Home is where the heart is?

So I wanted to share photos of my room thus far. I really do have it pretty much all set up, though its pretty sparse. I really do like it, for its my space, and with all the craziness of being in a new country and all that... its really nice to just have a place of my own. I still have to figure out how to do the laundry, but other than that, I really could live here!

People keep on asking me if I am homesick. My first response is to just stare at them and wonder how anyone could be homesick when you are in a place like FRANCE! But it is true, there are things to be missed while being away from my home. I find that I have gotten used to living away from "home" so that is not what I really miss. I do miss people though. I want my friends and loved ones near to be having these cool experiences with me! But its also ok that they are not here, for that means I get to come back and tell them all about it :) Selfish of me, but there you go.

I do feel at home here though. I love it here. I have only been here a week, but I already feel myself falling into the comfortable feeling that Bordeaux is my town. I have not seen all of her, but I have seen enough to command a sense of confidence that I could never feel lost anywhere. True, that may be a bit cocky, but I have taken a lot of time to understand the winding streets and the multiple tram lines.

But I don't think that it is my ability to find any store that makes me feel at home here.

I realize that I feel more at home here because I love the history that surrounds every street. At every turn there are lifetimes that have been there before me. Though I am not a poet, I do think I thrive where there is enough story and life in one place that you can feel it in the air. And I appreciate it. Though I never personally knew any of the people who were really born in this city, when I walk the streets I feel like I am also secretly giving my spirit to the city that was built with so much love. Doesn't that sound silly?

I am terrible at describing the feeling I have when I look down the crowded streets, but at least I tried :)

I don't know how to introduce this next thought process, but I will try to describe it all clearly. My thoughts have often been turning to my mom. My Marmie. Ever since she died I have been angry at her for leaving me. I knew it, though I always tried to hide it. Here, for some reason, I have been able to let it go a bit. Though I am still terribly sad that she is not here to let me talk to her, I am finding so many ways to be grateful that she was who she was, and that I was her daughter. I miss her so much. So very much. But I have been finding that I feel her closer to me here, than when I was in the States. All that I was saying about the history in the air.... she gave that appreciation to me. She loved history. She loved discovering where something came from, and trying to figure out just what sort of thought came up with the object. She would drag us to all sorts of museums to "expand our minds". At the time I found it more than irritating. There were some that I liked, but, as I said, some seemed hardly impressive, for it was not THAT long ago that they were made :) But here..... all I have to do is look around, and I see her pointing at something and smiling, and encouraging me to see the beauty in the artwork or skill. She would be stopping at every plaque to read all that it had to say, and then she would be asking me questions to try and link, in my mind, the information on that board with whatever we already saw. Though it is hard to have her so close and yet so far away from me, it is also really great to really experience wonderful things about her that are left even when she is gone.

There. I don't think that that really expresses my feelings or experiences, but again, I tried.

Today was spent trying to figure out all our classes. I don't actually want to get into it, but the end result is that we are not actually signed up for anything, and so we are going to visit classes this week to decide just what classes we want. Our first one is Wednesday. I think it should be good.

Tomorrow I hope to do something fun, but we will see.
Goodnight until then!

Bordeaux at night

Saturday we spend shopping for the little stuff that we need, as I said in the last post. Saturday night we went out to a bar that was recommended as a great place for only a little money. The deal was that we could get a whole bowl of one sort of drink that would last us a while for about as much as one drink would cost each of us. In other words, we got a lot more for the same amount. So we went, and got “vodka sunrise” in a bowl bigger than a salad bowl. It was REALLY yummy. Looking at it I thought it would take us at least a half and hour finish it. In reality..... it took a little under 20 minutes! It was very funny. The next round took longer, for we each had our own separate drinks. It was really good. We took some really fun pictures of the evening.

We all slept in until late today. It was nice, for the shades on our windows close so tightly that at 11am I thought it was still completely dark outside. Though this is slightly disorenting, it was also really good. After a breakfast of Nutella and crackers, I started my day of planning. I wanted to take the time and actually do some reading on the places that I was seeing and the things that I still want to see. It was really really cool!
The first thing I found out was the name of the Cathedral that I have been seeing a lot. It is called, the Cathedrale St-Andre. The oldest part of it was built in 1096 and then the rest of what you see was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Cool huh!? And then the other part is that there is this crazy tall tower thing and it is topped with a gold (looking, I couldn't actually find out what it is made of) statue of "Our Lady Aquitane". Ooh, I just LOVE the history of it all! I cant get enough. Then the other stuff that I learned was that one of the gardens that I have passes multiple times is where they had a guillotine during the Reign of Terror. Crazy right!?!
Um, there were other things that I learned, but none were all that important.

Tonight there was an Eagle's game on. The boys wanted to watch it, so they stayed in and skyped it from Gooeys home and I called Dare to see if he was going anything. Thankfully he was free, and we decided to go down town and see Bordeaux at night. It was so beautiful! I love it. I kept on rambling about the different history that I had been learning about..... I think I may have bored him. But I took some wonderful pictures! I hope to do that again, but I don't know when I will get the opportunity. Then we went back to the bar we went on Friday night, and it is actually spelled "The Frog and Rosbif", so that makes sense why it sounds like roast beef :) The drinks were good, but there was an event going on, and with each of us only knowing a bit of french.... we were sort of lost as to what they were doing. But it was enjoyable none the less.This is the Cathedrale St-Andre (above)This is the Hotel de Ville.... otherwise known as City Hall (above)
This is the Grand Theater (above)
This is the Monument to the Girondins (above)This is the palace where the King would stay whenever he came to Bordeaux (above)

Anyway, I think that is about all for now. Here are the pics! Enjoy!

The fun night, the hard test, and the day of introduction

For all of you who are on facebook, on Thursday I put as my "update" that I was going to have a fun night. I will now explain what that was.
Thursday in France is not only Thirsty Thursday, but also THE night to go out if you are a student. Don't ask me why, and maybe that is not too unusual to you, but to me it is weird. Anyway, Thursday night there was a huge party in the "Bordeaux Etudient Club", otherwise known as B.E.C. You have to pay a small fee to get in, but then it was just like a club setting, with a dance floor and a bar. Julie knew someone working at it, so we did have to pay the 5 euros to get in, but then after that we got all our drinks free. As with most clubs, the point seemed to be to get drunk, dance, and sometimes hook up. I quickly realized why I enjoy Bryn Athyn dances/boys at the dances. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the night, but I didn't stay long and I didn't leave Gooey's side. Now don't freak out Papa, I only had two very small drinks and the boys were very aware of staying with us girls, so it really was fine. The other nice thing is the difference of how a French boys approaches you to dance compared with how an American boy does. In my experience dancing in places like this in America, if a boy wanted to dance with you he came up and put is hand on your waist. Freaky right!? I hate it when they do that. Anyway, here, the boys just would come up within arms reach and slightly brush your arm with their hand. Still pretty annoying, but not quite as bad. So whenever a boy did that, I simply just pushed the hand away and shifted closer to either Jeremy, Dibb, or Gooey. So all in all, the night was fun.

On Friday we took our placement test for our French classes. It was at 9am, which, normally would not be that bad, but if you had been up until about 3am the morning before... it gets a little tough. It was fine though. We got there on time, had some coffee from a dispenser, and entered the classroom. Pretty quickly we realized how much we didn't know. The woman directed the whole thing in french (surprise surprise) and there were times when all three of us were confused. Thankfully, the lady really did make it clear what we really needed to know, so it was not too bad.
The test on the other hand.... crazy hard. There parts when I really thought that I would never impress them with any sort of experience in the language, but we will see. I find out on Monday how I did, what class I am in, and what my schedule is going to be.

One thing that happened because of the test was that we made a friend! Another tester was an American from Texas. When we came out and were trying to fill out the pages to hand into the administration, he came to see how we were doing it so that he could do it right as well. It turns out that he has more french than any of us, so he helped us. Anyway, as we weren't doing anything specific until the evening, he decided to hang with us. As it turned out, it was really nice to have him around, for after the test the boys went back to our dorm to go back to bed, and I was chosen to go meet with Antoine to get the appliances (that they are lending/giving us) and talk about class schedules. As he didn't need to go back to his dorm, nor did he need to go to our dorms, Dare went with me. Antoine wasn't there, but a guy how was supposed to meet with us to give us the stuff heard Dare and I talking in English and found us outside the building. The guy didn't want to make me lift the stuff (there is a small fridge, a microwave, a hot plate, and a box of dishes) so Dare volunteered to come along and help. It was then quite an adventure getting all that, Dare, the guy, and me into the very small French car and over to the new rooms. But we did it, and now we have all the stuff we could want! Happy day.
We ended up spending the rest of the day together. He came with us to Bordeaux to run some errands and then went to this crazy Jazz(ish) concert at the Bordeaux music school. It was an interesting concert, though I am glad that it was free. The first few groups weren't bad..... just not that great. And each was a little less jazz music.... but whatever. Then, the last group, did some pieces by Frank Zappa. They were SO good. I mean, I would have paid to see them, and the drummers..... all of us were astounded! There were three of them, and they were sooo perfectly on beat together! It was by far the coolest part of the whole concert.

As is usual while you are in town and after a concert.... we went out for a drink. A funny bar called "The Frog and Rosboif" (the spelling of Rosboif might be off.... but it sounds like roast beef). I still don't get the name, but somehow it is French and English.... yeah. It was a really nice bar that even brewed its own beer right there! It was very yummy. Anyway, we all had fun and provided some education for some Frenchmen! Jeremy and Johanna went outside to smoke, and there was a man who had never seen an American! We all thought it was funny that, of course, Jeremy was the first one for him to see.... for he is not exactly the most typical American in the group :)
We stayed until closing time (2am) and got a ride back to the campus with one of Julie's friends, arriving at the dorm at about 2:45ish.

I think I fell asleep faster than I ever had in my life! I was so tired, and had hardly eaten, so the drinks had gone right to my head. Thankfully I had nothing to get up for today... so we all slept in until we felt like getting up. For me that meant close to 10am, for Dibb and Jeremy.... closer to 2pm :) Once up (today, Saturday), all we did was get some food and then went shopping for all the stuff we still needed for life (laundry detergent, that sort of thing). It all was pretty cheep, so that was fine, but there was a demonstration in the middle of Bordeaux that shut down the Trams for a couple of hours! It was really cool, but also pretty annoying when you carrying multiple bags of stuff.

All in all, I am excited for school to start on Monday. I like going out, but I also really want to understand more of the French and get more of a schedule to my life here. Now that I have my room set up I am truly feeling ready for school to start. Tomorrow I shall be spending working out my schedule and figuring that all out. Wish me luck, yeah?

Well, I miss everyone very very much, and I already feel like I have been away for weeks and weeks, but I am very excited to have more time here.
Love to you all! Bon nuit!

"We" and Pub buddies

When I talk about "we" I am not being clever or conceited. I am here with Laird, Gooey, and Jeremy. Added to that group is Marie, Julie, and Johanna who are the French girls who came to Bryn Athyn last school year. So unless I am specific, all the "we"s that I have been talking about, is all of us.

It is nice to have a whole group of people here with me. When I first signed up for the program I didn't think about how hard it would be to be in a foreign country with absolutely no one that I knew. I mean, I did think that it would be hard, but I didn't really think about how scary it can be to just walk around and not understand the people around you. So I am really really grateful that I have these boys around to be American with me, and to have the French girls around to speak french for me :)

On Wednesday night we went out to celebrate Marie's birthday (even though that day was not her actual birthday). We decided to go to this smallish English pub. It was there that I realized how simple an introduction can be. I mean, in the States I was always shy to start to talk to someone that I didn't know. It took a lot of effort or maybe a specific reason for me to talk to anyone I didn't already know. Here though, all it takes is listening for English and then asking where they come from.
This is how we met Eric and Kieth. They were sitting at the table next to us, enjoying their own drinks, when it came obvious that all of us in that corner were talking English. Keith then asked me where we were from, and they ended up sitting at our table for the rest of the evening. It really was fun to meet some other Americans who were studying at Bordeaux. We have seen Eric since, but until the Superbowl, I doubt that we will run into either again.
I say the Superbowl because, being American boys, the boys have already found an American pub that is going to be showing the Superbowl, and maybe letting us stay in the bar after it closes to watch the whole thing. When Eric and Keith heard this, they wanted in. Oh boys.

I have stories, but I think I will put them in their own post.... so see you later!

Cell Phones, Movies and Pubs

So today we went and got cell phones. I wanted one for things like emergencies and for times that I really felt like I needed to get in touch with people here. So now I have one. It is very useful, but pretty expensive. It took a while at the store to get it all settled, for we had to decided on everything with Julie translating everything that the man said and then what we said. It took a while, but now it is done, and if I need to reach someone... I can! I didn't realize how much I depend on a cell phone. The ability to be reached and be able to reach any one at any time... its very interesting. For to be denied it.... I find it hard to be so disconnected. I guess it was a good lesson, but I would rather have one. It is very comforting.

We had to run to the movie that we saw today. It took us longer to do the phone thing and we did not communicate well with the people that we were to meet, so that made us late. It was all fine though, and we saw "Burn After Reading". To be honest it was not as funny as I was expecting, but it was useful in the sense that it showed us the french in subtitles while being in English itself. We learned how to say "whats up" and what the good translation of zeut is. VERY useful information :)

I have now gone to a pub. I can say it with pride, for it was a very nice pub and very Irish. There I had 3 delicious drinks and we decided all of the places we wanted to go. Sadly, there are just so many places in Europe that I don't know if we will even see half of them, but hopefully we will see a bunch of them. I did enjoy the pub though, and I think we will be going back there tomorrow for Marie's birthday.

The rooms have worked out! We will be moving in tomorrow into some nice NEW rooms at the university, so while that means we don't get the culture of having an apartment, we will be getting lots of benefits from being close to the school. All in all I am satisfied.
I had not realized how much I was hoping for an apartment, but once I see the rooms I will let you know just how much my heart was set :)

Well, to register for classes tomorrow I must be up bright and early, so I shall leave for tonight.

Bon nuit!

Time Difference

I kinda wonder when I will get used to the time difference. I mean, I don't think that I am suffering from jet lag at all, but that I just find it really weird to be up and about when I then see that those in America are sound asleep or just eating lunch. It makes it hard to relate and really know what they are talking about. I didn't realize that it would affect me so much, but its totally weird. I got up this morning at like, 10, thinking that it would be great, for then people might be online.... not so much. With the time difference, all the people who I would have loved to talk with are still at 4am! So that is weird for me.

I want to take a moment and apologize for anything that I spell wrong. Looking over my last posts I realize that there are at least a few mistakes.... but I hope that you can forgive me for them. Spelling is far from my strongest subject.
I just thought you all should know :)

Now to catch up....

Ok, so its a blog not a blogg.... can't really blame me, I have never had one before :)

So, what has happened since Saturday night? Well, a ton.

All of Sunday we spent walking around Bordeaux, seeing shops and streets that we may need later on, and generally getting our barrings. I don't know how much of the streets I remember, but it does help to see options for where we may go if we need something. The first thing that struck me was how small the streets are! If I were in a city in America I would be avoiding streets this size. But here, a big street is the size of a small street, and a small street is the size of a sidewalk. Ok, so that may be rather drastic, but its pretty much how it seems. The other thing that is great is how old all of the buildings are! I love the history of a place, and everywhere you look there is a little sign explaining why the building is there and who built it. I love it. During my time here I must stop and read every one.... but it will take me a while so I am pacing myself :)
I also realized that I am rather tall. Most of the women here are my height or shorter. I have seen MAYBE 2 girls taller than I, but mostly they are really short. I wonder if that means I am going to have a hard time finding clothes that I may buy....
Suday night we went to another friends house for dinner. Johanna is another girl who came to Bryn Athyn last year who lives and works here. We all went to her apt. for dinner and drinks and had a great time. We were introduced to Duck paté and goat cheese on a baguette. I am not sure about the duck, but for my first time being willing to eat goat cheese.... it really was not bad. Not something I love, but not that bad.
We then decided that it was too late to go back to the dorm, so again we spend the night at Julie's place.

Today, Monday, we spend shopping for things we need and going back to the dorm for more clothing. That took a good portion of the day, and when we got back it was about 4pm. Then we met up with Gooey and Marie and hung out until we met up with some more of Julie's friends and had dinner. It was a very yummy three course French meal. As we are all students we are all rather short on money, so it was really fun to have a great meal for a very good price. I was only a little adventurous, and got a starter of roasted eggplant and then a "picé de beof" or piece of beef. It was very good, though I liked the eggplant better than the beef. The funny thing is that I never really thought about how the French eat so much pasta, but its like a side thing that comes with everything, like salad in the states. I thought that was funny, but hey, its really good, so I am not complaining.
The plan was to go to a movie afterwards, but we took too long (a little over 2 hours) to eat, so we missed the beginning of the movie, so they would not let us in. So now we are back at Julie's, hanging out until we go to bed. So far we have not spend a night in the dorm, and the way things are turning out, I am not sure we ever will.

Ok, so complaints about France:
First would be the dorm rooms. When we signed up for the program we were told about these rooms that were suite style that would have 5 students to one mini kitchen. When we got here, we realized that the real rooms that we were to have were single rooms that had mold on the walls. The bathrooms too are bad, for it is a long hall with 1 bathroom to share, and there are both girls and boys. True, you do have the privacy of a stall, but then again, to get that privacy you must lock yourself in.... sketchy anyone? So I was not happy to see the condition of the rooms that we were assigned, and I hope that it can be changed. Antoine (a professor here) and the girls are helping us find an apartment to live in so that we don't have to stay in the dorms, for that really would affect our time here. So we will see what happens, and I will keep you updated. Tomorrow we meet with a realastate agent, so that is going to be interesting.
I guess the only other annoying thing is how deceptively expensive everything is. I look at something at see that it only costs 2 ero, so I am like "that is so great!" and then I pull out a 2 ero coin and think that it is even better, for its just one coin! But in reality, it is a ton more, considering all I have in the bank is American money, and to withdraw money is expensive as well. But soon I hope to get the hang of it and I will always be careful with my money.

I will have lots of pictures up soon, but I don't have my computer here at Julie's, so until then I don't have pictures.

I do think that this is a long post, so I think I shall stop here. If you have any questions about details about any of the things that I am doing, don't hesitate to comment and I will answer as soon as I get back to the computer.

Until next time!