It's Been Awhile, I Know

No, I have not fallen off of the face of the earth, though I have been very lax about posting. Since the original purpose of my blog was to share my experiences in Europe, it's been a little difficult finding things to write about, as I am no longer in France. That means that I will just have to reconfigure my blog if I want to continue it.

The last two months has been a whirlwind. I've been working for the Recreation center, basically as a glorified babysitter. But the most exciting thing that has happened this summer is that my new niece was born just last week! My entire family was there for the birth of Lillian Michael, and we were all able to hold her when she was only a few hours old. Avery is absolutely thrilled to have a little sister--she's such a little mother.

At the end of the summer both Jessica and I will be moving into Michele and Chris's house. I'm excited, since that will give us plenty of time to spend with our nieces; it'll be great to see them growing up right before our eyes. I hope that I will be able to help with watching the kids at least a little bit.

One thing that Michele and Chris are planning on doing differently this time around is the diapers that they use. Rather than using disposable diapers, they are going to use cloth diapers from Gro Baby. This will be less expensive, and will also be safer for the environment. Of course, it will make changing Lillian's diaper a little less clean, but I think that the pros outweigh the cons in this situation!

Who knows? Maybe when I get old enough and have kids, I will try Gro Baby too. If you want to join the following :), try going to http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/grobaby%E2%84%A2-ic-11_16.html. Give it a try!

A Bittersweet Goodbye

Well, it is my last day in France. Over the past week, I have been majorly busy. It seems like the time has flown by since I arrived--it's hard to believe that it has already been four months!

My original intentions were to do countdown posts over the last week, like I did at the beginning when I was coming. Obviously, that fell through, since I had exams to study for and packing to do. So instead, I am going to do what I call "Countdown Summary". In other words, I'll list the days of the last week and what I did (from what I remember). Don't worry, I won't go into detail--I don't have the patience for that!

Saturday: I ate lunch with my family outside--sausages and fries--before walking to UCO to take my Traduction exam. (I know--an exam on a Saturday; don't you pity me?). Then for dinner we went over Caroline's house (Madame's daughter) for a barbecue, where I took turns talking with the women and playing catch with the kids. I'm a kid at heart. :P

Sunday: My last time going to my church here. Pretty standard: got up, walked to church, came back. Nothing special to say.

Monday: Jour ferie here in France--meaning NO SCHOOL. I met up with Katie in the afternoon to 'study for exams'--at least, that was our intent. We walked to a beautiful little pond near the Lac de Maine, but mostly just skipped rocks and took pictures and relaxed.

Tuesday: My Langue exam--both written and oral. Oral--ten minutes of nonstop talking; written: three hours in a stuffy classroom bending over a sheet of paper. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday: Phonetiques exam at nine in the morning. Nothing much else.

Thursday: Grammar exam at eight in the morning. (Who comes up with this torture?) Then for lunch Sydney, Katie and I went to La Napoli, which serves the best pizza I've ever tasted--no kidding. It was like a slice of heaven (slice, get it? hehe).

Friday: My last--and only--exam was Expression Orale. Once again, ten minutes of nonstop talking, only this time I knew basically what I had to talk about beforehand. And then I spent the rest of the night packing what I hadn't already.

Today: Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

And that's the last week in a nutshell. Of course, I am happy to be going home--I'll see my family again--but a big part of me is really going to miss France. I've had to say goodbye to some really great friends that I've made. Hopefully, we can stay in touch; Katie is planning on visiting me in Michigan later this month. As for my other friends, we'll just have to Facebook each other.

Au revoir, France!

One True Ring

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
-The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

I have found it. Well, we found it--Jess and me--while in Ireland. That's right--the One True Ring.

It's rather a big coincidence, as well, since I am in the middle of reading the Lord of the Rings series in French. So basically, I am in a huge LOTR kick at the moment--reciting the poems at all hours--both the one above and the 'all that is gold does not glitter' one.

So--back to the subject at hand. As I mentioned, we found this ring during our trip to Ireland. We went this past weekend and stayed for three days. During that time, we took a walking tour of 'Viking' Dublin, went on a Ghost Bus Tour of Dublin, and walked everywhere imaginable.

But it's not my job to describe the trip in full--you'll have to see Jess's blog for that (when she actually posts). I was given the task of describing the Ring--we played paper, rock, scissors to decide topics so that our posts wouldn't be redundant. I won.

The Ring is exactly how it is described in the book--perfectly round and gold in color. It even has the 'elvish' inscription identfying it as the One True Ring.

Never mind that said ring was found (and bought) in a tourist shop in Dublin. Never mind that it only cost four euros. Never mind that there were at least thirty such rings on display in the little shop. Despite it all, our ring--that is to say, the ring that we chose from the display--is truly the One True Ring.

Needless to say, after exams are over, we will probably be paying a little trip to the Cracks of Doom; I'm sure we can fit it in in between our summer jobs and returning to college.

Of course, we are still in need of a guide; anyone know how we can get in touch with Aragorn?

Soiree International

Soiree International.

Here at UCO, it's a big deal. What is it, you ask? It's a night, usually at the end of the semester, where different students from the CIDEF program sign up to present something from their country of origin--a song, a dance, a poem, etc.

In other words, an international Talent Show.

An awesome international Talent Show. I haven't laughed so hard in ages--nor been so impressed. Some of the acts left the audience in stitches, while others were major jaw-droppers.

As examples of those that really impressed me, I present the following:

1) Two guys sang several songs in Russian while accompanying themselves on guitar and piano.

2) A girl from China played a song on piano that was so difficult, you couldn't even see her hands (no kidding--they were really moving that fast).

3) A few girls performed a dance from Thailand with authentic garb.

And the list goes on. As for the funny acts, there were:

1) A skit by the teachers of CIDEF who had 'kidnapped' the CIDEF president in order to force him to agree to certain demands. In said skit, he was only released after agreeing to require all international students (namely, us) to wait on the teachers hand and foot. Happily, he didn't actually sign anything. Hehe.

2) Another skit by the Expression Theatrale class to present several different 'advertisements' of the CIDEF program. Said ads included the phrase 'Inscrivez au CIDEF' as a mother's dying words, the pass code to a secret organization, and the answer to a gameshow. My personal favorite, however, was the one where someone was denied toilet paper because they hadn't registered for CIDEF.

3) A cheer performed by a large group of Japanese cheerleaders in response to a Youtube video that they had found. One of the people involved--and the only guy--was a classmate of mine, Jun, who was dressed as a girl in a pink skirt and a blue wig. I have no more words to describe it.

Etcetera, etcetera. The program lasted until after 11 at night, but it was worth it!

And did I mention that I did something, too? As it was introduced last night, I 'sang a song without singing'--i.e. I did a song in sign language. The song that I did was Beautiful Stranger by Rebecca St.James. It was well received, and according to the CIDEF president, it was the first time someone had done sign language in the entire history of CIDEF. Dare to be different!

Thus far, several things have occurred because of my performance last night; people (even strangers) are coming up to either a) congratulate me, b) ask me to sign something for them, or c) all of the above.

Though I don't regret it, I still kind of feel like a circus seal.

Mixed Expectations

If there is anything that I have learned about taking tests, it is that just because it seems easy/difficult at the time does not guarantee an automatic pass/fail. In fact, in a lot of cases, I have found that the more trouble I have on a test, the better I do, gradewise.

Take the ACT: hardest, longest test of my life, yet I got a 33 (still amazed by that).

Another example: the placement test for UCO. Nearly reduced me to tears and yet I was placed in the superior level.

I offer this proof to set up the scene for my story. Picture it: three tests last week, one test earlier today. For all three tests last week, I was sure that I had done horribly.

For my Phonetique, I ran out of time and completely forgot to finish one part of the test.

For Langue, I had the perfect answer to the essay question--but did not think of it until I had already turned in the test and was halfway home.

For Grammaire, I spent five hours studying concepts that turned out not to be on the test and thus did not have the time to study two sections that were.

With the information that I have given you regarding my experiences with tests, you can guess what happened for all three. That's right--I passed, easily.

And then there is Traduction, which I finished not two hours ago. This test I studied for almost nonstop. This test I practically breezed through. This test was rather straightforward and almost easy.

I'm worried.

A Day to Remember...Or Forget

I've been meaning to write about this for several days, since it actually happened last week. I wish that I could say that there is a viable reason for my procrastination, but...not really.

Last Thursday I had to present an expose for my Expression Orale class. As one of two such presentations, the grade for this assignment is rather important--not to mention, there is a possibility that I will have to present the same presentation again for my final exam.

Needless to say, I was nervous. In fact, I was so nervous beforehand that I was dangerously close to being sick--something that is relatively normal for me before oral reports, as anyone who knows me well can attest to. In middle school, I even asked an entire class to turn around and/or close their eyes so that I wouldn't see them staring at me. Presentations are definitely not my favorite thing to do.

Thank God, I did not vomit during this one. However, I was interrupted in the middle of my presentation by an unforeseen event. What was this event, you ask?

The fire alarm.

That's right. My presentation was all but forgotten as the entire class had to walk down five flights of stairs to exit the building. When we got outside, we could see that smoke was billowing out of one of the windows on the third floor.

I wasn't fooled.

I've been around enough fires to recognize the results of a fog machine when I see one. For one, the smoke was far too white; a fire that is actually burning something is usually a grey or black. For another, you could actually hear the humming of the machine if you listened closely enough.

I wasn't fooled, but was rather amazed at the measures that the administration took to try to impart the "seriousness of the situation". Not that it worked; a lot of people were completely unfazed, and stood so close to the 'burning' building that they probably would have died from smoke inhalation were it to have been a real fire.

We stayed outside for nearly half an hour. Fifteen minutes were spent listening to a man on a megaphone saying something--no one could actually understand him over the sound of hundreds of people talking, the fog machine humming and--did I mention it was raining?

By the time that we actually returned to class, we only had time to review the mistakes that I and others had made during my presentation and the ensuing discussion. To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure whether I should be disappointed or relieved that my presentation was cut short. I'm counting my blessings, though--I got 8 out of 10!

And now I have to do another one within the next few weeks. I highly doubt that this one will be interrupted by a 'fire'.

Of course, there's always a tornado drill...

Stop and Smell the Lilacs

Lilacs are my favorite flower. Period. Growing up, it seemed as though there were lilac bushes all around my house; I loved nothing more than to run up to and smell them three, sometimes four times each day for the short tme that they were in bloom. Bunches of the fragrant flower would always appear on the kitchen table, courtesy of moi. They never lasted very long--only a day or two--but I enjoyed the fragrance while they did.

Here in France, there are more flowers than I could possibly have imagined: huge pink buds, tiny mellow yellow blooms, vibrant red blossoms. Walking to school sometimes reminds me of a perfume shop--though more pleasant. Even so, I missed my lilacs. I realized that, in all likelihood, I will not be home when the lilacs are in bloom. This realisation seemed to be a sign of my homesickness in general

And then, this morning I found them. On my way to school I passed by the typical floral scents, and was halted in my tracks by a very familiar and beloved smell--the smell of lilacs. A tiny bush, almost completely hidden from view, is right next to the path that I typically walk to get to the university. If it weren't for the scent of the flowers, it would have gone unnoticed.

A simple pleasure--smelling the lilacs--was never so appreciated. It felt like a little taste of home.

Spring Break Quotables

As pretty much everyone knows, I have been on Spring Break these past few weeks. In short: I have been on a literary trip in England, and toured both London and Paris thoroughly with my mother and sister. In that time, I have also seen two amazing musicals--Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. I must admit that I am not really in the mood to recap everything that has happened. So, in lieu of a complete spring break post, I have borrowed an idea from my sister Michele's blog and have composed what I call "Spring Break Quotables".

So--without further ado:

(walking to the Jane Austen House Museum)
Jessica: This is it!
Me: This is it?
Jess: No, not that.



(repeated line)
Mom: I brought (insert item here), but it's in my suitcase. (the arrival of her luggage was delayed by 24 hours)



Me: I'm sitting on my scarf and it's stranglng me!
Mom: Jess, cancel one of those plane tickets.



Jess: (in answer to the previous) I'll write you a eulogy but you'll have to write your own epitaph.
Me: How can I write my own epitaph if I'm dead? I won't know how or when I actually died.
Jess: Make it a fill-in-the-blank, like a Mab Lib.



Jess: Don't worry, Jenn. I'll write your eulogy. "She lived, she died, let's eat."



(repeated line)
Me and/or Jess: When are you leaving again, Mom?



Mom: (teasing me about a frilly pink dress): I can just see Jenn wearing that one.
Me: (in rebuttal) Sure, maybe in my nightmares. Luckily, I usually wake up from those. 'Course, there are mornings when I wake up and you're still there.



Mom: What would you do if I pushed you into the street?
Jess: Um...die.



(On Easter)
Jess: I could have sworn I grabbed a hard-boiled egg.
Mom: Hehe.
Me: She hid it.
Mom: Happy Easter!



Mom: (about an ice cream cone bought on the Champs-Elysees in France) This is really good Vanilla. I think its French Vanilla.
(You think?)



Me: Look at that pidgeon. It looks really bedraggled.
Jess: It looks like it drowned in a toilet.



Mom: (typing to my friend Sarah about Jess and me) They are brats, so they can't use the computer.
Sarah: (in reply) Oh, hi Debbie.

The Music of the Night

They say that you haven't seen Phantom of the Opera until you've seen it in London. Well, Jess got us both tickets for the show for tonight because we wanted to test this theory. She found us very cheap tickets--only 20 pounds apiece (and you could tell by the seats; we were to the far left, where some of the stage was blocked from view).

The performance got off to a rough start. In the dramatic opening during the overture, one of the curtains caught on the top of the stage, so some workers had to free it before the orchestra stopped playing. It was slightly distracting, but as there was nothing yet to be distracted from, it turned out okay.

And the rest of the performance was certainly more than okay. I've seen Phantom once before, about two years ago in Toledo; this performance trumped that one several times over in my opinion. The voices of all of the characters--particularly the main roles--were awe-inspiring. When Christine began her first song, it was so beautiful that I had to catch my breath.

And the Phantom? Every time he sang, I got goosebumps. The actor who played the Phantom was among the best that I have ever heard; he could really sing! Several of the notes in the title song were sustained with such amazing length and pitch that I was literally in awe. And at the end of the first act, I was so in tune with the Phantom's pain that I was almost in tears--something that has never happened to me before at a musical. My sister Michele and soon-to-be sister-in-law Stephanie are really the only ones who cry at performances--by their own admission.

They say that you haven't seen Phantom of the Opera until you've seen it in London.

They were right.

Normandy

Yesterday: the last excursion offered to the CIDEF students for this semester. I have to say, I'm rather glad that they are over. Don't get me wrong--I liked them and enjoyed each and every one of them, but it will still be nice to actually have some weekends free.

So. The excursion. Where did I go, you ask? Normandy.

Enough said.

This trip was the longest and--I must admit--the most tiring day of all of the excursions. It was also a completely different trip than its predecessors. Whereas the other trips were very fun and lighthearted, Normandy was anything but...which wasn't really surprising.

I truly, honestly do not feel like recapping every little detail. For that, I apologize. But after all, extensively reliving such a serious and sad trip does not really appeal to me at the moment. So instead, I have decided to list the activities in list form with a short explanation and my impressions regarding each one.

So here goes.

1.) Memorial Museum: kind of self-explanatory. There were three different sections to this museum: the causes of the war, the French occupation, and the time after the US joined the war. We also got to see two movies, one about D-Day and the other about the Battle of Normandy.

2.) The Cemetary of American Soldiers: again, self-explanatory. There were these huge monuments to honor the soldiers, as well as thousands of headstones, mostly shaped like crosses. Here and there was a headstone shaped like the star of David to represent a Jewish soldier. It was very humbling to see that sight.

3.) Omaha Beach: one of the beaches where soldiers landed on D-Day. We only stayed for about twenty minutes--after all, it was a beach. There was a monument and sculpture built right at the top, but not much else to set it apart as the historical landmark.

4.) The Huc Ranger Peak: this was my favorite part. It was a point between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach where a group of American soldiers were given the near-impossible task of taking out hidden enemies before they had the chance to fire on those landing at the beaches. To do so, they had to scale a peak and then play a fatal game of hide-and-seek with the Germans. The land was still full of trenches and hidden bunkers where the Germans stockpiled their weapons.

5.) The Cemetary of German Soldiers: to finish off the day. The ambiance of this cemetary was completely different than that of the American cemetary. The crosses were grayish-black and placed in groups of five (not sure why). In the middle was a steep hill on top of which was a rather imposing monument. I think that Katie described it best when she said that the American cemetary was to honor and remember the soldiers who lost their lives in the war, whereas the German cemetary was more a sign of respect for the deceased.

Paris, Je t'aime

My Paris weekend has come and gone. It was absolutely amazing and even better, nothing went wrong! It always seems that whenever I go anywhere, nothing seems to go as planned. This time--to my surprise--it did!

Katie and I took a train to Paris Friday night and checked into the Villa Modigliani. We went to bed immediately, as our plans for Saturday required as much rest as possible. Saturday itself was very tiring. We got up extra early so that we could get in line as soon as possible for our first attraction: the Eiffel Tower.

Wow. That is all I can say about that the tower. Words cannot fully describe it. We paid to take an elevator all the way up to the top, and the view was magnificant. We could see the entire city all around.

Next on our agenda was the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee. We spent about two hours walking on the street and ate outside under a canopy. We also bought French ice cream cones--strawberry. Delicious!

The Louvre was next. As the museum is huge, we decided to try to make our visit as short as we could and yet still see the most important pieces: the Mona Lisa, Aphrodite de Milo, etc. By that time, we were both getting rather tired, as we hadn't had the chance to sit down since 7 in the morning.

As an end to the day, we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower again when it was all lit up for the night. It was the perfect end to an awesome day. We rode the carousel across the street, bought popcorn, and just as we were turning to leave, the tower lights started blinking off and on, like little stars. It was absolutely beautiful.

In the beginning, we didn't have any plans for Sunday beyond checking out of our hotel and catching our return train at 2. Saturday night, however, we made a snap decision to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral after check-out. After all, neither of us had much baggage to carry, which turned out to be a very good thing. The weather on Sunday was rather cold and windy and we had to wait outside in line for at least a half hour.

The cathedral was worth the wait. We had to climb all the way to the top of an endless winding staircase. Imagine walking in a tight circle for ten minutes straight and lifting your leg up to your chest with every step. When we finally got to the top, we were on the level with the famous gargoyles of the Notre Dame. I tried to take a picture of each separate one, as they were all so different from each other. All around were posted quotes from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and we were even able to see the big bell mentioned so often in the book.

Basically, I am torn about my favorite part of the weekend. It is either between seeing the nighttime Eiffel Tower or touring the Notre Dame. I can't wait to go back during spring break!

Once a Dork, Always a Dork

Through today's experiences I am now able to offer valid proof that I am a dork. That's right, I don't deny it; in fact, I am rather proud to be one.

Anyway, the day did not really start off that well for me. First of all, Wednesdays are early days for me: I have an 8:00 class, which means that I have to wake up at 6:00 in order to walk to class and get there in time. On top of that, I had a really good dream last night. Now, I mentioned before that I never remember my dreams. And this day was not an exception: I merely woke up knowing that I had had a good dream, without being able to remember it.

It is a curse.

This might not seem like a very bad day to some, but for me it was enough. And I have now reached the part of my tale where I offer proof as to why I am a dork. Therefore:

Reason #1: To cheer myself up, I went to a bookstore during lunch.

Reason #2: I spent nearly an hour looking at the books in said bookstore, ensuring that I did not actually eat a lunch.

Reason #3: I spent another half hour reading my favorite parts of select books that I found in French.

Reason #4: I bought three books (for less than 20 euros!), even though I knew that I would have to lug them home later.

Reason #5: These books--in addition to a few others that I am planning on picking up--will be my souvenirs of France.

Reason #6: The books that I bought are the French translations of the Lord of the Rings series.

And the final piece of evidence I offer to validate my dorkiness:

Reason #7: Visiting said bookstore and buying said books did not just cheer me up, but absolutely made my day. I am now in a state of euphoria, despite the mountain of homework that I have.

There. Concrete proof. You're welcome!

Chateau Excursion #2

So yesterday was, of course, the second half of the chateau excursion. Katie stayed the night again since there wasn't an early enough bus to take to meet in the morning. On Friday night we ended up eating out at a Chinese place in the Centre Ville.

Let me tell you: French Chinese food blows American Chinese food out of the water! They served us these crispy little chip things followed by our appetizers--I ordered "nems", which are eggrolls. Of course, I didn't know that at the time; I just wanted to try something new. I'm not really a big fan of eggrolls, but these ones were amazing. They were piping hot, and I was provided with lettuce to roll them in and a sauce to dip. And that wasn't even the main course!

For dinner, I got pineapple chicken with Cantonese rice. I think the dish speaks for itself. And then there was dessert. Since I've come to France, I have become rather accustomed to having a dessert with meals--most of the time, it's just a piece of fruit or some yogurt, but I have also had crepes, ice cream and mousse from time to time. So ordering dessert was not really as big of a stretch for me as it once was. What was the dessert, you ask? Pineapple beignets. You might think that that is a lot of pineapple for one meal, but after all, it's one of my favorite fruits! And they were amazing! I got two, and I ended up taking one home for breakfast the next day.

But I digress from the original subject of this blog--the trip. This time, we visited four chateaus--Amboise, Clos Luce, Blois, and Cheverny. Of the four, I liked the outside of Amboise the best. It had these amazing gardens, complete with a statue of Leornardo Da Vinci that was pretty cool too. The Clos Luce was the chateau where Leonardi Da Vinci lived, but unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside! It was really too bad, because there were statues of all of his inventions and personal quotes on the walls. Katie got very excited about this one, as she said that "this is the closest I'm going to get to real science while studying French in France!"--she's a chemistry major.

The one that I liked the most of all--for that day--was Cheverny. While Amboise was beautiful and Clos Luce was interesting and Blois was impressive, Cheverny seemed more...classy. It looked like it could actually be lived in during modern times--which it has been. As strange as it seems, this actually added to the charm of the chateau itself. Not to mention, the grounds of Cheverny also included a chenil--a kennel where hunting dogs are kept. I got several pictures of the dogs themselves--they resembled beagles, only much bigger.

The only complaint I have about yesterday is the weather. Though the forecast was for sunshine and warm temperatures, as usual, the weatherman lied. Not only was it cloudy and gloomy, but it even started raining a little bit in the late afternoon. Not the best weather to be walking around outdoors.

Good News, Bad News

Someone (I can't remember who) once said to me that the true test of someone's commitment to attending church was whether or not they would go during bad weather, such as a thunderstorm, hurrican, tornado, blizzard...you get the idea. Well, I would like to modify this statement just a little bit; the true test isn't whether you would actually go during bad weather, but whether you would walk in said weather to attend church.

I would have to say that I have passed this test.

The weather in Angers lately has been nothing short of beautiful; my winter coat is officially in the closet along with my heavy scarf. That being said, you'll find it no surprise that when I left the house this morning at 9:20 for my customary walk to church, I was wearing nothing but my leather jacket and some light gloves. I suppose that the wet ground should have been an indication for me to grab my umbrella, but in my defense...okay, I should have grabbed an umbrella. I had not reached the end of my street when it started to rain.

The Good News: I wasn't a heavy rain, barely a drizzle.

The Bad News: After a half hour walk, even a drizzle will take its toll.

That's right. Thirty minutes with nothing but occasional trees to shield me from the rain. Needless to say, I was absolutely soaked when I walked into the church; I left a sizable puddle in the entrance way, and more than one person shot me curious glances about the state of my appearance (have I mentioned I look like a drowned rat when wet?).

The Good News: The two hours of church was just enough time for me to dry completely

The Bad News: I had to walk back home in weather that was even worse than before (can you say downpour?).

And that is not quite the end of my day. After lunch I had a meeting with my partner in my Langauge class; we have a presentation on Tuesday, and we were planning on fine-tuning our information to prepare. The place where we were meeting is called the Jardin du Mail, and its--you guessed it--about a half hour walk from my house. Why is it that everything takes half an hour?

The Good News: I remembered my umbrella.

The Bad News (?): It stopped raining.

Ok, maybe that is not all bad, but the rain was replaced by strong winds. When I finally got to the meeting place, Bo Kyoung was nowhere to be seen. So naturally, I checked my cell phone.

The Good News: She had called me.

The Bad News: She did not leave a message.

The Worse News: My cell phone was all out of minutes, so I could not call her back.

So instead, I waited. Two hours later, I was still waiting. She never showed. Which means that we have to figure something else out before Tuesday rolls around. Sigh. I hate when things go wrong, don't you?

The French Captain Nemo's

If you know anything at all about my family, you know that pretty much all of us are completely, irrevocably and irreversibly addicted to the subs at Captain Nemo's, a restaurant right in the middle of Romulus. My older sister worked there for several years, and I therefore blame her for the downfall of our entire family. But still, who can blame us? Who can say no to a piping hot steak-and-cheese sub with lettuce, tomatoes and the special Capain Nemo's spice and oil combination? I'm drooling just thinking about it!

But anyway, the sole reason behind this post is that I have found it: the French equivalent (or as close as I'm going to get) to a Captain Nemo's, and all right here in my little town! It is called "Grinotine", and it can't even really be called a restaurant. There are no places to sit, or put your food down to eat. In fact, the closest thing that I can compare it to is a concessions stand at a sports game. But the food more than makes up for its lack of sophistication. For a mere 3.50 euros, it is possible to get an entire meal, including a warm sandwich/panini, a beverage, and a pain au chocolat for dessert.

One bite. One measly little bite was all it took for me to fall in love with this little uncouth stand. The pizza sub that I had was absolutely delicious, not to mention filling! I was able to save my pain au chocolat for the walk home. Even slightly smushed (I had it in my purse for a few hours), that morsel was the highlight of my walk home.

Sigh. Can it get any better than this?

Chateau Excursion #1

Today was the third trip organized by the CIDEF program: a tour of three of the chateaux in the Pays de la Loire. This trip was the first half of two, the second of which will happen on March 14th.

So we all met at the entrance to UCO at quarter to eight this morning and caught a bus for the entire day. It took about an hour to reach the first chateau, the Avey-de-Rideau. All along the way, Monsieur Melin--the director of UCO and organisor of the trip--kept up a running commentary along the way.

Of the three chateaux that I saw today, the first one was by far my favorite. It reminded me of a castle from a fairy tale, complete with a moat. Touring the inside, however, brought me straight into my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Looking at the various tapestries and bedrooms in the chateau reminded me of the part in the book where Lizzie visits Pemberly with her aunt and uncle--one of my favorite parts!

My regret is that we were only able to spend about an hour at this castle. I felt as though I could have strolled around for a while longer, but after all there were two other places to visit!

The second chateau that we visited was the Chenonceau, which was much bigger and more elaborate than the previous. This season was rather the wrong season to visit, however, as the gardens that the Chenonceau is known for were not in bloom. It did have one thing that neither of the other chateaux had--a labyrinth! True, the hedges were rather short and I could glance over them to see the path, but still!

The final chateau, Chambord, is considered the favorite of nearly everyone who visits it--but it wasn't mine. In fact, it was the one that I was least interested in. As it was the third chateau that we visited, all of the rooms and tapestries were starting to look the same. The grounds--while absolutely huge--looked rather bleak and grayish rather than the vibrant green that so many pictures showed.

So my opinions don't coincide with the majority, but what else is new? The point is, after this trip today, I have decided for sure that I must go on the second one too, so stay tuned for that!

Under the Earth

Two posts in two days--I'm even impressed with myself! Anyway, the CIDEF organized another excursion for today and I signed up. Two excursions in as many days may seem a little like overkill, but after all, I only have four months to see as much of France as possible!

So the excursion today, like yesterday, included two destinations, the first to Anjou Troglodytique and the second was an exploration of the caves. So basically, I was underground for the majority of the day--which was kind of unfortunate, as the temperature dropped at least ten degrees underground. It wasn't really a warm day today, so a coat and gloves were especially necessary.

Troglodytique is a small French town that was essentially carved out of the earth. Nearly everything--the chapel, the homes, the stables--are in caves under the earth. The town has become a museum of sorts, where old-fashioned supplies and pictures are on display to be toured--which is exactly what we did today. It was rather nostalgic for me, as a lot of the items reminded me of reenactments with Civil War club.

The second part of the excursion was a tour of the caves of Anjou. These caves are used primarily for the preparation and creation of wine. I have to admit that this didn't really interest me very much, but even so, the carvings and decorations of the underground caves were beautiful in and of themselves.

Only in France would a school-sanctioned trip offer a wine tasting. After the tour of the caves, we were all shown into a big (warm) room and served small samples of two kinds of wine, one a white and the other a red. This was my first time ever trying alcohol of any kind. Thank God they only provided a few sips of each. I now understand why people sometimes throw up from drinking. I felt like doing the same after one sip!

Seeing the St.'s

Today was the very first excursion organized by the CIDEF program for study abroad students. The destination? St. Malo and then Mont St. Michel, which are among two of the most renowned sites in France--or so I am told. I have to admit that I actually went into this excursion blindly, as I had never heard of either of these locations before signing up to go. Even so, I was eager to see anything new. After all, I've been in France for nearly a month now and I haven't even left Angers since arriving!

As far as I'm concerned, the big adventure of today actually started last night. I got special permission from my French mother for my friend Katie to stay with me over the night, as she has to take a bus to get to the university. As buses do not run until seven in the morning--and we had to meet at 7:15--it was more convenient for her to stay the night. We then walked together to UCO to meet for the trip.

The group that went totalled possibly a hundred students, all packed on three buses. It took us three hours to reach St. Malo, and all along the way one of the 'chaperones'--my Traduction professor--kept up a running commentary of cities and sites that we passed along the way. St. Malo--as I learned--is a port city in the French region of Bretagne. It is completely encircled by remparts that were built for protection during times of war. Naturally, Katie and I decided to begin our day with a nice refreshing walk on top of the wall, where the view of the city was absolutely amazing. We then visited the chateau and walked on the beach, where I collected some of the prettiest seashells that I've ever seen.

Katie and I ended up eating lunch at a beautiful little restaurant that we found. The region of Bretagne is famous for its crepes and galettes, so it was absolutely necessary for us to try some. I ordered a formula lunch that included seafood fondue, a green salad and a caramel crepe. Everything was absolutely delicious! I felt as though I got more than my money's worth.

The next stop was Mont St. Michel. It is a beautiful island that seems to be its own little world in and of itself. After climbing about a million steps, we were able to tour the cathedral/chateau that makes up the primary landmark on the island. I was very glad that there was only one main path to follow, as that path twisted and turned so much that I could have easily gotten lost!

We had another hour or so afterwards to kill, so Katie and I ended up window-shopping in some of the souvenir shops. It was very nice to tour the town at our leisure before boarding the bus again for the drive back.

Food For Thought (And Other Necessities, Too)

Have you ever really considered the way that you sleep? I don't mean your position, like on your side or back or anything like that, but actually the manner in which you sleep. Or better yet, think of all those expressions that are used to describe sleeping patterns, like "I slept like a log" or "I sleep like a baby". In regards to the latter expression I have heard quite a few people strike it down. After all, babies wake up every few hours for feeding or something like that. Well, I have recently determined that the author of this expression knew exactly what they were talking about; my best night's sleeps are when I wake up a few times during the night, rather than sleeping straight through. In my opinion, there is no better feeling than waking up, looking at the clock and realizing that I still have several more hours to sleep. On the other hand, I hate looking at the clock when I only have a few more minutes of slumber left--or even worse, being woken up by the alarm. No matter how often it happens, that blaring bell still makes me shudder!

Sleep is not the only thing on my mind, however. I have also been thinking quite a bit about food. Since I am in France with a limited budget, I have been scrupulously watching my spending. Normally I am not a very extravagent person, but I have realized that my weakness isn't in buying clothes or shoes, but rather in buying food (and books, of course, but I'll come to that later). Whenever I have a break in between classes, I consistently wander towards the vending machines or the cafe in the university. I am sorry to say that I have not quite learned total self control yet, as I buy at least a coffee more likely than not.

The real extent of my thoughts on food were tested today when Katie and I had a full-out, extremely intellectual conversation on our eating habits. This occurred, of course, over lunch. As nearly everyone (except us foreign students) has vacation this week, all of the campus dining areas have been closed, with the exception of the vending machines. I am not one to eat candy and pop and call it a lunch, so instead I bought a cheese panini from a nearby cafe. Katie and I then sat out in the gorgeous sunshine and devoured all our food while talking about food. Our list of subjects included the late dinner hour here, afternoon snacks and cooking in general. As I said, it was a very intellectual conversation.

Which brings me to my final necessity: books. Well, it's necessary for me at least. I came to France with a limited selection of books, of which I have finished all but one. Fortunately, UCO has a very impressive library, including some of my favorite books in English as well as French. Example: they have all 6 Jane Austen books, five of the seven Harry Potter books and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Needless to say, this has made me a happy bibliophile.

What made me even happier was finding several small bookstores near the university. I have made it one of my goals to stock up on my collection of my favorite books in French while in France. Before coming, my grand total included Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Alice in Wonderland and the first five Harry Potter books. As of Wednesday, I can now add to that list The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. By the time I return to the States, I hope to include several other books as well. What can I say? Once a dork, always a dork.

Chateau D'Angers

I notice that several of the other blogs that I follow have posted posts about Valentine's Day. At the risk of seeming like I am copying, I have decided to do the same. In fact, that was my original intention even before I saw the other posts.

So...February 14th. Even though it is the supposed to be the day of love, I do not have a boyfriend and have not even been on a date or been interested in anyone at all. At this point in my life, that's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it (sorry, I couldn't help myself). I therefore decided to spend yesterday touring the Chateau D'Angers, which is one of the major sites in Angers.

As with everything, I had to walk to the chateau. On the way, I found myself in the middle of a street market that resembled a Farmer's Market. There were booths all around with everything from produce to clothing. I spent quite a bit of time just walking around looking at all of the different booths. In fact, I ended up buying a chocolat pain, which became my lunch (it was more filling than I expected it to be).

I ate my lunch on the way to the chateau, and then paid the five euros to tour the inside. Touring that place is honestly one of the most fascinating things that I have done thus far. It was absolutely beautiful. Parts of the chateau resembled ruins and others were renovated at a later date. The gardens were also absolutely amazing--healthy, colorful and well-kept. The bottom line is that the chateau was a delightful mix of the old and new.

My favorite part of the chateau was climbing up onto the remains of the highest tower. Made entirely of bricks, it used to be a moulin. There were winding stairs made of wood that went all the way to the top of the moulin. Standing at the top enabled me to see the city for miles in every direction.

So instead of romance for Valentine's Day, I toured an old castle. Crazy as it may seem to some, it was more than a fair trade in my opinion!

My Schedule Makes Me Sick

Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration. But the fact still remains that I'm not really happy with my class schedule. The classes themselves are okay; in fact, they're really rather interesting, with the possible exception of my grammar class. After all, how can you go wrong with French classes taught in French?...Don't answer that.

The part of my schedule that rubs me the wrong way is the actual timing of the classes that I am taking. I have several early eight o'clock classes, which means that I need to wake up over an hour earlier in order to get ready and then make the twenty-minute trek. On those same days, I then have big gaps in between classes, so that I need to wait roughly five or six hours before my next class. This also means that I have the choice of either walking home in between classes, or hanging around campus. I'm sure that you can imagine the pros and cons of both options.

My schedule also includes several days in which I have late-night classes. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but I have to admit that walking home in the dark makes me rather nervous. I blame my brother, who often tells me about Dateline episodes to "keep me on my guard". These have had the inevitable result of making me paranoid--which can be either a good thing or a bad thing.

The other part of my schedule that honestly almost made me scream are my Fridays; not only do I have classes, but they extend until five o'clock. So much for the relaxing Friday that I was hoping for!

Not Another One!

So yesterday was the day where we were supposed to receive the results of our placement tests that we took last week. All of the results were posted in the hall Bazin in alphabetical order. Once we found our name, it was a simple matter of looking to see which language course we were given. The scores started from the early hundreds and climbed all the way up to the three hundreds. Of course, the higher the number, the more difficult the course.

When I actually got to the hall after my customary twenty-minute walk to school, the hall was already filled with people trying to see their scores. Now, I would say that I am about average height, but I actually towered over the majority of the people scrambling around the lists. Therefore, I was able to see my name quite easily.

But my name did not have the customary and oh-so-simple number next to it. Rather, it had letters. For one wild moment; I was sure they read SUCK. A second glance (thankfully) relieved me of this impression, as the letters spelled SUP, which of course isn't really a word at all. Near the list however was a schedule for the day with the heading "Niveau Superieur".

I had scored the highest level possible on the placement test.

My reward? I had to take another test, this time a written exam, so that they could find out for sure which language class I needed to be placed in, the results of which would be posted the next morning. Sigh.

This exam lasted just as long as the previous one, but the afternoon held various possibilities. We were given a schedule of courses that we could 'try out' if we chose. In other words, of the courses listed, we could attend a class where the professor would explain the objectives of the course, the method for teaching, etc. We would then be able to decide whether or not this course appealed to us for our schedule. In all, I went to three classes yesterday: Histoire de l'Art, Litterature, and Histoire de la Musique. Of the three, the only one that I liked was (surprisingly) Histoire de l'Art. Fortunately, though, I still have a week to decide for sure which classes that I want to take.

So this morning I also found out my score for the test that I took yesterday. I have placed in cours 333, which is right around the middle of the superieur level. Our entire schedule depends on which language course we take, as different levels have courses at different times. We are allowed to take between 18 and 21 credit hours, but the language courses take up six credits. I received a full schedule of classes and their times and I have until next Monday to decide for sure which courses I will end up taking.

Wittling Away the Weekend

So I haven't posted in a few days for the simple reason that there hasn't been much to say. I have spent the last several days just walking around Angers and getting used to the town. I have walked more in the last few days than probably the entire last month. I'm hoping that I will be able to rent a bike within the next week or so; there is a really cool business here that rents them out to students for free as long as you can provide certain information.

So I have been taking very, very long walks for several hours a day in weather that rivals a Michigan spring. I'm serious--it is absolutely beautiful here! Madame Picherit keeps on telling me to bundle up, as "il fait tres froid", but I have been able to trade my heavy coat and gloves for my lighter leather jacket. It still gets rather cold at night, but even so, it is a very nice break from a frigid Michigan winter!

Last night, to take a break from cooking, Madame decided to order pizzas for dinner. Let me tell you, the French version of this Italian dish is much different than I expected. Rather than toppings like pepperoni and mushrooms, I found myself chowing down on a ham and potato pizza and a salmon, onion and potato pizza. It was...weird, to say the least.

This morning I woke up early for the sole reason of finding a church to go to. The difficulty of this was, of course, that many of the churches in France are Catholic...and I am not. In fact, on the maps that I have, there is only one church listed that is not Catholic. Fortunately, this church also looked as though it was within walking distance, so I decided to give it a try. So at nine o'clock this morning, I started walking with my Bible under my arm. Twenty minutes later, I congratulated myself for arriving safely and on time at l'Eglise Protestante Baptiste.

My congratulations did not last long. You may have found the flaw that I completely overlooked: in my zeal to find a church, I momentarily forgot about the fact that I was in France. Meaning--of course--that the entire service would be in French. This occurred to me mere moments before I walked through the doors.

I now offer proof that sometimes God answers prayers immediately. I walked into the foyer, and the first person who greeted me was able to speak fluent English! She told me that today was an "Invite your Friend" service, and 'adopted' me as her friend. I was invited to sit next to her and her husband and between the two of them, the entire service was translated for me into English. The service included a short skit where people held up pieces of cardboard with writing on both sides. On one side was a description of their life before Christ, and the other side explained how they were changed for the better with Him as their Savior. It was very moving and I was able to understand everything since I could read what was written on the cardboard.

Something that I didn't need to have translated were the songs. Most if not all of the music was familiar to me, and included several originally English songs translated into French such as Every Day and Lord, I Lift Your Name on High. It was a very comfortable experience for me, as everyone was very welcoming. Praise God for His blessings!

Tests and Tours

Today was another momentous occasion. Why? Because today was the day that I took my placement test at the university to find out which classes I will be taking for this semester. I was very nervous going into this test because there are really two aspects that could go seriously wrong. One, I could be placed in a class that is too difficult and far beyond my ability to pass or two, (even worse) I could be placed in a class that is not only too easy but where the credits are proven to be useless and repetitive. Most of all, I'm worried that the classes that I take here will not end up counting towards fulfilling my major. After all, that is one of the main reasons why I chose France as the country in which I am studying abroad.

With these things on my mind, is it any wonder that I did not get much sleep last night?

On a positive note, another exchange student has moved into the room next door to mine. Her name is Yuka and she arrived last night. She's from Japan, near Tokyo. Though she is very nice and I like her a lot, it is also very difficult for us to communicate, as she doesn't know English and I don't know Japanese. Therefore, we are forced to speak to each other in French--which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Practice makes perfect, after all, but it is still harder to understand each other when our accents are completely different. Needless to say, the walk to the university this morning was, for the most part, rather quiet.

Which brings me back to the test. The only other test that I have taken that compares to the one that I took today was the ACT. Though it was not nearly as long (thank God!), the same scoring system was used, where points are subtracted from the score for incorrect answers. Now, I did reasonably well on the ACT--call it a talent for guessing. But with this test, guessing on a question was almost impossible.

For me, oral comprehension and communication have always been the hardest parts of learning French. When the test started with a 20-question listening portion, I started to panic a little. The other sections--writing comprehenion and grammar--were not nearly as difficult. In fact, these sections made me feel both smart and stupid. They would begin with easy questions, and then get progressively harder until I went from feeling like Einstein to a dunce. This flipflop happened four seperate times, one for each section. You'd think a girl would learn!

After the test was (finally) over, we were all excused for lunch at the Restaurant Universitaire. Imagine my surprise when, in showing us the way, they led us out the doors of the university and about two miles down the road to a building next to the Musee des Beaux Arts. Despite the trek, the food (and the prices) were such that I think that I will that I will visit the restaurant quite often.

The afternoon was meant for a tour of downtown Angers. We saw some amazing landmarks, including the Chateau D'Angers and the Cathedrale. Our guides also pointed out favorite little cafes and creperies along the way. Unfortunately, we took routes that were rather complicated, and I honestly doubt whether I will be able to remember how to reach some of the places that we saw. The tour lasted over two hours, in which we walked at least ten miles. At the end of the tour, my feet were aching-- and I was wearing my most comfortable shoes. I can't imagine how other people felt; many of the other girls were wearing heels!

According to the schedule that we were given, we are supposed to visit the university again tomorrow to get a full tour of UCO itself. Our test scores are not supposed to be given back until Monday. In the meantime, we are told to "profit from the free time and familiarize ourselves with our new environment". Of course, that is just what I plan on doing! I have a feeling that Echo and I will be getting to know Angers very well.

Settling In

So today was my first full day in Angers, France. I slept in later than I wanted and didn't actually get up until about 10. After getting completely ready, I set off to see the one place that I knew that I needed to get acquainted with: the university. It is about a fifteen to twenty minute walk from where I live right now. Unfortunately, the weather was not as nice as it was yesterday; the wind was rather brisk and the weatherman predicted snow and ice. Of course, we didn't actually get any, but it was still not the best conditions to walk in.

Even so, I enjoyed my journey. The route to the university was rather straightforward, which I was thankful for. I wish that I had taken pictures, but I honestly didn't want to take my hands out of pockets very often. Along the way there were beautiful tree-lined sidewalks and a little shopping center complete with a flower market.

When I actually got to the university, I tried to find the place where I need to meet on Wednesday for my placement test; I think that I found it, but I won't know for sure until Wednesday, I guess. I also met another exchange student from Pennsylvania. Her name was Katie and we ended up eating lunch together at a little shop in UCO, not unlike the C3 from GVSU. Even better, we were able to talk a lot (mainly in English) about our experiences so far. It was rather nice to exchange stories, however brief, about problems that we have encountered and worries that we had (or still have).

I stayed at UCO for several hours, just touring the campus. I spent quite a bit of time in the library--it was huge. It also had everything that I could possible need, including some books in English if I am so inclined.

On the way back from the university, I stopped by a few stores and bought a toothbrush (since I forgot mine) and some bottled water (see, Sean?) and some spreadable cheese. All that I'm missing now is the bread! :) At any rate, I figured these few basics would come in handy for small meals or even snacks if I want.

The afternoon was rather quiet; I relaxed in my room spending time on my computer and reading a little bit (The Count of Monte Cristo by ALexandre Dumas, gotta love it!). For dinner, I ate with the family again--Madame, her son and his girlfriend. We had crepes with mushrooms and ham, and they were absolutely delicious! For dessert, we used leftover crepes and spread jam on them--again, delicious. I gotta say that I was relieved. I was dreading that I wouldn't really like the food, but now I know that at least certain meals are enjoyable. I'm rather eager to try it all!

The Never-Ending Journey

Fourteen hours. Fourteen long, tedious hours of travel. During my trip, I honestly doubted for a while whether it would ever end.

Unlike Jessica, I had a layover flight. My first plane ride took about seven hours, and we went from Detroit Metro to Amsterdam. And guess what? Seven hours meant that we were early. I shudder to think how I would have felt after the real timing of the flight. Anyway, this was the flight where I planned to get as much sleep as possible, since it was a long trip and I was supposed to have an aisle all to myself. What do they say about best-laid plans? Oh right--they go awry. Mine was the perfect example. Not only was I squished in a middle seat, but I was also a mere row away from the toilets...lovely.

Needless to say, I did not sleep. At all.

In addition to that, the airplane food was absolutely horrible. I was fed a light snack around four, dinner around seven and 'breakfast' around nine--or three o'clock in the morning, depending on which time zone you reference. Of all of these, the snack--a bag of pretzels--was by far the best taste-wise.

So what did I do instead of sleep and eat decent food? Well first I watched a movie--Disney, of course! :) And then I found this cool game called Shanghai on the monitor. It was similar to the computer game Mombasa from elementary school. I managed to play--and win--every level of the game by the time that we landed in Amsterdam. All of this (except the movie) was done with the delightful sounds of Broadway songs playing in my ears via my MP3 player.

My layover lasted two hours. Two hours in Amsterdam in which I couldn't even leave the airport. It nearly killed me! And on top of that, the line for passport check took nearly forty-five minutes and the entire time I was stuck next to a guy who wouldn't stop talking to me! Now, I'm not normally one for talking to strangers; that lesson has been beaten into my brain from all the Law and Order: SVU and CSI that I've seen. So when this old guy randomly strikes up a conversation, I honestly did not know what else to do! I talked minimally, avoided eye-contact, did everything except punch the guy and he just kept right on telling me how he was going to Germany for a toy company and was trying to find certain perfume for his girlfriend. I was never so happy to report to my gate--with plenty of time to spare, despite the lengthy line.

The flight from Amsterdam I genuinely enjoyed. It was only about an hour and a half long and I had both a window seat and the entire row to myself! Since the flight was so short, it was pointless to try to sleep, so I simply looked out the window the entire time. The sun was just coming up and I never saw a prettier sight. The clouds resembled the ocean at a sunrise, with occasional occurances of a patchwork quilt that was the land way below. Beautiful does not begin to describe it.

So are you keeping track of my travel time so far? Seven hours + Two hours layover + One and a half hours equals a grand total of ten and a half hours to get to Paris. And I needed to get to Angers, which is another three hours away by train.

This part of the trip was the first leg of the journey where I did not already have a fully-thought out plan. The general idea was to find the train station within the Charles de Gaulle airport and buy a ticket to Angers from there. Sounds simple, right?

Actually, it was pretty simple. I was especially proud of myself when I bought the train ticket in perfect French...until I forgot how to say "one-way". Oh, well. You can't win them all.

So three hours by train. And did I mention that the one wheel broke off of my suitcase? Picture it: me, climbing up three flights of stairs (I didn't see the elevator in time) with one gigantic suitcase, a smaller suitcase, a heaping backpack, a laptop case, my purse and one extra carry-on bag. My shoulders are still aching!

And then the pickup. This, above all, was what I was most worried about, simply because up until the day before I left, I still wasn't sure how I was going to get to the place where I was staying. I had two options: call and home that my family was home, or take a cab. And then Friday I received the email from Madame Picherit saying that I should give her a call when I get in and she would come and get me. A bonafide answer to prayer!

Even so, all the snags were not immediately solved. I did not bring my cell phone to France because I am planning on getting on here. I had also heard that Europe still had pay phones--which is true. But, what I didn't know was that these pay phones only accept phone cards. I even had some European change all ready, but the slot was definitely too big for a coin. And guess what else? The train station doesn't sell phone cards. What in the world was I going to do?

I was finally able to convince someone who worked at the station to let me use a phone in the office. I think that he was sympathetic towards me due to the fact that I had fnally succumbed to tears, though only a few (no sleep, a million mix-ups, a new country and a foreign language...wouldn't you?). Or maybe he just wanted to be rid of me.

So Madame Picherit picked me up from the office of the train station (I felt like I was sitting in the principal's office) and I finally got to see the city that I will be living in for the next four months. I gotta say, it is exactly the way that I had hoped it to be: quiet, rather quaint, and obviously from Europe. The street signs alone attested to that fact. It took about ten minutes to get to my home-away-from-home, and here I had another surprise: lunch was waiting, and so was Madame's family--or rather, her children and grandchildren. I was introduced to everyone and I won't post their names because to be honest, I don't remember them all. I was too busy scarfing down lunch (in as polite a manner as I could).

This meal was unlike anything that I was expecting. I knew that lunches were rather big meals rather than dinners, and I also knew that there were several courses. What I wasn't really expecting was the food to be so bland. I've heard so much about French cuisine that I guess I was looking forward to crepes and escargot at every meal. Stupid me. Instead, we had soup, pork, potatoes, green beans, cheese, and then yogurt and oranges for dessert. Most of the food needed serious seasoning, as they didn't really have that much flavor...at least, not like I'm used to. Even so, I wasn't going to complain. In comparison with airplane food, anything would have tasted like gourmet cuisine.

So then I unpacked. Big whoop. And I tried to get my computer working, but it didn't. This was where I almost cried for the second time. The WiFi--though working fine for every other computer in the house--would not connect properly to mine. So instead, I am plugged into the wall with an ethernet cord. Could be worse.

And...that's it. Now that I've probably bored all of you with the longest blog in the history of blogs (or my blogs at least), I'll just end here. A tout a l'heure!

The Final Stretch

Well, tomorrow is the beginning of the biggest adventure of my life thus far. To prepare for it, I finished packing today and spent the rest of the day spending time with loved ones. I finished the book I was reading, made some cornbread from scratch and packed some more.

Tonight, my church family held a bowling party at Super Bowl Lanes. As it was my last night in this country, I found that hanging out with the church family was a good way to say goodbye to a lot of people at once. Now, I am a horrible bowler, probably the worst in my family. I'm not called the "Gutter Queen" for nothing. To make matters worse, pretty much all of my family members are bowling champions. It was rather embarrassing the last time we went bowling all together. But with the group that I was with tonight, skill certainly didn't matter. In fact, I won two out of the three games that we played, and even broke 100 on the second game (which is amazing for me).

The most exciting part of bowling is not really my story, but I'm gonna tell it anyway. A girl at church, Bethany, ended up bowling five strikes in a row and getting a total score of 202! As someone for whom this feat would be practically impossible, I was literally in awe.

After leaving the bowling alley, we all went to the Svacha's house for food and fellowship. I hyperventilated several times, which I tend to do when I laugh. When I got home, my older sister and Avery had arrived; they came in solely for the purpose of seeing me off at the airport tomorrow. We are currently watching the third and final movie from Blockbuster, Hancock. All in all, I think that today has been practically ideal.

Down to Two

Today was much more interesting, mainly because I actually had several things to do! :) I went grocery shopping and ran an errand later in the afternoon. Most importantly, I have started packing for France. After all, I am only two days away until takeoff. I figured that packing earlier would leave me more time, so that I don't freak out as I am prone to do sometimes. At the moment, I have a full suitcase at the foot of the bed and the toiletries are all packed as well. By my calculations, tomorrow will be a packing day where I finish with plenty of time before going bowling with some people from my church. I truly hope that all goes well!

While packing, my mom and I watched Get Smart. I haven't seen the movie before, but it was sure to please me, as it is a comedy about spies, which is one of my favorite combinations. I was rather surprised that Mom liked it as much as she did. She was laughing just as much as I was, if not more. So now I'm down to two more days until I leave, and one more movie to watch as well!

Three to Get Ready

I think that this post will probably be my shortest thus far, simply because practically nothing remotely exciting happened today. I woke up to a regular Michigan winter: snow, and I simply sat in the living room and read for nearly the entire day. I didn't even have the TV on for background noise.

Around two I got to talk to Jess via Skype--it was about 7 her time in England. As she had just left yesterday, there wasn't a whole lot of information to trade. Even so, she told us about her plane trip and her first day in Kingston. I must admit that we both got a little bit teary-eyed, her because of exhaustion and homesickness and me because...well, because she was crying first, and I am always more prone to be emotional when I see someone whom I love with tears in their eyes. And of course, I missed her.

I honestly think that my parents are working hard to distract me for the next few days. Mom suggested that we rent out a few movies to watch, so we went to Blockbuster this afternoon and got three movies that neither of us have seen: Ice Age: the Meltdown, Hancock, and Get Smart. Of the three, I am most looking forward to seeing the latter, as I have heard that it is incredibly funny. Dad in his turn keeps on suggesting TV shows--mainly Jeopardy. He also has the tendency to follow me around the house and strike up conversation, but that's Dad!

And so this post turned out to be longer than I expected. I'm not really sure whether this will be considered a good thing or a bad thing, but oh well!

Four Days 'Til Takeoff

Today was, of course, the day that Jess left for England. She spent the morning packing last-minute items such as her laptop. And then we did an online Bible study with a few of our college friends. In the middle of that, our Grandmother showed up. Now, I know I should have expected it, but I didn't. I was pleasantly surprised. Not long after she came, Jess turned to me and whispered "I think Michele is coming in too." And she was right. As a surprise, Michele and Avery came in to town so that we could all see Jess off at the airport.

We arrived at the airport around 3:45, which meant that we had quite a bit of time to wait until Jess's plane. We simply walked around the terminal until around 5, when Jess had to go through security. Of course, the rest of the family couldn't follow her there, so we had to say goodbye before we joined the line.

I knew that it was going to be difficult to say goodbye; after all, Jess and I have been pretty much inseperable since birth. Even so, I did not really expect the waterworks that occurred. It was even harder than I expected to say goodbye. I'm not one to cry easily, though Michele does (She's the first to admit it). Dad is another one who gets emotional rather easily. But by the time Jess went through security, all of us--including Mom--were misty-eyed. Mom was the one who really surprised me; I have only seen her cry maybe twice before in my life. The only one who really remained dry-eyed was Avery, and I think that this was because she didn't really understand what was going on.

So Jess is gone. By this time tomorrow, she will have been in England for nearly a day. And me? I'm still waiting for my takeoff.