fun talking and people watching in the bar. unfortunately, I completely lost track of time and consequently didnt get home until quarter of one. and then the next night (despite being sleepy all day...) my girls and I went to Buck Mulligans, which hosts an international night. we didnt actually meet anyone, but we had a hell of a time playing cards and acting like idiots...I'm sure the rest of the people thought we were drunk, but they just dont understand that you can laugh and have fun without extraneous amounts of alcohol =D aaaand once again I didnt make it home until quarter of one...
and then thursday night was the crowning moment of college-sleeplessness-stupidity. We had a day trip to Paris yesterday (moment 16,823,086 of sur-reality of my life, by the way-who takes a day trip to PARIS?) and we had to be at the train station at 7am. my girls and I decide for some unknown reason that it would be a good idea to sleep over at Jenan's house so that we could all go together. of course, we ended up cooking dinner and having a whip-cream-fight (I think since Britney stayed clean, she was the winner) and watching a movie until 2 am. ergo...we were working on about 4 hours of sleep. after two already sleep deprived nights for me.
I was TIRED.
but then I slept for 11 hours last night...and have learned my lesson. granted, it probably won't stop me from doing this again at some point, but that's beside the point =D Besides, it was because of fun that I didn't sleep. every now and then, I'll take that trade-off!
à+!
PS!!! While it may be the 9th here in France (again with the staying out too late...this time dancing!), it's still the 8th back home, and so I say to you...Happy International Women's Day! not only that, but it's the 100 anniversary of the birth of Simone de Beavoire, affectionnately refered to by some as the mother of the second wave feminist movement =)
three straight not-enough-sleep nights is not conducive to a successful, productive, fun week.
Monday night wasn't bad...but I had an 8.15 midterm tuesday morning -tuesdays are always sleepy days. then, after conversation club, I went out to watch the lyon vs manchester soccer game...and while none of us really watched the game, we all had a heck of a lot of fun talking and people watching in the bar. unfortunately, I completely lost track of time and consequently didnt get home until quarter of one. and then the next night (despite being sleepy all day...) my girls and I went to Buck Mulligans, which hosts an international night. we didnt actually meet anyone, but we had a hell of a time playing cards and acting like idiots...I'm sure the rest of the people thought we were drunk, but they just dont understand that you can laugh and have fun without extraneous amounts of alcohol =D aaaand once again I didnt make it home until quarter of one...
and then thursday night was the crowning moment of college-sleeplessness-stupidity. We had a day trip to Paris yesterday (moment 16,823,086 of sur-reality of my life, by the way-who takes a day trip to PARIS?) and we had to be at the train station at 7am. my girls and I decide for some unknown reason that it would be a good idea to sleep over at Jenan's house so that we could all go together. of course, we ended up cooking dinner and having a whip-cream-fight (I think since Britney stayed clean, she was the winner) and watching a movie until 2 am. ergo...we were working on about 4 hours of sleep. after two already sleep deprived nights for me.
I was TIRED.
but then I slept for 11 hours last night...and have learned my lesson. granted, it probably won't stop me from doing this again at some point, but that's beside the point =D Besides, it was because of fun that I didn't sleep. every now and then, I'll take that trade-off!
à+!
PS!!! While it may be the 9th here in France (again with the staying out too late...this time dancing!), it's still the 8th back home, and so I say to you...Happy International Women's Day! not only that, but it's the 100 anniversary of the birth of Simone de Beavoire, affectionnately refered to by some as the mother of the second wave feminist movement =)
02 March 2008
sunburn in February? I'm NOT going to complain!
Well. That was quite the adventure!
(yes, I know it's March. but I got the sunburn in February! and it's even better when the sunburn isn't from snowglare!)
(for my own benefit, I'm doing a timeline. then I'll get to the good stories)
Sunday: beach lounging, picnic lunch, parade, dinner, cruise ship to Corsica
Monday: essentially just wandering around Bastia and Sisco in Corsica, chilling by the water, cruise back to Nice
Tuesday: arrive at the 'hostel,' dinner at the Restaurant du Gesu, night parade
Wednesday: back to the market, Battle of the Flowers, Russian Cathedral
Thursday: train ride to Monaco, Palace, gardens, casino, head back to Nice then back to Nantes
Friday: arrive in Nantes, ULTIMATE crashandburn
So that's what we *did.* My favorite parts:
sitting by the Mediterranean. We did a lot of that...Jenan had brought a deck of skipbo cards, so we'd either play skipbo or write postcards (or journals, for me!), or just bask in the sun. It was so nice to just relax for once...nowhere to go, nothing to do, just enjoying the sun and warmth (my utmost apologies to the snowbunnies back in the states...). And the sea itself...it's amazing. I've NEVER seen a shade of blue like that. When it's overcast, it's this deep grey blue, but when the sun comes out, it turns a brilliant sapphire blue that I didn't think existed except in photoshopped pictures.
the parades. France may not do Halloween, but that's okay - they have Carnavale to make up for it! Little girls were running around in princess costumes (or the occasionnal punk/goth, for the middleschoolers). There were pirates and batmans and spidermans and clowns...even the adults were dressed up! The parades were so much fun...the crowds had TONS (literally) of confetti and silly string...it was amazing. Since it's the year of the rat, the theme was "King of Bats, Cats, Rats and other Legendary Creatures." There was a dinosaur, a ton of vampires, bats and rat-themed floats.
the "hostel" in Nice. When we booked Nice Home Sweet Home on hostelworld.com, I was expecting something like the hostel I stayed in while I was in Paris. Clean, but simple, bunks with strangers, that sort of thing. We walk into the room (just for us, by the way) and it's HUGE. Bigger than some of the IES classrooms! There was a tv, dvd player, and a cd player. There was even a little balcony outside our window! Needless to say, it was incredible. The owners are so nice, too. At any rate, when we got there on tuesday, we were exhausted by our corsica trip - the ship docked at 7 am, so our days started EARLY. we decided to take an afternoon nap that was intended to be from 3 to 4.15. well...I was the first to wake up at quarter of 6! if any of you ever go to Nice...try to get a room in the Home Sweet Home bed and breakfast. It's SO worth it!
Monaco. It was pretty incredible, I'm not going to lie. You can tell there's money in that country! We did try our hand at the slot machines in Monte Carlo...all that happened was that we lost 5 euros =D It's just a really...beautiful place. It's so fun to gawk at the ginormous yachts in the port and the shopfronts boasting things that we sure as anything couldn't afford! it was the last day of our trip, so we were all pretty beat.
There were other highlights, of course, but those were some of the best.
And back in Nantes...I saw the most amazing movie last night. It's called Paris, and it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear last night when I just wanted to be in New Jersey with the rest of my family. It's the stories of people living in Paris, how their lives are all intertwined without them even knowing it...one of the main characters had a terminal illness...and the whole movie is about seizing the moment, living life to the fullest and taking the chances that could change your life - because it's too precious to waste. ...and I bawled through the conclusion. anyone surprised? ya shouldn't be! but it had Juliette Binoche and Romain Duris in it, a couple of my FAVORITE actors.
so yes.
carpe diem!
à+!
(yes, I know it's March. but I got the sunburn in February! and it's even better when the sunburn isn't from snowglare!)
(for my own benefit, I'm doing a timeline. then I'll get to the good stories)
Sunday: beach lounging, picnic lunch, parade, dinner, cruise ship to Corsica
Monday: essentially just wandering around Bastia and Sisco in Corsica, chilling by the water, cruise back to Nice
Tuesday: arrive at the 'hostel,' dinner at the Restaurant du Gesu, night parade
Wednesday: back to the market, Battle of the Flowers, Russian Cathedral
Thursday: train ride to Monaco, Palace, gardens, casino, head back to Nice then back to Nantes
Friday: arrive in Nantes, ULTIMATE crashandburn
So that's what we *did.* My favorite parts:
sitting by the Mediterranean. We did a lot of that...Jenan had brought a deck of skipbo cards, so we'd either play skipbo or write postcards (or journals, for me!), or just bask in the sun. It was so nice to just relax for once...nowhere to go, nothing to do, just enjoying the sun and warmth (my utmost apologies to the snowbunnies back in the states...). And the sea itself...it's amazing. I've NEVER seen a shade of blue like that. When it's overcast, it's this deep grey blue, but when the sun comes out, it turns a brilliant sapphire blue that I didn't think existed except in photoshopped pictures.
the parades. France may not do Halloween, but that's okay - they have Carnavale to make up for it! Little girls were running around in princess costumes (or the occasionnal punk/goth, for the middleschoolers). There were pirates and batmans and spidermans and clowns...even the adults were dressed up! The parades were so much fun...the crowds had TONS (literally) of confetti and silly string...it was amazing. Since it's the year of the rat, the theme was "King of Bats, Cats, Rats and other Legendary Creatures." There was a dinosaur, a ton of vampires, bats and rat-themed floats.
the "hostel" in Nice. When we booked Nice Home Sweet Home on hostelworld.com, I was expecting something like the hostel I stayed in while I was in Paris. Clean, but simple, bunks with strangers, that sort of thing. We walk into the room (just for us, by the way) and it's HUGE. Bigger than some of the IES classrooms! There was a tv, dvd player, and a cd player. There was even a little balcony outside our window! Needless to say, it was incredible. The owners are so nice, too. At any rate, when we got there on tuesday, we were exhausted by our corsica trip - the ship docked at 7 am, so our days started EARLY. we decided to take an afternoon nap that was intended to be from 3 to 4.15. well...I was the first to wake up at quarter of 6! if any of you ever go to Nice...try to get a room in the Home Sweet Home bed and breakfast. It's SO worth it!
Monaco. It was pretty incredible, I'm not going to lie. You can tell there's money in that country! We did try our hand at the slot machines in Monte Carlo...all that happened was that we lost 5 euros =D It's just a really...beautiful place. It's so fun to gawk at the ginormous yachts in the port and the shopfronts boasting things that we sure as anything couldn't afford! it was the last day of our trip, so we were all pretty beat.
There were other highlights, of course, but those were some of the best.
And back in Nantes...I saw the most amazing movie last night. It's called Paris, and it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear last night when I just wanted to be in New Jersey with the rest of my family. It's the stories of people living in Paris, how their lives are all intertwined without them even knowing it...one of the main characters had a terminal illness...and the whole movie is about seizing the moment, living life to the fullest and taking the chances that could change your life - because it's too precious to waste. ...and I bawled through the conclusion. anyone surprised? ya shouldn't be! but it had Juliette Binoche and Romain Duris in it, a couple of my FAVORITE actors.
so yes.
carpe diem!
à+!
23 February 2008
off to the Riviera!
In about 2 and a half hours, I'll be train-bound for Nice!
and since I know perfectly well that I'm going to come back with loads of pictures, I figured it was about time that I uploaded the ones I've taken in the past month. There really aren't that many...and I feel as though I should explain the "Revolt of the Mannequins." It was an art project that the national puppetry school (or something like that...) put together in store front window. The thing that I didn't realize at first was that they changed every night. Over the course of a week, they told stories. they are also...creepy. very, very creepy. but amusing, all the same.
l'histoire continue
à+!
and since I know perfectly well that I'm going to come back with loads of pictures, I figured it was about time that I uploaded the ones I've taken in the past month. There really aren't that many...and I feel as though I should explain the "Revolt of the Mannequins." It was an art project that the national puppetry school (or something like that...) put together in store front window. The thing that I didn't realize at first was that they changed every night. Over the course of a week, they told stories. they are also...creepy. very, very creepy. but amusing, all the same.
l'histoire continue
à+!
18 February 2008
hmm...I seem to be lacking a witty title today
Well, I'm afraid I don't have *that* much to write about as of late! The semester has truly picked up in terms of work - a 4-5 page paper for Religion, a 10 page paper for Art, and of course my 25-30 page IS for Wooster. Basically, I'm going to be writing. a LOT. toute en français, of course. Fortunately, I'm starting to settle into a work routine pretty well...with plenty of fun in between, of course =D Like my SUAPS courses, for example.
There's my salsa class from last semester that is SO fun, mainly because we're finally getting into more complicated moves, and the class is *almost* an even ratio of men and women! granted, it's frustrating when the names of the moves are all in SPANISH...I get so lost half the time, but I me débrouille (manage) and hope that my partner knows what the heck he's supposed to do!
There's a class called 'les danses de la société" society dances, better known as ballroom! We do lindy hop, salsa, waltz, chacha...it's great. granted, it's MUCH more uneven as far as the male/female ratio goes, but there are 2 other IES students, so when we don't have someone to dance with we just chat and make fools of ourselves having fun!
and then there's the wild card class-gym douce. 'soft gym'. we were under the impression that it would be almostkindasorta like yoga. ish. we get there the first day and it was...not yoga. we ran around like idiots, skipping and hopping along to essentially elevator music. we did a little bit of stretching (thus I was still under the impression that it might be like yoga...) and then we were told to partner up. and gave each other massages. and we do this every class. so essentially, it's just an hour and a half of running around to warm up and then getting and giving massages. it's pretty much fantastic...so those of you who already know my massages? they've only gotten better =D
oh and on saturday...I'm going to Nice with Jenan and Kim - I'm kind of crazy excited!! It's the Carnaval...which is essentially like our Mardi Gras celebration. well, sort of. We got tickets for three parades, one of which is apparently a HUGE flower parade where the people on the floats shower the crowd with flowers. Needless to say, I'm crazy excited! And I bought a big floppy black sunhat - only appropriate for une promenade sur le promenade des anglais, à côté du côte d'azur - a walk along the boardwalk next to the Riviera.
à+!
ps - to whomever left me a nice comment on my last post...who are you?! all it says is anonymous =(
There's my salsa class from last semester that is SO fun, mainly because we're finally getting into more complicated moves, and the class is *almost* an even ratio of men and women! granted, it's frustrating when the names of the moves are all in SPANISH...I get so lost half the time, but I me débrouille (manage) and hope that my partner knows what the heck he's supposed to do!
There's a class called 'les danses de la société" society dances, better known as ballroom! We do lindy hop, salsa, waltz, chacha...it's great. granted, it's MUCH more uneven as far as the male/female ratio goes, but there are 2 other IES students, so when we don't have someone to dance with we just chat and make fools of ourselves having fun!
and then there's the wild card class-gym douce. 'soft gym'. we were under the impression that it would be almostkindasorta like yoga. ish. we get there the first day and it was...not yoga. we ran around like idiots, skipping and hopping along to essentially elevator music. we did a little bit of stretching (thus I was still under the impression that it might be like yoga...) and then we were told to partner up. and gave each other massages. and we do this every class. so essentially, it's just an hour and a half of running around to warm up and then getting and giving massages. it's pretty much fantastic...so those of you who already know my massages? they've only gotten better =D
oh and on saturday...I'm going to Nice with Jenan and Kim - I'm kind of crazy excited!! It's the Carnaval...which is essentially like our Mardi Gras celebration. well, sort of. We got tickets for three parades, one of which is apparently a HUGE flower parade where the people on the floats shower the crowd with flowers. Needless to say, I'm crazy excited! And I bought a big floppy black sunhat - only appropriate for une promenade sur le promenade des anglais, à côté du côte d'azur - a walk along the boardwalk next to the Riviera.
à+!
ps - to whomever left me a nice comment on my last post...who are you?! all it says is anonymous =(
09 February 2008
*blinks* where'd the week go, exactly?
Somehow, it's already the weekend. The END of the weekend. I don't know where my time goes...granted, part of it is because I was sick this week. That never helps. But all the same...I've been back for almost a month already! I only have a little over three months left with all my Nantais friends...and only 4 more in France. Granted, perspective is everything: when I started college, three or four months felt like FOREVER. now...I find myself saying only.
Part of it is the fact that I have no balance right now. I've been spending the past three weeks going to class, of course, but not doing much work outside of class. I just haven't had much! except, of course, the Junior IS looming over my head. I was about to email my adviser at the beginning of the week to tell her what I was thinking and get some feedback, but then I got sick. and then she emailed me first with deadlines and assignments -time to face the IS music! but it just made me panic a little...I need to get moving on it. and the weather is doing some crazy things here...one day it's horribly disgustingly rainy and cold and the next it's sunny and 60. When it's that nice out, I start to think that it's March, April in NY or OH, which is also what created this minor panic/anxiety feeling today. The weather is tricking me into thinking it's later in the semester than it really is!
I think the reason I'm so freaked out by the idea of the end of the semester is because I love it so much here. I have an amazing group of friends. I feel comfortable in this environment. I'm a lot more comfortable with my French and it's incredible the difference it makes. I'm settled, and the idea of moving again really unbalanced me, mentally. and yet, to be completely contradictory, I had such a bad case of home/woostersickness this weekend. Part of it was the fact that Winter Gala was last night...while I didn't go my freshman year, I had so much fun my sophomore year, and now I missed out on it my junior year. it's all about tradeoffs, I understand that (I get to live my French dream!) but it doesn't stop things from being difficult every now and then. especially when I'm tired.
hopefully I can get a good night's sleep and feel less anxiety-bordering-on-panic in the morning.
Part of it is the fact that I have no balance right now. I've been spending the past three weeks going to class, of course, but not doing much work outside of class. I just haven't had much! except, of course, the Junior IS looming over my head. I was about to email my adviser at the beginning of the week to tell her what I was thinking and get some feedback, but then I got sick. and then she emailed me first with deadlines and assignments -time to face the IS music! but it just made me panic a little...I need to get moving on it. and the weather is doing some crazy things here...one day it's horribly disgustingly rainy and cold and the next it's sunny and 60. When it's that nice out, I start to think that it's March, April in NY or OH, which is also what created this minor panic/anxiety feeling today. The weather is tricking me into thinking it's later in the semester than it really is!
I think the reason I'm so freaked out by the idea of the end of the semester is because I love it so much here. I have an amazing group of friends. I feel comfortable in this environment. I'm a lot more comfortable with my French and it's incredible the difference it makes. I'm settled, and the idea of moving again really unbalanced me, mentally. and yet, to be completely contradictory, I had such a bad case of home/woostersickness this weekend. Part of it was the fact that Winter Gala was last night...while I didn't go my freshman year, I had so much fun my sophomore year, and now I missed out on it my junior year. it's all about tradeoffs, I understand that (I get to live my French dream!) but it doesn't stop things from being difficult every now and then. especially when I'm tired.
hopefully I can get a good night's sleep and feel less anxiety-bordering-on-panic in the morning.
04 February 2008
does anyone remember the childrens book....
"Nobody Cares About Me"? I do. it's a Seseme Street book in which Big Bird gets jealous when his friends get sick and everyone pays attention to them and nobody pays attention to him. He pretends to be sick to get attention and in the end actually gets sick (and of course everyone lavishs attention on him). However, he quickly learns "It's no fun being sick!!" I used to say that all the time when I got sick when I was little.
so, time for a little regressive pull...it's no fun being sick! I woke up yesterday with a REALLY scratchy throat and thought it was just because I had been out and about until 2.30 dancing and therefore screaming to be heard in the loud Havana Café. Of course, Bri and Andrea and I then had a sleepover that resulted in staying up talking until 6 am...and sleeping until noon. I thought it was just fatigue/a hoarse voice...nope, not so much. time for my annul end-of-january cold.
ah well...tant pis. (too bad)
I think it's just my body's way of reminding me that I don't usually go out this much during the week (or that late during the weekend!) so I think it's time to relax and sleep a little bit extra =D (ergo I dont think I'll be updating much this week!)
à +
so, time for a little regressive pull...it's no fun being sick! I woke up yesterday with a REALLY scratchy throat and thought it was just because I had been out and about until 2.30 dancing and therefore screaming to be heard in the loud Havana Café. Of course, Bri and Andrea and I then had a sleepover that resulted in staying up talking until 6 am...and sleeping until noon. I thought it was just fatigue/a hoarse voice...nope, not so much. time for my annul end-of-january cold.
ah well...tant pis. (too bad)
I think it's just my body's way of reminding me that I don't usually go out this much during the week (or that late during the weekend!) so I think it's time to relax and sleep a little bit extra =D (ergo I dont think I'll be updating much this week!)
à +
01 February 2008
what a multicultural week!
Generally, when I don't update for the full week...it's a good thing. it means I'm incredibly busy =D the funny thing is, I feel like I don't actual DO much during the weekdays...but they always fly by. Yesterday, for example, I spent a solid three hours sitting in the second floor kitchen with my girls just...hanging out. it was fabulous =D
during the evenings, however, I seem to have too much to do! Monday night I was grumpy so I went to bed early, but Tuesday was Conversation Club and then a bunch of us went to Buck Mulligans for a drink afterwards. Wednesday was a Flamenco show at the Lieu Unique. Thursday was a rock concert at the fac, and now it's Friday already!
The flamenco performance was AMAZING. I'd never actually watched it live...it's impressive stuff. There were three men: the singer, the guitarist, and the dancer. They were an incredible trio, that's for sure. While the dancer was incredibly talented, it was the guitarist that impressed me the most. I don't know if any of you have actually watched someone play the spanish guitar, but it's unbelievable. Not only is there the fingerings for the notes and chords, but every finger moves on the right hand to pluck at individual strings. It was so cool to watch! The interesting thing is that even though I couldn't understand the words, I knew exactly what story was being told. During one song during which there was no dancing, I closed my eyes and let the story unfold. I could tell immediately that it was a sad story...one of separation. I thought maybe it was between two amants (lovers) but then realized that was right. I finally got the feeling that it was a child...somehow, the narrator lost/was losing a child. needless to say, I was near tears by the end of the song. At the end of the show I was talking with Kristin (who speaks spanish as well as french) and she said she nearly cried at one point as well. Especially, she added, during the song about his son. There was one song about the narrator's sorrow at watching his son growing up and losing the closeness they had when he was a child. At this point, I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at her. We eventually figured out that we were thinking of the same exact song. For me, it just proved the fact that there ARE ways to communicate beyond language.
Needless to say, it was a wonderfully spinechilling experience.
The rock concert at the fac, however...that was a whole DIFFERENT kind of experience! I won't say it was bad. It wasn't exactly my truc (thing), that's for sure, but it was definitely fun to people watch. French people are funny when they get slightly tipsy and start dancing at a rock concert =D granted, anyone is, but that's beside the point. It was just fun to be part of the fac culture!
Tomorrow is a Schubert concert...ergo my title of a very multicultural week =)
à+!
during the evenings, however, I seem to have too much to do! Monday night I was grumpy so I went to bed early, but Tuesday was Conversation Club and then a bunch of us went to Buck Mulligans for a drink afterwards. Wednesday was a Flamenco show at the Lieu Unique. Thursday was a rock concert at the fac, and now it's Friday already!
The flamenco performance was AMAZING. I'd never actually watched it live...it's impressive stuff. There were three men: the singer, the guitarist, and the dancer. They were an incredible trio, that's for sure. While the dancer was incredibly talented, it was the guitarist that impressed me the most. I don't know if any of you have actually watched someone play the spanish guitar, but it's unbelievable. Not only is there the fingerings for the notes and chords, but every finger moves on the right hand to pluck at individual strings. It was so cool to watch! The interesting thing is that even though I couldn't understand the words, I knew exactly what story was being told. During one song during which there was no dancing, I closed my eyes and let the story unfold. I could tell immediately that it was a sad story...one of separation. I thought maybe it was between two amants (lovers) but then realized that was right. I finally got the feeling that it was a child...somehow, the narrator lost/was losing a child. needless to say, I was near tears by the end of the song. At the end of the show I was talking with Kristin (who speaks spanish as well as french) and she said she nearly cried at one point as well. Especially, she added, during the song about his son. There was one song about the narrator's sorrow at watching his son growing up and losing the closeness they had when he was a child. At this point, I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at her. We eventually figured out that we were thinking of the same exact song. For me, it just proved the fact that there ARE ways to communicate beyond language.
Needless to say, it was a wonderfully spinechilling experience.
The rock concert at the fac, however...that was a whole DIFFERENT kind of experience! I won't say it was bad. It wasn't exactly my truc (thing), that's for sure, but it was definitely fun to people watch. French people are funny when they get slightly tipsy and start dancing at a rock concert =D granted, anyone is, but that's beside the point. It was just fun to be part of the fac culture!
Tomorrow is a Schubert concert...ergo my title of a very multicultural week =)
à+!
28 January 2008
Well I had to have a rotten day eventually...
nothing too horrible, I'm just in a fabulously foul mood.
to refrain from complaining too much and giving a false image of France while in said foul mood, I will simply say this: I miss Wooster. yes, I miss my friends. yes, I miss the dancing. yes, I miss Lilly House and creative journalling. today, however, I particullarly miss the academics. I miss classes where people don't TALK through the entire class -even when the prof's speaking. I miss classes where said prof is respected. basically, I miss the responsibility and accountability that is a part of paying an arm and a leg for our education.
and I'm very tired, which makes me grumpier than usual.
but on a positive note, more pictures are up!
à +
to refrain from complaining too much and giving a false image of France while in said foul mood, I will simply say this: I miss Wooster. yes, I miss my friends. yes, I miss the dancing. yes, I miss Lilly House and creative journalling. today, however, I particullarly miss the academics. I miss classes where people don't TALK through the entire class -even when the prof's speaking. I miss classes where said prof is respected. basically, I miss the responsibility and accountability that is a part of paying an arm and a leg for our education.
and I'm very tired, which makes me grumpier than usual.
but on a positive note, more pictures are up!
à +
22 January 2008
You have now entered the Twilight Zone...
something I forgot to report: the unthinkable has happened here in France. In the country where the stereotypical cartoon ALWAYS includes a cigarette dangling at an angle with plein (plenty) of attitude, the bars, restaurants and nightclubs have gone smoke free.
Yes, dear readers...as of the first of the year, il est interdit de fumer -it is forbidden to smoke -in public places. I can not tell you how much of a relief it is to be able to go dancing and NOT come home smelling like an ashtray. Finally, I can come home and immediately crash into bed, rather than having to (as quitely as possible) take a shower during the wee hours of the morning so that the smell of my hair doesn't choke me while I sleep. Of course, it is highly entertaining to watch all of the smokers cluster around the doors taking a smoke break or choosing to dine on the patios - on which the patrons of the restaurants have kindly installed space heaters. I personally love being able to breathe clean air inside - even if I have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to it!
There are drawbacks, though, even for us non-smokers. Some bars now require that you get something to drink if you're just sitting around, hanging out (even if you're just waiting for the dance scene to start up). Speaking of that dance scene, it's starting later and later (which is obnoxious when you just want to start dancing at 11 but there's NO ONE on the dance floor) and I'm pretty sure a lot of places have lost some business.
But franchement (frankly) - I LOVE IT!
à+!
Yes, dear readers...as of the first of the year, il est interdit de fumer -it is forbidden to smoke -in public places. I can not tell you how much of a relief it is to be able to go dancing and NOT come home smelling like an ashtray. Finally, I can come home and immediately crash into bed, rather than having to (as quitely as possible) take a shower during the wee hours of the morning so that the smell of my hair doesn't choke me while I sleep. Of course, it is highly entertaining to watch all of the smokers cluster around the doors taking a smoke break or choosing to dine on the patios - on which the patrons of the restaurants have kindly installed space heaters. I personally love being able to breathe clean air inside - even if I have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to it!
There are drawbacks, though, even for us non-smokers. Some bars now require that you get something to drink if you're just sitting around, hanging out (even if you're just waiting for the dance scene to start up). Speaking of that dance scene, it's starting later and later (which is obnoxious when you just want to start dancing at 11 but there's NO ONE on the dance floor) and I'm pretty sure a lot of places have lost some business.
But franchement (frankly) - I LOVE IT!
à+!
20 January 2008
It's a small world after all...
now that I've gotten that obnoxious Disney earworm stuck in your head, let me explain. After a good night of dancing to bad 70s/80s music at the Tower Bar last night, I went to the tram stop to catch the last tram home. As Lindsay and I approached (and yes, there's another Lindsay G in my program) Commerce, we saw a very drunk french boy talking in what little english he knew to a group of girls. I thought one of them was one of the new IES girls I met last night who lives on the same tramline as me, so I smiled at her and waited for her to recognize me. She gave me that "I know you, I think?" look and then blurts out - "Oh my God! Wooster!!" That's when I realize that it's not from IES that I know Lindsey (just to confuse this story even further, her name is Lindsey too), but Wooster! she was in my Intro to Francophone Texts class last year...she graduated and is now teaching english here in Nantes. She's been here since september too...it's just so weird. People at Wooster say you'll find Wooster people in all corners of the world, but I wasn't actually expecting it to be true!
Aside from the freaky small world connections, it's been a relatively smooth and easy transition back into life in Nantes. Classes start tomorrow (thank goodness!) and my first class is Sociologie de l'emploi féminin -Sociology of female employment. "The behaviors of women's activites are transforming themselves and bringing themselves closer to those of men. However, this evolution remains marked by the survival of profound inequalities" I actually found a Womens Studies course!! I'm thinking it's gonna be a good semester...
and I bought a carnet de croquis - a sketchbook. I had bought a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain over Christmas break. It's a book that teaches you how to draw - or rather, "how to see the world through an artist's eyes." It's designed on the principle that everyone can draw, we're just never taught to see everything the right way. but I'm doing pretty well so far...my goal is to take my newly purchased sketchbook to Carcassonne (an old medieval city that I had done a report on in 10th grade french class) and spend an afternoon drawing. actually, I have a lot of goals for this semester...last semester was just a warm-up =D
à+!
Aside from the freaky small world connections, it's been a relatively smooth and easy transition back into life in Nantes. Classes start tomorrow (thank goodness!) and my first class is Sociologie de l'emploi féminin -Sociology of female employment. "The behaviors of women's activites are transforming themselves and bringing themselves closer to those of men. However, this evolution remains marked by the survival of profound inequalities" I actually found a Womens Studies course!! I'm thinking it's gonna be a good semester...
and I bought a carnet de croquis - a sketchbook. I had bought a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain over Christmas break. It's a book that teaches you how to draw - or rather, "how to see the world through an artist's eyes." It's designed on the principle that everyone can draw, we're just never taught to see everything the right way. but I'm doing pretty well so far...my goal is to take my newly purchased sketchbook to Carcassonne (an old medieval city that I had done a report on in 10th grade french class) and spend an afternoon drawing. actually, I have a lot of goals for this semester...last semester was just a warm-up =D
à+!
17 January 2008
Back...home?
Well, France isn't technically home, but I definitely had that returning-home feeling. After 15 long hours of travel (during which the plane to Paris was missed because of a delay in Rochester due to (what else?) ice and I was thrown into a momentary panic -fortunately there was another one an hour and a half later) and only about 40 minutes of sleep (broken up in 20 minute sections, mind you), I'm finally back in Nantes!
It's so funny to do this the second time around. My French is SO much better and I don't have to think about it when I talk, which makes things infinitely easier -the words bascially just fall out of my mouth, it's kind of funny. I already know my way around town and have a Tram pass, so I don't need my host family to show me how to get to IES. I'm much more relaxed in my host family's house (mainly because it's a new family, but also because I know a little better how things work in a French family) and that reduces my stress level SO much. Basically, I already know the ropes and I'm SO happy.
Of course, it's intimidating to walk into IES and expect (even though I know they wont be there) all the familiar faces and see instead 36 strangers. It's especially intimidating when they're all in a room at once! I havent yet had the guts to say Hi...but I'm getting there. They all went on a tour of the Fac and then they're eating lunch at the RU (restaurante universitaire), so I was sitting in the computer lab all by my onesies (but that's okay, I had emails to catch up on!) when in walks Tim, one of the 14 of us returnees! It was so exciting to see a familiar face =D
I learned a new word yesterday - cafard. "avoir le cafard" means to be down in the dumps...but it also translates literally to Cockroach. so...being down in the dumps means having cockroaches? oh how I love idioms =D happily, I have no cockroaches right now =D
à+!
It's so funny to do this the second time around. My French is SO much better and I don't have to think about it when I talk, which makes things infinitely easier -the words bascially just fall out of my mouth, it's kind of funny. I already know my way around town and have a Tram pass, so I don't need my host family to show me how to get to IES. I'm much more relaxed in my host family's house (mainly because it's a new family, but also because I know a little better how things work in a French family) and that reduces my stress level SO much. Basically, I already know the ropes and I'm SO happy.
Of course, it's intimidating to walk into IES and expect (even though I know they wont be there) all the familiar faces and see instead 36 strangers. It's especially intimidating when they're all in a room at once! I havent yet had the guts to say Hi...but I'm getting there. They all went on a tour of the Fac and then they're eating lunch at the RU (restaurante universitaire), so I was sitting in the computer lab all by my onesies (but that's okay, I had emails to catch up on!) when in walks Tim, one of the 14 of us returnees! It was so exciting to see a familiar face =D
I learned a new word yesterday - cafard. "avoir le cafard" means to be down in the dumps...but it also translates literally to Cockroach. so...being down in the dumps means having cockroaches? oh how I love idioms =D happily, I have no cockroaches right now =D
à+!
14 January 2008
Nantes, la deuxième partie
Well. After a wonderful 25 days in the States, it's time for me return to La Belle France. This break has been everything I needed it to be - a chance to be with all of my family, spend time with my friends, sleep, read IN ENGLISH (I devoured Eat, Pray, Love in about 3 days because it was interesting, funny and in English!), eat food I'm used to - and drink milk, for that matter -, write in my journal (though THAT's nothing new!) tell my stories and show my pictures. More importantly, though, it was a chance to replenish the reserves that the end-of-the-semester crunch depleted.
Of course, the difference between the last pre-departure day and today is so entertaining for me. Travel isn't scary any more. Granted, overseas flights are still long and uncomfortable and tiring, but they aren't intimidating any more. This time around, I know the city in which I'm living. I know the family (even though I changed host families). I know what classes to take at the University and what to avoid (three french literature courses in one semester? NOT going to happen again). I'm ready.
My life theme song before going to Nantes was "How Astonishing" from the Little Women broadway musical (yes, there's a musical). It's still my theme song...
Here I go
And there's no turning back
My great adventure has begun
I may be small
But I've got giant plans
To shine as greatly as the sun
I will blaze until I find my time and place
I will be fearless
I'll be Astonishing...
At Last!
à+!
(EDIT: of course, just to remind myself that I'm human and keep me humble, I had a moment of anxiety/am I really doing this and not going back to wooster until august?! as I was trying to fall asleep last night...ah well. c'est la vie!)
Of course, the difference between the last pre-departure day and today is so entertaining for me. Travel isn't scary any more. Granted, overseas flights are still long and uncomfortable and tiring, but they aren't intimidating any more. This time around, I know the city in which I'm living. I know the family (even though I changed host families). I know what classes to take at the University and what to avoid (three french literature courses in one semester? NOT going to happen again). I'm ready.
My life theme song before going to Nantes was "How Astonishing" from the Little Women broadway musical (yes, there's a musical). It's still my theme song...
Here I go
And there's no turning back
My great adventure has begun
I may be small
But I've got giant plans
To shine as greatly as the sun
I will blaze until I find my time and place
I will be fearless
I'll be Astonishing...
At Last!
à+!
(EDIT: of course, just to remind myself that I'm human and keep me humble, I had a moment of anxiety/am I really doing this and not going back to wooster until august?! as I was trying to fall asleep last night...ah well. c'est la vie!)
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