Le Cycle de la Vie

SALUT TOUT LE MONDE!!! It is almost February, can you believe it ? I am so shocked that I am halfway through my journey here. I hope you have all passed wonderful winter days, and that January has been splendid.

SCHOOL: I just finished my first semester on Friday, and I feel so accomplished. My classes have been pretty good for the past few weeks, and I’ve noticed a lot of progress even in since the holidays. In my history class, we spent a few classes talking just barely scratching the surface of the Renaissance and the Reformation, and the history geek inside of me was dying. I’m still alive though, so that’s good ;) I feel like all of my exams went so well, and I’m really anxious to find out how I performed. The majority of my exams were rather difficult, but it was a really good chance for me to see how I’ve progressed and what I’ve retained. Of course, with it being the end of the semester, more students left to go back to their native countries, but I was more prepared to say goodbye this time to people. The next semester starts February 8, and I am going to have to take a writing exam to determine into which level I will place. I am so incredibly excited to start the new semester with new and exciting classes, and also to meet new students too. I have a few friends from Aquinas College who are studying here this semester, and I’m really excited to see them and hang out with them. Hopefully I’ll be able to show them around and we can explore different things in Angers, because there is a lot that is yet to be discovered by me in this city.

FRENCH FRIENDS: I am sadly not going to be getting together with my French friend Isabelle anymore. She had an interview for a job in Paris, and she received the post! I am so excited for her, and the company she works for has a great reputation worldwide, but I am going to miss the fun times she and I had. However, today I went to buy some train tickets and who do I see at the station…Isabelle! We were so surprised and she bought me a hot chocolate and we talked for about a half hour before she had to catch her train. It was great to see her, and hopefully we’ll be able to visit again before I go back to the states. I have a few more French friends though who I am hoping to start hanging out with once the new semester starts, so that will be a fun and new experience.

LES AQUARELLES: I really love the choir that I joined here in Angers. Right now, we have a Latin piece, a strange song called “Boogie Woogie Llanoogie,” a Chinese piece, a Gaelic song, “Le Cycle de la Vie” (The circle of life), “Hallelujah” (as heard in Shrek), and “Suo-gân.” This last one is also known as “A Welsch Lullaby,” and it seems that no matter where I go, I cannot escape this song. I’ve sung it twice in the United States, and now I’m singing it in France, but I am not ready to dominate, haha.

ADVENTURES! I am going to…. Ireland! I leave tomorrow morning and will be there until next Sunday! I will spend a couple days in Dublin with my friend Jessica (who is Irish), and then we’ll go to a little city called Glendalough, which is the town of my Irish ancestors. From there we’ll go to the Cliffs of Moher, and then she is going to Amsterdam and I am going to visit friends from Aquinas in Tully Cross. I am so excited to see old friends and to go on a vacation!

RANDOM HAPPENSTANCES: I went and saw Avatar, and even though the graphics were insanely awesome, I was a little disappointed in the lack of creativity in the storyline. But it was worth seeing, and I got to practice my French comprehension, for it was spoken in French and there were no subtitles. Next, I realized a tree that I thought was inhabited by birds is actually occupied by bats. When I realized this, I got so excited and it was really cool. My New Years Resolution to learn to cook is going well, and I’ve enjoyed my creations thus far. My friend Claudia came over yesterday and she taught me how to make some Brazilian cuisine, and that was actually really delicious. Last but definitely not least, I had my first dream in French this month! I woke up so excited when I realized what had happened.

This month has overall been a really big month in figuring out where my priorities are and what is important to me. Because my closest friends all left to go back to the US in December, this month has been filled with spending more time with new people. It’s been frustrating, because I have realized that for some, I am nothing more than someone that they want to try and change into someone else. I am here to learn French and embrace the French culture, not to be someone’s little social experiment. I know that I have high standards, that I am really old-fashioned about some things, and that I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I like it that way. My faith in God is the most important thing to me, and to walk away from my faith is not a change I ever want to make.

CHANSONS QUE J’AIME:

The Wonder of Your Love and I Will Exalt You, both by Hillsong. These are beautiful songs that really help me focus on the number one in my life.

VERSETS DE LA BIBLE:

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion.”

Psalm 100:5 “The Lord is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.”

PROVERBE FRANCAISE:

“Il n’y a qu’un bonheur du monde : d’aimer et d’être aimer.”

Hope you all have a wonderful Singles Awareness Day on the 14^th of February!! Or for those of you who find yourselves in a not-so-single condition, have a happy Valentine’s Day :)

Bonne Année!!!

Bonne Année! I can’t believe it’s 2010!! I hope everyone had such a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. Here is the latest with me:

For Christmas Break, I went with my host mom to a little French town called Caussade to stay with her daughter and son-in-law. After two hours of delays at various train stations, and a ride from a crazy taxi driver, we finally made it to Caussade. It was such a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of Angers. Caroline and Jean Gabriel (Béa’s daughter and son-in-law) live in the country, and there were rolling hills and farms all around us. Every evening I saw a beautiful sunset, and I could see the stars at night…it was really great. Caroline and Jean Gabriel are patissiers (bakers), and their baked goods are all made with BIO products, which is to say all ingredients that are eco-friendly. And oh my gosh, I had some amazing chocolate and cakes while we were with them! They also have a three-month-old son named Thomas Mael, and he was the cutest thing! I would talk to him in both French and English, and by the end of the week, everyone started saying “hey babe”or “awww sweetheart” in their French accents, haha. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were both spectacular, and I will never forget my holidays spent here. We had a lot of food, such as foie gras (duck liver), which is actually quite good, and some amazing Moroccan meals. I tried some wonderful cheeses and wines, and we all told fun Christmas stories and traditions. I got to explore some cities and towns in the area, and it was really interesting.

While I was in Caussade, I got to sleep a ton, and I think because of this, I had some rather bizarre dreams. I feel like sharing the most bizarre with you. I dreamt that we lived in a city that had a space station kind of attached, but for some reason it was being destroyed. While we were trying to evacuate the space station, I saw my love running inside to accomplish some grandiose feat, and he told me to keep going on and that he would make it. Well, the door ended up shutting like right behind me, and then the ship went away and blew up in the sky. I went back to my life but cried at losing my one true love. Then, it turns out he had escaped, and the dream ended with him finding me. How romantic, now if only I would find this boy outside of my subconscious, haha.

Béatrice and I returned to Angers on the 29^th, and of course it was raining when we stepped out of the train stations. Surprise, surprise. I got home and I had packages waiting for me from my family with Christmas gifts, and that was fun! The next day, I met my friend Claudia in the centre-ville and we went shopping for New Years outfits and whatever else we felt like we needed. I found some fantastic outfits, and I’m very excited to find occasions to wear what I bought. And from what I heard, there are huge sales in the middle of January, so that shall be grand.

And of course New Years happened, and what a good night! Claudia came over to my house to eat a New Years dinner with Béatrice, Yilan, and I, and after that we took a bunch of crazy pictures before meeting our friends downtown to ring in the New Year. We ended up meeting a bunch of friends at a bar called Klypso, which is perhaps frequented more by students from other countries than French people, which makes for a really fun atmosphere. There was music and a little dancing, and a French guy tried to dance with me, but I gracefully spun out of his arms, told him I didn’t like the song, and sat down. It was true, but it was also true that he was a little awkward. Other than that, we had fun with our fluorescent necklaces and sunglasses, and I was there with my friends til 4 in the morning. After that we went to my friend César’s house to chill a bit while we waited for buses to start up again. We eventually all got home, and now my sleep schedule is all screwed up. It was worth it though; I had such a fun time with my friends.

Since then, I have been lazy in my apartment, watching Christmas movies, doing homework, writing, and reading. Today I went walking around downtown for two hours or so, and that was a good time to reflect on things here. I have made it through December, and it was perhaps the best December of my life. Yes, it was lacking in some very important people from home, but the experiences I had were once in a lifetime and so much better than I ever would have imagined. God is so amazing, and my faith in him is growing stronger and stronger. I have 5 months left. Or you could say 23 weeks. Or 161 days. However you look at it, my time is going by so incredibly fast, and I’m totally living it up!

Love you all so much, and I can’t wait to hug you all when I come home! Can’t guarantee I’ll be able to write anytime soon, because exams are here in a few weeks. Until then, adieu!!

Psalm 73:28 “But as for me, it is good to be near God.” Simple, but could not be more true.

Sweet Disposition

Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année mes amis ! I hope I haven’t kept you all waiting too long for an update on things here in France ! I’m just going to jump right into things.

School is going fantastically well, and I am so surprised at how fast the first semester seems to have gone by. The classes themselves are going fine, and I am still progressing so much. It’s hard for me to figure out how much I’ve progressed, but I can just tell that listening is so much easier than before, and I speak with a lot more ease too. The teachers here are so great, and you can tell they genuinely care about the students. Whenever I see them, they will stop and have ten-minute conversations and are always curious about how we are doing. Last week, I participated in the soirée internationale a tour school, where foreign students do some kind of performance to display their culture a little. I decided to sing, and it was a really fun experience. I sang ‘Reflection’ from Mulan, and it was really fun. Some kids even sang along, and I met a lot of really nice people after performing who had only the nicest things to say. On the last day before break, we had a little lunch party with my class and everyone brought in something to share with the class. There was so much food, but it was a really great time with all of my friends before the break.

I celebrated Thanksgiving by having dinner with my friends Brandy and Marie. They came over to my house and we made potatoes, chicken, salad, and cookies. Not exactly a traditional Thanksgiving, but it was a really special meal. After dinner, we all decided to go out, and we met my friends Viviana, Lutpulla, and Kai at a bar to have a drink and just relax on our wonderful American holiday.

I went to the home of the Bouget family for the weekend before my birthday, and what a weekend it was. It started out wonderfully with Timon, the 5 year old, running to me and jumping into my arms all the while shouting ‘Lauren!’ On the Saturday, I went to Timon’s soccer practice and Laurane’s gymnastics practice, and then later on we went to a farm that is close by and I learned how to milk cows! It was amazing, and when I did it, my first instinct was to say ‘Oh my gosh!’ And of course everyone laughed. For dinner that night we had a raclette, which consists of cheese that you melt and then eat with meat and/or potatoes. After the kids went to bed, the parents, their friend Vincent, and I played wii bowling, and that was fun! Sunday morning, we made chocolate chip cookies, and that was such a great thing to do with the kids. For lunch we had oysters, escargots, and frog legs, all of which were pretty good. After this we went to the kid’s Christmas spectacular at their school, and it was so funny! It started with a show for the kids by a magician who ended up going on a voyage to the USA (because the children are learning about the American culture this year). After that all of the kids got up and sang Christmas songs they have been practicing. I left that weekend just feeling so incredibly blessed and filled with great joy.

My birthday was December 14, and I had such a lovely day. My friends gave me cards and gifts, all of which were really special and meant a lot to me. I got to take a translation test on my birthday, but I am feeling pretty good about my performance on it. That night I came home, and Béatrice and Yilan made dinner and a cake for me. There were even twenty candles on the cake! Everything about that day was so unexpected and so so magnificent. My first birthday that I spent without the people back home was a birthday that I will never forget, and I don’t want to ever forget either.

I went on a couple little excursions in the past month. I went to Paris for a day with my friend Lutpulla in the beginning of December, and that was a really fun day. We had to give one of his friends something, so we were only in Paris for perhaps six hours, but we trekked around an area called Chatelêt, and then made out way on the metro to Notre Dame. By the time we got there, it was dark, but it was incredible! The lighting was very soft and the cathedral had such a pristine appearance, and in front of it was a giant Christmas tree decorated with blue Christmas lights. Then that weekend, I went with a group of about 35 students from my school to Lyon for the fête des lumières. While in Lyon, we went to the marchés de Noel (Christmas markets), a couple interesting parks, a gallo-roman theater, and of course the festival of lights. It was a ton of fun, and I met some really awesome people on the trip. Also, I have a friend who lives in Lyon who I’d like to visit, so hopefully in the next month or two I’ll venture back down there.

A few nights ago, I went to Isabelle’s for a soirée that she was holding for her boyfriend who has been working abroad for a year and is now back in France. There were nine of us there, and it was so insanely fun. The night started with us just talking, and a couple French girls from the chorale I am in talked to me and were asking me a lot of questions about France and the States. We then ate dinner, which was a raclette (as I explained earlier), and it was a great time to socialize and try and absorb as much French as possible. After the raclette, we had ice cream, and then played a game where you had to do gestures with your hands that matched the cards as fast as you could. It was so much fun, and we were laughing so much. There were even a couple French boys there too who were quite amusing…haha. Overall, it was a good night, and I am so glad I went to the soirée.

And onto the inevitable topic of boys, I regret to inform all of you at home that I have not been swept off my feet by some charming and romantic French boy. The boys here are handsome and impeccably dressed, but that isn’t everything. Not that I’m mocking them by any means, but I think boys here are a little more forward and perhaps have a little more confidence in their flirtatiousness. And I am not about to compromise my standards and ideals for a romance in this love-crazed country.

December was a little hard for me for about a week. I realized that this is the first time in my life that I have spent my birthday and the holidays away from my family and friends, and I fell into this depressive funk that I couldn’t shake. Eventually I ended up talking to my mom about it, and then proceeded to cry to her on Skype. Since then, I have felt insanely better, and the fact that my birthday was so wonderful is a reassurance that Christmas will be just as wonderful! God has blessed me in so many ways, and all I can do is smile at how amazing He is.

Yesterday and today were really difficult emotionally though, for I said my farewells to some amazing friends that I have made here in France. My friends Marie, Brandy, Elizabeth, and Viviana are the ones that truly influenced my time here in Angers, and I can’t begin to imagine how things will be without them here. I tried my absolute hardest to refrain from crying, but it was inevitable. However, I know that I will see these wonderful girls again, and that there are new friendships to be made and more fun to be had.

As I am writing now, I am on the train headed to la petite ville de Caussade with my host mom, Béatrice. We are going for ten days to stay with her daughter and son-in-law and their baby boy. I am so excited to pass Christmas with them, and it is going to be great to see and experience a new part of France.

Songs I like right now: Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap, Vivre à en Crever from Mozart Opéra Rock, and Blessed by Elton John.

To continue with my journey through the Psalms, here are a few verses that I really liked.

--Psalm 40:5 “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.”

--Psalm 52:8-9 “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. “

--Psalm 63:7-8 “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.