Pardon My French

I take back what I said about the absence of Christmas in Europe. It almost seems like it happened overnight–It’s here in Angers, out of nowhere. Today, while I was in Centre Ville, I saw people adjusting over sized decorations from the building overhangs, dangling Christmas lights from the outside of the shops, putting up enormous, sparkly, glistening window displays– and then I saw Christmas candy and ornaments in the Petit Casino. My dad said it was kind of like how it used to be in the United States– no Christmas anything until the day after Thanksgiving. I think it has something to do with Advent.(This is something I don’t even really know what that means since I’ve been a fallen Catholic since the age of 15 and even before that, I didn’t really understand the “rules” of my religion. The point is that it’s here and I’m happy it’s here.) The funny thing is, with the way I’ve felt about commercialism and how the holiday has came and gone the last few years, I never thought I would find myself saying that.

So I overcame my irrational fears and got my hair cut today. I have been really terrified that I’d end up bald (You know, through a miscommunication or what not) if I even so much as WALKED INTO a salon so I’ve put it off for awhile (even though I’ve badly needed it.) Siri and I went together and it went pretty well, even though it was a REALLY humbling experience. I can’t ever just be proud of myself. I had a really great day at school– understood every word on every worksheet, every sentence that came out of my teacher’s mouth, answered a question quickly and correctly– then I wander out into the real world and fudge up badly. This hair dresser has got scissors and a blow dryer, one in each hand, and she’s staring at me in the mirror, waiting for a response to her question that I did not understand in the slightest. I point to a picture on a page in an open book nearby “ça, ça!” like I was some sort of ape. This was followed by lot’s of “oui’s” and “d’accords” and little of anything else. Definitely not one of my more shiny moments.

Afterward, we went to the English Language Library. I know I’m here to study French and all, but sometimes I have some down time. Also, I live really far from anything exciting and since screen time rots your brain, I decided to get some books (I finished all of my books in early September.) I picked up “Sushi For Beginners” by Marian Keyes, “The Time Travelers Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger, and “BlueBeard” by Kurt Vonnegut. We’ll see if I can get through them all in 24 days.

Here’s what my new hair looked like after a walk through the rain. It doesn’t look as great here and when I first got it done, but I do think the library adds a nice touch.

Siri and Me

I’ve recently begun making an iMovie project of my Euro trip for my relatives/friends at Christmas. It’s been a bit of a wake up call- I took far fewer photos than I thought. I’ve since been making a conscious effort take more of everything. When you’re immersed in your environment, you tend to forget the value of it all so I’m trying to take a step back and document everything.

Thanksgiving is probably my least favorite holiday.
Americans sit around eating all day, supposedly pondering the question “well, what ARE we thankful for?”
It seems that a good number of our celebrations involve stuffing our faces and I guess that’s how people celebrate everywhere, it’s just kind of embarrassing having the conversation with French people.
Yes, as a matter of fact, WE DO need a whole day to just eat and think about why we’re all so lucky. It sounds so stupid from an ocean away.

I’ve been vegan on Thanksgiving for the last five years and tend to stick to the corn and mashed potatoes. I think one year I had a Tofurkey, but I don’t really remember. I just know that I don’t usually get the sleepy side effects of real Turkey and that’s fine with me.

Today, there are no celebrations. I have two hours of class and an exam. I don’t have anything special planned for the evening seeing that again, I have to wake up tomorrow and take more tests. Different country, different rules.
Kat has been really nice, though, and is organizing a big thanksgiving dinner at Falstaff Sunday. Everyone’s bringing something so I’ll probably be spending Sunday afternoon in Louis’ kitchen, peeling and smashing potatoes. I think it will be fun and a needed change of pace.

Just for the record, I HAVE been listening to “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie all morning and I do miss watching Detroit’s parade on TV. Finally, I am Thankful for so many things: My family, being in France, my education, the fact that I’m not starving to death, good coffee, etc.

When I am at home, I’m used to Christmas music on the radio the day after Halloween and over the top commercials and window displays weeks before thanksgiving. It all hits at once and I just become so irritated with everything. Christmas kind of lost it’s magic the last few years. It felt like it came and went and I hardly even acknowledged it. This year is really different. There aren’t any commercials on TV, there’s no huge displays in the stores. I think I saw one Chocolate Pere de Noel at the grocery store and one Christmas tree. But other than that, nothing. Everything is really low key here. It’s making me want to get in the Christmas spirit on my own.

Next weekend, Amanda and I are going to Paris for Christmas shopping. We’re going to enjoy the little bit (PERFECT AMOUNT) of snow there, the lights on the Champs-Elysee and holiday themed beverages at Starbucks. I can’t wait.

Mother panicked last week when she discovered that I haven’t really been eating all that much.
(Basically, Madame stopped feeding all nine of her students in early October, so I’ve been fending for myself. Only, I haven’t been doing that great of a job. But this is not ENTIRELY fault of my own– everything is so far away, we don’t have the convenience of a car and it takes a lot of time to go. Not to mention, stores are closed on weekends and it’s hard to make time during the week.)
So she ran to the store, bought a bunch of my favorites, threw it in a box and shipped it to France.
It arrived today. All 44 pounds of it. There’s obviously no sushi in there, but she has all my other favorites covered: Trisquits, pasta, sweet and sour rice, soy milks, good & plenty, cashews, salsa and chips, peanut butter- and the list goes on and on. Basically this means I don’t have to eat cous cous and pasta everyday anymore. I love my Mommy. She’s always looking out for me.

“Time is not on our hands. It is slipping through them.”

I have 36 days left in France. A number in the 30s is so crazy to me because that means it’s basically a month. A MONTH and a few days. Wow.

Get living, right?

So my vacation has ended. The time was mostly well spent– got some Grad school paperwork done and had some time for an abundance of both sleep and fun. But since it’s ended, reality has come down hard on me.

For starters, I am down to just forty days left here. FORTY. That number seems so huge when you’re at home, trudging through snow, but here, it’s nothing. I’m going to be heading home before I know it. It makes me feel so stupid for ever feeling homesick, even if I can’t help it. People spend their entire lives in the United States and never get the chance to see any of this. Despite what it may seem like sometimes, I really don’t need a reminder of how lucky I am. I definitely already know it.

My bank has reason to believe my identity was stolen, so they’re canceling my account. When I looked at my statement, everything seemed normal and I didn’t think it looked as though there was any out of character spending, but, the bank is concerned, something having to do with numbers, I don’t know, and they’re the professionals (not me) so I’m just going to go with it. I won’t get my new card until Nov. 20. I don’t have any money in my checking account, so I’m just going to have to ride it out a little longer without spending any money.

I have my Managing Editor interview tomorrow with Jake on Skype. I know he’s going to ask some tough questions and I’m afraid I won’t be able to answer them.

I have to write an entrance essay for Columbia in which I talk about why I chose Journalism as my career and why I feel I would benefit from Grad school. These seem like fairly obvious, simple questions, seeing that I talk about both things nearly everyday, but this essay has been ridiculously hard for some reason. I can’t get out of my head who my audience is and that intimidates me. I just keep over analyzing every word I use. Because it sits there, partially completed, it standing in my way of getting anything else done, I know I just need to crack down and finish. It shouldn’t be this hard.