because I don't say this enough ...

I miss France! Yikes!

OK, so not the scary, depressed missing of France... just well in general and certain moments. Like the buses and subways of Paris. How pretty Metz is. Teaching my classes. My not-quite-internship. My cubby-hole studio apartment. Mmmmm... my bakery. That's it, I really just miss the bakery... nothing else.

Speaking Metz, I swear ABC's thing on the Mystery of Pope Joan last night, I saw a shot of Metz when they momentarily mentioned France. Except if it was Metz, the funny thing is, they showed the Protestant church, not the Cathedral, and the show was about the Roman Catholic Church.

That's all.

There's loads I forgot to write about earlier, but one last thing I don't want to forget to mention.

Haha... I was reading an article on Le Monde.fr and there was an advertisement for Boucheron. It had this crazy white masque, and it spun around on the screen like a clock. As the masque was upside down for a split second during it's spin, and because of the way it was formed, you ended up seeing a vague outline of the Eiffel Tower. Si drôle.

After the editing ends...

Today’s been one of those days when I feel I need to stop and seriously consider the fact that I’m trying to go back to school. A friend passed along some free lance editing work, which is super nice on the budget and nice to get back into it, but the whole deadline thing is enough to make me run screaming into the nearest ocean.
Granted, I’m not known for being any good at things without deadlines, but still, I realized that I’m up for some serious shock when I do get back to academic life.

On the other hand, one application is done, so I’ve been enjoying the excuse that the second one doesn’t technically have a deadline to get some reading done. (Or if it does have a deadline, I might be screwed, as I’ve yet to find it.) But the reading—so I finally finished Byatt’s Possession, and it’s as I always suspected, there is so much missing from the movie. And I finally finally finally let myself sit down and read “The Rabbi’s Cat.” (Yes, I did buy it in english and am desperately waiting the day when I get to read it in french.) But it was so darling! And the images were so good. I can’t wait now till I can get “Persepolis,” as Satrapi was quoted on the back about how good The Rabbi’s Cat is, and as Céline always tells me how good it is. I definitely want to reread Camus’“La Peste” after reading The Rabbi’s Cat. My other reading’s just been some arch stuff that I’m actually enjoying more than I probably should considering I’m not even back in school yet. My brother has informed me that he’s sending me Brunelleschi’s Dome for the holiday, and I’m super excited.

In the midst of intense editing today, I also heard from Kim. It was quite the highlight of my day. The French holiday card was so much fun- makes me reflect on things like last year and how ridiculously elaborate Christmas cards in the States get. The surprise was a two disc set of Lynda Lemay! Totally above and beyond necessary, but so completely loved. I’m listening to “du cog à l’âme” for the second time this afternoon. To top it off, Violet emailed with a photo from the trip to Barcelona too. What a day for nostalgia. I had to change my desktop background as a result.

So really nothing interesting to type about, but it’s nice to be typing something I don’t have to edit (much) or paraphrase, etc. And if you decide to edit this blog, have fun. It probably needs it.

Cool photo off the BBC, what else. See especially number 7.


Last year it hardly snow while I was in France. What we did get everyone kept saying was the most they'd gotten in years. I guess this year is a bit more drastic.

Cool.

Giving in, yet again, to my BBC addiction... Here's a funny little story. hehehe.

seriously, but what would a world without friends be like? can we talk about how much I adore those friends who are always able to read through your emails and tell you exactly what you need to be told- such as, to remember to sleep and breathe and not to stress and eat breakfast! And not just that, but also remind you, while in full panic, about what's important in life: crazy stories. And if I ever live to be 87 and can look back on all my crazy stories and have at least one that tops the drunken rooster story, I will know that I have lived a full life. Friends rock, most especially Kim!

"Il faut danser toute la vie!"

I just found this BBC article interesting.

A bit of mad desperation...

BBC NEWS, Russian squirrel pack 'kills dog'

So what do Jo and the Canadian goverment have in common?

Does everyone else remember the days in Canada, with our Hello Kitty shirt-wearing friend Jo?

If not, too bad for you.

Time for the name association game!

Expo vs. the Mets? = Jo!

Too much drinking and fun at the Casino de Montreal on Francine's birthday? = Sergio!

Fun times and bad dancing in Quebec City? = Raephael!

Thanks, BBC, for bringing back some great memories!

Les Beaujolais sont déjà arrivés!

Ok, this is mostly for Nick's benefit (remember our conversation while drinking happy juice), but the Beaujolais have already arrived. And it appears I was about right on the date! Banlieue Blog has a great photo on her site commemorating the event.

How I miss this day! Last year, the principal at my school brought in a box of Beaujolais to the teachers' lunch room. We all toasted the event and everyone's health with a healthy round, before returning to teach our one o'clock classes. Needless to say, I- the lightweight I am- was a bit tipsy for the first 45 minutes of my class! I adore France!

ahh... remember when...

Strike cripples French railways

dynamite sushi
oysters oysters everywhere
bender licks my hair


-inspired by and co-created with nick "b^tchboy" the wonderdog, with the aid of happy juice


happy juice yummy
archer shadow dances
in goblet of fire



We're done.


Nick has a scary old creepy man voice.

Happy juice.

Nick forgets about my blog, but bourbon makes it better.

A phone conversation with Kim last night has left me with a plethora of emotions. Her initial return phone call came on Saturday night- in response to a message I'd left the previous week- and coming as it did on my birthday, even without her recalling such, was a happy event. Our conversation when we finally caught up was great. We discussed the usual topics of re-adjustment, memories, the riots, discipline, emails from Erin, and The Next Step. That mainly dominated our conversation and our nostalgie. We didn't initially find ourselves in similar situations, this summer or right after our returns to the States. However, we are now in remarkedly similar positions of re-evaluating and working towards our new goals. We also find that we're experiencing many of the same emotions. So it was a productive and rewarding phone call.

The only down moment was this evening, as I was finishing up a promised French mix cd for Kim while searching for some photos I'd also promised to send, I found some photos from Toulouse. And the emotions and nostalgie just washed over me. A stupid reaction to French music and happy French memories, but it happened anyway. I do miss that group in Toulouse though; even with our crazy group dynamics, it was just so exhilirating.

But seriously, where is my next adventure!? As MC Solaar says, "La vie n'est qu'un moment."

Chirac in new pledge to end riots

Chirac and Le Pen both speak on what the French government should do to quell discontent.

Tartiflette.

Today I faced a sad and inevitable event. allrecipes.com has failed me.

Following my family's grand tradition of never eating turkey on Thanksgiving Day, we have decided to substitute our traditional pot roast, spaghetti or bean soup with tartiflette- a gooey and deliciously fattening French/Swiss Alps dish I adore.

Creating this dish was first concieve as a gift to my grandparents, then as a possiblity for my birthday supper this evening, and finally to becoming our Thanksgiving dinner dish. Finding a viable recipe, to be used in Southwestern Iowa, is another matter altogether. My first instinct was, of course, to head to allrecipes.com. To my horror, they didn't even have an idea on this dish. I next, of course, googled the recipe name- which returned a few mildly helpful responses. I do have three english language recipes now, though one has all its measurements and such in metric. The biggest problem with all these recipes is that they call for, either the proper cheese of the dish- reblochon, or a similarly difficult-to-find-in-the-Midwest cheese. However, I was determined that someone would have an incredible and edible recipe; one using a adequate substitute cheese which can be found in the Midwest.

So I started with my own blog and began following a few of my links to the cooking sites I've so far enjoyed, and returned to square one at google; one by one, they all failed me. Even good ol' Martha Stewart, gourmande extraordinaire and her website failed me. *Sigh*.

So I've resigned myself to research and develop a practical Midwest version of this delicious recipe. Once I do, I'll leave it here in case you're bold enough to try it yourself. (This is actually a outright attempt at getting you to return at least once to my blog.)


However, there were a few upsides to my desperate and despairing search for tartiflette recipes. I found a lovely little blog of an American woman in a Parisian suburb- she recently made tartiflette- who focuses mostly on cooking, and French cooking at that! Check out her photos on delicious tartiflette. I also found a blog whose title just makes me laugh. I also have a feeling that if I investigated this blog a bit more, I'd enjoy the text just as much. If nothing else, you should go just to check out his title graphics- rather humourous.

Besides getting a visual on tartiflette, Banlieue Blog also talks about the dish itself and how she made it. For myself, the first time I encountered this delicious dish, I was tripping about the marché du Noël in Toulouse, with Kim and Violet. We were tripping around a bit because it was one of our first interactive visits to the marché and we were determined to experience it all. This, of course, included sharing our first ever glass of vin chaud- also know as mulled wine. Now, none of the three of us was a great drinker, and I believe that we'd yet to have lunch- so we became, understandably, a bit tipsy. Thus tripping around the marché in Capitole, we encountered the best booth ever! They were giving out free samples of gruyére (also a first, and now favorite, for me) and right next to it, they were cooking up humongous batches of tartiflette; possibly even substituting gruyére and probably something else for the necessary reblochon. Did it ever smell heavenly! And if you know me and food, you won't believe it, but I didn't actually eat it that year. But truly, I didn't. As I mentioned, I think we were on our way to lunch at the time, and it was near the end of the program- I was starting to run short on funds.

It wasn't until I returned to France that I had tartiflette. It was a distinctly cold day in late November and I had a miserable cold and fever. But I was suppose to go pick up my student card/pass for the regional bus system, so I braved the outdoors. However, I forgot it was France and that lunch didn't end till 2pm. I ended up drifting around the marché in Place St. Louis, and realising that I hadn't had lunch and was actually hungry, I investigated my options. I decided on the tartiflette as possibly being easier on my raw throat. But the serving guy jokingly refused to serve up a dish until I had correctly pronounce the word. Hard to do with my retched cold that day. But it was worth it, and I've never looked back since falling in love with that dish.

So to quote a new found source of amusement, "In Tartiflette, we trust." Bon appetit!

More on the Islam issue in France.

French struggle to build local Islam

Encore.

More violence in France.

Lyon was my first choice when I applied to the assistantship program. However, I'm happy that I was in Metz. It's such a beautiful, little city, and an enjoyable community in which to live.

Riot erupts in French city centre

More photos, including some of Toulouse.

In pictures: France battens down

A few last minute tid-bits.

Joyeux (presque) anniversaire à Patience (et Angele aussi!)!! Tu ma manque beaucoup!! Va te bien toufer!! Gros bisous!


Congratulations to Angele and the Hotness, recently and contentedly married!
My toast: "To all the joy that grows out of the craziness when you study abroad!"

Cheating again.

History's Most Underrated Inventions

My favorite bits are items 1, 2, 5, and 6.

To round out a night of ultra-interneting, Sarah rocks my world.

"It is a failure of the Republic - and it needs to be judged on its ability to analyse that failure and find a response." - M. J P Balduyck

A few more articles on the BBC about the French riots of 2005.

French unrest tests town's unity

Curfew for riot-hit French towns

Mid-East press mull France riots

Violence exposes France's weaknesses

In pictures | Paris riot: suburb residents speak

Maps: Riots in France

Timeline: French riots

For John.

I doubt my big brother actually reads my blog, but in case he does, this is my belated happy birthday message!

Happy belated Birthday, big brother!

And in honor of your birthday, I'm granting you a limited time (one week) offer to be older than me by five years instead of four! Enjoy! I'll send your card soon!


(Look- I ended every sentence with an exclamation point! All in honor of my excitement for your birthday!)

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Paris riots

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Paris riots

La France ma manque.

I had a myriad of other ideas for topics tonight. Instead I find that I'm annoyed with life and with myself. And as happens with such cases, I wish I was somewhere else, somewhere I remember being happy- even if I wasn't always- usually France. So to shoot the dead pheasant (it's pheasant season in case you missed the hunting conversations in every direction at work today) one more time, if only I was in France again.

On one of those other topics, why does no one ask the all important question of Alias season three, and apparently now, of season four? What's with the drinking water obsession, Sloane?

Random side remark.

Did you know that you can search Wikipedia in Esperanto?

I think the world is complete. I can die happy now.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Headscarf defeat riles French Muslims

BBC NEWS | Europe | Headscarf defeat riles French Muslims

This debate was going strong while I was in France during 2003. Even my host parents were divided on the topic. After having worked in the education system, this is especially interesting for me. It is an interesting topic to follow, as well as, the repercussions.

One more note.

I'm going to be a grandmother! Ok, so it's not at all as bad as you think. And I'm probably way more excited than I need to be. My Delphi kid is taking a kid this fall pledging- happening this weekend. The duck gifts are on their way. I only hope they'll arrive before Squares on Wednesday!

Have fun, Actives!

For once I couldn't resist...

You will be smothered under a rug. You're a little
anti-social, and may want to start gaining new
social skills by making prank phone calls.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

Immigrant frustration for Malta

BBC NEWS | Europe | Immigrant frustration for Malta

Blaming my formative years.

During five chilly minutes of profound thought this morning, I realised- while peering out through frosty car windows and trying not to hit a tree- that during my "formative" years, the majority of my scheduled events were on the quarter hour versus directly on the hour. I feel this should explain my reluctance to be on the hour to any event, or to be on the assigned time even.

However, in additional defense, my times in France have rather improved that fact- bus, train, metro schedules et al.

A friend works at the American Library in Paris- like the whole city, it seems to be a clash of cultures around every corner, or bookshelf- and once she told me about a new co-worker who was trying to arrange potlucks and such. The other workers went along with it but found it annoying. For most of them, this was work and their lives were separate.

In my limited experiences, I've found that for Americans- in our highly mobile, isolated, highly career/work-centered lives- potlucks and such are suppose to be good for company morale. But does this say that we just don't have lives, so the company needs to provide them for us? When did drama become a good thing at work? Even if I don't have a life, when did I say I wanted the company to provide one for me? Sure friends at work is nice, but drama -not so much. I prefer work being work, and my life -uneventful as it is- to be my own.

After finally finishing Les hirondelles du Kaboul, I found myself missing those old french lit courses at university. At the time, it was so annoying to have to force myself through multiple chapters each night, followed by that feeling of inadequacy the next morning in class discussion. But having Diane or even Jan there to explain the story, the text, the words and sentence structure, and the history behind the story, and the cultural influences that I couldn't begin to know, was just an amazing opportunity, that like most of university I didn't truly appreciate until it was almost gone. (I was the fool who procrastinated on organizing my study abroad till my senior year, so I have only myself to blame in this!)

However, I did some thinking- miraculously - while reading Les hirondelles and it seems to me that since Khadra grew up during the revolution in Algeria, he might not naturally write in French. Thus I should feel as comfortable reading a translation into English as reading one into French. (After all I am the one who broke down and bought the book I wanted in an English translation.) So I've decided that I'll look for a copy of Khadra's work in English. Though I should probably research what language he did actually write in.

Milk in a box.

It's been a year now.

Reading Erin's email earlier this week I think has brought it all back to me. As a result, it seems that I can't go one day without thinking how I miss France.

Ok, now, it's not the I-miss-France-can't believe-I'm-stuck-here-depression of senior year (which if you saw me was not a pretty I miss France), but rather the sigh-I-miss-France-wish-I-could-go-back-there-oh-sh*t-I'm-wasting-time-to-get-important-things-done-and-oh-yeah-what-was-I-just-thinking-about-how-are-you-today-sir,-did-you-find-everything-ok? kind of I miss France. All of which simply means, I miss France, but I'm pedaling at least 3/4 speed in the direction of my possible future.

So in honor of this almost anniversary of my first vacance solaire, here are memories of France.

Milk in a box! Freaky at first, but sweetly comforting at last.
30 minute train rides to another country.
Living in a hole- literally and geographically.
Middle Age city walls around every corner.
No straight streets in the whole city.
The CAF building, aka the Central Central Building at Pontiffroy.
CAF!
The Caisse!
St. Jaques and Centre St. Jaques.
Cobblestones, which necessitate cobblers!
Studio Onze, smaller than my american bedroom!
Lionel, the tech guy.
City buses which work even during the strike!
Trips to Cora!
Better still! Trips to IKEA!
Bus rides back from school, switching the radio halfway from Radio Bleue to Cherie!
The clothes rack that took up the remaining floor space in my studio on laundry day.
The handyman- bless him for everytime he had to fix a light in my studio.
ATAC and the chairs the cashiers got to sit on.
Dogs in the Centre St. Jaques.
The dalmatian who spent his days at Noir et Vert.
The Christmas ferris wheel.
All day Anne marathons with Louise, Bobby and Dyna.
12-hour-work-weeks.
3-hour train rides to visit Kristen. (It was an 1-1/2 hr by car.)
My French baby cell phone.
The Cameo!
The girl downstairs who played Evanescence non-stop till she found a boyfriend.
Kebab sandwiches.
My cafe and bakery around the corner.
World's best cereal from LeaderPrice.
Cheese!
Yummy homemade cafe au lait.
Nutella- it's not the same here. Where's the giant jar with the gold lid?!
Free movie posters every third month from the entertainment newsletter.
Fnac.
Milk in a box. (Meaning the UHT milk that doesn't need a fridge till it's opened.)

Time to stop. But good memories.

Down For Maintenance

Down for Maintenance
Blogger is temporarily unavailable due to planned maintenance.
This downtime will last 1 hour from 4:30pm - 5:30pm (PST).

I love blogger, don't get me wrong. And I understand that the world of computers is, at best, a fickle one. However, excuse me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that 11:09pm CST is well after 5:30pm PST.

Sigh.

At least their link is entitled "sorry".

Summed up so perfectly.

"Gotta take it all, the good and the pain in the butt. ... I've managed to get a cell phone already - truly making me a French citizen - and insurance and the beginnings of a bank account (it's a process). Doing all of this in French makes it actually a sick kind of fun."

- from a friend, newly arrived in France as an assistant for this upcoming year.

It completely sums up the experience.

Déjà vu.

The same songs, the same light- not the same kitchen.

Damn I miss France at this moment.

I'm legitimate!

Yeah! My Delphi mom and Newt dad are married! I am no longer an illegitimate child, of a classic Newt-Delphi relationship!

They had a truly delightful wedding and mom was a most beautiful bride! And can I just say, how fabulous the reception was!

Unfortunately, the batteries and the camera did not cooperate this weekend, so I have no photos.

In addition, I stayed Friday night at Sarah's in IC and had a great time! I was only sad that I couldn't be around for her birthday.

It was truly my best weekend in months!

Congrats mom and dad!

(Oh, and don't fear, I know this weekend wasn't really about me!-- Notice, I did try to end every sentence with an exclamation point; to bad it didn't work!)

word nerds.

Dictionaries are the equivalent of gold to language nerds.

Case in point: a "Le Petit Robert" being the top prize of a French immersion program's Casino Night.

Second: The most thoughtful gift in a relationship that can never be.

Original Alice work in 3D online

BBC NEWS | Technology | Original Alice work in 3D online

The wonders of technology!

Excitement.

I have decided to be cheesy and announce that I am excited for the new Wallace and Gromit movie!

Random Act of Insomnia.

Woe to me.

I was once taught that it is incorrect to begin each sentence with "I", for it is too much irrelavant repetition. And rather, it is bad form, in that it is rudely self-centered. Yet I am nothing but self-centered.

Woe am I.

The Clash of Hotmail and Blogger.

Sorry for the inconvinence to anyone who decides to comment on my blog- because comments give me warm fuzzies- but you now get to do the annoying little bit to prove that you are truly sentient and not merely an automated program leaving behind little turds of comments spam.

Enjoy!

Dude! Get a life!

I hate spam in my comments. And honestly, whoever even has the time to be doing this needs to at least be a better writer than myself! And if you do have time, dude, I hope you're not in the chat rooms, because you obviously have too much time on your hands and are a total loser to boot.

My favorite line was something to the tune of, your blog has a unique writing style to it and you probably have many visitors. WTF!

Finally, should you ever find that the comments option is missing, it's because I had spam- again!

And PS. Just because I don't get a lot of comments, does not mean that I am excited to get your stupid spam comments.

France bares all for sake of art

BBC NEWS | Europe | France bares all for sake of art

Courtesy BBC News.

Food, food and more food.

It's what I love most about life in small towns, and probably what makes it so hard to go away. When loads of people come together for some good reason and work together to make everything happen and to be fun.

My father's community service group is getting together with two of the other service groups in town this week to have a pork chop sandwich dinner in the park to raise funds. (Pork chop sandwiches only work in Iowa, I swear.) And the church got together for it's annual fundraiser- which supports in part the church school, education programs, outreach programs, assistance for members in nursing homes or shut-ins, the re-run shops efforts and more things I'm not even sure of- and it was so amazing to watch.

Some people, like my mom, have been doing the same job for years, but they still love to do it. Yet they willingly let new people join in, help out or even took over as needed. The people who coordinate the fundraiser seem to change every couple of years, but each year there are always new ideas to help make it fun. It's a truly whole-church event; from the young kids of parents helping out all the way to the older members of the church. The supplies are all donated, food that is left over and doesn't go home with someone at the end of the day stays at the school to help out in the food budget, and volunteers clean up the area at the end of the day.

I think the part, if I had to choose, that I like best is at the end, when everyone is tired and trying to clean things up so they can get out of there, but everyone is still so polite and happy. And it's so easy to convince someone to take home the leftover mini cannolis (me), or the leftover homemade chicken and noodles (Perry, Meg, and Jenna's mom), or the remaining kolaches of mostly gooseberry and cottage cheese/raisin filling (too many people to name). You just remind them they don't want to cook tomorrow after all their work today. I love knowing that this benefits the church and in turn the community, and knowing that people got a good deal at the end of the day. Where else can you go to get about two carry-out trays of food for six dollars?

So if you're free the next second weekend of September, stop by, you get at least two scoops of chicken and noodles or cavatini per punch.

whinings and a musing...

Recently, I've been over using the word "recently". It's horrid and sad, but I have. I have long contemplated my need for a thesaurus (and today, my need for a dictionary). But now I wish I could just implant one into my brain. I've been trying to write short, descriptive and intelligent letters (recently). And my little brain is going insane. So insane, in fact, I'm still slightly giddy from the cheese I feel I'm inserting into these letters. (Strike the "I feel", it's not confident to say "I feel".) Ok, enough!

On another note, when do I get to go back to France? I have friends who are going back, friends who are plotting to go back and friends who are plotting to go to continents nearer than this one. (Surprisingly enough, I do have friends-- I always hated that joke.) I have friends who just emailed a photo from my time in France, and I'm feeling desperate to escape my letters and return. Hmm, thanks for reading my whinings. Hopefully my lack of a thesaurus and dictionary didn't turn you off.

Ps. (haha) I hope my title was as amusing to you as it is to my hopefully temporary short-circuited brain.

A sigh of relief...

One search has ended, and another hunt continues.

"What're you going to put on your resume? -Dumbass?"

Really, I would if I thought it would help me get a job.

And honestly, how is it that I put resumes/cover letters at the top of every one of my to do lists- and all in good conscience- and yet manage to make it the last thing I've yet to attempt?

Watching 'That 70's Show' is so much more entertaining anyway.

Time and Old Memories.

For reasons unknown, time is quite amazing. Mostly for me, it resembles money and is gone before I assimilate that it's there. In talking with Louise this past Thursday, I was reminded of how much time has passed since returning to the States and how quickly it's done so. In addition, Bobby has returned, but only just within the last week or two- comparatively to my two and a half months.

It's also been about as much time since my last post. Something about a 40-hour work-week instead of my leisurely aforementioned 12-hour work-week seems to make all the difference.

It was so wonderful to chat with Louise though. Such a fabulous indulgence in nostalgia. (Can something that's only two months past become nostalgia already?) We discussed the end of our time there with friends and family, the return, ensuring activities, and forthcoming possibilities. She has been accepted and assigned her post for the next year in France but is still debating between returning to Metz and her graduate school acceptance. Her options far outshine mine, and I have to admit to about five minutes envy that she could return if she wanted to. However I know that I am content not to return- the likelihood of receiving my former school again would be so tiny and I have always found it difficult to return to the same situation without expecting the same outcome. Instead I find myself plotting a week long visit in April or May of 2006- oh dreams are wonderful things even if they don't actually play out. (Namely due to short vacation allowances and small salaries for pions.) But how I wish I could visit in the spring... to see Metz begin blooming again and visit Parisian friends, and maybe even the Milau bridge and the Riveria... sigh.

Nostalgia is not in short supply for me tonight... I've been cleaning and sorting through old things again. Today it was time to clean under my desk- throwing out old middle school art projects and rambling through photos from high school onwards. The most surprising thing tonight was the file folder holding print-outs of all the old emails from my high school boyfriend. He was also my first boyfriend, and you would think that if I can throw out things from university, I'd be able to throw out a folder of old emails. Instead I ended up reading through the majority of them and for the stupid reason of sentimentality, I have ended up saving them again. Maybe someday I'll finally toss them, but I guess not now. I mean, what is it about your first boyfriend anyway, especially when it keeps you from throwing out a pile of space-taking paper.

Weekend highlights, and not in my hair...

So, you're just going to have to forgive the title, as it's late.

So last week, I missed the note about how everyone coming back for graduation etc was back during the days leading up to Saturday, so I only made it over to the area on Saturday about noon and then spend happy quality time with the family. So sorry to everyone I missed seeing, in case it was that important to you to see me then.

However, missing said note did allow me to complete a few interviews- necessary for those student loan payments- and even a surprise one for the summer job that I'd really wanted on Friday!

Finally participated in a female tradition in my family (started by my aunts!), the tradition where I go through all my crap from my entire life and sift through it (aka discard about 75% of it) and pass it along to my young female cousins so that they in turn might do the same to even younger cousins or potentially my female children. Wow, who knew my aunt's daughters might inherit some of her childhood things in the long run!

I also managed to get reacquainted with the insect population of Iowa; mosquitoes still like me...

I was also reminded of the joys of Phedre this weekend. Oh how I miss Intro to Lit 311!

Managed to consume more fried foods this weekend than in (probably) all my time in France this past year.

Ditto on soda.

Got mildly caught up on the EU Constitution referendum in France and the "No" result. (Check the BBC for some overview.)

And happily also managed to surprise Angela with a visit to her summer pad so we could at least scratch the surface of all the stories we need to catch up on!

And finally, got the summer job I wanted (surprise interview one!)! Plans are potentially falling into their necessary places!

I miss France, but it's awfully good to be home.

France and the EU constitution- BBC News

BBC NEWS | Europe | France and the EU constitution

On the upcoming French referendum on whether to accept the EU Constitution. The comments on the article are just as interesting.

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Day in pictures

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Day in pictures

Check out the caption on this page and let me know if you too found the obvious error. I guess the BBC strike is effecting even their editing staff.

My clocks are finally synched...

Or in other words, I'm back on the North American continent... or home, whatever that's supposed to mean...

Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful to be back with my family- as that's what home is mostly to me. I'm having a hoot! It's been fabulous that the weather's been mostly nice in my week and a half back. I'm enjoying a stressless adjustment period of hiding out in my parents' house, of finding a job, of not having to deal with the compounded energy of at least 300 other people who are perfectly intune with their internal clock while I'm still confused about what times I'm suppose to be tired and sleepy at... That's been the best bit of being back- just having the time to coast back into a regular sleep and time schedule again. The eating schedule is something all together else though... I think I just need the world's best cereal from LeaderPrice and then everything would be all better though! So being back... overall, not too bad.

Except as usual there's all the things I miss. Like, crazy but mild weather, the river and the riverwalk, the parks, stealing daffodils out of the public gardens, my cafe, walking around centreville, destroying my shoes' soles on the cobblestones, running errands on foot except for the occasional hoof and bus trip to Cora, missing the construction of the new Pompidou in the Quartier Amphitheatre, my boulangerie on the corner, St. Jacques and all the tables, the Cathedral, and probably most of all, the bells ringing to remind you of where in the day you are- every fifteen minutes... the bells never bothered me as they might have others, I liked them and I could sleep through them during my afternoon naps, so I miss them. I tell you what, a tornado siren at noon does nothing to replace them and everything to stop my heart-- I mean, come on people, it's not the first Wednesday of the month here... everyday is a bit obsessive, except for the fact that we live in a tornado prone area I suppose...

And I miss Paris even, it's a great city if just too much some days! I miss my seat in the Luxembourg Gardens and I miss subtlely chasing the piegons down the streets and I miss the trains and I miss well, everything I love about being in France... I miss that I'm missing late spring and early summer in Europe... for those still there, remember to truly enjoy it!

And now that I've decided to cut off my list of things I miss, so as not to become overwhelming homesick, I'm going to go think about why it is I'm not going back next year... sigh.

So maybe next time I'll be up to bringing you up to date on why being guide and translator can be so exhausting... just as Kim warned me it would be!

Hanging out in the Louvre.

Le 27 avril 2005, mercredi; Paris, Louvre, Richlieu, 1st étage, 17:15

So I’ve just wandered through a portion of the Richlieu wing of the Louvre, and I have to say that I’m so happy I went to see the Jewish quartier, Josefov, while in Prague. A chance to see such a huge collection of Jewish artifacts and their richness was so nice. I feel I’ve finally seen some of these things, in comparison to all the Christian artifacts I usually see. In addition, I also visited, again in the Richlieu wing, the Islam arts department with its fabulous display of ceramics- oh I was in heaven then!- and also the Islamic antiquities. (Forgive me for still not knowing the difference between Islamic and Moslem- I’ll have to do some research.)

Skipping a few days and entries to be back in Paris.

Le 25 avril 2005, lundi: 15:13, Parc G. Brossens, Paris.

Speaking on the topic of Europe today. …but as I was walking to the park, I went past a lot of propaganda for and against the European Constitution- which France is voting on soon. One poster stated, “J’aime l’Europe, je vote non.” Another stated, “Europe = Chomâge; Pauvreté; Inflation; Delocalisations; Croissance Zero.” And it got me thinking about the beginning of the United States after the Revolutionary War, both right after, with the Articles, which failed, and twenty years later when the Constitution finally worked out. I mean, everyone knows, regardless of how much it is currently denied, that Europe is working towards becoming a nation like the US is, made up of many parts. They’ve already bypassed money, as one of the US’s early stumbling blocks, with the Euro as the common currency, and working on common laws so as to lead to common court system, etc. I understand the resistance to it, even I think I’d want to resist it if it were my future, - loss of true national identity, loss of diversity in various ways, but I also understand the need for what the subcontinent is trying to accomplish so they can continue to flourish in the future. But now on to the old guy on the train, as I’ve been promising for a while now. Let’s call him Monsieur Manette for lack of a name, and I’m tired of calling him the old French guy on the train from Metz. So M. Manette and I were chatting away for a good portion of our trip (in French of course). And for me, the most important subject we broke upon was that of the upcoming referendum vote within France on the European Constitution. To understand, let’s go over the basics: Chirac is for the Constitution, he could have just made the decision for France and already voted yes, but instead he decided that this is so important for France, the people and that nation, that he’s giving the populace the opportunity to make the decisions for themselves and tell him how they want him to vote. Unfortunately, at the moment, most of the population does not like him due to several of his recent political decisions concerning the country; results of which being less employment, inflation, the usual things we hate politicians for and happily blame them. The short of it being that Chirac will probably be voted out next election (2007), unless things radically change. And because he’s so pro-Europe, many people are determined to vote against the constitution simply because they do not like him. However, remember I’m not a poly-sci, non history major and these details are from one old M. Manette, and just as many people have just as many different reasons to vote for or against the Constitution. But at the end of our discussion I asked M. Manette if he thought France would vote for or against the Constitution, and he seemed to think that it might be close, but that the Constitution would pass. It would be odd if it didn’t, in my opinion, as Robert Schumann was French and because France is such an important nation within the various European communities.
So now you know some of what I know about the subject and you’ve finally heard the story of the old French man on the train from Metz.

Two Concerts in Two Nights! Living it up in Prague!

Sitting in St. Clement’s Church, Prague; 19:45, Waiting for Organ Concert; le 22 avril 2005, vendredi

Lest anyone become excited, both concerts have been classical music.

Miss Sophie’s, Room 15, bed 3, Prague; 23:30; le 22 avril 2005, vendredi

So today I went to the Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter. I took the tour of the synagogues, except for the Old-New Synagogue (which also happens to be the oldest and continuous synagogue in Europe). The Old Jewish Cemetery was included on the tour and it was beautiful. If I was a kid, it would have been a dream playground with all the tombstones leaning, falling and lying about… all the infinite combinations of jumping around! But it was very nice to just stroll through, with the sun dappling through the new leaves- like being in a park with all these stones lying around. But in the synagogues, you couldn’t take pictures and there were all these little old Jewish ladies who were standing guard- I did NOT have enough courage to mess with them. They argued with some obnoxious US grad student about getting the student ticket price- he was 35 or something, so I kind of agreed with the little old ladies (plus you've just got to respect them, it comes with the domain of little old ladies), but I sort of agreed with his because he is a student, but he was being such a jerk about getting the price, “…we can call the university in the States.” In the end, my conclusion is that those little old ladies should have given him the evil eye. (Should I hope for something like that, or does it jinx me too?)

Today was also shopping day. I picked up various gifts for the family, which I shall not reveal here in the off chance the family is reading this.

The organ concert tonight was a complete bust! It was just not what I had been hoping for. But I suppose I was hoping for a year and a half ago in Toulouse at St. Sernin for the highlight of the 8th Annual International Organ Festival—in the Basilica St. Sernin, where the organ was built for the first time. But it was still a nice concert, just not great and not what I wanted.

Also, I did something that scared me tonight! I went by myself to a sit-down restaurant for a meal. I went to a place that had some Czech customers but seems to cater mostly to tourists. But I was comfortable. I ordered a beer (oh my!) and the Czech goulash. The goulash was good and now I can say I ate it while in the Czech Republic.

Traveling alone is still difficult for me. But in some ways, I’m really coming to enjoy it. And I think I want to travel alone some more.

Oh, to explain my title for the night before… Listening to Dvorak’s New World Symphony, I could hear all the sounds of home in the various movements. And it made me realize that deep down, I’m still just a country girl. It reaffirmed what I already know- I shall need to return to the country to live eventually.

The ceiling and inside of the Municipal Hall. 

Learning.

Some park in Prague, Foot of the Royal Way: le 21 avril 2005, jeudi: 17:15

So today's been one of those learning days. As it's been three years since I've truly traveled and visited a place on my own, I've had to relearn how to do it. It's truly not so much being alone, as it is having to organize and make my own decisions. When it comes to traveling, I like to see everything and whatever. So having to figure out what I want to see has been difficult. Typically I just follow along with what everyone else wants to do, as I said, I just want to see it all and so I just follow along. Now I have to choose myself and it's hard! Part of it depends on the fact that I only have so much time here, and I can't just spread my visits out to when I feel more comfortable. I mean, I'm not really living here, like in Metz or Toulouse, even Paris in a fashion. So I decided to take the City Walks tour- the Insider Tour and see what they could tell me an show me. It was ok, I really enjoyed having some more history, but it wasn't really much more than I'd already read. Later tonight I'm going to a concert of Dvorak. A bit pricy, but should be worth it and besides, I'm in Prague-- il faut!!

There's these Italian boys sitting on the grass nearby, singing all sorts of songs! They're about lycée- so a little like my troisièmes. I miss my kids!


Sitting in the Municipal Hall, waiting for the Dvorak concert: Prague, 20:15

Reviewing my photos a few minutes ago reminds me that in the photo of me with the Charles Bridge in the background, you can't see my fabou green polo shirt- and my undying faith that polos never go out of style!

I think I could want to live here for a few months. Except for all the Anglos, who might eventually drive me nuts!

I'm a Country Girl
In room, Miss Sophie's: 23:00 Prague, le 21 avril 2005, jeudi

So this morning I missed the walking tour and thus ended up back at the hostel feeling a bit lost, not knowing what to do. So I borrowed the french girl's guide to read up in english. That helped to ground me. Then I went out to get my ticket to the Dvorak concert. I ended up watching the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square at noon and then got lost on the way from the Municipal Hall to the Weneslaus Square to meet the walking tour. But I was only a few minutes late and so caught them. After the tour I came back to the Old town to get a falafel for dinner and come back to the hostel to rest for a bit. The concert was lovely! The Municipal Hall is an Art nouveau building with influences from the Czech School of Art Nouveau. And the music was nice. Not amazing but fitting to listen to Dvorak in prague. I forget the first piece, but the cello soloist was ok as a player, but dreadful as a performer- he acted exhausted all the time, except like he was overembellishing it. The second piece was Dvorak's "The New World Symphony"- one of those reasons I love Prague is the connection between in and Iowa on account of Dvorak's living in bitty Springville Iowa in 1892-1893 (that should be correct...). And the New World Symphony sounds likes the melodies of the Iowan countryside- the animals, the wind blowing through the fields, and even the people somehow. I wish my parents could have been there.

There are two Australian girls in tonight at the room- their friend is sort of MIA though. Her flight came into Brno and then she didn't have money or transport I guess, so she started to walk into Brno and that's the last they've heard as her phone died.

(Below are the photos from my first day in Prague.)

The one picture of me in Prague! Enjoying the cool weather and soaking in the ambiance!
 

The Charles Bridge from another bridge. 

The Royal Way... loaded with royal pains selling cheap stuff. 

The River and the city from an overlook at Prague Castle. 

The Prague Castle from the opposite bank. 

The Calender bit of the Astronomical Clock. 

The Astronomical clockface. 

The Astronomical Clock, in Old Town Square. 

Old Town Square. Defenestration became a popular tool for the Czech people here. 

The tasteful graffiti of Prague 

Let's Discuss Globalization, Americanization... or The first night in Prague...

le 20 avril 2005, mercredi: 21:15, Miss Sophie's Hostel, Prague

These last few days have been so intense. I moved out of my studio in Metz on Monday afternoon, took the train to Paris and lugged my five bags with Thanh Ly to Kim's place down in the fifteenth. Worked up enough sweat to justify washing my hair on Tuesday morning so I could justify foregoing the shower on Wednesday (this am), as I had to leave Kim's apartment at 6am to catch my flight to Dortmund, to wait there for about five hours so I could catch my flight to Prague and so arrive here.

On moving: I can't believe I'm technically homeless in France again, as I haven't got a proper address. But I'm using Kim's address as necessary- though hopefully not more than for my luggage tags. I'm totally going to miss my baby studio in Metz. I'm already missing Metz, and Dyna, Bobby, and Louse. They're all in Spain for the week- where it's warm and sunny! But it's lovely to be with Kim and Thanh Ly as it's forcing me to actually use French even when I'm disinclined to do so, as in I don't know the words. And they're just great people to be with! Also it's hard to realise that I've moved out from Metz because I'm still in France and well, Europe. And I don't go home for another three and a half weeks. Realisation hasn't sunk in yet truly that this year is over- also I guess that I'm so excited to go home this time means that I'm not dreading or anxious in any form about leaving. But it's just that it hasn't all sunk in. Though I miss the kids (aka the monsters) in Metz and Ste. Marie already.

On the hostel: It's apparently a sister hostel to Sir Toby's in Prague, but that's a bit further out. It's mainly an anglophone place, but it's new and really nice. Not too expensive and really super clean. It's also not in the old town/centre of Prague, but rather an easy walk and in a quiet neighborhood. There is unfortunately no kitchen though.

On first impressions of Prague: Wow! Can we discuss globalization and americanization! I would have to say that over 50% of the posters and signs here are in English. Karin, the french woman in my dorm, said that "Prague is a good place for non-English speakers to improve their English."
Random other impressions: no dog crap on the sidewalks- small bricks and squares for sidewalks like in Paris- a pleathora of gorgeous buildings- KFC on every corner!- Macdo on every corner (typical now)- even saw a TGI Fridays! (we don't even have those in Iowa anymore- what gives!)- the Astronomical Clock (quaint, but shorter than I thought) and crowds of people- more English (american and british) on streets than maybe even Paris- American college students playing frisbee in Old Town Square- music everywhere!

But can we discuss Americanization! The best way I can explain it is to say that after seven months in France, a country so determined to resist a lot of these influences (have since found a KFC is Paris, near Les Halles), it's almost overwhelming to my senses to see all of this-- insanity. And as I'm coming from France, where I can speak the native language, it's hard to be here and know I can only really rely on my native language- that even attempting a non-native language won't work here- one as I know no others, two except for Czech. Everyone, even the street snack stand people (maybe especially them), knows English. I feel so horrible not even knowing some basic words yet either. I'll have to see what the next few days bring.

Things to be thankful for...

1) being in Paris with an international cell phone number that isn't listed on the Cornell Alumni Association. No money demands yet! Thankfully for the sake of the assistant's salary.

2) returning soon to the US where my most inexpensive lunch PB&J doesn't consist of PB that costs twice as much for half as much as it does aux States.

Confused, refer to latest blog and comments on Amourous Troubadour.

Greetings from the Golden City...

...and typing on a Czech keyboard. Which really isn't as monstrous as you'd think, given that's almost exactly the same as an english or american keyboard and not nearly as screwy as a french keyboard.
Ok that's all for now, as I spent the day walking all over again and doing gift shopping (I really am not a fan of shopping) and now I'm exhausted. Also the organ concert tonight was definitely not on par with the organ concert in St. Sernin in Toulouse a year and a half ago... maybe something about the one in Toulouse being the highlight of the 8th Annual International Organ Festival... maybe not.
Must go do some postcarding (I enjoyed the Prague post office today, nicer people than in some of the french offices), but huge promises to all my two readers to post about Prague and include pictures (I'm even in one of them!) in the upcoming week when I'm back home in Paris. Hopefully I can keep pinching time at the American Library!!!
Ciao and bonne nuit.
(Get some sleep all you people who aren't on spring break and have exams coming up next week while I'm wandering the streets of Paris leisurely!)
And it's actually 11:19pm, I just never changed my clock settings these last seven and a half months!!! Muahhahahaha ha.

Please remember to register first...

So just a little ditty, but still, it's a weird day again. The public department archives were a bust for finding any info on the family origins- quelle surprise! But I do have another card now... yay, something else to clutter up the wallet whenever I happen to actually find one. Why is there no H&M in Metz!? Who wants to go with me when I'm in Paris... Ok, so I'm going to be in Paris and where am I going shopping, but at H&M! Ok, but still you try and live on an assistant's salary! Maybe I can find something in Prague if all else fails! I can't believe my life this evening... sitting and chatting on the internet with my sixth grade french students. I so have a cool life!

Up and Down.

Check the title. That describes today. I would rather write this on my computer in my studio instead of typing it on the internet was I'm composing it but I just need to get this all down. So forgive my faults in othrograph and grammar. (Listening to fabulous french music- Dominique A).

Today was my last day teaching classes. It was with some of my most penible students, but for the most part the day went well considering that the classes didn't have much structure at all. I was having each class group write a short "letter" to me so I can make a book to remember them by, playing the Beach Boys for them and handing out a mini Reese's cup to each kid so they could try a classic american candy. Most of my classes had gone fairly well like this for the last two weeks, but one of my classes was so autrious (?) today, that they got neither music nor candy. I left the candies with their teacher so they can have them tomorrow I suppose. And when they finished these little letters they could draw a picture if they wanted. So one of the pictures I got was of the airplanes crashing into Twin Towers... and so in shock I handed it into the teacher I was working with today and just asked in addition to any punishment he received that he be made to research the event. Otherwise my last day was pretty much a standard day except for at lunch when I was waiting to go catch my bus back to Metz and my coordinating teachers gave me a book that they had made with all the kids in all my classes that included their pictures! Wow, it was super great and I've already enjoyed it so much!

My doctor's appointment today went super great too as I told the gyno I was going back to the States and wouldn't have insurance there, so she gave me a renewed prescription for 6 months and then two months of pills for free! I think because she felt sorry I was going back to a country that doesn't provide health insurance for its citizens. Something I should definitely blog about more. Tomorrow's the dentist! I love how cheap it's here anyway even without possibly getting reimbursed!

Getting back to home, I found one of the best surprises of today... a package from my fairy goddaughter, Amelia! I was super excited and so happy and like a kid at Christmas and practically torn open the package! I love that someone else besides me uses EasyMac or Poptarts boxes to mail things in! She totally sent me the equivalent of gold for an American in France........ EASYMAC!!!!! Plus letters from my sisters and a photo from Spring Pledging! YAY!!!!!

And in addition to my package today I got a package from Kim yesterday, sending on a purchase I forgot to make in Switzerland when I was visiting her near the border. So mail's been great the last two days.... but please, if you're going to send anything to me from today on, send it to my US address, as I move out of this address on Monday. (This is so unreal.)

It turns out after reading others' blogs tonight that Iowa's getting a flood of former Cornellians in May. And speaking of Cornell, it turns out that one of the great professors I had at Cornell died last October, Randy Ziegenhorn. I have to say that besides the wonderful Professor Alfrieta Monagan, he was the other influencing factor for me to continue with my anthro dreams and degree past freshman year. His classes were brilliant with amazing people in them, his insights into important issues and his opinions, and his stories that filled in the spaces between... It's definitely been an up and down day.

Leaving the school today didn't really feel like the last time and it was. I will likely never see those kids again, unless Vincent does become a famous french tv news reporter, or one of the Thomas's does actually visit me in the US (haha), or one of the Homers (their English name- and they didn't get it from the great Greek author) makes it into my luggage, but as I'm not sure I can even get all my stuff inside my suitcases, that's unlikely. And as I have another three and a half weeks still in France, it just feels so weird that today is suppose to be my last day... I'm not leaving for the US yet but I'm done with my students. I'm packing up to move, but not home... instead to camp out with friends in Paris for more than a week, interrupted by five days out to Prague and back.

Then Anna left today to catch a flight home, I mean really home, to New York. She gets here after me and leaves before me. I stood out on the computer lab balcony for a bit because I could see her window from there and into her room. It's just so empty. All so unreal. Up and down.

I'm sure there's more but I think nows just a good time to stop. I'll write when I'm not so out of it and melancholy or next time I have some internet access.

If anyone wants a french teenage coorespondant.... haha, not really I couldn't subject you to my little monsters!

Thanks too, Amelia! You totally made my day! Biz.

Sheet, sweet, sheep, and... sh...

Haha! I was just re-reading my post on April 6 and realised that I had typed sheet for sweet, which in turn reminded me of the day I broke down and did a five minute lesson with two of my classes because I couldn't handle their giggles anymore each time I said "sheet". (Long sentence there...) Haha... so for five minutes my class sure did have to properly pronounce sheet, sheep, and well shit, over and over and over. I sure did want to laugh a lot! Mmmm... ha... french kids who think they're so clever.... I'm going to miss the monsters. Middle school is such a funny age... I think if I was going to be a teacher I would want to teach in one of those little country schools that makes you teach in the middle and the high school, just so I could get both worlds. I might actually have a fondness for that age now, if it wasn't for the fact that they are such monsters! Lov'em!

Oh, and just fyi, I'm not too lazy to talk about that little sheet/sweet error, but I am too lazy to go edit it! I love Saturday mornings!

Dentist?

Does anyone know a good dentist in Metz, who's conventionée? I need a dentist in Metz! And quick! I only have about a week left in Metz... so I need something soon! Before I leave this blessed country that foots most of the bill for things like dental cleanings! Anyone wanna help me call the list in the phone book?

How the Hundred-Acre Woods became the Forest of Blue Dreams…

Le 6 avril 2005.

Sometimes I wish I could just have a little audiovisual recorder of all I see and hear and think during the day. But as that is also extremely creepy big-brother and would probably be truly annoying, I’m not to upset that I don’t… it just means that I usually end up forgetting some of the crazy things that happen on a daily basis and you don’t get to hear about them.

My recent extracurricular activities have been mostly researching and organizing the family trip in May through France. And it’s been fun in a bit of a weird way watching all the pieces come together- the train tickets arrived the other day, the parents got the hotel reservations for Paris (based on my recommendations so let’s help they were good recommendations!), and I just spent the day getting blisters from the new shoes while walking around Metz to check on car rental prices and check out some of the hotels. And in true typically French style, one of the new hotels that was to have opened in March doesn’t even have the entrance finished yet! I honestly couldn’t find the street number nor the door! Oh well, the one down the street was really nice, so we’ll probably stay there. Now I just have to find a couple of restaurants that are suppose to be nice here in town. Also need above-mentioned car rental and hotels in Toulouse.

Also on the trip-planning front, I have made all my arrangements for the trip to Prague! I have the flights reserved and a hostel in Prague all set, and one in Dortmund as my return trip includes a 24-hour layover in Germany. I’m pretty excited to be going even if I’m going alone. Also the hostel in Prague is a new one so there weren’t many comments on it so we’ll see what happens. I’ll try to keep you posted.

It’s been insane realizing that I have only about 12 days left in Metz as a resident… all the things I need to get taken care of before I go… the packing I really should start soon so I’m not up all night before I leave… But at this point I have to totally give the French health care system snaps (even if it’s probably going to crash sometime in the not too distant future) for at the moment I get some of these services paid for and for some reason I don’t have to make these appointments months in advance. In all reality, it appears that a week is sufficient. Love it!

My French mom wrote the other day in response to a letter I finally sent them! I mean, it’s totally my fault as they couldn’t have known where to contact me as I hadn’t given them any address or phone number. I was completely exciting to hear from her and how the family is doing. And here’s the bit that totally touched my heart, I had mentioned in a phone call over the summer that I might be coming to visit Toulouse with my family if and when they came to visit in probably May, and Nelly totally invited us all to visit them if and when we came- she had no idea if we were even coming or not but she made sure to invite us! I always knew I had lucked out with my host family last year, but this totally reinforces it. And she just wrote one of those sheet and fabulous letters that makes you feel so happy and special. It totally made my day.

Well, as I haven’t got much interesting to talk about today I’m just going to sign off and leave all be. Hopefully I haven’t bored anyone too much!

The shoes I've been eyeballing all year and finally decided I couldn't live for the rest of my life without... I love them! Louise went with me to make sure I truly did prefer the brown and pink versus the pink and pink version. Even if they did give me a blister after walking all over Metz today, I love them! 

Ok so the music reminds me of one of the two reasons I will actually watch A Knight's Tale... of course being that people in old costumes break out into modern rock song and dance scenes! I'm only listening to the CD on an average of five times a day at the moment... 

For Francine...

In honor of keeping Francine informed of my work schedule, I just wanted to note that I have this weekend a four day weekend because I am currently living in a formerly German area of France... something about religion not existing in France (right, remind to blog about that later...) and it being persistent in Germany... or whatever... But because of this marvelous four-day weekend, I now don't work again until next Thursday.

How on earth am I suppose to move back to a country with a Puritan work ethic and a minimum 40 work week?


(I'll let you know after I've considered it during my trips around Eastern Europe... :D )

à propos...

Well not really, but I felt a need to share more of the Kate-Francine conversations.

PintSzGrad: i heard it was spring here, but it got cancelled

Hence, I think I'm really enjoying being in Europe at the moment! Yay for spring!

The one photo I remembered to get of the mutilated landscape in this area. This is from on top of Fort de Vaux. Even in the forests that have grown up on the land around there isn't a bit of level ground.  

The remains of one of the small trenches between the two main trenches on this hillside. Later we saw some better preserved trenches. I wish I had gotten a photo with one of the kids in it so you could better see the proportions of it.  

The Ossuary and the cementaries. Our goal at the end of 5 km. Taken at Fort de Vaux. 

The sleeping quarters for some of the French troops. The French would sleep two men to each bed, I suppose the double bed racks saved space. When the Germans took over the place they had so many troops to get inside that they dismantled the beds and put down straw for all the soldiers to sleep on.  

The washroom for all of the troops inside Fort de Douanemont. The lines that come down off the ceiling are mini stalagtites from all the dripping condensation inside - it's like this inside all the forts and citadels. 

Inside one of the midway shelters.  

A midway shelter between Fort de Vaux and Fort de Douanemont. 

Ondulating hills…

Le 23 mars 2005.

It was another beautiful day today. As such, I decided to walk to my internship, which was a wonderful decision as I thoroughly enjoyed my 40 minute walk through Metz. It was just such a great day to be out.

Anna left this morning for almost a full week in Nice. I’m so envious of her! I’ve yet to go to the Riveria and as I was telling Pia this evening, I doubt it’s happening this year.

As I promised my Delphi kid in an email this afternoon, I wanted to post my photos and thoughts from the day trip to Verdun yesterday that I helped chaperone. (Who would have thought I would be a chaperone of middle schoolers! Yikes!) I have to first say how proud I was of our kids, especially when we were watching a movie on the battles at Verdun during the first World War at that Ossuary and a pack of sixième students came in. The little kids would just not shut up during the movie (hence I didn’t get loads out of it) and it was ridiculous as they had about five teachers with them who didn’t even quiet them down. It was our teachers and one of the chaperones who ended up hushing the little kids up. Our kids on the other hand were angels; something I don’t really expect out of them really! :)
We visited the Ossuary after our 5 km hike to it from Fort du Vaux. It was really interesting comparing the forts and midway shelters to the Citadel in Halifax and how they employed the method of building into hillsides so as to be less detectable to the enemy. The midway shelters were really not more than stone walls and a stone roof covered by terrain to blend in. Truly not build with comfort in mind. The trenches were so tiny when you consider that the men crawling through them were boys of 5’8” or maybe a little more and carrying a half of their body weight again in the sack on their backs. Even almost 90 years after the fact, you can still see the trenches running around the country side. Most of the area though is now forested, but you can imagine this bizarrely twisted landscape without the forest and it just seems so surreal. I mean, everywhere in the forest you looked, you could not find a bit of level land. The entire forest floor is this multi-pocked terrain. You’ll have to see the photo of the land around Fort de Vaux. It’s just horrific when you think that there was no forest just all this mud, artillery bombs falling every couple of seconds, and the boys crawling around in it just 18 or 19 years old. Inside Fort de Douanemont that afternoon, the guide simulated the sound and echo of the cannons shooting and the bombs falling- something that again happened every couple of seconds. And when you think about the fact that there was hardly any sunlight inside the forts and the Citadel de Verdun, on top of the noise and the constant moisture and dripping water from the condensation, it’s truly not unbelievable that people went insane if they didn’t die first from these cruel elements. It’s not such a wonder to see the literature that came out from that time. The guide said that in the trenches it could take ten hours for the soldiers to crawl just 6 feet in the mud.
I’m extremely grateful to have gotten to go with the school on the visit, to have had the guide along, and that we took that 5 km hike. For me and maybe for the students, the hike was one of the most impressive aspects of the day. To see that mutilated terrain, still so distorted even almost 90 years later. Maybe too, the students were more attentive since I was along- an American coming along to learn more about one of their most important parts of recent history might have encouraged them to understand the importance of it all more.
It was first in Robert Cook’s Portaits of France that I came to understand a bit about the physical influence of the First World War on the landscape of France and later that I came to realize the mental impact a bit, but still it’s not something I completely understand. Though after seeing Verdun, and talking last weekend in St. Julien to the Algerian War veterans, I can begin to understand why France is so adamant to stay out of wars in today’s age.

Did I forget to tell you?

So I was all out sprinting for the bus on Monday morning (Celine was taking us to school that morning as Bridgitte had a stage) and some nice-looking, old man out walking his rich lady dog was like "It's nice to see a woman out running." Right, nice my foot, as I totally didn't have a supportive bra on... Dirty old french men...

YAY!

Fun news! Lionel's a daddy!!! He and his wife had a baby boy last night! Bienvenue Axel Robin!

Spring has Sprung!!!

Le 21 mars 2005.

ARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s spring!!!! It’s so fabulous! It’s been gorgeous for the last week now and I’m in love with it all! Two Fridays ago the weather has quite disagreeable, all cold and wet, and even still on Monday it wasn’t exactly great, but I wasn’t complaining with 30 degrees F. Yet on Tuesday it was suddenly 50 degrees and I was thrilled, and then on Wednesday it was excitingly 70 degrees—and quite honestly I was in heaven! Anna and I took advantage by going for a two and a half hour hike through Metz, out past Technopole to Grange aux bois, and it was so nice just to get out and go for such a long walk.

Then on Thursday I took off for the south! J’adore le Sud! It was so crazy, the further south I went, the more I felt like I was going home. Truly Toulouse is my first French love! The only problem with the trip to St. Julien (en-Genevois) was that we were delayed outside of Chalon-sur-Saone for about 45 minutes, and they said that we were going to be about that late… sadness as I had two more connections to make. But they pushed the train into Lyon and then had held the train there for Bellegarde. So I didn’t have to worry about getting stuck in Lyon for the night. The conductors went around on the train then to ask if anyone had connections at Bellegarde, so they also held the train for St. Julien too! I was certainly thrilled as I didn’t know how else to get from Bellegarde to St. Jul. So they kept pushing the trains, and I ended up in St. Jul less than half an hour late, and worked out perfectly as Kim was finishing up laundry anyway.

ARRRRRR!!! I was so excited to see Kim! We had a fabulous weekend! It was so refreshing for me to get away from Metz. We, as expected, chatted non-stop throughout the weekend; about Toulouse, this year, our students, the differences between elementary and middle-school, the fabulous weather (!), her trip to Morocco, and everything else under the sun. I met the other assistant in St. Jul- Hannah, also American, who’s working in the high school.

Then seeing as St. Jul is pretty small but a bedroom community for Geneva (Switzerland), we spent Saturday in town. The bus ride is only about 30 minutes and just gorgeous, as you ride into town through the huge valley that Geneva and St. Jul are in. And Saturday was glorious weather again! The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue and a slight breeze to keep us comfortable as we hiked all over town. We went to a kebab shop for lunch and I finally got my falafels which I’ve been missing! We walked through the flea market, went passed Kim’s tango studio and favorite café, hiked up through Old City (where I saw the cutest hat and regret I didn’t buy it) and visited the Little Prince Shop (mostly baby clothes), and wandered around on top of the hill. There was a kid’s fest going on in a little overlook park, and hot air balloons were lifting off from all over Geneva. So we watched the one from in front of the Cathedral St. Pierre. Then we hiked to the top of the towers- we even did both of the towers even though I was feeling the adrenaline rush from my fear of heights the whole time! I thought my legs were going to give out on me!
At little out of order, but Friday was great too! I went with Kim to her afternoon class to see how teaching English in elementary worked. She’s a fabulously amazing teacher by the way! Her CE 2 class reminds me of my 6ieme’s, which isn’t surprising given they’re an age apart. Though they were definitely more rambunctious, though my sixieme’s can be as bad some days. Later that night after some great potato chowder, we went with Hannah into Geneva to go to a café or a bar, depending on what interested us and it was also the experimental run for taking the night bus! Oh, what an experience! We unfortunately missed the one at about 1:45am, so our next try wasn’t until about 3am (also our last chance!). Then it turns out that all the small restos have to close at 2am (though the strange thing is that they can reopen at 4am for when the clubs close at 5am). So we couldn’t go sit inside somewhere and eat fries, so we walked around the bus stop for about half an hour and bought candy bars. The new Mars bar with almonds was yummy but the original is still best, as it offers more caramel (though the Mars dark is fabou!). We then just waited inside the entrance to the mall under the train station till our bus arrived. Then we were the only ones still on when we left the Geneva suburbs, and we only found out after our bus passed the turn off for our stop that we had to ask for that particular stop! But the driver was nice and turned around (as it was just us on the bus) and let us off where we wanted. The final part of our evening though as a scary walk from this little town on the Swiss side through a little wood to St. Jul on the French side, involving crossing the border where there are signs saying you’re not suppose to cross there! But all in all, it was a good test run and a great story! We were literally freaked out crossing through there as it was super dark (great for viewing the stars though). Later we realized that we could have just walked up to the main road and gone through the border crossing there and then cut back through the apartment housings on the St. Jul side. But now the story’s good for a laugh!

We were going to get some great photos too of funny things in Geneva, but we ran out of time. But for your information, one was to be of Kim next to some graffetti stating similar though more vulgar sentiments towards cars! And the other was to be of a jewelry store called Schmuck! Hehehe! I’ve yet to understand the naming of jewelry stores in Europe…

Well to those three people who do read this, I don’t want to bore you, but I had a fabou weekend in the Alps! Tomorrow I’m going with the middle school to Verdun, should be interesting! And here’s to crossing the border at illegal crossings! Don’t forget to check out the photos!
Ps. I crossed the Rhone in the same spot that Julius Cesar did on his way back from his campaign against the Gauls (the original French people).

On the bank of the Rhone looking towards Lac Leman and the Rade.  

Kim adoring her city. 

Hanging out on the South Tower with the Alps in the background and overlooking Geneva and the Rhone. 

Lac Leman and the Rade from the South Tower of Cathédrale St. Pierre. 

Kim playing on these fabulous wooden horses in the park!