Dans mon rêve...

Le 11 février 2005.
So I haven’t blogged about the wonderful world of Château Malbrouck yet. Thus time to talk about it! We had to just get out of Metz the other day, so Victoria, Jennifer, Melissa and I went on this crazy little country drive trying to this little village up near Sierck les Bains, also near the modern and ancient-day border. I forget the name of the actual village now, though it is also near Apach. So we went driving all over these bitty country roads that kept ending in really bad gravel or dirt paths and we’d back track and try the next one. Finally we gave up and decided to come in from another direction, only lo and behold, to find that if we had originally went about a quarter mile further, we would have found a better turnoff! The point being that we eventually got there, though after a beautiful drive through the French countryside! Only the problem was that the chateau is closed for the winter season until March 14!! Dommage. We’ll have to go back, because it was absolutely gorgeous and typical French. There are also lovely little walking trails around the area and a field above the chateau that you can go walking in for a lovely view of the surrounding countryside. I think it will be totally worth the five euros to see the inside of the chateau. I can’t wait to go back! We also encounter this little village having a Carnival parade during our wanderings. And what wagon should we happen to see first of all this parade- but a Yagermeister wagon! Hehe.

It’s the holidays! I am officially on vacation as of noon on Friday! Two glorious weeks of unscheduled activity! Though as Francine pointed out today, this seven month period is basically a perpetual vacation for me! … I mean I suppose you could say that a twelve-hour work-week is almost a vacation… if you wanted to… :D. But honestly, thanks Francine for reminding me how cool it is to be living and working in France for almost a year, even if it is Metz- une ville qui bouge presque pas de tout! I do value that my thinking year is being spent in France. Lots of important questions in my mind are being settled this year, and I know it’s all thanks to my twelve hour work-week! (Shall I mention that I only work twelve hours a week again?)

On the other side, I finally did it! I finally cut my hair. I honestly think my last hair cut was in May, before graduation. Then in October when I thought to cut it again, it was the typically, oh I haven’t been paid in a month and still have rent for this and the next months to pay excuse… and I realized that I was going to chop off about five inches, so I decided to just wait it out and make it an even ten inches! I just barely made ten inches when we chopped off the braid this afternoon, and consequently, my hair is now the shortest I think I have ever had it! Wienke was kind and brave enough to chop it off and save me the “long hair supplement” fee before I went to dresser’s. Though it wasn’t in the best of shape when I arrived there, all straggly-ended and uneven (because we put it in a braid to chop it off). But the nice lady did a great job with it! I’ve grown used to it in the last few hours and have dubbed it either my “Ensign Ro” cut or else my “rather retro- Twenties mop/bob” cut. I’m not really certain if it’s even a mop or a bob, but I feel like I should be wearing a dark boxy Twenties era dress with the straight ruffled bottom starting at mid-butt and a Peter Pan-esque white collar, dark stockings, and dark, heeled Mary Janes. I only hope it still looks as straight and cute after I wash it! Anna asked after she saw it tonight if I felt lighter and I really do! I can feel a breeze on my neck now, and it just makes me look older I feel to not have all that long hair anymore. It’s exciting and I’m intrigued to see what my students think when they see it. I have a feeling that they’re just going to think I’m even more bizarre than they already find me!

Don’t forget to clink on the link for Amorous Troubador to read the best ever summaries of Alias! Laura is such a fabulous writer and I’ll love her forever for keeping me informed about Alias while I keep forgetting to find a place to download the episodes!

In closing, Kristen and Shannon report from Toulouse that my favorite empanada places are no longer where they were only a little over a year ago!!! Quelle horreur! I can only hope that it means they have been successful and moved to bigger and better locations so I can go get yummy snacks when I’m in Toulouse this May! But I hope the rest of their travels go well and that Kristen remembers to take a picture of the Viaduc du Milau for me! I’m so jealous that they are going to see it! But happy holidays (as my kids told me today) to all the language assistants who have already started their vacances and to all the assistants who started today, like me! Bonne vacances!