An interesting piece of information that I learned the other day while talking to some international students. I was asking them what they are doing this summer and some of the students said they are going home to take exams. This sparked the question as to why they are taking exams at home if they just finished the semester here?
Apparently it is not out of common practice for students to take exams a semester, or even a full year after they took the class. Basically they have to pass the exam, and if they don't, they do not have to retake the class, ala US schools, they instead just have to re-take the exam. Once they pass the exam, they pass the class and are finished.
I think this stems from the practice that a lot of these schools have of literally only giving one exam at the end of the class time that covers everything learned in the class. So essentially if you don't pass, instead of having to take the class again and try to be taught by the teacher, instead one has to study all the material and retake the exam hoping that you've taught yourself the material well enough.
Personally I think it is crazy, but then again, it is just not what I'm used to. You'd think by now I'd know that not everything makes sense to me.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Arriving?
Today the Italians left and I thought I'd share with you our little joke we have with them. So as native English speakers know, when you are going to meet someone and they call you, let's say as you are on the way to meet them, many times, the answer to the question "Where are you?" is "I'm coming", meaning you are on your way or will be there in a few minutes. In French, the way to say "I'm coming" is to say "J'arrive". Literally translated obviously to "I arrive". The funny part is that when the Italians literally translate this statement they always say, "I'm arriving". We call and ask them, where are you? They answer, we're arriving. In the beginning, we thought, oh good, they're arriving, they'll be walking in the door in a minute. Nope. "I'm arriving", means, "I'm on my way" which can literally take an hour or more. We found out pretty quickly that if an Italian tells you that he's "arriving", really he won't be there for another 30 minutes or so. So my roommate and I have taken to repeating this back to the Italians, and even using it ourselves. I'm fair warning you, if you meet a French or Italian and they tell you "they're arriving" really it means that they are on their way, not walking in the door. So...when am I headed back to the states? I'm arriving...
Goodbyes
Sadly we have reached the point where almost everyone is going home for the summer. French students are fleeing to their parents' houses or to their own hometowns, and international students are jetting (or driving) off to their own parts of the world. It is a strange thing saying goodbye to some of these people. Literally I just spent 5 months with them and will never see them again. It is a strange phenomenon we have in this life, to meet people that influence and shape your life and then never see them again. Thankfully quite a few of these friends I fully intend on visiting at some time in my life because they come from fabulously intesting places. Thankfully most of the people had going away parties so we got to see them one last time before they headed off, but others we missed. It is going to be very interesting to be in Clermont in a few days because most of the people we have spent the last 5 months hanging out with will be gone. Also, as this is a university town, many of the young people that inhabit it will also be gone. I'm gonna need to find a bowling league or something.
Holidays in May
Let me give you a small piece of advice if you plan on visiting France in May. Pay attention to when the national "free" days are. There are..count 'em...FOUR holidays in May that the French government and companies give their employees the day off. This means of course that man shops, restaurants and tourist attractions (i.e. museums) are closed for business. Not exactly convenient if visiting one of the lovely cities in this amazing country. I'll give you a brief rundown of the days and their purpose. (courtesy wikipedia)
May 1 - Labor Day...same as in the states, except in May instead of September, and it is always on May 1, which coincidentally is May Day. This day is to "celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers".
May 8 - "Victory in Europe Day" This is the day that the WWII Allies officially accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany and ended Hitler's reign. I'd say that's worth some definite celebration!
These last two days move around due to the Catholic calendar, but one day is taken off for the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. This day is 39 days after Easter.
The second is the Monday after the Pentecost, which is the day that the Holy Spririt descended on the apostles of Christ. This day once again moves depending on when Easter is, but always falls in May. It is called Whit Monday and falls 10 days after Ascension Thursday and 50 days after Easter Sunday.
Now you are properly warned, determine your travel plans before visiting this fine country in the month of May.
May 1 - Labor Day...same as in the states, except in May instead of September, and it is always on May 1, which coincidentally is May Day. This day is to "celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers".
May 8 - "Victory in Europe Day" This is the day that the WWII Allies officially accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany and ended Hitler's reign. I'd say that's worth some definite celebration!
These last two days move around due to the Catholic calendar, but one day is taken off for the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. This day is 39 days after Easter.
The second is the Monday after the Pentecost, which is the day that the Holy Spririt descended on the apostles of Christ. This day once again moves depending on when Easter is, but always falls in May. It is called Whit Monday and falls 10 days after Ascension Thursday and 50 days after Easter Sunday.
Now you are properly warned, determine your travel plans before visiting this fine country in the month of May.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Avignon
The last stop of the trip was a night in Avignon. We arrived pretty late to find out our hostel was actually a dorm on a 
campground. Interesting. No wonder we paid only 11 euro. It was clean though and as I would find out that night, very quiet, which was nice. Finally slept! We got into town around 9 and walked to see the town a little before the light was totally gone. We saw the Pope's Palace and then walked a little bit to find the places were all the restaurants were. We chose badl
y for the restaurant, but it was a nice night, so enjoyed a girafe of beer before being utterly exhausted and heading back across the river to the hostel. Nothing exciting to report from the drive back to Clermont except the directions said it would take 3 hours and 45 min, but that was with the autoroutes. We took the national roads and it took us exactly 5 hours, which was good because we were supposed to return the car at 2pm and we made it at 2:05pm. Nice. Good trip all-in-all. Kind of exhausting, but cool to see the south of France!
campground. Interesting. No wonder we paid only 11 euro. It was clean though and as I would find out that night, very quiet, which was nice. Finally slept! We got into town around 9 and walked to see the town a little before the light was totally gone. We saw the Pope's Palace and then walked a little bit to find the places were all the restaurants were. We chose badl
y for the restaurant, but it was a nice night, so enjoyed a girafe of beer before being utterly exhausted and heading back across the river to the hostel. Nothing exciting to report from the drive back to Clermont except the directions said it would take 3 hours and 45 min, but that was with the autoroutes. We took the national roads and it took us exactly 5 hours, which was good because we were supposed to return the car at 2pm and we made it at 2:05pm. Nice. Good trip all-in-all. Kind of exhausting, but cool to see the south of France!
Monaco
Monday morning began with a short drive to Monte Carlo. After parking by the casino, we walked by to see all the fancy cars. Nothin. The casino didn't open til 2pm. I guess everyon
e stays up late partying so they need the morning to sleep in. We walked along the port to the other side of town and saw the remnants of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix race that was there the weekend before. The barriers and fences were still up as well as the grand stands. I can't imagine trying to get around that city when the race is going on. We walked over to the Prince's Palace and old Monaco. Strangely enough, when we stood on the overlook there was a strange mist flowing into the city from the sea. It was putting a haze over the city. We never did find out what it was from, but it was a cool mist because later, when we were looking out from a different overlook, the mist was being blown into where we were. We walked through the old streets and they were packed with touristy store and restaurants. W
e saw the Cathedral where Pricess Grace is buried, and there was an overlook where we stopped in a garden for a break where one of the weirdest things of my life happened. As we were sitting on a bench resting, there was a group of 5 Japanese that came down to the same overlook and started taking pictures....of US! Then they each wanted a picture with us. Strange. Two minutes later a lady with some interesting clothing on was listening to Celine Dion in her earphones singing along. out loud. She stood by us for a bit and then continue
d on her merry way. Random. My roommate and I ate a lovely italian lunch of salad and gnocchi with pesto for me (yummy) and gnocchi with carbonara (supposed to be gorgonzola) for her. Then we headed over to try to find the others on the beach, but gave up because the beach was too far away so we took naps on benches in a park. The tourists found that utterly intriguing and someone took a picture of my roommate sleeping! (??) We walked back by the casino on the way to the car and were much more impressed by the cars parked in front this time. I decided I should start a company that cleans the cars before the owners come out of the casino though because all these people stand and pose with the cars and put their hands all over the cars. Talk about fingerprints! 
e stays up late partying so they need the morning to sleep in. We walked along the port to the other side of town and saw the remnants of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix race that was there the weekend before. The barriers and fences were still up as well as the grand stands. I can't imagine trying to get around that city when the race is going on. We walked over to the Prince's Palace and old Monaco. Strangely enough, when we stood on the overlook there was a strange mist flowing into the city from the sea. It was putting a haze over the city. We never did find out what it was from, but it was a cool mist because later, when we were looking out from a different overlook, the mist was being blown into where we were. We walked through the old streets and they were packed with touristy store and restaurants. W
e saw the Cathedral where Pricess Grace is buried, and there was an overlook where we stopped in a garden for a break where one of the weirdest things of my life happened. As we were sitting on a bench resting, there was a group of 5 Japanese that came down to the same overlook and started taking pictures....of US! Then they each wanted a picture with us. Strange. Two minutes later a lady with some interesting clothing on was listening to Celine Dion in her earphones singing along. out loud. She stood by us for a bit and then continue
d on her merry way. Random. My roommate and I ate a lovely italian lunch of salad and gnocchi with pesto for me (yummy) and gnocchi with carbonara (supposed to be gorgonzola) for her. Then we headed over to try to find the others on the beach, but gave up because the beach was too far away so we took naps on benches in a park. The tourists found that utterly intriguing and someone took a picture of my roommate sleeping! (??) We walked back by the casino on the way to the car and were much more impressed by the cars parked in front this time. I decided I should start a company that cleans the cars before the owners come out of the casino though because all these people stand and pose with the cars and put their hands all over the cars. Talk about fingerprints! 
The only other slightly amusing part of Monte Carlo was not amusing at the time, but I guess it is now. When I was driving out of the parking garage, the ticket booth was on a really steep incline that also curved immediately after exit. I killed the car 5 times trying to get out of there. Once again, not-happy Kate. Then I got out and turned down a street that abruptly ended. After trying to maneuver to turn around about 4 times, I finally had to back up the street and turn around at the top. I was, at that point, ready to be done driving. Too bad we still had the entire way back to Clermont left. Mercifully we found our way out of hilly Monaco and were on to Avignon.
Nice
Our resting spot for Sunday night was Nice. We arrived a little later than anticipated, but thanks to expert navigation found our street pretty quickly. We parked the car and walked longer than I thought we would have to, but it was ok because the car was parked in a better part of our town than our hostel was located in. I felt like I was back in Morocco with all the people loitering on the street. T
he hostel was nice though and we had our own room with a bathroom. We walked down to the seaside and walked along the boardwalk. We tried to go up to this chateau looking thing up on the hill, but it had already closed for the night, so instead we watched the pre-sunset sky for a bit before heading to dinner. The dinner in Nice was by far the best of the trip. We randomly picked a place called Chez Freddy, but I knew we were in good shape when a local man sat down next to us with his friend. Locals don't eat at crappy places. We all got the menu, which included an entree, a plat and a dessert. For my entree I had the Pistou Nicoise, which is vegetable soup that w
as delightful. My main plate was St. Pierre with green beans and rice with a creamy butter sauce. Ah....Interesting fact, the St. Pierre is called John Dory in English, but as my neighbor explained, they don't have it in the states. Strange huh? Here I thought we had most things in the states. This is one fish we don't have and I'm going to wish we did. It was yummy. For dessert I ordered a random dessert that I knew nothing about. It is called Ile Flottant. It was essentially meringue in a vanilla sauce. Woo! All that consumed with half a bottle of rose wine was simply 
scrumptious.
he hostel was nice though and we had our own room with a bathroom. We walked down to the seaside and walked along the boardwalk. We tried to go up to this chateau looking thing up on the hill, but it had already closed for the night, so instead we watched the pre-sunset sky for a bit before heading to dinner. The dinner in Nice was by far the best of the trip. We randomly picked a place called Chez Freddy, but I knew we were in good shape when a local man sat down next to us with his friend. Locals don't eat at crappy places. We all got the menu, which included an entree, a plat and a dessert. For my entree I had the Pistou Nicoise, which is vegetable soup that w
as delightful. My main plate was St. Pierre with green beans and rice with a creamy butter sauce. Ah....Interesting fact, the St. Pierre is called John Dory in English, but as my neighbor explained, they don't have it in the states. Strange huh? Here I thought we had most things in the states. This is one fish we don't have and I'm going to wish we did. It was yummy. For dessert I ordered a random dessert that I knew nothing about. It is called Ile Flottant. It was essentially meringue in a vanilla sauce. Woo! All that consumed with half a bottle of rose wine was simply 
scrumptious. We walked back through the main plaza in Nice that I couldn't tell you the name of if I thought for 100 hours. I don't think I ever knew. I could look it up, but then I'd be acting like I knew, that would be deceptive. The square was pretty though, with lit up fountains and lots of people. Sadly I slept horribly that night due to the street cleaners power washing the street at 3am. Right. Lovely city though, from my 14-hour experience there.
St. Tropez
On our way from Cassis to Nice, we stopped in St. Tropez. I was expecting lavishness and extreme flaunting of wealth, but I was surprised. It seemed to be a pretty normal French port city. I am convinced we went to the old part of the city and didn't see the real lavishness of it. This was our stop 
for lunch on Sunday, so after admiring some huge yachts that were present in the harbor, we headed away from the port a little bit and found a cute pizzeria where we ate a nice and quick, but yummy, lunch. During lunch we pondered how exactly people make enough money to own 
yachts of the size we saw, and how one goes about getting a job cleaning the windows of the said yachts. I briefly pondered changing my career aspirations to be the window washer, but then decided the owner was better. Now just to find the money...
for lunch on Sunday, so after admiring some huge yachts that were present in the harbor, we headed away from the port a little bit and found a cute pizzeria where we ate a nice and quick, but yummy, lunch. During lunch we pondered how exactly people make enough money to own 
yachts of the size we saw, and how one goes about getting a job cleaning the windows of the said yachts. I briefly pondered changing my career aspirations to be the window washer, but then decided the owner was better. Now just to find the money...After lunch we wandered through the little town and down to the beach. I know I have said this about 10 times in the last few posts, but it was beautiful. There were people all around, but it was still pretty serene and fun. We once again
got ice cream as we walked through the town back to our car. Ice cream was a constant on this trip...something about the sun and beaches and being on "vacation".
got ice cream as we walked through the town back to our car. Ice cream was a constant on this trip...something about the sun and beaches and being on "vacation".Cassis
Sunday morning began with a drive to Cassis. It is a cute little town between Marseille and St. Cyr, so
we back tracked a little bit, but it wasn't far. The town reminded me of a little Marseille, with the town surrounding the port. It was a quiet and smaller little city, but really beautiful. There was a fortress up on the hill that we didn't end up going to, because we really only spent about an hour in the city. We sat outside at a cafe and my traveling companions drank some coffee. Then we headed up to see the calanques, which are "limestone cliffs that plunge into the sea" (look at me with the direct quote, for citation purposes it came from the Cassis office of tourism site). They were really spectacular and the blue water was just amazing. Sadly, the sun was so bright that it made things a little hazy. (I know, horrible complaint, huh?)
we back tracked a little bit, but it wasn't far. The town reminded me of a little Marseille, with the town surrounding the port. It was a quiet and smaller little city, but really beautiful. There was a fortress up on the hill that we didn't end up going to, because we really only spent about an hour in the city. We sat outside at a cafe and my traveling companions drank some coffee. Then we headed up to see the calanques, which are "limestone cliffs that plunge into the sea" (look at me with the direct quote, for citation purposes it came from the Cassis office of tourism site). They were really spectacular and the blue water was just amazing. Sadly, the sun was so bright that it made things a little hazy. (I know, horrible complaint, huh?)
St. Cyr sur Mer
Continuing on from Marseille on Saturday we made it to our destination for that night. St. Cyr sur Mer. Little beknownest to us, the weekend was another holiday weekend, so the little places along the coasts were packed with vacationers. We were going to stay in Cassis, but couldn't find room, but one of my traveling mates found a great apartment for rent that was literally 500 ft from the beach. It was fully stocked with a kitchen and everything for only 20 euro per person! Sign me up. We got into town and went to the little store across the street and bought supplies for dinner and then headed to the beach to enjoy 
the sun and sand...er...rocks. I was expecting more sandy beaches, but soon discovered that the beaches on the Cote d'Azur are very rocky. Those of you that know me well, know that I absolutely hate sand, so the rockiness was actually ok with me, but not all that comfortable to sit on. We found a sandy spot and some friends got in the water, while I laid on the blanket and read and napped. Ah
....relaxation. I did walk down and put my toes in the water and observe these little sea creatures that washed up on the shore. They were bright blue! Funny little guys. When we finally decided to head back to the apartment because it was getting a little cold we realized very few people were left on the beach. Must be dinner time! We made spaghetti with veggies and bacon and drank rose wine because that is what you do when you're in the south of France. Drink the rose wine that is, because it is the wine of those regions. It was perfect. Light and not too sweet. A great way to end a day of fun. We almost missed the sunset, but I realized it was setting just in time so we ran out and enjoyed the final minutes of daylight in the day and got some ice cream on the boardwalk. We took a walk and sat on some huge rocks on an inlet into the sea. Day two was a success.
the sun and sand...er...rocks. I was expecting more sandy beaches, but soon discovered that the beaches on the Cote d'Azur are very rocky. Those of you that know me well, know that I absolutely hate sand, so the rockiness was actually ok with me, but not all that comfortable to sit on. We found a sandy spot and some friends got in the water, while I laid on the blanket and read and napped. Ah
....relaxation. I did walk down and put my toes in the water and observe these little sea creatures that washed up on the shore. They were bright blue! Funny little guys. When we finally decided to head back to the apartment because it was getting a little cold we realized very few people were left on the beach. Must be dinner time! We made spaghetti with veggies and bacon and drank rose wine because that is what you do when you're in the south of France. Drink the rose wine that is, because it is the wine of those regions. It was perfect. Light and not too sweet. A great way to end a day of fun. We almost missed the sunset, but I realized it was setting just in time so we ran out and enjoyed the final minutes of daylight in the day and got some ice cream on the boardwalk. We took a walk and sat on some huge rocks on an inlet into the sea. Day two was a success.Marseille
Saturday morning we awoke and left the hostel to drive to Marseille. I had already been to Marseille, but my traveling companions had not, so we made an afternoon stop in the city. The main objective was to see the huge cathedral on the hill and experience some Bouillabaisse (famous fish soup from the region). First stop was lunch. We walked through the morn
ing market on the way to the other side of the port and I saw a really funky flower in one of the flower vendors bouquets. It is the yellow one...how interesting is that?
We selected a place for lunch and unfortunately experienced a truly French lunch, meaning it took us about an hour and a half to eat lunch. About an hour longer than we wanted to spend. Our fault though,
sometimes picking a place to eat is just difficult. I did try the fish soup, but it wasn't as good as advertised. I'm pretty sure it was because I didn't eat one that cost 28 euro or more. I think with this kind of thing, going for the less-pricy option wasn't a good selection. It tasted, well, like fish. I like fish a lot, but I don't like the fishy fish taste of fish a lot. I vow next time to splurge and get the real deal. I'm going to need to do some serious research before-hand though. 30 euro on one plate of food is out of my league. We did make it up to the cathedral (Notre Dame de la Garde) after quite a hike and I once again excperienced it's awe. It was definitely worth the stop.
ing market on the way to the other side of the port and I saw a really funky flower in one of the flower vendors bouquets. It is the yellow one...how interesting is that?We selected a place for lunch and unfortunately experienced a truly French lunch, meaning it took us about an hour and a half to eat lunch. About an hour longer than we wanted to spend. Our fault though,
sometimes picking a place to eat is just difficult. I did try the fish soup, but it wasn't as good as advertised. I'm pretty sure it was because I didn't eat one that cost 28 euro or more. I think with this kind of thing, going for the less-pricy option wasn't a good selection. It tasted, well, like fish. I like fish a lot, but I don't like the fishy fish taste of fish a lot. I vow next time to splurge and get the real deal. I'm going to need to do some serious research before-hand though. 30 euro on one plate of food is out of my league. We did make it up to the cathedral (Notre Dame de la Garde) after quite a hike and I once again excperienced it's awe. It was definitely worth the stop.
Montpellier
Our first stop of the trip was Montpellier. The city is roughly 3 1/2 hours from Clermont. On the way though, we drove through some very pretty Auvergne (our region) countryside and also saw the Th
e Millau Bridge - highest road bridge in the world. We arrived precisely at rush hour. Unfortunately we also drove around the exte
rior of the city for an hour and a half trying to find our hostel. We called and asked them how to get there and they told us, only 30 min later I had the revelation that they might have thought we were on foot instead of driving. Dope! So we called back and they told us it wasn't accessible by car b
ecause it was in the centre ville, which was a pedestrian area. Alas, an extremely frustrated Kate parked the car and we walked across the city to the hostel. There were some fun sights along the way though. We saw the Arc de Triomphe Montpellier style. And also this statue that was overlooking the arcades. We thought it must have been a Louis because aren't all the old French rulers Louises? ( I have no idea how to write the plural of Louis) But it wasn't, it was Octavio something-or-other. Ok, so I didn't exactly catch his name. But he was presiding over that side of Montpellier. I lso thought it was interesting that the street lights were blue. 
We had some dinner in a little square close to our hostel and then went to the Place de Comedie. It looked a lot like the big place in Clermont. Neat to see though. We concluded the night with a well-deserved beer in a square full of younger people out on the terraces enjoying the beautiful night. What a start to the trip!
e Millau Bridge - highest road bridge in the world. We arrived precisely at rush hour. Unfortunately we also drove around the exte
rior of the city for an hour and a half trying to find our hostel. We called and asked them how to get there and they told us, only 30 min later I had the revelation that they might have thought we were on foot instead of driving. Dope! So we called back and they told us it wasn't accessible by car b
ecause it was in the centre ville, which was a pedestrian area. Alas, an extremely frustrated Kate parked the car and we walked across the city to the hostel. There were some fun sights along the way though. We saw the Arc de Triomphe Montpellier style. And also this statue that was overlooking the arcades. We thought it must have been a Louis because aren't all the old French rulers Louises? ( I have no idea how to write the plural of Louis) But it wasn't, it was Octavio something-or-other. Ok, so I didn't exactly catch his name. But he was presiding over that side of Montpellier. I lso thought it was interesting that the street lights were blue. 
We had some dinner in a little square close to our hostel and then went to the Place de Comedie. It looked a lot like the big place in Clermont. Neat to see though. We concluded the night with a well-deserved beer in a square full of younger people out on the terraces enjoying the beautiful night. What a start to the trip!
Road Trip!
School ended on Friday morning around 9:15 am for me because I took my last final in approximately 45 minutes and killed time for a while as to not leave the classroom first. I let another French girl be first. Then I left. WOOT WOOT! Summer! That feeling is so lovely.
To celebrate, four friends and I, (my roommate, a Slovakian, two Germans and me) rented a car and drove to the South of France and visited 8 cities in 4 days. We drove 1300 km and saw some absolutely beautiful countryside. We got great weather the whole time with barely clounds in the skies most of the days. I'll account each city specifically for you, but here are some general thoughts on the trip:
- French radio is worse than American radio. They also play the same 10 songs on rotation, but these 10 songs are dance club mixes of pop songs. Shoot me. I never want to hear those songs again
- I like driving a manual shift car usually, this road trip made me a little tired of it. The national highways (non-toll roads) are curvy and hilly and people in France (probably moreso the tourists) aren't very good drivers, granted there was majestic scenery that easily distracted one from the actual task of driving
- I have fully come to grips with the fact that I need to make enough money in my future to stay at nice hotels and eat well. Especially the eat well part, it just makes the travel experiences so much better
- Traveling with people I didn't know very well, and from very different places was fun. Nothing like travel to get to know people!
Ok, on to the desitnations...in order of visit.
To celebrate, four friends and I, (my roommate, a Slovakian, two Germans and me) rented a car and drove to the South of France and visited 8 cities in 4 days. We drove 1300 km and saw some absolutely beautiful countryside. We got great weather the whole time with barely clounds in the skies most of the days. I'll account each city specifically for you, but here are some general thoughts on the trip:
- French radio is worse than American radio. They also play the same 10 songs on rotation, but these 10 songs are dance club mixes of pop songs. Shoot me. I never want to hear those songs again
- I like driving a manual shift car usually, this road trip made me a little tired of it. The national highways (non-toll roads) are curvy and hilly and people in France (probably moreso the tourists) aren't very good drivers, granted there was majestic scenery that easily distracted one from the actual task of driving
- I have fully come to grips with the fact that I need to make enough money in my future to stay at nice hotels and eat well. Especially the eat well part, it just makes the travel experiences so much better
- Traveling with people I didn't know very well, and from very different places was fun. Nothing like travel to get to know people!
Ok, on to the desitnations...in order of visit.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Internships
I know you are dying to know what I’m going to be doing for the next 7 months of my life in France. Well that makes two of us. I still have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. I have sent out tons of applications online, and while I haven’t been rejected from all of them, most of the automatic responses say that if I haven’t heard from the company after 3 weeks than I should consider myself not an appropriate fit for the position. Well gee thanks. How hard could it be to send a mass e-mail to say, the position has been filled, thank you, instead of just making me wonder. I do thank Kraft Foods though. They are the only company thus far that has sent me an actual, paper rejection letter in the mail. Good form.
The real problem is that there is absolutely no way for me to impress these people who are hiring because everything is done electronically. I don’t have such a network here because I don’t know many people, so this applying stuff is just much more complicated. I’m working angles and have people talking to people, but as of now? Nothing. I’ll keep you posted.
The real problem is that there is absolutely no way for me to impress these people who are hiring because everything is done electronically. I don’t have such a network here because I don’t know many people, so this applying stuff is just much more complicated. I’m working angles and have people talking to people, but as of now? Nothing. I’ll keep you posted.
What’s on my bookshelf
Ok technically I don’t have a bookshelf, but I have been reading quite a bit lately. When my parents got here they brought the book Chocolat, which was written by the same author as “5 quarters of an Orange”, which I finished on the flight to France. Chocolat was enjoyable and a quicker read. Made me want chocolate all the time though, which wasn’t a highly desirable side effect. After I finished the book I watched the movie and enjoyed it, but thought the book was better.
I have been plugging through Anna Karenina as will in a long-distance book club with one of my friends. Let me tell you, if you have never read it: you better have some time on your hands and an interest in peasant rights in Russia back in the day. Me? I don’t so much care about peasant rights in Russia and kind of intensely skim those parts. The other story lines are decent, but whoa the book takes energy and thinking and sometimes that just isn’t my objective.
So. Concurrently with Anna I read the book Help on my roommate’s Kindle. 2 thoughts here:
1. The book Help was fantastic and I highly recommend it. It has developed and engaging characters and there is some real investment into what the book is about. Ok ok, here’s a quick summary. The book is written in Jackson, Mississippi (yes I just sang the little tune in my head) during the 1960s, so yes, race relations and civil rights are what the book centers on. It is mostly written from the point of view of the maids that work for the rich white people. An interesting perspective.
2. This was the first time I have read book on the Kindle and I thought it was definitely a good way to read a book. I’m sure it won’t take the place of physical books for me because there is something about real paper and turning pages and seeing the cover and such, but I didn’t think it was hard to read, it didn’t hurt my eyes and it was easy to use. For people who don’t want to carry books around everywhere, it seems to be a pretty decent option. I might wait until the prices come down a bit before buying one, because as I said, I don’t want it to replace books, and if I don’t have to carry them then it isn’t a big deal.
Now back to Anna with maybe a little Dan Brown “Lost Symbol” to break up the heavy thinking.
I have been plugging through Anna Karenina as will in a long-distance book club with one of my friends. Let me tell you, if you have never read it: you better have some time on your hands and an interest in peasant rights in Russia back in the day. Me? I don’t so much care about peasant rights in Russia and kind of intensely skim those parts. The other story lines are decent, but whoa the book takes energy and thinking and sometimes that just isn’t my objective.
So. Concurrently with Anna I read the book Help on my roommate’s Kindle. 2 thoughts here:
1. The book Help was fantastic and I highly recommend it. It has developed and engaging characters and there is some real investment into what the book is about. Ok ok, here’s a quick summary. The book is written in Jackson, Mississippi (yes I just sang the little tune in my head) during the 1960s, so yes, race relations and civil rights are what the book centers on. It is mostly written from the point of view of the maids that work for the rich white people. An interesting perspective.
2. This was the first time I have read book on the Kindle and I thought it was definitely a good way to read a book. I’m sure it won’t take the place of physical books for me because there is something about real paper and turning pages and seeing the cover and such, but I didn’t think it was hard to read, it didn’t hurt my eyes and it was easy to use. For people who don’t want to carry books around everywhere, it seems to be a pretty decent option. I might wait until the prices come down a bit before buying one, because as I said, I don’t want it to replace books, and if I don’t have to carry them then it isn’t a big deal.
Now back to Anna with maybe a little Dan Brown “Lost Symbol” to break up the heavy thinking.
Grand Oral
Yesterday was my big presentation to determine if I get a diploma from this school or not. Sounds like a lot of pressure huh? Here’s how the thing is set up. There are 327 topics that are put into a box and I picked out three. Then I have to pick from one of the 3 to present. I picked “Internationalization of an enterprise is a necessity”. Then I had one hour to prepare my notes and a transparency, overhead projector style. I bring nothing with me, so everything has to come out of my well-stocked brain. I didn’t think it was too bad and felt pretty well prepared. Then the “jury” (two professors at the school) came and got me and I presented for 15 minutes (the allotted time, and I was right on the nose, they said if I didn’t finish in 15 they would stop me, so I kept it short and sweet). My presentation was followed by questions from the two teachers, which I handled pretty well except the one about Mintzberg and his theory. I couldn’t recall Mintzberg’s ideas for the life of me. But, as you all know, I can talk til the cows come home, so I was fine. Then it was over! I have no idea how it went really, but it is graded on an A-FX scale. So, A,B,C,D,E,F,FX. E and above is passing. All I need to do is pass. If I don’t, I have to come back again. Right. Not gonna happen.
Now, some clarification. I did do this entire thing in English, which for some reason the French students think makes it easier for us than them. I kindly remind them that they are French, thus presenting in French shouldn’t be more difficult than me speaking my native tongue. Their other argument is that the teachers will be more lenient on us because they aren’t going to force us to come back next year. What a cop out. It is just as difficult for us to present in a spontaneous manner as it is for them. And, I’d like to think that we “English” speakers aren't graded more leniently, but really do have the ability to present ourselves and our topics in a manner that gives us passing grades. If not, sorry Charlie, there isn’t a darn thing I can do about it.
On a whole though, I think the presentation went well and I have absolutely no qualms about not passing. Not because I’m American or an English speaker or because the professor who was in my jury had me for 3 other classes in which I participated actively, but because I’m an intelligent person who is able to think on my feet and present myself professionally. I’m just sayin.
Now, some clarification. I did do this entire thing in English, which for some reason the French students think makes it easier for us than them. I kindly remind them that they are French, thus presenting in French shouldn’t be more difficult than me speaking my native tongue. Their other argument is that the teachers will be more lenient on us because they aren’t going to force us to come back next year. What a cop out. It is just as difficult for us to present in a spontaneous manner as it is for them. And, I’d like to think that we “English” speakers aren't graded more leniently, but really do have the ability to present ourselves and our topics in a manner that gives us passing grades. If not, sorry Charlie, there isn’t a darn thing I can do about it.
On a whole though, I think the presentation went well and I have absolutely no qualms about not passing. Not because I’m American or an English speaker or because the professor who was in my jury had me for 3 other classes in which I participated actively, but because I’m an intelligent person who is able to think on my feet and present myself professionally. I’m just sayin.
Beaune
We finally arrived in Beaune and checked into our bed and breakfast. We made the owner snippy right from the beginning because we had to add another person to my parents
’ room. She was truly a French lady. I wasn’t too keen on her. We walked into town to find a place to eat dinner and ended up at a cute Brasserie on the top floor with no one else. It was like having our own dining room! The whole reason we came into the place was that a lady on the terrace was eating Beef Bourgignon that looked absolutely amazing. So, all 5 of us got it!
The activities of the next day consisted of visiting a old hospital that had been created for the poor, but ended up being used by everyone in the area, including the noblemen. It was pretty crazy to see a place like it. I mean sure, we visit castles and churches and such, but it was cool that someone thought to give a glimpse into what it was like to be in a hospital back in the day and how thes
e people were taken care of. We took a little train ride through the town and had some audio problems so it wasn’t as great as anticipated. Next up was the museum of Wine that wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped. No free wine tastings or anything. Dublin and Jameson and Guiness have me spoiled.
Since Beaune isn’t a big town, we decided to explore the area surrounding it a little more, so we jumped in the van and dad drove one of Rick Steves’ routes around the countryside. In the second small town we stopped to have a wine tasting because Mr. Steves’ said this region is home to some of the best white wines in the world. That’s sayin something. The place we stopped offered 5 whites and one red during the tasting. We sat outside on the patio and sipped on the different wines. One of the interesting points of this wine region is that some of the white wines have a distinct taste similar to whiskey. I’m not sure why, but it was interesting drinking wine that smelled and tasted somewh
at like whiskey. Our drive then continued (thankfully Dad was driving and in total, we maybe only had one glass and a half of wine) into the upper countryside of the Burgundy region. The views from the countryside were pretty spectacular.
After the drive we headed back into the town and stopped at our bed and breakfast to drink a newly purchased bottle of white wine before heading off to dinner at a seafood place. The dinner was good, but the best part of the meal was that when we were leaving, the owner of the restaurant was talking to me and asking what I do. I told him and he offered me a job in his restaurant for July and August if I want to come work during the tourist season. The way my internship search is going; this might be my only option. At least you would all have a cute little town to visit when you come and see me!
’ room. She was truly a French lady. I wasn’t too keen on her. We walked into town to find a place to eat dinner and ended up at a cute Brasserie on the top floor with no one else. It was like having our own dining room! The whole reason we came into the place was that a lady on the terrace was eating Beef Bourgignon that looked absolutely amazing. So, all 5 of us got it!The activities of the next day consisted of visiting a old hospital that had been created for the poor, but ended up being used by everyone in the area, including the noblemen. It was pretty crazy to see a place like it. I mean sure, we visit castles and churches and such, but it was cool that someone thought to give a glimpse into what it was like to be in a hospital back in the day and how thes
e people were taken care of. We took a little train ride through the town and had some audio problems so it wasn’t as great as anticipated. Next up was the museum of Wine that wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped. No free wine tastings or anything. Dublin and Jameson and Guiness have me spoiled.Since Beaune isn’t a big town, we decided to explore the area surrounding it a little more, so we jumped in the van and dad drove one of Rick Steves’ routes around the countryside. In the second small town we stopped to have a wine tasting because Mr. Steves’ said this region is home to some of the best white wines in the world. That’s sayin something. The place we stopped offered 5 whites and one red during the tasting. We sat outside on the patio and sipped on the different wines. One of the interesting points of this wine region is that some of the white wines have a distinct taste similar to whiskey. I’m not sure why, but it was interesting drinking wine that smelled and tasted somewh
at like whiskey. Our drive then continued (thankfully Dad was driving and in total, we maybe only had one glass and a half of wine) into the upper countryside of the Burgundy region. The views from the countryside were pretty spectacular.After the drive we headed back into the town and stopped at our bed and breakfast to drink a newly purchased bottle of white wine before heading off to dinner at a seafood place. The dinner was good, but the best part of the meal was that when we were leaving, the owner of the restaurant was talking to me and asking what I do. I told him and he offered me a job in his restaurant for July and August if I want to come work during the tourist season. The way my internship search is going; this might be my only option. At least you would all have a cute little town to visit when you come and see me!
Solutré Rock
On the way to Beaune we made another little detour around Macon. Not Georgia. Mom was scouring the tour books and maps for something to see on the way so we ended up at Solutré Rock. It is essentially a big rock cliff that overlooks the vineyards that surround it. Looking at the pictures before we got there it was reminiscent of Devil's Tower in Wyoming, but really it was nothing like it. Here. I'll let you compare the two sites. The one on the top
is Solutré Rock and the one on the bottom is Devil's Tower. 
So yes, pretty different. But the Solutré Rock was cool. And not just to look at. When I got out of the car to walk up to the site, it was cold! Yikes. I walked around for a few minutes and jumped back in the car. Somewhere we lost the nicer weather.
is Solutré Rock and the one on the bottom is Devil's Tower. 
So yes, pretty different. But the Solutré Rock was cool. And not just to look at. When I got out of the car to walk up to the site, it was cold! Yikes. I walked around for a few minutes and jumped back in the car. Somewhere we lost the nicer weather.
Chamonix
After leaving Annecy, we drove a bit to Chamonix. Mom wanted to see if we could see Mont Blanc. It was about an hour drive. When we pulled into the town, unfortunately Mother Nature wasn't cooperating with us, and there were thick clouds prohibiting us from seeing the mountain. Instead we walked around the town a bit (think Aspen) and had some hot chocolate in a little cafe that was packed with outdoorsy people itchin to do something dangerous. Apparently the weather hadn't been good for a while though and the were not good prospects for it getting better any time soon. While we were sitting and drinking coffee and hot chocolate (at 10:15am) there was a group
of guys behind us eating breakfast and drinking beers. I guess if Mother Nature ruins your fun, you make your own, even if it is 10:15 in the morning.
of guys behind us eating breakfast and drinking beers. I guess if Mother Nature ruins your fun, you make your own, even if it is 10:15 in the morning.We were clearly not dressed appropriately for this town either. Everyone was set head to toe in Columbia, North Face and other fancy schmancy outdoor gear. Me? Jeans and pumas. Right. One interesting sight in this little place was a super-old carousel. Pretty neat. All the random joys of little towns.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Annecy
In the past month I have been doing a much better job of actually seeing the country that I live in instead of jetting off to different ones. This started with the journey to Tours and Chenonceau and continued this past weekend with a trip to Annecy. Annecy is in the eastern part o
f France and very close to the Swiss border. I thought I was going to take trains there, but ended up taking one train and one bus. I like trains better than busses. On trains there is a lot more space to get up and move around, people are not squished together and in general, life is just better. Nevertheless, I arrived in Annecy shortly after my parents had arrived there by car. They picked me up at the train station and we checked into our hotel. The view from the window gave me a glimmer of what kind of town this was. We were directly on the little waterway, which was nice, except a bit noisy during the night. Kind of calming really. Sadly the weather wasn't ideal, but that didn't stop us. We walked around town for a bit and then hiked up to what looked like a chateau on the hill. Quite a steep climb, but when we got there we found out the place closed at 5. It was 5:07. Oh well. We walked back down the hill and waded our way through the masses of people back to our hotel to have a rest befo
re dinner. Then that night I took my parents and friends to a place for fondue. Since we were so close to the Swiss border, it was easy to find. When I have had fondue before though, it came with hams and potatoes and bread. This one was just cheese fondue with bread. I told them to act like they were eating grilled cheese for dinner. Everyone came away satisfied. Some ice cream wrapped up our first day in Annecy.
f France and very close to the Swiss border. I thought I was going to take trains there, but ended up taking one train and one bus. I like trains better than busses. On trains there is a lot more space to get up and move around, people are not squished together and in general, life is just better. Nevertheless, I arrived in Annecy shortly after my parents had arrived there by car. They picked me up at the train station and we checked into our hotel. The view from the window gave me a glimmer of what kind of town this was. We were directly on the little waterway, which was nice, except a bit noisy during the night. Kind of calming really. Sadly the weather wasn't ideal, but that didn't stop us. We walked around town for a bit and then hiked up to what looked like a chateau on the hill. Quite a steep climb, but when we got there we found out the place closed at 5. It was 5:07. Oh well. We walked back down the hill and waded our way through the masses of people back to our hotel to have a rest befo
re dinner. Then that night I took my parents and friends to a place for fondue. Since we were so close to the Swiss border, it was easy to find. When I have had fondue before though, it came with hams and potatoes and bread. This one was just cheese fondue with bread. I told them to act like they were eating grilled cheese for dinner. Everyone came away satisfied. Some ice cream wrapped up our first day in Annecy.Our second day consisted of a ride on Lake Annecy. It was a little chilly, but the sun did shine on us a bit and we enjoyed our two-hour tour of the lake and the little towns that surround it. We had a picnic in the park which consisted of all the fares we bought at the market that morning. Cheese, bread, strawberries, apples, sausage, wine and smoked salm
on. A meal fit for kings. There weren't any picnic benches in the park, which seems like it would be a good investment because there were many groups of people taking up park benches for their lunch spreads. We took another hike up the huge hill after lunch to view the church that was overlooking the city. Our stay in Annecy ended with a dinner at the hotel where we were staying. We all ended up having the special of the day. It might have been one of the best meals I have had in France and the waiter was about as perfect as possible. He's been to school or something. All in all, a great trip to a pretty little town in eastern France.
on. A meal fit for kings. There weren't any picnic benches in the park, which seems like it would be a good investment because there were many groups of people taking up park benches for their lunch spreads. We took another hike up the huge hill after lunch to view the church that was overlooking the city. Our stay in Annecy ended with a dinner at the hotel where we were staying. We all ended up having the special of the day. It might have been one of the best meals I have had in France and the waiter was about as perfect as possible. He's been to school or something. All in all, a great trip to a pretty little town in eastern France. 
A Souvenir
One of the first places where I went out to dinner in Clermont is called Pescajoux and it is now, undeniably, my favorite restaurant here. It is a creperie that serves wonderful food, in a great ambiance and the people that own the place are peaches. I probably eat there twice a month. Another great feature about the restaurant is that there is local art on the walls. Well the first time I ate there, the artwork was these cool paintings that were painted on wood slabs. There was one in particular that I really liked, and the price wasn't that bad. I mulled it over for 3 months and finally decided to pull the trigger. Here's the painting I bought. 
Best part about the whole thing is that I delivered the painting to my parents and they are going to take it home for me so I don't have to ship it or carry it around with me for the rest of the year. YES! I'll be waiting for me at home when I get there. Now, just need to find a place to put it...
Best part about the whole thing is that I delivered the painting to my parents and they are going to take it home for me so I don't have to ship it or carry it around with me for the rest of the year. YES! I'll be waiting for me at home when I get there. Now, just need to find a place to put it...
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Mother's Day!
I was lucky enough to have my mom here for mother's day. I was quite excited when I found out that this was going to be the case. My roommates and I decided to have a brunch for the mom's that were traveling with my parents as well. So Sunday morning we went to mass at the Cathedral and were surprisingly met by a bunch of women jumping around in Place de Victoire. I forgot that there are always big races on Mother's Day to support breast cancer. The interesting thing is that, according to a completely unscientific survey, France is the only country not to celebrate Mother's Day on the same day as the rest of the world. I talked to international students later in the evening and everyone had called home and spoken with their mom's because everyone else was celebrating the day. Not the French, they actually have Mother's Day later in May.
Anyhoo, after church we came back to our apartment and had scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, pastries and fruit salad. It was a scrumptious brunch. When we were finished I took my parents over to check internet and our landlords decided another reception was necessary with champagne and other little goodies. So we sat around talking with them and drinking champagne with the entire group. I thought it was interesting that upon meeting the 6 Americans who had traveled to Clermont for the day, one of the first things my landlord did was to say "Thank you" to the Americans for helping out the French in the war. I think it caught everyone a little off-guard, but my parents and their friends accepted the thank you and we moved on to other, more broken conversations mixed between English and French with ample translating going on in between.
Sadly my parents and their friends had to leave in the early afternoon to continue their travels, but my roommates and I went to the Mexicans' place that night for the last international students' dinner. We had yummy pulled pork in sauce made by one of the Mexicans and tried to avoid having to go outside into the torrential downpours. A great Sunday and a great Mother's Day.
Anyhoo, after church we came back to our apartment and had scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, pastries and fruit salad. It was a scrumptious brunch. When we were finished I took my parents over to check internet and our landlords decided another reception was necessary with champagne and other little goodies. So we sat around talking with them and drinking champagne with the entire group. I thought it was interesting that upon meeting the 6 Americans who had traveled to Clermont for the day, one of the first things my landlord did was to say "Thank you" to the Americans for helping out the French in the war. I think it caught everyone a little off-guard, but my parents and their friends accepted the thank you and we moved on to other, more broken conversations mixed between English and French with ample translating going on in between.
Sadly my parents and their friends had to leave in the early afternoon to continue their travels, but my roommates and I went to the Mexicans' place that night for the last international students' dinner. We had yummy pulled pork in sauce made by one of the Mexicans and tried to avoid having to go outside into the torrential downpours. A great Sunday and a great Mother's Day.
Chenonceau
Friday 
morning we ventured to the Chateau of Chenonceau. To get to the castle it is necessary to walk along a beautiful path with trees on each side of it. We got there right around 10 so we were on the leading edge of people entering the castle. It looked like it might rain, so we decided to look at the gardens first. This castle has an interesting history as it is the place where Henry II let his mistress live for many years. Diane de Poitiers was the ruler of the house until Henry II died and the ownership went back to Henry II's wife Cathe
rine de Medici. Ah, the intertwined lives that were lived back in the day. Both women had their own gardens at the house, or at least there were two gardens named after the women. The castle also has a farm and a vegetable garden along with extensive flower gardens. One of the best parts about this castle is that in each room there were fresh flower displays. They flowers smelled good and made the rooms brighter. Another tid-bit about the castle is that during WWII each bank of the river that the castle spans was on a different side of the German occupation. O
ne bank was free and the other occupied by the Germans, so they used the bridge in the castle to transport people into freedom.
The castle only took a few hours to go through, and we got to see the kitchens of the castle which were huge and consisted of many rooms such as the butcher area, the dining quarters for the servants, and then the areas where the boats delivered supplies under the castle. I absolutely loved Chenonceau and definitely think you should visit it if you travel to France. It is in the Loire Valley which is full of castles. I am going to try and return to the Loire Valley to see the many other castles that the region of the country has to offer. Word on the street is that the other castles are amazing as well.
morning we ventured to the Chateau of Chenonceau. To get to the castle it is necessary to walk along a beautiful path with trees on each side of it. We got there right around 10 so we were on the leading edge of people entering the castle. It looked like it might rain, so we decided to look at the gardens first. This castle has an interesting history as it is the place where Henry II let his mistress live for many years. Diane de Poitiers was the ruler of the house until Henry II died and the ownership went back to Henry II's wife Cathe
rine de Medici. Ah, the intertwined lives that were lived back in the day. Both women had their own gardens at the house, or at least there were two gardens named after the women. The castle also has a farm and a vegetable garden along with extensive flower gardens. One of the best parts about this castle is that in each room there were fresh flower displays. They flowers smelled good and made the rooms brighter. Another tid-bit about the castle is that during WWII each bank of the river that the castle spans was on a different side of the German occupation. O
ne bank was free and the other occupied by the Germans, so they used the bridge in the castle to transport people into freedom.The castle only took a few hours to go through, and we got to see the kitchens of the castle which were huge and consisted of many rooms such as the butcher area, the dining quarters for the servants, and then the areas where the boats delivered supplies under the castle. I absolutely loved Chenonceau and definitely think you should visit it if you travel to France. It is in the Loire Valley which is full of castles. I am going to try and return to the Loire Valley to see the many other castles that the region of the country has to offer. Word on the street is that the other castles are amazing as well.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Villandry Gardens
After Tours we jumped in the van and headed to the Villandry Gardens. The last ticket was sold at 7pm, and we got there around 6:45. Whew. We paid and went into the gardens and, other than one other couple there, we were the only people in the place! It was an awesome garden. I didn't take any pictures with my own camera because it was almost sunset and my camera doesn't take low-light pictures as well as my parents'. There was a "sun" garden, which just meant that all the flowers were in warm colors, then next to it was the garden with all the flowers in cold colors. There was a maze, which really wasn't a maze because all the paths led to the middle and it was easy to find. There were veggies grown in the garden and all kinds of different bushes and trees. It was a great little stop on our way to Chenonceaux and a perfect night to see the gardens in full bloom.
Tours
After the spontaneous decision to stay on the train, my roommate and I ended up in Tours. With absolutely no idea what to do in the town, we headed first to the tourist office 
to pick up a map. On the way we saw one of our first desitnations, a huge Cathedral. We did walk through a little garden on the way to the Cathedral that had the biggest tree I have ever seen in my life. The limbs were so big that it had to be supported by posts so that they didn't break off. It was planted in like 1804 and there were cables connected to the top to make sure the branches didn't break. It was pretty amazing.
It was a fantastically beautiful day, so after picking up the map and seeing the Cathedral (which actually had its big doors open! those are the first big doors I have seen actually used) we wondered around for a bit. We followed the signs to the Chateau, which really ended up being just visible from the outside and we weren't able to go in. Instead we walked across the bridge over the river and seeing nothing exciting on the other side, came back to the original side we were on. It was lunchtime, and we were on a street with lots of restaurants. We found a fondue place, but when we went in they said that the fondue was finished for the day. Sad. Instead we went across the street and had a pizza. It was really good. We had some time to kill so we decided to walk to the pedestrian area that was indicated on the map. Little did we know that this pedestrian area held the heart of Tours and where we really should have gone to eat. We could have eaten in this 
square and enjoyed the lovely weather. The square was really cute and was encircled by restaurants. Instead we decided to have some gelato on the square before wandering around the town a bit more
. There was one place that was solely devoted to macaroons. It looked like a pretty posh place, but the lady serving was cute and the macaroons sure were colorful! We did find huge towers that used to be part of a Basilica. It was started in the 300s and had been destroyed, but towers still stood and we could see where they would have been connected.
It was a great afternoon and a good place to spend the afternoon.
to pick up a map. On the way we saw one of our first desitnations, a huge Cathedral. We did walk through a little garden on the way to the Cathedral that had the biggest tree I have ever seen in my life. The limbs were so big that it had to be supported by posts so that they didn't break off. It was planted in like 1804 and there were cables connected to the top to make sure the branches didn't break. It was pretty amazing.
square and enjoyed the lovely weather. The square was really cute and was encircled by restaurants. Instead we decided to have some gelato on the square before wandering around the town a bit more
. There was one place that was solely devoted to macaroons. It looked like a pretty posh place, but the lady serving was cute and the macaroons sure were colorful! We did find huge towers that used to be part of a Basilica. It was started in the 300s and had been destroyed, but towers still stood and we could see where they would have been connected.It was a great afternoon and a good place to spend the afternoon.
Monday, May 10, 2010
What train stop?
My roommate and I went to meet my parents for part of their journey through France. We knew they were going to Chenonceaux so we planned our train tickets to go there. But then I figured out at 2 am the night before we were going to leave that the place we were supposed to meet them, the Villandry Gardens, were outside of Tours instead of Chenonceaux. The tickets to Tours were 71 euro and the ticket to Chenonceaux was 41. Ugh. So we got tickets to Chenonceaux. But, at our first change of trains, we were getting on a train going to Tours. We made an executive decision to stay on the train and head to Tours instead of changing trains in Chenonceaux. Thankfully we sat right next to the ticket guy, so after he checked our first tickets he didn't bother to see if we were still supposed to be on the train later on down the tracks. We got to Tours 2 hours earlier than we would have gotten to Chenonceaux. Woo for making it cheaper and earlier than we thought! Sometimes it is just better to stay on the train.
Haircut
I have needed a haircut for quite some time now, but as I'm in France and don't know any good hairdressers, or the appropriate way to ask for a simple haircut, I had been putting it off. Finally I decided it was time to get an appointment. My roommate had her haircut and had quite an adventure and a few stray snips of the scissors, so I just decided my best bet was to go to a school where hairdressers train. I figured if they are going to screw it up, might as well do it for cheap. After going by the L'Oreal school twice I finally figured out that it is closed for good, so I went to a different school by my place. I went in and the guy at the desk was youngish and I asked him "Je voudrais prendre un rendez-vous pour un coup de cheveux." (I would like to take an appointment for a hair cut) The guy looked at me like I had purple hair (ok, not like that because people here really do have purple hair, but he looked at me like I was an alien) Then he freaked out and asked another guy in the salon if he spoke English. Ugh. How frustrating. What I said was in French and it wasn't difficult French he just got lost in the accent. So I tried again slower, and finally they figured out I just wanted an appointment. They had an opening at 3:30. After perusing the bookstore for a while, I went back.
The same guy that was at the desk was the one cutting my hair. He apparently didn't think I could understand his language because he physically directed me places, like taking my shoulders and leading me to the hair washing station. Then we went over to the chair for the cut and he asked me what I wanted. I held up the ends of my hair and just made a little cutting motion. I told him in French that I just wanted a little off the ends. He looked at me dumbfounded. He understood, but he was really disappointed I think. He wanted to do something more fun than a really small trim. So he made a little cut and showed me how much he cut off. Perfect. I was a sucker and did the blow dry and "brush" which cost me more, but my hair looked pretty good. All in all, good choice.
The same guy that was at the desk was the one cutting my hair. He apparently didn't think I could understand his language because he physically directed me places, like taking my shoulders and leading me to the hair washing station. Then we went over to the chair for the cut and he asked me what I wanted. I held up the ends of my hair and just made a little cutting motion. I told him in French that I just wanted a little off the ends. He looked at me dumbfounded. He understood, but he was really disappointed I think. He wanted to do something more fun than a really small trim. So he made a little cut and showed me how much he cut off. Perfect. I was a sucker and did the blow dry and "brush" which cost me more, but my hair looked pretty good. All in all, good choice.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Final Exam
Thursday morning we had our first final exam in France. Wednesday night was a bit of studying, but nothing like studying at home because none of us really knew what to expect. They gave us a case and another article, and resent us all the powerpoint presentations from the semester. I translated the case and read the article and made sure I knew what was going on with everything. I studied the different theories on the slides because I know how much the French like their theories. We got to have all of our notes for the test, so shortly after 10pm I decided I had done all I could do and got a good night's sleep.
Thursday morning I walked into the room where I was to take the test and found my name among the stickers. Thankfully I was on the top row by the window and not scrunched between people. Earlier in the week I had emailed the professors about writing my exam in English, but since no one replied, I made an executive decision to write my final in English. My French isn't good enough to allow me to write something that transfers my knowledge of the subject well enough. So I commenced with the test along with everyone else. It was the same question 4 times (ok not really, but that is what it felt like). The instructions said to write a maxiumum of 4 pages, so I planned out my time, and my thoughts and wrote exactly 4 pages. I finished 15 minutes early and everyone looked at me like I was crazy.
The strangest part of the whole thing was that after the test we all had to go to the auditorium for a de-briefing where they wanted to discuss everyone's answers to the test. We had all the 3rd year students in an auditorium and they were trying to get people to have a discussion. No one wanted to talk at first and then everyone did! It was crazy. It would have been great discussion to have during the semester in the smaller classes, but not so fun in a huge auditorium with teachers disagreeing with students and the like. I just wanted to be done. I kept thinking, they should have taught us this stuff earlier instead of trying to teach it to us after the test. Guess they wanted to have everything wrapped up all neat and tidy.
Thursday morning I walked into the room where I was to take the test and found my name among the stickers. Thankfully I was on the top row by the window and not scrunched between people. Earlier in the week I had emailed the professors about writing my exam in English, but since no one replied, I made an executive decision to write my final in English. My French isn't good enough to allow me to write something that transfers my knowledge of the subject well enough. So I commenced with the test along with everyone else. It was the same question 4 times (ok not really, but that is what it felt like). The instructions said to write a maxiumum of 4 pages, so I planned out my time, and my thoughts and wrote exactly 4 pages. I finished 15 minutes early and everyone looked at me like I was crazy.
The strangest part of the whole thing was that after the test we all had to go to the auditorium for a de-briefing where they wanted to discuss everyone's answers to the test. We had all the 3rd year students in an auditorium and they were trying to get people to have a discussion. No one wanted to talk at first and then everyone did! It was crazy. It would have been great discussion to have during the semester in the smaller classes, but not so fun in a huge auditorium with teachers disagreeing with students and the like. I just wanted to be done. I kept thinking, they should have taught us this stuff earlier instead of trying to teach it to us after the test. Guess they wanted to have everything wrapped up all neat and tidy.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Multi-color click pens
Wanna know what is popular here in France? Multi-colored click pens. You know what I’m talking about. Those pens that you have four or five colors in one pen and you push down on what color you want to use at a given time. I have seen teachers and students alike using the pens. They must only sell one kind of click pen here though because everyone is using the same one. It is big and blue.
Why do you suppose that these have come back? Or did they never leave?
Cinco de Mayo!
As true Americans, we got excited about Cinco de Mayo, but not as much as we would have liked due to a final on Thursday morning. We asked around to see if anyone was doing anything. We started with the Italians, logically because they are so close to Mexico… well ok really it was because they were sitting closest to us when we realized we were days away from the event. They looked at us like we were crazy and asked why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo and why anyone celebrates it. My response was I knew that Mexico won some battle against someone at some time in history. I know, I know, I’m full of details. This extremely sufficient knowledge needed to be augmented a little, so we went to the trustiest source we had at the moment. Wikipedia. Whew. Our reliable source told us it was indeed a Mexican victory in a battle over….FRANCE! Didn’t see that one coming. So we decided we better shut up about this Cinco celebrating a little bit. But, still wanting to be patriotic for the Mexicans, we asked them what they were doing. One Mexican kindly told us that they don’t celebrate because while Mexico did indeed win the battle, they lost the war. Hmmm…not so much worth celebrating. So, us Americans celebrated by ourselves by making chicken fajitas, guacamole with unripe avocados, and one margarita as to not supplant the studying necessary for taking a final the following morning. I hope you all enjoyed your Cinco a little more. Someone drink a Corona for me.
Trainwreck of a day...
Yesterday morning we woke up to rain and cold again. I think Mother Nature was just teasing us with the 70s and sun last week. Umbrellas in hand we made it to our strategy class which ended up being quite eventful! During a presentation, the girl that was presenting flat passed out in the middle of her part. This of course caused a petite pause in the presentation while everyone scrambled to see if she was ok. Then at a few minutes before noon, while another of the presenters was concluding the presentation, a woman from the school opened the door and interrupted the girl in the middle of the presentation to say that they needed the room for a company visit. The teacher explained that we needed 2 minutes to conclude the presentation and the woman at the door was like “Oh, ok that’s fine. No problem.” Now tell me, if it is no problem to wait a few minutes, then why did she have to barge into the class room and interrupt the presentation? She knows as well as we all did that we’d be done as shortly after noon as possible, because nothing stands in the way of the French and their lunch time. Not necessarily eating lunch, just the time allotted for the activity. Rude. After more walking in the rain I came home to book a car for going to some chateaux this weekend to find out that in the two hours between me being in class and the afternoon, the entire fleet of cars that Avis had was now completely sold out. Shopping for stuff for guacamole at the grocery store, not only were the avocados horrible, but they had no green onions! I can’t make this day up. I think it has been raining since I arrived back from Paris. Some sunshine would sure help.
Trainwreck of a day...
Yesterday morning we woke up to rain and cold again. I think Mother Nature was just teasing us with the 70s and sun last week. Umbrellas in hand we made it to our strategy class which ended up being quite eventful! During a presentation, the girl that was presenting flat passed out in the middle of her part. This of course caused a petite pause in the presentation while everyone scrambled to see if she was ok. Then at a few minutes before noon, while another of the presenters was concluding the presentation, a woman from the school opened the door and interrupted the girl in the middle of the presentation to say that they needed the room for a company visit. The teacher explained that we needed 2 minutes to conclude the presentation and the woman at the door was like “Oh, ok that’s fine. No problem.” Now tell me, if it is no problem to wait a few minutes, then why did she have to barge into the class room and interrupt the presentation? She knows as well as we all did that we’d be done as shortly after noon as possible, because nothing stands in the way of the French and their lunch time. Not necessarily eating lunch, just the time allotted for the activity. Rude. After more walking in the rain I came home to book a car for going to some chateaux this weekend to find out that in the two hours between me being in class and the afternoon, the entire fleet of cars that Avis had was now completely sold out. Shopping for stuff for guacamole at the grocery store, not only were the avocados horrible, but they had no green onions! I can’t make this day up. I think it has been raining since I arrived back from Paris. Some sunshine would sure help.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Cell phones in class
In class tonight there was a student sitting next to me that answered his cell phone 3 times in class to tell the callers that he was in class and would have to call them back. I know you are wondering how no one else was distracted by this and here's why: the French talk all the time in class anyway. So there are people talking "quitely" all over the place, which generally leads to people not really paying attention and people needing to answer their phones being able to without being noticed. Nice huh? Glad we're learning tons.
J'ai un question...
This morning we had a little conference session where we watched two short documentaries and then had a question and answer session. Then this afternoon we had a discussion section for group projects we all did. In these sessions I reaffirmed an observation that I made early on here in France. The French are simply not able to ask questions concisely. Literally it takes about 3 minutes of talking before the actual question can be posed. The person asking a question first has to pose their thoughts on the topic, then roundaboutly asks the question. If the person who is supposed to be answering the question takes a minute or two to think about the response, then the question-asker further qualifies why the question was asked. This is sometimes the same for teachers, as when they pose questions they also give tons of background for the question being posed. It will be strange to get back to the states where people ask the question directly without trying to lead the answerer. Sometimes when I ask questions and I pose the question concisely, the person I'm asking looks at me expectantly as if there should be more to what I'm saying. Nope, there's not. Simple and concise, that's the American way.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Ah the Metric System
While we were in Paris, we stumbled upon an outdoor market where everything vegetable, fruit, cheese, bread and meat was being sold. There were also flowers and honey and jewelry and the like. That day we decided to pick things up to have a picnic wherever our little hearts desired so my dad told me to order a kilo of salami from the butcher. I thought a kilo sounded like a bit much, but I don’t really know how to convert in this stupid system, and I usually just buy things at the store that are already packaged so that I don’t have to order by weight. I questioned my dad and he said, yes a kilo would be good. Ok, whatever you say. I ask the butcher for a kilo of salami. He says to me, “You want a whole kilo?” I said yes. His questioning me again should have been my clue that I didn’t, in fact, want a whole kilo. Thankfully my dad was watching him cut the slices and told me to have him stop at a certain point. Turns out we had him stop at .3 of a kilo, which was perfect. Only then did it register that I weigh 62 kilos, so getting 1/62 of my body weight in salami would have been a lot, even for 7 people. At this point my dad reviewed his conversions and came to the conclusion that 1 kilo was in fact 2 pounds, instead of the ½ pound as he had originally thought. We ate all the salami, but barely. Good thing my dad was paying attention.
what I'm not good at...
Ok, ok I’ll admit it. I can’t walk slowly. It drives me 100% bonkers. I consciously have to think hard to walk slowly and when I do I feel like I am crawling. It has been brought to my attention multiple times that I walk fast. I don’t know where it comes from or why I do it, but I don’t have long legs people, so, me walking fast means most of you must be walking slow. I read something once that is a personality trait, and sometimes maybe it is an American culture thing, but I’m not a moseyer or a wanderer. Walking slowly takes significant patience for me, and while I don’t always lack patience, I do lack it in large groups of people especially when walking from one place to another. So next time you are going to travel with me be sufficiently prepared to walk fast or I’ll be drinking a glass of wine at our destination waiting for you to get there.
Ferme
It has been reaffirmed. The French love their off-time. My parents and I were in Paris for the weekend and had to do some delicate planning because May 1 is a major major holiday in France. It is Labor Day, which essentially means all tourist attractions in Paris are closed. Sure there are some open, like the churches which don’t really ever close, and then the things that are outside and just to see anyway (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe). Sadly this May 1 fell on a Saturday. It would have been much more convenient for them to celebrate Labor day on Monday, as many of the places are closed anyway. Many of the Paris museums are closed on Monday and the first Sunday of the month many of the museums are free. What did this mean? Tons of people were unable to see many tourist attractions on Saturday or Monday, so that left Sunday as the major day. There is just no ability to make it to all the places in one day. Not only due to them not being close, but waiting in line takes a significant amount of time, so after waiting in line for the Louvre and spending 2 hours there, you’d have to wait in line at the Orsay for another 2 hours and then try to see it. There is your day for you. Then on Monday we went to see the Invalides which is where Napoleon is buried. When we got there the sign on the door said closed first Monday of the Month. WHY?!?! I get that workers need a day off, but why the first Monday of the month and why isn’t this posted in the guide books. Thankfully Paris is a huge city with many things to do, so we occupied our time well, just a little more particularly planned than expected.
Paris Trip #2
This is my second time spending significant days in Paris and I have decided there are two places in the city that I really really enjoy and that you should make sure to visit if you ever get to Paris. The first one is the Rodin museum. I like it because it is manageable in 2 hours and you have seen everything. It isn’t massive, but it is interesting if you like sculpture and when the gardens are in bloom it is beautiful. There is a nice view of the Invalides (which is Napoleon’s tomb) and when the roses bloom it is going to be even more spectacular.
The other place is the Orangerie. I visited there for the first time on a random fluke and I loved it. Once again, it is completely doable in two hours and it didn’t leave me exhausted like so many museums do. It has an amazing display of Monet’s work, and some impressive paintings from well-known painters (Picasso, Renoir) on the bottom floor. If you like modern art, it is a must-see.
The other place is the Orangerie. I visited there for the first time on a random fluke and I loved it. Once again, it is completely doable in two hours and it didn’t leave me exhausted like so many museums do. It has an amazing display of Monet’s work, and some impressive paintings from well-known painters (Picasso, Renoir) on the bottom floor. If you like modern art, it is a must-see.
French in Paris?
I’d love for someone to tell me the number of Americans in Paris on a given day. The number has to be huge and to compensate, when one visits Paris it really isn’t even necessary to know how to speak French, and if you do, might as well not try to use it because most people will not speak it back! I get it, I’m American and my French isn’t great, but I know enough to ask you questions in it, so it’d be great if you answered me in it! If I can’t understand what you are saying, don’t you worry your French self, I’ll ask for clarification. The lady at the Hilton that checked me in was the only one I encountered that continued to speak French to me after I spoke it to her. I think hotels should suggest that if people address their staff in French, the staff should try to reply in simple French. Some people spend a significant amount of time trying to learn the language and hear constantly that the best way to learn it is to practice it, but can’t because as soon as service people learn that a person is native non-French speaking they switch to English. I’m sure many Americans that can’t speak a lick of French appreciate this, but for those of us that really would like to try and converse in a language we spent hours trying to learn, humor us. Merci beaucoup.
Its good to be King...or Queen
Versailles was pretty amazing. I was quite taken aback by the fact that the front of the castle is pretty close to the main street. There is a stone entry way and parking lot, but it isn’t set back by a huge expanse or anything. Having checked my luggage I headed into the chateau with 5000 of my closest teenage friends. Damn the French weekday field-trips. There were people everywhere 
and while the décor and such was impressive, I was strolling quickly through the majority of it because I was so annoyed by the people. When I got outside though it was another story. The gardens were absolutely amazing. I think I was expecting real flower gardens or something, but really it was a lot of trees and shrubs that went on forever. The place was massive. I had changed to flip flops because it was quite warm and shouldn’t have because I walked probably 6 miles getting around the whole place. I saw Marie Antionette’s “estate” and it was pretty cool. I thought it was interesting that she said she got tired of lines and symmetry in the gardens so she had an English garden planted that was just a free for all and not really landscaped at all. She also had herself a hamlet built, which were buildings that resembled the ones in th
e town where she was born. I thought it was pretty neat. She also had her own livestock brought onto her estate. The audio guide made a good point, here was the queen of France who could have anything she wanted and she wanted to have things which the peasants had. I have pretty much decided after my Versailles visit and the visit to the Louvre where French kings once lived, that being King would be pretty fantastic living-quarters wise. I’m not sure getting my head chopped off would be all that nice.
and while the décor and such was impressive, I was strolling quickly through the majority of it because I was so annoyed by the people. When I got outside though it was another story. The gardens were absolutely amazing. I think I was expecting real flower gardens or something, but really it was a lot of trees and shrubs that went on forever. The place was massive. I had changed to flip flops because it was quite warm and shouldn’t have because I walked probably 6 miles getting around the whole place. I saw Marie Antionette’s “estate” and it was pretty cool. I thought it was interesting that she said she got tired of lines and symmetry in the gardens so she had an English garden planted that was just a free for all and not really landscaped at all. She also had herself a hamlet built, which were buildings that resembled the ones in th
e town where she was born. I thought it was pretty neat. She also had her own livestock brought onto her estate. The audio guide made a good point, here was the queen of France who could have anything she wanted and she wanted to have things which the peasants had. I have pretty much decided after my Versailles visit and the visit to the Louvre where French kings once lived, that being King would be pretty fantastic living-quarters wise. I’m not sure getting my head chopped off would be all that nice.
This wasn't planned...
My trip to Paris to see my parents started off a little differently than planned. I had bought a ticket for a 6am train to Paris because I wanted to go see Versailles and I didn’t want to get there in the middle of the day, so instead of going to this huge party on Wednesday night, after we had friends over for dinner (hamburgers, potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans and a delicious strawberry shortcake) I headed to bed. Everyone else went to this party that required people to take a bus and was apparently open bar. I woke up a little before I had planned, so I showered and went to check internet before leaving my apartment. When I came back from checking internet, one of my roommates and one of our friends had just returned from the party. Both had partaken in a few beverages. Our friend asks me what I am doing and I reply “Going to Paris.” He declares me “crazy” for going to Paris at this time. (I think he had no idea what time it was).As I was preparing to leave for the train station, our friend decided he wanted to walk with me. The whole time I am thinking he is just going to walk home and go to sleep. Well as we pass his place, I ask him if he wants me to talk him home. He says,” no, that’s ok, I’ll walk you to the train station.” I reply that it really isn’t necessary and that he should just walk on home and go to bed. He insists that he wants to come wait for the train for me and that I am still crazy for going to Paris right now. Having argued with drunk people many times in my life, I realize that it does little good, so I say fine. He comes with me and my train platform posts, so I say good bye and head to my train. As I am walking through the train to find my seat, I see him on the phone in the station. I call him and ask him what he is doing. At this point he tells me to hold on because he is buying a ticket to Paris. WHAT?!?! I stow my stuff and jump off the train as I have 15 min til it leaves. By the time I get into the train station the agent is just handing him the ticket and trying not to smile. I try to reason with our friend, but at this point, he’s bought the ticket. We get to the train and I realize he hasn’t punched his ticket. I make him go back and do it and he comes to find me in the train again. The train ride is quite uneventful, but I don’t think it hit him until he got off the Train in Paris at 9am that he just bought a ticket to Paris. And realized that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, had no changes of clothes or toothbrush and no idea what he was going to do in Paris on a Thursday morning. Thankfully he has good friends who gave him a place to stay for the day and I headed to Versailles. Ah the random things alcohol makes us do…
Easter Bunny
This year the Easter Bunny took a little bit to find me. I know he knew where I was living and I know he meant to get it to me on Easter, but he got lost somewhere with the actual Easter Sunday and the aforementioned volcano. Mrs. Bunny had informed me that there was a package coming that had been sent on March 29. Last time I was sent a package it got here in 10 days. This time, not so much. I checked before I went to Ireland and didn’t have a package slip, so I was sure I’d have one when I got back. I didn’t. I went to the post office the day after I returned from Dublin and asked the lady if it was possible to see if a package came for me by looking up my address. She said, no, that I’d have to have a tracking number. I didn’t have one. I told her it had been 21 days since the package was sent and she told me sometimes it takes that long. Then she asked me if I had been listening to the radio and had I heard that there w
as a big volcano that was cancelling flights and such. If she only knew….I tried to remember that she hadn’t been traveling with me for the 45 hours in the previous few days and ensured her that yes, I had heard something about a volcano (I wanted to add that I didn’t live under a rock, but I didn’t know how to say that in French). At that point I thought the package might be lost in the post system between the Easter Bunny and me. Then, while out one night my roommate told me that a package slip had arrived for me that day! Woohoo! The Easter Bunny made it and boy was my Easter Basket great. Skittles, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, Lip Smackers, Bubbles with a cool bubble whistle and all in a real basket! I’m glad I’ve been good this year.
as a big volcano that was cancelling flights and such. If she only knew….I tried to remember that she hadn’t been traveling with me for the 45 hours in the previous few days and ensured her that yes, I had heard something about a volcano (I wanted to add that I didn’t live under a rock, but I didn’t know how to say that in French). At that point I thought the package might be lost in the post system between the Easter Bunny and me. Then, while out one night my roommate told me that a package slip had arrived for me that day! Woohoo! The Easter Bunny made it and boy was my Easter Basket great. Skittles, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, Lip Smackers, Bubbles with a cool bubble whistle and all in a real basket! I’m glad I’ve been good this year.
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