Où est le Monet cathédrale?

Mon Dieu, je suis fatiguée….It takes a lot out of a girl gallivanting around France visiting medieval cathédrales and the home of a certain famous French painter. Maybe it had something to do with staying up until 1h30 last night at a soirée dansante (dance party!) on a boat that was supposed to croisière sur la Seine (cruise on the Seine)but never actually left the dock because there were 200 people too many on board…super planning by Le River’s King company. It was an event sponsored by Club International des Jeunes à Paris (CIJP), a group for les jeunes (young people) that our program recommended we join. I had fun with my friends but I was ready to leave by 1h30 so I could conveniently grab the last metro home. I’m still a little nervous to take the Noctilien (night bus). I’ve been told it can be a little sketchy….

(Note for all future visitors to the Paris night scene: Middle school French teachers LIE. Nobody calls clubs les discothèques anymore. I have received strict instructions to call it a boîte de nuit. Nobody wants to be unhip, right?! )

Today was our Monet day! We visited Giverny and continued on to Rouen for the afternoon. We had a very interesting start to the day, to say the least. It started with me yelling into my phone “run, run!” to a friend who was late for the bus but standing on the sidewalk less than 500ft behind us as we were moving (but she didn’t see our tiny bus). Long story short, it was very amusing to watch as our bus driver got off the bus and tried to chase down our friend (she was walking in the wrong direction), who, when seeing a strange man chasing her and telling her to “Viens!” (Come!) began walking even faster away from him. She finally made it onto the bus and we were on our way!

Giverny was absolutely wonderful. Even though it is mid September, les fleurs and les jardins were still spectacular. Le jardin d’eau (the water garden) was actually smaller than I expected. In my head, I imagined that there would be pond after pond filled with les nymphéas (water lilies), Monet having to search for hours to find the perfect spot to paint his next chef d’oeuvre (masterpiece). It wasn’t nearly quite this big but I can’t say that I was at all disappointed.

After leaving Giverny, we drove to Rouen. I think it took around 40 minutes but I’m not exactly sure; I was too busy staring out the window at le paysage français (the countryside) to pay attention to my watch. So, we get off the bus in Rouen in front of a beautiful Gothic cathedral, so of course, I assumed that it was the Rouen Cathedral, the cathedral in the famous Monet series. There I was, snapping away with my little camera, bugging my friends to take my picture in front of the cathedral…..later in the day we figured out that Rouen has not one, not two, but three cathedrals! The Rouen Cathedral in the Monet series is actually le Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen, the third cathedral we found during our exploration of the town. Good thing we kept treking instead of plopping down in a cafe! I know, I know…. I probably should have known this beforehand but wouldn’t you assume too that if you get off a bus in Rouen in front of a cathedral next to the Office de Tourisme that it’s the Monet cathedral?! Well, I have certainly learned my European cathedral lesson: Never assume that the first cathedral you see is the only cathedral in town!

Ok, I must get to bed. This weekend is Journée du Patrimoine (heritage weekend) so there are tons of free tours tomorrow that aren't available at any other point in the year. No rest for the weary when you are in Paris!

À bientôt

Mes Photos

Here are the links to the two photo albums I have so far. If you are on Facebook but not my friend, you might not be able to see them. I'm not really sure how it works....

Bordeaux: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=302592&id=567995098&l=67c16e3c5c

Paris (so far):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=309120&id=567995098&l=d5cee70b96

If you can't see them either a) sign out of your Facebook account and try again or b) friend me (I'm nice!).

Le Rugby!

(actually late Tuesday night)

I was so happy to wake up this morning to happy Patriots news! I didn’t buy the NFL radio package this year because it will be too difficult for me to listen to the Pats games with the time difference here in France. I liked the throw-back unis more than I thought I would. Plus, it was so great to see Tom Brady back in action :)

On the subject of violent, contact sports, I had rugby practice last night! One of the goals of my program is to find activities that allow us to hang out with French students and have some fun. Of course, I wanted to join un équipe. For me, that is one of the easiest ways to make friends. I now realize that in my athletic career, sure the actual games and practices are fun, and of course I care about winning, but it’s my teammates that I remember most. Here in France, it doesn’t really matter what sport I play, just that I get to have a team. I wanted to play rugby because I have never tried it before and it looks really fun! Plus I get a little exercise and some normalcy in going to practice le lundi à 18h au Stade Max Roussié. Not gonna lie, I am a bit sore today. I felt it as soon as I woke up this morning.

It was a bit of a challenge to find un équipe féminine de rugby. In France, sports are organized very differently from back home. Here, everything is what we consider to be club teams. Teams are usually organized by school but they are not officially sponsored by the school. Ténimba, the Vassar-Wesleyan Program Assistante, helped me find Les Gorettes, the girls rugby team from École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI, not to be confused with a rival school/rugby team ESCPI or Paris Tech, booo). Most teams are affiliated with La Fédération Francaise de Rugby, the national body that oversees all the rugby clubs. However, non-French citoyens aren’t allowed to play unless there is an equal exchange of players with a foreign team (very complicated = I can’t play for an FFR team). I had pretty much given up all hope of finding a team when Ténimba got an email back from the captain of Les Gorettes. They were very happy to welcome me to their team even though I will most certainly not be taking classes at the Superior School of Physics and Industrial Chemistry. It is very random that I am playing with them but whatever, I have a team!

Practice was pretty fun, even though it was really basic rugby. We did a couple drills and even got to scrimmage a big. The first time I lined up to practice hitting, I was a little nervous. In hockey, we have so much padding that you barely feel a thing when you use your body. I didn’t think I would be that nervous for rugby! Once I did it a couple times I got it down but it is still a little scary.

I didn’t have too much trouble understanding everything the coach said during practice. Obviously, I didn’t understand every word but since it was practice, the verbal directions were followed by a demonstration. It is hard for me to judge how much I learned from the coach’s instructions and how much I just learned by watching him show us how to do everything. I have always learned by watching coaches/teammates demonstrate so it really wasn’t all that different for me. I am learning some fun new vocab though. Je te plaque (I tackle you!) Tu est la plaqueuse! (You are the girl being tackled!). At the end of practice we also did les pompes (push-ups) and les abdos (abs). The other girls seem really nice so far and I hope that I can get to know them better during the semester. Although, now that I think about it, in the immediate future I will probably being doing more tackling than talking!

Bonne nuit!

Les Épiphanies

Well, it finally hit me…… I am on my study abroad. Silly, I know. I’ve been in France for almost three weeks and I’m only just coming to this realization now. It hit me in the Musée D’Orsay yesterday. I was wandering around the museum by myself (arrived with the girls then we all split up to see the museum at our own individual paces) and I was suddenly overcome with the realization that I am in France on my study abroad. I was looking at all the gorgeous impressionist paintings and I was just overcome by the fact that there is nowhere else in the world where I could have this same experience. Plus, Facebook just asked me if I want to change my language settings to French so I must be here!

School is right around the corner so the French vacation that has been these last three weeks is quickly coming to an end. I am still so, so confused about pretty much everything concerning my program. A lot of the other kids are starting to panic but I am trying to stay calm and cool. Even normal French students have trouble with the French university system so I am trying to tell myself that what seems unorganized to me is just the French way, ie posting things at the last minute. Maybe this is too generous of me, too much cultural relativism or something, but it is keeping me more relaxed so I am going with it. Tomorrow (Friday) is a big day. The class assignments for Reid Hall (my classes with other Americans, en francias, bien sûr) will be posted and I should be able to find the days/times for the classes I am interested in taking at Université de Paris 12. Unfortunately, class times for Paris 12 are not posted online but only posted on the bulletin board outside of the secretariat of the geography department. I’ve already been out to Paris 12 once this week and it takes an hour by metro from my house so the schedule had better be up as promised tomorrow.

Things are pretty good here with the D’Ussel’s but I still have a lot of questions. The family is pretty much in fall mode already and my room is at the end of the hall so I don’t get to talk to them all that much. Dinner is when I see them and get to talk but I don’t talk that much at dinner. I can usually only understand half of their conversation so I rarely get to pipe in. We were given a little contract sheet to sign with our host families so that will be a good excuse to ask all my questions. My biggest concern is eating dinner with my family. Our program only pays for three meals a week (later only two meals per week) but Caroline never mentioned anything about giving me space in the fridge or cabinets for me to put food that I will eventually buy to make lunches/ cook my own dinners. Also, won’t it be awkward for me to be trying to cook a little dinner for myself if my host mother is in the middle of cooking dinner for the family? Once I get my schedule finalized, it should be easier to figure this all out but it is kind of stressing me out right now. I just need to buck up the courage and ask my host mother about all the little things we haven’t talked about. I still feel like the awkward American kid, a feeling that I never really got with the Marliers. I was warned that I am more like a renter than an exchange student in Paris but I don’t want to be the random girl down the hall that eats with the family occasionally. I want to get to know these people, I am staying in their home after all.

Looking at this post, as I’m writing, it pretty much epitomizes the ups and down of being abroad. My experience is complicated by the fact that I am living with a family and not in dorm style housing but I know everybody must be experiencing this to some degree. I can have an épiphanie one minute about how wonderful it is to be here and then have a really difficult time with something as simple as a conversation about where to put my groceries the next. I am trying to take everything that comes at me in stride. I have noticed that I am able to handle a lot more now than I ever could have handled a year ago. Whenever I am in unfamiliar, uncomfortable, or just flat out intimidating situations, I just tell myself “Suck it up, you’re twenty years old, Mom and Dad aren’t here to help you right now.” I really have no choice, as I see it. I either do what I gotta do or have a miserable time. Between Washington and Paris, my one chance at being twenty is shaping up to be pretty epic. I can’t afford be to be scared so I’ve just got to prendre mon courage à deux mains!

Ok, that’s enough introspective mumbo jumbo for one evening. In a city as beautiful as Paris, I can’t help myself!

(The picture was taken on the outside balcony at the Musée d'Orsay. Sacre Coeur is teeny tiny at the top of the hill behind me and the Louvre is on the far right.)

Ehh, où sont les draps de lit?

Translation: Uhh, where are the bed sheets?

I suffered my first really embarrassing lost in translation episode yesterday (Sunday). I guess it’s lucky that it never happened in Bordeaux but today I really felt like a fool. The D’Ussel’s thought it was drôle (funny, amusing) but I was très gênée (embarrassed).

The root of the confusion was the fact that I am not yet as comfortable speaking French with the D’Ussel’s here in Paris as I was with the Marlier’s in Bordeaux. My Paris family speaks faster so I feel like I have to speak quickly when I respond. I’m making a lot of nervous mistakes and forgetting my vocabulary. Hopefully as I get more comfortable with them and they get more accustomed to me, things will get easier.

So, back to the story…When Caroline (my host mother) was showing me around my room, she was pointing to the towels on my bed and asking if I had washcloths or if I needed more towels. I told her that I did have them and didn’t need any more. I wasn’t exactly sure at the time that she was saying exactly this but I thought I had the gist of it. So when I got home on Saturday night and was about to climb into bed, I realized that my bed didn’t have any sheets, only a pillow and a comforter. Maybe my host mother didn’t ask me about washcloths but instead about sheets! Did I accidentally tell my host mother that I didn’t need sheets because I brought them myself? It was too late to do anything about it and I was epuisée (exhausted) so I just climbed in and passed out. Sunday morning, at breakfast, Caroline asked me if I slept well, typical morning politesse. I replied that I did but that I misunderstood her question the day before when she asked if I had draps de lit. She looked at me like I was crazy. I repeated myself, thinking that she didn’t understand my terrible morning French accent (it’s hard to speak French after just waking up). Again, she looks at me like I’m a bit folle. She goes into my room, sees the comforter on the bed and says that there’s no problem. She showed me her daughter’s room and that’s how it is. I have had sheets my whole life and I had sheets on my bed in Bordeaux but I couldn’t even recognize a duvet cover when I saw one! On the positive side, if this is the most embarrassing thing that happens to me here, I’ll take it. Hey, at least I didn’t blow out the electricity this time!

Besides the embarrassing situation in the morning, I had a great Sunday. I wandered around mon quartier a bit in the morning, returned at 12:30 for a delicious lunch with the family (Sunday tradition peut-être?) and then wandered around some more in the afternoon. I did a ton of walking because it was such a beautiful day, only taking the metro a few stops to get home because I wasn’t exactly sure of my route back. I wandered with my little map, without any real purpose but I got to see some beautiful sites in Paris.

Today, I had a jam packed day of orientation stuff at Reid Hall, my program headquarters (also the headquarters of the Hamilton, Columbia, and a bunch of other American college/university programs in Paris). It was more securité , info about classes, and transportation info. I did make my favorite purchase so far in France though this afternoon! It’s called Paris par Arrondissement. It’s this cute little red book with everything I will need to get around Paris: a list of every single street with accompanying maps and metro directions! Apparently, every Parisian has one….oh la la. Je suis très chic. I can’t wait to go exploring with it!

Bonne nuit!

Je suis à Paris!

Wow, I am finally here. After months of anticipation (not to mention paperwork) I am actually settled in Paris. It is a little overwhelming but I am not freaking out too much. Today had the potential to be one of the most stressful days of my life but it has all worked out.

My last couple days with the Marlier’s were a little crazy. Patrick’s sister died unexpectedly on Wednesday and the family flew to Switzerland, where she was a teacher, for the funeral Thursday night. They came back late Friday night and Marie brought me to the Bordeaux airport this morning for my quick flight to Paris. From what I understood, which wasn’t a lot, it was a miserable trip. Patrick’s mother has Alzheimer’s and it is difficult to travel with her. Marie explained something terrible that had happened concerning her belle-mère but I had no idea what she was saying. I just nodded and made sad faces at seemingly appropriate times. They appreciated the little supermarket flowers I bought for the kitchen and Marie bade me a very fond farewell at the airport. I really enjoyed mon séjour à Bordeaux but boy, I am ready for Paris!

I am living in the 17ieme arrondissement, not all that far from the l’Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Élysées. It’s an old apartment building and although it’s not covered in vines, it is très chic. I’ve never lived in an apartment before but so I don’t have much to compare it to but I know it is very nice. My host family, the D’Ussel’s, have been very welcoming and I think we will get along well. The youngest daughter, age 18, took me on a little walk this afternoon to find the metro and see some of the quartier. They have four children, two boys and two girls all between the ages of 18 and 24. The boys do not live here during the week but make appearances on the weekends I have been told. I don’t know too much about the family yet. All I really know if from the sheet I was handed in my info packet when I arrived at the airport. I hope to do some more exploring tomorrow. I still feel like I don’t know a lot about the family’s living style yet. Marie Marlier explained everything upon my arrival but Caroline has not and I’m too shy to ask about random stuff. I’m sure I’ll figure it out as I go along….

Shout out to the Hamilton field hockey team and ma petite soeur who are opening the season today. Go get ‘em girls!

À bientôt

Le dîner de l’enfer

I am finally able to blog after a couple busy days here in Bordeaux. I have been trying to find info about my classes in Paris. It is very confusing and I am still in the process of figuring it all out. The French university system is quite different from our system in the US. I’ll explain it all later once I get to Paris and get a feel for it myself.

I got to Skype with my hockey team back at Hamilton early this morning (1:30 am my time)! It was so fun to see all the girls and I actually felt like I was in the meeting. Technology is so amazing. I haven’t said that a whole lot in my life because sweet gadgets and gizmos have always been a given for my generation but I love Skype. It is going to be really hard rejoining the team mid-season when I get back in January but I hope that I won’t feel too separated if I can Skype into an occasional meeting and maybe even one of coach’s famous pre-game speeches while I’m here in France. Like I said, technology is great.

This is my last week in Bordeaux with the Marlier’s, ma famille d’accueil. I am really enjoying staying in a French home and I now realize why my program insists on home stays. After a long day at school and speaking French out in the real world at cafés and stores, it is really nice to come home to a family and a nice dinner. I am definitely more comfortable speaking French at home with the Marlier’s than out in the real world. I have picked up little phrases here and there too that I wouldn’t have learned if I was staying in a dorm with other Americans. There really is no better way to learn the language and learn how to talk with real French people. It will probably be different in Paris, where I am considered to be more of a renter in a French family’s home than an exchange student, so I’m trying to enjoy this last week with the Marliers.

I have only had one incident where staying with a host family has been a problem. It was le dîner de l’enfer (the dinner from hell). My family was gone this weekend, visiting their oldest son Paul and friends in Paris. It was no big deal, I was gone all day Saturday at La Dune du Pyla (biggest dune in Europe, see picture of me!) and Arcachon, a beach near the dune that wasn’t nearly as fun as Le Porge. The Marlier’s only got home around 9 o’clock Sunday evening so by then I had already raided the kitchen and scrapped together a dinner of bread, yogurt and some random cheese. (It’s not as bad as it sounds, I had eaten around 3 o’clock in a café with friends so I was good for the evening.) However, when my family came home, I think they saw me as the hungry puppy they left alone for the weekend. Marie started getting out pasta and ingredients for sauce and asked me if I wanted to eat. I politely told her that I had already eaten but I would join them in the kitchen and eat a little bit (or at least that is what I wanted to say…). I assumed of course, that the family hadn’t eaten yet, given that as soon as they got home Marie started preparing food. Well, as it turns out, they had already eaten and Marie was preparing dinner just for me after I told her I had already eaten (I don’t have a problem with that part of the vocab)! Of course I couldn’t decline any further at this point, a plate of pasta and sauce with bread was sitting in front of me. I politely ate some of my pasta but did not force myself to finish it. I thought I was going to hurl. Je suis trop polie.…

Waiting until 8/8:30 to eat dinner without a snack after lunch (the French don’t snack): check
Eating my fruit with a knife and fork without looking like an idiot: check
Putting le pain (bread) on the table instead of on the plate (bizarre….): check
Politely declining a second diner: raté! (failed!)