10 signs you're heading back to America

My hometown. Franchement, I got teary eyed.

1. Everyone's speaking English. Loudly.
2. Too much ice in the water glass. 
3. Blue jeans and tennis shoes.
4. Beach boys radio station on the plane.
5. Smiling! Oh, I really missed smiling at strangers.
6. You have to take your shoes off to go through airport security (go, DHS!)
7. Nutrition facts no longer contain calories (vs. kilocalories) or irrational serving sizes. 
8. You're flight attendant's name is Cathy and she's maybe the nicest person you've ever met (hello, customer service!). 
9. You can see baseball fields from the plane window. 
10. Economic propaganda commercials by CNBC: "capitalize on it"

RDU -- 22 hours without sleep!

What I learned from my time abroad

1. Picnics are the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
2. Humiliation is a good teaching tool: the times that my cheeks went red are the mistakes that I won't repeat.
3. I like to run. 
4. A meal without cheese is like a pretty girl missing an eye. Un repas sans fromage est une belle à qui il manque un œil.
5.  Accents are endearing.  
6.  Always buy the one euro insurance. 
7. Every "weird" food is worth trying once. 
8. When you don't know how to say something "in so many words," you learn to just say what you mean.
9.  People are fascinating, and everyone has a story.
10. Not everything will go as planned, but everything will work itself out. Tout se rangera.
11. I've got the travel bug.
12. Life is a lot more enjoyable when you're not unnecessarily stressed. 
13. There is beauty in contrast. 
14. The French way of showering (only turning water on to rinse) saves a heck of a lot of water.
15. How to make crème brûlée. 
16. Don't let fearing get in the way of living. 
17. It is, in fact, possible for me to go without Mexican food for five months (but I'm not looking to run a second trial...).
18. I look far more German than French.
19. With but a step into a church, I can find community and family anywhere in the world.
20. I can't wait to get back to Europe.

Tout est bien qui finit bien

What I love about Montpellier 

1. The rocky mediterranean soil, the twisting branches of olive trees and grape vines, the clusters of poppies and rununculus and edelweiss and wild thyme.
2. The way the marble streets shimmer as they reflect the street lights.
3. The dinging of the tram, the melodic tune of SNCF announcements at the train station, and the clanging of church bells.
4. The feeling of the sun on my back during picnics at Peyrou, promenades through the esplanade, and bike rides to the beach.
5. That anything worth celebrating is accompanied by wine and a good meal.
6. Houses clothed in stucco and topped with red tiles.
7. The bewildered look I receive when I say my name for the first time. 
8. And the way French people just can't quite say my name correctly.
9. The wind rivaling that of my home, the windy city. 
10. The way speaking French makes you pucker your mouth like you're blowing a kiss with every word you say. 
11. The blue lights that illuminate the chateau d'eau and the aqueduct at night and heighten its sense of magic and history.
12. When people ask me for directions and I can actually direct them. In French. 
13.  Walking through la place de la comédie and down la rue de la loge and hearing every sort of jazz band and string quartet and acoustic guitarist. 
14. Standing at the chateau d'eau and looking at pic saint-loup and  la mer mediterranée
15. Kissing someone's cheeks (three times!) every time you say hello and goodbye. 
16. How no meal is complete without a big hunk of crusty bread.
17. Trying something new at the market every Saturday. 
18. The way people yell "courage" at you as you go for a run as if you're heading off to war. 
19. The obsession with MacDo (McDonalds) and sandwhiches américaines and kebabs
20. My God-given family in Montpellier. How I've loved them without hesitation and without abandon and how they've loved me. How they have lifted my spirits and warmed my heart. It's for them that I know I'll be coming back here.

 A très bientôt, Montpellier. Gros bisous.

Another 10 weird things I've seen in Montpellier

1. A man playing the didgeridoo in Place du Peyrou by the Chateau D'eau past midnight (the park was closed, and we saw him hop the fence...).
2. The gypsies who pretend to be deaf and not understand when you say "non" yet they immediately respond to you when you say "attend" ("wait") because they think you are going to give them money.
3. Occupy Montpellier. Fo real.
4. An older guy on a bike trying to have an extended conversation with me and hit on me while I was running. With head phones in. N'importe quoi...
5. A grumpy drunk American girl in the comédie SHOUTING franglais "I need to partir like right now." Classy.
6. Homeless men making GIGANTOR bubbles in the comédie.
7. Late night tram sighting: drunken teens belting la marseille (the national anthem of France) on the tram around midnight. In four part harmony.
8. The petit train (that gives guided tours around the city for tourists) squeezing down roads for which it is much too large.
9. French people saying "no merci" to the man handing out free Ben & Jerry's. You don't say no to free Ben & Jerry's. Ever.
10. A dog in Temple Bar. Seriously like the cutest little dog ever, but jazz night is no place for a little terrier.

15 Weird things I've seen in Montpellier

1. The Gipsy petting zoo (I'm sure this is some sort of scam...)
2. A woman on the bus mashing a stick around in her mouth (was later informed that this woman was probably from Uganda where they chew on a certain type of stick rather than brushing their teeth. Interesting!)
3. A mean speaking in tongues on the bus. Like, he was literally conversing with someone by making slurping noises. For half an hour.
4. Cat man. 
5. A group of French teenagers drunkenly singing I will always love you in Place du Peyrou. At 8 AM on a Saturday morning.
6. Someone walking a ferret. (And all the dogs going CRAZY)
7. A man drinking Heineken on the tram at 7:30 AM on a Tuesday. Get on his level.
8. My bus driver jump off the bus to grab a coffee and a croissant from a café when we were stuck in gridlock traffic.
9. Snow (which is just weird to see in Montpellier).
10. The international section of the grocery store filled with salsa and peanut butter.
11. Two people giving bisous with cigarettes in their mouth. C'est la classe.
12. A skate-boarding dog.
13. A guy on the tram who stood in front of me with his arms spread out like wings, made seagull noises for two minutes, and then thrust his hand at me expecting a coin.
14. A man smoking and jogging at the same time. Counterproductive.
15. Cat rock! My little name for the rocky area down by the river where I've made friends with lots of strays. Seriously, I've named them and everything.

Small wonders

1. The big burly African French man who pushes his twin daughters in a stroller every morning and evening all the while singing to them in French

2. The vendors at the market under the aqueduct who are willing to teach me about every French food under the sun and give me tastes of everything.

3. How it can rainy and cloudy in all of France except for the small strip in the South where Montpellier is (a little bit like this).

4. Beret-clad, French elderly couples holding hands.

5. That, with the important exception of milk, nearly everything tastes better in France (case in point: for the first time in my life, I like mushrooms).

6. When tram operators and bus drivers are truly kind and wait longer than they should so that someone can make the tram/bus.

7. The way the town smells like fresh bread and coffee in the morning as the cafés and boulangeries open their doors.

8. Jazz flute and upright bass duets on la Rue de la loge

9. Hearing the person who lives above me play the piano every day when they get home from work.

10. Realizing that there are some things that are impossible to translate.

My week in Provence

Okay, so basically I've been procrastinating with a blog post because I have no idea where to begin. Should I talk about fears? Funny stories? Life changing moments? My many firsts? A blow-by-blow account of the whole trip?

I've decided to share with you some of the biggest lessons I've pulled away from my first solo (as in without the company or planning of any "adults") journey in Europe (or anywhere for that matter).


1. I'm going to get the mushy gushy things out of the way and send a huge shout out to my travel buddies. I think we got each other through a lot of sticky situations, made each other laugh, and just soaked up everything good about France together.

Our first day in Avignon was miserably cold and windy, but that didn't stop us from profiting from the city! Two thumbs up for positivity. (Avignon, France)

Missing your train and having to pay out the ear for a slower, later train is pretty sucky. But here we are with smiles on our faces! (Marseille, France)

Lesson # 1: Things definitely don't go as planned, but you just have to rant about it, laugh about it, and push through.

2.  I feel like all of my senses came alive for the first time on this trip. My nose detected the scent of blackberry in red wine and the hints of jasmine from the perfume capital of the world (Grasse, France). My ears delighted the sound the Mediterranean waves make as they pull back against the rocky beach--like the crackling of fireworks or the popping of a campfire. My tongue swam around in all sorts of wine as I went on my first vineyard tour and lavished in the sweet and savory specialties that I explored. My skin rejoiced in the French sunlight, the smooth pebbles that cover the beach in Nice and Eze-sur-mer, and the salty feeling of sea water as it dries and mixes with your sweat as you hike back from the sea into the mountains. Sight is the only sense with which I can indulge you:

Une papaline (like "pape" the French word for Pope), the candy of Avignon. It is a ball of chocolate with Oregano liquor on the inside. (Avignon, France)

Enjoying a glass of rosé in the town where it was first made in France (Tavel, France)

Orange trees at the International Museum of Perfume (Grasse, France)

The beach on a peaceful, mid-morning walk (Nice, France)

Bouquets of Lavender, a flower associated with Provence, at the largest Fruit and Flower market in France (Nice, France)

Some incredibly fresh fish at the Fruit and Flower Market (Nice, France)

Lesson #2: Appreciate every taste and sense and smell. Think about all of the work and passion that is behind a bottle of wine or perfume, a piece of chocolate, a silken scarf. Appreciate the God-created world around you. 

3.  This trip also just reminded me how important it is to enjoy life. I have a tendency to get caught up in checklists and deadlines, but I am making so many efforts in France to savor the world around me (see lesson #2). One thing I'm realizing is that God doesn't just give us the bare minimum, he provides for us in abundance. I have an abundance of love, laughter, and joy in my life, and I praise God for it every day!

Dancing on le Pont d'Avignon (Avignon, France)

Goofing around at the TGV station (Avignon, France)

Candid shot of some French people shooting us with silly string as we were taking a picture (Carnaval @ Nice, France)

Lesson #3: Live your life. Love your life. 



PS) If you'd like a blow-by-blow account of my trip, try looking at the blogs of my other friends. I thought I would use this space to reflect on the bigger picture of my trip (because, of course, I took copious notes in my journal each day). Maggie and Michelle had pretty detailed accounts (note: Michelle's name has two links associated with it). We didn't do all of the same things, but still shared a lot of experiences!

PPS) Also, one of my friends wrote an article for her university's newspaper about carnaval!

Les hommes français

Another day without a specific fear about which to talk. I will give you a fun list at the end, though!

This morning when I woke up, j'avais mal à la gorge. Actually, j'ai fait une nuit blanche because of it. I'm hoping that it's just because of the dry and the cold (seriously, didn't I leave the American midwest?). Fortunately, I thought ahead and packed American medication with me so I didn't have to brave la pharmacie and try to figure out the difference between cold medicine and laxatives (this is the worst case scenario I could think of) because EVERYTHING is different. I did wake up early go to to le supermarché which is only open for about three hours in the morning on Sunday (because it's France, and only the Arab épiceries and a few select cafés are open on Sundays). I got some tea, grapefruit juice, tissue packets, and ricola cough drops which were interestingly enough located in the candy aisle. Fortunately for me, cough drops aren't considered to be a type of medicinal product and therefore ARE available for purchase in the super market.

Today will be a lazy homework/packing/recuperating day before my adventures! Tomorrow I leave for Avignon, Nice, and a couple of little villages in the South of France. I'm hoping to escape le froid (it's supposed to be 50 degrees in Nice, I can't wait!), tour a vineyard (I'll take lots of notes, Uncle Tom), visit the parfumeries, socialize in what I've gathered is one of the best hostels in all of France, and celebrate French carnaval! I'm sure I'll have a lot to recount when I get back, but until then:

The Types of Men I've Encountered in France

*Just as a little explanation, I feel like women keep to themselves far more than men do, so overall I've had more encounters with men*

1. The men who yell "courage!" at me when I run: Running is far scarcer in France than in the US, and the French people seem to be a little puzzled/impressed by people who run. I'm not complaining, though, because it makes me feel like I have my own personal cheer leaders...
2. The kindly old man: Whether it was a priest helping me to get involved with the church group or a patron at the library allowing me to use his card to make a copy of a magazine article, I have been the beneficiary of random acts of kidness.
3. The drunken baffoons: I can't say that I've had a ton of encounters with this back in the US, so I can't say if it's better or worse here, but I have felt somewhat uncomfortable walking home at night (early, like between 11:30 and 12:30). It's not just cat calls, it's getting up in my personal space and forcing me to walk through/around them. I've never felt unsafe because there are always a lot of other people around, but it is a little unnerving. 
4. Les Sans Domicile Fixes: They all seem to have dogs and hang out by the tram stations and the carousel in the center square. 
5. The super nice church-goers: Other than my three male professors, these are the only ones that I've had any real contact with. Everyone, male and female, that I've met there has proved to me that we're not so different after all :) 

Bonne semaine!

You've got "une amie" in me

Alright, I've been remiss. Tuesday and Wednesday were uneventful and then Thursday was jam packed:

• 3h00: Wake up in a groggy haze, feeling like death to watch the UNC-d00k game
• 4h30: Feeling good about our performance after halftime
• 5h15: Go to back to bed mildly depressed
• 8h30: Wake up and kick box
• 10h30: Leave the house to head over to Lycée Jules Guesde (that middle s is silent... weird) to volunteer
• 15h15: Class
• 18h30: Leave the house to go to La Source (my worship group)
• 23h30: Get home, collapse in bed

 Fear has not really been an issue in my life this week, so instead I'll give you five reasons why having a French friends is awesome.

1. An opportunity to parler en français!
2. If someone uses a word I don't understand, I can ask for an explanation
3. An opportunity to practice bises (I really hope I am getting less awkward at it...) 
4. They can introduce me to more French people and French things!
5. They really  make me want to get better at French so I can talk more with them!

Also, they are not just amazing because they are French, but because they are truly some of the nicest, warmest, friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever met. I have also realized that I enjoy their company so much because I'm just me. There are no pretenses. I don't know what's "cool" so I don't have to worry about acting that way. I've accepted my goofy American-ness (which is just how I am in general), so there's no pressure to "fit in." I hope I can bring this back with me.

Hodgepodge

Short post (because I said I would).

I haven't been particularly daring lately because I'm starting to get into a routine... I love my routine like my dog loves to bark (a lot). But here a few French gems:


1) A Canadian student moved in here on Sunday and has been way more stereotypically American than me. She requested bacon and eggs for breakfast, talks and laughs pretty really loudly, takes long showers, asked if she could keep alcohol in the refrigerator, and puts ketchup on EVERYTHING. Potatoes (not that weird), chicken cordon blue (getting weird), and fettucini alfredo (does not in any way need ketchup). To each her own, I guess. :)

2) The French should learn how to insulate their homes. I have two huge windows/balconies in my room and because there's no centralized heating, my room is always like an igloo. I've resorted to placing all of my clothes on the radiator (which never gets very warm) before I change into them to give me some added warmth. Right now I'm wearing three pairs of socks, two sweaters, leggings under my jeans, AND headphones as earmuffs and I can't stop shaking. It makes me miss the stifling hot hallways of Joyner hall.

3) I ran a new path by the river today! It was pretty awesome because there's this big grassy path along the river bank with a dirt trail. I need green spaces and this is definitely one of them. Exercise has earned an even dearer spot in my heart because it's the only time of day (other than when I'm snug under my covers or the moments of my shower when the water is on) when I actually feel warm.

4) I have been spending more time figuring out travel plans for our February break that I have spent studying/doing homework. This needs to stop now. Off to work on a paper!

Love from France,
Kathleen