Let's Catch Up Part 2

Now is where it really gets... interesting.

The day after our big karaoke farewell... I had one last little administrative immigration detail to take care of before I could live the country. A medical exam. Thursday, 6 other assistants and I took the train up to Orleans to visit the OFII - Office Francais de l'Immigration et l'Integration. In order to finalize and validate my visa, I need to get checked out by a French doctor. What this meant was take my top off to get a chest xray, tell them my height, weight, vaccinations and wait for them to put a little piece of paper in my visa called the titre de sejour. After about 2-3 hours we were finally finished and I was officially a resident! Yay!

That night Zuse and I took the train up to Paris because I was flying out the next day from Charles de Gaulle (or so I thought at the time). I was able to see some REAL Christmas markets finally on the Champs Elysees. I was dragging around my backpack at the time so it was hard to really get a good look at anything but I plan on going back when I fly back to Paris the 30th. All along the road, the chatelets contained items from all over parts of France... even things from the states too. I just love the excitement of the holidays, it makes you forget that its cold outside.

 I dont really even think these pictures do it justice. It was so pretty.

That evening, after falafel with Zuzu, I took the train up to the airport where I planned to spend my evening. It was not my first time sleeping in the airport alone but it is still never a fun task. For those of you unfamiliar with Charles de Gaulle airport, I can tell you that it is truly the worst airport I have ever experienced in my life. Absolutely awful. There are hardly any chairs to be found and even fewer plugs for computers and cell phones. After charging the computer for a little white in the only plug I could find in the airport, I found a heater and an empty quiet place to set up camp.  It's always funny to look around and see the other people there. Some people are there because flights were delayed or canceled or they are waiting for a plane to land, and others are there by choice like me, just trying to save the cost of a hotel room.

Now, I should explain how I was able to manage to come home. A friend of mine from work at the Learning Abroad Center has been working for Delta for the last year or so with her boyfriend. Part of the employee benefits is a certain number of "Buddy Passes" that allow friends and family to fly standby for the cost of taxes and fees. Jess and Tyler were willing to share one of those passes with me which was one of the best christmas gifts I could have asked for. However, one catch is that I need to fly standby meaning, any types of problems, overbooking, what not... I'm the first person to get screwed. So Friday, I wake up after sleeping surprisingly well on the floor in the airport and go check in. I wait in line, answer all the security questions only to get up to the desk and be told, "no, you can't fly today, come back monday." MONDAY. This was Friday morning. I knew that this would be a possibility but I never expected them to tell me Monday. I assumed, come back tomorrow would be the worst answer I would get. Exhausted and a little stunned, I pulled it together and took the train back down to Blois because the round trip ticket was going to be much cheaper than three nights in Paris and Blois is only two hours away.

Although the situation didn't completely work to my favor, I was lucky had the option to return home. As much as I miss the south, if I lived in Montpellier still, going home for the weekend just would not be an option. Plus, I still had friends in the city so instead of moping around, I went out with friends where I hit my all time late night record of 9am. Pretty impressive right? Of course that meant i was too tired to move on Saturday but I had nothing else to do so a day in bed watching Harry Met Sally, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Law and Order SVU was totally okay with me.

Then Sunday happened. Paris, London, and Amsterdam experienced a blizzard of about 2-3 inches and everything shut down. Flights were canceled. Airports closed. Disaster. That night I was to take the train back to CDG for another night of sleeping on the floor and I was convinced I was not going to get out. I called Jess, she told me to just go and stick it out in case they told me I couldn't fly out, also suggesting various other routes I could take to get me back into the states, whether it was Cincinnati, Philly or Pittsburgh. I arrived around 11:30 to the CDG train station and as I made my way into Terminal 2E, lines and crowds of people appeared in front of me. I thought oh shit. No way in hell will there be room on this flight for me. At this point, I had passed the point of frustration and reached the point where things were just really funny, took a seat, and waited to feel tired before I found a place on the ground. Remember how I brought up all the travelers you see sleeping in the airport? Well sometimes you make friends. He went by the name of Matthes, a German waiting for a flight to Miami so he could board the world touring cruise ship he worked for. One of my favorite things about meeting other travelers is that everyone has their own stories to tell. Whether its about their home, family or country traditions or places they've seen. Plus, when you make friends in an airport, you automatically have someone to help guard your things. I was especially lucky too, because unlike my first night sleeping in the airport, they handed out foam cushions to sleep on and blankets so Matthes and I set up camp and could actually sleep relatively comfortably given the conditions. The next morning, we were woken up by travelers lining up early to pass through security, clearly.. flights were back on. So we gathered up our things, said goodbye and crossed our fingers that we'd meet again on the other side of security.

Walking back to security, I was shaking, nervous that for the second time I wasn't going to get through. But I checked in smoothly, made it to the other side where I was quick to start a little happy dance as I promised my new German friend as I would do if I made it. When boarding rolled around, the anxiety started to kick in again. Not quite sure how this flying standby worked, I waited through the entire boarding process, first our business class and delta elite passengers can board, then rows 24-40, now general boarding.. then last call. I stood there, waiting for my name to be called, watching as other stranded passengers ran up to the counter, begging to have their ticket changed, with credit cards flying and laptops open, trying to make it to their final destinations in the states. After 10 minutes of Last call flashing on the screen, I felt the tears in my eyes as I began to think that I'm not going to make it through. Just then, KEAN, Maura is yelled. I rush to the counter, grab my ticket and rush through, inappropriately telling every single Delta employee just how much I love them. To my pleasant surprise after all the worrying, I was placed in the one of the best seats of the plane, BUSINESS CLASS. Never have I flown that before and Jess was right, once you do, you never want to go back to coach again. First thing I did was order myself a Miller Lite, an American specialty that I've been missing for the last three months.

Since my amazing arrival back in the states, I have been having a wonderful time, catching up with friends, family, and most importantly, hugging the crap out of my little niecey. Kind of crazy how big they get so quickly.

although you can't see it, her onesie underneath said "my aunt is my BFF" purchased by yours truly

Now I have the ever so unpleasant task of packing. Not looking forward to that.

Well for now, Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

See you in 2011.

Let's Catch Up Part 1

Joyeux Noël mes amis!

I have a new years resolution. It's not something unattainable like drink less wine or eat healthier because let's be honest, I live in a country where wine and baguettes are very important. No, this one is much simpler. And that's better keeping up with my blog. It really surprises me how many times I've heard since I've been home that people enjoy reading about my life via blogs. I think I often write in a way that's hard to follow since it's more or less my thoughts being spilled out but I'm happy to hear that it's enjoyed. Yes, I did make it back stateside, not without at least a little bit of trouble, but I'm here safe and sound and have been able to have some quality family and friends time which is all I could have asked for. Much has happened to me before then, so I'll reverse.

I last left you with stories of the glorious Christmas season beginning in my charming little town.  This meant a month long of vin chaud tasting and hustling and bustling Sundays. "Why can't all year be Christmas time?" I found myself asking.

Le Marché de Noel de Blois that included hardly anything Christmas-y

As we prepared to go our separate ways, we made sure that we would go out with a bang. A few more nights at my favorite local discotheque were a must. Neither time did I return to my house before 6:30 in the morning. Yes, I will admit it is a little crazy but at home now it makes 2:00 am bar close just seem completely ridiculous. I mean, the fun is JUST getting started!  Another wonder December treat was my friend from Minnesota, Christine Anderson! Christine had been working at an au pair in Norway and was traveling a bit before going back to the states so she came down to Blois the Sunday before leaving. We met on our floor in Centennial the first day of moving into the dorms where we quickly became friends. However, due to having different groups of friends at school, we didn't often see each other. So having Christine in my apartment in my little city for 4 days was a really great treat!

Christine and I kneeling in front of a Christmas tree, Peepers the Christmas squirrel really completed it.

And I don't think I could have asked for a better guest either. Christine quickly made friends with my friends in Blois, especially Zuzu and was able to explore and entertain herself when I was in class. She also came to a few of my classes and met some of my teachers and students, probably having the most insight to what my life really is like here.

Marché de Noel de Tours

After Monday and Tuesday, my christmas vacation had officially begun so Sharae, Emily, Zuzu, Christine and I took the train down to Tours for the day for some Christmas shopping. Tours is about 40 minutes away by train and significantly bigger than Blois having trams, a university, and lots and lots of shopping. This was not my first time in the city but was definitely my first time looking at it with a touristy eye. My other few visits were to Ikea for some apartment essentials and for a night out on the town but we were more focused on finding a place to dance then really enjoying the charm of the city.

I was thrilled to find their christmas market which was ENORMOUS compared to Blois. It spanned several city streets and I can only imagine how incredible it looked when it was lit up by the christmas lights.

Vieux Tours (old Tours)

We spent the day wandering the city, in and out of shops, and enjoying some delicious kebabs when our search for falafel failed.










That night marked the end of our fall karaoke season. As we had become such regulars (I had only missed on Wednesday since my move to Blois), we decided to mark our send off with a little gift. A christmas spectacle if you will. A gift from the foreigners to the French. After weeks of practice and a few spontaneous dance camps... We had learned the moves to a very well known French song called Alexandrie Alexandra by Claude François. How well known is this dance? Well, just the first few arm motions alone and everyone knew exactly what you were doing.

If you care to see exactly how ridiculous this dance was... I highly recommend watching it.

So this little surprise was so talked up that we even out some of our teachers as well as almost all our French friends to be there.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100388546766100&set=a.10100376746049830.3114755.13952802#!/video/video.php?v=538387355913&comments

No idea if this will be visible to you, but this is us. Harry took the role of Claude Francois and Lea, Lucy, Sharae, Zuzu and Emily and I were the backup dancers.

We had a blast.

Saint Nicolas: The most unusual Sunday of them all

Bonjour mes chers amis!

I'll try to be more regular on this blogging business especially because CHRISTMAS season is starting and apparently that's when things really start to pick up around here. This past week was the first SNOW of the season. Now as much as I despise winter, it was very pretty at some points. Coming from Minnesota where snow is a regular occurrence, I wasn't expecting an inch or two to be a big deal here. Well, for Blois, it might as well have been a BLIZZARD. Snow is not very common in this part of the country and they simply don't have the resources to deal with it. Instead of using shovels and salt, the French used brooms and sand to try to make the city more walkable. One to two inches meant frozen icy slush. Surprisingly I haven't fallen yet (knock on wood) but there were many times i was walking along, doing my thing and WHOA had to catch myself. Awful. Also, very few of us have waterproof or winter shoes so there have been a lot of wet, cold feet for the last week.

View from my classroom window

So what does one to two inches mean for the schools? It means buses don't run and many students (and teachers) therefore cannot or choose not to come to school. What does it mean for me who lives 15 minutes away by foot? Gotta be there for every class. However, the wishful thinker than I am still emailed my contact teacher just to ask.. sooooo what happens when it snows? Do I have to come?... which i of course received a "unfortunately you have to be here sorry!" response... but I had figured it was worth a try.


So 7:30 Monday morning, I drag myself out from under my warm covers, across treacherous sheets of ice and what happens for my 8 am class? dun dun dun. Nothing. By my next class at 11:00, seven of the 24 students showed and my following class at 1:00, only four of the 24 students came.  The only benefit to that was normally the classes that have the 24 students are my most difficult to control so we were able to talk in peace without constantly having to hush someone.
 The rest of the week managed to pick up a little bit. By Tuesday morning things were more or less back to normal. I had one class in its entirety which went well except for having to move a chatty cathy (or whatever the boy equivalent is) who responded with "J'ai pas un chien, Madame!" (I'm not a dog!)

The week continued like normal and Friday we had yet another orientation in Orleans. This time to catch up, how are things going, talk about all the administrative junk, and give each other some more ideas. Due to the snow, we were about 45 minutes late which I'm sure left a really great impression. Mais, c'est la France! Our original plan was to stay up in Orleans for the evening and go out with our friend Raul's friend from Germany however after the long day and dragging our feet through the snow, we decided to make our way back to Blois. Hoping for something to warm us up internally, we decided to try our hand at vin chaud or mulled wine. Couldn't have gone any better. For 6 of us, we made a recipe involving 4 bottles of wine, 30 cL of cognac, way too much sugar to even think about, 6 cinnamon sticks, 6 whole cloves, and orange zest. The result was absolutely fabulous. Anyone who is interested in drinking some back in the states with me, I am more willing to whip up a batch. Not wanting to disappoint Raul and friend, we decided to try our hand again at Blois' nightlife. Despite our initial disappointment and early evenings, it's really started to pick up. So we decided to check out this supposed "club" in the town called Z64. Wow. All I can say is I can't believe I hadn't been to it before. Each city we go, we keep searching for places to go dancing, Tours we found a late night bar, Lyon, fail, Bordeaux, fail, Paris, fail, and here I am, five minutes away from my house by foot and there is a place to dance, WITHOUT cover.  So Friday night we stayed there til about 4 in the morning but then Saturday night I closed the place down and didn't leave until 6:30 in the morning. I don't think I've ever stayed out anywhere that late, maybe 5, 5:30 at the latest. As I was walking home, they were setting up the street for Saint Nicolas and the giant market that was about to take place in the center of town.  What a night!

Now, Saint Nicolas is officially the 6th but this Sunday was the day it was celebrated. By about 2pm I finally left my house to check out all the festivities. The night before was the official start of Christmas lights in town, a very anti climatic moment where they just went on at 5:30. I guess Santa was there too but I arrived 5 minutes too late to see him. So normally, Sundays are the most boring day of the week. Everything is closed, no one leaves their house... you kind of want to kill yourself. This sunday was quite the opposite. LIFE. PEOPLE. OPEN STORES. THINGS TO DO! I was like wow the French do exist!

This is a view of the street that i live on.... the road curves so I live on the other side of the curve. But this is from the top of the steps of Denis Papin... captured by my cell phone.

Up a little farther from the center of town, the Place de la Republique was also set up with an ice rink, mini ice luge for kids and an art fair in the Halle aux Grains which is like an expo center. Its just so great to see life in the city!

Note the Disco ball in the middle

They definitely can do Christmas lights here

American WEEK

Here in Blois, France... we are not exposed to a lot of American culture. Therefore, as Thanksgiving approached, we decided that instead of simply eating one meal together to give thanks and embrace the (North) American culture, we needed to make it an entire week long event. So Monday before Thanksgiving marked the start of our glorious holiday.... which went as followed.

Monday: After a long day of school, we decided to participate in Lundi Fou (Crazy Monday) where we could purchase large Domino's pizzas for 8 euro a pie as long as we picked them up in person. Even though Domino's menu is completely different from our menu, we managed to pick out pizzas to our liking and we happily consumed it Chez Harry and Zuzu's (although neither are American). We also managed to sing almost every patriotic song we could think of... my favorite is God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood.

Tuesday: Due to the fact that most people do not have class on Wednesdays, we decided to make Tuesday a slightly crazier night by taking part in a Power Hour, which is a classic American drinking game. I do not wish to explain too much but simply, you drink a certain amount of beer each minute for an hour and the song changes to show the minute has changed.  By the end of the hour, we were feeling particularly patriotic (I was again wearing my statue of liberty halloween costume) and we tried to find karaoke where we were only going to sing Disney songs in English. Unfortunately, our favorite Tuesday night karaoke bar was closed so we did the second best thing which was go to the Hendrix (as in Jimmy) Cafe for a pint followed by kebabs. Mmmmm.

Wednesday: Our big plan on Wednesday was to see Harry Potter. Now before you try to say Harry Potter is British, the MOVIE is American made. But because this is France and Harry Potter is considered a "Children's book," it is virtually impossible to find HP in the Original Version... aka not dubbed in French. So that was a bust. But we did do karaoke which is more or less American.  (shhh i know the word is Japanese)

Thursday: Thanksgiving! The invitation was extended to all the assistants as well as a few other friends to come join us for their first (North) American Thanksgiving (Canada's was back in October and we are including our Canadian friend Claire in this too). We liked to think we sort of did a new thanksgiving, inviting new cultures in. Among us, there were Americans, a Canadian, French, Venezuelan, Uruguayan, Jordanian... I think thats it. Two birds, mashed potatoes, peas, green beans, sweet potato casserole, brussel sprouts, stuffed grape leaves, mac and cheese plus sweet potato pie, punpkin pie, apple tarte, chocolate cookies and bien sur... wine made this fantastic feast that fed almost 13. After several servings and many youtube videos, we all felt painfully stuffed and eventually rolled ourselves out. One thing we learned... thanksgiving is ALWAYS meant to be before 4. Eating at 9pm did not give us any time to digest therefore we went to bed way too full. You live and you learn.  

Our Feast!

Me posing with two of fabulous bird cookers

Friday: I think we dropped the ball...

Saturday: As far as our american plans went, we didnt have anything else arranged however we did successfully have a wonderful night out. One of our friends here owns a bar in town which was having a big 7th Anniversary Party that we actually attended the night before as well. Dancing, Wigs, Sparkles, Disco balls were just a few parts of the evening. It also gave us hope... hope that Blois has nightlife... and youth!

Myself, Lucy, Lea, Emily and Zuzu showing Blois our best dance moves at Singe Vert

Sunday: BAGELS! Our wonderful friends Lea and Lucy went through the effort to hunt down bagels and cream cheese and invited us all over for a feast Sunday morning. After 2 bagels a piece, we curled up on the couch where we watched Friends, Gilmore Girls, and Love Actually.

In all... couldnt have asked for a better American Week!