Le Printemps!

Bonjour encore ! It is finally springtime and much has changed here in France since my blog posts in February.

A la Catho…

At school, everything is going very well. I adore all of my classes and my teachers are so great. In histoire de la musique, we listen to a very interesting variety of music and we just finished learning about the romantic period of music in France with Berlioz, Gounod, Bizet and my favorite, Saint-Saëns. In philosophie, I find it incredibly difficult to pay attention, so I have begun drawing and doodling, which has been highly amusing. Traduction (translation) is difficult, but I know that in the long run it is going to be one of the best classes for me of the semester. Histoire de France is still a really awesome history class. However, the teacher loves tangents and sometimes I feel like we spend more time interrogating and comparing all of our cultures than learning about history. My language class is becoming more and more intense as the semester goes on, and it’s really crazy to think that I have only a few weeks of actual class left before exams start. I have quite a few papers to write in the next few weeks and also a few presentations to give so I’m hoping to get a good start on them over the next week.

Le Bénévolat

I’ve done a bit of volunteering during these past couple months, and it has been a great feeling to be even the smallest bit involved in the community here. I went into a class at my university to speak English with students who are learning it as a second or third language, and I also went to a middle school and taught about ten students various questions and phrases in English related to vacations. It was so much fun to teach them and help them along. Perhaps the most interesting volunteering experience here was with something called the Banque Alimentaire, which is the food bank here in France. I went to a few different supermarkets where I distributed bags and collected goods to be donated to the food bank. I had some really good conversations with French people, and also encountered some who were much less inclined to give, mais c’est la vie.

Les Aquarelles

I had a concert with the Aquarelles in the middle of March and it was so much fun! We got together rather early in the afternoon to practice before the concert that night, and I spoke so much French that day. I talked a lot with the other girls in the choir, met some of their families, and also talked with other people who were performing in the concert with us. The majority of the songs we sang were in English, and our director forgot to look up the translations of the songs for the audience, so he asked me to be “la petite traductrice” (the little translator). So, before every song, I would tell him what each song was about, what they represented, etc. Needless to say, everyone in the audience knew I was American, but I was so happy to show that I was competent in French. Since the concert, I fell sick and then had spring break and have not been to any practices. I will not be able to do any more of the concerts because I will be gone, but my time with les aquarelles was so much fun while it lasted.

Holidays abroad

St. Patrick’s Day! For this fantastic holiday, my friend Jess and I got all decked out in green and went out to the bar the often frequented, klypso. The night before, we had gone and decorated the whole thing because we had some awesome ideas and they told us we could have free drinks if we decorated. Perfect, right? I ended up not staying out too late that night, but it was a good time with my friends.

A few weeks later came Poisson d’Avril (April Fools Day). In France, the typical thing to do is take a paper fish and stick it to someone so that they don’t notice that they’ve been walking around all day with a fish on them. Well, I was not ‘fished,’ but my language teacher played a terrible joke on us. She came into class and told us that we were really awful at writing and comprehension and that we needed to do dictées that were noted. For those of you who don’t know, a dictée is when someone reads a passage from something, and you have to write down what you hear, so it is a good exercise of comprehension and grammar. Anyways, the words and sentence structures in this dictée were terrible and as she continued to read, we all lost any hope of doing good. Soon enough, she smiled at us, laughed, and said “Poisson d’Avril mes amis!” Oh, we were so happy it wasn’t true.

Poitiers

Jess and I went for a weekend to a place called Futuroscope, which is a virtual theme park. I thought is was so incredibly cool! We saw this little movie called Les Astromouches, which was about little flies that go on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon with Neil Armstrong. It was such a cute little 3D story. We watched a few other movies with really cool effects, went through a sensory sort of attraction where we experienced how things would be if we didn’t have our sense of sight, and then a ride called les danses avec les robots (the dances with robots), which was insane! The greatest part was being able to watch all of the movies and understand everything that was said. All of the movies were in French of course, but I had virtually no difficulty in comprehending the words and content. That, my friends, was a big moment in my realizations of my progress.

Les Mecs

Okay friends, I guess this is the part you have been waiting all year for. There’s a boy. A French boy. While having a French boyfriend was something I never anticipated, when does life ever present exactly what you expect? Anyways, his name is Donald (pronounced like Doe-nahld), he is 25, and works at the hospital here in town, loves sailing, and is a pretty great guy. He plays guitar and can sing decently well, which is always a plus, haha. We have been going out for a couple months, and it’s been fun! He isn’t been like the creepy or egotistical French guys that I’ve mentioned in previous blogs. He really likes me and respects my ideals, and I appreciate that so much. He and I both know that I am leaving in June, so we’re enjoying the time we have while I’m here. So…voilà!

I hope you all feel relatively caught up with what has been going on in my life since late February since I last wrote. Also make sure to check out the Spring Break entry I posted just a few days before this post. A plus tard!

Les Vacances de Printemps

"To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy." Hippocrates

What a crazy two weeks! For my spring break, I visited southwest France, Barcelona, Paris, and Normany. I have divided this blog by the different parts of my two weeks, so even though it’s long, hopefully you enjoy reading! Enjoy!!!

Southwest France

Oh, la vie en France. We stared our voyage by going to Bordeaux, Biarritz, and Bayonne. Though I was in Bordeaux in February, it was fun to return and see the city in the springtime ad explore some different places. We visited some of the parks in the city, a gallo-roman theater, the waterfront, and le miroir d’eau (the mirror of water). While in the southwest, we went couchsurfing. For those of you who have never heard of couchsurfing, it is essentially a networking system where you can stay at people’s houses for free and it is a cultural exchange sort of thing. The couple that we couchsurfed with was doing something called an Assistantship, which is where they teach are given a place in France to go teach English for a few hours a week. They were such wonderful hosts and made our short time in Bordeaux totally worth going again.

The next day, Claudia and I made our way down to Biarritz to meet our next couchsurfing host, an English boy named Charlie. He was also in France doing the assistantship. We met him at a bus stop, dropped our bags off at his house, and then he took us on a tour of the city. It was so beautiful and the view of the Atlantic was indescribable. We went to the beach, saw some markets, and walked along the coast of the ocean. That night we met a lot of his friends and we had a fun time mingling and playing Werewolves (essentially the card game, Mafia, but cooler). We did a lot of exploring the city on our own and fell in love with it. However, I feel like it is incredibly touristy and rather ritzy. Nice to visit, but only for a few days. We left on a Friday, explored the city of Bayonne for a few hours, and then plans changed a little…

FranceàBarcelona: (I wrote this part of this blog entry as I was sitting on a train Irun in western Spain, to Barcelona, which is on the opposite coast).

Qu’est-ce que l’on fait lorsqu’il y a des grèves? What does one do when there are strikes? An unforeseen change of events is causing me to arrive in Barcelona tonight rather than spending one more night in southern France. Ah the French whom I love, the ones who believe in liberté, fraternité et égalité, the revolutionaries who make changes when needed. My friends, les Français have done it again and j’en air as le bol! J’en ai ma dose! Ça suffit! The SNCF railway strikes have altered my plans and they have inconvenienced a large number of people. They better get what they were striking for, because these past few days have been full of a little too much improvisation and compliance with the SNCF.

Qu’est-ce que l’on fait lorsque la terre décide de changer enormement? What does one do when the earth decides to drastically change? Even though there are strikes going on in southern France, I had a beautiful first few days of my break and am still making it to Barcelona. However, as we all have observed, mother nature has been a little vengeful as of late…I personally think she was after those of you who have neglected the environment. Multiple earthquakes, tsunamis, and to cap it off…a volcano, in Iceland! Joy. Of. My. Life. My parents called me today and told me that over 16,000 flights were cancelled today. If my flight with Drew to Paris is cancelled, I will be super upset. Excuse me, I mean that it is highly unfortunate for those poor souls who are truly plagued by this natural phenomenon…

Barcelona

What a beautiful city, Barcelona. Claudia and I arrived Friday night and Saturday we explored the neighboring streets of our hostel. When Claudia went to meet friends she would be staying with in Barcelona, I went to the train station and met Drew. He and I took the metro to our hotel and were overjoyed about the quality and the centrality of its location in the city. That night, we went to the magic fountains on Montjuïc, and they were so incredible! These ornate fountains that have light shows synchronized to a fun variety of music honestly put the musical fountain in Grand Haven to a little shame. I will however have a lot of fun memories now whenever I see the musical fountain. We walked up the steps to the palace near the top of Montjuïc and though we could no longer hear the music, it was truly a magical experience to see the fountains down below and the sunset at the opposite end of the city. That night we walked down Las Ramblas, which is like the Champs Elysées of Bacelona. We ended up eating dinner at a nice restaurant right on the port, and I had the Spanish version of a crêpe (though my allegiances stay with the French).

The following day, we went to mass in the cathedral at Barcelona, and it was amazing! It was a beautiful cathedral, and though I don’t know Spanish (or rather Catalan, which is the mix of French and Spanish spoken in that region), I was able to understand certain phrases and words thanks to my knowledge of French. It made me miss church back home a lot, but it was a good experience. After that, we walked to a park at which many non-profit organizations were gathered. People were sitting in the grass, playing games, having picnics, and so we went and sat in the grass for a while and just took in the atmosphere. It was really cool. We then went to the Picasso museum, which was rather interesting, took a cable car up to Montjuïc, and spent a few hours exploring and getting lost in the parks on the hill. Eventually we reached the castle at the very top and had a breathtaking view of the ocean on one side and the city from the other side. I could have sworn that when I looked down at the ocean, that I was actually in Kirk Park or Rosy Mound Park back home overlooking Lake Michigan.

Our last day in Barcelona was spent visiting different places designed by Gaudi. We started with the Sagrada Familia and then went to the Casa Mila. Both of these places were so cool and any pictures that I took would not have done any justice to the crazy architecture. That night, Drew and I took a bus to Gerona and found a bus that would leave the next day from the airport and take us into Perpignan, France. Clearly, our flight to Paris was cancelled because of the volcano, and because of the train strikes, trains were not allowed to cross the Spanish border, as they normally would be.

Tuesday, we left for Paris as planned, but it took so long!!! Two hours by bus from Gerona to Perpignan, a two-hour wait in Perpignan before we were able to take a train up to Paris, and then eight hours on the train. There ended up being a delay of almost four hours because of a fire that was on/near the train tracks, so we didn’t arrive at our hotel until almost three o’clock in the morning. The train ride was well spent though, and our hotel reservation was still valid, thus we were content and at ease…and in Paris!

Paris

Wednesday morning, Drew and I woke up and went to the Sacré Coeur and Montmartre to explore the area a bit. We made our way to Châtelet by metro and had our baguettes with chèvre cheese and a bottle of wine right by the Eglise Saint Eustache. We then continued on our way to the Musée de l’Armée (Les Invalides) where we saw Napoleon’s tomb and a lot of interesting exhibits about wars in France. We ended our day by walking down the Champs Elysées, passing by the Arc de Triomphe, and seeing the Eiffel Tower.

The following day, we went to Versailles and had a blast. I have already been there twice, but it was so cool this time because I listened to a French audio guide and understood almost everything that was said. We also relaxed a lot in the gardens after exploring the château. We went back into Paris and visited next the Musée d’Orsay. My personal favorite part of the museum was the paintings by Camille Pissarro. Van Gogh was also grand, just not my favorite. That night for dinner we went to a wonderful restaurant called Ty Yann, which a man from Bretagne owns and he makes amazing crêpes and galettes. That night we walked along the Seine, and it was really peaceful.

Friday, we went to Châtelet again and did a little shopping, and then we went to Notre Dame and La Sainte Chapelle, both absolutely stunning. I can’t imagine how cool it would be to go to church every weekend in La Sainte Chapelle! We followed this up by walking through the Jardins de Tuileries, and going to the Louvre. That night we went to a really nice French restaurant for some authentic cuisine, and it was très délicieux. We ended our stay in Paris by going up the Eiffel Tower and it was absolutely fantastic. I have been up twice before, but this time was really different from the other times. At the top, I reflected so much about home and I wanted nothing more than for my mom to be there with me…one day both of us will be here.

Normandie

For the weekend, Drew and I visited Normandy. Because of train delays, we didn’t arrive in the town of Bayeux (close proximity to the beaches) until late afternoon, and so we saw the cemetery, Omaha Beach, and Pointe du Hoc right before sunset. Again, it was a super cool experience, and I was happy to have the opportunity to visit these places for a second time.

All in all, my two weeks of travelling were very busy, a little stressful at times, but a spring break that I will remember for the rest of my life. If was wonderful to escape the pressure of school for a while, to discover new places, and also to return to where I had been before. It was a huge relief that Drew and I got along so well and have become friends, especially seeing that we never talked in high school and that we were with each other virtually incessantly for a week. Lastly, I was able to laugh, smile, experience new things and cultures, and just breathe easily.

Une Princesse Cherchant son Grenouille :)

Classes

The day after returning from Ireland, I took a writing test to determine my level for classes at school this semester. I ended up testing into level 351, which is the third highest class offered here. I jumped from 323 to 351, which is excellent. There are I believe eleven kids in my class, and my language class is going to be so incredibly challenging, but I am gearing up for it. We have to do a lot of reading, oral presentations, and we have an 8-10 page paper due in May on a French polemic. I am also taking Philosophy, French history (from the French Revolution to present), Translation (English to French), Familiar French (to learn slang/familiar terms), and Music History. I am going to love love love my music history class, because we listen to classical French music and learn about how the music reflects society and different movements.I am super stoked!

Bordeaux

Last weekend, Jess and I went to a city called Bordeaux, which is in the southwest region of France, and oh my goodness it was fantastic! The first day there, we walked around the city for a few hours and we went to a fromagerie. We both got a cheese buffet, which came with a salad, multiple types of bread, and access to the cheese cave in the basement of the restaurant to taste and eat as much of any type of cheese that we so desired. I don’t think I have ever been in a room that smelled so amazing as the little cheese room. And of course we had this meal with a bottle of famous Bordeaux red wine, and it was so good!

The next day, Jess and I went to an art museum and then a natural history museum. Both of them were so cool and interesting. For lunch, we went to a seafood restaurant where I had the best foie gras and fish of my entire life.Bordeaux was a terribly expensive city, but the cliché cheese and wine experiences I had there were so worth it, and I will never forget my time there.

Miscellaneous Fun

Everything with les Aquarelles (the choir in which I sing) is going wonderfully. We are singing an interesting mix of songs as I mentioned before, but it’s always good fun to go and sing with the French girls.

For the Chinese New Year, Yilan and Béatrice wanted to throw a little fête. After each of us invited friends, there ended up being ten of us altogether. It was a splendid time, and we had food from the French, Chinese, Japanese, and American cultures. We talked a lot about different traditions and some people got up to do little short spectacles. Yilan got up and sang a song, Béatrice and one of her friends each recited a poem, and of course I was coerced to sing again. I hate singing upon command, but I guess it’s better that I come out of this little shell, haha.

There is a big celebration called Carnaval that happens after mardi gras, and to celebrate it, my friends and I all went out. The typical costume for Carnaval is a mask, but this soirée was a little different, and my friend and I decided to dress up as 80’s punk fairies. We had such a blast getting dressed up all crazy-like, and it was super fun mingling that night.

For all my girl friends back home, I still have yet to meet my prince charming. After seeing La Princesse et le Grenouille(The Princess and the Frog), I was hoping maybe he would come sauntering along, but all of the French guys that have presented themselves to me here have been either extremely attractive yet overconfident, or just awkward and creepy. I’m content with being celibataire (single en français).

Religious adventures

I do want to touch on the whole concept of Christianity here. I don’t recall if I have mentioned this in a past blog, but the religious atmosphere is really quite grim. The only people who really attend church regularly are very old senior citizens, and even then, church attendance has been going down more and more over the years. The thing that is most difficult to understand is how the French culture is so rich with religious history, art, music, and figures, yet it seems to be nothing more than a landmark of a lifestyle that has been left in the past. My friend and I have decided that it is time for us to try and understand this a little better, so we are going to start going to different churches (the majority being Catholic, which is different for both of us), and I personally want to talk with people about how they view the role of Christianity in France. For my dossier in my language class, I have decided to write about the current approach to Christianity for my generation and for children being raised today. I’ve already found out some really interesting trends, but I am curious to see where God takes me in my discoveries, even if I dislike some of what I hear.

Songs I like

“Les Voyages en Train” by Grand Corps Malade (This a slam poem that relates love to train rides), and “It’s Your Love” by Hillsong.

Watch this video, it shows the little prince meeting the rose and in the end she sings a song to him. If you find the lyrics and translations, it's even better. LOVE IT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxM6czX2ads

Quote I love

Keep the faith, don’t give up. Remember this: amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic. ~Unknown