My French Friend

The students and myself here at Holy Cross get pretty good treatment…we have a 4 adults who serve as our little “team.” We have Nanou, who is the coordinator of everything, and gets us free tickets to the theatre (fairly often!) and who plans excursions for us during the year. Patricia, our Methodology teacher (which is a course on writing and oral presentations) conducts a class for only the 8 of us Holy Cross students. We also have a class with Christelle, an amazing woman who is an English teacher at the university. We do translations from English to French (harder than you think!) and she has such a superb English accent. I fell in love with her when she told me her romantic story of falling in love, then having two kids. She just recently moved very close to me, between Place Wilson and Parc Colombiere, so I’m hoping I can baby-sit for her two boys in the future (2½ and 8 months). Lastly, there is Leslie. She is our tutor, and better yet, she studied at Clark last year, which is right across the street from Holy Cross! Right there, there was a connection. We could talk about diners that both of us have been to (shout out to the boulevard!) and Dunkin Donuts, parties at Holy Cross, Worcester’s beauty (jokes!), Boston, etc. The best thing is that she has become a great friend here in Dijon. She is also one that I can speak French to, and at least once a week we go to a café and just talk. Honestly, speaking in French and just listening to her is the best practice I can get. I’ve improved so much and she’s noticed (which is such a compliment and gives me confidence!) We were advised before leaving for France by Holy Cross that it would be in our best interest to make French friends. However, it’s not that easy…french students already have their groups formed, and it’s quite intimidating for an American to just go up to someone and say, “Hey, you looking for a friend? I can’t really speak your language, but you know, we could hit up the boulangerie together or something.” Oh, and you have to remember to throw in, “I don’t like Bush and I don’t support the War in Iraq” if you want them to even hear you!

Little Women

Today I watched Little Women one of my favorite movies. As soon as the movie started, and the scenes of Concord, Massachusettes rolled across the screen, I wanted to cry. Happy tears of course, because it was like seeing a video of home. I drank that movie in…wanting to be at Walden Pond skating as Jo and Teddy did, playing in the snow, baking cookies, looking for Christmas trees, the works. Then the part came when Amy was in Paris. And it just reminded me how when I would watch the movie years ago, that would be my favorite part. My dreams of going to Paris started at a young age. And I’m here. I found my way. Of course going back for Christmas is going to be so...well, simply unbelievable. And I’m going to head over to Concord to the March’s house just to give a little tribute. Because today, I was reminded by the March girls, that while life can have its struggles, dreams can also be reached.

Les Reves (Dreams)

The other night, I had quite a dream. So it started out that my Aunt Mo was married to Brad Pitt (sorry Rob!) and so he was introduced to the family for the first time at a family gathering. I was home from France for a vacation (yes, in my dream I was still studying abroad!) and Brad was introduced to me. Star-struck, he asked me how I was enjoying my studies in France, because he too had done a year abroad in Paris! So then my next question to him was, “Et donc tu parles francais?” (and so you speak French?) and the rest of our conversation unfolded in French. It’s really amazing how some of my dreams can now be in French. They usually occur when I have just watched french TV before bed or something of the sort. But I think it’s really interesting how it reflects exactly how French is for me right now. I’m finding it’s really easy to speak, and words seem to flow much easier…but I’m not thinking in French yet. In my dreams it’s the same thing…I can SPEAK in French but I don’t THINK in French. Yet I’m not complaining…I love dreaming in French…it’s exciting, it shows progress, and it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time! And hey, it’s even better when these dreams include Brad Pitt :0)

Thanksgiving, French Style

So I had Thanksgiving in France, although it was actually more of a nice French dinner with turkey as the main course. I mean, you can't exactly call Thanksgiving Thanksgiving without the Macy's Day Parade, Mom bustling around the kitchen, the smell of turkey wafting to your chilly pinked nose upon return from the football game, relatives, the Thanksgiving platters and plates, orange candlesticks, picture-taking, homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas from the can, stuffed mushrooms, my Mom's pumpkin and apple pies, that uncomfortable full feeling after dinner and the sleepy feeling that comes soon afterward, After 8 mints, the walk around the block to aid the digestion process, the christmas music and movie that are turned on after the meal because it's officially "allowed," and last but not least, my family.

Summary of the Past Week and French Observations

Good news! The university (we call it the 'fac') voted to deblock! Meaning, school starts again tomorrow. How crazy is france, huh? I mean, last week there was both the university and the transit strike that lasted for a week, all around France. Therefore, for a week, i had to find ways to entertain myself since I didnt have classes nor could i leave the city :0) I went to the movies quite a few times (and actually saw some awesome stuff...i recommend "One day on earth" "The Valley of Elah" and "Eastern Promises") I went ice skating with my holy cross pals, celebrated birthday parties with 2 of the girls who are here with me (aged 20 and 21), traipsed around Dijon, and oh, went swimming (indoor pool of course). That was really funny...french people don't understand the concept of lanes/it was a mob scene.

I also made the best purchase yet...i went into a cute little bookstore and bought 2 things. 1) A Roald Dahl book translated into french, yay, and 2) An ENGLISH book by Bill Bryson called "Neither Here Nor There." I treated myself b/c i figured i might need some more things to keep me occupied as the strike continues (and it's up in the air when any of the strikes will actually end...2 years ago the university strike went on for 2 and a half months!). I bought the Bill Bryson book because he is not only hilarious, but in this one, he writes about his travels around Europe. Well of course, that pertains to me :0) I literally have been laughing outloud at his dry wit and hilarious observations. I love his chapter on Paris (of course) because he pens a lot of the same sentiments as myself. For example he notices how Parisiens have no concept of lines (for the bus for example), and that you can't trust the red and green "walk" signs (aka when it says you can walk, make sure you look both ways b/c a car could still be careening around the corner!) something that i noticed my first week in Tours. People seem curt and cold, and some buildings (like the Centre Pompidou) are so strikingly strange that you have to wonder if the french find it necessary to show off. People walk around with freshly purchased baguettes from the boulangerie while wearing berets, and find it perfectly normal to make out (and i mean, MAKE OUT) in public. However he also notes that Paris, although quirky and foreign, is also gorgeous and breathtaking...it's hard to leave. My sentiments exactly.

Crepes, Italian, and Squirrels

Hello all!

It's been awhile! Since the last I've written, I have walked the streets of Paris, explored the Centre Pompidou (and layed eyes upon works by Picasso, Dali, and Man Ray), taken pictures of the Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur, been part of a converstation which had to be translated from Kurd to English to French, laughed over beers with students from London in an Irish pub in France, saw "Le Royaume" (The Kingdom) in a french theatre, eaten homemade crepes with my holy cross buddies, spent 4 Euro (6.5 dollars) on water (oops!! NEVER order water in a fancy tea place), went to my first yoga class in Dijon (slightly hard to focus on the body when the teacher is speaking to me in french!), and lastly, watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off in italian (though not quite the same without the original voices :0)

I envy the students here in Europe who are working on their 4th or 5th language. It's the norm here to be brought up with four languages, (for example, the mom speaks german, the dad speaks italian, at school you learn french and english...), which is especially the case for Swiss students. At my house, there are two Swiss students there now, staying for 2 weeks. It's really fun because we can speak either italian, french, or english! French has been getting a lot easier, but that makes speaking italian all the more difficult. I start adding in french words when i dont know the italian ones :0)

Something to add which I find really interesting in France - squirrels don't really exist! Of course, this is a bonus for me, because I for one am not a fan of these rodents which are unfortunalely in abundance in the states. What's funny is that I know a few french students that have studied abroad, and for souvenirs have taken back stuffed animal squirrels and taken a million pictures of them. I laugh when i hear this :0)

Oops!

Note about yesterday's post: November First is actually one of the 11 national holidays celebrated by the french. It's not actually "random" as I described. On the contrary, it is called "All Saints Day" (La Toussaints). I looked it up after writing last post, because I was curious why in fact we didn't have school on a day that the United States doesn't recognize.

Also, funny story about this "holiday." I got up early to rent a bike, and apparently, the OFFICE OF TOURISME is closed on nov. 1st!!! That's like, I dunno, closing a hospital!! Well, it feels like that at least for tourists. I saw at least a dozen pitaful souls wandering around the building, peering into the darkened room. Honestly, without this sacred structure, one is lost, forever wandering aimlessly around a foreign city! I survived, but barely :0)