My plan was to spend a couple of nights with my friend Mandira who was renting out an apartment in Paris over the holiday. As I was packing to head into town with her, I decided to print off my flight information, and it was truly a miracle that I decided to do that. I had been thinking for months that my flight home was on Christmas day, and I apparently never even checked to make sure that was true. As I was printing off my information, I was looking at my time and date of departure, and lo and behold, it was actually on Christmas Eve! Fortunately, I was already packed since I did not plan to return to campus after going to Paris, but even I was so shocked and shot into panic-mode. All of a sudden, my day touring the Christmas spirit of Paris had been blown out of the water. No more going to Gallerie Lafayette to view the Christmas displays. No more watching ‘Australia’ with Mandira (which I still haven’t seen). No more last minute shopping. But in the end it was all worth it.
My cab driver to the airport was a lunatic on wheels with a GPS. Everytime the screen of the GPS automatically switched off, she had to flick it to turn it back on, and as a result the car went swerving across the road. It was quite lucky that there was not much traffic, for if there had been I daresay I would’ve been even more petrified. As it was, she was honked at to choose a lane and stay there more than once.
I had no troubles on the flights home, and as I was flying back at night I looked into the sky and saw Orion’s Belt. This constellation is one that I have often stared at while trying to fall asleep in my apartment. Gazing into the sky and seeing it was a comfort. While I have not really called my apartment at HEC home, it made me realize that there are different things that might define home. For me, at that moment, it was looking into the sky and seeing the same constellations and realizing how large the world really is. I still try to find Orion’s Belt in the sky, but unfortunately it is no longer visible while I am trying to fall asleep. The earth’s rotation has pushed it back behind another building, but it is still a comfort that it is there.
While at home, I just enjoyed being there. Christmas was celebrated, and the time passed. Much of the first week I spent catching up on sleep or reading. I like how my mom and I can sit in the same room while reading, and just be. I also continued practicing for the GRE and eventually took it. The test went all right, and now I can say that it is behind me.
Those two weeks flew by so quickly, and before I knew it I was back in Jouy. There had been concerns about being able to get back into the country, but customs didn’t even check out my Visa page. On the way back I also met up with Sarah and we kept each other company on the way back to campus. It took a few days to get used to again, but life as usual here returned quickly.
Pretty soon after returning, I went to an exhibition called '6 Billion Others.' In the exhibition, there were short video clips of people from all around the world talking about their viewpoints on different things. It was really interesting. One man said that to him, love was never hitting your wife, and never cheating on her. Many people said that their childhood ambition was to become a pilot. In all, it just showed how similar people are around the world, and that the differences aren't as great as some people make them out to be. If you ever see this exhibition anywhere, I highly recommend it.
One morning I went to work in the Centre de Ressources Linguistiques. As I was climbing the stairs, I saw a bird frantically trying to get out of one of the second story windows. I repeatedly flew into the window, and I was afraid that it had already hurt itself. I checked the windows, but saw no latch to open one of them from the inside. As I told the bird that I was sorry, but I couldn’t help it right there, it went flying past me and down the hallway. I walked into the CRL and started setting up. After about 10 minutes there, the bird came hopping through the doorway. I saw that as my chance to help it, and cracked open one of the windows and shut the door. I tried to help the bird realize that the window was open, but it kept flying into another window that I couldn’t reach to open. It then flew around the room, and kept trying to hide out behind books or on different shelves. It finally flew to the windows again, and tried to go out one that I could reach but hadn’t opened yet. As it kept slamming against the window I told it that I was going to open that window and to not go anywhere. As the window opened, it kept flying against the glass, and finally realized that there was an opening to the side. I halfway wonder if it thought that it sheer force of will had pushed the window open, but at least now I know that it got back outside safely.
I also had my medical visit for my resident’s permit. It was rather simple – height, weight, blood test, chest x-ray, and doctor consultation. Before I knew it I had also gotten a letter in the mail saying that my resident’s permit was ready to pick up. So, not only did I make it through the French government’s requirements, but they gave me my permit a lot sooner than they are rumored to do. Often you hear stories about receiving it the week before you leave, but I got it a full six months before departure. So now I can definitely say I am legal to come and go from the country, and I will be free to actually take my trip to Scotland and the end of February. After I received my carte de sejour, I went and bought myself a plant, and I have since named it Fleur.
On returning to France, I also had a couple of ideas for breaking up my weeks more and having more things going on. Before Christmas, I was already involved in Extravadanse, a dance class on campus. While I enjoyed it, I also wanted to be involved in more. So, I have now also taken up swimming and I have been to a craft group once. Swimming is fun, and I haven’t done it in ages. I swam for several years, but I stopped at about the same time as my brother. So, it’s been about 10 years since I have been swimming on a regular basis. So far, I have gone twice, and I really enjoy it. It’s not very crowded, it’s free, and people carpool to the pool from campus. And it gives me a little more opportunity to practice some French. The craft group is something else I have started to go to. I crochet, and I always thought if I moved somewhere new I might join a craft group to get out and do something every once in a while. So, when I put two and two together, I decided to ask one of the English teachers here if I could go to her craft group as well. She agreed, and I really enjoyed it. Listening to women chitchat was quite entertaining, and they are all working on beautiful things. The majority of the women are working on patchwork quilts, and they all consult each other on what to do to improve their work. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and will definitely be returning. But when I do, I will need to bring more for lunch because when they saw how ‘little’ I had to eat, they all started offering me their lunches. When I knew resistance was futile, I gave in and took a little bit of one of the lunches. It wasn’t too bad – some sort of a mixture of rice, green beans, sour cream, maybe garlic, and sausage. But there was also a microwave, so I will need to take advantage of that and bring leftovers!
I also recently visited Versailles with one of the new interns, Emilie. We walked around a bit, and I found some yarn that was on sale during the Soldes, so now I actually have something to work on at the craft group. As we were walking around, we came upon a back entrance to the gardens at the chateau. While the gates weren’t really ‘off-limits’ like we thought they might be, it was very interesting to find a way into the grounds of the chateau in order to walk around. Since I had not been there before, I was just marvelling in the vastness of the space. Much of it was under construction, and fountains were turned off for the winter, but it was still lovely.
There was what I call 'the week of sports' recently. We went to a pub in Paris to watch the UNC basketball game with Anna. It was all right there, but the most interesting part came afterwards (in my opinion). Mandira is a die-hard Steelers fan, and she wanted to submit a picture of her with her Terrible Towel to a website taking pictures of fans all over the world. We walked over to Notre Dame, which wasn’t very far away, and Mandira took off her coat to reveal her Tazmanian Devil #43 shirt while having her picture taken. As she was still jumping and the picture was being taken, this obviously drunk teenager came up to us and asked if the cathedral was Notre Dame, stating immediately afterwards that he was a little lost. After we told him that was, more of his friends came up to us. One of them just walked up behind, and said “Oh here you guys are. Wait, you aren’t my guys.” At this, he saw his friend, a huge grin broke across his face, and continued with, “But you’re my guy!” They spoke to us for a couple of minutes, and it turns out they were in Paris for some sort of conference that Sarah went to when she was their age. When she said that she was at it a few years ago, they seemed shocked that it had been years. One of the girls insisted that Mandira add her on facebook, and she wrote her name (in very large script) on the back of a receipt, all the while telling us about Luko, a Norwegian guy she had met the night before who had been very cute, and said that once Mandira added her on facebook, she could then add Luko as well. All in all, it was quite hilarious. A few days later, the superbowl came around, I stayed and watched it until halftime on campus, and everyone else went to Paris to watch it at a pub. Go Steelers!
My most recent excursion was a weekend trip to Tours. My vacation officially started when a security guard at the Gare de Montparnasse asked for my phone number, and ended once I returned to campus. I tried to just enjoy the weekend and did things for myself. In retrospect, I wish I had planned it a bit better before I left, but part of the fun for me is just discovering a place. My hotel was right next to the train station, and the first night there I just grabbed some food from the Boulangerie right next door and ate in my room while watching TV. Boring to some, but peaceful to me. The next morning when I awoke it was snowing. I got ready, and decided to go out and just tour around Tours. When I wasn’t really finding anything worthwhile, I became discouraged. The most eventful thing that morning was my walk through a park. The snow was beautiful, and it was just calming. I made my way back towards my hotel, and stopped at a restaurant I’ve seen a lot here called ‘El Rancho.’ Their tex-mex wasn’t half bad, and I had a wonderful fruity drink called a Bimbo. Afterwards, in my wandering, I found an exposition center that was having a Salon de Chats while I was in town. I decided to enter, and walked around petting the cats I could touch through their cages and admiring the others. I really do miss having a pet!
As I was leaving the exposition center, I saw in the distance spires rising above the buildings. I thought that it must be the cathedral, and started to walk in that direction. Sure enough, it was, and I spent a little bit of time wandering around both inside and out admiring the architecture and craftsmanship. I continued walking in that direction, and came upon the river that goes through town. I crossed over it, and as soon as I did I noticed some ominous clouds. It had long since stopped snowing, and it was now warm enough that it would be rain instead. I began to walk back toward the hotel, knowing that I would never make it there before the rain began. I then decided to find someplace to stop in for a coffee, but was hard-pressed to find one. Eventually, I found a road with a lot of shops along it, and started walking down it. Soon, I found a Salon de Thé and decided that tea would be just as good as coffee. I went inside, settled myself, and started looking through the menu. They had so many different kinds of tea! As soon as I ordered my Vanilla Tea, the rain started pouring down. I sat inside the warm tea room, reading and drinking my tea. The rain didn’t last very long, but if I had been outside during it I would have been drenched immediately (I had forgotten my umbrella at the hotel). Once done, I left and walked back towards my hotel. I picked up Chinese from a take-out place, and enjoyed supper in the warmth of my room.
The next morning I checked out of the hotel and set off wandering around again. I was sort of shocked that I had at least 3 people ask me for directions. I suppose I looked like I knew where I was going. I stopped in for lunch at a Brasserie and had some really good Mango tea with my meal. I then walked to the train station, and read until my train departed. While I was waiting, I had a woman come up to me and ask me to lend her 7 euros. Not only is it an odd amount, but I don’t think it would just be ‘lending’ her the money as well. I simply said no, and she moved on to the next person to ask him. My train ride back was uneventful, and soon enough I was in good-old-cloudy Jouy.
Monday evening, one of my bosses, Patricia, invited Sarah, Anna, and I to go to a play with a group that she meets with every once in a while. It was a lovely evening – we ate dinner out with other people in her group and they were all so nice. The play was in English, “Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.” The play was very interactive, and they had planted props in the audience and when the actors needed something they would ask that person to bring it to them. There were many people in the audience learning to speak English, and it was just really a wonderful atmosphere.
My next trip coming up will be at the end of February. I’m going to Scotland to visit Loch Ness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and to see Snow Patrol in concert. I’ll try to update again after that. A plus!
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