Le week-end
Hello!
I am actually writing this on Saturday. Hopefully, I can find a cyber-café with WiFi to post this from on Monday. Chiquita and I were going to go into town today and check out the sales. In France, they have two huge sales every year when they go from Winter-Spring and Summer-Fall. Basically, they take their winter stuff and continue marking it down until its gone. Its on the very end of the sale, so if you can find something in your size, the price is ridiculously cheap. I bought a full-length coat AND a pair of boots yesterday for only 27 Euros! (and yes, they are the kind of knee-high boots that go over your jeans; they are THE THING here) You should see me, I am starting to look pretty French. However, it is snowing really pretty hard today. It snows here, but not often at all so everything is positively shut down. There is maybe an inch or two of snow and the whole bus system is not running today. This means I am stuck out here completely. Being from Wyoming, Chiquita and I were annoyed and repeatedly called them “pansies.” We stood there for 20 minutes before a guy was nice enough to come tell us the bus wasn’t running. One thing you have to get used to in France, they never formally post or tell you anything. There are lots of stories about them shutting off water in dorms for 2 days and not telling anyone when they were doing it or when it would be back on, etc. That sort of thing would drive you positively crazy at home, but here it is the standard.
The school system here is really different than at home. Our college system is geared towards making friends, socializing, etc. along with academics. Here, not so much. The students go home every weekend and there are no parties, etc. There is also no Union or centers for students to hang out in. They basically go to class and go home. It is extremely hard to break into any groups, and all the international kids I have talked to say its pretty much impossible unless you live here for several years. So, you can breathe easy, there will be no French boys in my future. J Plus, I hate to say, most of them are kind of icky.
Also, today marks my being in France for 2 weeks, and a full week entirely on my own (even though it feels like 2 months). Considering how hard it was to get integrated (this was seriously the hardest two weeks of my life) I’d like to say felicitations to myself.
One thing that is kind of crazy…there is this 50-something year old Arab guy who lives near Chiquita on her floor. He is extremely nice and we chat with him quite a bit. When Chiquita mentioned she was American, he said, “I’m Iraqi. Your soldiers are everywhere in my country right now.” She said something to the effect that she wasn’t the one that put them there and hurried back to her room. We wondered if he would still be so friendly towards us, but when the Arabs were outside taking pictures of the snow he came running over and asked if he could take a picture with us and we of course obliged. Then later tonight when we were making dinner in the kitchen on Chiquita’s floor, he came in and we had a very long discussion with him about Saddam Hussein and post-war Iraq. It was incredibly interesting to talk to an actual Iraqi. I was scared to ask him questions, but Chiquita straight up asked him what he thought of American soldiers, living under Saddam, etc. In a nutshell, he said that living under Saddam was awful and there was no liberty at all. But, he said there have been all kinds of problems since the Americans came. He said at first the soldiers were nice and helpful but he described them now as very mean and would randomly kill people. He also said that the lack of structure is harder to deal with than the tight control under the regime, but he says it was not better under Saddam. Basically he said he is glad Saddam is gone, but things need to get straightened out fast and he doesn’t like the attitude of the soldiers. It was a very interesting conversation (all in French, of course). But he ended it by saying that war is political, and he likes Americans as a people and that he likes both of us, and asked us if we now liked Iraqis because we had the opportunity to sit and talk with one. Of course, we both said yes. It was crazy. Afterwards, me and Chiquita had a big conversation about seeing the war from both sides. We could see why the soldiers would obviously get harsher and more violent with their lives on the line and having to protect themselves, but also why the Iraqis would dislike them, etc. Very bizarre we could make friends with a guy whose country our country is bombing. What a small world, huh?
Also, I ate a delicious chocolate mousse that I took a picture of, and I bought a plant for my room and named it "Gary Pierre de la Touraine." I know, I'm weird.
Jeudi
Hello all!
Today is kind of a down day. I only have two classes and lots of time between them. I am learning that spare time is no fun because I have a tendency to get homesick. Also, I kept having really bizarre dreams last night and didn’t sleep really well. It’ll get better when my classes get rolling and I have more homework. (Can you believe I am looking forward to homework?!)
Things here are looking up everyday. The life here is much more simplified than at home, partly because of the laid-back culture and partly because I have a lot less to do! Here I have no cell phone, little Internet and very few friends. At first, I hated this because at home I am busy and with friends and clubs and everything TOUT LES TEMPS!! (all the time!) But now, I am starting to like it. I have one very good friend here (Chiquita) to do things like shop and eat with. She and I have similar tastes, etc and have been getting along perfectly. The thing I figure is, I am only living here for 4 1/2 to 5 months and then I am returning to all my lifelong friends. I may make acquaintances here, but I don’t need to build a social network like I have at home because it’ll be gone soon. With all that pressure gone, I am free to relax and enjoy life more (Plus French kids are kind of snotty).
Last night was really fun because Anna (Chiquita; she has two names) and I went shopping after my class got out and found a big grocery store on the main street right by Jean-Jaures (a main bus stop that goes to our dorm). Lots of the food is very foreign or in weird combinations (pear and potato soup, for example) and when you do recognize something from back home it is way expensive. I am learning to find the food made locally, it is usually delicious and inexpensive. (Local jam that is the best I’ve ever had for 2 Euros, and a whole wheel of Camembert cheese for only 1.50 Euros!!) French grocery stores focus more on fresh food than things that last awhile. This makes the food incredible, but hard when you are a college student used to convenient ramen noodles. I am already getting into the very French habit of picking up a baguette on the way home to have with dinner and for breakfast the next morning. Last night, we decided to cook a big dinner and bought spaghetti, spag. sauce, salad and dressing, fresh tomatoes, fresh bread, cheese, and a bottle of local wine. We rode the bus back and I am proud to say I did the spaghetti cooking and did a fine job. Our dinner was delicious and we decided to do this once a week.
Also, we are making plans to do some traveling around the area. We found a posting with really cheap train fares to places like Prague and Rome. French college students tend to go home every weekend and it makes things very quiet around here.
Also, I saw two little old ladies yesterday walking down the main street with matching clothes, haircuts, etc. and I really missed Becky for awhile. They were so incredibly cute. We need to be like that when we are all old.
Also, felicitations (congratulations) to Roxanne for getting moved up to the Sophomore basketball team! I was so glad to hear that since she had the suckiest coaches in the world and she kicks ass at B-ball. I wish I could see you play Roxie, but I will next year. I heart you!
Also, thanks so much to all of my family and friends who regularly post comments. It is the best part of my week when I get to log-on and read those. I miss you all too!
Sqlut ;es q;ies et ;q fq;ille/
BONJOUR!!! Man, my head hurts from all this thinking and figuring out. It is nice to get to post a new blog, a lot has been going on!! I have no Wireless here, but I can post via the school computers. This poses a problem because the computers are on the other side of town, and the keyboards are French, meaning the keys are in different places and I take forever to type anything that is not chock full of errors. The title above is "Salut mes amies et ma famille!" if I was typing normally. So you all better REALLY appreciate the length of time it took me to do this!
Well, I was actually able to watch the Bronco game this weekend, which was a huge treat until they started sucking. I was in a crowded Irish-type bar with a mix of French and Americans. I was the only person in the place pulling for the Broncos, which made it all the harder to bear. My pint of Guiness(how sweet is that)didn't even help much with the disappointment. All in all, it was a really fun night and I met a lot of people despite my team getting the boot.
In the news of the day, I have almost conquered this damn town. Yesterday I got up, rode the bus in, got my student ID card, got my bus pass, finalized my classes(which is a ridiculously long process that involves walking several miles and reading bulletin bards that make no sense.) rode the bus all the way to the north of town and bought food, silverware, food and a hairdryer. The thing is, everything little thing I do here is a huge accomplishment, you know? Things I have done a million times in America are new and challenging here. Just going through the line at the grocery store requires careful observation of others to see how it is done differently. I also need to learn new things like bus schedules and etiquette, how to dress, where to go and where not to and, oh yeah, FRENCH. So I would like to take this moment to pat myself on the back for all that I have done! Oh, and to emphasize the newness and frustration of it all, I am now writing this on a French keyboard in which all the keys are in different spots.
Today has gone really well. I FINALLY found the other Laramie girl. She is in the same boat as me and was similarly glad to find me. We rode the bus in together, went to a class I had (she has yet to figure out her schedule) and met up with our coordinator here. She was extremely helpful, even though she should have had this meeting with us last week! Poor Chiquita and I had to figure most stuff out on our own, which led to much lonliness and unhappiness. Two cool things, there may be a way for me to get WiFi in a library close to my dorm, and I think I might take beginning German. Hear that Becky?
One bad side effect to all the newness is how tired you get. Imagine being on full alert with your brain buzzing for hours and hours on end. Forget getting a social life, I get exhausted by like 21(9pm) at night and sleep until 8am when I have to catch a bus into town. However, I have make some friends and am starting to figure things out about how to live here, which is cool.
Oh la la
Hey all. This will probably be my last blog with pics, unfortunately. The reason is because there is no WiFi in this whole damn town. I have spent a whole day looking and asking. I’ll have to use computers at school, but that means I have no way to upload pics off my camera. That really sucks, but so does everything in this town. The only way I can do it now is because I asked the hotel my Mom and I were staying at to give me a half hour to do some things and they actually said yes!
Right now, things are going better, but my emotions are in the toilet. Yesterday was a really good day. I met up with an American and two Canadians and we walked around town. Colleen, the Wyomingite, was really helpful and friendly. We walked around and saw the cathedral of the town and some other cool things like this old square, the river (La Loire), and lots of shops and restaurants. There is even a square called “Place du Monstre’ and it has this huge sculpture of an abominable snowman looking thing.
We got dinner in a creperie, shared a bottle of cidre and a big dessert crepe. It was really nice and made me feel good to have some people to talk to. After that, we went to this Renaissance fair where they were all dressed up in costumes and taught everyone Renaissance style dancing. Seeing all these French dudes in tights taking the dancing very seriously only emphasized how ludicrous this country can be.
With my language skills, I’m disappointed. I can communicate on a basic level but I lack the communication skills to really have a conversation and make friends. I’m hoping this will change as I am here, but right now it makes things really, really hard. Almost all the students who came here from abroad have been here for a semester already and are fluent while I’m still bumbling around. Plus, I am from a very small town and am having trouble with all the public transportation, etc.
More than once I’ve wanted to come home already. The girls I met have been here since September and have no desire to go home. None of them seem to have very close friends at home and are OK with being so far from their families. I am learning, that while I might be a bit too entrenched in my ways at home, I think the relationships I have are terrifically important. I have a very close family and friends and I think that is a big part of the reason I am having so much trouble adapting.
But, as Colleen told me, things are have barely started yet. Give it some time for classes to start, time to meet some people and work on my language skills, etc. I have trouble with that. I want things here and now and have trouble waiting and working towards a long-term goal. And if worse comes to worse, I can always go get drunk. (Just kidding)
Also, this is what my hair looks like in the humidity.
I've got to admit its getting better; a little better all the time.
I do have better news for you today!
So far, this has been way scary. The language part has been terrible. I know plenty of French, I can read and write well, and I know all the basics, but when I walk into an office and the secretary starts jabbering it sounds like total gibberish. This scares the crap out of me, but when I stand there looking blank, she usually says all snotty like, "Etes-vous parlez francais?" (Do you speak french?) And I say "Oui, mais pas vit." (Yes, but not so fast)Then, it gets better.
Today was a day of doing stuff, and I am pretty proud of myself. Mom and Lizzie went out to see all the pretty castles before I got up. I got up, got dressed, got breakfast in the hotel and walked down to this one woman's office. First thing, they yelled at me because I was supposed to have an appt. with her at nine. This must have been one of the things I missed in all the "gibberish" yesterday. I apologized, and the woman there got me on my feet. She gave me several places to go and things to do. I am starting to adjust to this feeling of knowing absolutely nothing, and it no longer makes me want to throw up at least.
While I was looking for an office, I actually ran into a girl who is from UW!! It was seriously a gift from God. She came here for the year, and has been here since September. She is really sweet and told me all this stuff I need to know. She said it is always like this, the French just tell you nothing and expect you to do everything perfectly. She said to get used to missing things and getting yelled at. But, I have found a friend. She gave me her number. There is a thing for Intl. students tonight, but I will probably miss it to be with Mom, but there is something else tomorrow. I told her, like 50 times how happy I was to find her.
I am still really confused about classes. They actually start Monday, but the way they do it is very bizarre and really French. It would take me an hour to explain it, but basically you just go the class and tell the prof afterwards if you want to be in it or not. I walked about 2 miles through winding streets to get to the sign-up office, confronted the bulletin board that listed everything and had my first entirely French thought. "Eh, I'll do it Monday." I did ALOT figuring stuff out today. I think I will take the weekend to regroup, meet some people, call my advisor, and tackle it again Monday. So far, I am terribly unimpressed with how they run this country and am really not surprised they have been invaded so many times. Right now, it is ten to 5 and I am at the hotel waiting for Mom and Lizzie to get back.
How was your day?
Bon soir.
Bon soir.
Today has gone very badly and I am seriously wanting to come home. The French are the least helpful people on the planet. So far, of the two contact people I have here, one was taking a sick day and the other gave herself the week off. The only student here I know has yet to get in contact with me despite my repeated attempts. When I got the key for my dorm room, they required all these papers no one told me I needed to have, and I still have no clue what one of them was after about 45 minutes of a guy trying to explain it to me in English, and me tell him I had no clue what was going on in French. Eventually, they just gave me the key and said they'd mail me an explanation later. However, I got everything else handled today with people who didn't speak a word of English.
At UW, they give the exchange students orientations, contact numbers, introduce them to other students, etc. Here, they do absolutely nothing. If you aren't fluent, like me, it is extremely frustrating and confusing. I am starting to panic a little.
For the good news, I eventually got my room today and it is pretty nice. Its small, but I have my own closet, bed, desk, shower, and sink. Plus there is a kitchen on the floor. Also, I have to take a bus since my dorm is 20 minutes away from the center of town, and my mom and I figured it out and what bus I need to take, etc. Also, I got just got in touch with the International Coordinator here, and we have a meeting for Tuesday. Classes start Monday, but her attitude is, "If you miss a few classes, eh, you miss a few classes." Very french attitude. She also described the system here as "smudgy," which actually makes a lot of sense. This is a weird thing. France has always been a vacation spot for me, and now I have all this business stuff to do.
Also, I REALLY don't want to think about my mom leaving.
I'll try to be more positive later when the world doesn't suck.
Tours!
I am now in Tours! I am sitting down in the lobby of our hotel because I cannot get a decent wireless signal in our room. So far, I am scared to death. Tours is HUGE and very, very french.
To give a recap of the day, we got up this morning and have breakfast with Herve, one of my parents tour operators (he is French, of course). He has always been awesome, and is proved to be so once again. He gave me his cell numbers, a hug, and many reassurances. It is nice to know I have someone here in case of any problem.
After breakfast, we packed up and got on a train to Tours. I really like trains. The one we were on was not crowded at all so I went and grabbed my own seat so I could take a nap, but the 3 cups of coffee I had at breakfast would not let me do that. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a tendency to eat really fast, so when I am at these long leisurely French meals, I end up eating and drinking too much to fill the time. I need to figure out how to stop doing that.
When we got to Tours, we went over to the hotel and then went out for food. Nothing opens for dinner until after 6:30pm so we had to find a place to get some type of food and managed to get only sandwiches and beers. We were there forever though, because the French don't have any meals that are less than 2 hours long!! I was getting really freaked out about this whole thing, and thus freaking my mom out. This is very much a college town with lots of my peers, but they all look and dress very differently. So far, I have determined I must buy knee-high boots to go over my jeans and a lot more black.
The town itself is amazing. It has all the charm of old France, but with a faster, modern edge. I really love it, but the loneliness is scary. I have never been without friends in my life. I was saying to my mom, if my friends were here and they spoke english, this would be the coolest thing ever. Also, they have no real campus. all the dorms and class buildings are throughout the whole big city. I have to get used to public transportation fast. My problem is that I am scared of making mistakes, but I need to just do things one step at a time. Also, the Frenchies do very little to help exchange students. They just tell you a few things and let you go. No orientation or anything.
It is late at night and I'm completely worn out, as you can probably tell from my flat negativity. I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow.
Paris!
Day III-
Hello! The world is looking a little brighter today, which is odd because it is really rainy. I am getting back into the swing of France and am looking forward to my little adventure. I’ll still feel better when I get to Tours, get my classes, meet up with Tchykita, etc. but for right now I am not feeling so blue. I am posting a couple blogs tonight (if you haven’t noticed) because I haven’t had my computer available since I left. I had a huge problem with my computer charger and the current converter. My computer was out of battery power but I had no way to charge it. We had to go to an electronics store on the Champs-Elysee and finally got the right converter. My mom had to force me to talk to the salesman and explain the problem. I am still nervous about talking. I get so worried about making a mistake that my brain locks up. Also, if I manage to phrase a question grammatically perfect, the person thinks I am fluent and starts talking really fast. I am getting better though, and that is pretty cool.
Yesterday we went to the Louvre and saw all the important pieces. This is my only bit of art snobbery: I really hate the Mona Lisa. It is really unimpressive and not very important to the transition of art history. However, I once again took a picture with my favorite sculpture, Death of a Slave by Michelangelo. I very much enjoy naked people art. We spent a good bit of time there, and I am getting good at being a guide to French art museums.
After that, Mom and Elizabeth went to the Tour Eiffel and I chilled in the room and got all my papers and stuff in order. I also took a nice nap. When they got back we went to dinner in a sweet little restaurant. I had red une verre de vin rouge, des escargots, et tarte fine aux pommes (a glass of red wine, snails and an apple tart). It was very French, and of course delicious. Earlier, in the day, I introduced my mom to the Croque-Madame (a ham sandwich with melted cheese and a fried egg on top), and she enjoyed it very much.
Today we visited my favorite place in the world, the Musee D’Orsay. It has a rich collection of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism paintings among other types. I have read tons of books on the subject and was a good guide to my mom. Once she discovered that Edgar Degas also painted horses, she got all into that. I took a little rest break and sketched a big plaster sculpture called Les chausseurs d’alligator” by Ernest Barrias.
We then got lunch and took a taxi down to the Musee Rodin, but it was closed. A woman ran up and started speaking French all fast telling us the museum was about to close, but I understood her and was able to get things all worked out. Felicitations pour moi!
The humidity has made my hair a big curly mess. Have you ever seen the Friends episode where Monica’s hair turns into a giant poofball in the humidity? Yeah, its kind of like that. I better figure out how to get used to it fast.
Last night we walked down the Champs-Elsyee for dinner and walked by the Arc D'Triomphe, which I have never seen at night.
DAY ONE
Bonjour! ( I have to say that now since I am in France.) So far, I have been quiet, and a wee bit melancholy. I wish my friends and family sucked because they make it really hard to say goodbye. It has finally sunk in that I decided to go live in a foreign country for 5 entire months. However, I need to get over myself sadness at leaving and be excited.
The bad thing about international travel is the planes. 11 total hours in the air, plus even more on the ground have left me drained. I am good at sleeping on planes, and listening to Coldplay is like a sleep-inducing drug (Nothing against Coldplay, they are just very relaxing and don’t yell and curse like most of the other bands on my iPod).
When we arrived in Paris, it was 7am and still dark. We gathered luggage and made it over to our hotel. I chatted with our very friendly cabdriver in French, and it made me feel a lot better about my language skills. I really have learned a lot in the last couple years! It works to dispel some of my anxieties.
here is our arrival to the Hotel Brighton.
Also, I fell in love with Paris all over again. It really is the most beautiful city in the world, but full of the most horny couples I have ever seen. They were making out all over the place and in my lack-of-sleep, jet-laggy state I wanted very much to shove them down the steps of the Notre Dame. However, the sheer abundance of extremely attractive French boys has done a lot to improve my good humor.
The lovely St. Chappelle!
With my mom and Elizabeth (my mom’s friend), we toured the Notre Dame, the St. Chappelle and got food in a nice little café. I drank a cidre and toasted Erin Catellier. Ordering alcohol in a restaurant at the ripe old age of 19 never gets old.
After that, Mom and Lizzie went down to the Champs-Elysee and I stayed in the room and tried not to fall asleep. I thought I was doing a good job until I woke up drooling on my hand after having a weird dream that involved me, Becky, Steven, Erin and a duck. Tomorrow is another full day of sightseeing in Paris before we head down to Tours. I am beyond tired and need some sleep.
Also, yay to the Broncos!!!! We called home right after we landed in Paris to get the score of the game. It is good when the underrated Broncos positively spank the terribly overrated Patriots. It looks like I might just have to find a place over here to watch a Broncos Superbowl.
Nutcracker around town!!
Hello! Less than a week until I leave for France!! To save us all some time, I will answer the questions I have most frequently been asked the last few weeks:
1) Are you excited? -Absolutely! 2) Are you scared? -I am positively terrified! 3) Will you bring me back a present? -Geez, people, I am not made of money. I will be busy being selfishly filled with the pleasure of being by myself in a foreign country that I adore for 5 months. That being said, yeah I'll probably buy lots of presents for those I love. (i.e. the people that send me things while I'm in France...jk)
This has been a lovely Christmas Break. I have been sick and injured a lot, but somehow I managed to have fun. I got over strep, a cold, a blowgun injury, a tetanus shot, and my wisdom teeth being removed all in a couple weeks. Right now I am sitting with an ice pack strapped to my head because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday. It is the first time I have had anything done with my teeth (I've never even had a filling, etc.) or any type of surgery (I haven't been in a hospital since I was born) so it was a weird experience for me. The anesthesia was crazy; before you even feel sleepy you are knocked out cold. Poor Becky and I basically spent all day drooling and sleeping, but are starting to feel better now. Fortunately the playoffs started this weekend so I at least get to watch lots of good football. (This is my my mentality and yet I am single...sigh)
Earlier this week we had more fun with Erin's giant nutcracker. We decided to bring it around town and take some pictures with it. It was really fun and the pictures are pretty funny. We got some odd looks from passerby, but it was worth it. Here are a few of the shots:
Here we are in the Plains Hotel, in front of the Capitol Building with a big bronze buffalo, deciding what movie to see at the historic Lincoln theater and at the Lane Frost statue in Frontier Park!
