I finally posted!

Below are the three posts I wrote in Word while I was waiting to get internet access. Enjoy! I now have wifi for the next 10 days, so hopefully I will be in touch often until I leave Tours for Paris!

I love and miss you, my dear ones!

Steph-On-E

Written 8/29/2006 1:30 PM

France is like Ecstasy. When you first arrive it gets you so thrilled and so excited and everything is so cute and you’re so glad you came, all your endorphins do a little happy dance. But after 3 days in drizzle, you hit the depression. At least, I did. To cheer myself up a bit, I indulged in my first pastry since my arrival. The author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, whose name I cannot remember, told of how she developed a brownie addiction when she visited the US. I do not understand how anyone who grew up with French pastries could possibly find brownies stimulating by comparison. And y’all know how much I love Brownies, so that should be all I have to say for you to understand how good this pastry was.

Now I’m off to find 6 Rue Nationale, where my afternoon cultural session is to take place. We’re exploring a French chocolaterie! Quel dommage que j’ai déjà mangé !

Dimanche, jour de repos

Written 8/27/2006 10:23 PM

Today was a good day. I was with Sarah and the French family and consequently spoke very little English, since Sarah is vigilant about using her French and the family…well obviously.

I woke just in time to prepare lunch, at which we had three guests: Hubert, Clement, et Clemence. They were very nice, and I got plenty of practice listening to fast French conversation. I’m learning slowly, but it’s nice to know that I am learning.

After lunch the oldest boys, Antoine and Mattieu, left with their friends to stay the night at their house, about 50 km away. They will return tomorrow night. We saw them off, and then walked down to an antique market along the Blvd. It was very cute, but I was mainly struck by all the American music that was in the record collections. French music certainly hasn’t infiltrated American culture in the same way.

We returned home for dinner, during which Marie, the oldest child at 23 years, returned from her Catholic festival with stories for us. I can’t say I understood all of what was happening, but I did try.

After dinner, Sarah and I went for a walk in the park near our house. In our walking, we found four gents who were relaxing on the lawn, and we struck up conversation. Correction: I struck up conversation with four complete strangers (this shouldn’t surprise many of you) in a completely American fashion and horrified and embarrassed Sarah a lot. A lot a lot. Ah well, she’ll get over it. The result is that next Sunday night, if we choose, we may meet them in the same part to learn the national game of France, le Pitanque (sp?). I hope Sarah’s game because I’d love to learn it, but I wouldn’t go alone (yes, I do have just a bit of common sense!).

Tomorrow we must be up and off early to sign up for our cultural workshops the moment the lists go up! We’ll have language classes tomorrow morning and …I forget what tomorrow afternoon, but somewhere in the middle I’ll find my way to the internet café and finally post these! What a joyous thought!

Until tomorrow then!

Settling in Tours, France

Written 26/08/2006 22:31

Bonjour mes amis! Here’s the latest from la France!

After a very long flight, we took a terribly long bus ride from Paris to Tours, where we met our host families. Sarah, my “housemate,” and I met a charmingly tall and thin man whose name neither of us can now remember. We’ve agreed that to avoid embarrassment we must ask him to repeat it soon rather than later in our acquaintance. Our house-father and his wife, Claire, live in a tall, slender house (the supermodel of homes) with their six children (Yup, they’re Catholic). Antoine is 22, Mattieu is 20, Martin is 16, et Paul is almost 13. There are also two girls, but they are away on a Catholic youth retreat for the rest of the weekend. The family is very kind and very helpful. They invited us to join them at a French wedding today, but when they called the hostess they found that she unfortunately could not accommodate us. That this took them completely by surprise amused me to no end.

Sarah and I explored the town a little last night in order to find converters for our computers. This morning, we found the Institute de Tourraine easily and took a placement exam with considerable less ease (at least I did). Helena Pyl, who is close friends with my dear Ariana at Wellesley, and I wandered around for lunch. We found “un marché” and she munched on pain au chocolat (which has no English equivalent) while I gobbled a quiche. We saw a bit more of the town, including the church right next to her house, where I showed off my impressive knowledge of architectural French vocabulary (merci, Mme Vaget!). We sauntered down to the famous Loire River, along which many castles are built. I know I will see at least one castle while I am here with a group of Sweet Briar students, but I hope I get a chance to return and tour them all.

We attended a logistical meeting, in a stifling room with professors who spoke far too quickly for our slow American ears, but I think I understood everything I needed to. We will take language classes in the morning and cultural classes in the afternoon. We are free each night to explore and “aller en boîte” (go clubbing) as we please.

With this in mind, we left the meeting to buy cell phones and make plans for the night ahead. Bien sûr, I forgot my map and school documents at the phone store, and when I returned to claim it I was told that another Sweet Briar students had taken them to return them to me. When I finally found the bar at which we had our “pot,” I was grateful to reclaim them from my friend, Maddy. “Un pot,” by the way is translated by Oxford-Hachette to be a “Drinks Party” (GB), so I’m thinking it’s about the same as a cocktail party, with the exception that ours was at 5 in the afternoon, rather than at night. Those French, they do start early… It was both wonderful and weird to swig champagne with our directrice, administrators, and professeurs. We had a lovely time (read: got tipsy), and I then returned home. Sarah and I had salad and pizza for dinner by ourselves, since the family is at the aforementioned wedding tonight. We sampled a…different sort of food when we tried the “Crème de Marrons” they left for us. Why anyone would puree chestnuts and call it edible is beyond both of us. We were grateful that they weren’t present to see our facial expressions. It tastes a bit like sweet refried beans, but the texture is grainy and thin. Not our cup of tea.

Now we’re just hanging out here tonight, too tired to go out as previously planned. We’re composing emails that we can’t send and blogs we can’t post in Word, so that we can send and post them when we finally have internet access.

Here’s my cell phone number, if you’d like to/need to contact me (though I hope it’s the former!): 06-77-80-53-73. ALL my incoming calls are free, so it’s easiest for me if you call me by phone card. I can contact others in France by I have to buy international coverage to call anyone abroad. Furthermore, I can’t make international calls for 2 weeks, but I can receive them in 2 days.

I miss you all, and I am taking lots of photos with you in mind, because I want to share this fantastic experience with you! I hope you enjoy!

People to meet...

So let me catch y'all up: Flight went well, I got to my hotel, I settled in, and I have internet access here for the night and tomorrow morning. I'll be around until noonish EST tomorrow, and my flight leaves at 7 tomorrow night. Joyous day.

I just got back from meeting a few of the Sweet Briar kids. They seem quiet, but I think it's just nerves. I think we'll relax and settle in together well. I had dinner at the bar with Joe and Marie and it felt like playing adults. Except we were all taking it really seriously. I felt like I was faking being a grown up. Is this how my interactions will be for the rest of my life? Will I only be able to let loose around certain people who know my goofy side? Or is it just because I barely know these two that we were all so uptight?

Life is an interesting experience. I'm glad I get to see it from many age perspectives. Tomorrow night I suppose I will begin to see it from a different cultural perspective too.

Plan for tonight: Figure out digital camera, call Mommy, then fall asleep watching Ouran High School Host Club (as someone very dear to me once did).

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I rose this morning after far too little sleep with the realization that I had woken up in my own bed for the last time in what is to be nearly a year. A shower helped alleviate the nausea I’d been feeling since last night a little, but not much. After breakfast I realized that I didn’t know how to say “impending doom” in French. You simply can’t go to a foreign country without knowing how to say such a relevant phrase. So I looked up “une catastrophe imminent” and decided that English is a much prettier language.

Paul picked me up with the perfect bouquet of yellow/red roses and loaded up the truck. Mom somehow managed to hold herself together for a goodbye, which was good, because I’ve been falling apart for the past week and I think she knew I would lose it. We drove off into the sunrise, both of us wishing sunglasses were closer at hand. Our ride alternated between laughter and tears, and I was so sorry to see DIA looming closer and closer. When we finally arrived I made a complete scene at the security checkpoint, sniffling through the line and becoming a fountain of drool, snot, and tears when we separated. The rose I brought with me isn’t the peaceful kind of consolation I need. It figures that when Paul finally brings me flowers I can’t look at them for crying.

I hit the bathroom before I went to my gate and immediately realized my mistake; when your face looks like a magenta sea urchin you ought never to look in a mirror. I bought a water (which I can’t take on the plane, silly liquids ban), found my way to A35, and here I sit, waiting to board. The hyperventilation has stopped, and I’m starting to contemplate what might happen if the world doesn’t end once I’m completely on my own. I’ll keep y’all posted.

(written on 8/23/06 at 10:46 am)

The Wisdom of Allan K. Chalmers

" The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."

I've been so afraid that I will go to France and be unhappy there. But I'm fortunate that I have friends to remind me that I should be excited to embark on this adventure. That there will be lots to do and see while I'm there, and that this is not a nine-month sequestration in solitary confinement. They reminded me that there will still be little joys aplenty for me to savor whilst I'm there.

I suppose one of my chief fears in leaving is that I will have no one and, as Chalmers puts it, nothing to love in France. I love all my friends and family so dearly, and the thought of being without them for so long a duration is so very difficult to fathom. I can only calm myself with the knowledge that I will find new people to love in my new environment. I never doubted that that would happen at MHC, even though I knew no one. I must have faith that I will build new relationships abroad as well.

When I began this post, I googled "happiness quotes" to see what kinds of thoughts about cheerfulness others had phrased eloquently. I'm so thankful to have stumbled across these words from Chalmers; he reminds me that I will still find everything I need in France.

Ten, nine...

It hit me yesterday morning that I leave in 10 days. I opened my eyes as I woke up, thought about the day, then the date, then realized that the thirteenth is only ten days before the 23rd.

And I thought, "I leave everything I've ever known and taken for granted in ten days."

Let me tell you friends, that is a thought to scare anyone out of bed quickly.

I just hope the experience is worth all the trouble it's been to prepare for it, and all the fear it's inspired.

Nine days now.

Countdown to Takeoff

O gracious me. It's exactly 2 weeks before I leave my lovely homestead to begin my journey to France. I know, from experience, that 2 weeks is practically no time at all, yet the trip still seems so far away! I'm still taking care of all those silly little things I have to do, but it's a relief to have most of the big things (i.e. visa) out of the way.

I feel a little awkward writing this for everyone to read. I've always kept a journal, but that was for my own private feelings, to record my silly little day-to-day dramas. I suddenly feel as if I were reporting something from the front lines of my life!, as if what I do, say, and think is of tremendous import. I do feel grateful to have an audience, even if it is only a few loved ones. My greatest fear is that when I arrive in France I will suddenly find myself completely alone. Total isolation--linguistic, intellectual, and emotional--terrifies me, so any acknowledgement or support would be o so appreciated.

For now, though, I am still safe and loved in Colorado. Those of you who are able, I hope you will come visit me. Not for a "goodbye," but for a "see you later" Much, much later.